Ashāʿirah are disbelievers

Note: This is a translation of https://urwah.pages.dev/posts/ashari-ar

A summary of the doctrine of the female Jahmiyyah:

✺ Allāh exists without a place or direction. He is neither inside nor outside the world, nor is He above His Throne. He cannot be pointed to, nothing ascends to Him, and nothing descends from Him.

✺ Speech is of two types:

a) Kalām an-Nafsī: Allāh's eternal, uncreated speech subsisting in His essence, which is not composed of letters or sound and has no beginning or end.

b) Kalām Lafẓī: Letters and sounds that Allāh creates in other than Himself.

No voice is heard from Allāh, and He did not utter the Qurʾān, the Torah, or the Gospel. Rather, Allāh created all of that as an expression (ʿibārah) [according to the Ashāʿirah] or a narrative (ḥikāyah) [according to the Kullābiyyah] of His eternal speech.

✺ Allāh is not described with actions related to His power and will at specific times; He does not ascend, descend, come, establish Himself upon His Throne, call His servants, or appear to them laughing, for that would be change, and whatever changes is created.

✺ Allāh did not create Ādam with His hand, does not look at His servants with His eyes, the believers will never see His face, He will never uncover His Shin for them, He will not grasp the earths and heavens, and He will not place the creation upon His fingers. Texts about the attributes are to be discarded, either by delegating their meaning (tafwīḍ) or by reinterpreting them (taʾwīl). Otherwise, anthropomorphism (tajsīm) will be necessitated.

✺ Allāh does not become angry, for anger is the boiling of blood; He does not show mercy, for mercy is tenderness of the heart; He does not get happy, be amazed, become pleased, or hate.

✺ Īmān is mere knowledge in the heart. This is the opinion of al-Ashʿarī and al-Bāqillānī.

✺ The true doer in reality is Allāh; whoever commits fornication, it is in fact Allāh who fornicates. Exalted is Allāh above what Ghulāt al-Jabriyyah claim.

I said: So may Allāh curse them, disgrace them, and make Hell their abode. Indeed, may the curse of Allāh be upon the wrongdoers.

Know – may Allāh have mercy on you – that the righteous Salaf unanimously agreed upon the disbelief of the doctrines of the Kullābiyyah and their offspring, the Ashʿariyyah. And I will mention – by the will of Allāh – those among the scholars who declared them disbelievers, either by explicitly naming them or by mentioning some of their statements and declaring their proponents disbelievers, such as the denial of letter and sound, or the claim of the Qurʾān being a ḥikāyah, etc.

[Those who performed takfīr on the Kullābiyyah and Ashāʿirah]

. 

Ibn al-Bannāʾ al-Ḥanbalī (d. 471h) said:

“According to them, the speech of Allāh subsists in His essence and is not letters nor sounds. According to them, the recitation is other than what is recited, and the reading is other than what is read, and both are created according to them, because they say: ‘The Qurʾān is an expression of these letters, sounds, chapters, and verses.’ And with this statement, Imām Aḥmad (d. 241h) declared them disbelievers when Ibn Kullāb said it.”

📓 al-Mukhtār fī Uṣūl as-Sunnah (p. 105)

Al-Imām ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Imām Aḥmad (d. 290h) – may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

“I asked my father – may Allāh have mercy on him – about a people who say: ‘When Allāh, Mighty and Majestic, spoke to Moses, He did not speak with a sound.’ So my father said: ‘Yes, verily your Lord, Mighty and Majestic, spoke with a sound. These ḥadīths we narrate them as they came.’ And my father – may Allāh have mercy on him – said: ‘The ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd – may Allāh be pleased with him – “When Allāh, Mighty and Majestic, speaks, a sound is heard from Him like the dragging of a chain on a rock.”’ My father said: ‘And the Jahmiyyah deny this.’ And my father said: ‘These are disbelievers; they want to deceive the people. Whoever claims that Allāh, Mighty and Majestic, did not speak is a disbeliever. We verily narrate these ḥadīths as they came.’”

📓 Kitāb as-Sunnah (p. 268)

📓 Juzʾ fīhi ar-Radd ʿalā man yaqūlu al-Qurʾān makhliq by Ibn an-Najjād (p. 5)

Imām Abū Bakr al-Khallāl (d. 311h) – may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

[Mention of as-Sarrī and what he innovated]

“Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad reported to me on the authority of Maṭar and Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā that Abū Ṭālib narrated to them that he said to Abū ʿAbdillāh: “A letter came to me from Ṭarsūs stating that as-Sarrī said: ‘When Allāh created the letters, they prostrated except for Alif, for it said: I will not prostrate until I am commanded.’” So he (Abū ʿAbdillāh) said: “This is disbelief.” And Abū Bakr al-Marwadhī informed us, saying: “A letter came to me from the frontier regarding a man who spoke some words, and I presented it to Abū ʿAbdillāh. In it was: ‘When Allāh created the letters, they prostrated except for Alif.’ So Abū ʿAbdillāh became extremely angry until he said: ‘This is the speech of the Zanādiqah! Woe to him! This is a Jahmī!’ And in the letter that was written, it was mentioned that this man said: ‘If only a boy from the boys of Ḥārith’ – meaning al-Muḥāsibī – ‘were present, he would inform the people of Ṭarṭūs.’ So Abū ʿAbdillāh said: ‘The worst thing here is his statement: ‘If only a boy from the boys of Ḥārith were present, he would inform the people of Ṭarṭūs.’ The calamity is none other than Ḥārith. Warn against him in the strongest warning!’””

📓 al-Istiqāmah (p. 205)

Al-Imām Abū Bakr al-Khallāl (d. 311h) – may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

“And Abū Bakr al-Marwadhī informed us: I heard Abū ʿAbdillāh – and it was said to him: ‘ʿAbd al-Wahhāb (d. 251h) has spoken and said: Whoever claims that Allāh spoke to Moses without a voice is a Jahmī, an enemy of Allāh and an enemy of Islam.’ – So Abū ʿAbdillāh (d. 241h) smiled and said: ‘How excellent is what he said! May Allāh grant him well-being!’”

