by Dr. G. F. Haddad
Al-Hamdulillah for
the favor of Islam and the honor of right Belief. May Allah bless
and salute our Master Muhammad and his Family and Companions.
This article sums up
the doctrine of the massive majority of the Muslims, namely the
People of the Sunna and the Congregation, concerning the
pre-existent, pre-eternal, beginningless, and uncreated nature of
the Divine Speech Allah Most High has named al-Qur'an, as held by
the Salaf al-Salihun and as formulated by the two Masters,
Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash`ari and Imam
Abu Mansur al-Maturidi and their respective schools.
The position of Ahl
al-Sunna wa al-Jama`a differs fundamentally on this matter
with that of the rest of the Muslim sects, especially with that
of the now defunct Mu`tazila.
The position of the Shi`a is indentical with that of the
Mu`tazila, who denied not only the Pre-existent status of the
Divine Speech, but of all the Divine Attributes for they
considered that they are the same as the Essence.
Ahl al-Sunna
agree one and all that the Qur'an is the pre-existent,
pre-eternal, uncreated Speech of Allah Most High on the evidence
of the Qur'an, the Sunna, and faith-guided reason.
In a rare instance of
classic kalâm reasoning, Imam Malik gave the most
succinct statement of this doctrine:
"The Qur'an is
the Speech of Allah, the Speech of Allah comes from Him, and
nothing created comes from Allah Most High."[1]
Hafiz Abu al-Qasim
Ibn `Asakir said in Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari:
"The Mu`tazila
said: 'the Speech of Allah Most High is created, invented, and
brought into being.' The Hashwiyya, who attribute a body to Allah
the Exalted, said: 'The alphabetical characters (al-hurûf
al-muqatta`a), the materials on which they are written, the
colors in which they are written, and all that is between the two
covers [of the volumes of Qur’an] is beginning-less and
pre-existent (qadîma azaliyya). Al-Ash`ari took a middle
road between them and said: The Qur’an is the beginning-less
speech of Allah Most High unchanged, uncreated, not of recent
origin in time, nor brought into being. As for the alphabetical
characters, the materials, the colors, the voices, the elements
that are subject to limitations (al-mahdûdât), and all
that is subject to modality (al-mukayyafât) in the world:
all this is created, originated, and produced."[2]
Hafiz Abu Bakr
al-Bayhaqi said in al-Asma' wa al-Sifat with a sound
chain:
"Something Ibn
Shaddad had written was handed to Abu Bakr al-Marwazi which
containing 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."[3]
"In another
sound narration, Abu Bakr al-Marwazi, Abu Muhammad 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 the Speech of Allah uncreated, whichever way it is
used." Salih said to Abu Talib: "If you told people
what you said, now go and tell the same people that Abu `Abd
Allah [Imam Ahmad] forbade to say it.""[4]
The Proof of Islam
and Renewer of the Fifth Hijri Century, Imam Abu Hamid
al-Ghazzali said in his "Foundations of Islamic Belief"
(Qawa`id al-`Aqa'id) published in his Rasa'il and his Ihya'
`Ulum al-Din and partially translated in Shaykh Nuh Keller's Reliance
of the Traveller and by Mrs. Ahmad Darwish on the Mosque of
the Internet:
"The Qur'an is
read by tongues, written in books, and remembered in the heart,
yet it is, nevertheless, uncreated and without beginning,
subsisting in the Essence of Allah, not subject to division and
or separation through its transmission to the heart and paper.
Musa - upon him peace - heard the Speech of Allah without sound
and without letter, just as the righteous see the Essence of
Allah Most High in the Hereafter, without substance or its
quality."
And Imam al-Tahawi
said of the Qur'an in his "Creed of Abu Hanifa and his
Companions": "It is not created like the speech of
creatures."
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal
was detained and lashed for twenty-eight months for refusing to
say that the Qur'an was created. In his stand for the sake of the
pure and undefiled Religion he was compared to Abu Bakr
al-Siddiq's unwavering stand with regard to the Arabian tribes
who committed apostasy after the Prophet - Allah bless and greet
him and his Family - left this life. May Allah be well-pleased
with them and make them pleased.
Someone on the SRI
forum mentioned the following syllogism:
“Allah
says that He is the creator of every thing. The Qur'an is a
thing. Therefore the Qur'an Is created. . . If you want to prove
that the Qur'an is uncreated you will first have to prove that
the Qur'an is not a thing. Can you do that? No.”
But elsewhere in the
thread the same person states:
“So
Allah is called a thing in the Qur'an.”
Therefore he admits
that there is an exception to the false reasoning stated above,
but in a separate place than where he brought it up.
