The Kullābiyya and the Ash'ariyya are better than these groups regarding the divine attributes: they affirm for Allah the attributes known through reason, and their leading scholars broadly affirm the attributes known through transmitted revelation, as their positions have been detailed elsewhere. As for divine decree and questions of religious designations and their associated rulings, their positions are close to one another.

The Kullābiyya are the followers of Abū Muhammad 'Abd Allāh ibn Sa'īd ibn Kullāb, whose approach al-Ash'arī followed. Ibn Kullāb’s followers, such as al-Hārith al-Muhāsibī, Abū al-'Abbās al-Qalānisī, and others like them, are better than the Ash'ariyya in both respects. The closer a person is to the early generations and the leading scholars, the sounder and better his position is.

The Karrāmiyya hold a reprehensible position on faith, one in which no one preceded them: they define faith as a verbal declaration, even without the heart’s affirmation. Thus, they regard the hypocrite as a believer, yet hold that he will remain in the Fire forever. They therefore differ from the mainstream Muslim community in designation, but not in the ruling. Regarding the divine attributes, divine decree, and the threat of punishment, however, they are closer to the Sunnah than most schools of speculative theology whose positions depart from it.

As for the Mu'tazila, they deny the divine attributes and approach Jahm’s position, but they