BELIEF IN INTERCESSION (AQIDA E SHAFA'AT:
PROPHETS AND THE BLESSED PEOPLE LIKE AWLIYA ALLAH WILL INTERCEED ON THE DAY OF
JUDGEMENT) AND THE PRAISEWORTHY STATION OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD(PBUH) (MAQAM E
MEHMOOD)
[BY MREHAN786
JOIN ME AT FACEBOOK: “Mrehan/Mrehan786(official)”
<<< A HADITH GIFT TO THE
DENIERS OF THE INTERCESSION(SHIFAT) >>>
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Hazrat Usman(R.A) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H) said: "On the the day of Qayamt(Judgement), three types of people will INTERCEED(SHIFAT)- PROPHETS, THEN THE SHOLARS OF ISLAM, THEN MARTYRES"
HADIS IN URDU:
Hazrat Usman(R.A) se marvi hai ki, Rasool Allah (P.B.U.H) ne irshad farmaya, "Qayamat ke din, teen kism ke log SHIFAT karainge- ANBIYA(PROPHETS) PHIR ULEMA(SHOLARS OF ISLAM) PHIR SHAUHDA(MARTYRES)"
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REFERENCES:
1) SUNAN IBN MAJAH, ABWAB ALZAHD AN RASOOL ALLAH(P.B.U.H), BAB DHIKR AL SHAFAAT 2, H: 4313
2) AL SHARIA LIL AAJIRI :350
3) JAMHE BAYAN UL ILM WA FADHLA LA BIN ABDULBAR BAB TAFDHIIL UL ULMA ALI ASH SHAUHDA 1:30
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Hazrat Usman(R.A) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H) said: "On the the day of Qayamt(Judgement), three types of people will INTERCEED(SHIFAT)- PROPHETS, THEN THE SHOLARS OF ISLAM, THEN MARTYRES"
HADIS IN URDU:
Hazrat Usman(R.A) se marvi hai ki, Rasool Allah (P.B.U.H) ne irshad farmaya, "Qayamat ke din, teen kism ke log SHIFAT karainge- ANBIYA(PROPHETS) PHIR ULEMA(SHOLARS OF ISLAM) PHIR SHAUHDA(MARTYRES)"
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
REFERENCES:
1) SUNAN IBN MAJAH, ABWAB ALZAHD AN RASOOL ALLAH(P.B.U.H), BAB DHIKR AL SHAFAAT 2, H: 4313
2) AL SHARIA LIL AAJIRI :350
3) JAMHE BAYAN UL ILM WA FADHLA LA BIN ABDULBAR BAB TAFDHIIL UL ULMA ALI ASH SHAUHDA 1:30
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
CONTENTS:
1.
IMPORTANT VIDEOS
2.
IMPORTANT BOOKS AND ARTICLES
3.
BRIEF INFO ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF INTERCESSION
4.
BRIEF INFO ABOUT THE PRAISEWORTHY STATION OF THE
PROPHET MUHAMMAD(PBUH) (MAQAM E MEHMOOD) AND THE PROPHET’S (S)
SEATING ON THE THRONE (IQ‘ÂD AL-NABÎ (S) ‘ALÂ AL-‘ARSH)
IMPORTANT
VIDEOS:
Aqeeda e Tawassul aur Shafaat e Kubra Quran ki Roshni mein | URDU VIDEO BY DR. TAHIR UL QADIRI | ABOUT 104 MINUTES
Huzur SAW ka Muqam e Shafa'at 05 01
1989 LAHORE | URDU VIDEO BY DR. TAHIR UL QADIRI | ABOUT 62 MINUTES
Huzoor (S.A.W) ka Muqam-e-Mehmood by
Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr. Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri _ Nishist 1 | URDU VIDEO BY DR.
TAHIR UL QADIRI | ABOUT 2 HOURS 57 MINUTES
Huzoor (S.A.W) ka Maqam-e-Mahmood
(Nashist 2) | URDU VIDEO BY DR. TAHIR UL QADIRI | ABOUT 3 HOURS 11 MINUTES
Rehmat e Elahi wa Shafaat e Auliya |
URDU VIDEO BY DR. TAHIR UL QADIRI | ABOUT 41 MINUTES
Who Is Muhammad PBUH Part 10
Intercession | URDU VIDEO | ABOUT 3 HOURS 11 MINUTES
Aulia Allah will take the people from
hell to heaven- HADITH PROOF | URDU
VIDEO BY DR. TAHIR UL QADIRI | ABOUT 7 MINUTES
Jannat Ka Rasta Muhabbat-e-Auliya by
Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri
| URDU VIDEO BY DR. TAHIR UL QADIRI | ABOUT 16 MINUTES
Qayamat ke din Huzoor s.a.w ka Muqaam
e mahmood by Dr.Tahir ul Qadri-2012 | URDU VIDEO BY DR. TAHIR UL QADIRI | ABOUT
5 MINUTES
Qiyamat k Din Aouliya ka Maqam by
Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri | URDU VIDEO BY DR. TAHIR UL QADIRI | ABOUT 7 MINUTES
Shaykh Ul Islam- Qayamat Ke Din
Auliya Ki Shafat Proven From Hadith | URDU VIDEO BY DR. TAHIR UL QADIRI | ABOUT 7 MINUTES
IMPORTANT BOOKS AND ARTICLES:
Intercession
Ibn Taymiyya about Tawassul and
Shafa'a
BOOK ON INTERCESSION | URDU BOOK BY
DR. TAHIR UL QADIRI | PAGES: 304
Intercession Substantiated by Fine
Traditions | URDU HADITH BOOK BY DR. TAHIR UL QADIRI | PAGES: 454| COLLECTION
OF 400 HADITHS
Glad Tidings for the Believers about the
Prophetic Intercession | URDU HADITH
BOOK BY DR. TAHIR UL QADIRI | PAGES: 120
The Prophetic Glory on the Day of
Reckoning | URDU BOOK BY DR. TAHIR UL
QADIRI | PAGES: 154
The Praiseworthy Station of the
Prophet (PBUH) | URDU BOOK BY DR. TAHIR UL QADIRI
The Prophet’s (s) Seating on the
Throne (IQ‘ÂD AL-NABÎ (S) ‘ALÂ AL-‘ARSH)
BRIEF
INFO ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF INTERCESSION
Introduction
Praise be to Allah, Lord of all the worlds,
and Blessings and Peace of Allah upon His Prophet and Messenger Muhammad, his
Family and all his Companions. There is not one single act of worship in Islam
that is not a tawassul (seeking means to Allah), therefore it
is inadmissible to say that tawassul is not an integral and central part of
Islam.Tawassul is the very heart of Islam, and the shahada contains a declaration of belief in tawassul: for one cannot be a Muslim unless one recognizes the messengership and prophethood of Muhammad, blessings and peace upon him, and of all Prophets, although the goal is Allah alone Who said: "I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me" (51:56). Therefore this is seeking an obligatory means to an obligatory end. The pillars of Islam similarly all consist in actions which are a means of intercession before Allah for their doer.
Intercession is the greatest means as it will be only through intercession that the people of the fire will enter Paradise, and Allah even called Himself "Intercessor" in the verse: "You have not, beside Him, a protecting friend or mediator" (32:4) and in the long hadith narrated by Muslim whereby the Prophet said:
Allah will say: "The angels have interceded. The Prophets have interceded. The believers have interceded. There does not remain except the Most Merciful of the merciful ones."
The Prophet also called the Qur'an an intercessor, declared that people were intercessors, and gave as an example the intercession of children for the parents who lost them in their infancy. We ask for the intercession of the dead person every time we pray janaza, when we say: allahumma la tuhrimna ajrahum which means "O Allah, do not prevent their benefit from reaching us." Allah declares that the best people are the Prophets, then those who are absolutely truthful (siddiqin) and these are the great saints, then the martyrs (shuhada), then the righteous (salihin), and the Prophet declared that every person will be making intercession on the Day of resurrection, but with an order of priority among them, just as Allah gives precedence in this world to those who are closest to Him. All this is a great blessing of Allah to the worlds and the reason why we are greatly blessed on this earth despite our sins. For the earth is never empty of the true worshippers and there is still someone left saying "Allah." If you realize this, you will never harbor doubts about Muslims availing themselves of the blessings and guidance that Allah sends to them in the persons of the anbiya' and awliya'.
Nor do we believe that the friendship with Allah established in nubuwwa and wilaya stops with death. We strenuously reject the heresy of those who claim that the Prophet is dead and gone after delivering his message. Hasha, wa ta`ala Allahu `amma yasifun. He is alive and fed, our greetings reach him, our actions are shown to him, he intercedes for us, and the dust of his grave is the most blessed spot on earth for which no show of love and honor is too great. No-one who has love in their heart approaches it without adab. It is the responsibility of every Muslim to ascertain what is correct from what is wrong, and tawassul is correct, recommended, and one of the greatest means of drawing close to Allah, first and foremost through the Prophet. This is the position of the overwhelming majority of the scholars until our own times except for a handful of dissenters.
Tawassul is not a luxury for the rich, and its validity is not determined by circumstance, analogy, or personal feelings but by solid, known legal proofs and the practice of the righteous early generations. It is not a matter of procedure and scholarship but one of sound belief. Dislike for asking for the Prophet's help displays arrogance with Allah's greatest mercy, dislike for the Prophet, pride, and a diseased heart. May Allah protect us from it at all times, especially in our time which is the time of fear of declaring love for our Prophet and that of rampant disaffection towards him. As for tawassul with the saints, no-one can claim that they know Allah better than the Prophet, and no-one can claim that they know the Prophet better than the Friends of Allah. What then is the status of one who would stop seeking their company and asking for their help and guidance?
THE PROOFS FOR INTERCESSION (SHAFA`A) IN ISLAM
In Islam every action of a
believer is an intercessor, and the Prophet has told us that the Qur'an also
will intercede for us on the Day of resurrection, while he himself is the
greatest intercessor other than Allah. According to Shari`a even the
involuntary good action of the greatest apostate intercedes for him and profits
him, as established by what is related in Bukhari whereby Abu Lahab freed his
slave Thawbiyya on the day the Prophet was born and that subsequently his
punishment in the grave is diminished every Monday. Scholars have quoted this
hadith to highlight the importance of praising the Prophet in that even
non-believers benefit from the intercession of their own actions that denote
his praise -- even unintentional. Two examples of such scholars are the hafiz
of Syria and supporter of Ibn Taymiyya, Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al-Qaysi, known
as Nasir al-Din al-Dimashqi (777-842) in his several books on the
praiseworthiness of Mawlid, among them Jami`
al-athar fi mawlid al-nabi al-mukhtar (The
compendium of reports concerning the birth of the Chosen Prophet), al-Lafz al-ra'iq fi mawlid khayr
al-khala'iq (The shining
expressions for the birth of the Best of Creation) and Mawrid al-sadi bi mawlid al-nabi
al-hadi (The continuous
spring: the birth of the Guiding Prophet) and the hafiz Shams al-Din al-Jazari
in his book `Urf al-ta`rif bi
al-mawlid al-sharif (The
beneficient communication of the Noble Birth of the Prophet).Another principle of that hadith is that the benefit of intercession takes place before Resurrection.
Whether persons other than the Prophet are intercessors as well the answer is: yes, since the Prophet has explicitly declared it in many sound hadiths which quote below, among them the following:
More people than the collective tribes of Banu Tamim shall enter Paradise due to the intercession of one man from my Community." It was said: "O Messenger of Allah, is it other than you?" He said: "Other than me."
The belief in the Prophet's intercession and that of other than he is obligatory in Islam. It is stated clearly in the `Aqida tahawiyya of Imam al-Tahawi, in Ghazali's al-Iqtisad and the chapter on `aqida in hisIhya', in the works of al-Ash`ari, and even in the `Aqida wasitiyya of Ibn Taymiyya. These intercessors are a mercy from Allah and it is an obligation and an order for mankind to seek out Allah's mercy.
The seeking of intercession has two effects: one is immediate, in increasing the faith of the person and availing him all sorts of benefits in the world; the other is delayed until Resurrection.
About the statement in al-Wala' wal-Bara' whereby among the "ten actions that negate Islam" is "relying on an intermediary between oneself and Allah when seeking intercession" then the speciousness of the statement is obvious, since the meaning of intercessis intermediary. How can one at the same time seek an intermediary and refrain from relying on him? This would not be the act of a believer but of a duplicitous person. Besides language and logic it is clear in the hadith of the Great Intercession that the people seek intercessors among the Prophets until they come to the Seal of Prophets seeking to rely upon him for intercession, and he confirms to them that he is able to fulfill their request. This is one of the matters which the Prophet boasted about in the hadith "I have been given five things..." What then is the import of reducing it to an "action that negates Islam" other than to reduce the status of the Prophet himself and of his intercession?
Allah has created intercession as He has created everything else: out of mercy; He also said: "My Mercy encompasses all things" (7:156). No doubt His greatest Mercy is the Prophet, concerning whom He said "We did not send you save as a Mercy to the Worlds" (21:107). Belief in the Prophet's intercession is tied into the witnessing to the truth he brought and the recognition by the believers of his right as Allah's greatest mercy. The angels intercede according to Qur'an, yet the Prophet is nearer to Allah than the nearest among them. No-one will speak on the Day of Judgment except those who have permission, and it has come in authentic hadith that Allah gave permission to the Prophet. The Prophet will not be saying "I and Myself" but will be saying: ummati, ummati "My Community!" and that is intercession which, unless it is reliable, cannot be hoped for nor looked forward to. Is this not what "Salafis" try to suggest?
Intercession in no way diminishes the fact that everything is under Allah's sovereignty. However, Allah created secondary causes and means, and He has said: "Seek the means to Allah." Intercession is but one of those means and not the smallest. The fact that the Prophet said that to utter la ilaha illallah from the heart guaranteed his intercession, implies that there is immense good in his intercession, for what would we wish for in addition to the benefit brought by uttering the kalima, if such addition were not to be prized immensely?
That is why sincere love of the Prophet and of pious people is of a tremendous benefit, as one hopes thereby to be loved back, and the Prophet said to the Arab who had prepared nothing for the Final Hour other than love for Allah and His Prophet: yuhshar al-mar' ma` man ahabb, "One is raised in the company of those he loves," and the Companions who were present said this was the happiest day of their lives for hearing this promise. All this implies reliance, and contradicts the assertion of the book al-Wala' wal-Bara' whereby "relying on an intermediary between oneself and Allah when seeking intercession negates Islam."
The asking of intercession from the intercessor, as the asking of du`a from a pious Muslim, in no way implies that the person who asks believes any good can come apart from Allah. In effect he is asking Allah, but he is using the means that Allah put at his disposal, including the intercession of those who may be closer than him to Allah. To refuse to believe that other than us may be closer than us to Allah is the sin of Iblis.
Imam Ghazali said in the section on doctrine of his Ihya':
It is obligatory to believe in the intercession of first the prophets, then religious scholars, then martyrs, then other believers, the intercession of each one commensurate with his rank and position with Allah Most High.
The Shi`i scholar al-Tabata'i wrote the following on the meaning of intercession in his Commentary on Qur'an:
What is the meaning of Intercession?
al-shafa`a (intercession) is derived from al-shaf` which means "even" as
opposed to odd, since the interceder adds his own recommendation to the plea of
the petitioner; in this way the number of pleaders becomes even, and the weak
plea of the petitioner is strengthened by the prestige of the intercessor. We
are accustomed in our social and communal life to seek others' intercession and
help for fulf1lling our needs.We resort to it to get an advantage or to ward off a disadvantage. Here we are not talking about an advantage or a disadvantage, a benefit or a harm that is caused by natural causes, like hunger and thirst, heat or cold, illness or health; because in such cases we get what we want through natural remedies, like eating and drinking, wearing clothes, getting treatment and so on. What we are talking here about is the benefit and harm, punishment and reward resulting from the social laws made by civil authorities.
From the nature of the relationship of mastership-and-servitude, and for that matter, between every ruler and ruled, rise some commandments, orders and prohibitions; one who follows and obeys them is praised and rewarded, and the one who disobeys is condemned and punished; that reward or punishment may be either material or spiritual. When a master orders his servant to do or not to do a thing, and the servant obeys him he gets its reward; and if he disobeyes he is punished. Whenever a rule is made, the punishment for its infringement is laid down too. This is the foundation which all authorities are built upon.
When a man wants to get a material or spiritual benefit but is not suitably qualified for it; or when he desires to ward off a harm which is coming to him because of his disobedience, but has no shield to protect himself, then comes the time for intercession.
In other words, when he wants to get a reward without doing his task, or to save himself from punishment without performing his duty, then he looks for someone to intercede on his behalf. But intercession is effective only if the person for whom one intercedes is otherwise qualified to get the reward and has already established a relationship with the authority. If an ignorant person desires appointment to a prestigious academic post, no intercession can do him any good; nor can it avail in case of a rebellious traitor who shows no remorse for his misdeeds and does not submit to the lawful authorities. It clearly shows that intercession works as a supplement to the cause; it is not an independent cause.
The effect of an intercessor's words depends on one or the other factor which may have some influence upon the concerned authority; in other words, intercession must have a solid ground to stand upon. The intercessor endeavours to find a way to the heart of the authority concerned, in order that the said authority may give the reward to, or waive the punishment of, the person who is the subject of intercession. An intercessor does not ask the master to nullify his mastership or to release the servant from his servitude; nor does he plead with him to refrain from laying down rules and regulations for his servants or to abrogate his commandments (either generally or especially in that one case), in order to save the wrong-doer from the due consequences; nor does he ask him to discard the canon of reward and punishment, (either generally or in that particular case). In short, intercession can interfere with neither the institution of mastership and servantship nor the master's authority to lay down the rules; nor can it effect the system of reward and punishment. These three factors are beyond the jurisdiction of intercession.
What an intercessor does is this: He accepts the inviolability of the above mentioned three aspects. Then he looks at one or more of the following factors and builds his intercession on that basis:
He appeals to such attributes of the master as give rise to forgiveness, e.g., his nobility, magnanimity and generosity.
He draws attention to such characteristics of the servant as justify mercy and pardon, e.g., his wretchedness, poverty, low status and misery.
He puts at stake his own prestige and honour in the eyes of the master.
Thus, the import of intercession is like this: I cannot and do not say that you should forget your mastership over your servant or abrogate your commandment or nullify the sysof reward and punishment. What I ask of you is to forgive this defaulting servant of yours because you are magnanimous and generous, and because no harm would come to you if you forgive his sins; and/or because your servant is a wretched creature of low status and steeped in misery; and it is befitting of a master like you to ignore the faults of a slave like him; and/or because you have bestowed on me a high prestige, and I implore you to forgive and pardon him in honour of my intercession.
The intercessor, in this way, bestows precedence on the factors of forgiveness and pardon over those of legislation and recompense. He removes the case from the latter's jurisdiction putting it under former's influence. As a result of this shift, the consequences of legislation (reward and punishment) do not remain applicable. The effect of intercession is, therefore, based on shifting the case from the jurisdiction of reward and punishment to that of pardon and forgiveness; it is not a confrontation between one cause (divine legislation) and the other (intercession).
By now it should be clear that intercession too is one of the causes; it is the intermediate cause that connects a distant cause to its desired effect.
Allah is the ultimate Cause. This causality shows itself in two ways:
First: In creation: Every cause begins from Him and ends up to Him; He is the first and the final Cause. He is the real Creator and Originator. All other causes are mere channels to carry His boundless mercy and limitless bounty to His creatures.
Second: In legislation: He, in His mercy, established a contact with His creatures; He laid down the religion, sent down His commandments, and prescribed suitable reward and appropriate punishment for His obedient and disobedient servants; He sent prophets and apostles to bring us good tidings and to warn us of the consequences of transgression. The prophets and apostles conveyed to us His message in the best possible way. Thus His proof over us was complete: "and the word of your Lord has been accomplished with truth and justice, there is none to change His words" (6:115).
Both aspects of causality of Allah may be, and in fact are, related to intercession:
1. Intercession in creation: Quite obviously
the intermediary causes of creation are the conduits that bring the divine
mercy, life, sustenance and other bounties to the creatures; and as such they
are intercessors between the Creator and the created. Some Qur'anic verses too
are based on this very theme: whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the
earth is His; who is he that can intercede with Him but by His permission
(2:255); Surely your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and the earth in
six periods, and He is firmly established on throne, regulating the affair;
there is no intercessor except after His permission (10:3).
