Ibn Katheer on the Attributes of Allah
Let us take a quick look at the position of Ibn Katheer on the Attributes of Allah.
Firstly, Ibn Kathir was a devout student and an admirer of Ibn Taymiyya, and would follow him in many of his views and opinions, as he would also accompany him on his Hisba missions of commanding good and forbidding evil. Anyone who reads Ibn Kathir’s account of Ibn Taymiyya in his Bidaya will be aware of this, in particular, when Ibn Kathir proudly relates how Ibn Taymiyya punished a Sufi Zindiq at his time and made him repent, in Ibn Kathir’s presence.
Ibn al-Imad in his Shadharat quotes Ibn Qadhi Shuhba from his Tabaqat: ‘He (Ibn Kathir) had a special relationship with Ibn Taymiyya, whom he would defend and follow many of his views. He would issue verdicts according to the view of Ibn Taymiyya in the issue of Talaq, due to which he was tested and harmed. He died in Sha’ban and was buried in the Sufi cemetery next to his Sheikh Ibn Taymiyya’.
Secondly, what Ibn Kathir says in tafsir of Allah’s Hands, etc, is not the Ta’wil which involves the negation of the dhahir.
The Salaf affirmed two things from the verses regarding the Attributes:
Read MoreDid Imam Ahmed Make Ta’wil?
The narration about Imam Ahmad supposedly making Ta’wil of ‘Your Lord will Come…’ is narrated by Hanbal alone, the uncle of the Imam. The Hanbalis are very cautious when it comes to narrations transmitted by Hanbal alone on the issues of Fiqh, so how about the issues of Aqida? Many Hanbali Imams claimed that Hanbal erred while reporting this, for Salih b. Ahmad b. Hanbal was also a witness to this discussion and trial, but never reported anything of the like in his account. Furthermore, Hanbal also narrates several times from Imam Ahmad literally affirming Allah’s descent.
Other Hanbalis affirm this narration and say that he said this to them as a response to their argument, and not that it was his belief.
Read MoreTafwid al-Ma’na in Istiwa?
Tafweed al-Ma`na is -not- a belief that the Attributes of Allah “have no meaning”. It is the belief that -certain- attributes of Allah are clear and -certain- ones are not. In these that are not clear we relegate the Ma`na to Allah alone. One example is ar-rahmanu `ala-l `arsh-istawa. We accept it as a literal reality and reject that it is figurative in anyway that Allah did istawa regarding His Throne. The word “istawa” has a wide variety of meanings in the Arabic language and a simple gloss of Lisan al-`Arab will confirm this. However, the exact understanding of this istawa we relegate to Allah. Tafwid means “relegation”. Tafwid al-Ma`na means “relegation of the meaning”.
Here is what Mar’i al-Karmi al-Hanbali (d. 1033) said in his work Ta’wilat al-thiqat. This comes as a direct refutation of this claim, from a post-Ibn Taymiyya Hanbali scholar, from a book which some claim shows the supposed difference between Ibn Taymiyya and Hanbali creed:
Many of the Mutakallimun said, such as al-Tilmisani and others, that the meaning of their statement: “al-Istiwa is known” is that the various meanings of al-Istiwa are lexically known” after having negated al-istiqrar (being settled), as al-qahr (subduing), al-ghalaba (overpowering) or intending to creating something in the Throne, and so on from the various meanings of al-Istiwa. Hence, these meanings are all known in the Arabic language. “The kayf is unknown”, meaning: to pin-point one of those meanings, being Allah’s intended meaning is unknown to us. “To question it is bid’âh”, meaning: to pin-point it speculatively is bid’âh, for the Companions were not known for considering the Names of Allah and His Attributes based on speculation.
I say (Mar’i al-Hanbali): This tafsir is not pleasing to me,
Read MoreOne Part of Allah’s Mercy on Earth?
How do we understand the issue of saying Allah’s mercy is infinite when the authentic hadeeth related by Abu Hurayrah in al-Bukhari and Muslim describes dividing mercy into one hundred parts. Would ‘mercy’ in this hadeeth be an attribute of His, the Most High? Is there anything in the authentic Sunnah describing Allah, the Most High, with those Arabic terms mentioned as its English equivalent is frequently used?
There are two versions of this hadeth:
Read MoreAsh’ari Textbooks – Qur’an is Created
Sharh Jawharat Tawheed of Bayjuri is a classical Ash’ari textbook for aqeedah. In it he says that “it is only permitted to teach that the Qur’an is created in a classroom setting.” Here is a scan from this book (this is from a printing edited by Dr. ‘Ali Jum’ah).
It should be noted that even the Ash’aris themselves translate this accordingly, here is one example. This is the passage referenced above as translated by Abdullah bin Hamid Ali,
And it (i.e. the expression) is applied to both meanings (i.e. the Book and to the eternal quality of Allah). It has also been stated that the phrase is a homonym ishtirak; just as it has been said that it literally applies to the unuttered (uncreated) speech, while it is metaphorically applied to the uttered (created) speech. (At any rate) All who deny that all that is between the two covers of the book (mushaf) is the word of Allah (kalam Allah) are guilty of unbelief unless one means that it is not the quality present with His divine essence – High is He. And in spite of the fact that the words (lafz) we recite happen to be emergent, it is still only permitted to say “The Qur’n is emergent (or created)” in a classroom setting, because it sometimes applies to the quality present with His divine essence even though only metaphorically according to the strongest view. And it might be imagined from stating in a general fashion that “The Qur’n is emergent (or created)” that (one is saying that) the quality present with His divine essence – High is He – is emergent (or created).”
This can be found here on pg. 1.
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