Chp 5- ATTHEHBI IS IBN TEIMIYA'S INHERITOR
Familiarly, IbnulQeyim AlJawzi is Ibn Teimiya's inheritor. AtThehbi, in fact, is an invisible successor of Ibn Teimiya. Since enough light has not been focused on this personality, we are to pass upon him exclusively.
Describing AtThehbi's tendency towards corporalism and corporalists, AsSebki, in his TabaqatusShafiiya part 2 page 13, records:
Demeanors and variety of beliefs of both the criticizer and the criticized, ought to be taken in consideration during scrutinizing criticism. This point is stressed by Ashafii, who states, "Seconders ought to be clear from malice and fanaticism in beliefs, in order that they may not be induced to criticizing a litigant or approving a skeptic." A great number of master scholars were the victims of such a fanaticism. The criticizers were wrong and the criticized were right, but such a confusion occurred due to conventional prejudice. In his Aliqtirah, SheikhulIslam and master of the late, Taqiyuddin Bin Daqiq Aleed, refers to this point. He states, "A Muslim's repute is a hole of hell. Two groups of people stopped at the brim of that hole. They are the hadithists and the rulers."
Regarding Abu Hatem Bin Hebban, some anthropomorphists alleged that he was inaccurate in his religion. They confessed that they banished him out of Sejistan because he had denied Allah's having an edge. Alas! Which team should be banished; the believers in Allah's having an edge or those promoting Him against corpreity?! Many examples can be cited in this regard. AtThehbi, our master, is a good example. Although he enjoys a considerable amount of knowledgeability and piousness, he assails AhlusSunna exceedingly. Therefore, it is impermissible to rest upon him.
AsSaqaf's SharhulAqidetitTahawiya, page 315:
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While the heretic assert that attributes Allah has ascribed to Him should be used restrictively in referring to Him, they say that He settled on the Throne by His
Essence. What is the source of that
Essence they used? In which part of the Quran or the Prophet's traditions has this word been used? This expression leads undeviatingly to anthropomorphism, and supports their masters' saying that their god abides on the Throne so extensively that only a four finger distance remains.
An alike flaw occurred to AlKhellal when he recorded the following narrative, of doubt documentation, more than fifty times in his AsSunna, during providing the exegesis of God's saying, (Maybe your lord will raise you to a position of great glory. 17:79):
Mujahid: The Verse implies that the Lord reposes on the Throne and seats Mohammed (peace be upon him) near to him in the four finger distance space of the Throne.
AlHafiz AtThehbi, who moderated only after his youth, denied so and retreated from the ideas he had written down in his Siyeru A'laminNubela, regarding those who added 'Essence' after mentioning Allah's exhalation, settling and the like. He records, "We have previously mentioned that the word 'Essence' is superfluous since it injures minds."
AsSaqaf, however, was inadvertent to the fact that AtThehbi had never negated Allah's descending by His Essence by selfmastery.
This is clear from his words recorded in
Siyeru A'laminNubela, part 19, page 605:
… IbnuzZaghawani composes a poetry:
High on the elevated Throne by His Essence
Praised be Him against a saying of the aberrant and atheists
We have previously mentioned that the word 'Essence' is superfluous since it injures minds. Neglecting this expression is favorable.
Granting that was AtThehbi's word, it is inevitable to interpret it in a way becoming his beliefs. He believes that Allah, the Exalted, reposes physically on the Throne and descends materially to the lowest heavens. He only assumes that it is favorable to neglect discussing bases of his belief. He also sees that since 'Essence' is unacceptable expression for Muslims' minds, it ought to be avoided, and kept within secrets of the belief and said before followers only.
This is indicated by the fact that as if he approved AzZaghawani's deciding atheism of the entire Muslims except anthropomorphists, AtThehbi shows no denial against this verdict issued by that Hanbalite master, while he was providing his life account.