Intercession
in the sphere of creation is only the intermediation of causes between the
Creator and the created thing and effect in bringing it into being and
regulating its affairs.
2. Intercession in legislation: Intercession,
as analysed earlier, is effective in this sphere too. It is in this context
that Allah says: On-that day shall no intercession avail except of him whom the
Beneficent God allows and whose word He is pleased with (20:109); And
intercession will not avail aught with Him save of him whom He permits (34:23);
And how many an angel is there in the heavens whose intercession does not avail
at all except after Allah has given permission to whom He pleases and chooses
(53:26); ... and they do not intercede except for him whom He approves ...
(21:28); And those whom they call upon besides Him have no authority for
intercession, but he who bears witness of the truth and they know (him)
(43:86).
These verses clearly affirm
intercessory role for various servants of Allah, both men and angels, with
divine permission and pleasure. It means that Allah has given them some power
and authority in this matter, and to Him belongs all the kingdom and all the
affairs. Those intercessors may appeal to Allah's mercy, forgiveness and other
relevant attributes to cover and protect a servant who otherwise would have
desened punishment because of his sins and transgressions. That intercession
would transfer his case from the general law of recompense to the special
domain of grace and mercy. (It has already been explained that the effect of
intercession is based on shifting a case from the former's to the latter's
jurisdiction; it is not a confrontation between one law and the other.) Allah
clearly says: ... so these are they of whom Allah changes the evil deeds to
good ones (25:70).Allah has the power to change one type of deed into other, in the same way as He may render an act null and void. He says: "And We will proceed to what they have done of deeds, so We shall render them as scattered floating dust" (25:23); ... "so He rendered their deeds null" (47:9); "If you avoid the great sins which you are forbidden, We will expiate from you your sins" (4:31); "Surely Allah does not forgive that any thing should be associated with Him, and forgives what is besides that to whomsoever He pleases" (4:48).
The last quoted verse is certainly about the cases other than true belief and repentance, because with belief and repentance even polytheism is forgiven, like any other sin. Also Allah may nurture a small deed to make it greater than the original: "These shall be granted their reward twice" (28:54); "Whoever brings a good deed, he shall have ten like it" (6:160). Likewise, He may treat a nonexistent deed as existing: "And (as for) those who believe and their offsping follow them in faith, We will unite with them their offspring and We will not diminish to them aught of their work; every man is responsible for what he has done" (52:21) .
To make a long story short, Allah does what He please, and decrees as He wills. Of course, He does so pursuant to His servants' interest, and in accordance with an intermediary cause, and intercession of the intercessors (e.g., the Prophets, the Friends of Allah and those who are nearer to Him) is one of those causes, and certainly no rashness or injustice is entailed therein. It should have been clear by now that intercession, in its true sense, belongs to Allah only; all His attributes are intermediaries between Him and His creatures and are the channels through which His grace, mercy and decrees pass to the creatures; He is the real and all-encompassing intercessor: "Say: Allah's is the intercession altogether" (39:44); ... "you have not besides Him any guardian or any intercessor" (32:4); ... "there is no guardian for them nor any intercessor besides Him" (6: 51). Intercessors other than Allah only get that right by His permission, by His authority.
In short, intercession with Him is a confirmed reality in all cases where it does not go against the divine glory and honour.
Proof-texts of intercession in the Qur'an and Hadith
Shafa`a is the Arabic noun for intercession or
mediation or asking forgiveness from Allah for someone else. The word is used
also in laying a petition before a king, interceding for a debtor, and in
judicial procedure:
"Whoso
makes a righteous intercession shall partake of the good that ensues therefrom,
and whoso makes an evil intercession will bear the consequence thereof"
(4:85);
"He
who by his intercession invalidates one of Allah's hudud (laws concerning transgressions) is
challenging (tahadda) Allah" (Bukhari, Anbiya' ch. 54).
He who
makes intercession is called sh®fi` and shaf`.
Hujjat
al-Islam Imam Ghazali said:
It is
obligatory to believe in the intercession of first the prophets, then religious
scholars, then martyrs, then other believers, the intercession of each one
commensurate with his rank and position with Allah MHigh.
[Cf.
"Allah Himself is witness that there is no God save Him. And the angels
and the men of learning too are witness" (3:18) and "Whoso obey Allah
and the Messenger, they are with those unto whom Allas has shown favor, of the
Prophets and the saints and the martyrs and the righteous. The best of company
are they!" (4:69).]
Any
believer remaining in hell without intercessor shall be taken out of it by the
favor of Allah, no one who believes remaining in it forever, and anyone with an
atom's weight of faith in his heart will eventually depart from it.
In the Holy Qur'an intercession
is:3.a) The Day of Judgment is described as a day on which no intercession will be accepted from the Children of Israel (2:48) or the unbelievers generally speaking (2:254), or the idolaters (10:18, 74:48):
- 2:48: "And guard yourselves against a day when no soul will avail
another, nor intercession be accepted from it";
- 2:254: "O believers, spend of that wherewith We have provided you before a day come when there will be no trafficking, nor friendship, nor intercession. The disbelievers, they are the wrong-doers."
- 10:19: "They worship beside Allah that which neither hurteth them nor profiteth them, and they say: These are our intercessors with Allah."
- 74:48: "The mediation of no mediators will avail them then."
3.b) In absolute terms intercession belongs to Allah alone:
- 39:43-44: "Or choose they intercessors other than Allah? Say: What! Even though they have power over nothing and have no intelligence? Say: the intercession belongs to Allah."
3.c) A further definition that "Intercession belongs to Allah" is that intercession is actually permitted to others than Allah but only by His permission:
- 2:255: "Who should intercede with him, except by his permission?"
- 10:4: "There is no intercessor save after His permission."
- 19:87: "They will have no power of intercession, save him who has made a covenant with his Lord."
- 43:86: "And those unto whom they cry instead of Him possess no power of intercession, except him who beareth witness unto the truth knowingly."
3.d) Angels are permitted to intercede for whomever Allah wills, specifically among the believers:
- 21:26-28: "And they say: the Beneficent hath taken unto Himself a son... Nay, but honored slaves [angels]... and they cannot intercede except for him whom He accepteth, and they quake for awe of Him."
- 40:7: "Those who bear the Throne, and all who are round about it... ask forgiveness for those who believe."
- 42:5: "The angels hymn the praise of their Lord and ask forgiveness for those on the earth."
3.e) The intercession of the Prophet in his lifetime is explicitly and frequently established:
- 3:159: "Pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult with them upon the conduct of affairs."
- 4:64: "And if, when they had wronged themselves, they had but come unto thee and asked forgiveness of Allah, and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah forgiving, merciful."
- 4:106-107: "And ask forgiveness of Allah (for others). Allah is ever forgiving, merciful. And plead not on behalf of those who deceive themselves."
- 8:33: "But Allah would not punish them while thou wast with them, nor will He punish them while they seek forgiveness."
- 9:80, 84: "Ask forgiveness for them (the hypocrites) or ask not forgiveness for them; though thou ask forgiveness for them seventy times Allah will not forgive them... And never pray for one of them who dieth, nor stand by his grave."
- 9:103: "Pray for them. Lo! thy prayer is an assuagement for them."
- 9:113: "It is not for the Prophet, and those who believe, to pray for the forgiveness of idolaters even though they may be near of kin (to them) after it hath become clear that they are people of hell-fire."
- 24:62: "If they ask thy leave for some affair of theirs, give leave to whom thou wilt of them, and ask for them forgiveness of Allah."
- 47:19: "Know that there is no god save Allah, and ask forgiveness for thy sin and for believing men and believing women."
- 60:12: "Accept their [believing women's] allegience and ask Allah to forgive them."
- 63:5-6: "And when it is said unto them: Come! the messenger of Allah will ask forgiveness for you! they [the hypocrites] avert their faces and thou seest them turning away, disdainful. Whether thou ask forgiveness for them or ask not forgiveness for them, Allah will not forgive them."
3.f) The intercession and mediation of the Prophet on the Day of
Judgment has been established by the consensus of scholars (ijma`) and is an article of belief in Islam as stated in section (2). The Mu`tazili heresy rejected it, as they held that the man who enters the Fire will remain there forever. The consensus of scholars is based on the principle of permission (see the verses in section (3.c) above), on the allusive verses in the present section, and on the more explicit hadiths quoted further below:
- 17:79: "It may be that thy Lord will raise thee to a Praised Station."
- 93:5: "And verily thy Lord will give unto thee so that thou wilt be content."
3.g) The intercession of the generality of the prophets as well as the believers has similarly been established by the verses of sections (3.c) and (3.e) above, i.e. based on permission, and also because prophets have made a covenant with their Lord (33:7, 3:81) and do bear witness unto the truth knowingly. The latter is true also of the elite of the believers (3:18: "Allah, the angels, and the men of learning"). There are also the following verses concerning the prophets' intercession in their lifetime:
- 12:97-98: "And they said: O our father! Ask forgiveness of our sins for us for lo! we were sinful. And he [Jacob] said: I shall ask forgiveness for you of my Lord. He is the forgiving, the merciful."
- 19:47: "He [Abraham] said: Peace unto thee. I shall ask forgiveness of my Lord for thee."
- 61:4: "Abraham promised his father: I will ask forgiveness for thee, though I owe nothing for thee from Allah."
There are also the following verses concerning the believers' intercession in their lifetime:
- 9:113: "It is not for the Prophet, and those who believe, to pray for the forgiveness of idolaters even though they may be near of kin (to them) after it hath become clear that they are people of hellfire."
- 59:10: "And those who came after them say: Our Lord! forgive us and forgive our believing brothers who lived before us."
4. Proofs of
intercession/mediation in the Hadith
In the hadith the power of
intercession is emphasized as given:4.a) Intercession of the Prophet:
1. In his lifetime for those who passed away:
·
All
the authentic traditions concerning the Prophet's prayer and takbir over the graves of the believers.
·
Muslim
[jana'iz]: Abu Hurayra narrates that a dark-complexioned woman or young man
used to sweep the mosque. When that person died, no-one told the Prophet until
he enquired about it and then went to pray over the grave. He remarked:
"Verily, these graves are full of darkness for their dwellers. Verily, Allah
Mighty and Glorious illumines them for their occupants by reason of my prayer
for them."
·
Muslim
[jana'iz]: `Awf ibn Malik said that after he heard the words of the Prophet's
prayer over a dead person, he earnestly desired that he were that dead person.
·
Muslim
[jana'iz]: Muhammad ibn Qays narrates from `A'isha that the Prophet on every
night that he was with her used to quietly get dressed and leave at the end of
the night, and she once followed him surreptitiously until he reached Baqi`
[the graveyard of the believers] where he prayed for the dead. Later he told
her that Jibril had come to him and said: "Your Lord has commanded you to
go to the inhabitants of Baqi` and beg forgiveness for them."
2. In the afterlife
·
al-Daraqutni,
al-Dulabi, al-Bayhaqi, Khatib al-Baghdadi, al-`Uqayli, Ibn `Adi, Tabarani, and
Ibn Khuzayma in his Sahih,
all through various chains going back to Musa ibn Hilal al-`Abdi from `Ubayd
Allah Ibn `Umar, both from Nafi`, From Ibn `Umar: "Whoever visits my grave, my
intercession will be guaranteed for him."
Although
declaring all the chains of this hadith imperfect (layyina), Dhahabi nevertheless
said that they strengthened each other and declared the chain jayyid (good) as narrated, in Mizan al-i`tidal, vol. 4, p.
226: "Huwa salih al-hadith" which means: "He (Musa ibn
Hilal) is good in his narrations." That is: the hadith is hasan. Sakhawi confirmed him in
the Maqasid al-hasana,
while al-Subki declared it sahih according to Samhudi in Sa`adat al-darayn 1:77. Ibn `Adi said in al-Kamil fi al-Du`afa"
(6:2350): "He (Musa ibn Hilal) is most likely acceptable; other people
have called him "unknown" and this is not true... He is one of the
shuyukhs of Imam Ahmad and most of them are trustworthy." Even Albani
declared him thabit al-riwaya (of established reliability) in his Irwa' (4:338). About `Ubayd Allah ibn `Umar
al-`Umari:
Dhahabi
calls him saduq hasan
al-hadith [truthful, of fair
narrations] in al-Mughni 1:348;
Sakhawi
says of him salih al-hadith [of sound narrations] in al-Tuhfa al-latifa 3:366;
Ibn
Ma`in said to Darimi about him: salih
thiqa [sound and reliable] in al-Kamil 4:1459.
This
is one of the proof-texts adduced by the ulama of Islam to derive the
obligation or recommendation of visiting the Prophet's grave and seeking him as
wasila (intermediary/means). See the chapter on visiting the Prophet's grave in
Nawawi's book al-Adhkar and in Qadi Iyad's book al-Shifa. Sakhawi said in al-Qawl al-badi` (p. 160):
The
emphasis and encouragement on visiting his noble grave is mentioned in numerous
hadiths, and it would suffice to show this if there was only the hadith whereby
the truthful and God-confirmed Prophet promises that his intercession among
other things becomes obligatory for whoever visits him, and the Imams are in
complete agreement from the time directly after his passing until our own time
that this is among the best acts of drawing near to Allah.
Ibn
Hajar al-Haytami said in his commentary on Nawawi's Idah fi manasik al-hajj:
Ibn
Khuzayma narrated it in his Sahih but mentioned its weakness. Ibn
al-Kharrat and Taqi al-Subki declared it sound (sahih). Daraqutni and
Tabarani also narrate it with the wording: "Whoever visits me with no
other need than visiting me, it is my duty to be his intercessor on the Day of
judgment" One version has: "It is Allah's duty that I be his
intercessor on the Day of Judgment." Ibn al-Subki declared it sound.
The
comment of the Saudi author Bin Baz whereby "The ahadith that concern the
desirability of visiting the grave of the Prophet are all weak, indeed
forged" (kulluha da`ifa
bal mawdu`a) in the 1993
edition of Fath al-Bari (3:387) is insignificant.
·
Muslim:
"Whoever repeats after the words of the mu'adhdhin,
my intercession will be guaranteed for him."
·
Tirmidhi (hasan gharib) and Ibn Hibban: "Those closest to
me in the hereafter are those who invoked blessings upon me the most (in
dunya)."
·
Tirmidhi,
Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, and Ahmad: "My intercession is for those people of
my Community who commit major sins." Ibn hajar in Fath al-Bari specified the following meaning of
this hadith: "He did not restrict this to those who repented."
·
Muslim:
`Abdullah ibn `Amr ibn al-`As narrated that the Prophet recited the prayer of
Ibrahim: "My Lord! Lo! They have led many of mankind astray. But whoso
followeth me, he verily is of me. And whoso disobeyeth me -- Still Thou art
Forgiving, Merciful" (14:36). Then he recited the saying of `Isa: "If
Thou punish them, lo! they are Thy slaves, and if Thou forgive them (lo! they
are Thy slaves)" (5:118). Then he raised his hands and said: "My
Community, my Community!" and he wept. Allah said: "O Jibril, go to
Muhammad and ask him what causes him to weep." When Jibril came and asked
him he told him, upon which Jibril returned and told Allah -- Who knows better
than him -- and He said: "O Jibril, go to Muhammad and tell him: We shall
make thee glad concerning thy Community and We shall not displease you."
(A reference to 93:5)
·
Tirmidhi
(hasan sahih) and Ibn Maja: Abu ibn Ka`b narrated that the Prophet said:
"On the Day of Judgment I shall be the Imam of prophets and their
spokesman and the owner of their intercession and I say this without
pride." (A reference to 4:41)
·
Tirmidhi
(hasan gharib): From Anas, similar to the one before but applying to all people
not only to Prophets.
·
Tirmidhi
(hasan gharib sahih): Abu Hurayra narrates that the Prophet said: "I shall
stand before my Lord Glorious and Mighty and I shall be adorned with a garment
from the garments of Paradise, after which I shall stand to the right of the
Throne where none of creation will stand except myself."
·
Tirmidhi
(gharib): Ibn `Abbas narrates: "Some people close to the Prophet came and
waited for him. When he came out he approached them and heard them saying: What
a wonder it is that Allah Almighty and Glorious took one of His creation as His
intimate Friend -- Ibrahim -- while another one said: What is more wonderful
than His speech to Musa, to whom He spoke directly! Yet another one said: And
`Isa is Allah's word and His spirit, while another one said: Adam was chosen by
Allah. The Prophet said: I heard your words, and everything you said is indeed
true, and I myself am the Beloved of Allah (habibullah) and I say this without pride, and I
carry the flag of glory on the Day of Judgment and am the first intercessor and
the first whose intercession is accepted, and the first to stir the circles of
Paradise so that Allah will open it for me and I shall enter it together with
the poor among my Community, and I say this without pride. I am the most
honored of the First and the Last and I say this without pride."
·
Bukhari
and Muslim: Jabir narrated that the Prophet said: "I have been given five
things which no prophet was given before me:
I was
made victor over my enemies through fear struck in their heart;
I was
permitted to take the booty of war;
The
whole earth was made a place of prostration for me and its soil ritually pure,
so when the time to pray comes upon anyone of my Community, let him pray there
and then;
I was
given shafa`a (intercession/mediation with Allah);
Every
prophet was sent to his people in particular and I was sent to all peoples.
·
Tirmidhi
(hasan) and Ibn Maja: Abu Sa`id al-Khudri narrated that the Prophet said:
"I am the leader of human beings and I say this without pride. I am the
first whom the earth will give up when it cleaves, and the first intercessor
and the first whose intercession is accepted. I hold the flag of glory in my
hand, and under it comes Adam and everyone else."
·
Bukhari
and Muslim: Anas and Abu Hurayra respectively narrate that the Prophet said:
"Every prophet has a request that is fulfilled, and I want to reserve my
request of intercession for my Community for the Day of Judgment."
·
Ahmad
and Tabarani (hasan): Burayda narrates that the Prophet said: "Verily I
shall intercede on the Day of Judgment for more men than there are stones and
clods of mud on the earth."
·
Bukhari
and Muslim: Abu Hurayra narrates a long hadith wherein the Prophet intercedes
and his intercession is accepted when all other prophets are powerless to
intercede. In al-Hasan's version in Bukhari, the Prophet intercedes and is
accepted four times:
For
those who have a grain of faith in their heart;
For
those who have a mustard seed of faith in their heart;
For
those who have less than that of faith in their heart;
For
those who ever said: la ilaha
illallah. 
4.b) Intercession of special members of the Prophet's Community:
1. In their lifetime for the living
·
Bukhari
[Istisqa']: Annas narrated: Whenever drought threatened them, `Umar ibn
al-Khattab used to ask Allah for rain through the mediation of al-`Abbas ibn
`Abd al-Muttalib. He [`Umar] used to say: "O Allah! We used to ask you
through the means of our Prophet and You would bless us with rain, and now we
ask You through the means of our Prophet's uncle, so bless us with rain."
And it would rain.
2. In the afterlife
·
Tirmidhi
(hasan), Ibn Maja, and al-Hakim: Abu Umama narrated that the Prophet said:
"More men will enter Paradise through the intercession of a certain man
than there are people in the tribes of Rabi`ah and Mudar," and that the
elders considered that this was `Uthman ibn `Affan.
·
Tirmidhi
(hasan sahih), Ibn Maja, and al-Hakim (sahih): Abu Abi al-Jad`a narrated that
the Prophet said: "More men will enter Paradise through the intercession
of one man than there are people in the tribe of Banu Tamim." They asked
him: "Other than you?" He said: "Other than me," and it was
said Uways al-Qarani was meant.
4.c) Intercession of the common believers among the Prophet's Community:
1. In their lifetime for those who passed
away
·
Muslim
[jana'iz]: `A'ishah reports the Prophet as saying: "If a company of
Muslims numbering one hundred pray over a dead person, all of them interceding
for him, their intercession for him will be accepted."
·
Muslim
[jana'iz]: Ibn `Abbas said: "I have heard the Prophet say: If any Muslim
dies and forty men who associate nothing with Allah stand over his body in
prayer, Allah will accept them as intercessors for him."
·
Ahmad
[4:79, 4:100] and others: In many traditions the number of acceptable
intercessors in the funeral prayer is reduced to three rows of men, even if the
number is under forty. Nawawi says the scholars of usul al-fiqh adduce these traditions also.
