A Brief Overview of the Sects: The Qadariyyah, the Jahmiyyah, and the Asha'irah

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, a questioner says: I hope you will give a brief overview of each of the Qadariyyah, the Jahmiyyah, and the Asha'irah; because I hear about these sects, and many people do not know anything about them, and this is in the category of asking about evil for fear of falling into it.

Answer:
As for the Qadariyyah, they are those who deny the qadar (divine decree); they deny the qadar and do not believe in it, such as the Mu'tazilah and others. These are the Qadariyyah who deny it. There are also extreme Qadariyyah, who are the Jahmiyyah; they affirm the qadar but exaggerate in it, saying that the servant is compelled and has no choice or will. These are the extreme Qadariyyah; they affirmed the qadar but exaggerated in it, denying the will and choice of the created being and making him compelled in his actions. The Qadariyyah who deny it are the Mu'tazilah, who denied the qadar and affirmed choice and will for the servant, and they exaggerated in that to the point of saying that the servant creates his own action. The actions of the servants are not created by Allah, but are created by the servants. This is the doctrine of the Qadariyyah who deny it, who exaggerated in the power, will, and desire of the servant to the point of denying that Allah is the Creator of their actions. So they are at opposite extremes, and all of them are called Qadariyyah: the Qadariyyah who deny it and the extreme Qadariyyah. As for the Jahmiyyah, they are the followers of Jahm ibn Safwan al-Tirmidhi.
The student of al-Ja'd ibn Dirham. Their doctrine is based on denying the names and attributes of Allah. They do not affirm names for Allah, nor do they affirm attributes for Him. Rather, they say that He is a bare essence devoid of names and attributes. They deny the speech of Allah and say that the speech of Allah is created, that the Qur'an is created. The Mu'tazilah share this view with them, because they say the Qur'an is created, they say what they say, and they share with them in denying the names and attributes as well. These are the Jahmiyyah.
As for the Asha'irah, they are originally attributed to Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, who was on the doctrine of the Mu'tazilah. He was a Mu'tazili, then he repented from the doctrine of the Mu'tazilah and turned to the doctrine of the Kullabiyyah. He turned to the doctrine of the Kullabiyyah, who affirm the names and deny many of the attributes. They do not affirm more than seven attributes or fourteen attributes, and they deny the rest. They affirm, in their claim, what reason indicates and deny what is beyond that. These are the Kullabiyyah. Abu al-Hasan adopted their doctrine initially after he repented from Mu'tazilism. Then Allah granted him repentance, and he turned to the doctrine of Imam Ahmad and left the doctrine of the Kullabiyyah. He stated this explicitly in his book al-Ibanah 'an Usul al-Din and his other book Maqalat al-Islamiyyin wa Ikhtilaf al-Musallin. When he mentioned the doctrines, he stated that he was on the doctrine of Imam Ahmad. So his end was returning to the doctrine of the people of the Sunnah and the community. His followers remained on the doctrine of the Kullabiyyah; they did not return to the doctrine of the people of the Sunnah as al-Ash'ari did. Rather, they remained on the doctrine of the Kullabiyyah. So their attribution to al-Ash'ari is not correct. It is better to say Kullabiyyah and not Asha'irah. But this is with respect to the origin; they are called Asha'irah with respect to the origin. As for the end, Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari is innocent of them, and his words are explicit in his two books, al-Ibanah and al-Maqalat, which are printed and circulated.

The presenter:
May Allah reward you