IMAM ABU AL-HASAN AL-ASH`ARI
(Allah be well-pleased with him)
by GF Haddad
by GF Haddad
`Ali ibn Isma`il ibn Abi Bishr Ishaq ibn Salim,
Abu al-Hasan al-Ash`ari al-Yamani al-Basri al-Baghdadi (260-324),1
a descendent of the Yemeni Companion Abu Musa al-Ash`ari, was in the first half
of his scholarly career a disciple of the Mu`tazili teacher Abu `Ali al-Jubba'i,
whose doctrines he abandoned in his fortieth year after asking him a question
al-Jubba'i failed to resolve over the issue of the supposed divine
obligation to abandon the good for the sake of the better (al-sâlih wa
al-aslah). At that time he adopted the doctrines of the sifatiyya, those of Ahl
al-Sunna who assert that the divine Attributes are obligatorily characterized by
perfection, unchanging, and without beginning, but He is under no obligation
whatsoever to abandon the good for the sake of the better.2 He left Basra and
came to Baghdad, taking fiqh from the Shafi`i jurist Abu Ishaq al-Marwazi (d.
340).3 He devoted the next twenty-four years to the refutation of "the
Mu`tazila, the Rafida, the Jahmiyya, the Khawarij, and the rest of the various
kinds of innovators" in the words of al-Khatib. His student Bundar related
that his yearly expenditure was a meager seventeen dirhams.
Among al-Ash`ari's books up to the year 320 as listed by himself in al-`Umad
("The Supports"):
* Adab al-Jadal ("The Etiquette of Disputation").
* Al-Asma' wa al-Ahkam ("The Names and the Rulings"), which describes
the divergences in the terminology of the scholars and their understanding of
the general and the particular.
* Al-Dafi` li al-Muhadhdhab ("The Repelling of `The Emendation'"), a
refutation of al-Khalidi's book by that title.
* Al-Funun ("The Disciplines"), a refutation of atheists. A second
book bearing that title was also written, on the disciplines of kalâm.
* Al-Fusul ("The Sub-Headings") in twelve volumes, a refutation of the
philosophers, perennialists, and members of various religions such as Brahmans,
Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians. It contains a refutation of Ibn
al-Rawandi's4 claim that the world exists without beginning.
* Idah al-Burhan fi al-Radd `ala Ahl al-Zaygh wa al-Tughyan ("The
Clarification of the Proof in the Refutation of Heretics"), a preliminary
to al-Mujaz.
* Al-Idrak ("The Awareness"), on the disciplines that address the
subtleties of dialectic theology.
* Al-Istita`a ("Potency"), a refutation of the Mu`tazila.
* Al-Jawabat fi al-Sifat `an Masa'il Ahl al-Zaygh wa al-Shubuhat ("The
Replies Pertaining to the Attributes On the Questions and Sophistries of
Heretics"), al-Ash`ari's largest work, a refutation of all the Mu`tazili
doctrines he had upheld previously.
* Al-Jawhar fi al-Radd `ala Ahl al-Zaygh wa al-Munkar ("The Essence:
Refutation of the People of Heresy and Transgression").
* Al-Jism ("The Body"), a proof of the Mu`tazila's inability to answer
essential questions that pertain to corporeality, contrary to Ahl al-Sunna.
* Jumal al-Maqalat ("The Sum of Sayings"), which lists the positions
of atheists and the positions of monotheists.
* Khalq al-A`mal ("The Creation of Deeds"), a refutation of the
doctrine of the Mu`tazila and Qadariyya whereby man creates his own deeds.
* Al-Luma` fi al-Radd `ala Ahl al-Zaygh wa al-Bida` ("The Sparks: A
Refutation of Heretics and Innovators"), a slim volume.
* Al-Luma` al-Kabir ("The Major Book of Sparks"), a preliminary to
Idah al-Burhan and, together with the Luma` al-Saghir, the last work composed by
al-Ash`ari according to our Shaykh `Isa al-Humyari.5
* Al-Luma` al-Saghir ("The Minor Book of Sparks"), a preliminary to
al-Luma` al-Kabir.
* Maqalat al-Falasifa ("The Sayings of Philosophers").
