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The ’Ash’arDZs: In the Scales of Ahl us-Sunnah _________________________________________________________________________ Studies in Contemporary ’Ash’arŝ Polemics Vol.1 TThhee ’’AAsshh’’aarrŝŝss IInn tthhee SSccaalleess ooff AAhhll uuss--SSuunnnnaahh1 By Shaykh Abź ’UthmŅn Faisal bin QazŅr al-JŅsim (hafidhahullŅh) Translated by ’AbdulHaq ibn Kofi ibn Kwesi Addae ibn Kwaku al-Ashanti 1 Summarised and abridged from Faisal bin QazŅr al-JŅsim, al-Asha'irah fi MŝzŅn Ahl us-Sunnah: Naqd li-KitŅb Ahl us-Sunnati al-’AshŅ’iratu: ShahŅdatu ’Ulama il-Ummati wa Adilatuhum [The Ash’arŝs in the Scales of the People of Sunnah: A Critique of the Book ‘The ’Ash’arŝs are Ahl us-Sunnah: The Testimony of the Scholars of the Ummah and their Evidences’]. Kuwait: al-Mabarah al-Khayriyyah li Uloom il-Qur’an wa’s-Sunnah, 1428 AH/2007 CE. The copy of the book that was used for this translation was personally given to the translator (’AbdulHaq al-Ashantŝ) by Shaykh Faisal JŅsim (hafidhahullŅh) while he was in the UK in May 2008 CE and permitted the translator to undertake translating sections of it. ______________________________________________________________________________ 1 © SalafiManhaj 2008 The ’Ash’arDZs: In the Scales of Ahl us-Sunnah _________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS 3 Translator’s Preface 18 Affirming the Attributes of AllŅh Does Not Necessitate Tashbeeh with His Creation - 39 Establishing the Principle from Abu’l-Hasan al-’Ash’arŝ - 41 The ’Asharite Opposition to the Salaf in this Matter 48 Explanation of the Reality of the ’Aqeedah Ascribed to Abu’l-Fadl at-Tamŝmŝ 57 The IjmŅ that AllŅh is Above His Creation and Over His Throne with His Essence 87 The Permissibility of Asking “Where is AllŅh?” 92 The Claim that the Salaf Made Ta’weel and Answering Such Claims - 93 The Claim that Ibn ’AbbŅs (radi AllŅhu ’’anhu) Made Ta’weel of al-Kursŝ - 96 The Claim that Ibn ’AbbŅs (radi AllŅhu ’’anhu) Made Ta’weel of the Coming of the Lord - 97 The Claim that Ibn ’AbbŅs (radi AllŅhu ’’anhu) Made Ta’weel of the Wording “Eyes” - 99 The Claim that Ibn ’AbbŅs (radi AllŅhu ’’anhu) Made Ta’weel of the Wording “Hand” (al- Yad): - 102 The Claim that Ibn ’AbbŅs (radi AllŅhu ’’anhu) Made Ta’weel of the Texts of “The Face” (al-Wajh) - 103 The Claim that Ibn ’AbbŅs (radi AllŅhu ’’anhu) Made Ta’weel of the Word “The Shin” (as- SŅq) - 104 The Claim that MujŅhid, ad-DahhŅk, ash-ShŅfi’ŝ and al-BukhŅrŝ Made Ta’weel of the Word “The Face” (al-Wajh) - 109 The Claim that SufyŅn ath-Thawrŝ Made Ta’weel of al-IstiwŅ’ - 110 The Claim that ImŅm MŅlik Made Ta’weel of the Attribute of Nuzool - 112 The Claim that ImŅm Ahmad Made Ta’weel of the Attribute of the Coming of AllŅh - 117 The Claim that al-BukhŅrŝ Made Ta’weel of the Attribute of Laughter 119 The ImŅms’ Innocence of the ’Asharite Creed - 119 ImŅm al-HŅfidh al-Hujjah Muhammad bin IsmŅ’eel al-BukhŅrŝ (d. 256 AH/CE) - 124 ImŅm Abź Ja’far Muhammad bin Jareer at-Tabarŝ (d. 310 AH) - 132 ImŅm al-HŅfidh Abu’l-Hasan ’Alŝ bin ’Umar ad-DŅraqutnŝ (385 AH/995 CE) - 134 Al-HŅfidh Abź Nu’aym Ahmad bin ’AbdillŅh al-AsbahŅnŝ (d. 430 AH/1039 CE) - 137 Shaykh ul-IslŅm al-ImŅm Abź ’UthmŅn IsmŅ’eel bin ’AbdurRahmŅn as-SŅbźnŝ (d.449 AH/CE) - 142 ImŅm al-HŅfidh al-Mufassir ’ImŅduddeen Abu’l-FidŅ’ IsmŅ’eel bin Katheer (d. 774 AH/1373 CE) 149 Invalidity of the Claim that the ’Ash’arŝs are the Majority of the Ummah ______________________________________________________________________________ 2 © SalafiManhaj 2008 The ’Ash’arDZs: In the Scales of Ahl us-Sunnah _________________________________________________________________________ Translator’s Preface Indeed, all praise is due to AllĆh, we praise Him, we seek His aid, and we ask for His forgiveness. We seek refuge in AllĆh from the evil of our actions and from the evil consequences of our actions. Whomever AllĆh guides, there is none to misguide and whoever AllĆh misguides there is none to guide. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except AllĆh and I bear witness that Muhammad is the servant and messenger of AllĆh. ƂƊǹȂĄǸÊǴąLjČǷǶĄƬǻƊƗăȁōȏÊƛċǺĄƫȂĄǸăƫ Ɗȏ ăȁ ÊǾ Êƫ Ƣ ƊǬ Ąƫ ċǪ ăƷ ăǾ ƐǴ dz ơ ƒơ Ȃ ƌǬ ċƫ ơ ƒơ Ȃ ĄǼ ăǷ ƕ ăǺ ȇ Êǀ ōdz ơ Ƣ ăȀ Čȇ ƊƗ Ƣ ăȇ ƃ “O you who have believed, fear AllĆh as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims (in submission to Him).” {ąli-ImrĆn (3): 102} ōƮ ăƥ ăȁ Ƣ ăȀ ăƳ ąȁ ăǃ Ƣ ăȀ ąǼ ÊǷ ăǪ ƊǴ ăƻ ăȁ ÇƧ ăƾ ÊƷ ơ ăȁ Çdž ƒǨ ċǻ Ǻ ďǷ Ƕ ƌǰ ƊǬ ƊǴ ăƻ ȅ Êǀ ōdz ơ ĄǶ ƌǰ ċƥ ăǁ ƒơ Ȃ ƌǬ ċƫ ơ ĄDž Ƣ ċǼ dz ơ Ƣ ăȀ Čȇ ƊƗ Ƣ ăȇ ƃ Ɗǹ Ƣ Ɗǯ ăǾ ƐǴ dz ơ ōǹ Êƛ ăǵ Ƣ ăƷ ąǁ Èȋ ơ ăȁ ÊǾ Êƥ Ɗǹ Ȃ ƌdz Ɣ Ƣ ăLj ăƫ ȅ Êǀ ōdz ơ ăǾ ƐǴ dz ơ ƒơ Ȃ ƌǬ ċƫ ơ ăȁ Ɣ Ƣ ăLj Êǻ ăȁ ơ ĆŚ Êư Ɗǯ Ɔȏ Ƣ ăƳ Êǁ Ƣ ăǸ ĄȀ ąǼ ÊǷ ƂƢĆƦȈÊǫăǁąǶƌǰąȈƊǴăǟ “O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear AllĆh through whom you ask things from each other, and (respect) the wombs. Indeed AllĆh is ever, over you, an Observer.” {an-NisĆ (4): 1} ơ Ćƾ ȇ Êƾ ăLJ Ƣ Ɔdz ąȂ Ɗǫ ơ Ȃ ƌdz Ȃ ƌǫ ăȁ ăǾ ōǴ dzơ ơȂƌǬċƫơơȂĄǼăǷƕăǺȇÊǀōdzơƢăȀČȇƊƗƢăȇƃ ______________________________________________________________________________ 3 © SalafiManhaj 2008 The ’Ash’arDZs: In the Scales of Ahl us-Sunnah _________________________________________________________________________ ơ Ćǃ ąȂ Ɗǧ ăǃ Ƣ Ɗǧ ąƾ ƊǬ Ɗǧ ĄǾ Ɗdz Ȃ ĄLJ ăǁ ăȁ ăǾ ōǴ dz ơ ąǞ Êǘ Ąȇ Ǻ ăǷ ăȁ ąǶ ƌǰ ăƥ Ȃ Ąǻ ƌƿ ąǶ ƌǰ Ɗdz ąǂ ÊǨ ąǤ ăȇ ăȁ ąǶ ƌǰ Ɗdz Ƣ ăǸ ąǟ ƊƗ ąǶ ƌǰ Ɗdz ąƶ ÊǴ ąǐ Ąȇ ƂƢ ĆǸ Ȉ Êǜ ăǟ “O you who have believed, fear AllĆh and speak words of appropriate justice. He will amend for