2. In the afterlife
·
Tirmidhi
(hasan), al-Bazzar: Abu Sa`id al-Khudri and Anas respectively narrate that the
Prophet said: "One will be told: Stand, O So-and-so, and make
intercession, and he will stand and make intercession for his tribe and his
family and for one man or two men or more according to his works."
·
The du`a that is recited in the funeral prayer
of a non-adult:
Allah,
make him/her our forerunner, and make him for us a reward and a treasure, make
him one who will intercede (shafi`an) and whose intercession is accepted (mushaffa`an).
In
this du`a we are clearly asking for intercession from a person who has passed away,
in fact in this one we are asking for intercession from a child who has not
done any deeds in this world at all. A version of it mentioning intercession is
in Nawawi's Adhkar,
Chapter of the du`as over the dead, and it is translated in Nuh Keller's Reliance in the section on Funerals.
In
fact every janaza prayer contains a request for the
intercession of the deceased in the phrase: wa
la tahrimna ajrahu which
means: "and do not prevent his reward from reaching us."
Bukhari
related that the Prophet also said: "He whose three children died before
the age of puberty, they will shield him from the Hell-Fire, or will make him
enter Paradise."
5. Overview of the events of the
Last Day at the stage of intercession
The following is quoted from Dr.
Muhammad Abul Quasem's book Salvation
of the Soul and Islamic Devotions:Islamic [belief] is that for salvation intercession will take place at two stages: on the Day of Judgment and after the sinners' entry into hell.
On the Day of Judgment it will take place first before the divine questioning; it is the Prophet Muhammad who will intercede first for the forgiveness of his community. Accepting this intercession, Allah will grant him permission to take to Paradise through its right gate (al-bab al-ayman) built for them especially, all those people of his community who are entitled to it without giving an acount of their actions.
Then when, following the weighing of actions in the Balance the verdict of damnation will be passed to numerous groups of believers who commit major sins, intercessors, including all prophets, will intercede for the forgiveness of many of them. The Prophet said: "My intercession is for those people of my Community who commit major sins." Allah out of mercy will accept... and save a large number of sinners. This salvation is free from damnation.
The second stage of intercession is after the sinners being like coal as a result of constant burning in Hell-fire for a long time. When they are suffering thus, intercessors will pray to Allah for the rescue of many of them. The result of this will be divine forgiveness of them before the end of their redemptive punishment. This is salvation after damnation.
Who will intercede in the Hereafter? Not only the angels and all prophets, but also those believers who have high status with Allah, such as saints, sufis, religious scholars, and other pious men [and women], will be able to intercede for others."
May Allah send blessings and peace upon the Intercessor Brought Near to Him, our Master Muhammad, and upon his Family and Companions, and may He grant us his Prophet's intercession on the Day of Reckoning.
BRIEF INFO ABOUT THE PRAISEWORTHY STATION OF
THE
PROPHET MUHAMMAD(PBUH) (MAQAM E MEHMOOD) AND THE
PROPHET’S (S) SEATING ON THE THRONE (IQ‘ÂD AL-NABÎ (S) ‘ALÂ AL-‘ARSH)
The Prophet’s (s) Seating on the Throne
(IQ‘ÂD
AL-NABÎ (S) ‘ALÂ AL-‘ARSH)
Dr. G. F. Haddad
“Muhammad the Messenger of Allah (s) will be seated
by His Lord on the Throne next to Him.”
– Ibn
Taymiyya.[1]
“Whoever imagines that our Lord sits on
the Throne and leaves space at His side for His Prophet to sit, has followed
the Christians who hold that ‘Isa was raised to heaven and sat next to his
Father – Allah (swt) is clear of the partnership they ascribe to Him!”
– Al-Kawthari.[2]
Allah Most
High said, as rendered in the translations of His meanings in the Qur’an
(17:79):
And some part
of the night awake for it, a largess for thee.
It may be that
thy Lord will raise thee to a praised estate. [Pickthall]
And pray in
the small watches of the morning: (it would be) an additional prayer (or
spiritual profit) for thee : soon will thy Lord raise thee to a station of
praise and Glory. [Yusuf Ali]
It is known that the meaning of the
Exalted Station (al-maqâm
al-mahmûd) mentioned in the
above verse is the granting of the Major Intercession (al-shafâ‘a al-kubrâ) to the Prophet (s) on the Day of
Judgment, at which time “people shall surge like the waves of the sea,” each
community begging its Prophet for intercession but only the Prophet (s) shall
accept to undertake it,[3] as expressed in al-Busiri’s poetry:
yâ akrama al-khalqi mâ lî man alûdhu bihi
siwâka ‘inda hulûli al-hâdithi al-‘amami
O noblest of creatures! I have none with whom to seek
refuge
Furthermore,
Ibn ‘Abbas explained that the formula of likelihood ‘asâ – “It may be” – when attributed to
Allah (swt), denotes certainty, as related by al-Bayhaqi and reiterated by the
commentators.[5]
However, several narrations are also
adduced whereby the Exalted Station is the seating of the Prophet (s) by Allah
(swt) on the Throne. The school of Imam Ahmad gave precedence to the latter
view as the definitive explanation of the verse, despite the overall weakness
of the narrations supporting it.
|
"the scholars of hadith agree
that none of the narrations that mention the groaning is authentic."
|
1. The “Groaning of the
Throne”
Ibn Mas‘ud (r)
related that the Prophet (s) said: “Verily I shall occupy the Exalted Station.”
It was asked: “What is the Exalted Station?” He said: “It is on the day you
will be brought barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised; the first to be given a
garment will be Ibrahim, when Allah says: ‘Cover my Close Friend.’ He will be
presented with two soft, fine garments which he shall wear, and he will be
seated opposite the Throne. Then I will be given a garment which I shall wear,
after which I shall stand at the right of the Throne. Mine will be station
which no one else will share. It will be the ardent desire of the first and the
last to share it with me. Then a river will be caused to flow from the Kawthar
to my Pond.”
It is narrated with weak chains by
Ahmad in his Musnad,
al-Tabari in his Tafsir,
al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak,
al-Darimi in his Sunan (book of Riqaq), Abu al-Shaykh in al-‘Azama, and Ibn al-Mundhir.
Ahmad and al-Hakim’s narrations begin with the words: Ummukuma fi al-nar – “Your mother [speaking to two
brothers] is in the Fire” – while al-Darimi’s narration begins with the words: Dhâka yawmun yanzilu Allâhu ta‘âlâ
‘alâ kursiyyihi ya’itu kama ya’itu al-rahlu al-jadîdu min tadâyuqihi bih – “On that day, Allah shall descend on His Throne
which shall groan the way a new saddle does, due to the pressure it will feel
from Him.”[6]
Al-Darimi’s narration is highly
questionable from another perspective, namely the anthropomorphism of the
explicit attribution of the Throne’s groaning to the pressure of Allah (swt) on
it. It is known that all the narrations that mention this “groaning of the
Throne” are also weak. They are narrated from five Companions:
- Ibn
Mas‘ud, as narrated by the hadith masters already mentioned;
All the above are narrated with weak
or highly problematic chains as shown by Ibn al-Jawzi,[11] al-Dhahabi, and the editors of
al-Bayhaqi’s and Ibn Abi ‘Asim’s books although Ibn Taymiyya typically tries to
defend the authenticity of the narration of ‘Umar which contains an explicit
ascription of sitting to the Creator (swt).[12] The hadith master Ibn ‘Asakir wrote an
entire monograph entitled Bayan
al-Wahm wa al-Takhlit fi Hadith al-Atit (“The
Exposition of Error and Confusion in the Narration of the [Throne’s] Groaning”)
as indicated by Ibn Kathir.[13]
The narration of Abu Umama states that
the Prophet (s) said: “Ask Allah for al-Firdaws for it is the center of
Paradise, and in it is heard the groaning of the Throne (atît al-‘arsh).” Al-Hakim did
not claim that it was sound (sahîh) and al-Dhahabi further stated that one
of its sub-narrators, Ja‘far ibn al-Zubayr, was “destroyed” (hâlik) as a narrator; al-Tabarani’s chain
also contains him as stated by al-Haythami inMajma‘ al-Zawa’id, who
called him “fatally weak” (matrûk).
The narration of Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari
states: “The kursî is the footstool and it groans like a
new saddle.”[14] Its chain is weak (da‘îf) as stated by the editor of
al-Bayhaqi’s al-Asma’ wa
al-Sifat. Even if it were sound, is not traced back to the Prophet (s) but
would be a mawqûf narration halted at Abu Musa (r)
furthermore it is cut up (munqati‘),
as the Tâbi‘î who relates it, ‘Umara ibn ‘Umayr, did
not meet Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari. Finally, the scholars of hadith agree that none
of the narrations that mention the groaning is authentic.
The narration of ‘Umar states that a
woman came to the Prophet (s) and said: “Supplicate Allah so that He cause me
to enter Paradise.” The Prophet (s) then glorified Allah and said: “Verily, His
Seat of Authority (kursî) encompasses the heavens and the earth,
and it groans like the sound
of the new saddle when one mounts it, due to the weight pressing down on it.”
Al-Haythami’s claim that its sub-narrators are all trustworthy is incorrect, as
the sub-narrator ‘Abd Allah ibn Khalifa is merely “acceptable” (maqbûl) according to Ibn Hajar, and Ma‘ruf and
al-Arna’ut consider him majhûl
al-hâl, which further weakens the narration.[15] This means that his narration is not
retained except for the purpose of confirming an identical narration with a
stronger chain. Furthermore, Ibn Kathir stated there is doubt whether he
actually narrated from ‘Umar and the hadith would then be narrated with a
“cut-up” (munqati‘) chain.[16]
As for the text of the hadith itself (matn), it is considered by Ibn
Kathir in his Tafsir (1:31, 2:14) as a “strange” or
one-chained (gharîb) narration. Ibn Kathir also states that
Abu Dawud’s narration from Jabir ibn Mut‘am is “stranger yet.”
The narration of Abu Dawud from Jubayr
ibn Mut‘am, from his father, from his grandfather, states:
An
Arab came to the Messenger of Allah (s) and said: “O Messenger of Allah, people
are in distress, the children are hungry, the crops are withered, and the
animals are perishing, so Ask Allah to grant us rain, for we seek you as our
intercessor with Allah, and Allah as our intercessor with you.” The Prophet (s)
said: “Woe to you! Do you know what you are saying?” Then the Prophet (s)
glorified Allah and he went on until the effect of his speech showed on the
faces of his Companions. He then said: “Woe to you! Allah is not to be sought
as intercessor with anyone. His state is greater than that. Woe to you![17] Do you know the greatness of Allah?
Truly, His Throne (‘arsh) is on His Heavens like this” – and he
formed with his fingers something like a dome over him – “and it groans on
account of Him like a saddle groans because of its rider.” Ibn Bashshar added
in his version: “Allah (swt) is above His Throne, and His Throne is above His
Heavens.”[18]
The hadith is graded weak by the
author of ‘Awn al-Ma‘bud.
Al-Dhahabi terms it an “extremely strange” one-chained narration (gharîb jiddan) and says: “Allah knows best if the
Prophet (s) ever said such a thing or not; Allah – (there is nothing whatsoever
like unto Him) (42:11)!”[19] We have already mentioned Ibn Kathir’s
similar opinion of the hadith. As for its chain of narration, it is declared
weak by the editors of Ibn Abi ‘Asim’s al-Sunna and al-Ajurri’s al-Shari‘a.
This is due to the concealment (tadlîs) of the mode of transmission through ‘an‘ana or undecisive transmission terminology
by one of its narrators, Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar al-Muttalibi while
another narrator, Jubayr ibn Muhammad ibn Jubayr ibn Mut‘am, is merely
“acceptable” (maqbûl),[20] which makes him unreliable in a
narration that is not independently verifiable. There are other problems with
the chain and the text, which Ibn ‘Asakir addresses in Bayan al-Wahm. Ibn al-Qayyim
alone claimed that the least grading of this narration was hasan.
|
“The import of the
hadith 'and it groans... like a saddle' ...consists in a metaphor to give an
idea of the greatness of Allah and make understandable to the
questioner...”
Abu Sulayman
al-Khattabi
|
The hadith master Abu Sulayman
al-Khattabi (d. 386) states in his commentary on Abu Dawud:
If
this discourse is taken in its outward sense, then it suggests modality (kayfiyya), which does not
apply to Allah and His Attributes. It is therefore understood that the import
of the hadith is not to attribute modality to Him or suggest boundaries to Him
in this manner. Rather, it consists in a metaphor (kalâm taqrîb) to give an idea of the greatness of
Allah and make understandable to the questioner what is beyond his level of
understanding, for he was an uneducated Bedouin unversed in the minutiae of
language and the sutbleties of speech which elude the mind. In this discourse,
we find ellipsis and allusiveness. Thus the meaning of his saying: “Do you know
what Allah is?” means: Do you know the greatness of Allah? and his saying: “It
groans under him” means that it is unable to carry His Majesty and Greatness.
Thus it groans under him for it is known that the reason a camel saddle groans
under the rider is because of the weight of what is on it and its inability to
carry it. By drawing this kind of similitude he illustrates the meaning of the
Greatness and Might of Allah and the height of His Throne in order for it to be
known that the holder of lofty rank, mighty status, and exalted name, is not to
be made an intercessor with one who is lesser in position and below Him in
degree.[21]
|
“The meaning of the groaning of the kursî is its impotence before the majesty
and greatness of Allah” Ibn Jawzi
|
A similar mode of interpretation was
adopted by later scholars. Ibn al-Athir (d. 630) in his Nihaya fi Gharîb al-Hadith under the entry “a-t-t” said:
“There is no actual groaning, it is only a metaphorical expression in order to
confirm Divine magnificence” (wa
in lam yakun thamma atît wa innamâ huwa kalâmu taqrîb urîda bihi taqrîru
‘azamat Allâh ta‘âlâ). Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597) stated something identical in
his Daf‘ Shubah al-Tashbih:
The
meaning of the groaning of the kursî is its impotence before the majesty
and greatness of Allah, as it is known that the groaning of the camel saddle
under its rider is a indication of the power of what sits on top of it, or its
impotence to bear it. The Prophet (s) drew this kind of simile for Divine
greatness and majesty in order to teach the Arab who had sought the
intercession of Allah (swt) with the Prophet (s) that the One whose greatness
is overwhelming is not to be sought as an intercessor with those under His
station. As for al-Qadi Abu Ya‘la’s words: “The groaning is because of the
pressure of the Essence of Allah on it” – this is overt anthropomorphism.[22]
Al-Dhahabi eludes the issue by stating
that the groaning of the Throne is unrelated to the Divine Names and Attributes
but would be similar to the shaking of the Throne at the death of Sa‘d ibn
Mu‘adh (as narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim) and the cleaving of the heaven on
the Day of Resurrection.[23]
Al-Suyuti
mentioned Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari’s narration in al-Durr
al-Manthur and said: “This is
a metaphor (hâdha ‘alâ sabîl
al-isti‘âra). This [metaphorical] meaning is made clear by Ibn Jarir’s
narration from al-Dahhak whereby ‘The kursî is placed below the Throne and is
where the angels stand.’”
Al-Suyuti’s
elucidation is confirmed by what al-Qurtubi quoted from Ibn ‘Atiyya in his Tafsir of the Verse of the Throne whereby the
meaning was that the kursî was placed in front of the ‘arsh “just like” the footstool is placed in
front of a high chair, indicating that it did not necessitate reference to an
actual footstool but referred, for example, to a seat or station. Al-Bayhaqi
states the same.[24]
|
“As for al-Qadi Abu Ya‘la’s words:
‘The groaning is because of the pressure of the Essence of Allah on it’ –
this is overt anthropomorphism” Ibn Jawzi
|
It is evident that the authorities
considered the narrations of the groaning of the Throne as weak and their texts
as “strange” and one-chained in their transmission. They held that even if such
narrations were to be accepted, nevertheless their meaning would be understood
as metaphorical in order to preclude anthropomorphism. The meaning of the
Throne’s groaning would then be its impotence before Divine Majesty and
Greatness or its submission to its Creator.
A further problem of some of these
narrations, such as those cited in al-‘Ilal
al-Mutanahiya by Ibn al-Jawzi
from his shaykh Ibn al-Zaghuni, is their mention that Allah (swt) “sits on the kursî so that only four spans of it remain
vacant” (ma yafdalu minhu illâ
qadaru arba‘i asâbi‘). This is a commonplace of anthropomorphism.[25] The earliest compiler of Ahmad ibn
Hanbal’s jurisprudence, al-Khallal, in his bookal-Sunna, after stating
that Allah (swt) sits on the kursî and there remains only four spans
vacant, goes on to narrate over a hundred pages of weak and forged reports to
that effect, finally claiming that whoever denies Mujahid’s report is a
follower of Jahm ibn Safwan! This is an extremely grave charge in view of the
status of Jahmis as apostates in the eyes of Imam Ahmad and his school.[26]
2. An Unverified
Narration From Ibn ‘Umar
Ibn ‘Umar
related that the Prophet (s) recited: “It may be that your Lord shall raise you
to an Exalted Station” and that [it meant] Allah would seat him on the dais (yujlisuhu ‘alâ al-sarîr).[27]
It is narrated by Ibn Marduyah in his Tafsir as stated by al-Suyuti in his
commentary on the verse in al-Durr
al-Manthur. The authenticity of this narration is not known and its wording
departs from all the other narrations, though not its meaning.
3. Another
Unverified Narration From Ibn ‘Umar
The same as above
is also narrated from Ibn ‘Umar, but with the wording: “Allah shall seat me
with Him on the Throne (al-sarîr).”
Al-Suyuti cited it in al-Durr al-Manthur and said: “Narrated by al-Daylami.”
The authenticity of this narration is not known, and Daylami (d. 509) did not
give his chain when citing the hadith.[28] In such cases the rule is to consider
the narration weak, as stated by al-Suyuti in his introduction to Jam‘ al-Jawami‘, also known as al-Jami‘ al-Kabir, as quoted by
Muttaqi al-Hindi at the opening of Kanz
al-‘Ummal:
Everything
that I reference to these four [al-‘Uqayli in al-Du‘afa’,
Ibn ‘Adi in al-Kamil fi
al-Du‘afa’, al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and Ibn ‘Asakir], or to al-Hakim
al-Tirmidhi in Nawadir al-Usul,
or to al-Hakim in his Tarikh,
or to al-Daylami in Musnad
al-Firdaws: all that is weak (fa
huwa da‘îf), and it is therefore unnecessary, when referencing a narration
back to one of them, to state explicitly that that narration is weak.
4. A Narration
From Ibn ‘Abbas
From Ibn
‘Abbas: “[The meaning of] the verse [of the Exalted Station] is that Allah
shall seat the Prophet (s) between Him and Gibrîl (as), and he will intercede for his Community.
That is the Praiseworthy Station.”
Al-Suyuti cited it in al-Durr al-Manthur and said: “Narrated by al-Tabarani.”
Al-Haythami said in Majma‘
al-Zawa’id (book of Tafsir on Surat al-Isra’): “Al-Tabarani
narrated it with a chain containing Ibn Lahi‘a who is weak if no-one else
narrated the same hadith at his level of the chain (idhâ lam yutâba‘). As for [one
of its sub-narrators, the Tâbi‘î]
‘Ata’ ibn Dinar (d. 126), it is said he did not actually hear narrations from
[the next link in the chain, the Tâbi‘î]
Sa‘id ibn Jubayr (d. 94).” Ibn Hajar specifies that ‘Ata’s narrations from
Sa‘id are from reading rather than hearing.[29] The chain of this hadith would then be
weak and cut-up (da‘îf
munqati‘) as confirmed by
Ma‘ruf and al-Arna’ut’s comments.[30]
|
“One of the most reprehensible matters
that came from Mujahid . . . [is]: ‘He will seat the Prophet (s) with Him on
the Throne’” Al-Dhahabi
|
5. Mujahid’s
Controverted Narration
From Mujahid:[31] “The saying of Allah: [It may be that your Lord will raise you to an Exalted
Station] (17:79) means: He will seat the Prophet (s) with Him on His
Throne (yujlisuhu ma‘ahu ‘alâ
‘arshihi).”