* Maqalat al-Islamiyyin wa Ikhtilfa al-Musallin ("The Discourses of the
Proponents of Islam and the Differences Among the Worshippers"), an
encyclopedia of Islamic sects.
* Al-Masa'il `ala Ahl al-Tathniya ("The Questions in Refutation of the
Dualists").
* al-Mujaz ("The Concise") in twelve volumes, which identifies and
describes the various Islamic sects. It contains a refutation of the Shi`i
doctrines of the questioning of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq's ( imamate and of the
infallibility of the Imam in every era.
* Al-Mukhtasar fi al-Tawhid wa al-Qadar ("The Abridgment: On the Doctrine
of Oneness and Foreordained Destiny"), a review of the different doctrinal
issues which the opponents of Ahl al-Sunna are unable to address.
* Al-Mukhtazan ("The Safekeeping"), on the questions which opponents
did not bring up but which pertain to their doctrines.
* Al-Muntakhal ("The Sifted"), a response to questions from the
scholars of Basra.
* Naqd al-Balkhi fi Usul al-Mu`tazila ("Critique of al-Balkhi and the
Principles of the Mu`tazila"), a refutation of the book of the Mu`tazili
scholar al-Balkhi entitled Naqd Ta'wil al-Adilla ("Critique of the
Interpretation of the Textual Proofs").
* Al-Nawadir fi Daqa'iq al-Kalam ("The Rarities Concerning the Minutiae of
Dialectic Theology").
* Al-Qami` li Kitab al-Khalidi fi al-Irada ("The Subduer: A Refutation of
al-Khalidi's Book on the Will"), a refutation of a-Khalidi's doctrine
whereby Allah creates His own will.
* Al-Radd `ala Ibn al-Rawandi ("Refutation of Ibn al-Rawandi")
concerning the Divine Attributes and the Qur'an.
* Al-Radd `ala Muhammad ibn `Abd al-Wahhab al-Jubba'i, an extensive refutation
of a Mu`tazili scholar and of his book al-Usul ("The Principles").
* Al-Radd `ala al-Mujassima ("Refutation of the Anthropomorphists").
* A refutation of `Abbad ibn Sulayman in the minutiae of kalâm.
* A refutation of a book by `Ali ibn `Isa.
* A refutation of al-Balkhi's book in which the latter claimed he had rectified
Ibn al-Rawandi's error in his disputation.
* A refutation of al-Iskafi's book entitled al-Latif ("The Subtle").
* A refutation of al-Jubba'i on the principles and conditions of scholarly
investigation and the derivation of rulings.
* A Refutation of al-Jubba'i's objections to al-Ash`ari on the vision of Allah
in the hereafter as reported by Muhammad ibn `Umar al-Saymari.
* A refutation of al-Khalidi's book on the denial of the vision of Allah in the
hereafter.
* A refutation of al-Khalidi's book on the denial of the creation of the deeds
of human beings by Allah Almighty and Exalted according to His decision.
* The refutation of the philosophers, especially the Perennialist Ibn Qays
al-Dahri and Aristotle's books "On the Heavens" and "On the
World."
* Al-Ru'ya ("The Vision"), which affirms the vision of Allah by the
believers in the hereafter, contrary to the Mu`tazili doctrine which denies the
possibility of such a vision.
* Al-Sharh wa al-Tafsil fi al-Radd `ala Ahl al-Ifk wa al-Tadlil ("The
Detailed Explanation in Refutation of the People of Perdition"), a manual
for beginners and students to read before al-Luma`.
* Al-Sifat ("The Attributes"), a description of the doctrines of the
Mu`tazila, Jahmiyya, and other sects that differ from Ahl al-Sunna on the topic
of the Divine Attributes. It contains a refutation of Abu
al-Hudhayl, Ma`mar, al-Nazzam, al-Futi, and al-Nashi, and an affirmation that
the Creator possesses a face and hands.
