This
thread is devoted to presenting quotes by the Salaf
as Saalih,
and from Hanbali
and Athari scholars
agreeing with Sunni
Theologians (Mutakallimeen)
of the Ash'ari
and Maatureedi schools
in the issues that the "Salafis" disagree with
them about.
After quotes are added, they will
be indexed by Scholars
The
Head of the Hanbalis of
his time, Abul
Fadl At Tameemi (d.
410AH) (RH) said about the creed of Imam
Ahmad bin Hanbal:
وأنكر
على من يقول بالجسم وقال: إن
الأسماء مأخوذة بالشريعة واللغة. وأهل
اللغة وضعوا هذا الإسم على كل ذي طول وعرض
وسمك وتركيب مصورة وتأليف. والله
خارج عن ذلك كله. فلم
يجز أن يسمى جسما لخروجه عن معنى الجسمية. ولم
يجئ في الشريعة, فبطل. أهـــ
"And
he (Imam Ahmad) disapproved of anyone stating that Allah is a “jism”.
And he would say, “Names of Allah are taken from the Sharee’ah
and from the Arabic Language. The people of the Arabic Language
coined that term for whatever has length, width, depth, composition,
and form. And Allah the Exalted is free from all of that. So it is
impermissible to call him a "jism", since He is free from
what a "jism" means.Furthermore, it did not come in the
Sharee’ah [so it is null and void]."
I'tiqaad
Al Imam Al Munabbal:
Ahmad
bin Hanbal,
pg. 45 Al
Qaadi Abu Ya'laa Al Hanbali said,
as his son related from him in Tabaqaatul
Hanaabilah:
ولا
يوصف بصفات المخلوقين الدالة على حدثهم
ولا يجوز عليه ما يجوز عليهم من التغير
من حال إلى حال ليس بجسم ولا جوهر ولا
عرض. أهـــ
"The
qualities of creations that indicate their temporality are not
ascribed to Allah. And changing from state to state, which is
possible for them, is not possible for Him. He is not a body, a
substance or an accident."
ON
ATTRIBUTING A BODY
(JISM) TO
ALLAH
[The
Imam and hadith master (hafiz) Ahmad ibn al-Husayn] al-Bayhaqi (d.
458/1066) relates in his Manaqib al-Imam Ahmad [The memorable actions
of Imam Ahmad] with his chain on the authority of Abu al-Fadl that he
said:
"[Imam] Ahmad censured the one who believed in
corporeality [qala bi al-jism], saying, 'The Names of things are
taken from the Shari'a and the Arabic language. The language's
possessors have used this word [body] for something that has height,
breadth, thickness, construction, form, and composition, while Allah
Most High is beyond all of that, and may not be termed a "body"
because of being beyond any meaning of embodiedness. This has not
been conveyed by the Shari'a, and so is refuted ' "
وروى
البيهقي في مناقب الإمام أحمد بسنده عن
أبي الفضل هذا أنه قال :"أنكر
أحمد على من قال بالجسم وقال إن الأسماء
مأخوذة من الشريعة واللغة، وأهل اللغة
وضعوا هذا الإسم على ذي طول وعرض وسمك
وتركيب وصورة وتأليف ، والله تعالى خارج
عن ذلك كله فلم يجز أن يسمى جسماً لخروجه
عن معنى الجسمية ولم يجيء في الشريعة ذلك
فبطل ."
Imam
Ahmad Ibn Hanbal said:
'The one who says Allah is a body not like other bodies
Blasphemes'.
[Narrated by Abu Muhammad al Baghdadi in his book
Al Khisal and Badr al-Din al-Zarkashi in his book Tashnif Al
Masami']
Similarly, Hafiz
al-Bayhaqi quotes Imam Ahmad in Manaqib Ahmad:
"A
person commits an act of disbelief (kufr) if he says Allah is a body,
even if he says: Allah is a body but not like other bodies."
ON
ATTRIBUTING LIMBS TO
ALLAH
In I'tiqad
Imam Ahmad bi Riwaya Tamimi (page
4) the Imam is quoted as saying:
Allah ta'ala has Yadayn. They
are attributes of His Essence which are not two limbs, nor two
composite parts, nor a body...
وكان
يقول إن لله تعالى يدين وهما صفة له في
ذاته ليستا بجارحتين وليستا بمركبتين و
لا جسم ولا من جنس الأجسام ولا من جنس
المحدود والتركيب ولا الأبعاض والجوارح
ON
ASCRIBING LIMITS TO
ALLAH
Al-Khallal reports
from Imam
Ahmad:
Allāh
has a Throne and the Throne has carriers carrying it while Allāh is
on His Throne although He has no limit, and Allāh knows best its
limit.
[Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Aqīda Riwayata Abī Bakr
al-Khallāl, ed. Abd al-Azīz Izz al-Dīn al-Sayrawan (Damascus: Dār
Qutayba, 1988) p. 78.]
Hanbal
ibn Ishāq, the
Imām's cousin reports from Imam
Ahmad:
Allāh
is not to be described more than whatever He described Himself with,
or His Prophet described Him with, without limit nor delimitation
(bilā h.addin walā ghāya)
[Narrated by Ibn Qudāma in Dhamm
al-Ta'wīl (p. 20 #32)]
and also via Hanbal, We
believe that Allāh is on the Throne in the manner He wishes and
however He wishes, without limit nor description anyone could give or
define Him by.
[Narrated by Abū Ya'lā in Ibtāl al-Ta'wīl per
Ibn Taymiyya, Bayān Talbīs (2:173).]
and, in commentary
of the verse "And He is with you wheresoever you may be (57:4):
[I.e.] His knowledge. His knowledge encompasses all, and our Lord is
over the Throne without limit (bilā h.add) nor
description.
[Narrated by al-Dhahabī cf. Mukhta.sar al-'Uluw
(p. 190 #229) and by al-Lālikāī.]
ON
ASCRIBING CHANGE
(& LIMITS) TO
ALLAH
Abū
al-Fadl al-Tamīmī narrates from Imam Ahmad:
Allāh is not
subject to change, substitution, nor limits, whether before or after
the creation of the Throne.
[Narrated by Ibn Abī Ya'lā,
Tabaqāt al-Hanābila (2:296-297).]
POSITION
TOWARDS THE 'ATTRIBUTE'
VERSES
Ibn
Qudama in his Lum'at al-I'tiqad narrates:
Imam
Abu `Abdullah Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Hanbal -
may Allah be pleased with him - has said regarding the Prophet's
statements - sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam- that Allah descends to the
lowest heaven, that Allah will be seen on the day of Resurrection,
and what resembles such statements.
"We have faith
and believe in them without [saying] how [is their modality] or
[interpreting their] meaning. We do not reject any of [these
reports]. We know that what the Messenger came with is the truth. We
do not reject what the Messenger of Allah - sallallahu 'alayhi wa
sallam - has brought. Nor do we describe Allah with more than what He
has described Himself without [ascribing to Him] a limit or an end.
'Like Him there is naught. And He is the All-hearing, the
All-seeing.' (42:1 1). We say as He has said and we describe Him as
He has described Himself. We do not transgress that. The descriptions
of men do not reach Him. We believe in the whole of the Qur'an - its
definitive (mukham) and its equivocal (mutashabih). We do not
separate from Him any of His attributes due to the protests of
anyone. We do not transgress the Qur'an and the hadith. Nor do we
know the reality of [these attributes] except by believing the
Messenger - sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam - and affirming the
Qur'an."
قال
الإمام أبو عبد الله أحمد بن محمد بن حنبل
رضي الله عنه في قول النبي صلى الله عليه
وسلم إن الله ينزل الى سماء الدنيا و إن
الله يرى في القيامة وما أشبه هذه الأحاديث
نؤمن بها ونصدق بها لا كيف ولا معنى ولا
نرد شيئا منها ونعلم أن ما جاء به الرسول
حق ولا نرد على رسول الله صلى الله عليه
وسلم ولا نصف الله بأكثر مما وصف به نفسه
بلا حد ولا غاية (ليس
كمثله شيء وهو السميع البصير) الشورى 11 ونقول
كما قال ونصفه بما وصف به نفسه لا نتعدى
ذلك ولا يبلغه وصف الواصفين نؤمن بالقرآن
كله محكمه ومتشابهه ولا نزيل عنه صفة من
صفاته لشناعة شنعت ولا نتعدى القرآن
والحديث ولا نعلم كيف كنه ذلك إلا بتصديق
الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم وتثبيت
القرآن .
HIS TA'WIL OF
CERTAIN VERSES
The Qadi
Abu Ya'la reported Ahmad
b. Hanbal as
having said that the verse "Allah will come to them" means
that [he will come to them] through His power (qudra) and His command
(amr), and in support of this interpretation he cited the verse "The
command of your Lord (amru rabbika) will come." The expression
"Your Lord will come," which is also found in the Torah,
[was explained by Ahmad as meaning that] it is His power (qudra) only
[that will come].
