بسم الله والحمد الله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ ٱللَّهِ وَبَرَكاتُهُ

Today we will be looking at some quotes from Great Scholars of the Salaf. This is a refutation to Modern day Asha’irah and Maturidiyyah, both of whom have beliefs of the Jahmiyyah which equate to disbelief.

Al-Imām Al-Bukhārī (رحمه الله) reported :

Yazīd ibn Hārūn warned against the Jahmiyyah and said: “Whoever claims that the Most Merciful istawā on the Throne contrary to what is acknowledged in the hearts of the general public is a Jahmi.”

Sulaymān al-Taymī also said: If I were asked, “Where is Allāh?” I would say, “He is above the heaven”. If someone asked, “Where was His Throne before the heaven?” I would say, “It was above the water.” If someone further asked, “Where was His Throne before the water?” I would say, “I do not know”.

Abū Abdullah [Al-Imām Al-Bukẖārī] said: “This is because of His saying, exalted be He: “And they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills” [Al-Baqarah: 255], meaning except for what He has made clear.’”

[Khalq Afʿāl Al-ʿIbād, p. 8]

Imām Ḥarb ibn Ismāʿīl al-Kirmānī (رحمه الله) (a student of Imām Aḥmad) stated:

“The Jahmīyyah are the enemies of Allāh, and they are the ones who claim that the Qurʾān is created, that Allāh (عز وجل) did not speak to Mūsā, that He will not be seen in the Ākhirah, that there is no known place (Makān) for Allāh and that He is not upon a Throne, nor a kursi and many other things I even hate to narrate. And they are Kuffār Zanādiqah, enemies of Allāh, so be aware of them.”

[Kitāb as-Sunnah, Pg. 64, no. 96].

Al-Qurtubī transmitted the consensus of As-Salaf As-Sāliḥ :

“As-Salaf Aṣ-Ṣāliḥ (رضي الله عنهم) did not deny Jiha (direction), but all of them affirmed it for Allāh (ﷻ) as His Book mentioned and His Messengers informed. And none of the righteous Salaf denied that Allāh rose over His Throne in real sense, and He [Allāh] specified the Throne for that because it is the greatest of creations. However, they were unaware of Al-Kayf (the modality) of the rising, for its reality is unknown. Al-Imām Mālik (رحمه الله) said: “The istiwāʾ (rising) is known – in language, meaning it is understood linguistically – while Al-kayf (the howness) is unknown, and questioning about it is an innovation.”

[Tafsīr Al-Qurtubī of the āyah 54 of Sūrat Al-Aʿrāf]

Al-Imām Ḥarb Al-Kirmānī (رحمه الله) [d. 280 AH] asked Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh (رحمه الله) [d. 238 AH], “(Allāh is) above the Throne with a ḥadd (boundary)?”, so he answered, “Yes, with a ḥadd,” and he then mentioned from Ibn Al-Mubārak (رحمه الله) [d. 181 AH] that he said, “He [Allāh ﷻ] is above His Throne, separate from His creation with a ḥadd.”

[Kitāb As-Sunnah of Al-Imām Ḥarb, Pages 187-188]

Al-Imām Al-Bukhārī (رحمه الله) reported :

Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf (رحمه الله) said:

“Whoever says that Allāh ﷻ isn’t above His ʿArsh (Throne) is a kafir (disbeliever), and whoever claims that Allāh ﷻ didn’t speak to Mūsā ﷺ is a kāfir (disbeliever).”

[Khalq Afʿāl al-ʿIbād, Vol. 2, p. 39]

Al-Imām Ibn Abī Shaybah (d. 297 H) said :

“And all of creation unanimously agree that when they supplicate to Allāh, they all raise their hands above towards the sky. If Allāh, the Almighty, was on the lower Earth, they would not raise their hands to the sky while He is with them on Earth. Moreover there are mutawātir reports that Allāh, the Most High, created the Throne and established Himself above it in His essence. He created the Earth and the Heavens, so He turned from the Earth towards the Heavens and from the Heavens to the Throne. Thus, He is above the heavens and above the Throne in His essence, distinct and separate from His creation. His knowledge encompasses His creation, and they [the creation] do not go out of His knowledge.”

[Kitāb Al-ʿArsh of Al-Imām Ibn Abī Shaybah, Pages 291-292]

Al-Imām Abū ʿIsa At-Tirmidhī [d. 279 H] (رحمه الله) said :

“And the knowledge of Allāh, his ability, and his sovereignty is everywhere, and He (Allāh) is above the throne like He described Himself in His book.”