Al-Dhahabi cited the above in his
notice on Mujahid with dismay: “One of the most reprehensible matters that came
from Mujahid in his commentary of the Qur’an is what he said concerning the
verse [It may be that thy Lord will raise you to an Exalted
Station] – he said: ‘He will seat the Prophet (s) with Him on the
Throne’ (wa min ankari mâ jâ’a
‘an mujâhidin fî al-tafsîri fî qawlihi ‘asâ an yab‘athaka rabbuka maqâman
mahmûdan – qâla: yujlisuhu ma‘ahu ‘alâ
al-‘arsh!).”[32]
Ibn Abi ‘Asim (d. 287) narrated
Mujahid’s hadith in his book al-Sunna,
edited by M. Nasir al-Albani who said: “Its chain is weak and severed (maqtû‘).”[33] This chain is as follows: Ibn Abi
‘Asim said: < Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shayba narrated to us: < Ibn Fudayl
narrated to us, < From Layth, < From Mujahid.
Al-Suyuti also cited Mujahid’s report
in al-Durr al-Manthur and said that it was narrated by Ibn Jarir
al-Tabari. We cite al-Tabari’s narration and his commentary further below.
|
“This [groaning of the Throne] is a
metaphor” Al-Suyuti
|
6. A Narration
From ‘A’isha
Ibn al-Jawzi in the thirthy-ninth
hadith of his Daf‘ Shubah
al-Tashbih mentions that
‘A’isha asked the Prophet (s) about the Exalted Station and he replied: “My
Lord promised to seat me on the Throne.” Ibn al-Jawzi said: “This narration is
not authentic from the Prophet (s).”
7. A Narration From ‘Abd
Allahbn Salam
Ibn Abi ‘Asim said:[34]
Muhammad ibn Abi Safwan al-Thaqafi
narrated to us:
Yahya ibn Kathir Abu Ghassan
al-‘Anbari narrated to us:
Salm ibn Ja‘far narrated to us:
From [Abu Mas‘ud] Sa‘id al-Jariri who
said:
From ‘Abd Allah ibn Salam who said:
“On the Day of Resurrection your Prophet shall be brought and he shall be made
to sit in front of Allah the Almighty, on His Throne” (yuq‘adu bayna yaday Allâhi ‘alâ
kursiyyihi). One of the sub-narrators, Salm ibn Ja‘far, said to the one
previous to him in the chain of transmission, Abu Mas‘ud al-Jariri: “If he is
on His kursî, then,
surely, he is with Him [rather than in front of Him]?” (idhâ kâna ‘alâ kursiyyihi fa huwa
ma‘ahu?). Abu Mas‘ud replied: “Woe to you all! This is the dearest of all
hadiths in my sight.”[36]
The narration reports Salm ibn
Ja‘far’s distinction between the terms “in front of Allah” and “on His Throne”
which seems to presuppose that Allah (swt) is on the Throne in the
anthropomorphist sense. To Salm, the Prophet (s) is either “in front of Allah”
or “on His Throne,” but he cannot be both at the same time. Abu Mas‘ud’s curt
reply shows that Salm was not alone in observing this. However, there is no
discrepancy, as the Prophet (s) can be both on the Throne of Allah (swt) and in
front of Him at one and the same time; Salm ibn Ja‘far’s premise is far from
necessary, hence Abu Mas‘ud’s displeasure. The apparent confusion is lifted
even further if one remembers that kursî in the narrations either means the
Throne, or another throne next to it, or the Footstool or Station which is in
front of the Throne. An example of the first meaning is al-Darimi’s narration mentioned
in Section 1; an example of the second, al-Hakim’s authentic narration in
Section 7; an example of the third, the narration of Ibn ‘Abbas: “The kursî is the footstool.”[37]
8. Another
Narration From ‘Abd Allah ibn Salam
From ‘Abd
Allahbn Salam, in a long hadith on the Day of Judgment: “A seat (kursî) will be placed for the Prophet (s) on
the right of Allah (swt).”[38] This narration from the same Companion
as the previous one is therefore clearer with respect to meaning and more
reliable with respect to transmission. Both this and the previous narration, although
stopped at a Companion (mawqûf),
would normally have the status of narrations traced back to the Prophet (s) (marfû‘) since they give depictions of the
unseen which are not subject to a Companion’s opinion but necessarily come from
him as a transmitted report. Yet the hadith scholars have drawn attention to
‘Abd Allahbn Salam as one of the Companions who frequently report narrations
from the People of the Book (isrâ’îliyyât).
Because of this, they have refrained from giving his mawqûf reports – and those of ‘Abd Allah ibn
‘Amr ibn al-‘As – the status of marfû‘ unless independently confirmed. Similar
caution applies to the Successors Ka‘b al-Ahbar and Wahb ibn Munabbih.[39]
These narrations bring to three the
reported positions of the Prophet (s) in the different versions of the hadith
of the seating: On the Throne, in front of the Throne, and to the right of the
Throne. The first is itself divided into two versions: alone, or “with Allah.”
The latter is obviously the most controverted version.[40]
9. Al-Tabari’s Defense of
Mujahid’s Narration
Imam al-Tabari
said in his Tafsir:
Others
said [concerning the verse of the Exalted Station]: “Rather [than meaning
Intercession], that Praiseworthy Station to which Allah has promised to raise
His Prophet is the fact that He shall seat him with Him on His Throne!”
Following is the mention of those who
said this:
From Mujahid:
“Concerning the saying of Allah: [It may be that you Lord will raise you to an Exalted
Station] – He shall make him sit with Him on His Throne (yujlisuhu ma‘ahu ‘alâ ‘arshihi).”
But of the two explanations concerning
this question the likelier to be correct is that supported by the authentic
report from the Prophet (s) such as the following from Abu Hurayra:
From Abu Hurayra:
The Prophet (s) was asked about the
verse: “It may be that thy Lord will raise you to an Exalted Station” and he
said: “That is intercession” (hiya
al-shafâ‘a).[48]
Al-Tabari then goes on to mention nine
more narrations supporting the latter interpretation of the verse. However, far
from rejecting Mujahid’s narration, he returns to discuss it and defends its
authenticity:
Even if [the meaning of Intercession] is the sound position (al-sahîh min al-qawl) in the interpretation [of the Exalted
Station] due to what we mentioned from the Prophet (s), the Companions, and the
Successors – nevertheless, what Mujahid said to the effect that Allah shall
seat Muhammad (s) on His Throne is a position that is by no means unsound
whether from the perspective of narration or from that of reason. For there is
no report from the Prophet (s) nor from any of the Companions nor Successors
precluding it. As for the perspective of reason, those who profess (yantahil) Islam differ on its meaning in only
three ways:
· One
group said: “Allah (swt) is separate (bâ’in) from His creation. He was before He
created things; then He created them without entering into contact with them;
and He is exactly as He ever was. However, with regard to the things He
created, since He is not in contact (mumâss) with them, it is obligatory that He be
separate from them. For there is no effecter (fa‘‘âl) upon things but he is either in
contact with them or separate from them.”[49]
According to that group, since Allah
(swt)s the effecter of things, and since they say that it is impermissible to
describe Him as being in contact with them, it is therefore incumbent – so they
claim – that He be separate from them. According to their school, it follows
that it is the same whether He seats Muhammad (s) on His Throne or on the
ground. For it results from their position that His “separateness” (baynûna) from His Throne and “separateness”
from the ground are one and the same in meaning: He is equally separate from
both, equally in contact with neither.
· Another
group said: “Allah Almighty was, before He created things, in contact with
nothing and separate from nothing. Then He created things and brought them into
existence through His power, remaining exactly as He ever was before He created
things, in contact with nothing, separate (bâ’in) from nothing.”[50]
According to that group’s position
also, it is equally the same whether He seats Muhammad (s) on His Throne or on
His ground.[51] For, according to them, it is the same
regarding His Throne or His ground in that He is in contact with neither, and He
is separate from neither (la
mumâss wa la mubâyin).
· A
third group[52] said: “Allah Almighty was, before He
created things, in contact with nothing and separate from nothing. Then He
brought things into being and created them. At that time He created for Himself
a Throne over which He established Himself by sitting (istawâ ‘alayhi jâlisan), and
He entered into contact with it (sâra
lahu mumâssan). This is just as, before He created things, there was
nothing to which He granted sustenance and nothing of which He deprived it;
then He created things and gave this one sustenance and deprived that one of
it, giving to this one and withholding from that one. Similarly He was, before
creating things, in contact with nothing and separate from nothing, then He
created things and became in contact with the Throne by sitting on it as
opposed to the remainder of creation.[53] Therefore, He is in contact with
whatever He wishes from His creation, and He is separate from whatever He
wishes from His creation.”
According to the school of that group
also, it is the same whether He seats Muhammad (s) on His Throne or on a pulpit
of light, for they also say that “the Lord’s sitting on the Throne does not
occupy the entirety of the Throne;”[54] and [they say], similarly, that the
seating of Muhammad (s) does not necessitate for him the attribute of lordship,
nor does it bring him out of that of servanthood; just as the separateness of
Muhammad (s) from whatever is separate from him, neither necessitates lordship
for him nor brings him out of servanthood on the sole grounds that he is
separate from it.[55]According
to that line of thinking, just as Allah (swt) is described as separate from
things, similarly, the Prophet (s) is described as separate from the Throne.
They arrive at the conclusion that since the meaning of “being separate” does
not necessarily preclude from the Prophet (s) the attribute of servanthood nor
impose lordship upon him, similarly, his seating on the Throne of the Merciful
does not necessitate either of the above for him.
In conclusion, it is clear that, as we
said before, what Mujahid said is not impossible, according to all those who
profess Islam, namely: that Allah (swt) shall seat the Prophet (s) on His
Throne.
Now if someone should say: “We do not
deny the seating of the Prophet (s) by Allah (swt) on His Throne [since it is
related]… from ‘Abd Allah ibn Salam: ‘Verily, on the Day of Resurrection,
Muhammad (s) shall be on the Lord’s Throne (kursî
al-Rabb), in front of the Lord (bayna
yaday al-Rabb).’[56] All that we deny is that He seat him with Him.” We can reply to him:
“Do you allow that He seats him on it but not with Him?” If he allows that,
then he also concurs that either he is with Him [on the Throne], or that He
seats him while being separate from [the Throne], or not in contact with it, or
neither in contact nor separate. Whichever of these alternatives he concedes he
will have accepted part of what he previously denied.[57] But if he disallows it then he will be
diverging from all the different groups whose positions we mentioned, and that
is a divergence from all those that profess Islam; for there is no other
position than the three we have cited[58] – none of them considering what
Mujahid said to be impossible.[59]
Al-Tabari’s view that both
interpretations stand is confirmed by Mujahid himself, from whom is also
reported the exegesis narrated by Abu Hurayra, as found in Tafsir Mujahid:
From [‘Abd Allah] Ibn Abi Najih,
From Mujahid:
[Concerning the verse] “It may be that
your Lord shall raise you to an Exalted Station” Mujahid said: “The Exalted
Station is the intercession of Muhammad (s).”[64]
9a. Another
Position Related from al-Tabari
An incident was related to have taken
place between al-Tabari and some Hanbalis in Baghdad over the explanation of
the verse of the Exalted Station whereby al-Tabari reportedly recited:
subhana man laysa lahu anisun wa ma
lahu fi ‘arshihi jalisu
Glory to Him Who has no comrade
nor companion sitting with Him on His
Throne!
Hearing this, the account goes, the
irate Hanbalis pelted al-Tabari with their inkwells and he sought shelter in
his house.[65] The report seems dubious in light of
the above-cited defense by al-Tabari, in hisTafsir, of Mujahid’s
narration Furthermore, al-Suyuti’s report is not found anywhere else. What is
well-established is that the Hanbalis persecuted al-Tabari for failing to
mention Imam Ahmad in his bookIkhtilaf al-Fuqaha’. Another reason
mentioned by al-Dhahabi, was the antagonism between al-Tabari and the Hanbali
Abu Bakr ibn Abi Dawud, who falsely accused him of being a Râfidî.[66]
10. Al-Qurtubi’s
Commentary
|
‘As for the term “with Him” used in
Mujahid’s [first] report,[67] it
is in the same category as the saying of Allah:(Verily, those that are with your Lord) (7:206), or: (O my Lord! Build for me with You a house in Paradise) (66:11) and similar statements. All of these signify
rank, status, pre-eminence, and an exalted station – not a location’
Imam al-Qurtubi
|
Imam al-Qurtubi
commented thus on the verse of the Exalted Station in his Tafsir:
The
third explanation of this verse is what al-Tabari reported from a party of
scholars – among them Mujahid – whereby “the Exalted Station is the seating by
Allah (swt) of the Prophet (s) with Him on His Throne (kursiyyih).” They narrated a
hadith to that effect, and al-Tabari backed up the possibility (jawâz) of such a thing with some extravagant
statements (shatatin min
al-qawl). However, what he said cannot be inferred [from the verse] except
with over-subtlety as to meaning (al-talattuf
bi al-ma‘nâ), and it is far-fetched (fîhi
bu‘d). This is not to say that there is no such narration; only that [one
endowed with] knowledge interprets it figuratively (al-‘ilmu yata’awwaluhu).
Abu Sa‘id al-Naqqash[68] mentioned from Abu Dawud al-Sijistani:[69] “Whoever denies this hadith, we
strongly condemn him. The scholars of knowledge never stopped narrating this
hadith. Who among them ever denied its possibility, even as he interpreted it?”
Abu ‘Umar [Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr] said:
“Concerning Mujahid – although he is one of the major scholars, nevertheless he
interprets away the Qur’an. There are two sayings of his which the people of
knowledge have strongly rejected: one of them is this saying; the other is his
interpretation of the verses: (On that day will faces be resplendent, looking towards
their Lord) (75:22-23) as meaning: waiting for their reward, not
actually looking.”[70] He [Abu ‘Umar] mentioned that in his
chapter on Ibn Shihab in the discussion of the hadith of “descent” (nuzûl).[71]
Also narrated from Mujahid in
explanation of the verse [of the Exalted Station] is his saying: “Allah will
seat him on the Throne” (yujlisuhu
‘alâ al-‘arsh). This is not an impossible interpretation.[72] For Allah (swt) existed and was
Self-Sufficient (qâ’im bi
dhâtihi) before He created
any object, including the Throne. Then He created objects, not out of need for
them, but to show His power and wisdom, and in order that His existence be
known as well as His Oneness, absolute might, and all-encompassing knowledge in
all the acts He decrees. [Among these objects] He created for Himself a Throne
over which He elevated Himself in the way that He wished, without contact with
the Throne (min ghayri an sâra
lahu mumâssan) and without
the Throne becoming a place (makân)for
Him. In this respect it is also said: “He is now exactly as He was before He
created place and time.”[73]
On that basis it is the same, with
respect to possibility, whether Allah seats the Prophet (s) on the Throne or on
the ground.[74] For His elevation over the Throne is
not in the sense of displacement(intiqâl), removal (zawâl), nor change of position
from standing to sitting, nor any state or condition to which the Throne itself
is subject. Rather, He is elevated over the Throne in the way He has stated
concerning Himself, without saying how. Nor does His seating of the Prophet (s)
on the Throne impose upon the Prophet (s) the attribute of Lordship or move him
out of that of servanthood. Rather, it consists in an elevation because of his
status, and an honor bestowed upon him because of his sublime character.
As for the term “with Him” used in
Mujahid’s [first] report,[75] it is in the same category as the
saying of Allah: (Verily, those that are with your Lord) (7:206), or: (O my Lord! Build for me with You a house in Paradise) (66:11) and similar statements. All of these signify rank,
status, pre-eminence, and an exalted station – not a location.[76]
11. Al-Ash‘ari’s
Dismissal
Imam Al-Ash‘ari
stated the following in the chapter on anthropomorphists (al-Mujassima) in his book Maqalat al-Islamiyyin: “Some of
those who profess (yantahil) the science of hadith said: ‘The
Throne is not filled by Allah, because He makes His Prophet sit with him on the
Throne.’”[77]
The word “profess” constitutes a tacit
dismissal of those who used Mujahid’s narration to support the concept of the
physical togetherness (ma‘iyya) of the Prophet (s) with Allah (swt) on
the Throne, particularly those in the Hanbali school, where some scholars have
turned this position into a lithmus-test of belief, as shown by al-Khallal’s al-Sunna and in the following sections.
12. Ibn
al-Qayyim’s List of Supporters
Al-Qadi
[Ibn Abi Ya‘la][79] said: “Al-Marwazi[80] compiled a book on the superlative
merits of the Prophet (s) in which he mentioned his seating (iq‘âduhu) on the Throne (al-‘arsh).”
Al-Qadi
further said: “This is the position of Abu Dawud, Ahmad ibn Asram,[81] Yahya ibn Abi Talib,[82] Abu Bakr ibn Hammad,[83] Abu Ja‘far al-Dimashqi,[84] ‘Abbas al-Duri,[85] Ishaq ibn Rahuyah (or Rahawayh),[86] ‘Abd al-Wahhab al-Warraq,[87] Ibrahim al-Asbahani,[88] Ibrahim
al-Harbi,[89] Harun ibn Ma‘ruf,[90] Muhammad ibn Isma‘il al-Sulami,[91] Muhammad ibn Mus‘ab al-‘Abid,[92] Abu Bakr ibn Sadaqa,[93] Muhammad ibn Bishr ibn Sharik,[94] Abu Qilaba,[95] ‘Ali ibn Sahl,[96] Abu ‘Abd Allahbn ‘Abd al-Nur,[97] Abu ‘Ubayd,[98] al-Husayn ibn Fadl,[99] Harun ibn al-‘Abbas al-Hashimi,[100]Isma‘il
ibn Ibrahim al-Hashimi,[101] Muhammad ibn ‘Imran al-Farisi
al-Zahid,[102] Muhammad ibn Yunus al-Basri,[103] ‘Abd Allahbn Ahmad ibn Hanbal,[104] al-Marwazi, and Bishr al-Hafi.”[105]
I say: It is also the position of Ibn
Jarir al-Tabari,[106] and the leader of all the above in
this is Mujahid, the imam of Qur’anic commentary. It is also Abu al-Hasan
al-Daraqutni’s[107] who said:
The hadith of Intercession narrated
by Ahmad
Is traced back to the Elect, Ahmad.
Also known to us is the hadith of his
seating
On the Throne, therefore do not deny
it.
Let the hadith pass exactly as
narrated,
And do not enter into false notions.
Neither deny that the Prophet sits on
the Throne,
The book of al-Marwazi mentioned by
Ibn Abi Ya‘la gave rise to serious confrontations in Baghdad around the
question of the Prophet’s (s) seating on the Throne. Ibn al-Athir relates:
That
year, a terrible dissension took place in Baghdad between the followers of the
Hanbali Abu Bakr al-Marwazi and others of the common folk, and the police had
to intervene in large numbers. The reason was that al-Marwazi’s followers said,
in explanation of the verse: “It may be that thy Lord will raise you to an
Exalted Station,” that it meant Allah would seat the Prophet (s) with Him on
the Throne. The other group said that it only meant the Intercession.
Dissension ensued and they fell upon one another, and there were many dead.[109]
Ibn al-Qayyim’s report that this was
the position of al-Tabari suggests that he and al-Qurtubi’s were looking at a
common source and that al-Tabari held two opinions on the question, one in
support of Mujahid’s narration, as mentioned by Qurtubi, Ibn al-Qayyim, and Ibn
Taymiyya, the other opposing it, as mentioned by al-Birzali and al-Suyuti.
It is evident that Ibn al-Qayyim
collects as many Hanbali authorities as he can find in support of the narration
of the seating. Yet he omits to mention Abu Muhammad al-Barbahari,[110] Abu Bakr al-Najjad,[111] Ibn Batta[112] – although Ibn Abi Ya‘la mentions all
three supported it in his Tabaqat – and his own teacher Ibn Taymiyya.[113]
Ibn al-Qayyim also avoids the
distinction between Mujahid’s version mentioning “sitting with Allah” and other
versions mentioning simply “sitting.” He merely wishes to show that all these
authorities supported the latter, and cautiously sidesteps the thorny issue
raised by al-Qurtubi in his discussion of the verse of the Exalted Station.
