Minhaj as-Sunnah - Ibn Taimiya - (2/646)

Minhaj as-SunnahIbn Taimiya

except in a locus in which He inheres, such that He cannot dispense with it whereas that direction is independent of Him,” has thereby made Him dependent on something other than Himself. No one has ever maintained this.

Likewise, we know of no one who has said, “He is dependent on anything among His creatures,” much less that He is dependent on anything other than His creatures.

Nor does anyone say, “Allah is dependent on the Throne,” when He is the Creator of the Throne. The created is dependent on the Creator; the Creator is not dependent on the created. By His power, the Throne and all other created things are sustained. He is Self-Sufficient and has no need of the Throne, while everything besides Him is in need of Him.

Whoever takes the Karrāmiyya and other schools of affirmation to be saying, “Allah is dependent on the Throne,” has fabricated a lie against them. How could this be, when they say, “He existed before the Throne”? If He existed, subsisting in Himself, before the Throne, then He could only have been independent of the Throne.

Moreover, Allah’s being above the Throne does not entail that He is dependent on it. Allah created the world with some parts above others, yet He did not make its higher parts dependent on its lower ones. The air is above the earth but is not dependent on it. Likewise, the clouds are above it but are not dependent on it. The heavens are similarly above the clouds, the air, and the earth, yet are not dependent on any of them. How, then, could the Most High, the Supreme—the Creator of all things—be dependent on His creatures (1) merely because He is above them, exalted over them?!

(1) Mustajīzāda reproduced Ibn Taymiyya’s discussion beginning with the words, “Whoever takes the Karrāmiyya…” through this point, and then added the following comment: “I say: There is no doubt that our righteous forebears—such as the Companions, the Successors, and those who followed the Successors—were the most God-fearing and scrupulous of people, the most devoted to following and emulating the Messenger of Allah, and the most knowledgeable about what Allah and His Messenger intended. Every one of them agreed that He, exalted is He, is upon His Throne in His very Essence. Likewise, the mujtahids (independent jurists), such as our imam Abū Hanīfa, Imam al-Shāfiʿī, Imam Mālik, Imam Ahmad, and others, unanimously agreed that He, exalted is He, is above His Throne in His very Essence. The doctrine of ta’wīl (figurative interpretation) and istīlā (dominion) arose only after a vile man appeared during the Umayyad era. After this vile man, the tribulation of the Jahmiyya spread among the people. It is even reported that he used to say, ‘I wish I could erase from the Quran the words of the Exalted: “The Most Merciful rose over the Throne.”’ Consider this vile man’s audacity and his excess in tanzīh (declaring Allah transcendent)! Al-Khatīb mentioned in his extensive History that Abū Yūsuf related from Imam Abū Hanīfa that he said: ‘Sulaymān al-Aʿmash left behind two vile men: one was Muqātil ibn Sulaymān, for he maintained that He, exalted is He, belongs to the category of bodies; the other was Jahm ibn Safwān, for he placed Him, glorified and exalted is He, in the category of “nothing.”’”

إِلَّا بِمَحَلٍّ يَحُلُّ فِيهِ لَا يَسْتَغْنِي عَنْ ذَلِكَ وَهِيَ مُسْتَغْنِيَةٌ عَنْهُ، فَقَدْ جَعَلَهُ مُحْتَاجًا إِلَى غَيْرِهِ، وَهَذَا لَمْ يَقُلْهُ أَحَدٌ. وَأَيْضًا لَمْ نَعْلَمْ أَحَدًا قَالَ: إِنَّهُ مُحْتَاجٌ إِلَى شَيْءٍ مِنْ مَخْلُوقَاتِهِ، فَضْلًا عَنْ أَنْ يَكُونَ مُحْتَاجًا إِلَى غَيْرِ مَخْلُوقَاتِهِ. وَلَا يَقُولُ أَحَدٌ: إِنَّ اللَّهَ مُحْتَاجٌ إِلَى الْعَرْشِ، مَعَ أَنَّهُ خَالِقُ الْعَرْشِ، وَالْمَخْلُوقُ مُفْتَقِرٌ إِلَى الْخَالِقِ، لَا يَفْتَقِرُ الْخَالِقُ إِلَى الْمَخْلُوقِ، وَبِقُدْرَتِهِ قَامَ الْعَرْشُ وَسَائِرُ الْمَخْلُوقَاتِ، وَهُوَ الْغَنِيُّ عَنِ الْعَرْشِ، وَكُلُّ مَا سِوَاهُ فَقِيرٌ إِلَيْهِ. فَمَنْ فَهِمَ عَنِ الْكَرَّامِيَّةِ وَغَيْرِهِمْ مِنْ طَوَائِفِ الْإِثْبَاتِ أَنَّهُمْ يَقُولُونَ: إِنَّ اللَّهَ مُحْتَاجٌ إِلَى الْعَرْشِ فَقَدِ افْتَرَى عَلَيْهِمْ، كَيْفَ وَهَمَ يَقُولُونَ: إِنَّهُ كَانَ مَوْجُودًا قَبْلَ الْعَرْشِ؟ فَإِذَا كَانَ مَوْجُودًا قَائِمًا بِنَفْسِهِ قَبْلَ الْعَرْشِ لَا يَكُونُ إِلَّا مُسْتَغْنِيًا عَنِ الْعَرْشِ. وَإِذَا كَانَ اللَّهُ فَوْقَ الْعَرْشِ لَمْ يَجِبْ أَنْ يَكُونَ مُحْتَاجًا إِلَيْهِ، فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ خَلَقَ الْعَالَمَ بَعْضَهُ فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ، وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ عَالِيَهُ مُحْتَاجًا إِلَى سَافِلِهِ، فَالْهَوَاءُ فَوْقَ الْأَرْضِ وَلَيْسَ مُحْتَاجًا إِلَيْهَا، وَكَذَلِكَ السَّحَابُ فَوْقَهَا وَلَيْسَ مُحْتَاجًا إِلَيْهَا، وَكَذَلِكَ السَّمَاوَاتُ فَوْقَ السَّحَابِ وَالْهَوَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَلَيْسَتْ مُحْتَاجَةً إِلَى ذَلِكَ، فَكَيْفَ يَكُونُ الْعَلِيُّ الْأَعْلَى خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُحْتَاجًا إِلَى مَخْلُوقَاتِهِ (١) لِكَوْنِهِ فَوْقَهَا عَالِيًا عَلَيْهَا؟ !