* Tafsir al-Qur'an wa al-Radd `ala man Khalafa al-Bayan min Ahl al-Ifki wa
al-Buhtan ("A Commentary on the Qur'an and Refutation of Those Who
Contradicted it Among the People of Perdition and Calumny") which Ibn
al-`Arabi al-Maliki says numbered 500 volumes.6 Ibn al-Subki reports from
al-Dhahabi that this Tafsir was written at a time al-Ash`ari was still a
Mu`tazili.7
* Various epistles in response to questions from the scholars of Tabaristan,
Khurasan, Arrujan, Sayraf, Amman, Jurjan, Damascus, Wasit, Ramahramuz, Baghdad,
Egypt, and Persia.
* Ziyadat al-Nawadir ("Addenda to `The Rarities'").
Among al-Ash`ari's books between the year 320 and his death in 324 as listed by
Ibn Furak:
* Af`al al-Nabi Sallallahu `Alayhi wa Sallam ("The Acts of the Prophet -
Allah bless and greet him").
* Al-Akhbar ("The Reports").
* Bayan Madhhab al-Nasara ("Exposition of the Doctrine of Christians")
* Hikayat Madhahib al-Mujassima ("The Tales of the Schools of the
Anthropomorphists"), a refutation of the proofs they adduce.
* Al-Ihtijaj ("The Adducing of the Proofs").
* Al-Imama ("The Doctrine of the Imam").
* Ithbat al-Qiyas ("The Upholding of the Principle of Analogy").
* Sessions around the lone-narrator report (al-khabar al-wâhid).
* Mutashabih al-Qur'an ("The Ambiguities in the Qur'an"), in which he
brought together the stands of the Mu`tazila and the atheists in their
invalidations of the ambiguities in the hadith.
* Naqd Ibn al-Rawandi `ala Ibtal al-Tawatur ("The Critique of Ibn
al-Rawandi's Denial of Mass-Narrated Hadiths"), which contains an
affirmation of the principle of Consensus (ijmâ`).
* Naqd al-Mudahat ("Critique of `The Similarity'"), a refutation of
al-Iskafi on the term qadar.
* Naqd al-Taj `ala al-Rawandi ("The Diadem: Critique of Ibn
al-Rawandi").
* On questions put to al-Jubba'i concerning names and rulings.
* A refutation of Abu al-Hudhayl on the limitlessness of the foreknowledge and
decisions of Allah Almighty and Exalted and another on motions.
* A refutation of Harith al-Warraq on the Attributes.
* A refutation of the logicians.
* A refutation of the proponents of metempsychosis and reincarnation.
* al-`Umad ("The Supports") on the vision of Allah in the hereafter.
* Al-Wuquf wa al-`Umum ("The Abeyance of Rights and the Public at
Large").
After listing the above titles, Ibn `Asakir says: "I have seen other works
not mentioned by Ibn Furak in his list." He then proceeds to list the
following:
* Al-Hathth `ala al-Bahth ("The Encouragement to Research").
* Risala al-Iman, an epistle on Belief which discusses whether it is permissible
to say that belief is created. Ibn Hajar heard it from Abu Ishaq al-Tannukhi
with the latter's chain of transmission back to al-Ash`ari, through the latter's
student Abu al-Hasan Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Miqsam al-Muqri' al-Baghdadi.8
* Risala ila Ahl al-Thughar ("Epistle to the People of al-Thughar"), a
definition on the doctrines of Ahl al-Sunna.
Ibn `Asakir then mentions that al-Ash`ari's works number over two or three
hundred books.9 As for the epistle entitled Istihsan al-Khawd fi `Ilm al-Kalam,
al-Ash`ari most likely wrote it - provided he actually authored it - before his
conversion, since it is ostensibly directed against the Hanbalis and uses
markedly Mu`tazili terminology such as "divine Oneness and Justice"
(al-tawhîd wa al-`adl) in reference to the fundamentals of belief, and Allah
knows best.
