Al-Ṣawāʿiq al-Murṣala - Ibn al-Qayyim - (1/87)

Al-Ṣawāʿiq al-MurṣalaIbn al-Qayyim

Moreover, the early generations invoked, as evidence for affirming that the Exalted possesses two eyes, His statement: “It sailed under Our eyes” (al-Qamar 54:14). Among those who declared this explicitly, both as an affirmation and as a proof, is Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī; he does so in all his books. Thus, in al-Maqālāt, al-Mūjaz, and al-Ibānah he says—his very words are:

“Our comprehensive creed is that we affirm Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers (1)…,” until he says: “and that Allah is established above His Throne, as He said: ‘The Most Merciful rose over the Throne’ (Ṭā Hā 20:5); that He has a Face, as He said: ‘There will remain the Face of your Lord, Possessor of Majesty and Honour’ (al-Raḥmān 55:27); that He has two Hands, as He said: ‘Rather, both His Hands are outstretched’ (al-Māʾidah 5:64) and ‘whom I created with My two Hands’ (Ṣād 38:75); and that He has two eyes, without asking how, as He said: ‘It sailed under Our eyes’ (al-Qamar 54:14).” (3)

Thus, al-Ashʿarī—and those before him, after him, ⦗10a⦘ and alongside him—never understood from the plural “eyes” that there are many eyes upon one face, nor from the plural “hands” that there are many hands upon one side. Then this Jahmī appeared, assailed the Qur’an, and claimed that this is its apparent meaning. His true intent, and that of people like him, was merely to vilify the adherents of the Sunnah and ḥadith who had pronounced him an innovator and a deviant. Such has always been the practice of the Jahmiyyah, past and present; by this very tactic they seek to malign Allah, His Messenger, and His Book. “Say, ‘Act as you wish; Allah will see your deeds, as will His Messenger and the believers. Then you will be returned to the Knower of the unseen and the seen, and He will inform you of what you used to do’” (al-Tawbah 9:106).

What, then, is the crime of the people of the Sunnah and ḥadith if they simply utter what the revealed texts utter, refrain from what those texts refrain from, and describe Allah only with the descriptions He has given of Himself and that His Messenger has given of Him—

وقد احتجَّ السلف على إثبات العينينِ له سبحانه بقوله: ﴿تَجْرِي بِأَعْيُنِنَا﴾ [القمر: ١٤]. وممَّن صرَّح بذلك إثباتًا واستدلالًا أبو الحسن الأشعري في كُتبه كلِّها، فقال في «المقالات» و «الموجز» و «الإبانة» وهذا لفظه فيها: «وجملة قولنا: أن نُقِر بالله وملائكته وكتبه ورُسله (١) … ». إلى أن قال: «وأن الله مستوي على عرشه، كما قال: ﴿اَلرَّحْمَنُ عَلَى اَلْعَرْشِ اِسْتَوى﴾ [طه: ٤] وأن له وجهًا، كما قال: ﴿وَيَبْقَى وَجْهُ رَبِّكَ ذُو اُلْجَلَالِ وَاَلْإِكْرَامِ﴾ [الرحمن: ٢٥]، وأن له يدينِ، كما قال: ﴿بَلْ يَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ﴾ [المائدة: ٦٦]، وقال (٢): ﴿لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ﴾ [ص: ٧٤]، وأن له عينين بلا كيفٍ، كما قال: ﴿تَجْرِي بِأَعْيُنِنَا﴾ [القمر: ١٤]» (٣). فهذا الأشعري والناس قبله وبعده [ق ١٠ أ] ومعه لم يفهموا من الأعين أعينًا كثيرةً على وجهٍ، ولم يفهموا من الأيدي أيديًا كثيرةً على شِقٍّ واحدٍ، حتى جاء هذا الجهمي فعضَهَ القرآن، وادَّعى أن هذا ظاهره، وإنما قصد هذا وأمثاله التشنيعَ على مَن بدَّعه وضلَّله من أهل السُّنَّة والحديث. وهذا شأن الجهمية في القديم والحديث، وهُم بهذا الصنيع على الله ورسوله وكتابه يشنِّعون ﴿وَقُلِ اِعْمَلُوا فَسَيَرَى اَللَّهُ عَمَلَكُمْ وَرَسُولُهُ وَاَلْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَسَتُرَدُّونَ إِلَى عَالِمِ اِلْغَيْبِ وَاَلشَّهَادَةِ فَيُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ﴾ [التوبة: ١٠٦]. فما ذنبُ أهل السُّنَّة والحديث إذا نطقوا بما نطقت به النصوص، وأمسكوا عمَّا أمسكتْ عنه، ووصفوا الله بما وصف به نفسَه ووصفه رسولُه،

(١) «ح»: «ورسوله». (٢) «قال» ليس في «ح». (٣) «الإبانة» (ص ٢١ - ٢١) بتصرف.