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The Jahmite Predecessors of the Later Ash'aris: There is No Lord above the Heaven, and No Deity Above the Throne And the Severe Rejection of the Salaf Against Them Posted by Abu.Iyaad on Sunday, August, 23 2009 and filed under Articles Key topics: Al-Uluww Al-Istiwaa Al-Jahm Bin Safwan Bishr Al-Mareesi Jahmite Ash'aris Al-Uluww Al-Istiwaa Al-Jahm Bin Safwan Bishr Al-Mareesi Jahmite Ash'aris Let it be known that the earlier Ash'aris affirmed that Allaah is above the heaven, above the Throne, with His Essence and they also affirmed some of the Attributes such as Allaah's Face, Hands, Eyes - in a manner that befits Him, without takyeef, Tajseem, or ta'weel. And this is because Abdullah bin Sa'eed bin Kullab (d. ~240H) who is the true author of what later became the creed of the earlier Ash'aris - had a strong inclination towards the hadeeth and aathar and he affirmed Allaah being above the Throne, as well as having many other affirmations in respect to Allaah's attributes. Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari took the bulk of the creed of Ibn Kullab in the intermediate stage of his life (after his I'tizaal). And the other Ash'aris such as al-Baqillani, Ibn Mahdi at-Tabari, al-Qalanisi and others were subject to this influence and for this reason you find that they affirm Allaah beign above the Throne with His Essence and affirming the sifaat dhaatiyyah such as Face, Hands and Eyes, without tamtheel, Tajseem or takyeef.
The later Ash'ari Scholars starting from Imaam ul-Haramayn al-Juwaynee (d. 478H) onwards simply reverted back to many of the views of the Jahmites and Mu'tazilites, and they developed the Ash'ari madhhab towards a direction far away from what the earlier Ash'aris were upon, tending more towards the ta'teel of the Jahmites and Mu'tazilites. And thus we see the likes of Fakhr ud-Deen ar-Raazee (d. 606H) becoming the chief orator, spokesman and champion of the Jahmite belief of negating there is a Lord above the heaven and a deity above the Throne. And as a further explanation of this: Background Notes Those affected by the creed of the Mutakallimoon (Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah, Ash'ariyyah, Maturidiyyah) play games when faced with the issue of Allaah's existence external to the created universe, and some of them are led to make statements whose inherent contradictions they cannot see, such as affirming that "Allaah is above the Throne", but at the same time, "He is not in direction". When the strength of argument that Allaah is above the Throne, above the Heaven, with His Essence dominates and subdues them, so they are forced to acknowledge it, but then go on to say "without direction", which in essence, implies non-existence, thus invalidating their saying "Allaah is above the Throne". Their intent by negating "direction" is on account of what they have made to be the foundation of their creed, - the proof of the createdness of the universe through the presence of incidental attributes in bodies. And as location is an incidental attribute of created bodies, then in keeping with their intellectual proof, Allaah cannot be described with it, otherwise it would falsify the intellectual proof. Therefore, they are forced to deny Allaah being above the heaven (which to them is location and direction), along with many other attributes (the sifaat fi'liyyah). This is why they express rejection of "direction (jihah)" - its all about keeping their intellectual proof (of demonstrating the universe is created) from being invalidated. This is what the entire issue is about, from its beginning to its end.
The Underlying Truth of the Entire Affair If you want to understand the deen of the Mu'attilah (Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah and Ash'ariyyah) then the following gets right down to the crux of it all - what is below is directed towards the Ash'arites but it applies to all of them, because their spring and fountain is the same - they just differ with each other on how to handle the texts of the revelation that contradict their "rational proof".
Revisiting the Difference Between the Early Ash'aris and the Later Ones Regarding their Position on Allaah being Above the Throne and Jismiyyah (and Hence the Issue of Createdness) The Ash'aris claim that attributing direction to Allaah necessitates He is a body (jism), and therefore kufr (disbelief) and this argument of theirs returns back to what they made to be the foundation of their religion of the proof of "hudooth ul-ajsaam" - the createdness of the universe, and their notions of substance (jawhar) and incidental attribute ('arad) and body (jism), occupation of space (tahayyuz) and so on. So anything that is in a direction or that can be pointed to, must be occupying space, and anything that occupies space must, by their definition, be a jism - therefore Allaah cannot be above the creation with His Essence.