📓 Darʾ Taʿāruḍ al-ʿAql wa an-Naql (2/39)

Al-Ḥākim an-Naysābūrī (d. 405h) said:

“I heard Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq saying: ‘When that which occurred from our affair occurred… Abū ʿAlī ath-Thaqafī said to him: ‘What is it, O teacher, that you have disapproved of from our doctrines such that we should abandon it?’ He said (and he was Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Khuzaymah an-Naysābūrī (d. 311h) – may Allāh have mercy on him –): ‘Your inclination towards the doctrine of the Kullābiyyah, for indeed Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal was among the severest of people against ʿAbdullāh ibn Saʿīd ibn Kullāb, and against his companions like al-Ḥārith and others.’ The discourse between him and Abū ʿAlī regarding this matter went on for a long time.”

📓 Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ (13/380)

📓 Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (6/171)

On the authority of Abū Jaʿfar Aḥmad ibn Sinān (d. 250~h) with a sound chain – and he was the Imām of the people of his time, may Allāh have mercy on him – he said:

“Whoever claims that the Qurʾān is two things, or that the Qurʾān is a ḥikāyah, then by Allāh, besides whom there is no deity worthy of worship, he is a Zindīq, a disbeliever in Allāh. This Qurʾān is the Qurʾān which Allāh sent down upon the tongue of Jibrīl upon Muḥammad; it is not changed nor altered. Falsehood cannot approach it from before it nor from behind it, a revelation from the All-Wise, Praiseworthy…”

📓 Ikhtiṣāṣ al-Qurʾān bi ʿAwdi ilā ar-Raḥīm ar-Raḥmān (p. 32)

On the authority of Abū Ḥātim ar-Rāzī, the Imām, the Ḥāfiẓ (d. 277h) with a good chain – may Allāh have mercy on him – he said:

“Among the speech of Jahm ibn Ṣafwān, Ḥusayn al-Karābīsī, and Dāwūd ibn ʿAlī is that their utterance of the Qurʾān is created, and that the Qurʾān revealed to our Prophet – peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him – from what Jibrīl the Trustworthy brought is a ḥikāyah of the Qurʾān. So Abū ʿAbdillāh Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥanbal declared them Jahmīs, and the scholars of all regions unanimously followed him in declaring them Jahmīs. There is no difference among the people of narration regarding that.”

📓 al-Ḥujjah fī Bayān al-Maḥajjah (2/203)

Ibn Jarīr aṭ-Ṭabarī, the author of the Tafsīr (d. 310h), he said:

“The first thing we begin speaking about from that, according to us, is: The Qurʾān is the Speech of Allāh and His Revelation, since it is from the meanings of His Oneness. The correct statement regarding that according to us is that it is the Speech of Allāh, not created, however it was written, wherever it was recited, in whatever place it was read. It is found in the heaven, and on earth where it is preserved. It was written in the Preserved Tablet, and inscribed on the tablets of the schoolchildren, engraved in stone, or inscribed on parchment, or preserved in the heart, and articulated by the tongue. Whoever says other than that, or claims that there is a Qurʾān on earth or in heaven other than the Qurʾān which we recite with our tongues and write in our Muṣḥafs, or believes other than that in his heart, or conceals it within himself, or says it with his tongue while holding it as a creed, then he is, by Allāh, a disbeliever; his blood is lawful, free from Allāh, and Allāh is free from him, by the saying of Allāh, Mighty and Majestic: {Nay, it is a glorious Qurʾān, [inscribed] in a Preserved Tablet} [al-Burūj: 22], and His truthful saying – Mighty and Majestic –: {And if any of the polytheists seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the Words of Allāh} [at-Tawbah: 6]. He – glorious is His praise – informed that it is written in the Preserved Tablet, and that it is heard from the tongue of Muḥammad – peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him. It is one Qurʾān, heard from Muḥammad – peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him, written in the Preserved Tablet, and likewise it is preserved in the breasts, and recited by the tongues of the old and the young.”

📓 Ṣarīḥ as-Sunnah (p. 18)

Al-Ḥākim an-Naysābūrī (d. 405h) said:

“I heard Abū Saʿīd ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn Aḥmad al-Muqrī saying: I heard Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq (d. 311h) saying: ‘What I hold is that the Qurʾān is the Speech of Allāh, His revelation and His sending down, not created. And whoever says that the Qurʾān, or something from it, from His revelation and His sending down, is created, or says that Allāh does not speak after He spoke in eternity, or says that the actions of Allāh are created, or says that the Qurʾān is originated (muḥdath), or says that something from the attributes of Allāh – the attributes of His Essence – or a name from the names of Allāh is created: then according to me he is a Jahmī who must be called to repentance. Either he repents; otherwise, his neck is struck and he is thrown on some rubbish heap. This is my doctrine and the doctrine of those I have seen from the people of narration in the East and the West from the people of knowledge. And whoever narrates from me contrary to this is a liar, a slanderer. And whoever looks into my authored books in knowledge, it will become clear and evident to him that the Kullābiyyah – may Allāh curse them – are liars in what they narrate from me which is contrary to my foundational principle and my religion. The people of the East and the West have known that no one has authored in Tawḥīd, Qadar, and the fundamentals of knowledge anything like my authorship. So the one who narrates contrary to what is in my authored books are liars, sinners.’”

📓 Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (6/170)

📓 Jamʿ al-Juyūsh (p. 102)

Al-Ḥākim an-Naysābūrī (d. 405h) said:

“And I heard Abū Saʿīd ibn Abī Bakr saying: ‘When that which occurred from the affair of the Kullābiyyah occurred in Nīsābūr, Abū al-ʿAbbās as-Sarrāj (the Imām, the Muḥaddith (d. 313h) – may Allāh have mercy on him) would examine the children of the people and would not teach ḥadīth to the children of the Kullābiyyah. He made me stand in the gathering once and said: “Say: I dissociate myself before Allāh – Exalted is He – from the Kullābiyyah.” I said: “If I say this, my father will not feed me bread.” He laughed and said: “Leave this one.”’”

📓 Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ (11/242)

And on his authority with a sound chain that he said:

“Whoever does not affirm that Allāh – Exalted is He – gets amazed, laughs, and descends every night to the lowest heaven, saying: ‘Who will ask of Me so that I may give him?’, then he is a Zindīq, a disbeliever who must be called to repentance. Either he repents; otherwise, his neck is struck, he is not prayed over, and he is not buried in the graveyard of the Muslims.”

📓 Siyar Aʿlām an-Nubalāʾ (11/243)

I say: And the Kullābiyyah do not affirm the voluntary actions (al-afʿāl al-ikhtiyāriyyah) as we mentioned previously.

Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597h) said:

  “2459 – ʿAlī ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Bishr, and his name is Isḥāq ibn Sālim ibn Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbdillāh ibn Mūsā ibn Bilāl ibn Abī Burdah ibn Abī Mūsā, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī, the Theologian. He was born in the year 260h, occupied himself with theology, and was upon the doctrine of the Muʿtazilah for a long time. Then the idea of opposing them occurred to him, and he manifested a statement that confused the beliefs of the people and caused continuous tribulations. The people did not differ regarding that this which is heard is the Speech of Allāh, and that Jibrīl – upon him be peace – brought it down upon Muḥammad – peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him. So the relied-upon Imāms said that it is uncreated, and the Muʿtazilah said it is created. So al-Ashʿarī agreed with the Muʿtazilah that this (i.e., what is recited) is created, and said: ‘This is not the speech of Allāh. Rather, the speech of Allāh is an attribute subsisting in His essence; it did not descend nor is it among that which is heard.’ He remained, ever since he manifested this, fearful for his life due to his opposition to the people of the Sunnah, until he sought refuge in the house of Abū al-Ḥasan at-Tamīmī for fear of being killed. Then groups from the sultans followed his doctrine, so they became fanatical for him and his followers became many, until the Shāfiʿīs abandoned the belief of ash-Shāfiʿī – may Allāh be pleased with him – and adopted the statement of al-Ashʿarī.”

📓 al-Muntaẓam fī Tārīkh al-Mulūk wa al-Umam (14/29)

Abū Muḥammad al-Barbahārī (d. 329h) – who was the shaykh of the Ḥanbalīs in his time, may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

“And to believe that Allāh – Blessed and Exalted is He – is the One who spoke to Moses ibn ʿImrān on the Day of Ṭūr, and Moses heard the speech from Allāh with a sound that entered his ears from Him, not from other than Him. So whoever says other than this has disbelieved in Allāh, the Supreme.”

📓 Sharḥ as-Sunnah (p. 90)

Abū Ismāʿīl al-Harawī (d. 481h) – who was given the title Shaykh al-Islām, may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

“I heard Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn Muḥammad saying: ‘Abū ʿAlī ar-Rifāʾ (Ḥāmid ibn Muḥammad, the great preacher, d. 356h – may Allāh have mercy on him) used to say: “May Allāh curse the Kullābiyyah” – and he would gesture with his hand towards the house of so-and-so.’ He said: ‘And I saw him on the pulpit with the edge of his robe on his head.’”

📓 Dhamm al-Kalām (4/396)

Al-Imām al-Qudwah Abū Bakr al-Ājurrī (d. 360h) – may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

[Chapter on mentioning the Lafẓiyyah, and whoever claims that this Qurʾān is a ḥikāyah of the Qurʾān in the Preserved Tablet – they have lied.]

“Be aware, may Allāh have mercy on you, of these people who say: ‘their lafẓ of the Qurʾān is created.’ And this, according to Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and whoever is upon his way, is a mighty rejected matter. The one who says this is an evil innovator; he is not spoken to, nor sat with, and people are warned against him. The scholars do not know other than what we have previously mentioned, and that is that the Qurʾān is the Speech of Allāh, not created. Whoever says it is created has disbelieved. And whoever says: ‘The Qurʾān is the Speech of Allāh’ and stops, he is a Jahmī. And whoever says: ‘My lafẓ of the Qurʾān is created’ is also a Jahmī. Thus said Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, and he spoke very severely about it. And likewise, whoever says: ‘This Qurʾān which the people recite, and which is in the Muṣḥafs, is a ḥikāyah of that which is in the Preserved Tablet’ – this is a rejected statement which the scholars reject.”

📓 Kitāb ash-Sharīʿah (1/534)

Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Baṭṭah al-ʿUkbarī (d. 387h) – may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

“And for these statements and doctrines, there are leaders from the Imāms of misguidance, forerunners in disbelief and evil speech. They say about Allāh what they do not know, and they censure the people of truth in what they come with, and accuse the trustworthy narrators of fabrication, while not accusing their own opinions in interpretation. They have raised the banners of innovations, set up the market of tribulation, and opened the door of calamity. They fabricate lies against Allāh, and invent falsehood and aggression regarding His Book. They are brothers of the devils, enemies of the believers, a shelter for the transgressors, and a refuge for the envious. They are various groups and tribes, types and factions. I will mention a portion of their names and something of their attributes… And among their wicked ones, and those who manifest in their speech the defense of the Sunnah and support for it, but whose speech is the most wicked, are: Ibn Kullāb, Ḥusayn an-Najjār, Abū Bakr al-Aṣamm, and Ibn ʿUlayyah.”

📓 al-Ibānah aṣ-Ṣughrā (p. 282)

And he said:

[Chapter on mentioning the Lafẓiyyah and warning against their opinion and their statements]

“Know, may Allāh have mercy on you, that a faction from the Jahmiyyah, with the deception of their hearts, the wickedness of their opinions, and the ugliness of their desires, believed that the Qurʾān is created. So they covered that up with an innovation they invented as a deception and show to the common people, so that their disbelief would be hidden and their atheism would be obscure to those whose knowledge is little and whose capacity is weak. So they said: ‘The Qurʾān which Allāh spoke and said, that is the Speech of Allāh, not created. But this which we recite and read with our tongues, and write in our Muṣḥafs, is not the Qurʾān which is the Speech of Allāh. This is a ḥikāyah of that. So what we read is a ḥikāyah of that Qurʾān with our own utterances, and our utterances regarding it are created.’ Thus they were subtle in their disbelief and devised a scheme to introduce disbelief to the common people by the most obscure path, the most intricate doctrine, and the most hidden manner. But that did not remain hidden – praise be to Allāh, by His grace and good facilitation – from the masters of the scholars and the intelligent critics, until they exposed what they had concealed and unveiled the cover from the ugliness of what they had hidden. So their disbelief and atheism became clear to the elite and the common people. And the one who discerned that and recognized the place of ugliness in it was the righteous shaykh, the knowledgeable, intelligent Imām, Abū ʿAbdillāh Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥanbal – may Allāh have mercy on him. And the evidence of their disbelief was clear and evident in the Book of Allāh – Mighty and Majestic – and the Sunnah of His Prophet Muḥammad – peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him. And indeed the Qurʾān and the Sunnah – by the praise of Allāh – have exposed them as liars.”

