Some Sayings from the Salaf concerning the Falsehood of Ta’weel

Abu Sarah

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Some Sayings from the Salaf concerning the Falsehood of Ta’weel
[FONT=trebuchet ms, ms sans serif]Source: Foundations of the Sunnah, Salafi Publications 1997[/FONT]




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[1]. Al-Awzaa’ee said: "I asked az-Zuhree and Makhool abaout the aayaat pertaining to the Sifaat (Attributes of Allaah), so they said: Leave them as they are."


[2]. Al-Waleed ibn Muslim said: "I asked Maalik, al-Awzaa’ee, Layth ibn Sa’d and Sufyaan ath-Thawree - may Allaah have mercy upon them - concerning the reports related about the Attributes, so they all said: Leave them as they are without asking how?"


[3]. Imaam Ahmad said: "These ahaadeeth should be left as they are… We affirm them and we do not make any similitude for them. This is what has been agreed upon by the scholars."


[4]. Nu’aym bin Hammaad said: "Whoever makes tashbeeh (resemblance) of Allaah to his creation has committed kufr (disbelief), and whoever denies what Allaah has described Himself with has also committed kufr. Indeed, all that Allaah has described Himself with, or what His Messenger has described Him with, then there is no tashbeeh in it at all."


[5]. Imaam at-Tirmidhee said: "It has been stated by more than one person from the People of Knowledge about such ahaadeeth, that there is no tashbeeh (resemblance) to the Attributes of Allaah, and our Lord - the Blessed and Most High - descends to the lowest heaven every night. So they say: "Affirm these narrations, have eemaan (faith) in them, do not deny them, nor ask how." The likes of this has been related from Maalik ibn Anas, Sufyaan ath-Thawree, Ibn Uyainah and Abdullaah ibn al-Mubaarak, who all said about such ahaadeeth: "Leave them as they are, without asking how." Such is the saying of the People of Knowledge from the Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah. However, the Jahmiyyah oppose these narrations and say: This is tashbeeh! However, Allaah the Most High, has mentioned in various places in His Book, the Attribute of al-Yad (Hand), as-Sama’ (Hearing), and al-Basr (Seeing) - but the Jahmiyyah make ta’weel of these aayaat, explaining them in a way, other than how they are explained by the People of Knowledge. They say: Indeed, Allaah did not create Aadam with His own Hand - they say that Hand means the Power of Allaah."


[6]. Al-Khattaabee said: "The madhhab of the Salaf (the Pious Predecessors) with regard to the Sifaat (Attributes of Allaah) is to affirm them as they are alaa dhaahir (with their apparent meaning), negating any tashbeeh (resemblance) to them, nor takyeef (asking how they are)."


[7]. Imaam as-Saaboonee said: Indeed Ashaabul Hadeeth (the Scholars of Hadeeth), [those who hold fast to the Book and the Sunnah] - may Allaah protect their lives and shower mercy upon those that have died - bear witness to the Tawheed of Allaah and to the Messengership and Prophethood of His Messenger :saw: (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam). They know their Lord -the Mighty and Majestic - by the Attributes which He has spoken of in His Revelation, and by what He has sent down, or testified to, by His Messenger :saw: (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam). They do not believe in tashbeeh (resemblance) of His Attributes with the attributes of the creation. They say: Indeed, He created Aadam with His own Hands, as He - the Most Perfect - textually stated:
O Iblees! What prevented you from prostrating to one whom I have created with My Own (Two) Hands. [Soorah Sa’d 38:75]

So they do not distort the words from their (proper) context, by carrying the meaning of Yadain (the two Hands of Allaah) to mean ni’matain (two bounties) or quwwatain (two powers) - which is the tahreef (distortion) of the Mu’tazilah and the Jahmiyyah - may Allaah destroy them. They do not ask how these Attributes are, nor do they resemble them to His creation … Allaah, the Most High, protected Ahl us-Sunnah from such tahreef, takyeef and tashbeeh, and favoured them with knowledge and understanding."


[8]. Qaadee Abu Ya’laa said: "The proof for the futility of ta’weel is that the Sahaabah, and those who followed them from the Taabi’een, understood them (the Attributes) alaa dhaahir (upon their literal meaning), and they did not take recourse to ta’weel, nor did they move away from the dhaahir meaning. If ta’weel were permissible, then they would have preceded us in it…"

[9]. Ibn Abdul Barr said: "Ahl us-Sunnah are agreed in affirming all the Sifaat (Attributes of Allaah) which are related in the Qur’aan and the Sunnah, having eemaan (faith) in them and understanding them alal-haqeeqah (in a real sense) not alal-majaaz (metaphorically). How they are is not to be asked. However, the Jahmiyyah, the Mu’tazilah, and the Khawaarij all deny them and do not carry them alal-haqeeqah; claiming that whoever affirms them has made tashbeeh (resemblance), and they claim that whoever recites them (as they are) is a mushabbih (a person doing tashbeeh)."