13. Al-Barbahari’s Idée Fixe
Ibn Abi Ya‘la relates in his Tabaqat that the Hanbali shaykh Abu Muhammad
al-Barbahari never sat to teach except he mentioned that the Prophet (s) sits
next to Allah on the Throne.[114]
14. Al-Najjad’s
Attack on “Anyone That Contradicts Us”
Ibn Abi Ya‘la
wrote the following in his chapter on Abu Bakr al-Najjad in Tabaqat al-Hanabila:
Abu Bakr
al-Najjad told us:
From Mujahid:
– Also –
From Layth,
From Mujahid:
Concerning the verse: “It may be that
thy Lord will raise you to an Exalted Station”: “He will seat him with Him on
the Throne” (yujlisuhu ma‘ahu
‘alâ al-‘arsh).[124]
Al-Najjad said: “I also asked [about
it] Abu Yahya al-Naqid,[125] Ya‘qub al-Mutawwa‘i,[126] ‘Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and a
group of our shaykhs, and they narrated to me the hadith of Muhammad ibn
Fudayl from Layth from Mujahid.
“I also asked Abu al-Hasan al-‘Attar[127] about it, and he narrated to me the
hadith of Mujahid. Then he said: ‘I heard Muhammad ibn Mus‘ab al-‘Abid say:
“[The Prophet’s (s) seating on the Throne will take place] in order for all
creation to see his station before his Lord, and his Lord’s generosity towards
him. Then the Prophet (s) shall retire to his apartments and gardens and wives,
and alone shall remain Allah in His Lordship (yanfaridu
‘azza wa jalla bi rubûbiyyatihi).”’
“I also looked into the book of Ahmad
ibn al-Hajjaj al-Marwazi, who is our imam and guide and proof in this. In that
book I found what he mentioned concerning the rejection of the hadiths of ‘Abd
Allah ibn Salam[128] and Mujahid, and he listed the names
of the shaykhs who criticized those who rejected these hadiths or objected to
them.
“Therefore, what we declare and
believe before Allah Almighty is what we have just described and made clear
concerning the meanings of the hadiths quoted from the Prophet (s) with an
uninterrupted chain (al-ahadith
al-musnada ‘an rasul Allah),[129] and what was said by ‘Abd Allah ibn
‘Abbas[130] and the scholars after him, which was
handed down from elder to elder and from age to age until our shaykhs’ time
concerning the saying of Allah: [It may be that your Lord will raise you to an Exalted
Station]: the Exalted Station consists in the
seating of the Prophet (s) with his Lord on the Throne. Whoever denies this or contradicts it
is only attempting to promote the sayings of the Jahmis. He should be avoided,
exposed, and warned against.[131]
“Similarly, I was told by Abu Bakr the
writer,[132] from Abu Dawud al-Sijistani, that the
latter said: ‘Whoever rejects the hadith of Mujahid is a Jahmi.’[133]
“Furthermore, Muhammad ibn Suhayb[134] and a group of our shaykhs narrated to
us from Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Malik al-Daqiqi[135] that he said: ‘I first heard this
hadith fifty years ago, and I never heard anyone deny it. Only Jahmi heretics
reject it.’
“Abu Isma‘il al-Sulami[136] mentioned to us the case of
al-Tirmidhi who rejected the pre-eminence of the Prophet (s) and belittled him.[137] Of such a man he said: ‘He does not
believe in the Day of Judgment.’ I have seen our shaykhs among the friends of
Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal give the same verdict. They condemned whoever
rejected such pre-eminence. Allah has made this condemnation clear in the words
of the scholars as far back as one can see. The people have all met this with
approval, and no-one denies this nor disputes it.
“Such is also my position. And should
one swear a triple divorce by the seating by Allah (swt) of the Prophet (s) on
the Throne with Him, then consult me on the validity of his oath, I would say:
Your words are true, your oath binding, and the divorce stands.
“That is our doctrine, our religion,
our belief upon which we were raised and upon which we shall die if Allah
wills. We categorically condemn whoever rejects this pre-eminence to which the
scholars referred and which they met with acceptance. Whoever rejects it is
from the sects that are bound for destruction.”[138]
15. Ibn Batta’s
Doctrine
Ibn Batta
stated in his book al-Sharh wa
al-Ibana ‘ala Usul al-Sunna wa al-Diyana (“Elaboration
of the Principles of Sunni Doctrine”):
The
Prophet (s) shall be seated on the Throne with his Lord (yujlas ma‘a rabbihi ‘alâ al-‘arsh),
and this privilege belongs to no-one else. Thus did Nafi‘ narrate it from Ibn
‘Umar[139] from the Prophet (s) concerning the
verse: “It may be that thy Lord will raise you to an Exalted Station” – he said
that He shall seat him with Him on the Throne. Thus also did Mujahid explain
it, as narrated by Muhammad ibn Fudayl, from al-Layth, from Mujahid.[140]
16. Ibn Taymiyya’s
Inheritance
Ibn Taymiyya
wrote:
The
scholars recognized by Allah and His accepted Friends have narrated that
Muhammad the Messenger of Allah (s) will be seated by His Lord on the Throne
next to Him.
Muhammad ibn Fudayl narrated this from
Layth from Mujahid in the commentary of the verse: “It may be that your Lord will
raise you to an Exalted Station.” This was also mentioned through other chains,
some traced back to the Prophet (s) and some not.
Ibn Jarir [al-Tabari] said: “This does
not contradict the nearly-mass-narrated narrations (ma istafâdat bihi al-ahâdith) whereby the Exalted Station is the
Intercession as agreed upon by the Imams of all Muslims.” He does not say that
the Prophet’s (s) seating on the Throne is denounced as false; only some Jahmis
held it so. Nor is it objectionable to mention it in the context of a
commentary on the verse.[141]
As we have mentioned before, Ibn
Taymiyya’s student al-Dhahabi dismissed the report as “condemned” (munkar). It is also remarkable
that Ibn Taymiyya, like his Hanbali predecessors, refuses to acknowledge the
inauthenticity of the chains of the narrations he refers to, especially those
he says are traced back to the Prophet (s).
Hajji Khalifa said: “Ibn Taymiyya
authored a book entitled al-‘Arsh in which he stated that Allah sits on
the kursî and leaves some space vacant for the
Prophet (s) to sit next to him. Abu Hayyan al-Andalusi mentioned it in [his
Qur’anic commentary entitled] al-Nahr and said that he read it in Ibn
Taymiyya’s own handwriting.”[142]
And Allah Most High knows best.
Blessings and greetings of Allah
on the Prophet, his Family and Companions.
[3]Hadith of the Prophet (s) narrated from
Anas by al-Bukhari, Sahih,
book of Tawhîd: “On the
Day of Resurrection the people will surge one group after another like waves,
and they will come to Adam and say: ‘Please intercede for us with your Lord!’
He will say: ‘I am not fit for this. You should go to Ibrahim as he is the
Intimate Friend (khalîl) of the Beneficent.’ They will go to
Ibrahim and he will say: ‘I am not fit for this, but you should go to Musa as
he is the one to whom Allah I spoke directly.’ So they will go to Musa
and he will say: ‘I am not fit for this, but you should go to ‘Isa as he is a
soul created [directly] by Allah, and His Word [Be!].’ They will go to ‘Isa and
he will say: ‘I am not fit for this, but you should go to Muhammad.’ They will
come to me and I will say: ‘I shall do it!’ Then I will ask for my Lord’s permission
and it shall be given…”
[5]Suyuti said in al-Durr al-Manthur for verse 2:216: “Narrated from Ibn
‘Abbas by Ibn al-Mundhir and al-Bayhaqi in his Sunan.” Cf. Qurtubi’s Tafsir for verse 7:129: “‘Asâ min Allâhi: wâjib.” Cf. Ibn Kathir in al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya(5:33)
and al-Suyuti in al-Durr
al-Manthur, both on verse 9:102: “‘Asâ
min Allâhi: wâjib.” Qurtubi
also said for verse 4:84: “Al-itmâ‘u
min Allâhi: wâjib.” Notable
exceptions to this rule are verses 2:216, 17:8, and 67:5, which, as al-Suyuti
showed, do not denote certainty.
[6]The chains of this hadith are all weak (da‘if) as they contain ‘Uthman ibn ‘Umayr who
was variously declared as weak (da‘if) or condemned as a narrator (munkar al-hadith). See the
comments of Shaykh Ahmad Shakir in his edition of the Musnad (4:31-32 #3787), al-Haythami
(10:361-362), and al-Dhahabi’s rejection of al-Hakim’s grading of authentic in
the marginalia on the Mustadrak (2:365). This is not to say that the
hadith itself is not authentic in its parts through other chains, such as what
is narrated from ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘As by Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, and
Ahmad whereby the Prophet (s) said: “Ask Allah for the Means to Him (al-wasila) for me, it is a station in Paradise
for one of His servants alone, and I hope to be that one.”
[8]Narrated by Ibn al-Mundhir with a sound
chain according to Ibn Hajar in Fath
al-Bari (1959 ed. 8:199 but
this appears to be a slip, see below, p. 5),
al-Tabari in his Tafsir (3:9), Abu al-Shaykh in al-‘Azama (2:627-628), ‘Abd Allah ibn Ahmad in al-Sunna (#588), Ibn Abi Shayba in Kitab al-‘Arsh (1:78 #60), and al-Bayhaqi in al-Asma’ wa al-Sifat (ASH 2:296-297 #859).
[9]Narrated by Ibn Abi ‘Asim in al-Sunna (p. 252 #574), al-Tabari in his Tafsir (3:10-11), and Ibn al-Jawzi in al-‘Ilal al-Mutanahya (1:20 #2-3). Al-Tabari’s version has
the following “condemned” (munkar) wording: “The Prophet (s)glorified Allah and said: ‘Verily, His
Seat of Authority (kursî) encompasses the heavens and the earth,
and verily He sits on it (innahu layaq‘adu ‘alayh) and there does not remain of it
[but] a space of four fingers.’ Then he signalled with his fingers, holding
them together. ‘And verily it
groans like the sound of the new saddle when one mounts it, due to His weight
pressing down on it.’”
[10]Narrated by Abu Dawud’s Sunan, Kitab al-Sunna, ch. 19
(4:232 #4726), Abu Ya‘la, Tabarani in al-Kabir (2:132-133), al-Bazzar in his Musnad (1:29 #39), ‘Abd ibn Humayd in his Musnad, Ibn Abi ‘Asim in al-Sunna (#575-576), Ibn Abi Shayba in Kitab al-‘Arsh (#11), al-Ajurri in al-Shari‘a (p. 293), Ibn Abi Hatim in his Tafsir of Surat al-Baqara (#224),
al-Daraqutni in al-Sifat (#38-39), al-Lalika’i in his Sunna (#656), al-Baghawi in Sharh al-Sunna (1:175), Abu al-Shaykh in al-‘Azama (2:554-555), al-Diya’ al-Maqdisi, and
Ibn Khuzayma in al-Tawhid (1:239). In addition, there is a
statement by Ka‘b al-Ahbar – not a Prophetic report – narrated by Abu al-Shaykh
in al-‘Azama (p. 91 #236) and al-Dhahabi in al-‘Uluw (p. 366-367 #281), the latter declaring
its chain “neat” but condemning its wording (“a groaning like the groaning of
the saddles when first ridden, due to the weight of the Almighty on top of
them”!).
[12]In his commentary on Surat al-‘Alaq, cf.
Ibn Taymiyya, Majmu‘a Rasa’il (16:435): “A group of the masters of
hadith have rejected it [as inauthentic] due to its confusion [in its chains
and wordings], but most of Ahl al-Sunna accept it”! This is an example
of his unreliability in hadith authentication in any matter related to his
doctrine.
[14]On this tafsîr see n. 37 below. The preferred explanation of
the kursî according to many of the Salaf is Ibn ‘Abbas’s report: “It means His
knowledge.” Narrated marfû‘ from the Prophet (s) by Sufyan al-Thawri with a sound chain
according to Ibn Hajar in Fath
al-Bari (1959 ed. 8:199) and
al-Tabarani in al-Sunna;
and mawqûf from Ibn ‘Abbas by al-Tabari with
three sound chains in his Tafsir (3:9-11), al-Mawardi in his Tafsir (1:908), al-Suyuti in al-Durr al-Manthur (1:327), al-Shawkani in Fath al-Qadir (1:245), and others. Al-Tabari chooses
it as the most correct explanation: “The external wording of the Qur’an
indicates the correctness of the report from Ibn ‘Abbas that it [the kursî] is His ‘ilm… and the original sense of al-kursî is al-‘ilm.”
Also narrated in “suspended” form (mu‘allaq) by al-Bukhari in his Sahih from Sa‘id ibn Jubayr (Book of Tafsir, chapter on the saying
of Allah (swt): [And if you go in fear, then (pray)
standing or on horseback] (2:239). Its chains are documented by Ibn
Hajar in Taghliq al-Ta‘liq (2/4:185-186) where he shows that
Sufyan al-Thawri, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi, and Waki‘ narrated it marfû‘ from the Prophet (s), although in the Fath he declares the mawqûf version from Ibn ‘Abbas more likely.
An example of anthropomorphism is in the
footnote to the verse of the Throne for the word kursiyyuhu, translated as “His
Throne”: “Throne: seat” in the work entitled The
Holy Qur-an: English Translation of the Meanings and Commentary, Revised
and Edited by The Presidency of Islamic Researches, Ifta, Call and Guidance (Madinah:
King Fahd Holy Qur-an Printing Complex, 1410 [1990]). Sura 2:255, footnote
#298. In the 1997 edition (p. 57 n. 1) the word is left untranslated, giving
“His Kursî,” with a
footnote stating: “Kursî: literally a footstool or chair, and sometimes
wrongly translated as Throne. Ibn Taimiyah said: a) To believe in the Kursî. b) To believe in the ‘Arsh (Throne) [sic]. It is narrated
from Muhammad bin ‘Abdullâh and from other religious scholars that the Kursî is in front of the ‘Arsh (Throne) and it is at the level of the
Feet. (Fatawa Ibn Taimiyah, Vol. 5, Pages 54, 55).” None of these
explanations is authentic as related from the Prophet (s) (cf. n. 37), nor is the translation of kursî as “Throne” wrong when called for in
certain cases (cf. p. 355f.),
especially since some among the Salaf,
among them al-Hasan al-Basri, said that the kursî is the ‘arsh (al-Tabari, Tafsir 3:10). Furthermore, it is
authentically related from Ibn ‘Abbas that he said: “His kursî is His knowledge (kursiyyuhu ‘ilmuhu),” and this
is the explanation preferred by Sufyan al-Thawri, al-Bukhari, al-Tabari, and
others. Cf. n. 14. As for Imam
al-Qushayri, he said in Lata’if
al-Isharat (1:209) in his
commentary on [His kursî encompasses the heaven and the earth] (2:255): “He is addressing them according
to the capacity of their minds. Otherwise, what part can the created universes
possibly have before His Attributes? Exalted and glorified is His Might from
deriving any gain from a throne or a seat, or from beautifying Itself with a jinn
or a human being.”
[15]In Taqrib
al-Tahdhib (p. 301 #3294) and Tahrir Taqrib al-Tahdhib (2:205 #3294) respectively. See also
al-Haythami (10:159).
[16]Cf. Ibn Kathir, Tafsir (2:14). Ibn Hajar in Zawa’id al-Bazzar (p. 16) further specifies that Sufyan
al-Thawri stopped the chain of this hadith at ‘Umar, thus making it mawqûf munqati‘ or mursal
munqati‘ as stated by Ibn
Khuzayma inal-Tawhid (p.
71). Hence Albani in his edition of Ibn Abi ‘Asim (p. 252) declared the chain
weak.
[17]At this point al-Ajurri’s version adds:
“Verily, He is above His heavens, and He is over His Throne!”
[18]Narrated by Abu Dawud, Sunan, Kitab al-Sunna, ch. 19 (4:232
#4726), al-Bazzar, Musnad (1:29 #39), al-Tabari in his Tafsir (3:10), Abu Ya‘la in his Musnad, as mentioned by
al-Haythami (10:159), Ibn Abi ‘Asim in al-Sunna (p. 252-253 #575-576), al-Ajurri in al-Shari‘a (p. 298 #678), and Ibn Khuzayma in al-Tawhid (p. 69).
[19]In al-‘Uluw (p. 37-39). Al-Dhahabi also says:
“There is not a single established text [i.e. sound] that has the word “groaning” (atît) in it.” Mukhtasar al-‘Uluw (p. 124). Al-Albani reiterates this
statement in his Silsila
Da‘ifa (2:307 #906).
[20]As stated by Ibn Hajar in his Taqrib (p. 138 #902) and confirmed by Ma‘ruf
and al-Arna’ut in Tahrir
Taqrib al-Tahdhib (1:210
#902).
[27]Ibn Taymiyya said in his Radd ‘Ala Asas al-Taqdis (1:101): “Al-‘arsh lexically means al-sarir – elevated seat or couch – with
respect to what is on top of it.”
[31]Mujahid ibn Jabr, Abu al-Hajjaj
al-Makhzumi (d. 102), one of the major commentators of the Qur’an among the Tâbi‘în and of the highest rank in reliability
among hadith narrators (thiqa).
It is related by Ibn Sa‘d in the Tabaqat (6:9) and elsewhere that he went over
the explanation of the Holy Qur’an together with Ibn ‘Abbas thirty times.
Al-A‘mash said: “Mujahid was like someone who carried a treasure: whenever he
spoke, pearls came out of his mouth.” After praising him in similar terms
al-Dhahabi said: “Mujahid has certain strange sayings pertaining to knowledge
and commentary of Qur’an which are rejected and condemned. A report has reached
us whereby he went to Babel and asked its governor to show him [the angels]
Harut and Marut. Mujahid said: ‘The governor sent a Jew to go with me until we
arrived at a grotto under the earth and he showed them to me. They were suspended
upside down. I said: “I believe in the One Who created the two of you.” At that
time they shuddered, and both I and the Jew fainted. We came to after a while,
and the Jew said to me: You nearly caused our death!” Al-Dhahabi also quotes
al-A‘mash’s judgment of Mujahid’s Tafsir whereby Mujahid was among those who
narrate from the books of Ahl
al-Kitab. Al-Dhahabi then proceeds to mention Mujahid’s commentary on the
verse of the Exalted Station as one of the most objectionable statements he
made: “The saying of Allah: [It may be that your Lord will raise you to
an Exalted Station] (17:79) means: He will seat the Prophet (s) with Him on His Throne (yujlisuhu ma‘ahu ‘alâ ‘arshihi).”
Among Mujahid’s famous sayings: “There is no creature of Allah (swt) except you can take or leave what they said except the Prophet (s).” Narrated from Mujahid and also from
al-Hakam ibn ‘Utayba by Ibn Hazm in al-Ihkam
fi Usul al-Ahkam (6:291,
6:293) and Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr in al-Jami‘
fi Bayan al-‘Ilm (2:925-926
#1761-1765). Of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, Mujahid relates: “People would uncover the
space above his grave and it would rain.” Sources: Abu Nu‘aym, Hilya al-Awliya’ (3:280); al-Dhahabi, Mizan (3:439 #7072) and Siyar (5:379-381 #542); Ibn al-Jawzi, Sifa al-Safwa (1:243).
[35]This is Sayf al-Sa‘di, whose reliability
is unknown. There is no Sayf al-Sadusi. Al-Tabari also narrates it (8:100) with
a chain containing “Sayf al-Sadusi.” The rest of the sub-narrators are all
trustworthy (thiqât).
[37]A mawqûf statement of Ibn ‘Abbas narrated with
a sound chain by al-Tabarani in al-Kabir (12:39 #12404) as stated by
al-Haythami (6:323), al-Bayhaqi in al-Asma’
wa al-Sifat (2:196 #758), Ibn
Khuzayma in al-Tawhid (p. 108), al-Hakim (2:282), who
declared it sahîh while al-Dhahabi concurred, al-Khatib
in Tarikh Baghdad (9:251), Ibn Abi Shayba in al-‘Arsh (p. 79 #61), Abu al-Shaykh in al-‘Azama (2:552-553 #196, 2:582 #216); and marfû‘ – erroneously – by al-Daraqutni in al-Sifat (p. 49-50 #36) and Ibn Mandah in al-Radd ‘ala al-Jahmiyya (p. 44-45). Ibn al-Jawzi in al-‘Ilal (1:22) declared that it should not be
considered a marfû‘ Prophetic report. This verdict is
confirmed by al-Dhahabi in hisMizan (2:265),
Ibn Kathir in his Tafsir (1:317), and Ibn Hajar in al-Tahdhib (4:274), cf. al-Ahdab, Zawa’id (7:37-39 #1383). Al-Bayhaqi said: “He
did not attribute the feet [to Allah], nor did Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari in his own
identical statement [al-Asma’ (2:296-297
#859) with a weak chain], and this [non-attributive form] seems the soundest
version. Its interpretation among the authorities is that the kursî in relation to the Throne is as the
footstool is in relation to the couch under which a footstool is placed for
the person reclining on it… At any rate this is a halted report which is not
narrated from the Prophet (s). As for our early companions they did not explain
such cases nor did they preoccupy themselves with interpreting them believing,
at the same time, that Allah I is One without parts nor limbs.”
