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Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari Refutes the Claimed Ta'weel of 'Aydin' to 'Hands' to 'Power'
Posted by Abu.Iyaad on Tuesday, August, 11 2009 and filed under Articles
Key topics: Aydin Abu Hasan Al-Ash'ari Ta'weel Aydin Abu Hasan Al-Ash'ari Ta'weel

We have covered in a previous article the ta'weel of the Jahmiyyah of the verse in Surah adh-Dhaariyaat (51:47) where they claim the word "aydin" is the plural of "yad (hand)" and that the Salaf made ta'weel of this to "power". See the article here.

Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari to whom many of these Jahmite Ash'aris ascribe themselves, refuted this in his last book "al-Ibaanah".

This is from the 1977 first edition print of "al-Ibaanah anil Usool id-Diyaanah", published in Cairo, Egypt (Daar ul-Ansaar):

And here Abul-Hasan al-Ash'ari addresses this particular verse:

Note here that al-Ash'ari is refuting the Mu'tazilah, he is addressing the Mu'tazilah, and this ta'weel originated with the Jahmiyyah and the Mu'tazilah - and how unfortunate it is that today's claimants to Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari are holding on to the ta'weels of the Jahmites and Mu'tazilites, that al-Ash'ari himself refuted.

This translates as:

Issue:

And it has been alleged by a claimant with the saying of Allaah, the Most High, "And the heaven, we made with aydin" (51/47), they said: al-ayd (meaning) al-quwwah (strength, power), thus it becomes obligatory that the meaning of His, the Most High's saying, "...bi yadaiyya..." (38/75) means with "with my power".

It is said to them: This ta'weel is corrupt from a number of angles. The first, that "al-aayd" is not the plural of "al-yad", because the plural of "yad" is "aydee", and the plural of "al-yad" which is [with the meaning of] "ni'mah (favour, bounty)" is "ayaadee", but the Most High said, "...what I created bi yadaiyya (Two Hands)..." (38/75).

Thus, [the claim] that the meaning of His saying, "... bi yadaiyya..." is [the same as] the meaning of "...[the Heaven] we made it with aydin..." is falsified.

Then al-Ash'ari brings some other angles, from them, that the Mu'tazilah don't even affirm one power (qudrah), so how can they interpret "yadaiyya (Two Hands)" to mean two powers? And also if the ta'weel of the verse where Allaah mentions He created Adam with His Two Hands was that it means power, then how can Adam have been favoured over Iblees, when Allaah created Iblees with His power as well? So where is the distinction, so the ta'weel of Two Hands to power cannot be correct.

You should know and understand that the earlier Ash'aris (like al-Ash'ari and al-Baqillani) had sounder positions on the Attributes and on the subject of al-uluww (Allaah's aboveness) - despite being affected by Ilm ul-Kalaam. The Later Ash'aris (from al-Juwaynee onwards) reverted to much of the ta'teel and ta'weel of the Jahmiyyah and Mu'tazilah - al-Juwaynee being a pioneer in this orientation. All the followers of the Ash'aris today are upon the teachings of al-Juwaynee and Fakhr ud-Din ar-Raazee, which is pretty much the deen of the Jahmites - it is not what the very Early Ash'aris were upon.