Al-Qadi (Judge)
Abu Bakr al-Baqillani
(d.403 AH/1012 CE)
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Wahabi says: LINK
Quote:“Concerning The Question: Where is Allaah?
“Chapter: And if someone says: Where is He? It is said to him: Asking where (al-ayn) is asking about place (al-makaan) and He is not one that a place (makaan) is permitted to enclose (yahwee), and nor [one that] places can encompass. Except that we say: Indeed He is Above His Throne, [but] not with the meaning of a body [being as such] through contact and adjacency, Exalted is He above that with a Lofty Exaltation.
Wahabi says:
[End of Quote]
Salafis
" Floating God "
" Above The Throne ”
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Abu Baker al-Baqillani has negated Allah being adjacent to the throne, hence negating direction to be the meaning of above.
Salafies believe: “Allah is floating physically above the throne.”!
Nowhere Baqillani says to believe in the literal meaning!
They themselves have quoted Baqillani negating Allah to be in a place, adjacent to the throne, contact, body and opposing the question:
Just like how we oppose those who say "Allah is in a place" by verses that literally refute it.
As can be read from one of the books of
AL_BAQILANI AT-TAMHEED
More info/refutation on the subject : Here
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Muĥammad ibn Al-Ţayyib ibn Muĥammad ibn Jaˆfar
Abu Bakr Al-Baqillani
was the head of the Asħˆariyys/ Sunnis of his time
He wrote many books, some of which are in print (Al-’Aˆlaam, 6/176).
Al-Dħahabiyy in his “Taariikħu-l-Islaam” V. 28, P. 89 relates that Al-Baqillani was once sent by the Muslim ruler to debate the Christian scribes of the Roman Emperor.
When he arrived to the emperor’s hall they had made the entrance to the emperor very low, to the extent that one had to bow down in order to enter.
Al-Baqillani realised that it was a trick to make him bow to the emperor, so he turned and entered back end first.
Once there, he turned to one of the monks and said,
“How are the wife and kids?”
Astonished, the emperor replied,
“Do you not know that the monk elevates himself having a wife or kids?”
Al-Baqillani closed his trap by quickly replying:
“You consider him above this, but you do not consider Aļļaah to be clear of and above having a female companion and child?”
He was also mockingly asked, “What happened to ˆAa’isħah?”
They were referring to the time that she, the Prophet’s wife, was accused by the hypocrites of having been unfaithful. They wanted to make him lose his temper by their insinuations.
Al-Baqillani answered:
“Like what happened to Maryam. (They were both accused of adultery), then they were both declared innocent by Aļļaah, and Maryam brought a baby, while ˆAa’isħah did not.”
They could find no response to this, because he had shown them that permitting the slander of ˆAa’isħah would imply permitting ugly and heretical slander of Maryam even more.
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The wahabis are claiming that Al-Baaqillaaniyy is an “early ‘Ashˆariyy” and quote him to show, as they claim, that the so called “early ‘Ashˆariyys” believed:
" Aļļaah to be in a location above the Arsh."
They quote him, saying:
"And if someone says: Where is He? It is said to him: Asking where (al-ayn) is asking about place (al-makaan) and He is not one that a place (makaan) is permitted to enclose (yahwee), and nor [one that] places can encompass. Except that we say: Indeed He is Above His Throne, [but] not with the meaning of a body [being as such] through contact and adjacency, Exalted is He above that with a Lofty Exaltation."
As you can see, Al-Baaqillaaniyy explicitly denies place, and even the validity of asking “where?”
Yet the wahabis claim that this is somehow different from saying Aļļaah’s aboveness is not in the sense of direction or location. In other words, they claim that he means that Aļļaah is located above the throne, in a direction to be pointed at, yet not a body.
This is not what Al-Baaqillaaniyy means, and I suspect they know that, but they will go very far in defending their ideas, even forgery and lies. An example being when they claim that there is a difference between “bringing into existence in Himself” and “creating in Himself” to defend their idea that Aļļaah brings about changes in Himself, a plain kufr belief.
The father of their kufr and verbose word games, Ibn Taymiyyah, was much more explicit than they are, openly stating that Aļļaah has a size and six limits, i.e. a body, even if he does not usually call it that.
Here is an explicit statement showing that Al-Baaqillaaniyy did not mean that Aļļaah is in a direction:
He also said:
If someone said, “How is He?” then it is said to him, “If you mean by howness composition, form or kind, then (the answer is that) He has no form or kind to tell you about. If you meant by “how is He?” to ask, ”What is His attribute?” then the answer is that He is attributed with Life, Knowledge, Power, Hearing and Seeing. If you meant by “How is He?” to say, “How does He deal with His creation?” then the answer is: “By justice and grace.” 3
قال الباقلاني (ت 403 هـ) في [التمهيد : "فإن قال قائل وكيف هو قيل له إن أردت بالكيفية التركيب والصورة والجنسية فلا صورة له ولا جنس فنخبرك عنه. وإن أردت بقولك كيف هو أي على أي صفة هو فهو حي عالم قادر سميع بصير. وإن أردت بقولك كيف هو أي كيف صنعه إلى خلقه فصنعه إليهم العدل والإحسان" اهـ
So for those who need to be spoon-fed:
I hope that would be enough.
