these later sects have combined within themselves many innovated and disbelieving doctrines and statements; you find them to be Jahmī, Qadarite, Sufi, Ash'arite, Murji'ite, Kharijite, containing every affliction.
The issue of excommunicating certain sects or individuals reminds me of the incident that occurred to Abū Ismāʿīl al-Harawī, the author of the book Dhamm al-Kalām, when he attended the gathering of the vizier. His opponents wanted to cause a rift between him and the vizier, so they asked him about his public cursing of al-Ashʿarī and his condemnation of him and his followers.
Ibn Ṭāhir said: I heard Aḥmad b. Amīrjah al-Qalānisī—the servant of al-Anṣārī—say: I attended with the Sheikh to greet the vizier Abū ʿAlī al-Ṭūsī. His companions had tasked him with going out to him, and that was after the tribulation and his return from Balkh. When he entered upon him, he honored and revered him. There were imams from both factions in the army that day, and they knew he was attending, so they all agreed to ask him an issue in the presence of the vizier. If he answered with what he used to answer in Herat, he would fall in the eyes of the vizier, and if he did not answer, he would fall in the eyes of his companions and the people of his school of law.
When he entered and settled in the gathering, a man from the companions of al-Shāfiʿī, known as al-ʿAlawī al-Dabbūsī, stepped forward to him and said: "Does the Sheikh and Imam permit me to ask an issue?" He said: "Ask."
He said: "Why do you curse Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī?!" He remained silent, and the vizier lowered his head, knowing what his answer would be. After an hour passed, the vizier said to him: "Answer him."
He said: "I do not know al-Ashʿarī! I only curse whoever does not believe that God Almighty is in the heaven, that the Qur'an is in the mushaf, and that the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, is a prophet today." Then he stood up and left, and no one was able to speak a word due to his awe-inspiring presence, firmness, and authority.
The vizier then said to the questioner and those with him: "Is this what you wanted? We used to hear that he mentioned this in Herat, so you strove until we heard it with our own ears. What do you expect me to do with him?" [Dhayl al-Ṭabaqāt (1/124-125)]
I say: The same is said here; those among the people of the Sunna who explicitly excommunicated the Ash'arites said: "We excommunicate anyone who combines these beliefs and calls to them, whatever his name may be, and to
