- The writer says on pp. 16–17, concerning Ibn al-Qayyim:
“In his book al-Sawāʿiq al-Mursala, he affirms that Allah has two shins, and that if Allah mentions only one shin in His Book, this does not rule out His having no other shin. He says, verbatim: ‘Suppose that He, glorified be He, has stated that He uncovers one shin which is an attribute of His. Where, then, does the apparent meaning of the Quran indicate that He, glorified be He, has only that one attribute? If you heard someone say, “I uncovered my eye and bared my knee and my shin,” would that imply that he has only that one?’ End quote. Consider this explicit ascription of a body to Allah, and this nonsense and raving …” He goes on to say: “So glory in ascribing a body to Allah, Ibn al-Qayyim!! Never mind your opponents among Ahl al-Sunnah, whom you label Jahmīs and deniers of the divine attributes!!”
I say:
First: Ibn al-Qayyim’s words have an important continuation which the writer omitted for a purpose of his own. Immediately after the point where the writer ended his quotation, Ibn al-Qayyim says:
“… If someone said that, this would not be the apparent meaning of his words. How, then, could it be the apparent meaning of the most eloquent and clearest speech?”
This continuation clarifies Ibn al-Qayyim’s intended meaning. The writer deleted it to mislead the reader into thinking that Ibn al-Qayyim ascribes a body to Allah—far be it from him!
Ibn al-Qayyim’s meaning is clear: Allah has addressed us in His Book in clear Arabic, to be understood according to the usage of the Arabic language in which we are addressed in the Quran.
Second: Ibn al-Qayyim—may Allah have mercy on him—included these words among eleven arguments with which he refuted the Jahmī who said:
“The Quran mentions the face, the eyes and the single eye, the single side, the single shin, the hands, the two hands and the hand