Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (11/376)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

Ahmad ibn Salamah said, “I heard Ishaq al-Hanzali—may Allah have mercy on him—declare:
‘There is no difference of opinion among the scholars that the Quran is the speech of Allah and is not created. How could something that has come forth from the Lord be created?’

Abu al-‘Abbas al-Sarrāj said, “I heard Ishaq al-Hanzali say:
‘I entered upon Tahir ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Tahir while Mansur ibn Talhah was with him. Mansur said to me, “Abu Ya‘qub, do you affirm that Allah descends every night?” I replied, “We believe in it. If you do not believe that you have a Lord in heaven, then you need not ask me about this.”’

Tahir, the governor, then said to him, “Did I not forbid you to engage with this shaykh?”

Abu Dawud al-Sijistani said, “I heard Ibn Rahuyah say: ‘Whoever says, “I will not say ‘created’ nor ‘uncreated,’” is a Jahmi.’

It is also related from Ishaq that one of the dialecticians said to him, ‘You have disbelieved in a Lord Who descends from one heaven to another.’ He replied, ‘I believe in a Lord Who does whatever He wills.’

I say: The attributes of rising over the Throne (istiwāʾ), coming, and descending are all established by textual evidence, transmitted by the later generations from the early ones. They never rejected them or interpreted them away; rather, they censured anyone who attempted such reinterpretation, while unanimously agreeing (1) that these attributes do not resemble the qualities of created beings, for “there is nothing like unto Him.” Debate and wrangling over them are improper, for that amounts either to objecting to Allah and His Messenger or to veering toward assigning a modality or denying the attributes altogether.

(1) That is, their coming together. The Arabs say: “asfaqu ala l-amr” (they united over a matter) and “asfaqu ala l-rajul” (they likewise converged on a man). Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma said: “I saw the sons of the house of Imruʾ al-Qays rally against us and say, ‘We are the more numerous.’” In the hadith reported by Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her: “fa-asfaqat lahu niswan Makka,” meaning that the women of Mecca gathered around him.

قَالَ أَحْمَدُ بنُ سَلَمَةَ: سَمِعْتُ إِسْحَاقَ الحَنْظَلِيَّ ﵁ يَقُوْلُ: لَيْسَ بَيْنَ أَهْلِ العِلْمِ اخْتِلاَفٌ أَنَّ القُرْآنَ كَلاَمُ اللهِ لَيْسَ بِمَخْلُوْقٍ، وَكَيْفَ يَكُوْنُ شَيْءٌ خَرَجَ مِنَ الرَّبِّ ﷿ مَخْلُوْقاً؟! قَالَ أَبُو العَبَّاسِ السَّرَّاجُ: سَمِعْتُ إِسْحَاقَ الحَنْظَلِيَّ يَقُوْلُ: دَخَلْتُ عَلَى طَاهِرِ بنِ عَبْدِ اللهِ بنِ طَاهِرٍ، وَعِنْدَهُ مَنْصُوْرُ بنُ طَلْحَةَ، فَقَالَ لِي مَنْصُوْرٌ: يَا أَبَا يَعْقُوْبَ! تَقُوْلُ: إِنَّ اللهَ يَنْزِلُ كُلَّ لَيْلَةٍ؟ قُلْتُ: نُؤْمِنُ بِهِ إِذَا أَنْتَ لاَ تُؤْمِنُ أَنَّ لَكَ فِي السَّمَاءِ رَبّاً، لاَ تَحْتَاجُ أَنْ تَسْأَلَنِي عَنْ هَذَا. فَقَالَ لَهُ طَاهِرٌ الأَمِيْرُ: أَلَمْ أَنْهَكَ عَنْ هَذَا الشَّيْخِ؟ قَالَ أَبُو دَاوُدَ السِّجِسْتَانِيُّ: سَمِعْتُ ابْنَ رَاهْوَيْه يَقُوْلُ: مَنْ قَالَ: لاَ أَقُوْلُ مَخْلُوْقٌ، وَلاَ غَيْرُ مَخْلُوْقٍ، فَهُوَ جَهْمِيٌّ. وَوَرَدَ عَنْ إِسْحَاقَ: أَنَّ بَعْضَ المُتَكَلِّمِيْنَ قَالَ لَهُ: كَفَرْتَ بِرَبٍّ يَنْزِلُ مِنْ سَمَاءٍ إِلَى سَمَاءٍ. فَقَالَ: آمَنتُ بِرَبٍّ يَفْعَلُ مَا يَشَاءُ. قُلْتُ: هَذِهِ الصِّفَاتُ مِنَ الاسْتِوَاءِ وَالإِتيَانِ وَالنُّزُوْلِ، قَدْ صَحَّتْ بِهَا النُّصُوْصُ، وَنَقَلَهَا الخَلَفُ عَنِ السَّلَفِ، وَلَمْ يَتَعَرَّضُوا لَهَا بِرَدٍّ وَلاَ تَأْوِيْلٍ، بَلْ أَنْكَرُوا عَلَى مَنْ تَأَوَّلَهَا مَعَ إِصْفَاقِهِم (١) عَلَى أَنَّهَا لاَ تُشبِهُ نُعُوْتَ المَخْلُوْقِيْنَ، وَأَنَّ اللهَ لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ، وَلاَ تَنْبَغِي المُنَاظَرَةُ، وَلاَ التَّنَازُعُ فِيْهَا، فَإِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ مُحاولَةً لِلرَّدِّ عَلَى اللهِ وَرَسُوْلِهِ، أَوْ حَوماً عَلَى التَّكيِيْفِ أَوِ التَّعطِيْلِ.

(١) أي اجتماعهم. يقال: أصفقوا على الامر، إذا اجتمعوا عليه، وأصفقوا على الرجل، كذلك. قال زهير بن أبي سلمى: رأيت بني آل امرئ القيس أصفقوا * علينا وقالوا: إننا نحن أكثر وفي حديث عائشة، رضوان الله عليها: " فأصفقت له نسوان مكة "، أي اجتمعوا إليه.