(١) نَقَلَ مُسْتَجِي زَادَهْ كَلَامَ ابْنِ تَيْمِيَّةَ الَّذِي يَبْدَأُ بِقَوْلِهِ: فَمَنْ فَهِمَ عَنِ الْكَرَّامِيَّةِ إِلَى هَذَا الْمَوْضِعِ، ثُمَّ كَتَبَ التَّعْلِيقَ التَّالِيَ: " قُلْتُ أَنَا: وَلَا شَكَّ أَنَّ سَلَفَنَا الصَّالِحِينَ مِثْلَ الصَّحَابَةِ وَالتَّابِعِينَ وَمُتَّبِعِي التَّابِعِينَ أَتْقَى النَّاسِ وَأَوْرَعُهُمْ، وَأَشَدُّهُمُ اتِّبَاعًا لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ وَاقْتِدَاءً بِهِ، وَأَعْرَفُهُمْ لِمُرَادِ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ، فَهُمْ عَنْ آخِرِهِمْ مُجْمِعُونَ عَلَى أَنَّهُ تَعَالَى عَلَى عَرْشِهِ بِذَاتِهِ، وَكَذَلِكَ الْمُجْتَهِدُونَ مِثْلُ إِمَامِنَا أَبِي حَنِيفَةَ وَالْإِمَامِ الشَّافِعِيِّ وَالْإِمَامِ مَالِكٍ وَالْإِمَامِ أَحْمَدَ وَغَيْرِهِمْ مُجْمِعُونَ وَمُتَّفِقُونَ عَلَى أَنَّهُ تَعَالَى فَوْقَ عَرْشِهِ بِذَاتِهِ، وَأَنَّ الْقَوْلَ بِالتَّأْوِيلِ وَالِاسْتِيلَاءِ إِنَّمَا حَدَثَ بَعْدَ رَجُلٍ خَبِيثٍ جَاءَ فِي عَصْرِ بَنِي أُمَيَّةَ، فَشَاعَتْ فِتْنَةُ الْجَهْمِيَّةِ بَعْدَ هَذَا الْخَبِيثِ فِي النَّاسِ، حَتَّى يُنْقَلُ عَنْ هَذَا الْخَبِيثِ أَنَّهُ كَانَ يَقُولُ: وَدِدْتُ أَنِّي لَوْ مَحَوْتُ قَوْلَهُ تَعَالَى: (الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَى) عَنِ الْقُرْآنِ. فَانْظُرْ إِلَى جَسَارَةِ هَذَا الْخَبِيثِ وَغُلُوِّهِ فِي التَّنْزِيهِ! وَقَدْ ذَكَرَ الْخَطِيبُ فِي تَارِيخِهِ الْكَبِيرِ أَنَّ أَبَا يُوسُفَ يَرْوِي عَنِ الْإِمَامِ أَبِي حَنِيفَةَ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: إِنَّ سُلَيْمَانَ الْأَعْمَشَ أَخْلَفَ رَجُلَيْنِ خَبِيثَيْنِ: أَحَدُهُمَا مُقَاتِلُ بْنُ سُلَيْمَانَ حَيْثُ إِنَّهُ يَقُولُ بِأَنَّهُ تَعَالَى مِنْ قَبِيلِ الْأَجْسَامِ، وَالْآخَرُ جَهْمُ بْنُ صَفْوَانَ حَيْثُ جَعَلَهُ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى مِنْ قَبِيلِ لَا شَيْءَ ".