The Attributes of God (Daf' Shubah al-Tashbh)

Nasser Saleh · Universiteit Twente
Title:

The Attributes of God (Daf' Shubah al-Tashbh)

By Imam Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Jawzi

Description:

Daf' Shubah al-Tashbh is a critique, censure, and refutation of the historical anthropomorphic leanings of some of the Hanbali scholars and learned. At the same time, it is a vindication of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal from the accusations of the anthropomorphism as well as the claim by some Hanbalis, that he adopted anthropomorphic beliefs, similar to theirs. Unmistakably, this work is a polemical commentary on the problematic Qur'anic verses and hadiths that fall under the mutashabih (allegorical and ambiguous) Qur'anic verses and prophetic traditions composed by the author, 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597 AH), the author of the well-acclaimed book, Talbis Iblis (The Devils' Deception).

Unlike other books of this genre, this book is significant in that Ibn al-Jawzi offers an incisive critique of scholars of his own school, for which in return, Ibn al-Jawzi was criticised by those Hanbali (Salafi / ahluhadith sect ) and Hanbali (Salafi / ahluhadith sect )-leaning proponents.

This book is important for anyone who want to have deep understanding of the creed of Salafi / ahluhadith sect.

INTRODUCTION by Imam Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Jawzi

KNOW—MAY GOD, the Exalted, help you—that when I pursued the madhhab of Imam Ahmad, may God the Exalted have mercy on him, I found him to be of great stature with respect to the sciences. He excelled in the study of the juridical sciences and the views of the predecessors (Salaf ) to the point that not a single matter arises that he does not have a scriptural reference for or some form of remark to make. However, because he adheres to the approach of the Salaf, he only wrote what they transmitted.Therefore [it was only natural that] I found his madhhab void of the literary compositions whose kind was numerous amongst those [scholars]who follow a different approach [than him]. So, I wrote some detailed exegeses. Amongst them are: al-Mughni [that exists] in [several] volumes, Zad al-Masir,Tadhkirat al-Arib and others.

Concerning the sciences of hadith [I wrote a number of ] books, among them are: Jami‘ al-Masanid, al-Hada‘iq, Naqi al-Naql and many books regarding al-Jarh wa al-Ta‘dil (the science of weighing positive and negative factors for evaluating the reliability of hadith narrators). I have not found the Hanbalis to have a single commentary in the topic of comparative fiqh except that al-Qadi AbuYa‘la said:“I used to say, ‘what is it with the advocates of the madhhabs that they mention the variance of those who have opposing views but they do not bother to mention the views of Ahmad.’

Imam Ahmad kept the company of Abu Yusuf at the start of his [scholastic] career as Yahya ibn Ma‘in says about him in his book,Ma‘rifa al-Tarikh wa al-‘Ilal,“I heard Ahmad ibn Hanbal say, ‘I kept the company of AbuYusuf, and then I kept company with others after his time.’”Ahmad used to preoccupy himself with the books of Muhammad ibn al-Hasan and would extract some abstruse responses from them according to what al-Khatib related with his chain of transmission to al-Harbi on his authority. He [also] accompanied many of the jurists of Iraq, and sat with Shafi‘i during his second visit to Baghdad after the demise of Muhammad ibn al-Hasan. So he acquired an ample portion of fiqh. Despite all of this, his greater focus and the focus of his disciples was upon the narration of hadith. [In this regard]

He did not follow the methodology of the jurists in the matters of fiqh [al-tafri’], designating its sources, and elucidating the points of legality of judgments and assigning them [totheir particular places] to the point that it was rare that he had a unique view and differed from those fuqaha who came before him in a particular ruling of fiqh ( fi al-furu‘ ). So if he differed with Shafi‘i for example in anything from his new school you would see him agreeing with Abu Hanifa or one of his disciples or Malik,may God be pleased with them.

So the authors of the books of comparative fiqh found it negligible to mention the views of Ahmad by simply mentioning the variance of the jurists who came before him. Then, I forgave them, since we [H .anbalis] do not have a single commentary on fiqh,so, I wrote a commentary for them.”