He also stated his
denial of the reality and pre-eternity of the Divine Attributes,
subsuming them into the Essence:
“Coming
back to the main point. If someone believes that anything is
eternal other than God (existed from ever) he/she has committed
shirk; made a partner with God.”
Yet elsewhere he
affirms one such attribute. Meaning, not according to his rule
that the attribute IS God, but predicating the attribute to God
as a distinct reality in contradiction of his former denial,
committing shirk by his own principle:
“[...]
Truth is an attribute of God.”
Then he immediately
annuls the reality of the attribute he just mentioned:
“Other
than God both Truth and Evil don't really independently exist.”
So then
(1) according to him Allah categorically created all things and
both the Qur'an is a thing and Allah is a thing; and
(2) according to him it is shirk to hold anything to be
eternal other than God, even an Attribute of His such as Truth;
for
(3) according to him such attributes, anyway, "don't really
independently exist."
Of course he
extirpates himself by adding “There is nothing like unto
Him”. So he has shown that there is at least One Exception
Subhan Allah! to his supposed axiom, and he found that exception
stated in the Qur'an. He himself has shown that it can be
misleading and horrendously so to cite certain verses in
isolation of others in the matter.
But he claims that it
is apostasy to make more than this single exception:
“Yet
you are making TWO exceptions. This is against the creed of Pure
Islam. If you make more than ONE exception what prevents you from
making Three, four or more exceptions?”
However, we Sunnis
hold there are as many exceptions to the phrase "Allah has
created everything" as there are Divine Attributes, and that
to speak of any of His Attributes as created, is kufr.
The `Aqida of
the People of Truth is:
sifaatu-l-Laahi
laysat `ayna dhaatin The Attributes of Allah are neither the
very Essence,
wa laa ghayran
siwaahu dha-nfisaali nor other than Himself, nor separate.
sifaatu-dh-Dhaati
wa-l-af`aali turran And all the Attributes of the Essence and
of the Acts
qadiimaatun
masuunaatu-z-zawaali are pre-existent and without end.
[From the poem Bad'
al-Amali by the Maturidi master, Siraj al-Din `Ali ibn
`Uthman al-Ushi (d. 569).]
Another argument the
objector brings forth is:
“The
Qur'an is created. The Qur'an is refers to itself as Muhdath
in verses 21:2 and 26:5”
And this is an
outright lie, for the Qur'an refers to "a new/fresh
reminder" (dhikr) in the indefinite in both verses,
not "to itself" as falsely claimed. This would have
been immediately noticeable if he had only cited the translations
that he pretended to adduce.
He also made false
claims based on his deficient knowledge of the Qur'an:
“The
Qur'an says that it is From/By the Knowledge of God but it
doesn't say that it IS the Knowledge of God therefore even this
view is non-Qur'anic and it is a belief without burhaan
which Allah has not given any Sultaan or
permission to believe in.”
This is false, the
Qur'an most explicitly states “wa ma-khtalafa ahlu-l-kitaabi
illaa min ba`di maa jaa'ahum AL-`ILM” - "...Nor did the
People of the Book dissent therefrom except through envy of each
other, after knowledge had come to them..." (3:19) and
“fa
man hajjaka min ba`di ma jaa'aka MIN AL-`ILM” -
"...If any one disputes in this matter with thee, now after
(full) knowledge Hath come to thee, say: "Come!..."
(3:61) among other verses equating Divine Revelation with
"The Knowledge". This was pointed out by Imam Ahmad in
many places, notably his first reply to the Devils who
interrogated him on the issue, as cited below. So to believe that
the Qur'an is the Speech of Allah and there is no disagreement
over this from the Shi`is is to believe that it is the Knowledge
of Allah, though not necessarily all His Knowledge.
The objector also
said some more enormities about the Qur'an and the Heavenly
Books:
“The
Qur'an is applicable only from the time of the Prophet until the
end of time. It is applicable in places humans can live. If the
truth was otherwise then there would be no need for the Taurah,
Zaboor and Injeel. If the truth was otherwise the Qur'an should
have come down with Adam but it didn't.”
The truth is, as
Allah is my witness and yours, that the Qur'an is the uncreated
Speech of Allah to the worlds in which He mentions the taking of
the Covenant from all the Prophets and their Communities and the
all-encompassing witness of the Seal of Prophets over them; that
the Torah is the uncreated Speech of Allah; the Zabur is the
uncreated Speech of Allah; and the Injil is the uncreated Speech
of Allah. And the Heavenly Books shall surely stand witness for
or against all those who wrote in this thread on the Day of
Judgment.