[10]. Ibn Qudaamah said: "The way of the Salaf is to have eemaan (faith) in the Names and Attributes of Allaah that He has described Himself with in His Revelation, or upon the tongue of His Messenger :saw:(sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) - without increasing nor decreasing in it, nor exceeding the limits, nor explaining them (i.e. like the Mu’tazilah), nor making ta’weel of them in a way that opposes the dhaahir (apparent) meaning."


[11]. Shaikh ul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah said: "From eemaan (faith) in Allaah is: Eemaan in what He has described Himself with and what His Messenger Muhammad :saw: (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) described Him with without tahreef (distortion) and ta’teel (denial and negation), and without takyeef (asking how) and tamtheel (likening them)…"

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///References and Notes//
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1. Reported by al-Laalikaa’ee in Sharh Usool ul-I’tiqaad (3/430) and Ibn Qudaamah al-Maqdisee in Dhamm ut-Ta’weel (p.18) and the isnaad is Hasan.

2. Reported by al-Aajurree in ash-Sharee’ah (p.314), al-Bayhaqee in al-Asmaa was-Sifaat (p.453) and also al-I’tiqaad (p/118) and the isnaad is Hasan.

3. Reported by Ibn al-Jawzee in Manaaqib Imaam Ahmad (p.155-156).

4. Reported by Imaam adh-Dhahabee in al-Uluww (no.217)
And in this is a clear proof from the Salaf that whatever Allaah has affirmed for Himself and what His Messenger :saw: (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) has affirmed for Him, then there is no tashbeeh in it whatsoever. And in this, is an exposition and an uncovering of the Ahl ul-Bid’ah amongst the Jahmiyyah, the Mu’tazilah, the Ash’ariyyah, the Maatooreediyyah and others like them who accuse those upon the aqeedah of the Salaf, that they are Mushabbihah and Mujassimah (Anthropomorphists). Rather, it is they who are the Mushabbihah and the Mujassimah due to the disease in their hearts. It is not possible for them to affirm the Attributes of Allaah without their hearts resembling them to the creation and this is why Ta’weel (interpolation of the Attributes) is one of their hallmarks, their claim being: ‘We are declaring Allaah free from defects,’ but in fact they are stripping Allaah of His Attributes, until Allaah is but nothingness. As Muhammad bin al-Hasan ash-Shaybaanee (d. 189H), the companion of Abu Haneefah said: "All the Fuqahaa , from the east to the west are agreed upon: [The obligation of] having faith in the Qur’aan and the ahaadeeth which the reliable and trustworthy narrators have come with from the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) - in describing the Lord, the Mighty and the Majestic - without explaining them (tafseer) or likening them to the creation (tashbeeh). So whoever explains anything from them today, then he has departed from that which the Prophet :saw: (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) and his Companions were upon for verily, they did not explain them but they gave verdicts with whatever is in the Book and the Sunnah and then they remained quiet. So whoever speaks with the saying of Jahm [bin Safwaan] then he has separated from the Jamaa’ah since he [Jahm] describes Him [Allah] with nothingness." Reported by al-Laalikaa’ee in Sharh Usool il-I’tiqaad (3/432). And this is also the basis for their accusation against the Ahl us-Sunnah, that they are Dhaahiriyyah (Literalists) since they, due to the aforementioned sickness in their hearts, resort to Ta’weel with respect to the Attributes of Allaah and explain them in a way unknown to the Messenger :saw: (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) and his Companions.


5. Sunan at-Tirmidhee (3/24)

6. Al-Ghuniyah an Kalaam wa Ahlihi - as quoted in Mukhtasir al-Uluww (no.137).

7. Aqeedat Ahl us-Sunnah wa Ashaab ul-Hadeeth wal A’immah (no.3)

8. Ibtaal ut-Ta’weelaat li-Akhbaar is-Sifaat (p.21 - manuscript form)

9. At-Tamheed (7/145) of Ibn Abdul Barr

10. Dhamm ut-Ta’weel of Ibn Qudaamah al-Maqdisee (p.11)
11. Al-Aqeedat il-Waasitiyyah (p.3)
 
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