All Al-Baaqillaaniyy is doing is saying that Aļļaah is ascribed with aboveness, but not in the sense of direction, just as many of the Salaf did, like Aţ-Ţabariyy.
They did not explain it further, and simply left it at that. This is what we call tafwiiđ. Then there are those that explain it further, such as Al-Qurţubiyy in this quote.
Note: that the wahabis have also claimed explicitly or implied that
Abuu Ĥaniifah, Al-Qurţubiyy, An-Nawawiyy and Al-ˆAsqalaaniyy believed Aļļaah to be in a direction."
We have shown previously shown this to be false. If you are interested, click on their names to see.
1 Abuu Bakr Al-Baaqillaaniyy (338 h. – 403 h.), Al-Inşaaf, 177.
2الباقلاني, الإنصاف, 177.
3 Abuu Bakr Al-Baaqillaaniyy (338 h. – 403 h.), Tamiid, 300.
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In his book ‘Al-‘insaf fima yajibu ‘i^tiqaduhu wa la yajuzu al-jahlu bihi’
(the just ruling regarding what one is obligated to believe in and cannot be ignorant of)
“We do not state that the Grand ^Arsh (Throne) is a residence or a location for Allah, due to the fact that Allah, the Exalted, is eternally existent and place is not, hence when place was brought into existence by His Creating He did not change”.
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Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal said: "Whoever says that Allah is abody unlike the bodies have blasphemed (committed kufur)". This is because Allah is not a body, and is not like the creations in anyway.
Ibn al-Jawziy al-Hanbali said in his book "Daf^ Shubah at-Tashbih" page 58:
"The obligation upon us is to believe that the self of Allah ta^ala is not contained in a place, and He is not attributed with change nor movement".
Ibn al-Jawziy also said: "Some people lied when they heard about the Sifat (attributes of Allah) and interpreted them according to the physical meanings, such as those who claimed that Allah literally descends from the sky and moves from one place to another. This is an ill understanding, because the one who moves would be from a place to a place, and that necessitates that the place is bigger than him and that requires movement, and all of that is impossible to be attributed to Allah the Exalted".
Imam Ibn al-Jawziy is the great interpreter of al-Qur'an, and one of the great heads of the Hanbalis. In his book "Daf^ Shubah at-Tashbih" he refuted the Mushabbiha and Mujassimah that attributed themselves falsely to the Hanbali School. He also cleared Imam Ahmad and the Salaf from the beliefs of Tajsim (attributing a body to Allah) and Tashbih (likening Allah to his creations), and cleared Allah from the place, space, size, shape, limit, body, sitting, standing, settling, and other attributes of the creations.
Ibn Hajar al-Haitamiy also confirmed in his book "al-Fatawa al-Hadithiyah" page 144 that Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal clears Allah from being a body, or having a limit, size, shape, place or direction. He said: "The creed of the Imam of Alsunna Ahmad Bin Hanbal (Radiallahu ^Anhu) complies with the creed of Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jama^ah in exceptionally clearing Allah completely from what the ungrateful wrongdoers did by attributing to Allah non befitting attributes such the direction and body and other attributes of imperfection, in fact any attribute that does not have complete perfection. And what became popular between the ignorant people who falsely claim to follow this great Imam(Ahmad bin Hanbal) al-Mujtahid, that he attributed the direction to Allah or such, this is a lie and a false accusation to him".
وقال الشيخ شهاب الدين أحمد بن محمد المعروف بابن حجر الهيتمي الأشعري (974 )ها ما نصه (الفتاوى الحديثية (ص/ 144): "عقيدة إمام السُّنة أحمد بن حنبل رضي الله عنه موافقة لعقيدة أهل السنة والجماعة من المبالغة التامّة في تنزيه الله تعالى عما يقول الظالمون والجاحدون علوّا كبيرا من الجهة والجسمية وغيرهما من سائر سمات النقص، بل وعن كل وصف ليس فيه كمال مطلق، وما اشتهر بين جهلة المنسوبين إلى هذا الإمام الأعظم المجتهد من أنه قائل بشىء من الجهة أو نحوها فكذب وبهتان وافتراء عليه"ا.هـ
Imam al-Baqillaniy (one of the great Asharis) said in his book al-'Insaf page 65:
"And we do not say that the ^arsh (throne) is a place of settlement or rest for Allah, because Allah existed and there was no place, and when He created the place, He did not change". Healso said: "Allah is clear from being in directions, or resembling the creations, and also He is not attributed with transformation or movement, nor with standing or sitting, because such attributes are of the creations, and Allah (the creator) is clear from that".