📓 al-Ibānah al-Kubrā (5/317-318)

Abū Ismāʿīl al-Harawī (d. 481h) said:

“I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥamzah and Abū ʿAlī al-Ḥaddād saying: ‘We found Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad an-Nahāwandī (the zāhid, al-ʿārif – may Allāh have mercy on him, (d. 394h)) upon rejection of the people of Kalām and declaring the Ashʿariyyah disbelievers.’ And he mentioned his great standing in rejecting Abū al-Fawāris al-Qarmasīnī and boycotting him over a single letter. I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥamzah saying: ‘When the boycott between an-Nahāwandī and Abū al-Fawāris intensified, they asked Abū ʿAbdillāh ad-Dīnawarī (and he was from the foremost of the shaykhs and the highest of them in aspiration – (d. 4th century h) – may Allāh have mercy on him). So he said: ‘I met a thousand shaykhs upon what an-Nahāwandī is upon.’”

📓 Dhamm al-Kalām (4/404)

The great Ḥāfiẓ Abū ʿAbdillāh Ibn Mandah (d. 395h) – may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

“This is the description of the Zanādiqah the Ashʿariyyah who appeared in this era; they turned away from the Book and the narrations, relied upon analogy, and said with their feeble intellects what opposes the narrations.”

📓 Majlis fī ar-Radd ʿalā az-Zanādiqah (a manuscript)

And he said:

“So let a person fear his Lord and take heed from those who preceded from those who held this doctrine and statement, how they left the world abandoned, denounced, expelled from gatherings and lands due to their ugly belief and vile statement which opposes the people of the religion of Allāh. That which the Imāms of the people of misguidance conveyed from the inspiration of Shayṭān to their hearts, to argue with it against the people of truth, those who are not mentioned in the gatherings of the people of knowledge and the assemblies of the people of truth except that they are followed by ugly cursing in speech. Like al-Karābīsī, Ibn Kullāb, ash-Sharrāk, Ibn al-Ashʿarī, and their like, whose reference in their religion was to their feeble intellect and wicked opinions. They interpret the Book of Allāh contrary to the interpretation of the Salaf from those who witnessed the revelation and knew the interpretation. They reject what has come from the Chosen One – peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him – from the narrations, whatever does not conform to their desires.”

📓 Manuscript at aẓ-Ẓāhiriyyah Library (Collection No. 3798 – al-ʿUmarīyah Collections 62)

📓 Dhamm al-Kalām (4/424) with similar wording.

Ash-Shaykh Ibn Ḥāmid, the Imām of the Ḥanbalīs in his time (d. 403h) – may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

“And our Imām – may Allāh have mercy on him – made clear regarding the Qurʾān that there is no doubt in it nor pause. And that those who hold to the ḥikāyah (the narrative) and the maḥkī (the narrated),  the lafẓ (utterance) and the malfūẓ (the uttered), and the tilāwah (recitation) and the matlū (the recited) are heretics (zanādiqah).”

📓 Tahdhīb al-Ajwibah (p. 18)

Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728h) said:

“The Shaykh Abū al-Ḥasan Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik al-Karajī ash-Shāfiʿī said in his book which he named "al-Fuṣūl fī al-Uṣūl ʿan al-Aʾimmah al-Fuḥūl Ilzāman li-Dhawī al-Bidaʿ wa al-Fuḍūl", he said therein: ‘I heard Imām Abū Manṣūr Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad saying: I heard Imām Abū Bakr ʿAbdullāh ibn Aḥmad saying: I heard Shaykh Abū Ḥāmid al-Isfarāyīnī (the Imām, the Mujaddid (d. 406h) – may Allāh have mercy on him) saying: ‘My doctrine and the doctrine of ash-Shāfiʿī and the jurists of the regions is that the Qurʾān is the Speech of Allāh, not created. And whoever says it is created is a disbeliever. And the Qurʾān, Jibrīl – upon him be peace – carried it heard from Allāh – Exalted is He – and the Prophet – peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him – heard it from Jibrīl, and the Companions heard it from the Messenger of Allāh – peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him. And it is that which we recite with our tongues, and that which is between the two covers, and that which is in our breasts, heard, written, preserved, and inscribed. And every letter from it – like Bāʾ and Tāʾ – all of it is the Speech of Allāh, not created. And whoever says it is created is a disbeliever; upon him are the curses of Allāh, the angels, and all the people.’”

  📓 al-Fatāwā al-Kubrā (6/599)

And he said:

“The Shaykh Abū al-Ḥasan said: ‘And the Shaykh Abū Ḥāmid was severe in disapproval of al-Bāqillānī and the people of Kalām.’ Abū al-Ḥasan said: ‘And the Shāfiʿī Imāms never ceased to disdain and scorn being attributed to al-Ashʿarī, and they absolved themselves from what al-Ashʿarī built his doctrine upon, and forbade their companions and loved ones from hovering around it, according to what I heard from several shaykhs and Imāms, from them was al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Muʾtamin ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī as-Sājī, they say: ‘We heard a group of trustworthy shaykhs saying: The Shaykh Abū Ḥāmid Aḥmad ibn Ṭāhir al-Isfarāyīnī, the Imām of the Imāms who filled the earth with knowledge and companions, when he would walk to the Friday prayer from the Qaṭīʿah of al-Karkh to the Mosque of al-Manṣūr, would enter the garden known as ar-Rawzī adjacent to the mosque, and would turn to those present and say: “Bear witness against me that the Qurʾān is the Speech of Allāh, not created, as Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said, not as al-Bāqillānī says.” And this was repeated from him in several gatherings. So he was asked about that, and he said: “So that it spreads among the people and the righteous, and the news becomes widespread in the lands that I am free from what they are upon and free from the doctrine of Abū Bakr al-Bāqillānī. For a group of jurist strangers enter upon al-Bāqillānī secretly and study under him, so they are tempted by his doctrine. When they return to their lands, they inevitably manifest their innovation. So a person may think that they learned it from me, and that I said it. And I am free from the doctrine of al-Bāqillānī and his creed.”’”

📓 al-Fatāwā al-Kubrā (6/600)

Al-Imām al-Ḥāfiẓ Hibatullāh al-Lālakāʾī (d. 418h) – may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

“The citation of what indicates from the verses of the Book of Allāh – Exalted is He – and what has been narrated from the Messenger of Allāh – peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him – and the Companions and the Successors, that Allāh spoke the Qurʾān in reality, and that He sent it down upon Muḥammad – peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him… and that it is the Qurʾān in reality, recited in the prayer niches, written in the Muṣḥafs, preserved in the breasts of men, not a narrative (ḥikāyah) nor an expression (ʿibārah) about a Qurʾān. It is one Qurʾān, not created, not originated, not marbūb (has a lord). Rather, it is an attribute from the attributes of His essence; He has always been speaking with it. And whoever says other than this is a disbeliever, astray, leading astray, an innovator, opposing the doctrines of the Sunnah and the Jamāʿah.”