[In spite of Abu Ya‘la’s attempts] in his commentary, he neither clarified what was sahih (rigorously authenticated) nor did he express contention with the rejected [sayings]. He also mentioned some irregular analogies, and I witnessed one of our companions delivering a lesson while taking recourse to the commentaries of Istilam, As‘ad, ‘Amili, and Sharif while borrowing things from them [in spite of being unreliable sources]. So, I composed some commentaries for them such as: Kitab al-Insaf fi masa‘il al Khilaf (“Impartiality About Matters of Disagreement”); Jannat al-Nazar wa Junnat al-Fatr (“Garden of Contemplation and Armor Against Fissure”) and ‘Umda al-Dala‘il fi Mashhur al-Masa‘il (“Reliance of All Proofs Regardingthe Popular View of All Issues”).Then I deemed it appropriate to gather the hadiths of the commentary (of Qadi AbuYa‘la) by which the advocates of the different madhhabs present as proof, and I clarified the basis for that which is sound and the point of contention in that which has been contested. I then composed a book about the [H .anbali] madhhab that incorporated these hadiths, calling it al-Baz al-Ashhab al-Munqadd ‘ala Mukhalifi al-Madhhab (“The Flaming Falcon Swooping Down on the Dissenters of the [H .anbali] School”). In the science of the branches of fiqh, The recording of his views alongside the views of the other jurists in the books of comparative fiqh did not become widespread until the time of Ibn Hubayra al-Wazir.When he published his Ifsah and specified a sizable volume amongst its volumes to the variance of the four Imams, he gave it complete attention, and strove to spread it by spending enormous sums, [so much so, that] those who wrote in the area of comparative fiqh began to mention the views of Ahmad alongside the views of the other Imams. Ibn Jarir reached him in age and met his disciples, and despite that he did not mention his views in what he wrote regarding the variance of the jurists while mentioning those who were of the likes of Abu Bakr ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Kisan Asamm. So the H .anbalis asked him about that, and he said the like of which is:

“Ahmad was not one of the jurists. Rather he was from the people of hadith.And since I did not meet him, I could not learn from him nor have I met any of his disciples who were worthy of learning anything from.”

So the agitation of the Hanbalis was incited against him.Then what Yaqut mentions in Mu‘jam al-Udaba and Ibn Kathir mentions in his Kamil occurred [about that incident].

Translator:

A proper legal analogy cannot be applied if the reason justifying the ruling or point of legality is undiscerned.Amongst the conditions for determining the proper point of legality, is for the designated point of legality to be a description that is consistent throughout and suitable as a justification for the ruling being applied.When it happens that the determined point of legality is a description that is consistent throughout in all that it is being applied to, but is not suitable as a justification for the ruling—like saying that the reason that wine is forbidden is because it is wine, such a legal analogy is said to be irregular.

I wrote Kitab al-Mudhhib fi al-Madhhab (“The Gilder Regarding the Madhhab”), Masbuk al-Dhahab (“Moulded Gold”) and al-Bulgha (“The Means of Subsistence”). In the fundamentals of the religion, I wrote Minhaj al-Wusul ila ‘ilm al-Usul (“The Way of Reaching Knowledge of the Religious Fundamentals”). In total, so far I have written some 250 works.

I have observed that some of our companions have written about matters of creed in a way that is not proper.There are three in particular:Abu ‘Abd Allah ibn Hamid, his disciple, Qadi AbuYa‘la, 4 and Ibn al-Zaghuni who composed books by which they have disgraced the madhhab.They held the attributes of God to be subject to human understanding and perception.

They heard that God, Glorified and Exalted be He, created Adam on his image, upon him be blessing and peace.On that basis, they acknowledged for Him an image and a physical form, a face attributable to His essence, two eyes, a mouth, uvulas,molar teeth, and lights for His face which represent His majestic splendor, two hands, fingers, a palm, a little [pinky] finger, a thumb, a chest, a thigh, two shins, and two feet.

[They even went so far as saying]:

“We have not heard any mention of the head.” They [then] said:“It is possible for Him to touch and to be touched, and to bring the slave close to His being.” One of them said: “[...] He breathes.”Then they calm the common people by saying:“[These attributes] are not taken as commonly understood.”

He is the Shaykh of the Hanbalis, Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Hasan ibn Hamid ibn ‘Ali al-Baghdadi al-Warraq who died in the year 403.He was one of their greatest authors.His Sharh Usul al-Din contains serious errors some of which the author will mention.Qadi Abu Ya‘la was trained by him. He is Qadi Abu Ya‘la Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Khalf ibn alFarra al-Hanbali who died in the year 458.

According to Ibn al-Athir and Abu al-Fida, they reported that Abu Muhammad al-Tamimi said concerning him

“AbuYa‘la has severely disgraced the madhhab. The waters of the oceans cannot wash it away.”

In his Tabaqat,Qadi Abu Ya‘la attributed to Imam Ahmad unspeakable things, far from being true. Ibn Badran Dushti reported in the section of “Comfirming the Limit” from Kitab al-Usul of AbuYa‘la what is more horrid than what the author will report about him in “al-Tashbih” along with a clash occurring between exoneration and anthropomorphism in his statements. It is no secret to the observer that he is not the AbuYa‘la Ahmad ibn ‘Ali al-Mawsili, the author of al-Musnad, and narrator of the books of AbuYusuf from Bishr ibn al-Walid. He is Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn ‘Ubayd Allah ibn Nasr Zaghuni al-Hanbali who died in the year 527.He is one of the shaykhs of the author. In his Kitab al-Idah he has some striking points of anthropomorphism that will dumbfound the astute person.