The Corrupt Text of al-Ash`ari's al-Ibana
The above lists exclude al-Ash`ari's al-Ibana `an Usul al-Diyana but Ibn `Asakir
explicitly attributes it to him in the first few pages of Tabyin Kadhib
al-Muftari, an attribution confirmed by al-Bayhaqi, Abu al-`Abbas al-`Iraqi, Abu
`Uthman al-Sabuni, and other hadith masters.10 The book dates from the
beginnings of al-Ash`ari's Sunni career according to a report narrated by Ibn
Abi Ya`la in Tabaqat al-Hanabila and adduced by al-Dhahabi in the Siyar. The
report is phrased rather oddly since it depicts a fawning Imam Abu al-Hasan
al-Ash`ari visiting the Hanbali Abu Muhammad al-Barbahari upon entering Baghdad
and enumerating before him his refutations11 of the Mu`tazila and defense of Ahl
al-Sunna in order to win his approval, to which al-Barbahari coolly responds:
"We only know what Ahmad ibn Hanbal said." "Whereupon," the
report continues, "al-Ash`ari went out and wrote al-Ibana but they [the
Hanbalis] did not accept it from him."12 Al-Dhahabi cites this report at
the opening of his biographical notice on al-Barbahari in the Siyar directly
following the extremely brief notice on Imam al-Ash`ari.13 Apart from its
obviously Hanbali-biased terms, the report clearly shows that al-Ash`ari
composed the Ibana upon first coming to Baghdad or shortly thereafter. Shaykh
Wahbi Ghawiji cites a statement explicitly confirming this date from Imam Abu
al-Hasan `Ali ibn Ibrahim al-Muqri (Ibn Matar) who died in the year 306:
"Imam al-Ash`ari composed it in Baghdad upon entering it."14
However, despite the authenticity of al-Ash`ari's authorship, the text of the
Ibana itself has undoubtedly not reached us in its original authentic form but
in a corrupted version which comprises interpolations along two main ideological
slants: (1) the anthropomorphist interpretation of the divine Attributes and (2)
the apostatizing of Imam Abu Hanifa ( for supposedly holding, with the Jahmiyya,
that the Qur'an was created. Shaykh Wahbi Sulayman Ghawiji has shown in his
analysis of the work entitled Nazra `Ilmiyya fi Nisba Kitab al-Ibana Jami`ihi
ila al-Imam al-Ash`ari ("A Scientific Look at the Attribution of al-Ibana
in Its Entirety to Imam al-Ash`ari") that these two stances are
contradicted by what is known of al-Ash`ari's authentic positions in his and his
students' works.15
(1) The anthropomorphist interpretation of the divine Attributes is illustrated
by the following examples:
* The passage: "[Our position is] that He has two eyes (`aynayn) without
saying how; just as He stated: {That ran under Our eyes (a`yuninâ)}
(54:14)."16 Ibn `Asakir's citation of the same passage in the Tabyin
states: "[Our position is] that He has an eye (`aynan) without saying
how."17 A recent edition of the Ibana consequently amended its own
tradition to follow the text cited by Ibn `Asakir18 since the evidence of the
Qur'an and the Sunna mentions {My Eye (`aynî)} (20:39) in the singular and {Our
Eyes} (52:48, 54:14) in the plural but never two eyes in the dual.19 Further
down in all versions of the Ibana the text states: "Allah Almighty and
Exalted has said that He possesses a face and an eye which is neither given
modality nor defined."20
* The passage: "When supplicating, the Muslims raise their hands toward the
sky, because Allah Almighty and Exalted is established (mustawin) over the
Throne which is above the heavens...21 The Muslims all say: `O Dweller of the
Throne' (yâ sâkin al-`arsh)!"22 This kind of faulty reasoning can hardly
come from al-Ash`ari for the following reasons:
- The Attributes are divinely ordained (tawqîfiyya) and al-Ash`ari considers it
impermissible to make up or derive new terms such as mustawin and sâkin
al-`arsh if there is no verse or authentic hadith transmitting them verbatim:
"My method in the acceptance of the Names of Allah is Law-based
authorization without regard to lexical analogy."23 - The argument of
supplication on the basis of location leads to placing Allah Almighty and
Exalted inside the Ka`ba according to the same logic, an absurd impossibility.
- The claim that "the Muslims all say: `O Dweller of the Throne'" is
unheard of. Yet Ibn Taymiyya cites it and attempts to justify it with the
narration: "Allah created seven heavens then chose the uppermost and dwelt
in it,"24 adducing a condemned report to support an invented phrase! -
Three editions of the Ibana have, "O Dweller of the heaven (yâ sâkin
al-`samâ')"25 which further casts doubt on the integrity of the text in
addition to being equally anthropomorphist.