Al-Qurtubi in his Tafsir (3:278) cites a similar explanation
from Ibn ‘Atiyya. Elsewhere (2:272) al-Bayhaqi, like al-Bukhari and al-Tabari
before him, gives precedence to Ibn ‘Abbas’s authentic explanation of the kursî as “His ‘ilm” (see n. 14) while Ibn Kathir states his
preference for the narration of the footstool in the introduction of his
history entitled al-Bidaya wa
al-Nihaya.
[38]Al-Hakim narrated it in his Mustadrak (4:568-569) and declared its chain
sound (sahîh), as
confirmed by al-Dhahabi.
[39]Cf. Ibn Hajar, al-Nukat ‘ala Kitab Ibn al-Salah (2:532); Ibn Kathir (on Ka‘b al-Ahbar
and Wahb ibn Munabbih) in his Tafsir (3:379 on 27:41-44); al-Qari’s commentary
on Ibn Hajar’s Sharh al-Nukhba entitled Sharh Sharh Nukhba al-Fikar fi
Mustalahat Ahl al-Athar (“Commentary
on Ibn Hajar’s Commentary on his own book ‘Chosen Thoughts on the Terminology
of Hadith Scholars’” p. 548-549); al-Sakhawi’s Fath al-Mughith, ed. ‘Ali
Husayn ‘Ali (Beirut: Dar al-Imam al-Tabari, 1992 1:150-151); Nur al-Din ‘Itr, Manhaj al-Naqd fi ‘Ulum al-Hadith (p. 328).
[40]Of note also is the interchange of names
for the Throne in the different narrations: kursî in most, then ‘arsh, then sarîr.
[41]‘Abbad ibn Ya‘qub, Abu Sa‘id al-Asadi
al-Rawajini al-Kufi (d. 250). “One of the ‘extremists’ (ghulât) of the Shi‘a and one of the heads of
innovation – however, he is truthful (sâdiq) in hadith” according to al-Dhahabi
while Ibn Hajar describes him as sadûq
Râfidî. Ibn Hibban said of him: “He deserves to be abandoned [as a
narrator].” Al-Dhahabi, Mizan (2:379 #4149); Ibn Hajar, Taqrib (p. 291 #3153).
[42]Muhammad ibn Fudayl ibn Ghazwan ibn Jarir
al-Dibbi (d. 295). A trustworthy (thiqa) Shi‘i narrator retained as an
authority by al-Bukhari and Muslim in their Sahihs.
His narration from Layth from Mujahid from Ibn ‘Abbas was retained by Imam
Ahmad in his Musnad for the hadith: “The Prophet (s) used
to prostrate in [Sura] Sâd”
[i.e. for 38:24]. Ma‘ruf, Tahrir al-Taqrib (3:306-307 #6227).
[43]Al-Layth ibn Abi Sulaym ibn Zunaym
al-Qurashi (d. 148). Ibn Hajar said that he was abandoned as a hadith narrator
due to the excessiveness of his mistakes. He is declared weak (da‘îf) and a concealer of his sources (mudallis) by al-Haythami in Majma‘ al-Zawa’id. Al-Bukhari
and Muslim did narrate three hadiths from him, but only as corroborations (mutâba‘ât) of established chains. Ibn Hajar, Taqrib (p. 464 #5685); al-Dhahabi, Mizan (3:422 #6997).
[44]Muhammad ibn al-‘Ala’ ibn Kurayb, Abu
Kurayb al-Hamdani (d. 248). A hadith master considered trustworthy (thiqa) by the scholars.
[45]Waki‘ ibn al-Jarrah, Abu Sufyan al-Ru’asi
(d. 196). One of the major, trustworthy hadith masters.
[46]Dawud ibn Yazid, Abu Yazid al-A‘raj
al-Awdi al-Za‘afiri al-Kufi (d. 151). Declared weak (da‘îf) by Ahmad, Ibn Ma‘in, Ibn al-Madini,
and Abu Dawud, although al-Bukhari narrated from him in his Adab al-Mufrad as well as al-Tirmidhi (five hadiths
in the Sunan), Ibn Majah
(also five hadiths), Ahmad (eighteen hadiths in the Musnad), and al-Darimi (one
hadith in the Sunan). Ibn
Hajar, Taqrib (p. 200 #1818); al-Dhahabi, Mizan (2:21-22 #2655).
[47]Yazid ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman, Abu Dawud
al-Za‘afiri al-Awdi (d. ?). One of the narrators of the Tâbi‘în who is acceptable for corroborating
narrations (maqbûl) according to Ibn Hajar in Taqrib al-Tahdhib (p. 603 #7746), but al-Arna’ut and
Ma‘ruf said in Tahrir
al-Taqrib (4:114 #7746):
“Rather, he is truthful and of fair narrations (sadûq hasanu al-hadîth).”
[48]Al-Tabari, Jami‘ al-Bayan fi Tafsir al-Qur’an (Beirut: Dar al-Ma‘arif, 1980, 8:98).
The hadith of Abu Hurayra is narrated by Ahmad and al-Tirmidhi with the same
chain, and the latter declared it fair (hasan).
The chain is weak because of Dawud ibn Yazid but the hadith itself is sound (sahîh). This is stated by
Hamza Ahmad al-Zayn in his edition of Ahmad’s Musnad (9:296 #9696, 9:415 #10152(m)) and by
Nasir al-Albani in his edition of Ibn Abi ‘Asim’s al-Sunna (p. 350 #784). The narration is
confirmed by the hadith of Ibn ‘Umar in al-Bukhari’s Sahih (book of Tafsir) whereby “Intercession
shall be given over to the Prophet (s), and that is the day when Allah shall
raise him to the Exalted Station.” Another confirmation is in the long hadith
of the Prophet’s e intercession from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri in
the last book of al-Bukhari’s Sahih.
There is also the hadith from Ka‘b ibn Malik whereby the Prophet (s) said:
“People will be raised on the Day of Resurrection and I shall be, I and my
Community, on top of a hill; there, my Lord shall dress me with a green garment
and grant me His permission, whereupon I shall say whatever it pleases Allah
that I say: that is the Exalted Station.” Narrated by Ahmad with a sound chain
as stated by the editor of the Musnad (12:309-310 #15723) as well as by
al-Tabarani in his Kabir (19:72 #142) with a sound chain as
indicated by al-Haythami (7:51, 10:377), and by Ibn Hibban (14:399 #6479).
[49]Cf. Sulayman ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad
ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab’s words in his al-Tawdih
‘an Tawhid al-Khallaq fi Jawab Ahl al-‘Iraq (1319/1901, p. 34, and new ed.
al-Riyad: Dar Tibah, 1984): “It is obligatory to declare that Allah is separate (bâ’in) from creation, established over His
Throne without modality or likeness or exemplariness. Allah was and there was
no place, then He created place and He is exalted as He was before He created
place.” See alsoour posting titled “Allah is Now as He Ever Was.”
[50]Abu Nu‘aym narrates with his chain from
‘Ali in Hilya al-Awliya’ (1997 ed. 1:114 #227) in the chapter
on ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib the latter’s saying to the forty Jews who asked Him about
Allah’s nature and description: “How can even the most eloquent tongues
describe Him Who did not exist among things so that He could be said to be
‘separate from them’ (bâ’in)?
Rather, He is described without modality, and He is (nearer to [man] than his jugular vein) (50:16).” The report is also found in Kanz al-‘Ummal. See, on the meaning
of bâ’in, the explanation
of “The Far” (al-Ba‘îd) in Ibn ‘Arabi’s ‘Aqida §163 (full
text was posted on MSA-EC and SRI).
[51]An inappropriate phrasing to say the
least, and who claims that the Lord of Glory and Munificence would seat His
Most Beloved on the ground? The wording should have been, “it is equally the
same whether He seats him e on His Throne or anywhere else.” And
Allah knows best.
[55]The argument is based on the
presupposition that there is nothing created above the Throne, as Ibn Hazm
stated in his al-Fisal fi
al-Milal wa al-Ahwa’ wa al-Nihal (2:125)
when he defined istiwâ’ as “an act pertaining to the Throne,
and that is the termination of His creation at the Throne, for there is nothing
beyond it.” According to this axiom, the Throne is the separator between
Creator and created, or Lordship and servanthood.
[58]Once again a false premise and conclusion.
Al-Tabari throughout does not address the fundamental error that consists in
attributing location and other contingent attributes of the created to the
Creator.
[60]‘Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Hasan ibn ‘Ubayd,
al-Qadi, Abu al-Qasim al-Asadi al-Hamadhani (d. 352). A weak narrator. His
narration from Ibn Dizil was declared inauthentic by Salih ibn Ahmad
al-Hamadhani, and he was accused of lying by al-Qasim ibn Abi Salih, but
al-Daraqutni narrated from him, as did al-Hakim, Ibn Mandah, Ibn Marduyah, and
Abu ‘Ali ibn Shadhan. Al-Dhahabi, Mizan (2:556-557 #4852); al-Dhahabi, Siyar (12:194-195 #3201); Ibn Hijar, Lisan (3:411-412).
[61]Ibrahim ibn al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali
al-Hamadhani al-Kisa’i, known as Ibn Dizil or Dayzil (d. 281), a trustworthy
hadith master.
[62]Adam ibn Abi Iyas, Abu al-Hasan
al-‘Asqalani al-Khurasani (d. 220), a trustworthy hadith master and one of
al-Bukhari’s narrators.
[64]Mujahid, Tafsir,
ed. ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Tahir ibn Muhammad al-Suwarti (Doha, Qatar: s.n., 1976), p. 369. Al-Bayhaqi
in al-Asma’ wa al-Sifat (2:209 #772) narrates from his shaykh
al-Hakim with the same chain from Mujahid the explanation of the verse (Lest any
soul should say: Alas for that I squandered of Allah’s flank!) (39:56) as: “What I wasted of His
commands.” Al-Bayhaqi in al-Asma’
wa al-Sifat (2:209 #772)
narrates from Mujahid the explanation of this verse as: “What I wasted of His
commands.” Al-Bukhari cited this explanation in his Sahih in the book of Jana’iz, chapter on the merit
of following a funeral. It is also the explanation given for janb (“flank” or “side”) by al-Raghib
al-Asfahani in his Mufradat
Alfaz al-Qur’an. Al-Dhahabi in the Siyar (13:368-369 #3988) criticized the
anthropomorphic understanding of the Maliki Abu ‘Umar al-Talamanki (d. 429),
who mentioned the verse in a chapter named “The Side of Allah” in his book on
doctrine: “I saw a book of his on the Sunna in two volumes, most of which is
good, but in some of which chapters is found what none would ever agree with,
for example: ‘Chapter on the Side of Allah’ in which he mentioned: (Alas, my
grief that I was unmindful of the side of Allah). This is a scholar’s slip.” The latter
phrase alludes to a hadith narrated from Abu al-Darda’ whereby the Prophet (s)
said: “I fear three things for my Community most of all: the slip of the
scholar, the disputation of a hypocrite about the Qur’an, and those who deny
Allah’s Foreordained Destiny.” Al-Haythami said in Majma‘ al-Zawa’id: “Al-Tabarani
narrates it in al-Kabir but its chain contains Mu‘awiya ibn
Yahya al-Sadafi, who is weak.” There are several other weak narrations for
this hadith.
[65]Related by al-Suyuti in Tahdhir al-Khawass min Akadhib
al-Qussas. Frederik Kern cites this account in his introduction to his
edition of al-Tabari’s Ikhtilaf
al-Fuqaha’ (Cairo, 1902).
[67]Here al-Qurtubi proceeds to interpret as
he had alluded that it should be done when he said: “This is not to say that
there is no such narration; only that knowledge demands that it be interpreted
figuratively.”
[68]Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Amr ibn Mahdi, Abu
Sa‘id al-Asbahani al-Hanbali al-Naqqash (d. 414). One of the major, trustworthy
hadith masters of the Hanbali school, he authored a book entitled Tabaqat al-Sufiyya (“Biographical Layers of the Sufis”). Siyar (13:193-194 #3801).
[69]Sulayman ibn al-Ash‘ath, Abu Dawud
al-Sijistani (d. 275). One of the major Imams of hadith, the author of the Sunan and a student of Imam Ahmad.
[70]This verse is the first proof cited by
Imam al-Ash‘ari in his Ibana for the vision of Allah in the
hereafter. Al-Bukhari devoted a chapter to the verse in the book of doctrine (tawhid) at the end of his Sahih in which he narrates from Jabr ibn
‘Abd Allah the hadith whereby the Prophet (s) said: “You shall see Allah with
your very eyes” (innakum
satarawna rabbakum ‘iyânan). It is a tenet of the doctrine of Ahl al-Sunna around which there is agreement, as
stated by Ibn Hajar in his commentary on the chapter (#24) on the vision of
Allah in the Hereafter in Fath
al-Bari. Hence Imam Ahmad’s statement: “Whoever denies the vision of Allah
in the hereafter is a disbeliever,” narrated respectively from Abu Bakr
al-Marwazi, Abu Dawud, and Abu Muhammad al-Barbahari by Ibn Abi Ya‘la in Tabaqat al-Hanabila (1:59, 1:161, 2:27). Mujahid’s interpretation
of the verse of the Vision is also cited by al-Suyuti in his Durr al-Manthur.
[72]Al-Qurtubi thus only sees impossibility in
the addition of the terms “with Him” to the phrase “Allah will seat him on the
Throne,” because such an addition presupposes two aberrations: (1) that Allah I sits on the Throne; (2) that Allah I has a sitting-partner. Imam al-Ash‘ari
said in the first words of his chapter on istiwâ’ in his Ibana (Sabbagh 1994 ed. p. 89; cf. ‘Uyun
1996 ed. p. 97): “Allah is elevated over His Throne with an elevation that
befits Him, without indwelling (hulûl) nor settlement (istiqrâr)” and again in the
same chapter (Sabbagh p. 95; ‘Uyun p. 102): “He is elevated over His Throne
without modality (kayfiyya) nor settlement (istiqrâr).”
[75]Here al-Qurtubi proceeds to interpret as
he had alluded that it should be done when he said: “This is not to say that
there is no such narration; only that knowledge demands that it be interpreted
figuratively.”
[78]Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Sa‘d, Shams
al-Din Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Zur‘i al-Dimashqi al-Hanbali, known as Ibn Qayyim
al-Jawziyya (d. 751). A specialist in Qur’anic commentary, hadith, fiqh and its principles, Arabic philology
and grammar, and the foremost disciple of Ibn Taymiyya whose anthropomorphic
and anti-madhhab teachings
he helped perpetuate. Ibn al-Qayyim’s “Book of the Soul” (Kitab al-Ruh) ranks among the best books on the
subject of the Islamic understanding of life after death according to the
Qur’an, the Sunna, and the doctrine of the Salaf and the Four Imams, establishing
without doubt that the dead hear the living and know of them. Mumblings are
sometimes heard about the authenticity of his authorship of the book among the
“Salafis.” However, the book is undoubtedly by Ibn al-Qayyim and is attributed
to him by over two dozen scholars both in his time and after, such as
al-Dhahabi, al-Safadi, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Rajab, Ibn Nasir al-Din, Ibn Hajar,
al-Biqa‘i etc. It also contains internal proofs of his authorship, such as his
mention of his own book – now lost – entitled Ma‘rifa
al-Ruh wa al-Nafs and his
identifying two of his direct teachers as Abu al-Hajjaj (al-Mizzi), and Ibn
Taymiyya. Another internal proof is Ibn al-Qayyim’s lapsing into excessive
criticism of Ash‘aris and misattributions of spurious positions to them as is
typical of his school. Ibn al-Qayyim violently attacked imitation (taqlîd) of the four schools of Law among
traditional Sunni Muslims and voiced his anti-madhhab stance in a two-volume work on the
principles of the Law entitled I‘lam
al-Muwaqqi‘in. The Indian jurist and hadith scholar Habib Ahmad
al-Kiranawi blasted his theses in a 100-page epistle entitled al-Din al-Qayyim, included in
full in his Fawa’id fi ‘Ulum
al-Fiqh in the second volume
of the general introduction to al-Tahanawi’s I‘la’
al-Sunan (2:1-99). (This
epistle is probably the most comprehensive rebuttal of “Salafi”
anti-madhhabism). Ibn al-Qayyim also wrote extensively on tasawwuf with which he evidently felt strong
affinities. He wrote an extensive commentary on al-Harawi al-Ansari’s slim Sufi
manual entitled Manazil
al-Sa’irin ila al-Haqq which
he named Madarij al-Salikin and in which he says (2:307):
“Religion is all moral character (khuluq),
and whoever bests you in moral character, bests you in Religion. It is the same
with tasawwuf. …. Tasawwuf is one of the cornerstones (zawâyâ) of true wayfaring (al-sulûk al-haqîqî) and the purification and disciplining
of the self (tazkiya al-nafs
wa tahdhîbuhâ) so that it may
prepare itself for its journey to the company of the Highest Assembly and for
being together with its beloved.” His complete biographical notice was posted
on SRI and MSA-EC.
[79]This is Muhammad ibn al-Qadi Muhammad Abi
Ya‘la ibn al-Husayn, Al-Qadi Abu al-Husayn al-Farra’, known as Ibn Abi Ya‘la
(d. 526), the author of Tabaqat
al-Hanabila (“Biographical
Layers of the Hanbalis”). Al-Dhahabi said of him: “He exaggerated concerning
the Sunna and harped upon the Attributes.... Al-Silafi said: ‘He showed
fanaticism for his school and criticized Ash‘aris a lot without fearing any
reproach; he composed books pertaining to his school; he was devout,
trustworthy, and well-established as a narrator and we took hadith from him.’”
Ibn Abi Ya‘la’s father, al-Qadi Abu Ya‘la ibn al-Farra’ – Muhammad ibn
al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Khalaf – (d. 458) was one of the major jurisprudent
scholars of the Hanbali school and also the author of attacks on Ash‘aris such
as his book Ibtal al-Ta’wil (“The Invalidation of Figurative Interpretation”)
in which, al-Dhahabi in Mukhtasar
al-‘Uluw (p. 271) says, “he
spoke at length citing worthless narrations which are inappropriate for use to
assert any divine Attribute whatsoever.” Abu Ya‘la is himself dismissed as an
anthropomorphist (mujassim) by the Maliki scholar Abu Bakr ibn
al-‘Arabi inal-Qawasim wa al-‘Awasim (2:283),
the Shafi‘i Ibn al-Athir, and his own Hanbali colleagues such as Abu Muhammad
al-Tamimi (d. 488) and Ibn al-Jawzi, throughout the latter’s book Radd Shubah al-Tashbih. Main
sources: Siyar14:481
#4749; Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil
fi al-Tarikh 10:52 [year
458].
[80]Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hallaj, Abu Bakr
al-Marrudhi or Marruzi or Marwazi (d. 275). A trustworthy hadith master and the
closest companion of Imam Ahmad whom he washed and laid in his grave. He was
celebrated for his piety. Ibn Abi Ya‘la relates that al-Marwazi said: “I asked
Ahmad ibn Hanbal about the hadiths which the Jahmis reject concerning the
Attributes, the vision of Allah [in the hereafter], the Prophet’s e ascension [body and soul], and the story
of the Throne; he declared them sound and said: ‘The Community accepted them,
and these reports are taken exactly as they come’ [i.e. without one seeking to explain them].”
This all-too-vague reference to “the story of the Throne” is the nearest thing
to a reported position on Imam Ahmad’s part concerning the Prophet’s e seating next to Allah I on the Throne. Ibn Abi Ya‘la, Tabaqat al-Hanabila (1:56).
[81]Ahmad ibn Asram al-Muzani (d. 285). He
took hadith from Imam Ahmad and others of the same biographical layer and is
unanimously described as trustworthy. He should not be confused with the great mujtahid imam and student of al-Shafi‘i, Yahya
ibn Isma‘il al-Muzani (d. 264).