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This is also supported by his statements recorded in Siyeru A'laminNubela, part 20 page 331:
It is obligatory to believe in the descending of Allah and it is favorable to neglect discussing its essentials. This was the worthy ancestors' course. Claiming of descending by His Essence was only purposed for submitting the interpreters who claimed descending of His knowledgeability. We do seek Allah's protecting us against disputing in the religion. The same thing is said about Allah's coming and the like. We say, "He came", and "He descends", but we warn against claiming descending by Essence. In the same time, we do not claim descending of His knowledgeability. We only keep silent so that we may not invent heretic expressions before the Prophet (peace be upon him).
Hence, AtThehbi refutes the interpretation that descending falls by means other than the Essence. Meanwhile, he finds an excuse for those who claim descending by the Essence. He allege that such individuals said so just for submitting the interpreters who dispute and litigate in religious questions. This indicates that AtThehbi adopts claim of descending by the Essence. He, at the same time, warns the anthropomorphists, his group, against claiming descending by the Essence, so that others should not be spurred against them! AtThehbi's attitude is evidently shown in his statement, "It is favorable to neglect discussing bases of his belief."
He realizes and believes in essentials of the material descending. However, neglecting such essentials is favorable. It is may be acceptable and excusable to disclose these essentials before rivals, in cases of inescapable necessity.
This fact is also supported by his words about Kutah, whose master dismissed him because he had been claiming "descending by the Essence", and was warmly received by the Syrian anthropomorphists.
TethkiratulHuffaz, part 4, page 13:
Kutah: The Quran reciter, the master, Abu Masud AbdulJalil Bin Mohammed. Abu Musa AlMadini states, "He was unique in learning in addition to manners and decency. He was one of the favorable followers of Ismail AlHafiz. I attended some of his sessions, and heard AbulQasim AlHafiz, in Damascus, extol him nobly, raise his standing and accredit erudition and accuracy to him.
He also was learned by AbdulQahir Ashebrawi, in Nisapur, and another group in Baghdad. His master, Ismail, dismissed him because he asserted that Allah "descends by His Essence"…
This is also supported by his defending and praising AlHafiz AbdulGhani, the famous corporalist.
Siyeru A'laminNubela, part 21 page 463:
In MiratuzZeman, Abu Muzaffar AlWaiz records:
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AlHafiz AbdulGhani used to provide his lectures after the Friday Prayer. Muhyiddin, Diyaddin and others went to the governor and complained against AbdulGhani claiming his adopting anthropomorphism. The two parties argued. AbdulGhani stated, "I do not promote Him against ill matters so excessively that I deny His actual descending.", "Allah was when there was no space. Today, He is not as he was." and "Allah possess symbols and voice."
The adversary party concentrated on these points. They commented, "Considering the Lord was not as he was, this means that He has a definite space. Proving the Lord's actual descending affirms acceptance of His moveableness. Regarding symbols and voice, masters, such as Ahmed Bin Hanbal, dedicated so to Allah's words that are not created."
The two parties were engaged in noisy discrepancy. Burghush, the government asked, "You think all those are wrong and you alone is right. Do you not?" "Yes, I do," affirmed AbdulGhani. Thus, the governor ordered of destroying his pulpit and banishing him to Balbak. Later on, he traveled to Egypt. Scholars there ruled of permissibility of killing him. They argued that he was ruining people's beliefs and advocating corporalism. Hence, the vizier ordered of banishing him to Morocco. He died before execution of that order.
Owing to publicity of AbdulGhani's importunate adherence to his anthropomorphism, scholars agreed upon deciding his atheism and heresy. They also issued the impermissibility of keeping that man among Muslims. Hence, he sought them to be granted only three days before he would be banished. They responded.