[Ibn al-Jawzi, Daf Shubah al-Tashbih; c.f Ibn
Hazm in al-Fisal 2:173]
وكلامه
في نفي التشبيه وترك الخوض في الكلام
والتمسك بما ورد في الكتاب والسنة عن
النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم وعن أصحابه.
وروى
البيهقي عن الحاكم عن أبي عمرو بن السماك
عن حنبل أن أحمد بن حنبل تأول قول الله
تعالى:
(وجاء
ربك)
[ الفجر:
22 ] أنه
جاء ثوابه.
ثم
قال البيهقي: وهذا
إسناد لا غبار عليه.
Regarding
the verse:
"And your Lord shall come . . ."
(Qur'an 89:22),
Hafiz
al-Bayhaqi narrates
Imam Ahmad explaining its meaning as "His recompense (thawab)
shall come."
Al-Bayhaqi adds, "This chain of narrators
has absolutely nothing wrong in it"
[al-Bidaya wa
al-nihaya,10.342; c.f. Ibn al-Jawzi in Daf Shubah al-Tashbih]
ON
ALLAH'S SPEECH
Imam
Ahmad was
asked: "{Never comes there unto them a new (muhdath) reminder
from their Lord} (21:2). Can something new be anything but
created?"
He replied: "Allah said: {Sad. By the Qur'an
that contains the Reminder} (38:1). 'The' reminder is the Qur'an,
while the other verse does not say 'the'."
[Narrated by Abu
`Uthman al-Sabuni from Salih ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal from his father in
Sirat al-Imam (p. 38).]
Another version states that
he answered:
"It
is possible that it is the Qur'an's revelation to us (tanziluhu
ilayna) that is muhdath, not the dhikr itself."
[Both
narrated by al-Bayhaqi cf. Ibn Kathir in al-Bidaya
(10:342-343).]
Something Ibn
Shaddad had
written was handed to Abu
Bakr al-Marwazi which
contained the phrase: "My pronunciation of the Qur'an is
uncreated" and the latter was asked to show it to Ahmad
ibn Hanbal for
corroboration. The latter crossed out the phrase and wrote instead:
"The Qur'an, however used (haythu yusraf), is uncreated."
(1)
In another sound narration, Abu
Bakr al-Marwazi, Abu Muhammaed Fawran [or
Fawzan], and Salih
ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal witnessed Ahmad rebuking
one of his students named Abu
Talib with
the words: "Are you telling people that I said: 'My
pronunciation of the Qur'an is uncreated'?" Abu Talib replied:
"I only said this from my own." Ahmad said: "Do not
say this - neither from me, nor from you! I never heard any person of
knowledge say it. The Qur'an is Allah's speech uncreated, whichever
way it is used." Salih said to Abu Talib: "If you told
people what you said, now go and tell the people that Abu 'Abd Allah
[Imam Ahmad] forbade to say it." (2)
---
(1) AS
(p. 265); ASG (2:18). Narrated with a sound chain by Bayhaqi.
Al-Kawthari commented on this and the next narration as follows: "Due
to such equivocal expressions, many of Ahmad's companions erroneously
thought that anything remotely connected with the Qur'an is
pre-eternal (qadim).
Bukhari said in Khalq Af'al al-Ibad :
' As for what the two parties from the school of Ahmad have claimed
as proof, each for his own position: Much of what they relate is not
established as authentic. It is probably they did not comprehend the
subteleness of his postion. What is known from Ahmad and the people
of knowledge is that Allah's speech is uncreated and all else is
created. But they hated to discuss and explore obscure matters,
avoiding dialectic theologians and their queries and disputations,
except in what was a matter of knowledge and which the Prophet Posted
Image clairfied.' "
(2) AS (p.265-266); ASH (2:18)
This is a sound narration also found in Salih ibn Ahmad's book
al-Mihna (p. 70-71), Ibn al-Jawzi's Manaqib al-Imam Ahmad (p.155),
and Ibn Taymiya in Majmu' al-Fatawa (12:360,
12:425)
----------------------
Imam Ibn
Balban al Hanbali
Ibn Balban's works, Mukhtasir
Shaykh
Ahmad Ibn Hamdan al Hanbali (d.695AH)
Nihaayt
ul din fi Usual al Din (Page31)
---
Refutations
of "Salafi"
Da'wah:
True
Hanbali Creed
-vs-
Ibn
Taymiyyah/False
"Salafi" Manhaj
---
Abdur
Rahman As-Sondalaani's Series of Videos (YouTube)
Refuting Pseudo
- salafism
---
Edited
by ADHM
