denial of the divine attributes. The second was extremism regarding divine decree and irjāʾ. He reduced faith to mere knowledge in the heart and held that human beings neither act nor possess any power. On both these matters, the Mu‘tazilites went to the opposite extreme in opposing him.

As for al-Ash‘arī, he agreed with the basic premise of Jahm’s position, though he might dispute with him over terminology. Jahm affirmed none of the divine attributes—neither will nor any other. Thus, when he said that Allah loves acts of obedience and hates acts of disobedience, what he meant was reward and punishment.

Al-Ash‘arī, however, affirmed attributes such as will. He therefore had to address whether will is the same as love, and whether Allah loves acts of disobedience. He said that Allah loves acts of disobedience and is pleased with them, just as He wills them.

Abū al-Ma‘ālī al-Juwaynī stated that al-Ash‘arī was the first to say this, and that Ahl al-Sunnah before him used to say that Allah does not love acts of disobedience. Al-Ash‘arī, however, mentioned in al-Mūjaz that a group of people whom he named had said this before him. I am uncertain about some of them.