* The passage: "If we are asked: `Do you say that Allah has two hands?' The
answer is: We do say that, without saying `how.' It is indicated by the saying
of Allah Almighty and Exalted {The Hand of Allah is above their hands} (48:10)
and His saying {that which I have created with both My hands} (38:75). It was
also narrated from the Prophet - Allah bless and greet him - that he said:
`Allah created Adam with His hand then He wiped his back with His hand and
brought out of it his offspring.བ So it is established that He has two hands
without saying how. And the transmitted report reached us from the Prophet -
Allah bless and greet him - that `Allah created Adam with Hand, created the
Garden of `Adn with His hand, wrote the Torah with His hand, and planted the
tree of Tuba with His hand,བྷ that is: with the hand of His power (ay biyadi
qudratih)."28 The last clause contradicts the entire reasoning that
precedes and follows, and is actually suppressed from the latest edition of the
Ibana!29 The text further states: "They say: `the hands' (al-ayd) are the
strength (al-quwwa),30 so the meaning of {with both My hands} has to be `with My
power' (bi qudratî). The answer to them is: That interpretation is
wrong."31 Al-Ash`ari's actual position on the Attribute of hand according
to Ibn `Asakir is: "Al-Ash`ari took the middle road [between the Mu`tazila
and the anthropomorphists] and said: His hand is an Attribute and His face is an
Attribute, just like His hearing and His sight."32
* The following passage is missing from two of the editions of al-Ibana but is
found in two others: "And [we believe] that He established Himself over the
Throne in the sense that He said and the meaning that He wills in a way that
transcends touch, settlement, fixity, immanence, and
displacement. The Throne does not carry him, rather the Throne and its carriers
are carried by the subtleness of His power, subdued under His grip. He is above
the Throne and the Heavens and above everything to the limits of the earth with
an aboveness which does not bring Him nearer to the Throne and the Heavens, just
as it does not make Him further from the earth. Rather, He is Highly Exalted
above the Throne and the Heavens, just as He is Highly Exalted above the earth.
Nevertheless, He is near to every entity and is (nearer to [the worshipper] than
his jugular vein( and He witnesses everything."33
(2) The apostatizing of Imam Abu Hanifa - Allah be well-pleased with him - for
supposedly holding, with the Jahmiyya, that the Qur'an was created.34 Imam
al-Tahawi stated that Abu Hanifa held the opposite position in his Mu`taqad Abi
Hanifa or "Abu Hanifa's Creed," also known as the `Aqida Tahawiyya.35
Nor did al-Ash`ari mention Abu Hanifa in the chapter on those who held the
Qur'an was created in his Maqalat al-Islamiyyin.36 Al-Ash`ari lived in Baghdad -
the seat of the Caliphate and home of the Hanafi school - at a time the Hanafi
school had long been the state creed37 and would probably have been executed or
exiled for making such a charge. Furthermore, al-Bayhaqi stated that
"al-Ash`ari used to defend the positions of the past Imams such as Abu
Hanifa and Sufyan al-Thawri among the Kufans."38 The charge of the Ibana is
therefore almost certainly a later interpolation, as enmity against the Imam
al-A`zam and his school and followers typifies fanatic Hanbalis and their
"Salafi" successors.
