Taqi ad-Din an-Nabahani Is a Qadariyy Mutbadi' (Innovator), the Likes of Whom The Prophet ((alayhis salaam) Warned Against Severely - First Installment

Ibn Umar narrates that the Prophet (alayhis salaam) said:

The Qadariyyah are Magians of this Ummah. If they fall ill do not visit them, and if they die, do not prayer over them.

This hadeeth was reported by al-Haakim, who declared it authentic (Saheeh) upon the conditions of al-Bukhari and Muslim, upon the assumption that Abu Haazim (one of its narrators) heard from Ibn Umar. Abu Dawud, and at-Tirmidhi also declared it to be Hasan, as did Ibn Hajr, and also Imaam al-Albani in Saheeh al-Jaami' (no. 4442).

The Qadariyyah were amongst the first of the deviant sects to arise in the era of the Companions, and the very first hadeeth in Sahih Muslim is concerning the censure and rebuke by Abdullah bin Umar (radiallaahu anhu) of the deniers of al-Qadar and his disavowal of them. The innovation of al-Qadar was taken by al-Ma'bad al-Juhanee from a Christian named Sawsan, who became a Muslim then reverted to Christianity. And Gheelaan (ad-Dimashqee), took it from al-Ma'bad and spread it further, and this bid'ah was taken up by the Mu'tazilah who carried it until the words Mu'tazilah and Qadariyyah became synonymous.

There occurs from the great Imaam, Abu Thawr Ibrahim bin Khaalid al-Kalbee (d. 240H), the faqih, (as reported by al-Laalikaa'ee in his "I'tiqaad", 1/172, no. 319):

He was asked, "Who are the Qadariyyah?" and he replied:

The Qadariyyah are those who say Allaah did not create the actions of the servants and that Allaah did not decree acts of disobedience for the servants and that He did not create them (the acts of disobedience). Therefore these Qadariyyah are not be prayed behind, nor are their sick to be visited and nor are their funerals to be attended. Their repentance from this saying should be sought. If they repent (then so) and if not then their necks are to be struck.

The innovation of al-Qadar comprises of two matters:

1. Rejection of Allaah's prior knowledge of events and
2. The claim that the servant is the one who brings about his own action, independently, outside the scope of Allaah's will (mashee'ah) and power (qudrah) and creative ability (khalq).

Amongst the Qadariyyah were those who denied Allaah's foreknowledge, and amongst them who affirmed it, but denied Allaah's will and creative ability (qudrah, khalq) in the actions of the servants.

Built upon this, (both factions of the Qadariyyah) resemble the Magians (fire-worshippers) who believed in two gods, a creator of good and a creator of evil. This is because they expelled the actions of man from being within the domain of Allaah's all encompassing power (due to a doubt and misconception that Allaah cannot will or create evil), and thus affirmed that an entity (i.e. man) besides Allaah originates things within the creation, independently from Allaah.

And Taqi ud-Din an-Nabahani is amongst such Qadariyy Innovators - for he espouses a doctrine that is essentially that of the Qadariyy negators, and we will demonstrate this inshaa'Allaah over the next couple of articles.

An-Nabahani and Belief in the Sixth Pillar of Islaam, al-Qadar

First let us look at how an-Nabahani treats the subject of al-Qadaa wal-Qadar in general. You should recall that in previous articles we establish that an-Nabahani is upon the usool of the Mu'tazilah and Ash'ariyyah in casting doubt upon the bulk of the Sunnah (as it pertains to beliefs) by making a distinction between beliefs (aqaa'id) and rulings (ahkaam) as it relates to khabar ul-aahaad (the solitary narrations). With that in mind, let us quote from ash-Shakhsiyyah (1/43-44):

This passage occurs after an-Nabahani has discussed the pillars of belief in Allaah, the Angels, the Books, the Messengers and the Last Day.

He says:

These are the affairs that are obligatory to have faith (eemaan) in and they are five matters: Faith in Allaah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Last Day. And you also believe in al-Qadaa wal-Qadar. And the (labels) of eemaan and islaam are not to be applied to a person and nor he is considered a Muslim except when he believes in all of these five and he believes in al-Qadaa wal-Qadar.

Note here that he makes a distinction between five pillars (of eemaan) and the sixth pillar (of eemaan) - and he did that deliberately, it was not a slip of the pen - rather he repeated this twice in just two sentences. And the reason for that will be made clear as we progress through this passage.

Then he quotes the verse

O you who believe! Believe in Allýh, and His Messenger, and the Book (the Qur'an) which He has sent down to His Messenger, and the Scripture which He sent down to those before (him), and whosoever disbelieves in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Last Day, then indeed he has strayed far away. (An-Nisa 4:136)

And then he says:

For the Qur'an and the hadeeth have come, textually stating these five affairs in a very apparent and explicit manner, textually stating each of them with its label (ism) and its sense, meaning (musammaa). And faith (eemaan) in any specific matter besides these five has not come in an explicit and definitive (qat'ee) text with both its label (ism) and its sense, meaning (musammaa), as it has come regarding these matters. Rather, the texts that are definitive in their establishment (i.e. authenticity) and also definitive in their indication (in terms of evidence of meaning) have come regarding these five matters, not with anything other (than them).

If you recall from a previous article, an-Nabahani, following the Mu'tazilah and Ash'ariyyah, holds that aqidah can only be taken from a definitive text which to him is a Qur'anic verse, or a mutawaatir hadeeth. And he claims that faith in any other matter has not come in the "definitive" texts with both its label (ism) and meaning (musammaa) as it has with these five - and this is a false, evil, innovated saying, and where he is leading towards is his evil and vile opinion that the subject of "al-Qadaa wal-Qadar" which became the subject of dispute amongst the various factions, has nothing to do with the words "al-qadaa" and "al-qadar" that are mentioned in the Book and the Sunnah, and their meanings (i.e. the meanings according to an-Nabahani).