Translator:

This hadith will be discussed in greater detail later on. It would suffice to say here that the word “his” in the hadith “Verily God created Adam in his image” is unclear. If it is a reference to God—it would mean “God’s image,” and if it was in reference to Adam—it would be Adam’s image.This hadith is considered mutashabih.The traditional view is that “his” is in reference to Adam, upon whom be peace.

They adopted the literal meanings of the names and ascriptions and called them attributes—an invented designation, of which they have no evidence, neither from transmitted knowledge of the text, nor reason.They did not carefully consider those texts that divert one’s attention from adopting the literal meanings [of such expressions] to adopting those meanings that must necessarily apply to God, just as [they did not carefully consider] to negate the meanings implied by those literal expressions that are characteristics of finite beings. They were not satisfied with saying,“[It is] an attribute of action” until they said,“[It is] an attribute of the [Divine] essence [of God].” Once they determined those [words] to be attributes, they said,“We do not understand them according to the usages they imply according to language” like hand for ‘blessing’ and ‘power’ and coming/arriving to mean ‘goodness’ and ‘kindness,’ nor shin to mean ‘severity.’” “Rather,” they said, “We hold and understand them according to their well-acknowledged literal meanings,”while the apparent and literal meaning is what is familiar of human characteristics.

But any text [of the Qur’an and Sunna] is only held according to its literal meaning when it is possible and feasible. If something would redirect or negate this being done, it is understood and held according to its figurative understanding. They then become offended when they are accused of likening God to His creation and show harshness towards anyone who says this to them, while in the same breath, insisting,“We are Ahl al-Sunna,” (Upholders of the Prophetic Tradition) although in their statements they are clearly likening God to His creation.

There are some common people that have begun to follow them and I have advised them by saying,“Companions! Brothers! You are the People who adhere to the texts and follow them.This was the example of your Imam, the Greatest Imam,Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may God, Exalted be He, have mercy on him, who under pain of torture, proclaimed, ‘How can I say what has not been said before?’”

So, take care not to introduce into Khallal mentioned in his book al-Sunna with his chain of narration to Hanbal on the authority of his paternal uncle, Imam Ahmad, that when Imam Ahmad was questioned about the hadiths of the descent, the seeing, the placing of the foot and the like, he said concerning them that,“We believe in them, we declare them to be true, without how and [without] a meaning.” When asked about the establishment, he also said, “He became established on the Throne how He pleased and as He pleased without [having] limitation or a description that could be understood.”This is consignment [of its meaning to God] and exoneration as is the approach of the Salaf. Sometimes Imam Ahmad would use ta‘wil (figurative interpretation) in some places as Hanbal also narrated on the authority of Imam Ahmad that he his madhhab what does not belong in it.Then, you [three] said about the hadiths [of attributes] “We hold them and understand them according to their apparent meanings,” while the apparent meaning of [this word] ‘the foot’ would be the human limb.This is the same thing as what is said and believed by the Christians,may God,Exalted be He, distance them from His mercy [for saying such], about Jesus, upon him be blessing and peace.They understand that he is “God’s spirit” and that God, Sanctified and Exalted in Highness, has an attribute known as a spirit that entered into Mary.

Whoever says, “He became established with His Divine essence” has
made Him, Sanctified and Exalted is He, subject to reality, as we under-stand it. It should not be neglected by anyone that the principle by which the faith is established is reason, and it is by way of this [reason] that we came to know and hold God to be Eternal without beginning. If only you had said,“We read the hadiths, and [then] keep silent,” then no one would have objected to [what] you [do]! [But you refuse to abstain from holding the texts and understanding them according to the apparent meaning] and this behavior is absolutely disgusting and repugnant. So, do not heard him say, “They made an argument against me on the day of the debate [during his famous inquisition by the rulers of his time].They said: ‘Surat al-Baqara will come on the Day of Resurrection and Surat Tabarak will come.’

Imam Ahmad said:

“So I said to them:‘It is merely the reward. God, Splendid is His mention, said: And your Lord comes with the angels rank upon rank (Qur’an 89:22) and this means that His power will come.”

Ibn Hazm al-Zahiri said in his Fasl,

“It has been related to us about Ahmad ibn Hanbal,may God show him mercy, that he said concerning:And your Lord comes; Its meaning is:‘And the command of your Lord comes.’”

This [here] is figurative interpretation and exoneration as is the approach of the generations directly after the Salaf. As for what has been reported about Imam Ahmad that contradicts what has preceded, it is a fabrication of an ignorant friend and a faulty understanding of the view of Imam Ahmad.

This is due to the fact that “establishment” for humans is always understood in the sense of sitting.Those who would say that God, literally in His essence, is on the Throne would therefore be affirming that God is held, carried, borne and sitting or some other human act.

Translator:

Here he is making a reference to the rule determined by the scholars of Usul al-Din which says, “Reason is a root for revealed knowledge. So raising contention with reason would be to raise contention with revealed knowledge.And contention with the root to correct the branch necessitates contention with both of them together.”