📓 Sharḥ Uṣūl Iʿtiqād Ahl as-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah (2/364)

I say: Abū Ismāʿīl al-Harawī (d. 481h) narrated reports regarding their takfīr and cursing; so refer to his book Dhamm al-Kalām wa Ahluh. And I am mentioning – by the will of Allāh – those from whom it is authentically reported:

The master of the Ṣūfiyyah, the Shaykh of Khurāsān, Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn as-Sulamī (d. 412h), he used to curse the Kullābiyyah.

The Shaykh of the Ḥaram, Abū Usāmah al-Muqrī (d. 417h), he cursed Abū Dharr al-Harawī al-Ashʿarī for spreading his doctrine in the Maghrib.

The Sultan, the Amīr, Conqueror of India, Maḥmūd ibn Sabuktakin (d. 421h) – may Allāh have mercy on him – he used to curse the Ashʿariyyah and curse those who did not curse them!

Al-Imām, the Shaykh of Sijistān, Yaḥyā ibn ʿAmmār as-Sijistānī (d. 422h) – may Allāh have mercy on him –, he expelled Ibn Ḥibbān al-Bustī from Sijistān for his rejection of the ḥadd and he would declare them disbelievers, curse them on the pulpit, and testify against al-Ashʿarī of zandaqah.

The Muḥaddith of Herat, the Shaykh ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm az-Zāhid (d. 425h) – may Allāh have mercy on him –, he used to curse them and declare them disbelievers.

The scholars of Abū Ismāʿīl – and how noble they are – he mentioned that he saw them cursing them and declaring them disbelievers.

The Shaykh of the people of Rayy, al-Imām Abū Ḥātim Khāmūsh (d. 440h) – may Allāh have mercy on him –, he used to curse the Ashʿariyyah.

The master of the Ṣūfiyyah in Herat, Aḥmad ibn Ḥamzah al-Ḥaddād (d. 441h), he narrated reports regarding their takfīr and he mentioned the killing of one of the Jahmiyyah for his denial that the Qurʾān is letters.

Shaykh al-Islām Abū ʿUthmān aṣ-Ṣābūnī (d. 449h) – may Allāh have mercy on him –, he mentioned the calling to repentance of aṣ-Ṣabghī and ath-Thaqafī, the two Kullābīs.

The zāhid, al-ʿārif Abū Saʿd al-Aḥnaf al-Harawī (d. 454h), he cursed Abū al-Ḥasan ad-Dīnawarī because he was a Kullābī and called him to repent from his doctrine.

The Imām of the people of Tirmidh, Ḥibāl ibn Aḥmad (d. 5th century h), he used to testify against them of zandaqah.

The jurist, Abū Saʿid aṭ-Ṭālaqānī (d. 5th century h), he used to curse the Kullābiyyah.

📓 Dhamm al-Kalām

Ash-Shaykh al-ʿĀlim Abū Naṣr as-Sijzī (d. 444h) – may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

“And Abū Muḥammad ibn Kullāb and those who agreed with him, and al-Ashʿarī and others said: ‘The Qurʾān is not created, except that Allāh does not speak in Arabic, nor in other than it from the languages, and His speech does not involve composition, arrangement, and sequence, nor is it a letter nor a sound.’ So it has become clear by what they said that the Qurʾān which they denied creation of is not Arabic, and it has no beginning nor end. And the denier of the Arabic Qurʾān and that it is the Speech of Allāh is a disbeliever by the consensus of the jurists, and the affirmer of a Qurʾān which has no beginning nor end is a disbeliever by their consensus.”

📓 His letter to the people of Zabīd (p. 154)

Ash-Shaykh al-Muqrī Abū ʿAlī al-Ahwāzī (d. 446h) – may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

“And he (i.e., al-Ashʿarī) claimed that he is from the people of the Sunnah, and he confused the people regarding his affair. So a group of ignorant ones, vile misguideds, inclined to him, claiming that they seek theological discourse. And from those who engaged in jurisprudence, so many of the people imagined that they are upon the truth. So his affair spread and became widespread in the horizons. The cause of that was his claim that he supports the Sunnah – and we seek refuge in Allāh. Rather, he – may Allāh curse him and disgrace him – supports innovation, and introduces to the people the statement of the Muʿtazilah and the Zanādiqah while they are unaware, due to what they are upon of love for Kalām and inclination towards it. Know – may Allāh grant you success for His pleasure – that ʿAlī ibn Abī Bishr is from the people of Basrah; he was born and grew up there, and resided there most of his life. The people of his city know him better than others. And I saw a group who witnessed him, saw him, narrated from him, and told us his reports until he died – may Allāh not have mercy on him.”

📓 Mathālib Ibn Abī Bishr (p. 60)

And he said:

“I heard Abū ʿAbdillāh Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAllān al-Muḥarrasī al-Muʾaddib, the righteous shaykh in Makkah – may Allāh have mercy on him (I have not found a biography for him) – saying, while he was standing at al-Multazam bidding farewell to the House for departure with the pilgrims of Khurāsān. I came and stood beside him and asked him for supplication. Then he said: ‘A word, hear it from me with which you may reproach the Ashʿarites: Al-Ashʿarī died in al-Aḥsāʾ intoxicated, on the back of a boy – may Allāh curse him and disgrace him, and make Hellfire his abode, and all who hold his belief.’”

📓 Mathālib Ibn Abī Bishr (p. 76)

Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī (d. 795h) said:

“So ash-Sharīf Abū Jaʿfar (ʿAbd al-Khāliq ibn Mūsā, (d. 470h) – and he was the foremost of the people of his time, may Allāh have mercy on him) crossed over to the Mosque of al-Manṣūr, he and the people of his maḏhab, and the rest of the jurists, and the notables of the people of ḥadīth, and they conveyed that. So the people of the Sunnah rejoiced at that, and they read ‘Kitāb at-Tawḥīd’ by Ibn Khuzaymah. Then they attended the Dīwān and requested the bringing out of the creed that the Caliph al-Qādir had compiled, and they were responded to in that. It was read there in the presence of all, and they agreed upon cursing whoever opposed it and declaring him a disbeliever. And Ibn Fūrak was excessive in that.”

