As for Nuʿaym ibn Ḥammād, he is a weak transmitter; some even went so far as to accuse him of fabrication. The compiler, therefore, ought to have pointed this out and not left room for a spiteful foe to level criticism—exactly what al-Kawtharī did in his Takmilat al-Radd ʿalā Nūniyyat Ibn al-Qayyim (p. 179).

118 – It has reached us from Abū Muṭīʿ al-Ḥakam ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Balkhī, the author of Al-Fiqh al-Akbar, that he said:

“I asked Abū Ḥanīfah about a man who says, ‘I do not know whether my Lord is in heaven or on earth.’ He replied, ‘He has disbelieved, for Allah the Exalted says, “The Most Merciful rose over the Throne” (Q 20:5), and His Throne is above His heavens.’ I then said, ‘The man does affirm “He rose over the Throne,” but he claims he does not know whether the Throne is in heaven or on earth.’ Abū Ḥanīfah said, ‘Once he denies that He is in heaven, he has disbelieved.’”

This was reported by the author of Al-Fārūq.

103 – I say: This Abū Muṭīʿ is one of the senior disciples and jurists of Abū Ḥanīfah. The author of Al-Mīzān writes:

“He was sharp in opinion, a scholar of great stature, yet weak in preserving ḥadīth. Ibn al-Mubārak used to honour and revere him for his piety and knowledge. Ibn Maʿīn said, ‘He is nothing,’ and …”

I further say: The author’s designation of him as “the author of Al-Fiqh al-Akbar” is a strong indication that the book Al-Fiqh al-Akbar is not by Imām Abū Ḥanīfah—contrary to what is commonly held among the Ḥanafīs. The work has been printed several times under his name and annotated by a number of Ḥanafī scholars, among them Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī, to whom most Ḥanafīs are affiliated in creed, the majority of whom belong to the muʾawwilah (those who resort to figurative interpretation). You will find Abū Manṣūr interpreting the statement of Abū Ḥanīfah cited in that book—and in Al-Fiqh al-Akbar—in a manner that corrupts his words and removes him from the ranks of the Salaf, who avoided figurative interpretation. Commenting on Abū Ḥanīfah’s verdict “he has disbelieved” (p. 19, Cairo edition), he says:

“Because by this statement he suggests that Allah might have a place, and thus he was a polytheist!”

He paid no attention to the rest of Abū Ḥanīfah’s words, which invalidate his interpretation, namely:

“Because Allah the Exalted says, ‘The Most Merciful rose over the Throne.’”

I say: This is an explicit proof that the reason for declaring him a disbeliever is precisely his denial of what this verse clearly affirms—Allah’s exaltedness above His Throne—not because his words might imply that the Exalted One occupies a place, far is He above that. And in light of what we have mentioned, he said