I noticed carelessness and lack of piety of AbulMuzaffar, IbnulJawzi, in his historical texts. He was inclining to Rafidites. I could see one of his writing works brimming with calamities supporting the previous allegation. He would not have been alive if his claiming jurisprudents' deciding his atheism, had been true. In Damascus, AlImad, Muwaffaquddin, Abu Omar, Shamsuddin AlBukhari and the other Hanbalite scholars agreed with him. Besides, the country was full of master scholars who did neither decide his apostasy nor did they declare his downright statements due to which he was suppressed. It would have been safer and better for him had he shunned such statements and followed expressions of the texts. No single text regarding such illusive statements was reported. His worst statement was deciding aberrance of the present scholars, and his being the right alone. He worded a statement filled in with evil, depravity and disadvantage. May God forgive and be merciful to the all, since they intended only to glorify and promote. The most perfect course of glorifying and promoting the Lord against ill matters was stopping at expressions of the Quran and the Prophet's traditions. This course was adopted by the worthy ancestors (God may please them). At any rate, AlHafiz AbdulGhani was one of the religious, learned, pious and righteous men. He
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enjoyed numerous merits. Finally, we seek God's protection against caprices, prevarication, fanaticism and forging lies. We also disavow every corporalist and Tatilist.
AtThehbi's skillfulness of attaching school of his master, Ibn Teimiya, and him to the ancestors who were commenders, should be acknowledged. He used their silence for his good and provided it as an adaptation of the material exegesis.
Siyeru A'laminNubela, part 10 page 505:
Scholars of the worthy ancestors interpreted expressions whether they were remarkable or not. They did not approach Verses and hadiths of the divine attributes at all. Yet, these are the most remarkable questions of the religion. They would have taken initiative in interpreting such texts had they been conceivable. Hence, it became appreciable that the right is only reciting and recognizing these texts, without trying to find any other interpretation. Like the worthy ancestors, we should believe and acquiesce in such texts.
In the previous text, AtThehbi commits a distortion so daringly that no anthropomorphist could attain. This distortion, AtThehbi attires dress of reasoning, is clarified by the following example:
Considering there is an article of a law so ambiguous that it has two significances; extrinsic and metaphoric. An individual abstained from finding an explanation for that article claiming acquiescing in its aspect and commending its significance to the legislator. Do others dare to regard him as opting for the very extrinsic significance since he abstained from interpreting? Of course, none dare to regard as so since that individual will certainly answer, "I am abstinent from any interpretation. None is allowed to attach any interpretation, including the extrinsic, to me."
AtThehbi, however dared to say so. He states, "Hence, it became appreciable that the right is only reciting and recognizing these texts, without trying to find any other interpretation." He means any interpretation other than the material. Just after that, he asserts, "Like the worthy ancestors, we should believe and acquiesce in such texts." This indicates that we should believe that material appearances of the texts should be embraced, and then acquiesce in essentials of the belief, like the commenders.
The entire words of the Sunni scholars flow in the same stream.
"Recognize the texts as they are." "Pass the texts as they are." "Recite the texts as they are." "Take the texts as they are." "Acquiesce in the texts." All these words have the same meaning; Interpret not these texts and commend them to Allah, the Elevated, and His prophet. None at all ruled of opting for faces of these texts. How should, then, the anthropomorphists adopt
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(involving the appearances as they seem.), and attach to the commenders among the worthy ancestors?
It is not improbable that 'pass' mentioned in words of the Sunni scholars was in the origin 'recognize'
18. But owing to clerical errors, the word was confused. 'Recognition' is used for constant matters while 'passing' is used for the movable. Neither the early nor the late scholars used this word at all except in the item involved. For eloquence, it is inappropriate to used 'pass' to unchangeable matters. The word, however, is used for expressing movable things. For example; 'pass the sheep' means 'let those walking sheep pass.' For constant things; such as texts, we use 'recognize' which means 'accept'.
The following are examples of the worthy ancestors' words:
AlMizi's TahdibulKemal, part 1 page 514:
Ahmed Bin Nasr: I asked Sufian Bin Uyeina an interpretation for the sayings that hearts are between two of Allah's fingers, and that Allah laughs when He is mentioned in marts. "Pass them as they are, without asking how", answered Sufian.
AtThehbi's Siyeru A'laminNubela, part 5 page 162:
AlAwzai: AzZuhri and Mackhul used to say, "Pass the hadiths as they are."
AtThehbi's Siyeru A'laminNubela, part 5 page 337:
AlAwzai: He used to say, "Pass the Prophet's traditions as they are."
