As for the second category: the correct view is to declare them disbelievers, since there is no difference between them and the worshippers of idols and images. They are asked to repent; if they repent [so be it], otherwise they are executed, just as is done with one who apostatizes." End quote.

I say: This is the stance of these negators (muʿaṭṭila) regarding those who affirm the attributes of God Almighty and pass them on according to their apparent meaning, while declaring God, Mighty and Majestic, free from resembling the created beings.

Here is a comparison between the school of law of the Jahmiyya and the school of law of the Ashʿarites regarding the attributes, which removes any confusion in establishing this matter.

Abū Ismāʿīl al-Harawī, may Allah have mercy on him, said in Dhamm al-Kalām (4/137):

"And those [the Jahmiyya] said: There is no attribute.

And these [the Ashʿarites] say: (Face) just as it is said: the face of the day, the face of the matter, and the face of the hadith. And (Eye): like the eye (essence) of the commodity. And (Hearing): like the ear of the wall... And (Hand): like the hand of favor and giving. And (Fingers): like their saying: Khurasan is between the two fingers of the Emir. And (Two Feet): like their saying: I placed the dispute under my two feet. And (Grasp): as it is said: so-and-so is in my grasp, meaning I control his affair. And (Footstool): Knowledge. And (Throne): Dominion. And (Laughter): Pleasure. And (Rising): Conquering. And (Descent): Acceptance. And (Trotting): the same. Thus, they anthropomorphized from one angle and denied from another; they opposed the Predecessors (Salaf), transgressed the apparent meaning, rejected the root/principle, affirmed nothing, left nothing existing, and did not differentiate between interpretation and expression by tongues, saying: 'We do not interpret them; we pass them on in Arabic as they were reported.'

They have interpreted with those wicked interpretations, intending by this deception that the common Muslims be further removed from them and more incapable of reaching them, so that they become more averse when they are mentioned and more stubborn against hearing them... etc."

Ibn Taymiyya, may Allah have mercy on him—who is the expert on their condition—clarified in a precious statement of his that the school of law of the Ashʿarites regarding the attributes is exactly the school of law of the Jahmiyya, and that the interpretations and distortions they fell into and spread in their works are exactly the interpretations of the Jahmiyya that were mentioned