There are also blatant errors which al-Ash`ari the heresiographer and former
Mu`tazili would never commit, such as the attribution to the Mu`tazila as a
whole of the belief that Allah Almighty and Exalted is everywhere,39 when he
himself reports in his Maqalat that the vast majority of the Mu`tazila said,
like Ahl al-Sunna, that it was the controlling disposal (tadbîr) of Allah
Almighty and Exalted that was everywhere.40 Furthermore, there is apparently no
known chain of transmission for the Ibana from the Imam despite its ostensible
fame and the abundance of his students,41 nor do any of his first or
second-generation students - such as Ibn Furak - make any mention of it.42
Finally, Imam al-Qushayri's Shikaya Ahl al-Sunna bi Hikaya Ma Nalahum Min
al-Mihna provides an additional external sign that the tampering of al-Ash`ari's
Ibana took place possibly as early as the fifth century:
They have attributed despicable positions to al-Ash`ari and claimed he had said
certain things of which there is not one iota in his books. Nor can such sayings
be found reported in any of the books of the scholars of kalâm who either
supported him or opposed him, from the earliest times to our own - whether
directly quoted or paraphrased. All of that is misrepresentation, forgery, and
unmitigated calumny!43
In conclusion it is possible to say with a fair degree of certainty that the
Ibana attributed to al-Ash`ari today is actually the anonymous, chainless
rewriting of an anti-Ash`ari, anti-Hanafi literalist with clear anthropomorphist
leanings and a willingness to adduce Israelite reports typical of the works of
anthropomorphist doctrine44 while the unaltered version known to Ibn `Asakir,
Abu `Uthman al-Sabuni, and other Ash`aris did not reach us. It is a telling
confirmation of this conclusion that the early anthropomorphists used to reject
the Ibana while those of later centuries quote it without reservation. And Allah
knows best.
NOTES
1Al-Khatib in Tarikh Baghdad (11:346) gives the dates 260-330. Ibn `Asakir in
his Tabyin, Ibn al-Subki in Tabaqat al-Shafi`iyya al-Kubra (3:347, 3:352),
al-Dhahabi in the Siyar (al-Arna'ut ed. 15:85) and Tadhkira al-Huffaz (3:820),
Ibn Kathir in al-Bidaya (Ma`arif ed. 11:204), and Ibn Qadi Shuhba in Tabaqat
al-Shafi`iyya (1:114 #60) all give the dates 260-324. Ibn al-Athir, as quoted by
Ibn Kathir, gives the obitus as 330. See also Ibn `Imad's Shadharat al-Dhahab
(2:303), and Wafayat al-A`yan (2:446). Shaykh Ghawiji gives the dates ~260-~324
in his Nazra `Ilmiyya (p. 21).
2Cf. al-Shahrastani, al-Milal wa al-Nihal (1:93=1961 ed. p. 118-119); Ibn
al-Subki, Tabaqat al-Shafi`iyya al-Kubra (3:356). See also Nur al-Din Ahmad ibn
Mahmud al-Sabuni (d. 1184), al-Bidaya min al-Kifaya fiUsul al-Din.
3Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayini and Ibn Furak considered al-Ash`ari a Shafi`i in fiqh.
Cf. Ibn Qadi Shuhba, Tabaqat al-Shafi`iyya (1:115). He is declared a Hanafi in
Ibn Abi al-Wafa's al-Jawahir al-Mudiyya (p. 247).
4Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn Ishaq al-Rawandi (d. 298), a Mu`tazila turned freethinker
and atheist. Ibn Hazm also wrote a book against him entitled al-Tarshid.
5In his Tashih al-Mafahim al-`Aqdiyya (p. 25).
6In al-`Awasim min al-Qawasim as quoted by Ghawiji in Nazra `Ilmiyya (p. 5-6).
7Ibn al-Subki, Tabaqat al-Kubra (3:355).
8Cf. Ibn Hajar, al-Mu`jam al-Mufahras (p. 408 #1862). On Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn
Miqsam (296-380), one of Abu Nu`aym al-Asbahani's shaykhs, see al-Khatib, Tarikh
Baghdad (4:429).
9In Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari (p. 129-137).
10Ghawiji, Nazra `Ilmiyya (p. 8).
11Such as his early al-Luma` and Kashf al-Asrar, cf. Ibn `Asakir, Tabyin (p.
50-51 = al-Kawthari ed. p. 39).
12In Tabaqat al-Hanabila (2:18). Even if the account of al-Barbahari's snub were
to be proven true, it would only show one scholar's misjudgment of another.
13In the Siyar (11:543) without chain.
14As cited by Ghawiji in Nazra `Ilmiyya (p. 8) without giving his source.
15Ghawiji, Nazra `Ilmiyya (p. 21-64 on Abu Hanifa; p. 65-99 on
anthropomorphism).