AtThehbi's TethkiratulHuffaz, part 1 page 304:
AlWalid Bin Muslim: I asked Mali, AlAwzai, AtThawri and AlLeith Bin Sa'd about hadiths pertaining the divine attributes. "Pass them as they are, without asking how," they answered.
AtThehbi's Siyeru A'laminNubela, part 7 page 274:
Sufian was asked about hadiths pertaining the divine attributes. "Pass them as they are," he answered. Abu Nueim stated, "Were I to skip out these hadiths totally." Abu Usama: Sufian said, "Had my hand been amputated before I sought a hadith."
The two last sayings indicate that the reason beyond adopting for commendation was anticipating being sinful in case they adopt an interpretation leads to affirming anthropomorphism.
AtThehbi's Siyeru A'laminNubela, part 8 page 162:
____________
18. In Arabic, the two words; recognize and pass differ in a single similar letter only.
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AlWalid Bin Muslim: I asked Mali, AlAwzai, AtThawri and AlLeith about hadiths pertaining the divine attributes. "Pass them as they are, without asking how," they answered. Abu Ubeid commented, "As we could not recognize a single individual cite an interpretation to these texts, we should also neglect so." This Abu Ubeid compiled a book dedicated to strange hadiths. He neglected discussing any of hadiths of the divine attributes at all. As he told that he could not recognize a single individual cite an interpretation of such texts, he abstained from interpreting. Positively, had interpretation of such texts been conceivable or fundamental, it would have been more concerned that interpretation of hadiths of secondary affairs and ethics. As scholars neglected citing any interpretation for such texts, and passed them as they were, it was perceivable that their course what the absolute right.
Abu Ubeid's saying, "We could not recognize a single individual cite an interpretation to these texts.", implies denial of the claim of opting for extrinsic interpretation. This saying also denies Ibn Teimiya's claim that Abu Ubeid did interpreted the Lord's settlement into descending. This claim is recorded in his book of Tafseer, part 6.
The latter wording of AtThehbi is an attempt to decide 'passing their texts are they are' as same as interpreting them according to their aspects. Hence, he attempts at making the commenders adopt the faith Ibn Teimiya and he had embraced.
AtThehbi's Siyeru A'laminNubela, part 8 page 467:
Respecting the hadith, "Allah is astonished or laughs when He is mentioned in marts.", Sufian commented, "It is as it came. We accept and communicate it without asking how."
AtThehbi's Siyeru A'laminNubela, part 9 page 165:
Ahmed Bin Ibrahim AdDawraqi: Waki:
We should submit to these hadiths such as that of Allah's burdening the heavens of one of His fingers as they are. We do not ask how or what for.
AtThehbi's Siyeru A'laminNubela, part 15 page 86:
AbulHassan compiled four books appertained to principals of the religion and bases of the worthy ancestors' belief in the divine attributes. He records, "These texts should be passed as they are. This is my saying and belief. I should not seek an interpretation."
Besides, AtThehbi, as well as the worthy ancestors, recorded tens of texts discussing this topic. All those texts indicated that trends of commendation and interpretation were the two major schools the Sunni ancestors belonged to. School of resting upon extrinsic meanings was adopted by the corporalists; the Hashawites, some of the Hanbalites and few of the Asharites.
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AtThehbi asserted that there had been three trends respecting this question.
AtThehbi's Siyeru A'laminNubela, part 19 page 582:
I asked him about hadiths of the divine attributes. He answered, "People litigated about them. Some interpreted. Others abstained and others believed in their extrinsic meanings. I believe in one of these three trends."
Likewise, Ibn Khuldoun discerned school of commendation from that of resting upon aspects of the texts. Moreover, some late scholars, such as AnNawawi, assert that the course of Sunni ancestors was commendation and refutation of the extrinsic meanings. This is a strange matter, indeed. Commendation totally reconciles denial of extrinsic interpretations, but it does in no means concur extrinsic interpretation. Any text is not commended to Allah if it is interpreted according to its aspect. While denial certain interpretations of a text does not injure commending to Allah.
