Asharism and Atheism- a Glimpse Into Two Parallel Ideologies
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Btibsjtn!bne!Buifjtn;! B!Hmjnqtf!Jnup!Uxp! Qbsbmmfm!Jefpmphjft Autor: Ali Boriqee Source: Multaqa Ahlul-Hadeet Compiled by: al-Mustaqeem Publicatons This page left intentionally blank +)#0 ; رب ا+"2<!، و(.- >; و:.9 و28رك /.- 5'234 1)#0 و/.- آ+& و()'& أ$#"! 0"8 >+9E4./ FGH ورAB8* ;< C#Dت I initiate this discussion to enrich the understanding of the Muslims and to solidify what some of them can somewhat already perceive, but only in a general fashion. It may be funny, but it has a great element of tragedy in that those who follow the Ash’ari school of thought, who claim to be the followers of rationalism, simply do not see the rationale and conclusive ramifications of what their school of thought leads to. Whenever the theological topics concerning “limit” and or “place” for Allah comes up, the two heated sides are usually the salafis who are labeled as the anthropomorphists versus the Ash’aris (and we can add the Maturidis) and who are labelled the “Jahmis”. However, what many from Ahlu-Sunnah among the salafis/ahlul-hadeeth have been slightly unaware of, is that the polemic is much graver than simply the kalaam arguments for “limit”, “jism”, and “place” respectively. Little will they realize that discussion on each one of these topics are actually connected to the topic of ilhaad (atheism) and that the formulated doctrines of the later day Ash’aris is nothing less than an institutionalized form of atheism. We will, in this endeavor, highlight Athari Imaams who have either explicitly stated this fact or who have implied this fact. I implore the reader that when I say “implied” i don;t mean that it is a stretch of the imagination, rather the texts are very apparent towards its implication and is not something far fetched. So what we will do is to first explain the concept of place and limit for Allah followed by the Ash’ari erroneous concoctions on the subject along with its repudiation based upon orthodox Islam. Then after which we will bring forth Athari Imaams who pinpointed the ummah as to the atheism of the proponents of kalaam theology inshaa’Allah. The Test of Imaam Ahmad on Allah’s Existentiality towards the Jahmiyyah Issue: When Allah Created the Creation, Did He Do So Within Himself or Outside of Himself i.e. does He dwell within the creation or is He separate from it. This argument actually stems from Imaam Ahmad in his Radd alal-Jahmiyyah. However, before I present the testimony of Imaam Ahmad, I will reveal it in answer to an inquiry I received on the topic. The following was a reply to a brother who was trying to understand this very issue better. The reason why I quote the following is because it is integral to the topic at hand It was asked As-salamu alaikum. May Allah reward you all for your patience and generosity. You say that Allah has “Infinite grandness in His Attributes (not in His being)” – why do you say this about His Attributes but not His Being? I would be interested to see evidence from the Quran, the Sunnah or the Righteous Salaf to justify your opinion. So my reply is the following I’ll divide this in two, the first is the rationale argument while the second is the scholastic proof inshallah 1. The claim that He is infinite in His Attributes and NOT in His Being. This means that His attributes are endless, they do not have a limit, His Mercy is infinite, His Benevolence is Infinite, His Power is infinite, His Might is Infinite, His Sovereignty, His Bounty infinite etc etc, are infinite. In short, every one of Allah’s qualities knows no bounds. This also means that His actual being (dhaat) is limited. WHY? If Allah is unlimited in His being, then this necessitates that His very Being consumes all that exists as this means that His actual being is unlimited consuming everything, including the creation and other than the creation and this is the very belief that was being promulgated among the jahmiyyah. The modern lexical term for this belief is “Omnipresence” 2. The proofs Imaam Ahmad recorded in his Radd ‘alal-Jahmiyyah in the chapter on the exposition regarding the denial of the jahmiyyah that Allah is not on His Throne, he mentioned that when he told Jahm about where is Allah, their reply was “He is under the seven earths as He is on the throne; He is in heaven, on earth and in every place; there is no place where he is not, nor is