[Al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr, Vol 5, Page 327]

Al-Imām Al-Bukhārī (رحمه الله) reported :

Saʿīd ibn ʿĀmir (d. 208) said :
“The Jahmiyyah 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, Vol 1, Page 17]

Al-Imām Abu Saʿīd Ad-Dārimī (رحمه الله) reported :

ʿĀʾisha (رضي الله عنها) said, “By Allāh, I fear that if I were to want him — meaning ʿUthmān — to be killed, then I would be killed. But Allāh knows from above His Throne that I did not want him to be killed.”

[Ar-Radd ʿAlā Al-Jahmiyyah by Al-Imām Ad-Dārimī, Pg 60].

Arguments against the Jahmiyyah – They believe in a non-existent idol!Hammad ibn Zayd:

Sulayman ibn Harb narrates that Hammad ibn Zayd said:

The exmaple of Jahmiyyah is like that of a man who was asked, “Do you have a palm tree?”
And he says “Yes.”
So he’s asked, “Does it have leaves?”
And he says “No.”
So he’s asked “Does it have fronds?”
And he says “No.”
So he’s asked “Does it have branches?”
And he says “No.”
So he’s asked “Does it have roots?”
And he says “No.”
So it’s said “Then you have no palm tree.”

[Likewise], these Jahmiyyah are told, “Do you have a god?”
They say “Yes.”
So they’re asked “Does he speak?”
They say “No”.
So they’re asked “Does he have a hand?”
They say “No.”
So they’re asked “Does he have a foot?”
They say “No.”
So they’re asked “Does he have a finger?”
They say “No.”
So they’re asked “Does he get pleased and angry?”
They say “No.”
So it’s said to them, “Then you have no god.”

Muhammad ibn Idrees ash-Shafi’ee

Imam ash-Shafi’ee was asked about what we should believe about Allah’s attributes. He made the following points:

• Allah has names and attributes that were revealed in his book and his Prophet told his Ummah about them
• No one on whom the evidence has been established is allowed to oppose that which the Quran came down with, or the Prophet affirmed, based on what’s attributed to him by the trustworthy [narrators]
• If he opposes that after the evidence has been established then he is a disbeliever in Allah.
• However, before the evidence has been established in terms of reports, then he is excused for ignorance. Because knowledge of these [attributes] isn’t attained by the brain, sight, thinking, and so on.
• Allah (stated) that He is all-hearing.
• And that He has two hands [5:64]
• And that he has a right hand [39:67]
• And that he has a face [28:88 and 55:27]
• And that he has a foot [Bukhari 6661]
• And that he laughs at his believing servant [Bukhari 2826]
• And that he descends every night to the lowest heaven [Muslim 758]
• And that he is not one-eyed [Muslim 2933]
• And that the believers will see their Lord on the day of judgement with their sights just as they see the full moon [Bukhari 7436]
• And that he has fingers [Ibn Majah 199]
• And that the reality of these meanings (attributes) that Allah described Himself with and His Messenger described Him with are not attained through thought or sight, and no one is considered a disbeliever if he’s ignorant of them, until the reports regarding them have reached him
• And if the aforementioned was a report [from the Prophet] then it takes the same standing as if he heard it directly [from the Messenger], and it is obligatory on him to affirm its reality and testify for it just as he heard it
• But he affirms these attributes and negates likening [to creation] as Allah negated it [42:11]

Abdur-Rahman ibn Amr al-Awza’ee

Imam al-Awza’ee was asked (about Aqeedah) so he said:

• Hold on to the Sunnah. And abstain from what the people (pious predecessors) have abstained from. And say what they have said. And don’t indulge in what they didn’t indulge in. And follow the path of the pious predecessors, for it is enough for you what was enough for them.
• And the people of the Levant were unaware of this Bid’ah (belief in the creation of the Quran) until some of the people of Iraq who entered into this Bid’ah hurled it at them after they were rebuked by their jurists and scholars, so it became rooted in the hearts of groups from amongst the people of the Levant and their tongues permitted it, and they were afflicted with what afflicted others in differing [in this matter].
• And I am not giving up hope that Allah will remove the evil of this Bid’ah so that they become brothers with compassion after disunity in their religion and hatred.
• And if there was good in that (indulging in this Bid’ah) which you were singled out with, there is no good that was kept from them—hidden for you instead of them—for a favor you have (over them). And they are the companions of the Prophet ﷺ who [Allah] chose and sent him (the Prophet) amongst them, and described them with what he described when he said: “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. And those with him are firm with the disbelievers and compassionate with one another. You see them bowing and prostrating (in prayer), seeking Allah’s bounty and pleasure.” [48:29]

As-Salaf As-Salih رضي الله عنهم have made it clear who are upon Haqq, there is no doubt about the truth as ALLAH سبحانه و تعالى says in [Al-Baqarah, Ayah 147]: “The truth is from your Lord, so never be amongst the doubters”. We must argue with the innovators and destroy their specious arguments against the people of the Sunnah, it is Fard upon us to enjoin in good and forbid their Kufr from intruding into the ranks of Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama’ah.