📓 Dhayl Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābilah (1/38)

Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī (d. 795h) said:

“Then Abū Saʿd aṣ-Ṣūfī stood, kissed the hand of ash-Sharīf, and was gentle with him. So he turned angrily and said: ‘O Shaykh, when the jurists speak about matters of the fundamentals, they have an entry into it. But as for you: you are a man of amusement, listening [to music/poetry], and taʿbīr. So who has crowded you upon that until you have entered among the theologians and the jurists, and set up the market of partisanship?’ Then Ibn al-Qushayrī stood – and he was the least of them in respect for ash-Sharīf – so ash-Sharīf said: ‘Who is this?’ It was said: ‘Abū Naṣr ibn al-Qushayrī.’ So he said: ‘If it were permissible to thank anyone for his innovation, it would be this young man, because he is manifesting here what is in himself, and did not hypocritically agree with us as these two did.’ Then he turned to the minister and said: ‘What reconciliation can there be between us? Reconciliation only occurs between disputants over governance, or worldly matters, or contention over sovereignty. But as for these people, they claim that we are disbelievers, and we claim that whoever does not believe what we believe is a disbeliever. So what reconciliation is there between us?’”

📓 Dhayl Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābilah (1/41)

Al-Imām al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Qāsim az-Zanjānī (d. 471h) – may Allāh have mercy on him – while speaking about Jahm ibn Ṣafwān said:

“So the scholars unanimously agreed when they heard that that the one who says that and believes it is an atheist who has cast off the bond of religion. So he ordered his hand and foot to be cut off and for him to be crucified, and the evil of his statements was cut off from the Ummah and became extinct. No one remained saying it except where he is not noticed, until ʿAlī ibn Ismāʿīl al-Ashʿarī came. Discord occurred between him and Abū ʿAlī al-Jubbāʾī, and he expelled him from his gathering and exiled him. So he turned to some of his statements and began supporting him and debating the Muʿtazilah upon it, so their evil returned to the Ummah.”

 📓 The Sharḥ of his Manẓūmah (p. 126)

And he said about Ibn Kullāb:

“He is the one who claims that Allāh is not a speech heard from Him, and that Jibrīl did not hear from Allāh anything of what he conveyed to His messengers, and that what was sent down upon the Prophets is a ḥikāyah of the speech of Allāh, and that the speech of Allāh is not a command, nor a prohibition, nor information, nor inquiry. Rather, that is known from it by another meaning, and that He doesn't have words, and that His speech is one thing, not chapters, nor verses, nor words, nor a language from the languages of entities… So he began by rejecting the Qurʾān… and opposed the entire Ummah regarding that what is on earth is the speech of Allāh and His Book. And he, al-Ashʿarī, and others from the Lafẓiyyah used to claim that the speech of Allāh in reality is not Arabic, nor Hebrew, nor Syriac, nor in any language from the languages, and it is not permissible for it to be chapters nor verses, nor to have parts nor numbers, and it is not permissible for it to descend to any of the Prophets in reality, nor for it to exist in a place – neither heart, nor tongue, nor page. And Ibn Fūrak mentioned in his book ‘Mujarrad Qawl al-Ashʿarī’ that he used to say: ‘Indeed the Book of Allāh is other than His Speech, and the numbers and parts are in the Book, not in the Speech. And the Qurʾān, the Torah, the Gospel, and the Psalms are names for the expressions sent down in the different languages. And the Speech of Allāh does not deserve any of these names.’ And all of them claim that he is refuting the Muʿtazilah regarding the creation of the Qurʾān. So let the observer contemplate this chapter from their speech; it will become clear to him the play-acting of these people and the flimsiness of their religion. For the disagreement with the Muʿtazilah and others occurred only regarding what is in the world from the Qurʾān preserved in the breasts, recited by the tongues, written in the Muṣḥafs. And the entire creation did not know a Qurʾān other than it.”

📓 The Sharḥ of his Manẓūmah (p. 128)

The Shaykh of Shām, the Jurist Abū al-Faraj ash-Shīrāzī (d. 486h) – may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

“It is asked: Regarding what we recite of letters and sounds, is it itself the speech of Allāh? If he says: ‘It is itself the speech of Allāh,’ then he is a Sunnī. But if he says: ‘It is an expression (ʿibārah) and a narrative (ḥikāyah) of the speech of Allāh,’ then he is an Ashʿarī and a Muʿtazilī, a disbeliever in Allāh.”

📓 Juzʾ Imtiḥān as-Sunnī min al-Bidʿī (p. 142)

Ḥujjat az-Zanādiqah al-Ghazālī (d. 505h) said:

“The Ḥanbalī declares the Ashʿarī a disbeliever, claiming that he rejected the Messenger in affirming aboveness for Allāh – Exalted is He – and in the istiwāʾ upon the Throne. And the Ashʿarī declares him a disbeliever, claiming that he is an anthropomorphist (Mushabbih).”

📓 Faysal at-Tafriqah (p. 26)

The Jurist Ibn ʿAqīl al-Ḥanbalī (d. 513h) – may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

“Indeed the Ashʿariyyah have opposed the Book of Allāh, the Sunnah of His Messenger, the consensus of the jurists, and the people of language. So understand that, may Allāh have mercy on you, and ponder it. Avoid their statement, beware of their innovation and misguidance, so that you may be safe from their deceit. And inform the Muslims of their statement and their corrupt belief. … As for the Ashʿariyyah's claim of agreement with Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal – may Allāh be pleased with him – it is false. Where are they from the statement of Aḥmad – may Allāh be pleased with him: ‘Whoever says my lafẓ of the Qurʾān is created is a disbeliever’? ʿAbdullāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said: My father said: ‘Allāh spoke with a sound,’ and he said: ‘None denies this except the Jahmiyyah.’ And ʿAbdullāh said: I asked my father about a man who said: ‘The recitation is created and the Qurʾān is not created.’ So he said: ‘This is a disbeliever, and this is worse than an innovator. And this is the speech of the Jahmiyyah and whoever agrees with them.’”