قال القاضي أبو بكر محمد الباقلاني المالكي الأشعري (403) ما نصه: "ولا نقول إن العرش له- أي الله- قرار ولا مكان، لأن الله تعالى كان ولا مكان، فلما خلق المكان لم يتغير عما كان" اهـ. وقال أيضا ما نصه: "ويجب أن يعلم أن كل ما يدل على الحدوث أو على سمة النقص فالرب تعالى يتقدس عنه، فمن ذلك: أنه تعالى متقدس عن الاختصاص بالجهات، والاتصاف بصفات المحدثات، وكذلك لا يوصف بالتحول والانتقال، ولا القيام ولا القعود، ولأن هذه الصفات تدل على الحدوث، والله تعالى يتقدس عن ذلك" اهـ.
When Imam al Baqillaniy died, Abul Fadl at-Tamimi came to his funeral with bare feet, along with his brothers and friends and ordered to call out during his Janazah:
"This is the Imam of Alsunna and the Religion, He is the Imam of the Muslims, He is the one that used to defend the Shari^a and refute those who oppose, He is the one who compiled seventy thousand letters refuting the atheists". And he remained in his mourning ^azza' for three days, and he used to visit his grave every Saturday".
Al-Hafidh Ibn ^Asakr reported from ad-Damghaniy thatImam Abul Hassan at-Tamimi al-Hanbaliy said to his companions "Stick with this man (al-Baqillaniy), for he is indispensable".
Imam al-Hafidh al-^Iraqiy, and Imam al-Qurafiy, and Ibn Hajar al-Haitamiy, and Mulla ^Ali al-Qari, andMuhammad Zahid al-Kawthariy and others reported that the Imams of the Four Schools whom are the guide of the Ummah (Imam ash-Shafi^iy, Malik, Ahmad and Abu Hanfiah Radiallahu ^anhum) all declared those who attribute to Allah the direction or the body with kufur".
نقل الإمام الحافظ العراقي والإمام القرافي والشيخ ابن حجر الهيتمي وملا علي القاري ومحمد زاهد الكوثري وغيرهم عن الأئمة الأربعة هداة الأمة الشافعي ومالك وأحمد وأبي حنيفة رضي الله عنهم القول بتكفير القائلين بالجهة والتجسيم ".
Imam Ahmad Ibn Salamah, Abu Ja^far at Tahawiyy, who was born in the year 237 after Hijrah, and was one of the Heads of Great Salaf wrote a book called Al-^Aqidah at Tahawiyyah.
He mentioned that the content of his book is an elucidation of the creed of Ahlus -Sunnah wal Jama^ah, which is the creed of Imam Abu Hanifah, who died in the year 150 after al Hijrah, and his two companions, Imam Abu Yusuf al-Qadi and Imam Muhammad Ibn al Hasan ash-Shaybaniyy and others.
At-Tahawiy said in his book at-Tahawiyah:
"Allah is supremely clear of all boundaries, extremes, sides, organs and instruments. The six directions do NOT contain Him--these are attributed to all created things.
Such is the saying of Imam Abu Ja^far who is among the heads of as-Salaf.
He explicitly stated that Allah is clear of being contained by the six directions, that is he is confirming that Allah exists without a place. The six directions are above, below, in front of, behind, right, and left. So this is clear evidence that the Salaf cleared Allah from organs, bodily parts, place, direction, limits and al-Kayf (manners of beings).
Imam at-Tahawiy also said:
"And whoever attributes to Allah any of the manners of beings is considered a blasphemer".
In his book, Ihya'u ^Ulum ad-Din, Imam al-Ghazaliyy said:
"... places do not contain Allah, nor do the directions, earth, or heavens.He is attributed with an "istiwa'" over al-^arsh as He said in the Qur'an--with the meaning that He willed--and not as what people may delude. It is an istiwa' which is clear of touching, resting, holding, moving and containment. Al-^arsh does not carry Him, but rather al-^arsh and those that carry al-^arsh are all carried by Allah with His Power and are subjugated to Him. He is above al-^arsh and above the heavens and above everything--in status-- an aboveness that does not give Him proximity to al-^arsh or the heavens as it does not give Him farness from earth. He is higher in status than everything: higher in status than al-^arsh and the heavens, as He is higher in status than earth and the rest of the creation."
Imam al-Ghazaliyy said:
" Allah, the Exalted, existed eternally and there was no place. Heis not a body, jawhar (atom), or property, and He is not on a place or in a place."
Shaykh ^Abdul-Ghaniyy an-Nabulsiyy said:
"He who believes that Allah filled the heavens and earth or thatHe is a body sitting above al-^arsh, is a kafir."
Ibn Hajar al-^Asqalaniy (who is also an Ash^ari hafidh) said in his explanation of Sahih al-Bukhary (Fath al-Bari):
"Attributing aboveness (Fawqiyah) to Allah is a matter of status, and the impossibility lies in it being physical."
This means Allah exists without a place and is clear from being in a direction or place. And the "Fawqiyah" or aboveness when attributed to Allah it refers to abovness of status and greatness of Allah, the exalted. He is the creator Subhanahu Wa Ta^ala that does not need any of the creations in any way.
(Edited by ADHM)