you your deeds and forgive your sins. And whoever obeys AllĆh and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment.” {al-AhzĆb (33): 70-71} To proceed: This is a partial translation of the recent outstanding work al-’AshĆ’irah: Fĩ MeezĆn Ahl is-Sunnah by the respected Shaykh Faisal bin QazĆr al-JĆsim (hafidhahullĆh). The original book is some 824 pages and this translation is a meagre effort to transmit just some of it for the benefit of the English reader. I had the opportunity to ask Shaykh Faisal during his most recent trip to the UK in May 2008 CE on what chapters he suggests I translate for a summarised translation project, so with that in mind I undertook what the Shaykh and myself concurred would be of most use in light of the most common ’Ash’arĩ creedal discrepancies. Some other brothers and myself hope finish a more complete translation of this vital work which will be available for publication, may AllĆh help us in this. Many of the recent works by Shaykh Faisal have been introduced by a variety of well-known and respected scholars. For his book Tajreed ut-Tawheed (Kuwait: al- Mabarah al-Khayriyyah li Uloom il-Qur’Ćn wa’s-Sunnah, 1428 AH/2007 CE) was introduced and commended by ImĆm ’AbdullĆh bin ’Abdul’Azeez al-’Aqeel, who is regarded by many as being the ImĆm of the HanĆbilah at present. While Shaykh Faisal’s book Usool Shaykh Bin BĆz fi’r-Radd ’ala’l-MukhĆlif [The Principles of Shaykh Bin BĆz in Refuting the Opposer] (Beirut: DĆr ul- BashĆ’ir al-IslĆmiyyah, 1429 AH/2008 CE) was introduced by al-’AllĆmah, Dr SĆlih al-FawzĆn and Shaykh ’Abdul’Azeez as-SadhĆn. This book on the ’Ash’arĩ creed was also introduced by ten scholars however I have not translated their introductions in order to keep this translation brief. In any case the following scholars introduced the book: Shaykh and Professor, Dr Muhammad bin ’AbdurRazzĆq at-TabatabĆ’ĩ (Kuwait) – from the Sharee’ah College in Kuwait Shaykh Muhammad bin Hamd al-Hamood an-Najdĩ (Kuwait) – head of the Academic Panel, Jam’iyyah IhyĆ TurĆth al-IslĆmĩ. ______________________________________________________________________________ 4 © SalafiManhaj 2008 The ’Ash’arDZs: In the Scales of Ahl us-Sunnah _________________________________________________________________________ Shaykh and Professor, Dr Muhammad bin ’AbdurRahmĆn al-MaghrĆwĩ (Morocco) – Professor of Higher Islamic Studies at al-Qarawiyyeen University in Morocco and head of the Jam’iyyat ud-Da’wah ila il-Qur’Ćn wa’s-Sunnah. Shaykh and Professor, Dr Sa’ood bin ’Abdul’Azeez al-Khalaf (Saudi Arabia) – head of the ’Aqeedah Department, College of Da’wah and Usool ud-Deen, Islamic University of Madeenah and head of the Jam’iyyat ul-’Aqeedah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.