as an innovator and as a Jahmī, an Ash‘arī and a Mu‘tazilī. Here is some of what this self-styled Salafi says:
- On p. 10, he says verbatim: ‘Sayyid Qutb has disparaged the position of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamā‘ah. This is the path of the innovators among the Jahmiyyah and Mu‘tazilah, and his words cited later will show that he followed their path.’ End quote.”
I say: The exact words of the eminent scholar, Shaykh ‘Abdullāh al-Duwaysh—may Allah have mercy on him—after mentioning Ahl al-Sunnah’s explanation of istiwā’ (rising over) as being high and elevated, are: “… Whoever rejects this or disparages it has disparaged the position of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamā‘ah. This is the habitual practice of the innovators among the Jahmiyyah, Mu‘tazilah and others. His words cited later will show that he followed their path.”
The writer omitted the beginning of the shaykh’s statement, which, as you can see, is general. He then inserted “Sayyid Qutb” between two dashes entirely of his own invention, taking his distortion still further. This is a blatant lie. Note the difference between the actual words of Shaykh al-Duwaysh—may Allah have mercy on him—and the text presented by this falsifier.
In his book In the Shade, Sayyid Qutb—may Allah have mercy on him—departed from the methodology of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamā‘ah on numerous matters concerning the divine attributes and other subjects, following the approach of the speculative theologians. More than one scholar has drawn attention to this, including the eminent scholar al-Duwaysh—may Allah have mercy on him—in his book “al-Mawrid …”, which this writer and others have found so hard to swallow.
Indeed, Sayyid Qutb—may Allah have mercy on him—himself acknowledged that he had fallen into such errors and followed the ways of the speculative theologians in In the Shade and his other books. He promised to review these works and rectify the errors in subsequent editions. However, he—may Allah have mercy on him—died before he had the opportunity to do so.
Thus, in In the Shade of the Quran (6/3731), Sayyid Qutb criticized the approach of those who seek to understand