📓 Juzʾ fī Masʾalat al-Qurʾān (p. 63)

Al-Imām al-Fāḍil Abū al-Ḥasan al-Karajī (d. 532h) – may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

“And also a group from the Mālikīs have been tempted by the doctrines of the Ashʿariyyah. And this, by Allāh, is a disgrace, a shame, and a slip that returns with calamity, destruction, and evil abode upon the adherent to the doctrines of these great Imāms. For their doctrine is what we have narrated: their declaring the Jahmiyyah, the Muʿtazilah, the Qadariyyah, and the Wāqifīs disbelievers, and their declaring the Lafẓiyyah disbelievers.”

📓 Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā (4/177)

And he said in his poem:

“Likewise every head of misguidance who has passed,

By killing and crucifixion, with beards and mustaches.

Like Jaʿd and Jahm, and after him al-Marīsī,

And that al-Ashʿarī, the afflicted, the worst of plotters.”

📓 ʿArūs al-Qaṣāʾid

The Shaykh of the Ḥanbalīs of Damascus, ʿAbd al-Wahhāb Ibn al-Ḥanbalī (d. 536h) – may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

“Indeed the Ashʿariyyah have opposed, with their innovation, the text of the Book, the clear Sunnah, the evidences of intellects, and the consensus of the people of religions from the Jews and Christians, and have exceeded the disbelievers of Quraysh in denying the Qurʾān. So we seek refuge in Allāh, O my brother, from this statement. And praise be to Allāh for safety from this misguidance and ignorance.”

📓 ar-Risālah al-Wāḍiḥah (p. 481)

The righteous Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī (d. 561h) – may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

“So whoever claims that it is created, or its expression, or the recitation is other than what is recited, or says: ‘My lafẓ of the Qurʾān is created,’ then he is a disbeliever in Allāh, the Supreme. He is not mixed with, nor eaten with, nor married to, nor neighbored. Rather, he is boycotted and demeaned. Prayer is not performed behind him, his testimony is not accepted, his guardianship in the marriage of his ward is not valid, and he is not prayed over when he dies. If he is apprehended, he is called to repentance three times like the apostate. If he repents, (well and good); otherwise, he is killed… And Allāh – Exalted is He – threatened al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah al-Makhzūmī when he called the Qurʾān the speech of humans with Saqar, so He said: {This is not but magic imitated. This is not but the speech of a human being. I will roast him in Saqar} [al-Mudaththir: 24-26]. So everyone who says: ‘The Qurʾān is an expression, or created, or my lafẓ of the Qurʾān is created,’ for him is Saqar, as it is for al-Walīd, except that he repents.”

📓 al-Ghunyah (p. 128)

I say: And also a group from the scholars and jurists declared them disbelievers, among them:

Abū Mūsā al-Madīnī (d. 581h), for he narrated a poem regarding the takfīr of the Ashʿariyyah in his part ‘al-Kalām ʿan Ḥadīth al-Istilqāʾ’.

And Abū al-Qāsim ad-Dashtī (d. 665h) also narrated it in his book ‘Ithbāt al-Ḥadd’, and he declared whoever denies place and the ḥadd a disbeliever.

ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Maqdisī (d. 600h) declared whoever says that the letters of the Qurʾān are not the very speech of Allāh a disbeliever, in his ‘Iʿtiqād’.

Ibn Qudāmah al-Maqdisī (d. 620h) declares the Ashʿariyyah heretics for that as well, in ‘al-Munāẓarah’.

ʿAbd as-Sātir al-Maqdisī (d. 679h), and he had a burning zeal against them; Ibn Rajab mentioned that in ‘Dhayl Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābilah’.

And other than them are many.

.

[Those who said denying ʿUluww is kufr and that it is from the clear matters]

.

‎ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd al-Dārimī said – may Allāh have mercy on him:

“Whoever does not direct his faith and worship to Allāh – the One who is established (istawā) over the Throne, above His heavens, and is distinct from His creation – indeed worships other than Allāh.”

📓 ar-Radd ʿalā al-Jahmiyyah (p. 69)

 

And he said:

“We also declare them disbelievers for not knowing where Allāh is and for not describing Him with ‘where,’ whereas Allāh has described Himself with ‘where’ when He said: ‘The Most Merciful [who is] over the Throne istawā.’”

📓 ar-Radd ʿalā al-Jahmiyyah (p. 202)

 

‎Saʿīd ibn ʿĀmir said – may Allāh have mercy on him:

“They are worse in speech than the Jews and Christians; the Jews, Christians, and people of other religions are agreed that Allāh is above the Throne, while the Jahmiyyah say, ‘There is nothing above the Throne.’”

📓 Khalq Afʿāl al-ʿIbād (p. 30)

 

On the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Mūsā al-Ashayb – may Allāh have mercy on him – he said:

“When a Jahmī exaggerates, he says, ‘There is nothing there,’” and al-Ashayb pointed toward the sky.

📓 Khalq Afʿāl al-ʿIbād (p. 37)

 

‎Imām ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī said – may Allāh have mercy on him:

“There are none from the people of desires more evil than the followers of Jahm. They revolve around saying, ‘There is nothing in the sky.’ By Allāh, I hold that they should not be married to nor inherit from.”

📓 Kitāb as-Sunnah (1/157)

 

On the authority of Muḥammad ibn Muṣʿab al-ʿĀbid – may Allāh have mercy on him – he said:

“I bear witness that You are above the Throne, above the seven heavens – not as the enemies of Allāh, the Zanādiqah, say.”

📓 Kitāb as-Sunnah (1/173)

 

On the authority of Ibn Khuzaymah – may Allāh have mercy on him – by an authentic chain:

“Whoever does not affirm that Allāh, the Most High, is on His Throne — having ascended over it above the seven heavens — then he is a disbeliever in his Lord. He is to be called to repent. Either he repents, otherwise, his neck is to be struck and his corpse is to be cast into one of the refuse heaps where neither the Muslims nor the Dhimmīs are harmed by the stench of his rotting body. His wealth is [to be taken as] fayʾ (public property), and no Muslim is to inherit from him, for a Muslim does not inherit from a disbeliever — just as the Prophet (ﷺ) said.”

📓 Maʿrifat ʿUlūm al-Ḥadīth (p. 84)

 

‎Imām Ibn Baṭṭah al-ʿUkbarī said – may Allāh have mercy on him:

[Chapter on belief that Allāh is upon His Throne, distinct from His creation, and His knowledge encompasses all of creation.]

