Asharis.Com | The Ash'ari Creed and 20th Century Thinkers and Political Activists: Part 2e - The Aqidah of Taqi ud-Din an-Nabahani: The Aqidah of the Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah and Ash'ariyyah that the Qur'an is Created

Taqi ad-Din an-Nabahani and the Aqidah of the Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah and Ash'ariyyah that the Qur'an is Created

An-Nabahani, in his various works, quotes the Ash'arite scholars, such as al-Juwaynee and al-Asnawee, and al-Aamidee, and when he speaks on issues of creed such as al-Qadaa wal-Qadar and Allaah's sifaat (attributes) he speaks of the Mu'tazilah, and "Ahl us-Sunnah" and he means by Ahl us-Sunnah, the Ash'arites. Given these facts, it is expected that an-Nabahani holds onto the creed of the Ash'arites (which has its origin in the creed of the Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah and Kullaabiyyah) that the Qur'an that we have with us, in letter and word, which is recited, heard and memorized, is created, it being a mere expression (ibaarah) of the speech of Allaah.

We have dealt with this extensively on this website and there are scores of articles on this subject that explain the background to this issue. The saying that the Qur'an is created, is a saying of kufr (disbelief), and it was innovated by the Jahmiyyah who denied Allaah has any attributes, and it was adopted by the Mu'tazilah who put the Ummah to trial by way of it, having a great number of the Scholars killed, and putting the Imaam of Ahl us-Sunnah, Imaam Ahmad to trial, being beaten and imprisoned on account of it. Then came Ibn Kullaab and he innovated a new saying based upon some poetry from an Arab Christian, al-Akhtal, and he said that "Kalaam" (speech) refers only to the meaning (ma'naa) and not the actual expressed speech, and upon this falsehood, he said that the Qur'an present with us, is only a quotation (hikaayah) of the Kalaam of Allaah, which is only a meaning in His self (dhaat), and which is eternal. Ibn Kullaab was simply trying to tread a middle ground between the Mu'tazilah and Ahl us-Sunnah because he was unable to address the arguments and doubts of the Mu'tazilah that Allaah having speech tied to His will and power amounts to hawaadith (events), which would make Allaah to be created (haadith). So this doctrine was innovated, that of "kalaam-nafsee", and it was then taken up by Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (d. 324H) who said the Qur'an is an "ibaarah" (expression) of the eternal meaning (ma'naa) present with Allaah's self.

In essence, the Ash'arites simply tried to explain away what was essentially the kufr of the Jahmiyyah and Mu'tazilah by trying to philosophically arrive at an opinion, which never departed from the view of the Jahmiyyah and Mu'tazilah in reality (that the Qur'an is created) through the route of affirming something new, never heard of before and never known in the language of the Arabs, which is that "Kalaam" (speech) refers only to the unexpressed internal meaning, and thus, there are two Qur'ans, that which is from the eternal meaning with Allaah's self (which to them is the attribute of "Kalaam") which is uncreated, and then the expression (ibaarah) of that Kalaam which is the created Qur'an.

Before we look at an-Nabahani who simply hints at the same kufr of the Jahmiyyah and Mu'tazilah as the belief of Ahl us-Sunnah, it would be wise for you take a read of the following articles as background information and context, so you can understand what is going on here:

Read this for a wider background:

The Four Doors in Explanation of Why the Jahmites Must Deny That The Qur'an is Allaah's Uncreated Speech, That Allaah Will be Seen In the Hereafter and That Allaah is Above His Throne, With His Essence - (see here)

And these are subject specific articles:

