Ibn Jahbal on Ibn Taymiyya

Ibn Jahbal on Ibn Taymiyya
by Sh. G. F. Haddad

The publication of the full English translation of this work with introduction, notes, and indexes is forthcoming insha Allah, x L 20120703 .

"The reason for this small work is that recently someone produced something in which he asserted direction (jiha) for Allâh Most High. He deceived those who have no firm foothold in learning, no mastery in knowledge, no share of understanding, and no ability to see with the light of wisdom. I decided to speak about the doctrine of Ahl al-Sunna wal-Jamâ`a and then show the corrupt nature of what he said.... Then I produced proofs from the doctrine of Ahl al-Sunna and what pertains thereunto." - Ibn Jahbal.

Outline Of Qadi Ibn Jahbal Al-Kilabi's (670-733) Refutation Of Ibn Taymiyya's (661-728) Attribution Of Direction To The Deity In His Fatwa Hamawiyya (698)
( Al-Raddu `ala Man Qâla bil-Jiha )
________________________

Translator's Introduction:

The Controversy Around Ibn Taymiyya's Orthodoxy

The Sunni Stand Against Anthropomorphism

I. Author's Introduction

The Hashwiyya or Vulgar Anthropomorphists

Mâlik and al-Shâfi`î's Understanding of Tawhîd

The Ash`arîs are Near the Salaf Unlike the Hashwiyya

The Doctrine of Ahl al-Sunna

The Requisites of Transcendence (Wazâ'if al-Taqdîs)

II. Refutation of Ibn Taymiyya's Claims

The Fallacy of His "Proofs from the Qur'ân"
and the Hashwiyya's Self-Contradictions

The Fallacy of His "Proofs From the Sunna"

His Peculiar Understanding of "with," "in," "above," and "on"

His Understanding of the Heaven to Mean "the Height"

His Rhetoric Against the Mutakallimûn

The Absurdity of His Literalism

His Calumnies Against the Sunnî Theologians

His Attribution of Unbelief and Heresy to the Ulema

His Unreliable Manner of Quoting the Salaf

Imâm al-Ghazzâli's Ethics of Tawhîd

(i) Upholding Divine transcendence (al-taqdîs)
(ii) Belief (al-îmân)
(iii) Confirmation (al-tasdîq)
(iv) Admission of Incapacity (al-i`tirâfu bil-`ajz)
(v) Keeping Silent (al-sukût)
(vi) Refraining from Paraphrasing (al-imsâk `an al-tasarruf)
(vii) Stopping Cogitation (kaff al-bâtin)
(viii) Holding firmly that the Prophet - upon him blessings
and peace - Knows (i`tiqâd `ilm al-Nabî Sallallahu `alayhi wa-Sallam)

Kalâm Dialectic in the Qur'ân and the Rejection of Imitation

Warnings of the Great Sûfî Shaykhs against Literalism

Leave Qur'anic Exegesis to Its Experts

Qur'anic Proofs in Negation of Direction

Qur'ân and Sunna Yield no Evidence to Anthropomorphists

Ibn Jahbal Al-Kilabi The Mufti Of The Muslims

Ahmad ibn Muhyî al-Dîn Yahyâ ibn Tâj al-Dîn Ismâ`îl ibn Tâhir ibn Nasr Allâh ibn Jahbal, al-Qâdî Shihâb al-Dîn or Nâsir al-Dîn Abû al-`Abbâs al-Kilâbî al-Halabî al-Dimashqî al-Shâfi`î al-Ash`arî, known as Ibn Jahbal (670-733), is described in al-Dhahabî's Siyar A`lâm al-Nubalâ' as "the erudite scholar, the guiding leader of Muslims" and in his `Ibar fî Khabari Man `Abar as "The mufti of the Muslims."1 He took fiqh from Abû al-Faraj Sharaf al-Dîn al-Maqdisî, al-Sadr ibn al-Wakîl, Ibn al-Naqîb, Muhammad ibn `Umar Sadr al-Dîn ibn al-Murahhal al-`Uthmânî, and hadîth from Abû al-Hasan ibn al-Bukhârî, `Umar ibn `Abd al-Mun`im ibn al-Qawwâs, Ahmad ibn Hibat Allâh ibn `Asâkir, and others. He narrated in Makka, Madîna, al-Qudus, and Damascus He taught in the Salâhiyya School in al-Qudus then moved to Damascus where he assumed the headmastership of Dâr al-Hadîth at al-Zâhiriyya. When the headmaster of the Bâdirâ'iyya School died he replaced him while al-Dhahabî took over Dâr al-Hadîth. He died in Damascus at age sixty-three and was buried in Maqbarat al-Sûfiyya. His older brother, the headmaster of the Atâbakiyya School, vice-governor of Damascus and qâdî of Tripoli, Muhyî al-Dîn Abû al-Fidâ Ismâ`îl ibn Yahyâ (666-740) survived him seven years and was buried next to him.

Al-Dhahabî said of Ibn Jahbal:
"There was great goodness and pious devotion in him; he possessed excellent traits, great merits, and perspicuity in the ramifications of knowledge." Ibn Kathîr named him "the Shaykh, the admirable Imâm, the Mufti of the Muslims" and said: "He was among the authoritative fuqahâ'. He took nothing from the Bâdira'iyya nor the Zâhiriyya which he did not already know." Ibn al-Kutbî said: "He was a scrupulously Godwary `âlim. When he fell sick he spent a great deal in charity, including his clothes." After relating the above, Ibn Hajar said: "Our Shaykh al-Burhân al-Shâmî narrated to us what he heard from him." Ibn Jahbal also taught the historian and hadîth Master `Alam al-Dîn al-Birzâlî and the lexicographer Majd al-Dîn al-Fayrûzâbâdî who read Sahîh Muslim to him in Damascus in three days.2 Allâh have mercy on him and benefit us and all Muslims with his knowledge. Amîn.

notes
1 Al-Dhahabî, al-`Ibar (4:96-97).
2 Cf. al-Qâsimî's Qawâ`id al-Tahdîth (p. 262).

Hajj Gibril
GF Haddad
[5 May 2003]