How well Imam
al-Shafi`i spoke when he said:
“My ruling
concerning the practitioners of kalâm is that they be
flogged, then seated upon a camel and paraded among the clans and
the tribes while a herald proclaims: 'This is the reward of those
who abandon the Book and the Sunna in order to take up kalâm!'”
I.e. to take up false reasonings and speculations in the guise of
defending the Book and the Sunna instead of sticking faithfully
to the latter. He also said: “Every mutakallim according
to the Qur'an and Sunna possesses diligence, while every other
type is delirious.”
It was correctly
mentioned that al-Shafi`i declared to a man who spoke of the
Qur'an as created: "You have just committed disbelief."
The man in question was the Mu`tazili-turned-Jabri, Hafs al-Fard
of Basra. It is established that al-Shafi`i entered into kalâm
disputations with this Hafs over the issue of the creation of the
Qur'an until he declared Hafs a disbeliever, and he used to
nickname him “Hafs the Isolated” – Hafs al-Munfarid – as
a word-play on his name of Fard. Hafs had tried unsuccessfully to
make `Abd Allah ibn `Abd al-Hakim and Yusuf ibn `Amr ibn Yazid
debate him before al-Shafi`i accepted – and defeated him.[5]
The objector also
stated about his supposed method:
“I
don't want to hear the opinions of Malik or Buyuti. Tell me what
the Qur'an says. Tell me what the Messenger of Allah said
(saw).”
It seems he thinks he
is stating what the Qur'an says and rejecting imitation; but he
actually misunderstands the Qur'an in pure imitation -
unwittingly or not - of the enemies of the Qur'an. For he has
used two of the exact same weak arguments used against Imam Ahmad
and the other Mountains of Islam by the underlings of Caliph
Harun al-Rashid's sons al-Ma'mun the scholar (198-218) and the
near-analphabet al-Mu`tasim (218-227), and the latter's
profligate son al-Wathiq (227-232), abetted by his Mu`tazili
vizier Ibn Abi Du'ad and a certain Barghuth ["Gnat"]
al-Jahmi.
He states: I don't want to hear the opinions of Malik or
Buwayti. But Malik or Buwayti's juridical and
doctrinal stands are based on a Mujtahid Mutlaq's
understanding of the Qur'an and Sunna. Whereas that person's use
of the English meanings of the Qur'an on the Internet - Ma Sha'
Allah - is that of a layman, or less. So we have a choice between
following the Imams, or following at best a layman. How do ye
judge?
Mujtahid Mutlaq
= Qualified for absolute independent juridical exertion i.e. to
apply legal reasoning, draw analogies, and infer rulings from the
evidence independently of the methodology and findings of the
Sunni schools, through his own linguistic and juridical
perspicuity and extensive knowledge of the texts.
Allah have mercy on
al-Buwayti and give him the highest ranks in Paradise! He died in
231 in jail, bound in chains in Iraq for refusing to say that the
Qur'an was created. May Allah have mercy on him and on all the
scholars of Ahl al-Sunna and give them the merits of their
detractors.
Yes, a Nobody can
quote Qur'an, just like Imams Ahmad and al-Buwayti can quote it.
However, the understanding of the Mujtahid Mutlaq compared
to that of the Nobody is like the soaring eagle compared to a
one-day gnat, although both can be said to fly.
I must also say that
his protestation against the opinions of the scholars is a hollow
one coming from a Shi`i, for Shi`is are notorious for their
slavish imitation of their Imams' opinion, not bothering even to
check the validity of transmission of a given opinion to a
purported authority. That is why he is able to reject the Sunni
doctrine of Imam Ja`far al-Sadiq in this matter even as he
claims, "Our beliefs are based on what the 12 Imams of the
Ahlul-bayt taught and endorsed as authentic Islam."
Yes, in addition,
somewhere in the thread, he himself happily quotes from Imam
Ja`far ibn Muhammad (al-Sadiq) to make a point! Then he declaims:
"Why can't you base your argument
on the Qur'an, Sunnah and Reason. Why must you bring the opinion
of someone in the 10th century as a support?"