To them, the universe is made up of space-occupying indivisible particles (al-jawaahir al-fardah), and a body is whatever is composed of two or more of these indivisible particles - and all bodies have incidental attributes which included location and direction. Thus, location and direction necessitates Jismiyyah (something being a body) - and since they made these foundations to be the basis for proving the createdness of the universe, and hence a creator, and since they made the truthfulness of the Messenger and the possibility of the resurrection to be dependent upon this proof - they had to maintain its sanctity and therefore denied everything in the texts that would contradict and nullify this proof, and hence they denied Allaah is above the heaven, above His Throne. And it is because of this that they say, "Affirming direction for Allaah is kufr" which translates as:
In short, this is the equation:
Now, the Early Ash'aris, as we have pointed, out held that Allaah is above the Throne with His Essence and is not a jism (body) - and even though they elaborated upon the same proof (for the createdness of the universe) - they could not deny Allaah being above the Throne, because of the strength of evidence and because it was known to be the deen of the Muslims, despite the emergence of the sayings of the Jahmites who were at that time scorned, debased, disgraced and humiliated. So they (the early Ash'aris) said, "Allaah is above the Throne and is not a body (jism)". It was well established and was irrefutable and was manifestly known that the belief of all the Muslims (save the Jahmites) was that Allaah is above the Throne, above the heaven. So the Early Ash'aris had to accept it, but they added their innovated term of negation "but he is not a body (jism)" - as a disclaimer and as a means to protect their intellectual proof. This also shows that to the Early Ash'aris, being above the heaven, above the Throne, does not necessitate Allaah being a body. The Later Ash'aris however, they negated Allaah being above the heaven unrestrictedly and absolutely, and they argued that Allaah being above the heaven, above the Throne necessitates that He is a body (jism) and composed (murakkab) - and one of the chief spokesman of this is ar-Razi (d. 606H) who unscrupulously utilized many of the arguments of the Philosophers (who are supposed to be his disputants) in the process. All of the above is the manifest truth and can be amply demonstrated (from their own books), and it will be demonstrated inshaa'Allaah through the content that will be added to this website in the future by Allaah's permission. The Way of the Salaf Towards the Deniers of Allaah Being Above the Throne, Above the Heaven Let us look at how the Salaf were wise to the likes of al-Jahm bin Safwaan (ex. 128H) and his associates and Bishr al-Mareesee (d. 218H) and his associates and how they held and treated them - noting that this is what all of today's (Jahmite) Ash'aris are upon. It would be a good idea to read this article to understand why al-Jahm bin Safwaan decided to become the flag bearer of ta'teel in the Ummah. Shaykh ul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah said in "Bayaan Talbees al-Jahmiyyah" (3/522-526):
The translation of which is:
Then he quotes the saying of Hammaad, which is reported by al-Bukhaaree in "Khalq Af'aal il-Ibaad" of al-Bukhaaree (p.31) and by al-Khallaal in "as-Sunnah", and also by Ibn al-Qayyim in "Ijtimaa' Juyoosh al-Islaamiyyah" (2/214):
Then he quotes the saying of Hammaad bin Zayd (d.179H) also which is reported by Abdullah bin Ahmad in "as-Sunnah" (no. 41) and by al-Khallaal in "as-Sunnah", and also by adh-Dhahabee in "Mukhtasar al-Uluww" (p. 146)
And then what has been said by 'Abbaad bin al-Awwaam al-Waasitiyy (d. 185H), as has been reported by al-Khallaal in "as-Sunnah", adh-Dhahabee in al-uluww (p.88), Ibn al-Qayyim in "Ijtimaa' Juyoosh al-Islaamiyyah) (2/216) and Abdullah bin Ahmad in "as-Sunnah" (no. 65):
And then he quotes what has been said by Abdur-Rahmaan bin Mahdee (d. 198H) as narrated by al-Khallaal in "as-Sunnah", and Abdullah bin Ahmad in "as-Sunnah" (no. 147), and Ibn Taymiyyah also referenced it to "ar-Radd 'alal-Jahmiyyah" of Ibn Abee Haatim:
And he quotes again from Abdur-Rahmaan bin Mahdee (d. 198H), referencing this to "ar-Radd 'alal-Jahmiyyah" of Ibn Abee Haatim:
And he quotes from 'Aasim bin 'Alee and which has been reported by Abdullah bin Ahmad in "as-Sunnah" (no. 191):
And also from 'Alee bin Aasim, and which has been reported by al-Bukhaaree in "Khalq Af'aal il-Ibaad" (p. 32):
And he quotes from him ('Alee bin 'Aaasim) again, as narrated by al-Bukhaaree in "Khalq Af'aal il-Ibaad" (p. 32) and Ijtimaa Juyoosh al-Islaamiyyah of Ibn al-Qayyim (2/216):
And 'Alee bin 'Aasim is the father of 'Aasim, who is Abul Hasan 'Aasim bin 'Alee bin 'Aasim bin Suhayb al-Waasitee. After this, Ibn Taymiyyah says:
Then after a few pages Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah) says:
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