What is the reason why many of the Salaf did not excommunicate the Qadariyyah faction, which claimed that the servant creates his actions independently of God Almighty, and that God Almighty removes barriers and obstacles from him, and if He willed, He would prevent him, even though this is considered an affirmation of major shirk and rivalry with God Almighty? And were they excused by ignorance and [erroneous] interpretation?

The common view among the Salaf (pious predecessors) is to deem as disbelievers those Qadariyya who deny God's prior knowledge of the servants' actions. As for the Qadariyya who affirm God's knowledge of the servants' actions but deny His creation and will for them, the renowned opinion among the Salaf is not to deem them as disbelievers, due to the presence of doubt and interpretation on their part.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned that the imams deemed as disbelievers whoever denied God's knowledge of the servants' actions before they performed them, and that the Qadariyya who deny divine inscription (al-kitābah) and knowledge have committed disbelief, but they did not deem as disbelievers those who affirmed knowledge but did not affirm the creation of actions.

Shaykh Abdul-Aziz al-Rajhi also clarified that the polytheism of the Qadariyya regarding rububiyyah (Lordship) is subtle and subject to interpretation. He stated that the early Qadariyya who denied knowledge and inscription are disbelievers by consensus, because they attributed ignorance to God. However, the later Qadariyya affirm the four levels of Qadar (divine decree), but they have been afflicted with a doubt concerning the actions of the servants, which prevents deeming them as disbelievers.

Al-Rajhi gave the example of the man who commanded his family to burn him and scatter his ashes out of fear of God, and God forgave him because what prompted him to act was ignorance and fear. Similarly, this is the case for the later Qadariyya.