He in one place to the exclusion of any other. And they quoted the verse: And He is God in the Heavens and on the Earth. “ Imaam Ahmad says in His radd “We said: The Muslims know of many places where there is no trace whatsoever of the might of the Lord. They (jahm) said: And where is that? We replied: Your bodies, your insides and pigs’ insides, in privies and unclean places, and in all of which there is no trace of the Lord’s might. Allah told us that He is in Heaven, saying: What are ye sure that He who is in Heaven will not cleave the Earth beneath you?.. Or are you sure that He who is in Heaven will not send against you a stone- charged whirl-wind? 67-16,17 And again: …The good word riseth up to Him. 35-2 And again: …O Jesus! Verily I will cause thee to die, and will take thee up to myself. 3-48 And again: …But Allah took him up to Himself. 4-156 And again: All beings in Heaven and in Earth are His, and they who are in His presence… 21-19 And again: They fear their Lord who is above them… 16-52 And again: …The Master of those ascents 70-3 And again: …He is the High, the Great. 2-256 This then tells us that He is in Heaven. The following verses show us that all beneath Him are villainous: Verily the hypocrites shall be in the lowest abyss of the fire…4-144 And again: And they who believe not shall say, O our Lord! Show us those of the jinn and men who led us astray: both of them will we put under our feet that they be of the humbled. 41-29 We added: Do you not know that iblis has his place and the devils have theirs? Allah and Iblis can not be both in one place. The meaning of Allah’s word: ‘He is God in heaven and upon earth’ is that to him belong those in Heaven and those in earth; that He is on the throne and that His knowledge embracess all that lies beneath the throne; and that there is no place not embraced by His knowledge. “[1] Logically speaking, to claim the belief that Allah is unlimited in His being, then this by default entails that He is infused with, or envelopes or consumes the creation with His being and to have an opinion different than the opinion that I have claimed above is kufr of apostasy because this is not merely likening Allah to His creation, rather this is the saying of some of the esoteric sects of the sufis who follow the school of Ibn ‘Arabi who stated that Allah is everywhere which provided the basis of the doctrine of wahdatul-wujood and itihaad which originated from al-Hallaaj. However, if this is not enough, then allow me to quote an irrefutable excerpt that Imam Ahmad superbly made an acid test for those who have doubt about this matter of Allah being limited in His being. Check this out The title of this chapter from his radd is “Bab: If you wish to know that the Jahmi lies against Allah, in saying that Allah is in every place and is not in one place to the exclusion of any other” So that is the title So he begins by saying “Say: Was there not Allah when there was nothing else? “ In this line, he is telling the people of the sunnah to ask these people infect by theosophical dialectic the above question. So Ahmad says “He will assent“ Meaning he (the one being asked) will agree. So Ahmad continues “Then say: When He made a thing, did He do so inside or outside of Him? Then he addresses the Sunni by saying “Three possibilities follow meaning, there can only be three different views, no more and no less, and two of them is apostasy and only one is correct. He says “If he asserts that Allah created all things within Himself, including jinn, men and devils, he denies the faith.” Thus one who holds this belief cannot be a Muslim. Next he says “If he says that He created them outside of Himself and then entered into them, including all the wild, squalid and vile places –this too is infidelity”. Again, a belief such as this invalidates the faith and the testimony of faith. “And if he says He created them outside of Himself and then did not enter into them, he has abandoned his position for that of ahl-Sunna. i.e. if the one who agrees with us that Allah has created the creation outside of Himself and remains outside and thus separate and distinct from His creation, then such an individual has abandoned the view that Allah is unlimited in His Being and has agreed with us (ahlu-sunnah) that He is limited in His being because believing that He is unlimited in His being equals the belief that He coexist with His creation or that He is “omnipresent”.