Imaam Fakhr Ad-DeenAr-Raazi (D. 606 H. 1210; Herat) proclaimed that what has caused the Al-Hashawiya to deviate in respect of the allegorical texts (al-Mutashabihat) is their ignorance of the usage of Arabic language (al-Balaaghah). Who are the Al-Hashawiya that Imaam Raazi indicates?

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds.  I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

Al-Hashawiyyah is a word that the innovators like Al-Mu'tazilah and others use to refer to the Companions and the generation who came after them of the Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa'ah. They mean by this term the common people who do not understand the meanings of the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah (Prophetic tradition) of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. It is said that the first person to utter this word was 'Amr ibn 'Ubayd, who said, "'Abdullaah ibn 'Umar was one of the Hashawiyyah." Look at this impudence of this innovator towards this great and honorable Companion !

It is known that Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa'ah describe Allaah The Almighty with what He has described Himself in His Book and what the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, described Him with in his Sunnah, while believing that none is like Allaah The Almighty and that He is All-Hearing and All-Seeing. However, the innovators say that describing Allaah The Almighty with what He has described Himself implies that Allaah The Almighty resembles His creation, and that this (statement) is disbelief. Their statement is objectionable in principle, because describing Allaah The Almighty with what He has described Himself does not imply resembling Him with His creation.

Allaah, the All-Mighty and the Sublime One is more aware about Himself than these ignorant people. If Allaah The Almighty describes Himself as the All-Hearer and the All-Seer, it is an obligation upon us to believe that He is such, while believing that He does not resemble His creation. The hearing and the sight of His creation is limited while the Hearing and Sight of Allaah The Almighty are complete and perfect. If Allaah The Almighty describes Himself that He rose above the magnificent Throne, it becomes an obligation upon us to believe that His rising above the Throne is not like the rising of His creation, and this distinction applies to all His Names and Attributes. This is the belief of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaa'ah the basis of which is the Saying of Allaah The Almighty (which means): {There is nothing like Him and He is The Samee' (The All-Hearer) and The Baseer (The All-Seer)}[Quran, 42:11] So He negated the likeness of anyone or anything to Him and confirmed those qualities as His. The innovators who characterize Ahlus-Sunnah as being Hashawees, (i.e. common and ignorant people) and give them insulting names, Allaah The Almighty will judge them.

Allaah Knows best.