What is the stance of the Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah regarding the Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah, and other sects; are they disbelievers outside of Islam, or innovators?

Among innovations (bid'ah), some are considered disbelief (kufr) and some are not. Disbelieving innovation is the denial of something unanimously agreed upon and known by necessity to be part of the religion, such as denying an obligatory act, or deeming something obligatory that is not, or making lawful what is forbidden, or making forbidden what is lawful, or believing in something that God is exalted above. Examples include the innovation of the Jahmiyyah in denying God's attributes and the createdness of the Quran, the innovation of the Qadariyyah in denying God's knowledge and decree, and the innovation of the Mujassimah who liken God to His creation. These individuals are ruled to be disbelievers after evidence has been established against them.

As for innovations that do not entail disbelief, they are those that do not necessitate a denial of the Book (Quran) or of what God sent His messengers with. Examples include the innovations of the Marwaniyyah, such as delaying some prayers, delivering the sermon before the Eid prayer, and reviling the Companions from the pulpits. This is not due to a belief in their legal validity, but rather due to interpretation (ta'wil) and carnal desires.

The disbeliever among the people of prayer is the hypocrite. Among the people of innovation, there is the hypocritical zindiq (heretic) who is a disbeliever. And it may be that among them there are those who have faith but erred due to ignorance and injustice; such a person is neither a disbeliever nor a hypocrite. They may be a transgressor or a sinner, or one who made an interpretation (mutawwil) whose error is forgiven.

A statement can constitute disbelief, such as denying the obligation of prayer or permitting fornication. However, one who denies this while being new to Islam or having grown up in a remote desert and not having received the message, does not become a disbeliever until they know that it was revealed to the Messenger. The statements of the Jahmiyyah are of this type.