16Al-Ash`ari, al-Ibana (Mahmud ed. 2:22=Sabbagh ed. p. 36), cf. Maqalat
al-Islamiyyin (`Abd al-Hamid ed. 1:345=Ritter ed. p. 290).
17Ibn `Asakir, Tabyin (p. 159= al-Kawthari ed. p. 158).
18Al-Ash`ari, al-Ibana (`Uyun ed. p. 44).
19Accordingly Ibn Hazm said: "Saying: `He has two eyes,' is null and void
and part of the belief of anthropomorphists... Allah Almighty and Exalted said
`eye' (`ayn) and `eyes' (a`yunin)... so it is not permissible for anyone to
describe Him as possessing `two eyes' because no text has reached us to that
effect." Ibn Hazm, al-Fisal fi al-Milal (2:166). Today's anthropomorphists
continue to insist on the attribution of two eyes without proof, adducing the
Prophet's - Allah bless and greet him - statement, "The Antichrist
(al-dajjal) is one-eyed whereas your Lord is not one-eyed" [Narrated from
Ibn `Umar in al-Bukhari, Muslim, and the Sunan] but ignoring or pretending to
ignore that Ahl al-Sunna explained this statement to mean that Allah Almighty
and Exalted is exempt of defects and of the attributes of creatures, whereas the
Antichrist is both created and imperfect. Cf. Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari and
al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim.
20Al-Ash`ari, al-Ibana (Mahmud ed. 2:121 [lahu wajhan wa `aynan wa lâ tukayyafu
wa lâ tuhadd]=Sabbagh ed. p. 97 [lahu wajhan wa `aynan lâ bi kayf wa lâ hudûd]=
`Uyun ed. p. 104 [lahu wajhan wa `aynan lâ yukayyafu wa lâ yuhadd]).
21Al-Ash`ari, al-Ibana (Mahmud ed. 2:106-107=Sabbagh ed. p. 89=`Uyun ed. p. 97).
22Al-Ash`ari, al-Ibana (p. 234 of the original 1321/1903 Hyderabad ed.) as
quoted by Ghawiji in Nazra `Ilmiyya (p. 84).
23Al-Ash`ari in Ibn al-Subki's Tabaqat al-Shafi`iyya al-Kubra (3:358). Cf.
Appendix entitled, "The Divine Names and Attributes are Tawqîfiyya :
Ordained and Non-Inferable" in our translation of Ibn `Abd al-Salam's The
Belief of the People of Truth.
24Narrated from Ibn `Umar by al-Tabarani in al-Kabir (12:456) with a weak chain
because of Hammad ibn Waqid al-Saffar as indicated by al-Haythami (8:397). The
narration is (munkar) as stated in al-Silsila al-Da`ifa (#338) and Samir
al-Bahr's al-Majmu` fi al-Da`if wa al-Munkar wa al-Mawdu` (1:320-321 #2359) and
should never be brought up as evidence in Islamic doctrine, yet it is typically
adduced by those who attribute direction to Allah Almighty and Exalted such as
Ibn Taymiyya in al-Ta'sis fi Radd Asas al-Taqdis = Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyya
(2:419) and his shaykh Ibn Qudama in Ithbat Sifa al-`Uluw (p. 74). See also
al-Jawraqani's Abatil (1:162) and al-Qaysarani's Dhakhira al-Huffaz (#2056).
25Al-Ash`ari, al-Ibana (Mahmud ed. 2:115=Sabbagh ed. p. 94=`Uyun ed. p. 101).
26The correct wording is: "Allah created Adam then He wiped his back with
His right (bi yamînih) and brought out of it offspring." Narrated from
`Umar by al-Tirmidhi (hasan gharîb), Abu Dawud, Ahmad, and Malik.
27Part of a long, rambling munqati` narration from Wahb ibn Munabbih by Abu
al-Shaykh in al-`Azama (3:1058-1068), undoubtedly an Israelite report (isrâ'îliyya).
Also narrated from Qurra ibn Iyas al-Muzani by al-Tabari with the wording:
"Tuba is a tree Allah Almighty and Exalted has planted with His hand and
into which He breathed of His spirit. It gives fruits of jewels and rich
garments, and its boughs can be seen from beyond the walls of Paradise."