Seyid Sharafuddin's Abu Hureira, part 1 page 57:
AnNawawi, the master, asserts:
A number of scholars dispense with finding interpretations for such hadiths, claiming, "We do believe they are right, and their extrinsic meanings are not intended, and there are meanings becoming them." This is, in fact, trend of majority of the ancestors. It is the safest and the most secure.
CORPORALISTS ARE HEIRS OF EXTRINSICISM
It is obvious that the hypothetical base upon which corporalism was founded, is necessity of resting upon extrinsic meanings of texts. This base seems to be imitated a long period after emergence of extrinsicism created by Dawud Alisfahani, who publicized it in Morocco. Effects of that school are still manipulated in Ibn Hazm AlAndalusi's written works.
Ideas and course of corporalism were originated a long time before coming forth of extrinsicism. This indicates that the objective base of their school was authored after existence of the school itself. In other more objective words, their base was discriminating, just like communism. The latter had been originated before it was fanatically embraced. A period after that, its hypotheses were adopted by dialectic. Thus, this historical article was picked up to be the objective base of communism.
AsSemani's AlAnsab, part 4 page 99:
Extrnisicism is imputed to that group who adopted school of Dawud Bin Ali AlIsfahani. They opt for the extrinsic meanings of texts. They are numerous. AbulHussein Mohammed Bin AlHussein AlBasri acceded to extrinsicism.
Corporalists, in fact, mutinied against their fathers; the extrinsicists, neglecting their principals and rules. Dawud AzZahir (the extrinsicist) and Ibn Hazm opt
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for the extrinsic meanings to definite limits after which they interpret. They are, then, interpreters. For corporalists, those two individuals are aberrant and atheists because they were not extrinsicists.
Ibn Hazm's AlFasl, volume 1 part 2 page 122:
Sayings of Allah, the Exalted, should be taken as their extrinsic meanings unless there is another text, congruity or a necessity contrasting so. It is recognized that whatsoever is existent in a place, occupies that place. These all are qualities of corporealities. Regarding so, it is proved that nearness intended in God's saying, (And We are nearer to him than his lifevein. 50:16), stands for control and awareness only.
Ibn Hazm's AlFasl, volume 1 part 2 page 166:
Discussion Of The Divine Face, Hand And Eye:
Allah, the Exalted, says, (And there will endure for ever the face of your Lord, the Lord of glory and honor. 55:27)
Corporalists used this saying as argument for their trend. Others said that 'face of Allah' is His person. This is actually the right proved by clear evidences… The purport of such things; Allah's hand, eye, face and the like, is Allah, the Exalted, and nothing else.
Ibn Hazm's AlFasl, volume 1 part 2 page 167:
The Prophet (peace be upon him) stated, "Hell keeps on demanding with more till Lord of Dignity places His foot precedence in it."
In this hadith, 'foot' stands for precedence. This meaning is mentioned in God's saying, (A footing of firmness with their Lord. 10:2). Hence, the meaning of the hadith is that Allah should fill in hell with people who preceded others in evildoing. The same is said about the authentic hadith, "Allah created Adam on his look." This indicates that Allah had opted for the look on which he created Adam.
Ibn Hazm's AlFasl, volume 1 part 2 page 140:
Unanimously, Muslims agreed upon Allah's being hearing and seeing, since this truth is emphasized in the Holy Quran. A group of Sunnis, Asharites, Jafar Bin Harb the Mutazilite, Husham Bin AlHakam and the corporalists claimed, "We decisively believe that Allah, the Exalted, is hearing by a means of audition, seeing by a means of sight." Groups of Sunnis, including Ashafii, assert that Allah, the Exalted, is hearing and seeing, but they refuted mentioning means of audition and sight, since Allah, the Elevated, has not referred to so. They believe that the Lord is hearing by His Essence and seeing by His Essence… Thus, we adopt this very saying and rule of impermissibility of claiming of means of audition and sight since this claim has not proved by a text.