So we are to put
forward a Duodecimal Shi`i's partial understanding of the Qur'an,
biased abuse of the Sunna, and deficient reasoning before
exemplars of the Qur'an and Sunna such as the Mujtahid Imams and
Awliya' except, of course, when we mean a Twelver-Imam? -
Although, to top the irony, Imam Ja`far al-Sadiq is authentically
reported to hold that the Qur'an is uncreated, as indicated by
Brother Ismaeel; here is the report:
Al-Bayhaqi in al-Asma'
wa al-Sifat narrated with his chain from Ja`far ibn Muhammad,
from his father, from `Ali ibn al-Husayn who said: "The
Qur'an is neither creator nor created, but it is the Speech of
the Creator."[6]
The objector claims
to stick fast to the Qur'an, but his likes reject and belie the
Qur'an when it praises the First and Foremost of the Muhajirun
and Ansar! And he claims to stick to the Sunna when his likes
pick and choose among the most authentic narrations what they
want and reject what they want according to their lusts;
rejecting Sayyidina `Ali's affirmation of wiping (mash) on
the khuff, and his confirmation of the cancellation of mut`a
to name but two fundamental examples - both reports as sound and
clear as the sun, and the first one is mutawatir.
He stated concerning
the noble Sahaba:
“did
all the Sahaba enjoin what is good and forbid what is wrong?
No.”
It must be understood
that in reality this is an attack upon the Lord of the worlds, as
if reproaching him for choosing unworthy Companions for the Seal
of His Prophets! wallahu al-musta`an. And did the Prophet
(s) make any distinctions when praying for his Companions when he
said: "O Allah! have mercy on the Ansar and the
Muhajirin!" the day they were digging the Trench before the
battle of the Clans? Undoubtedly, such phrases as "did all the Sahaba enjoin what is good
and forbid what is wrong? No." shall come as
millstones around the neck of their speakers on the Day of
Judgment, when they shall be facing the Sahaba - and the Prophet
(s) - in shame. And Allah Most High might ask them: What business
did you have reviling the men and women I chose as Companions for
My Most Beloved, Most Respected, Most Praised Servant??
Hear now the ironclad
responses given to the Shayatin who were torturing him, given by
the Imam of the Sunna as narrated by his son Salih ibn Ahmad ibn
Hanbal[7]:
Questioner: What
do you say about the Qur'an?
Ahmad: And you, what do you say about the Knowledge of Allah
Most High?
Another questioner: Did not Allah say: “Allah is the
Creator of all things” (13:16), and is not the Qur'an a
thing?
Ahmad: Allah also said: “Destroying all things”
(46:25), then it destroyed all except whatever Allah willed.
Another questioner: “Never comes there unto them a new
reminder from their Lord” (21:2). Can something new be
anything but created? Ahmad: Allah said: “Sâd. By the
Qur'an that contains the Reminder” (38:1).
"The" reminder is the Qur'an, while the other verse
does not say "the".
Another questioner: But the hadith of `Imran ibn Husayn
states: "Allah created the Reminder."
Ahmad: That is not correct, several narrated it to us as:
"Allah wrote the Reminder.”[8]
They cited the hadith of Ibn Mas`ud: "Allah Most High
did not create a garden of Paradise nor a fire of Hell nor a
heaven nor an earth more tremendous (a`zam) than the
verse of the Throne (2:255)."[9]
Ahmad: The creating here applies to the garden, the fire, the
heaven, and the earth. It does not apply to the Qur'an.
Another questioner: The narration of Khabbab states: "I
admonish you to approach Allah with all that you can; but you
can never approach Him with something dearer to Him than His
speech.”[10]
Ahmad: And that is true.
For the sake of
completion on this topic I will append the additional proofs
already cited by Cbun in message
<8o2mle$d2l$1@samba.rahul.net>, with slightly modified
spelling and style:
Allah says, “Verily,
His Command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it,
'Be!' and it is!” - Yaseen 82
Ibn `Uyayna explains,
"Allah has differentiated his Creation from his Command. His
command is "Be" (Kun)."
Allah says, “Verily!
Our Word unto a thing when We intend it, is only that We say unto
it: "Be!" and it is.” - Surah An-Nahl 40
Shaykh `Abdul Qadir
al-Jilani (Rahimahullah),*[11] explaining that the
word of Allah is not created says, "Allah (subhanahu Wa
ta'ala) said, “Verily! to him (belongs) the creation and the
Command”; (Allah) has differentiated his Creation from his
Command, If His Command which is "Be" (Kun) that
He creates His creation (with) is created it would be a
repetition that has no benefit - as if He (Allah) said 'Verily!
to him (belongs) the creation and the creation' Allah (subhanahu
Wa ta'ala) is far removed from doing such a thing."[12]
Allah bless and greet
our Master Muhammad, his Family, and all his Companions.
NOTES
[5]See on this: Ibn `Asakir, Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari
(1404 ed. p. 338-340) and al-Lalika'i, Sharh Usul I`tiqad Ahl
al-Sunna (2:252-253).
:: Dr. Gabriel F. Haddad ::
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