I have reflected on most of the statements of the early generations that I have encountered—having researched them extensively and read a great many—to see whether the Companions and those who followed them in righteousness, or any one of them, held the views I have mentioned, which I found in the books of the speculative theologians: the Jahmiyyah, the Qadariyyah, and those who adopted these views from them.

These include the Jahmiyyah’s claim that, of two identical things, Allah commands one and forbids the other without any reason or wisdom; or that, of statements and deeds identical in every respect, Allah makes some more richly rewarded than others without any reason or wisdom. Similar claims include their assertion that all of Allah’s speech is alike, even though the reward for some of it is greater.

I have found nothing in the statements of the early generations that agrees with this. Rather, they explicitly discuss the wisdom and reasons involved, explaining the good qualities in what is commanded that make it fitting to command it, and the bad qualities in what is forbidden that make it fitting to forbid it. They also explain that some statements and deeds are intrinsically superior to others. I have never seen any report from any of them contradicting the scriptural texts that indicate this, finding it problematic, or interpreting it according to his own understanding. Yet they are reported to have found difficulties and ambiguities in many verses and hadiths and to have interpreted them in different ways, some of which may be mistaken, while another interpretation is correct.

Nor have I found them, regarding such statements as Allah’s words:

“Allah has sent down the best statement: a consistent Book wherein is reiteration,”

and the Prophet’s question to Ubayy, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“Which verse in the Book of Allah is the greatest?”

and his statement concerning al-Fātihah:

“Nothing like it has been sent down in the Torah, the Gospel, or the Quran,”