He then continues:

Yes, faith in al-Qadar has been reported in the hadeeth of Jibreel in some of the narrations, for there has come, that he said, "And that you believe in al-Qadar, its good and its evil", related by Muslim from the route of Umar bin al-Khattaab. Except that it is a khabar aahaad in addition to the intent behind (the term) "al-qadar" here being the knowledge of Allaah, and not (the meaning of) "al-qadaa and al-qadar" which is the subject (in which there is) difference (of opinion) regarding its understanding.

So the well-known famous hadeeth of Jibreel, which the whole Ummah has taken with acceptance, cannot be used as a proof (for affirmation of al-Qadar as a sixth pillar of eemaan) because it is "dhannee (speculative)" and this is from the vile innovations of the Mu'tazilah of whom an-Nabahani is simply a 20th century tail-end. But pay attention to the last sentence, because it is here where we start understanding the actual opinion and view of an-Nabahani, which, as we shall see, amounts to nothing but the very doctrine of the Qadariyyah.

He then says:

As for the issue of faith in "al-Qadaa wal-Qadar", with this label and with its (particular) meaning around which differing occurred in its understanding, then no definitive text (nass qat'ee) has come regarding it.

Then this is baatil (false), rather the Qur'an has come with many texts with the affirmation of Allaah's all-encompassing mashee'ah (will) and Allaah's all ecompassing power (qudrah) and Allaah's creative ability (khalq) - in addition to Allaah's knowledge (ilm) which is what an-Nabahani alludes here is what is referred to by "al-Qadar". And all of these texts from the Qur'an collectively establish the four levels of al-Qadar as it is understood by Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa'ah, the Righteous Salaf and the Imaams of the Religion, which is that Allaah's knowledge precedes all things, that all things were written down in the Preserved Tablet and that nothing occurs except by Allaah's will (mashee'ah) and by his power and creative ability (qudrah, khalq).

For the deviation which occurred from the Qadariyyah, Jabariyyah, Mu'tazilah was centered around two things, a) whether Allaah has foreknowledge of the actions of the creatures and b) whether Allaah creates the actions of the servants or not, and this defined the difference between the factions. And regarding these matters, there are clear texts in the Book and the Sunnah, which Ahl us-Sunnah, the Righteous Salaf, used in order to rebut all the astray groups and to establish the truth.

However, an-Nabahani, claims that these particular discussions have no real and true connection to what is actually meant by "al-qadaa" and "al-qadar" (according to him) and we will look at what exactly that is in the next article inshaa'Allah.

He then continues:

Except that having faith in its meaning is from the aqidah and it is from what is obligatory to have faith in.

He says that having faith in "al-qadaa wal-qadar" is from the aqidah - and we will see exactly what he means and intends by this term in the next article - for what he means by it, and what Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa'ah understand from it are two different things.

He then says:

And it (al-qadaa wal-qadar) was not known by this label or this meaning in the time of the Companions, absolutely, and no authentic text has been related with this particular label or meaning. Rather, it became commonly widespread in the early era of the Taabi'een (successors), and it became known and studied from that time onwards. And those who brought it and made it a subject of study were the Mutakallimeen (Theologians). For it was not known prior to the emergence (and spread) of ilm al-kalaam (theological speculation and rhetoric), and no one studied it with this name "al-qadaa wal-qadar", and with its (particular meaning) except the mutakallimeen after the first century hijrah.

Regarding his claim in this passage, then the Prophet (alayhis salaam) said:

Most of those who die from my Ummah [do so] - after the qadaa of Allaah and His qadar - due to the evil-eye.

The hadeeth is declared Hasan by Ibn Hajr, ash-Shawkani, and al-Albani (Sahih al-Jaami' no. 1206), but an-Nabahani dismisses this hadeeth (as a proof for al-qadaa wal-qadar being mentioned together) by claiming that the use of the words "qadaa" and "qadar" here are not upon the meanings that were the focus of discussion by the various factions, but upon the meaning of each word's isolated meaning - and besides this hadeeth is only "dhannee" to an-Nabahani, because it is not mutawaatir. We will look at an-Nabahani's understanding of al-Qadaa wal-Qadar in the next article inshaa'Allaah. This hadeeth, nevertheless, is a comprehensive refutation of an-Nabahani's entire position and perspective on this topic, and inshaa'Allaah we will demonstrate this in a later article in this series.

Summary

This was just an introduction to an-Nabahani's views on this matter and we established two things. In this passage, an-Nabahani has revealed that he casts doubt upon al-Qadar as a sixth pillar of eemaan, due to his rejection of aahaad hadeeth in aqidah, despite the fact thath belief in al-qadar (upon the understanding of Ahl us-Sunnah with its four levels) is established firmly in the Qur'an, and is established as the sixth pillar of eemaan in the authentic Sunnah and is a matter agreed upon by the Companions, the Taabi'een and their followers, the Imaams of the Salaf and the Ummah as a whole with the exception of wandering, misguided, strayers such as the likes of an-Nabahani. The second matter was that an-Nabahani claims that what is meant by al-qadaa and al-qadar in the revealed texts is something other than what became the topic of dispute between the various factions and which subsequently became labeled as "al-Qadaa wal-Qadar". We will see the reality of an-Nabahani's position in the next article inshaa'Allaah.