Ibn Marduyah narrated something similar from Ibn `Abbas and `Abd ibn Humayd from
Ka`b al-Ahbar while al-Suyuti in his al-Jami` al-Saghir and al-Munawi in Fayd
al-Qadir indicated it was weak. Cf. Ibn al-Mubarak, al-Zuhd (p. 76), Abu
al-Shaykh, al-`Azama (3:1066),
al-Suyuti's al-Durr al-Manthur, and the Tafsirs of al-Tabari (13:149),
al-Qurtubi (9:317), and Ibn Kathir (2:513 sura 13:29). Also see
al-Tabarani's al-Awsat.
28Al-Ash`ari, al-Ibana (Mahmud ed. 2:126=Sabbagh ed. p. 99-100).
29Cf. al-Ash`ari, al-Ibana (`Uyun ed. p. 106).
30This is an established lexical meaning in Arabic.
31Al-Ash`ari, al-Ibana (Mahmud ed. 2:130=Sabbagh ed. p. 101=`Uyun ed. p. 108).
32Ibn `Asakir, Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari (p. 150-151).
33Al-Ash'ari, al-Ibana, (Mahmud ed. 2:21=Sabbagh ed. p. 35). This passage is
missing in its entirety from the original 1321/1903 Hyderabad edition and the
1996 'Uyun edition.
34Narrated with chains containing liars in al-Ash`ari, al-Ibana (Mahmud ed.
2:90-91 =Sabbagh ed. p. 77-78=`Uyun ed. p. 87-88).
35It is noteworthy that Shaykh `Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani's Ghunya underwent
tampering along exactly the same two lines. What is known with certainty from
Imam Abu Hanifa is that he held, with the rest of Ahl al-Sunna, that the Qur'an
was the uncreated, pre-eternal Speech of Allah Almighty and Exalted as stated in
al-`Aqida al-Tahawiyya, al-Fiqh al-Akbar, al-Wasiyya, al-Asma' wa al-Sifat, and
other works.
36Nor is Abu Hanifa ever mentioned thus in the other great heresiographies such
as al-Baghdadi's Farq Bayn al-Firaq and Usul al-Din, Ibn Hazm's al-Fisal fi
al-Milal, and al-Shahrastani's al-Milal wa al-Nihal.
37Under the `Abbasi Caliphs al-Mu`tamid (256-279), al-Mu`tadid (279-288),
al-Muktafi (288-295), al-Muqtadir (295-320), al-Qahir (320-322), al-Radi
(322-332).
38Al-Bayhaqi, Risala ila `Amid al-Mulk in Ibn `Asakir's Tabyin
(al-Kawthari ed. p. 103) and Ibn al-Subki's Tabaqat al-Kubra (3:397).
39Al-Ash`ari, al-Ibana (Mahmud ed. 2:109=Sabbagh ed. p. 91=`Uyun ed. p. 99). If
interpolated, this claim was possibly influenced by Ibn Hazm's identical
statement in his Fisal (2:96).
40Al-Ash`ari, Maqalat al-Islamiyyin (`Abd al-Hamid ed. 1:236=Ritter ed. p. 157).
41Cf. al-Saqqaf, notes on al-Dhahabi's al-`Uluw (p. 511).
42Cf. al-Humyari, Tashih al-Mafahim al-`Aqdiyya (p. 25).
43Al-Qushayri, Shikaya Ahl al-Sunna in Ibn `Asakir, Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari
(al-Kawthari ed. p. 111) and Ibn al-Subki, Tabaqat al-Kubra (3:403-404).
44Such as `Abd Allah ibn Ahmad's al-Sunna, al-Khallal's al-Sunna, `Uthman ibn
Sa`id al-Darimi's books, Ibn Batta's al-Ibana, Ibn Khuzayma's al-Tawhid,
al-Harawi's al-Arba`in fi al-Tawhid, the spurious Radd `ala al-Jahmiyya
deceitfully printed under Imam Ahmad's name, and many others.
Allah Almighty knows best. Allah bless and greet our Master Muhammad, his
Family, and all his Companions.
:: Dr. Gabriel F. Haddad ::
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