Imaam ash-Shaafi'ee: 'Whoever Says My Pronunciation of the Qur'an is Created is a Jahmee': Jahmiyyah Ash'ariyyah: 'Our Pronunciation of the Qur'an is Created' - (see here)
Imaam Ahmad bin Hanbal (d. 241H): Affirmation of the Attribute of Voice (Sawt) for Allaah - (see here)
Imaam Ahmad on the Doubt of the Jahmiyyah That the Qur'an Is Created Because Eesaa is the 'Word of Allaah' and Eesaa is Created - (see here)
Ahmad bin Sinan al-Waasitee (d. 258H): Shaykh of al-Bukhaaree and Muslim Sends Jahmite Ash'aris Fleeing From Their Secret Hideouts: 'Whoever Says the Qur'an is Two Things Or a Hikaayah is, by Allaah, a Zindeeq, Kaafir' - (see here)
Imaam al-Bukhaaree (d. 256H): Cleans Out the Secret Hideouts of the Qur'an Creationists Who Deny Allaah Speaks With A Voice - (see here)
Ibn Jareer at-Tabari (d. 310H) Sends the Jahmite Ash'aris Fleeing From Their Secret Hideouts: There is Only One Qur'an, Uncreated and Whoever Claims Otherwise Is a Cursed, Forsaken Kaafir - (see here)
Ibn Battah (d. 387H) on the Jahmite Origins of the Kullaabi Ash'ari Doctrine That This Qur'an That is With Us, Present on This Earth, In Letter and Word, Recited, Memorized, Heard and Written, is Created - (see here)
Shaykh Abdul-Qadir al-Jeelaanee (d. 561H): The Ash'arites Who Say the Qur'an is an Ibaarah (Expression) Are Threatened with the Hellfire (Saqar) Just Like al-Waleed bin al-Mugheerah al-Makhzoomee - (see here)
Shaykh Abdul-Qadir al-Jeelaanee (d. 561H): Cleans Out the Secret Hideouts of the Ash'arites and Sends them Fleeing For Cover Out Of Awe and Terror: Whoever Claims the Qur'an is an Ibaarah (Expression) is a Kaafir Whose Repentance is to Be Sought - (see here)
The Six Stages In The Evolution Of the Doctrines of the 'Qur'an Creationists' - The Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah and Kullaabiyyah Ash'ariyyah - (see here)
Abdul-Kareem Ash-Shahrastani, Sixth Century Ash'ari (d. 548H): Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari Broke the Ijmaa' and Innovated a Third Saying On the Subject of Allaah's Speech and the Qur'an - (see here)
The Ash'aris: We Believe in Two Qur'ans - (see here)
The Haashiyah of al-Bayjoori: Is the Created Qur'an Better Than the Prophet or is the Prophet Better Than the Created Qur'an? And Affirmation From Imaam al-Bukhaaree That the Ash'arites are Jahmiyyah Lafdhiyyah - (see here)
Imaam ul-Haramayn al-Juwaynee (d. 478H): We Agree With the Mu'tazilah That the Qur'an is Created - We Just Differ on a Matter of Wording Which Is On Account Of What Can We Call Allaah 'Mutakallim' (One Who Speaks) - (see here)
Muhammad Sa'eed Ramadan Buti: We (The Ash'aris) and the Mu'tazilah are United that the Qur'an Is Created And What the Mu'tazilah Call 'Knowledge (al-Ilm)' and 'Will (al-Iraadah)', We Simply Call 'al-Kalaam an-Nafsee' - (see here)
Fakhr ud-Deen ar-Razi (d. 606H), Imaam of the Ash'aris: We Agree With the Mu'tazilah That the (Recited) Qur'an is Created And Our Dispute Is One of Wording Only - (see here)

An-Nabahani: The Qur'an is an Ibaarah of the Eternal Kalaam

In the first volume of "ash-Shakhsiyyah al-Islaamiyyah" (1/119), after a discussion on the position of the Ash'aris (whom he refers to as "Ahl us-Sunnah") on the attributes and addressing some of the arguments of the Mu'tazilah used to deny the attributes, he - in the manner of the Ash'ariyyah and Maturidyyah brings the basis for affirmation of the seven attributes and a couple more, and then he says, when speaking of "Kalaam" (speech):

And speech (Kalaam) it is an eternal attribute, he expressed (abbara) it through the nadhm (construct) called "the Qur'an". And Allaah, the Most High speaks with speech (Kalaam) that is an eternal attribute, which is not from the genus of letters and voices, and it is an attribute that is incompatible with sukoot (silence) and defect. And Allaah, the Most High, speaks with it (the speech), [being one who] commands, prohibits, informs, and everyone who commands, prohibits, and informs [does so by] finding within his self a meaning, then indicating to it (through external speech).

What is in this statement is a presentation of the belief of the Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah and Ash'ariyyah regarding the Qur'an, along with all the layers of sophistry that found its way into the books of the Ash'arites in their attempt to conceal the fact that they are in agreement with the Jahmiyyah and Mu'tazilah that the Qur'an we have, in our presence, in letter and word, is created.

