This view became widespread among many Sufis and masters of gnosis and spiritual realization. They thus came to agree with Jahm on questions of human acts and divine decree, despite declaring him an unbeliever over questions of the divine attributes. One example is Abū Ismā‘īl al-Ansārī al-Harawī, author of Dhamm al-Kalām (Censure of Speculative Theology). He was among the fiercest critics of the Jahmiyya for their denial of the divine attributes, and wrote a book entitled Takfīr al-Jahmiyya (Declaring the Jahmiyya Unbelievers). He also vehemently censured the Ash‘arīs, although they are among the closest of these groups to the Sunnah and hadith. At times, he would even curse them.

Someone once asked him in the presence of Nizām al-Mulk, “Do you curse the Ash‘arīs?” He replied, “I curse anyone who says that there is no God in the heavens, no Quran in the Quranic codex, and no prophet in the grave.” Then he rose and left in anger.

Yet on the question of Allah’s willing all that occurs and creating human acts, he goes even further than the Ash‘arīs. He affirms neither causes nor wisdom. Rather, he says that when the gnostic contemplates the divine decree, he no longer approves of a good deed or disapproves of an evil one.

By “the decree,” he means the divine will. For him, the gnostic who has attained true realization is one who reaches the station of fanā (self-effacement), becoming oblivious to all his own desires through absorption in what the Real wills. Everything that occurs is willed by Him, and this is what he means by “the decree.” A “good deed” and an “evil deed” differ in their consequences for the servant himself: through one he enjoys bliss, and through the other he suffers punishment. Paying attention to this belongs to the self’s own interests, whereas in the station of self-effacement there is nothing but contemplation of what the Real wills.