[82]Yahya ibn Abi Talib Ja‘far ibn al-Zabarqan
al-Baghdadi (d. 275). Al-Dhahabi related that al-Daraqutni declared him
trustworthy (thiqa),
although Musa ibn Harun declared him a liar and Abu Dawud crossed out his
narrations. Al-Dhahabi, Mizan
al-I‘tidal (4:387) and al-Mughni fi al-Du‘afa’ (3:732).
[83]Abu Bakr ibn Hammad is unidentified. This
may be the trustworthy hadith master Abu Bakr al-Naysaburi, Muhammad ibn Hamdun
ibn Khalid (d. 320). One of Ibn Khuzayma’s shaykhs, he took hadith from the
Hanbali scholars Abu Zur‘a, ‘Abbas al-Duri, Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Dhuhli, and
their layer. Al-Dhahabi, Siyar
A‘lam al-Nubala’ (11:525 #2876).
[84]Abu Ja‘far al-Dimashqi is unidentified.
This may be Abu Ja‘far al-Wasiti, Ahmad ibn Sinan ibn Asad (d. 259?), author of
the Musnad, from whom
narrated al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Ibn Kuzayma, and others.
Among his sayings: “There is not in the world a person of innovation except
they hate the people of the hadith; and if a man innovates, the sweetness of
the hadith is removed from his heart.” Al-Dhahabi, Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’(10:185
#2053).
[85]‘Abbas ibn Muhammad ibn Hatim al-Duri (d. 271), one of the hadith
masters, he transmitted narrations to “the Four” – al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa’i, Abu
Dawud, and Ibn Majah. The hadith master al-Sakhawi, in the introduction to his
biography of his teacher Ibn Hajar entitled al-Jawahir
wa al-Durar, narrates that Imam Ahmad wrote a letter of recommendation
for al-Duri in which he refused to call him a scholar of hadith, but called him
a student of hadith instead. Al-Dhahabi avers that this took place in his
youth, at the beginning of his career. Siyar (10:358 #2164).
[86]Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ibn Makhlad, known as
Ishaq ibn Rahuyah or Rahawayh, Abu Ya‘qub al-Tamimi al-Marwazi al-Hanzali (d.
238), one of the major hadith masters. Abu Qudama considered him greater than
Imam Ahmad in memorization of hadith, a remarkable assessment considering
Ahmad’s knowledge of 700,000 to a million narrations according to his son ‘Abd
Allah’s and Abu Zur‘a al-Razi’s estimations. He once said of himself: “I never
wrote anything except I memorized it, and I can now see before me more than
70,000 hadiths in my book”; “I know the place of 100,000 hadiths as if I were
looking at them, and I memorize 70,000 of them by heart – all sound (sahîha) – and 4,000 falsified ones.” [Narrated
by al-Khatib in al-Jami‘ li
Akhlaq al-Rawi (2:380-381
#1832-1833).] He did not reach the same stature in fiqh. Al-Bayhaqi and others
narrate that he unsuccessfully debated al-Shafi‘i on a legal question, as a
result of which the latter disapproved of his title as the “jurisprudent of
Khurasan.” To a Jahmi scholar who said: “I disbelieve in a
Lord that descends from one heaven to another heaven,” Ibn Rahuyah replied: “I
believe in a Lord that does what He wishes.” [Narrated by al-Dhahabi who identifies the
scholar as Ibrahim ibn (Hisham) Abi Salih in Mukhtasar
al-‘Uluw (p. 191 #234).]
Al-Bayhaqi comments: “Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Hanzali made it clear, in this
report, that he considers the Descent (al-nuzûl) one of the Attributes of Action (min sifât al-fi‘l). Secondly,
he spoke of a descent without ‘how’. This proves he did not hold displacement (al-intiqâl) and movement from one place to another(al-zawâl) concerning it.” [See our posting, “The
‘Descent’ of Allah I.”] Sources: Ibn Abi Ya‘la, Tabaqat al-Hanabila (1:6, 1:184); al-Bayhaqi, Manaqib al-Shafi‘i (1:213) and al-Asma’ wa al-Sifat (2:375-376 #951); al-Dhahabi, Siyar(9:558 #1877); Ibn
al-Subki, Tabaqat
al-Shafi‘iyya al-Kubra (2:89-90,
9:81).
[87]‘Abd al-Wahhab ibn ‘Abd al-Hakam al-Warraq
(d. 251), a devoted follower of Imam Ahmad who considered him his successor.
Abu Bakr al-Marwazi narrated in his book al-Wara‘ [(p. 10) published under the name of
Imam Ahmad] that Ahmad was asked on his deathbed who would succeed him as the
imam of the school. He said: “Put all your questions to ‘Abd al-Wahhab.” One of
the students present, Fath ibn Abi al-Fath, said: “But he does not have much
learning!” Ahmad replied: “He is a saintly man (rajul sâlih): one such as him
is granted success in speaking the truth.” [This is also narrated by Ibn Abi
Ya‘la in his chapter on al-Warraq in Tabaqat
al-Hanabila (1:210-212).]
Among the statements reported from al-Warraq by Ibn Abi Ya‘la: “Abu ‘Abd Allah
[Imam Ahmad] is our Imam. He is one of (those who are firmly grounded in knowledge) (3:7, 4:162). If I were to stand tomorrow
before Allah and He asked me: ‘Who did you follow?’ I would say: ‘Ahmad ibn
Hanbal.’” “When the Prophet (s) said: ‘Defer the question [about the Qur’an] to
the one who has knowledge of it’, we deferred it to Ahmad ibn Hanbal.” This is
a reference to the hadith: “The Qur’an was revealed in seven dialects, and
speculative wrangling (al-mira’) about it is disbelief” – he said it
three times – “therefore whatever you understand of it, put it into practice,
and whatever you do not understand, defer it to the one who has knowledge of
it.” Narrated from Abu Hurayra by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad with a sound chain, as stated by
al-Haythami (7:151) and by Ahmad Shakir in the Musnad (8:107 #7976).
[88]Ibrahim ibn Awrama al-Asbahani (d. 266), a
contemporary of ‘Abbas al-Duri and Abu Dawud. Al-Dhahabi said: “His narrations
are not widespread because he died before the age in which one narrates. He
lived fifty-five years.” By the words “the age in which one narrates”
al-Dhahabi means “the age in which one achieves renown as a narrator.” Ibn
Hajar in Sharh al-Nukhba (p. 143) sets at fifty years the age
at which one normally begins to narrate, and forty as the minimum Note that
Imam Malik was an exception, since he started his narrating career at age
twenty. Siyar (10:525 #2295).
[89]Ibrahim ibn Ishaq al-Harbi (d. 285), a
prominent companion and student of Imam Ahmad. He autored a Gharîb al-Hadith among other books. Al-Hakim relates
that he was pre-eminent in Baghdad for four traits: his superlative manners,
his knowledge of the Law, his knowledge of hadith, and his asceticism (zuhd). Al-Daraqutni said that
in all these respects he compared to Imam Ahmad himself. Among his sayings:
“Not every separation is estrangement, nor is every reunion love; only the
nearness of the hearts is love.” “The stranger is the one who once lived among
saintly people who helped him when he ordered good and forbade evil, and
supplied him when he had some worldly need, then they died and left him alone.”
“I never wasted anything, nor ate twice in the same day.” He disapproved of
‘Ali ibn al-Madini because he once saw him going to pray behind the Jahmi judge
and grand inquisitor of Ahl
al-Sunna, Ahmad ibn Abi Du’ad (d. 240). The latter was principally responsible
for the 28-month-long jailing and flogging of Imam Ahmad who had declared him
a disbeliever (kâfir) for holding that the Qur’an was
created. This
is related by al-Khatib in Tarikh
Baghdad (4:142-153 #1825),
al-Dhahabi in the chapter on Imam Ahmad in the Siyar, Ibn al-Subki in Tabaqat al-Shafi‘iyya al-Kubra (2:37-51), and others. Al-Dhahabi
relates that al-Harbi’s grave in Baghdad is a place one visits for its
blessings. Ibn al-Jawzi included himself in the number of those who performed
this visitation and relates that al-Harbi himself used to say: “Ma‘ruf
al-Karkhi’s grave is proven medicine.” This is also related by al-Dhahabi who
comments: “The supplication of those in need is answered at every blessed
site.” Ibn al-Jawzi, Sifa
al-Safwa (2:410, 2:214);
Al-Dhahabi, Siyar A‘lam
al-Nubala’ (10:668-674 #2391
and 8:219 #1425).
[90]Harun ibn Ma‘ruf al-Marwazi al-Baghdadi
al-Khazzaz (d. 231), one of the shaykhs of Imam Ahmad, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Abu
Hatim al-Razi, Abu Zur‘a, al-Dhuhli, and others. He took narrations from
Hushaym next to whose house he lived, al-Darawardi, Ibn al-Mubarak, Ibn
‘Uyayna, Ibn Wahb, and others. He is related to have said: “Whoever claims that
the Qur’an is created, it is as if he worships al-Lat and al-‘Uzza. And
whoever claims that Allah does not speak, he is an idol-worshipper.” Siyar (9:400 #1844).
[91]Muhammad ibn Isma‘il ibn Yusuf Abu Isma‘il
al-Sulami al-Tirmidhi (d. 280), a student of Imam Ahmad and trustworthy
narrator of hadith, which he took from Abu Nu‘aym among others, and from him
narrated al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa’i, Ibn Abi al-Dunya, and al-Najjad. Al-Dhahabi
called him al-imâm, al-hâfiz,
al-thiqa while al-Khatib
relates that he was famous for his defense of the belief of Ahl al-Sunna. Tarikh Baghdad (2:42); Siyar (10:592 #2341).
[92]Muhammad ibn Mus‘ab, Abu Ja‘far al-Da‘‘a’
(d. 228), a student of Ibn al-Mubarak, he is reported to have visited Imam
Ahmad who said of him: “He was a saintly man (rajulan
sâlihan), and he used to tell stories (yaqussu) and supplicate Allah (swt) standing up in the mosque… Among his
supplications he said: ‘O Allah, hide me under Your Throne!’” Al-Daraqutni
mentioned that he was trustworthy. Abu Bakr al-Marrudhi narrated that he
recited the verse(It may be
that thy Lord will raise thee to a praised estate) (17:79) and said: “Indeed, He shall seat
him with Him on the Throne!” Al-Dhahabi mentions this report then says: “There
is no authentic text to that effect other than a discarded narration” meaning
Mujahid’s report. Al-Da‘‘a’ should not be confused with Muhammad ibn Mus‘ab
al-Qarqasani (d. 208), a companion of Imam al-Awza‘i whose narrations he is
said to have reported mostly with mistakes, as a result of which he was
declared weak by al-Nasa’i and others. There is also Muhammad ibn Mansur Abu
Ja‘far al-‘Abid al-Tusi (d. 254), a student of Sufyan ibn ‘Uyayna and Imam
Ahmad and a companion of Ma‘ruf al-Karkhi, who gave him food after he found him
fasting uninterruptedly on the fourth consecutive day. He could see the
pilgrims on ‘Arafa through kashf.
Sources: Ibn Abi Ya‘la, Tabaqat
al-Hanabila (1:320-321 #449),
al-Dhahabi, Mukhtasar al-‘Uluw (p. 183) [al-Da‘‘a’]; Tabaqat al-Hanabila (1:318 #448) [al-‘Abid]; al-Dhahabi, Mizan al-I‘tidal (4:42 #8180) [al-Qarqasani].
[93]Abu Bakr ibn Sadaqa is unidentified other
than as one of al-Tabarani’s narrators and a contemporary of Abu Zur‘a al-Razi
(d. 264 or 268), Ibrahim ibn Awrama (d. 266) and Abu Dawud (d. 275). He is
mentioned in Abu Dawud’s chapter in al-Dhahabi’s Siyar. Al-Qari in al-Asrar al-Marfu‘a (p. 209-210) and al-‘Ajluni in Kashf al-Khafa under the hadith ra’aytu rabbî yawma al-nafr mention the forged narration: “I saw
my Lord in the image of a long-haired / beardless young man” and then cite Ibn
Sadaqa’s narration of Abu Zur‘a’s statement whereby the latter said: “None but
a Mu‘tazili denies this sound (sahîh) hadith.” However, al-Suyuti in al-La’ali’ al-Masnu‘a (1:27-31) showed that Abu Zur‘a’s
statement actually referred to the hadith of Ibn ‘Abbas whereby the Prophet
(s) said: “I saw my Lord,” which most scholars agreed is sound (sahîh). On this hadith see our
posting, “The Vision of Allah.”
[94]Muhammad ibn Bishr ibn Sharik al-Nakha‘i
al-Kufi, “One of the shaykhs of Ibn ‘Uqda (d. 332). He is unreliable.”
Al-Dhahabi, Mizan (3:491 #7273).
[95]Abu Qilaba is ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Muhammad
al-Raqashi al-Basri (d. 276), one of the shaykhs of Ibn Majah. He used to pray
four hundred rak‘a in every twenty-four hours. He could
narrate 60,000 hadiths from memory as a result of which he committed many
mistakes according to al-Daraqutni. However, others praised him for his utmost
reliability, such as al-Tabari, Abu Dawud, Ibn Hibban, and others. He narrated
from Ahmad the hadith whereby the Prophet (s)said: “The worst two tribes among
the Arabs are Najran and Banu Taghlib.” Ahmad and al-Tabarani narrate it with
sound chains as indicated by al-Haythami in Majma‘
al-Zawa’id. Ibn al-Athir in al-Nihaya
fi Gharîb al-Hadith said: “Najran
is a well-known place between the Hijaz, al-Shâm,
and Yemen.” Sources: Ibn Abi Ya‘la, Tabaqat
al-Hanabila (1:216 #283);
al-Dhahabi, Siyar (10:549 #2322). The practice of narrating solely from
memory was not current except as a test of someone’s memorization. Hadith
scholars narrated only from their written records, as demonstrated by M.M.
Azami and others. ‘Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: “I never saw my father
narrate except from a book, save less than a hundred hadiths.” In the Siyar (9:457). The best sources on the
proof-texts for writing among the Companions and early generations are Ibn
‘Abd al-Barr’s chapter Dhikr
al-Rukhsa fi Kitab al-‘Ilm in
his Jami‘ Bayan al-‘Ilm(1:298-338)
and especially al-Khatib al-Baghdadi’s book Taqyid
al-‘Ilm (“The Fettering of
Knowledge”). This title is taken from Anas’s saying: “Fetter knowledge with
writing” (qayyidû al-‘ilma bi
al-kitâb). Anas also said: “We would not consider as knowledge the
knowledge of those who did not write down their knowledge.” Taqyid (p. 96-97). This is similar to the Tâbi‘î Mu‘awiya ibn Qurra’s statement:
“Whoever does not write down the Science, do not consider him knowledgeable.”
Narrated by al-Darimi in his Sunan,
al-Khatib in his Taqyid (p. 109), al-Ramahurmuzi in al-Muhaddith al-Fasil (p. 372), and Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr in Jami‘ Bayan al-‘Ilm (1:321-322). See also al-Hakim
al-Tirmidhi’s chapter entitled “Writing is the means to fetter knowledge and
preserve it from oblivion” in his Nawadir
al-Usul (p. 39-41). When all
is said there remains al-Khalil ibn Ahmad’s injunction: “Faithfulness to what
is in your breast takes priority over memorization of what is in your books.”
Narrated by al-Khatib in al-Jami‘
li Akhlaq al-Rawi (1:670
#1048).
[96]‘Ali ibn Sahl ibn al-Mughira, Abu al-Hasan
al-Nasa’i al-Baghdadi al-Bazzaz (d. 270), a student of Ahmad ibn Hanbal. He is
truthful (sadûq) according to Ibn Abi Hatim in al-Jarh wa al-Ta‘dil (6:189). Tabaqat al-Hanabila (1:225 #313).
[98]Al-Qasim ibn Sallam ibn ‘Abd Allah, Abu
‘Ubayd al-Harawi (d. 224), one of the great early hadith masters and
philologists, author of Gharîb
al-Hadith, Fada’il
al-Qur’an, and many other works. A student of al-Shafi‘i, Hushaym, Ibn
‘Uyayna, Ghundar, Ibn al-Mubarak, Waki‘, Ibn Mahdi, and others. He was one of
‘Abbas al-Duri’s shaykhs. Ishaq ibn Rahuyah said: “As Allah loves the truth,
Abu ‘Ubayd is better versed and more knowledgeable in the Law than I.” Ibrahim
al-Harbi said: “Abu ‘Ubayd was like a mountain into which the Spirit was
breathed. He excelled in everything, except that the hadith was the specialty
of Ahmad [ibn Hanbal] and Yahya [ibn Ma‘in].” ‘Abbas al-Duri said: “I heard Abu
‘Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam mention the vision of Allah [in the hereafter], the kursî where the two Feet are placed, our
Lord’s laughter, and where He was [before creation], then he said: ‘All these
are sound (sahîh)narrations
transmitted by the scholars of hadith and fiqh one from another; we consider them
the truth and do not doubt them. But if it were asked: How does He laugh? or:
How does He place His Foot? We reply: We do not explain this; nor did we ever
hear anyone explain it.’” Among his sayings: “He who follows the Sunna is like
one who is grasping a hot coal. Such a day is, to me, preferable to striking
sword-blows in the way of Allah Almighty.” “I am puzzled by those who leave the
principles and study the branches.” Narrated by al-Khatib in al-Jami‘ li Akhlaq al-Rawi (2:270 #1612). Shaykh Muhammad ‘Ajaj
al-Khatib said: “He meant by ‘principles’ the foundational books (al-kutub al-ummahât).” Abu
‘Ubayd must not be confused with his contemporary and philologist namesake Abu
‘Ubayda who is Ma‘mar ibn al-Muthanna al-Taymi (d. ~210). He authored Majaz al-Qur’an [Published in Cairo in two volumes
edited by Fuad Sezgin (1955 and 1962)] and the lost Gharib al-Hadith as well as historical and
lexicographical works. He is cited heavily in Qur’anic commentaries and
al-Baghawi reports in his commentary Ma‘alim
al-Tanzil (al-Manar ed. 3:488)
that he explained istawâ as “He mounted” (sa‘ida) in the verse (Then He established Himself over the
Throne) (32:4). Pickthall followed that sense in his translation of the
verse as “Then He mounted the Throne.” Sources: Ibn Abi Ya‘la, Tabaqat al-Hanabila (1:259-262 #369); Al-Dhahabi, Siyar (9:183-191 #1702, 8:287-289 #1482);
Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr, al-Intiqa’ (p. 167).
[99]Al-Husayn ibn al-Fadl, Abu ‘Ali al-Bajali
(d. 282), a commentator of the Qur’an described by al-Hakim as the Imam of his
time in tafsir. Al-Hakim
narrated from Ibrahim ibn Mudarib: “I heard my father say: ‘Al-Husayn ibn
al-Fadl’s knowledge of the meanings of the Qur’an was inspiration from Allah, for
he had gone beyond the limits of learning.’” Siyar (10:707 #2420).
[100]Harun ibn al-‘Abbas al-Hashimi is
unidentified. This is possibly Harun ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Marwan, Abu Musa
al-Bazzaz al-Baghdadi, known as Harun al-Hammal (d. 243), from whom Muslim, Abu
Dawud, al-Nasa’i and others narrated hadiths, and who took hadith from Muhammad
ibn Bishr. He is unanimously trustworthy (thiqa).
If he is the same as the “Harun al-Hashimi” mentioned in Tabaqat al-Hanabila, then it is
established that Abu Bakr al-Najjad narrated from him. Tabaqat al-Hanabila (2:7); Siyar (8:169).
[102]Muhammad ibn ‘Imran al-Marzubani (d. 384),
one of the rare Mu‘tazili scholars from whom hadith scholars took narrations
and whom they considered trustworthy in his transmission, though not
unanimously. His mention by Ibn Abi Ya‘la and Ibn al-Qayyim among those who
support their view of the seating of the Prophet (s) on the Throne shows that they tried to
collect as exhaustive a list of authorities as they could. Cf. Al-Dhahabi, Mizan (3:672).
[103]Muhammad ibn Yunus al-Basri al-Kudaymi (d.