An-Nabahani first said:

And speech (Kalaam) it is an eternal attribute, he expressed (abbara) it through the nadhm (construct) called "the Qur'an".

Here he lays down the standard Ash'arite belief that the Qur'an we have is a construct, that is simply an expression (ibaarah) of the Kalaam which is eternally with Allaah.

Then he says:

And Allaah, the Most High speaks with speech (Kalaam) that is an eternal attribute, which is not from the genus of letters and voices...

And in this he denies what is manifest in the Book and the Sunnah and what the Imaams of the Sunnah corroborated, such as Imaam al-Bukhaaree (see here) and Imaam Ahmad (see here) - in opposition to the Jahmiyyah and Mu'tazilah - that Allaah's speech is with letter and Voice, and alongside this, His speech is unlike our speech and His Voice is unlike our Voice. And the negation of letter and Voice is from the distinguishing hallmarks of the Jahmiyyah and whoever followed their usool from the Mu'tazilah, and Ash'ariyyah.

Finally, he says:

And Allaah, the Most High, speaks with it (the speech), [being one who] commands, prohibits, informs, and everyone who commands, prohibits, and informs [does so by] finding within his self a meaning, then indicating to it (through external speech).

What is underlined here is based upon the innovated saying of the Ash'ariyyah that Kalaam (speech) is meaning (ma'naa) only, and as for the external speech, it is an evidence (daleel) for that internal meaning - whereas what is established in the language of the Arabs is that Kalaam (speech) is both meaning and wording together. And the Ash'ariyyah adopted this invented definition of "Kalaam" following the Kullaabiyyah in that, based upon a line of poetry taken from a Trinitarian Christian called al-Akhtal. This was the primary basis upon which they tried to tread a middle ground between the Mu'tazilah and Ahl us-Sunnah - nothing but sophistry, in essence, and plays with words.

Incidentally, you should note that a large part of the sophistry and academic and intellectual fraud of the Ash'arites is their constant revolving around "meanings" and "definitions" in their polemics, this is because they invent new meanings and definitions for terms which are other than those firmly established in the language of the Arabs and in the Qur'an as a means to facilitate their arguments in favour of their doctrines. And this issue of the definition of "Kalaam" is a prime example, where they claim "Kalaam" is only the meaning in the self. But as for the Qur'an, the Sunnah and the language of the Arabs, then in all of that there is plain manifest proof that "Kalaam" is both meaning (in the self) and the external wording (combined), and further, in the Qur'an, Allaah's speech is referred to as "Kalaam", "qawl", "hadeeth", "munaadaat", "munaajaat" all of which collectively indicate that Allaah's speech (from which is the Qur'an) is uncreated, and it is in letter and Voice, without that resembling the speech and Voice of the creation. This is what the Imaams of the religion are upon in opposition to the straying Jahmiyyah and their offshoots, refer to what has been said by Imaam Ahmad (see here), and Imaam al-Bukhaaree (see here), and Shaykh Abdul-Qadir al-Jeelaani (see here).

Conclusion

It is clear that Taqi ud-Din an-Nabahani holds that the Qur'an we have, in our presence, in letter and word, recited, heard, memorized, written, is created, and that the Kalaam which is the uncreated attribute is the meaning with Allaah's self. And this is the belief that the Imaams of the Salaf assaulted because it was essentially no different from the saying of the Jahmiyyah Lafdhiyyah, in fact it's origin lies with the saying of the Jahmiyyah Lafdhiyyah.

Based upon this, and seeing that an-Nabahani is upon a creed other than the creed of the righteous believers (the Companions) and that of the first generation, and then those after them and then those after them, and then the righteous Imaams of the religion of the second, third and fourth centuries, and is treading a path, other than their path, then it is not permissible in the religion to delve into his books for they contain nothing but the whisperings, remnants and poisons of the Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah, Kullaabiyyah, Ash'ariyyah (and the Qadariyyah), and that's leaving aside the invented political methodologies influenced by his Arab Socialist and Ba'thist Communist past - which is effecting revolutions in order to take political power in a "top-down" approach, with a view to establishing the khilaafah - just another variant of Sayyid Qutb's "Islamo-Communism" that was to be established by an elite vanguard through Leninist-type revolutions.