“The Muslims – from the Companions, the Successors, and all the scholars among the believers – have unanimously agreed that Allāh, blessed and exalted, is upon His Throne, above His heavens, distinct from His creation, and His knowledge encompasses all of His creation. None rejects or denies this except those who adopt the doctrines of the Ḥulūliyyah – a people whose hearts have deviated, whom the devils have seduced, and who have thus apostatised from the religion, saying, ‘Allāh's essence isn't free from any place.’”

📓 al-Ibānah al-Kubrā (3/136)

 

‎al-Aṣbahānī said – may Allāh have mercy on him:

“In their prohibition of pointing toward Allāh, glorified is He, from the direction of above, they contradict all other religious communities.”

📓 al-Ḥujjah fī Bayān al-Maḥajjah (2/117)

 

‎Abū al-Qāsim ad-Dashtī said – may Allāh have mercy on him:

“From the doctrine of the Aṣḥāb al-Ḥadīth – who are the Ahl as-Sunnah, the Imāms of the Muslims, and the scholars of clarity – they believe and testify that whoever says, ‘Allāh the Exalted has no limit,’ meaning by that ‘Allāh is in every place,’ or ‘He did not istawā over the Throne as is established in the hearts of the common people,’ or that He, glorified is He, is not a ‘person’ nor a ‘thing,’ or that Allāh has no direction and no place, has apostatised from the religion of Islām, joined the polytheists, and disbelieved in Allāh, His verses, and what His Messenger ﷺ brought. Exalted is Allāh far above what our opponents say, a great exaltation.”

📓 Ithbāt al-Ḥadd (p. 180)

 

‎At-Taymī al-Aṣbahānī – may Allāh have mercy on him – and az-Zanjānī ash-Shāfiʿī – may Allāh have mercy on him – said:

“The Jahmiyyah do not know that Allāh is above them by the existence of His essence; they are more incapable of comprehension than Pharaoh – indeed, more astray.”

📓 Ijtimaʿ al-Juyūsh al-Islāmiyyah (p. 272)

 

‎ʿAbd ar-Raḥmān ibn Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb said – may Allāh have mercy on him:

“As for the statement of the Ashāʿirah regarding the denial of Allāh's elevation – exalted be He – above His Throne, it is exactly the statement of the Jahmiyyah, identical in every respect. This is refuted and invalidated by the clear texts of the Book and the Sunnah, such as Allāh's saying – exalted be He – {The Most Merciful rose over the Throne}, {Then He rose over the Throne} in seven places, and His saying: {The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him}, and ascent is only from below to above, and His saying: {They fear their Lord from above them}, {I will take you and raise you to Myself}, {Do you feel secure that He who is in the heaven…}, the two verses. All these verses are explicit proofs of Allāh's elevation – exalted be He – above His creation and His istiwāʾ over His Throne, in a manner that befits His majesty, without asking ‘how.’ And the statement of these Ashāʿirah that He is empty of the six directions: they have described Him with what describes the nonexistent, while He has described Himself with the attributes of the Existent, the One who oversees every soul according to what it has earned.”

📓 Masāʾil wa Fatāwā Najdiyyah (p. 370)

 

‎Sulaymān ibn Saḥmān said – may Allāh have mercy on him:

“And al-Khallāl narrated in as-Sunnah: ‘ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā informed me that Ḥanbal related to them, saying: I heard Abā ʿAbdillāh [Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal] say: “Whoever claims that Allāh did not speak to Mūsā has disbelieved in Allāh, belied the Qurʾān, and rejected the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ. I order that he be called to repent from this statement; if he repents (well), otherwise his neck is struck.”’ End quote. This is the statement of Imām Aḥmad concerning one who denies the attribute of Speech. How then if he adds to that the denial of Allāh’s elevation above His creation and His istiwāʾ over His Throne, and claims that He is neither inside the world nor outside it, neither connected to it nor separate from it, nor coexisting with it? Do you think there is any doubt regarding the disbelief of these people, or regarding the disbelief of one who does not declare them disbelievers?”

📓 Kashf al-Awhām wal-Il tibās ʿan Tashbīh baʿḍ al-Aghbiyāʾ min an-Nās (p. 73)

 

And he said:

“These fools have generalised the matter, made every kind of ignorance an excuse, and made no distinction; they have treated the clear, evident matters – that which is known from the religion by necessity – as if they were the obscure matters whose evidence may be hidden from some people. Likewise, they have treated someone raised among Muslims like one raised in a remote desert or new to Islām. They have gone astray and led many astray, and strayed from the straight path. If you understand this, then the issue of Allāh's elevation above His creation, His istiwāʾ over His Throne, and the affirmation of His perfect attributes and descriptors of His majesty are among the clear, evident matters, and among what is known from the religion by necessity, for Allāh has clarified it in His Book and on the tongue of His Messenger. So whoever hears the Qurʾānic verses and the Prophetic traditions has had the proof established against him, even if he does not understand them. And if he is among those who recite the Qurʾān, then the matter is graver and more severe – especially if he obstinately contends that what he is upon is the truth and that the Qurʾān has not clarified this matter with a sufficient, decisive clarification. In that case, his disbelief is clearer than the sun at midday, and no one who knows Islām, its rulings, and its principles hesitates regarding his disbelief.”

📓 Kashf al-Awhām wal-Il tibās ʿan Tashbīh baʿḍ al-Aghbiyāʾ min an-Nās (p. 118)

 

And he said:

“Once what the scholars have mentioned regarding the foundation of the doctrine of these Jahmiyyah has become clear to you, know that their madhhab is that there is no deity above the heavens who is worshipped, prayed to, and prostrated to; that there is no speech for Allāh on earth; that He is not pointed at with fingers upward; that nothing descends from Him; that nothing ascends to Him; that the angels and the Spirit do not ascend to Him; that the Messiah was not raised to Him; that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ was not taken up to Him; that He does not speak by His power and will; that He does not descend every night to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains, saying: ‘Is there anyone asking so I may give him? Is there anyone calling so I may answer him? Is there anyone seeking forgiveness so I may forgive him?’; that He will not be seen in the Hereafter; that no action at all is performed by Him; and that He is not outside the world, nor inside it, nor connected to it, nor separate from it, nor coexisting with it. To mention other than this from their statements – all of which entail stripping Him of His Throne and His elevation above His creation, and denying His names, His attributes, and the descriptors of His majesty – and this is clear disbelief and outright atheism. We seek refuge in Allāh from what merits His anger and from His painful punishment.”

📓 Kashf ash-Shubhatayn (p. 13)