286): a hadith master accused of forgery. Al-Dhahabi, Mizan (4:74).
[104]‘Abd Allah ibn Ahmad (ibn Muhammad) ibn
Hanbal (d. 290). A hadith master who compiled and transmitted the Musnad of his father Imam Ahmad who praised
his knowledge of hadith. Ibn Abi Ya‘la narrates from ‘Abd Allah that Imam
Ahmad said: “Musa remained for forty nights such that no-one could look at him
without falling dead due to the light from the Lord of the worlds.” Al-Suyuti
cites it in al-Durr al-Manthur and says it is narrated by Abu
al-Shaykh, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abi Hatim, and al-Hakim, while al-Dhahabi
declared its chain “soft” (layyin).
A foundational book of the Wahhabi creed entitled Kitab al-Sunna is attributed to ‘Abd Allah ibn Ahmad.
Its first edition was sponsored by King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Sa‘ud and a Jedda
businessman named Muhammad Nasif, who also financed the attack on Imam
al-Kawthari and the Hanafi School by ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Mu‘allimi al-Yamani (d.
1386) entitled al-Tankil li Ma
Warada fi Ta’nib al-Kawthari min al-Abatil, in which al-Mu‘allimi declared:
“Allah has a body unlike bodies.” Kitab
al-Sunna was published in
Cairo in 1349/1930 by al-Matba‘a al-Salafiyya and received two recent editions:
by Muhammad Basyuni Zaghlul who based his work on the 1930 edition; and by
Muhammad al-Qahtani, an Umm al-Qura University graduate and author of al-Wala’ wa al-Bara’, a book
which counts relying on the Prophet’se intercession between oneself and Allah I among the “ten actions that negate Islam.”
Al-Kawthari lambasted Kitab
al-Sunna as a collection of
anthropomorphist forgeries in his Maqalat (p. 355) and renamed it Kitab al-Zaygh (“The Book of Deviation”). This book
actually attributes to Imam Ahmad the statement: “Allah spoke to Musa from His
mouth (min fîhi), and He
handed him the Torah from His hand to his hand.” Al-Dhahabi categorically
rejects the authenticity of this narration in the Siyar (9:503, 9:512) and exclaims: “By
Allah! The Imam never said these things. May Allah destroy the one who forged
them…. Look at the ignorance of the hadith scholars, who narrate such nonsense
without a comment.” See also the comments of Shaykh Nuh Keller cited in his
biographical notice in the Reliance and at the website http://ds.dial.pipex.com/masud/ISLAM/nuh/masudq5.htm.
Sources: Ibn Abi Ya‘la, Tabaqat
al-Hanabila (1:29,
1:184-186); al-Dhahabi, Siyar
A‘lam al-Nubala’ (9:512).
[105]Bishr ibn al-Harith, Abu Nasr al-Khurasani
al-Marwazi al-Baghdadi known as Bishr al-Hafi (151-227), a disciple of Fudayl
ibn ‘Iyad (d. 187) and teacher of Sari al-Saqati whose grandfather was Zoroastrian,
he took hadith from Imam Malik, Ibn al-Mubarak, Hammad ibn Zayd, Sharik,
Hushaym, and others. Al-Daraqutni called him: zâhid
jabal thiqa – “an ascetic who
is a mountain of knowledge and trustworthiness.” Among his sayings: “I do not
know anything better than the pursuit of hadith science for whoever fears Allah
and keeps a good intention in this activity; as for myself, I ask forgiveness
from Allah from having ever pursued it, and from every single step I took in
it.” Imam al-Sha‘rani in al-Tabaqat
al-Kubra (1:57) explained
that the reason Bishr abandoned the study of hadith is because he considered
it a conjectural science in comparison with the certitude in belief imparted
by frequenting Fudayl ibn ‘Iyad. Sufyan al-Thawri similarly said: “Would that
all my knowledge were erased from my breast! How can I face being asked,
tomorrow, about each single hadith I ever narrated: ‘What was your purpose in
narrating it?’” He also said: “Would that my hand had been cut off and I never
sought after a single hadith!” Both reports cited by al-Dhahabi in the Siyar (al-Arna’ut ed. 7:255, 7:274). Bishr
also said: “If talking pleases you, keep silent; and if silence pleases you,
then speak.” “O Allah! You know, above Your Throne, that lowliness is more
beloved to me than nobility. O Allah! You know, above Your Throne, that poverty
is more beloved to me than wealth. O Allah! You know, above Your Throne, that I
do not put anything before Your love.” Also related from Bishr al-Hafi is the
statement: “No-one criticizes Abu Hanifa except an envier or an ignoramus.”
Sources: al-Dhahabi, Tarikh
al-Islam (6:142), Manaqib Abi Hanifa(p. 32), and Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’ (9:170-172 #1691).
[107]‘Ali ibn ‘Umar ibn Ahmad ibn Mahdi, Abu
al-Hasan al-Daraqutni al-Baghdadi al-Muqri’ al-Shafi‘i (306-385), Amîr al-Mu’minîn in hadith – the highest level of a
hadith master – a major, trustworthy hadith master named “the Imam,
superexcellent hadith master, Shaykh
al-Islam, emblem of the giants of knowledge, one of the oceans of the
Science and the Imams of the world” by al-Dhahabi. He narrated and transmitted
hadith from and to countless major scholars of the science. He excelled in the
knowledge of the defects of narrators and hadith narrations, the canonical
readings of the Qur’an, fiqh and the differences of opinion among
the jurists, the Arabic language, and the historical disciplines. Raja’ ibn
Muhammad al-Mu‘addil said to him: “Have you ever met anyone of your level?” He
replied: (Therefore justify not yourselves) (53:32). I insisted, whereupon he said: “I
never saw anyone who gathered together what I have gathered.” Abu al-Fath ibn
Abi al-Fawaris asked him one day about a certain hadith and he answered him.
Then he said to him: “O Abu al-Fath, there is not, between the East and the
West, anyone who knows this other than myself.” Al-Hakim said: “I bear witness
that he left no successor.” He considered recommended the visitation to the
graves of Prophets and the Friends of Allah for the sake of obtaining blessing
and intercession. Ibn al-Jawzi relates that al-Daraqutni said: “We used to seek
blessings from Abu al-Fath al-Qawasi’s grave.” He narrated in his Sunan the Prophet’s e hadith: “Whoever visits my grave, my
intercession will be guaranteed for him.” (a hasan narration = “fair”)
Sources: al-Dhahabi, Siyar (12:483-492 #3530); Ibn al-Jawzi, Sifa al-Safwa (2:471).
[110]Al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali ibn Khalaf, Abu Muhammad
al-Barbahari (d. 329), a hadith master. He accompanied Ahmad’s foremost
companion Abu Bakr al-Marwazi, as well as the Sufi master of his time, Sahl ibn
‘Abd Allah al-Tustari. Ibn Abi Ya‘la reports that al-Barbahari composed a Sharh Kitab al-Sunna in which he said: “Whoever takes up
arms against one of the Imams of the Muslims [i.e. one of the Caliphs] is a Khâriji who has split the unity [lit. ‘split
the staff’] of Muslims and contravened the Prophetic reports, and his death is
a death in Jahiliyya.” He also said: “Know that the Religion is nothing other
than imitation (i‘lam anna
al-dîna innamâ huwa al-taqlîd), and I mean imitation of the Companions of
the Prophet (s) (wa
al-taqlîdu li ashâbi rasûlillah sallallâhu ‘alayhi wa sallam).” This book was published in Madina at
Maktaba al-Ghuraba’ al-Athariyya (1993) and is popular among “Salafis.”
Concerning the Jahmis, al-Barbahari declared: “Whoever says that his pronunciation
of the Qur’an is created is a Jahmi, and whoever keeps uncommitted, saying
that it is neither created nor uncreated, is a Jahmi. This is what Ahmad ibn
Hanbal said.” Note that al-Bukhari considered the pronunciation of the Qur’an
created and was expelled from Bukhara by the Hanbalis for it, as related in
the Appendix entitled “The Controversy Over the Pronunciation of the Qur’an” in
our translation of Ibn ‘Abd al-Salam’s Belief
of the People of Truth. The group of Hanbalis led by Barbahari in Baghdad
considered themselves reformers and often took to the streets to “correct”
what they considered unacceptable contraventions of the Religion, injuring or
killing those they considered Jahmis, destroying taverns and musical instruments,
striking women singers, and so forth. In the year 320 in Baghdad Barbahari was
declared wanted by the authorities and the houses of his followers were ransacked.
He fled and remained in hiding until his death nine years later. The worst
controversy attached to al-Barbahari and his group, however, was their
anthropomorphist teaching on the bases of weak narrations attributing limbs to
Allah. Ibn al-Athir relates the Caliph al-Radi’s edict against the Hanbalis in
the year 323, in which he said: “You mention the ‘hand’ and the ‘fingers’ and
the ‘two feet’ and the ‘two gilded sandals’ and the ‘short and curly hair’ and
the ‘climbing’ to heaven and the ‘descending’ to the world – Exalted is Allah
far above what the oppressors and rejecters say of Him! The Emir of the
Believers swears an oath before Allah by which he binds himself, that unless
you put an end to your vile belief and crooked way, to destroy you to the last
man by sword and by fire inside your very houses.” Sources: Ibn Abi Ya‘la, Tabaqat al-Hanabila (2:18-29 #588); Ibn al-Athir, al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh (8:307-309, 8:378); al-Dhahabi, Siyar (11:543-45 #2899).
[111]Ahmad ibn Salman ibn al-Hasan, Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi al-Hanbali al-Najjad (d. 348), eulogized by al-Dhahabi as “the
imam, the hadith scholar, the hadith master, the jurisprudent, the mufti, the
shaykh of Iraq.” The shaykh of al-Daraqutni, al-Hakim, al-Khattabi, Ibn Mandah,
al-Khiraqi, and others, he narrated from ‘Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal and
was the last to narrate from Abu Dawud. He was reported to relate narrations
which were not consigned in his own records, perhaps due to the loss of his
sight.He used to fast every day of the year, and he would break his fast every
night with a loaf of bread of which he left aside one mouthful. On the night of Jum‘a he would give away his loaf as charity
and eat the mouthfuls he had put aside. Ibn Abi Ya‘la, Tabaqat al-Hanabila (2:7-8); al-Dhahabi, Siyar (12:137 #3132) and Mizan (1:101).
[112]‘Ubayd Allah ibn Muhammad, Abu ‘Abd Allah
al-‘Ukbari, known as Ibn Batta (d. 387), a student of al-Najjad and one of the
main authorities in doctrine and law in the Hanbali school, he was a pious
scholar who never left his house in forty years and fasted permanently, except
on the two ‘Îds.
Al-Dhahabi declares him “an imam in the Sunna and an imam in fiqh,” although he cites Abu
al-Qasim al-Azhari’s verdict that “Ibn Batta is extremely weak” (da‘îf da‘îf) while al-Khatib declares him a forger
and narrates from Abu Dharr al-Harawi and others that al-Daraqutni questioned
his truthfulness. Ibn Hajar states: “I discovered something in connection with
Ibn Batta which I found scandalous and hideous.” He then shows that Ibn Batta
may have added words to a hadith in order to give it an anthropomorphic slant.
The hadith in question is Ibn Mas‘ud’s hadith of the Burning Tree narrated by
al-Tirmidhi with a weak chain, whereby the Prophet (s) said: “When Allah spoke
to Musa, the latter was wearing a robe of wool, a wool cloak, and a pair of
sandals made of untanned ox leather.” The addition cited by Ibn Hajar and
apparently forged by Ibn Batta reads: “He [Musa] said: ‘Who is that Hebrew (al-‘ibrânî) who is speaking from the tree?’ And
Allah said: ‘I am Allah.’” The position of Ahl
al-Sunna is that Musa u heard Allah without direction, as narrated
from Ibrahim al-Nakha‘i in al-Tha‘alibi’s Tafsir (4:117). al-Khatib, Tarikh Baghdad (10:371-374, 13:167); al-Dhahabi, Mizan al-I‘tidal (3:15 #5394); Ibn Hajar, Lisan al-Mizan (4:113-114 #231).
[115]An unidentified narrator. Possibly Abu
al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn ‘Amr al-Harrani (d. 488), the companion of Ibn Abi Ya‘la’s
father. Between him and Ibn Batta there is a narrator whose name is omitted.
Cf. Ibn Rajab, Dhayl Tabaqat
al-Hanabila (1:86 #34).
Or: The hadith master Ibn al-Banna’,
Abu ‘Ali al-Hasan ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Baghdadi (d. 471) from whom it is
established that Ibn Abi Ya‘la narrated. He lived eighty years and was known
for his fanatic defense of the Hanbali school. Al-Qifti reported in his Inbah al-Ruwat (1:276) that he once said: “Would that
al-Khatib had mentioned me in Tarikh
Baghdad, even among the liars.” Al-Qifti comments: “He [Ibn al-Banna’] was
a reference in the canonical readings (al-qirâ’ât),
philology (al-lugha), and
hadith, except that he was Hanbali in his belief (Hanbaliyyu al-mu‘taqad).”
Al-Dhahabi cites it in the Siyar (13:653-654 #4258) and comments: “He
is truthful in himself (sadûq
fi nafsih), and it is not a blemish to be Hanbali, by Allah! However, the
Mandah family and others did say of him: ‘except that he was inclined to
deprecate others’ (fîhi
tamash‘ur).” Al-Dhahabi seems to have missed al-Qifti’s point that Ibn
al-Banna’ was Hanbali in his doctrine, not merely his school of law. There is
some irony in this as al-Dhahabi himself is Shafi‘i in his legal school and
“Hanbali” in his school of doctrine, meaning anti-Ash‘ari.
Or: Ibn al-Busri, Abu al-Qasim ‘Ali
ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Baghdadi al-Bundar (d. 474), a trustworthy hadith
master who received a permission to narrate from Ibn Batta as stated by
al-Dhahabi in the Siyar (13:668 #4273).
[116]Abu al-‘Abbas Harun ibn al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Isa
al-Hashimi (d. 275), a trustworthy (thiqa) narrator according to al-Khatib in Tarikh Baghdad (14:27).
[117]Muhammad ibn Bishr ibn al-Farafisa, Abu
‘Abd Allah al-‘Abdi al-Kufi (d. 203), an established hadith master and one of
al-Bukhari and Muslim’s narrators.
[118]‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Sharik ibn ‘Abd Allah
al-Nakha‘i al-Kufi (d. 227), graded by Ibn Hajar in al-Taqrib (p. 342 #3893) as “a truthful but
sometimes mistaken narrator” (sadûq
yukhti’) but al-Arna’ut and
Ma‘ruf in Tahrir al-Taqrib(2:325
#3893) said: “Rather, he is weak (da‘îf).”
Abu Hatim al-Razi classed him “flimsy in his narrations” (wâhi al-hadith) but al-Bukhari narrated from him in al-Adab al-Mufrad. Cf. also
al-Dhahabi, Mizan (2:569 #4887).
[119]This is Sharik ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi
Sharik al-Nakh‘i (d. 177), a truthful narrator (sadûq) whose narrations are accepted in the
Four books of Sunan but Muslim used him only for
narrations unrelated to legal rulings (ahkâm).
Al-Daraqutni said: “Sharik is not strong in the narrations which he alone
reports.” Al-Dhahabi, Mizan (2:271 #3697); Ibn Hajar, Taqrib (p. 266 #2787); Ma‘ruf, Tahrir (2:113-114 #2787).
[120]Abu Yahya al-Qattat al-Kinani al-Kufi (d.
~130), known as Zadhan, declared weak by Sharik ibn ‘Abd Allah according to
Ahmad ibn Hanbal. However, his narrations from Mujahid are found in
al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, and Ahmad as indicated by al-Mizzi in Tahdhib al-Kamal (34:402), al-Dhahabi in al-Kashif (2:471) and Ibn Hajar in al-Taqrib (p. 684) and Tahdhib al-Tahdhib (12:303). The latter graded Zadhan
“soft” (layyin), as
confirmed by al-Arna’ut and Ma‘ruf in al-Tahrir (4:295 #8444). Muslim said in al-Kuna
wa al-Asma’ (1:905), under
Abu Yahya Muslim al-Qattat: “Al-A‘mash, al-Thawri, and Isra’il narrated from
him.”[120] Ibn Ma‘in did say of Zadhan that he
was thiqaaccording to
‘Uthman ibn Sa‘id al-Darimi, but according to ‘Abbas al-Duri he also said:
“There is some weakness in his narration” (fî
hadîthihi du‘f). Zadhan was also declared weak by al-Nasa’i, Ahmad, Ibn
Sa‘d, Ibn Hibban, and others. Shaykh Ahmad Shakir declares him trustworthy (thiqa) on the basis of Ibn Ma‘in’s
declaration to that effect and al-Bukhari’s silence in his notice on Zadhan in al-Tarikh
al-Kabir (2:1 #400=3:438
Nadwi ed.). Cf. Ahmad’sMusnad (3:133-134
#2493). He should not be confused with Abu ‘Umar al-Kindi al-Bazzaz, who is
trustworthy (thiqa) and one of Muslim’s narrators in the
latter’s Sahih.
Al-Dhahabi, Mizan (4:586 #10729); Ibn Hajar, Taqrib (p. 684 #8444).
[121]Mu‘adh ibn al-Muthanna (d. 288), declared
trustworthy by al-Dhahabi. He was one of Imam Ahmad’s companions and related
from him that he said: “Whoever abandons the witr prayer deliberately is an evil-doer
who is abandoning a Sunna of the Prophet (s), and he is no longer considered an
upright person (sâqitu
al-‘adâla).” Tabaqat
al-Hanabila (1:339 #489); Siyar (11:69 #2477). Cf. al-Shafi‘i:
“Whoever leaves either the Sunna of fajr or Salat
al-Witr, is in a worse state than if he had left all the supererogatory
prayers.” Narrated from al-Rabi‘ in al-Umm (1:142).
[122]Khallad ibn Aslam, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
(d. 249), one of al-Tirmidhi’s and al-Nasa’i’s shaykhs, unanimously considered
trustworthy as a narrator.
[124]This is the same as al-Tabari’s and Ibn
Abi ‘Asim’s narrations of Mujahid’s hadith through their chains in Section 5
above. Both Ibn Abi Ya‘la’s chains cited here are weak due to Ibn Batta, in
addition to the possibility of a missing link between ‘Ali and Ibn Batta. The
second chain is weak due to Layth ibn Abi Sulaym. Both chains contain
undecisive transmission terminology (‘an‘ana),
which makes them weaker, especially if al-Haythami’s grading of Layth as a
“concealer” (mudallis) is correct (see his note). Finally,
even if these chains were considered good until Mujahid, the chain remains
severed at his level (maqtu‘),
and the hadith itself remains “condemned” (munkar) as stated by al-Dhahabi.
[125]Abu Yahya al-Naqid is unidentified,
possibly Ahmad ibn ‘Isam ibn ‘Abd al-Majid Abu Yahya al-Ansari (d. 272), who
narrated hadith from Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi and from whom narrated Ibn Abi Dawud
al-Sijistani. His rank as a narrator is trustworthy (thiqa) according to Ibn Hayyan in Tabaqat al-Muhaddithin fi Asbahan (3:43) and “truthful” (sâdiq) according to al-Dhahabi in the Siyar (10:452 #2243).
[126]Ya‘qub ibn Yusuf ibn Ayyub, Abu Bakr
al-Mutawwa‘i al-Baghdadi (d. 287), one of Imam Ahmad’s students. Ja‘far
al-Khaldi said: “I heard Abu Bakr al-Mutawwa‘i say: ‘My daily devotion (wird) in my youth consisted in readingQul
Huwa Allahu Ahad 31,000 or
41,000 times – Ja‘far was unsure – in every twenty-four hours.’” Al-Daraqutni
said he is trustworthy. Ibn Abi Ya‘la, Tabaqat
al-Hanabila (1:417 #545).
[129]In fact, there is not a single narration
actually traced back up to the Prophet (s) himself mentioning his seating next
to Allah on the Throne, whether with an interrupted or uninterrupted chain.
Al-Najjad’s claim seems based on his assumption that Mujahid’s and ‘Abd Allah
ibn Salam’s reports have the status of marfû‘,
which was never established.
[130]See Section 4 for the hadith of Ibn
‘Abbas. Other than that, what al-Najjad attributes to Ibn ‘Abbas was apparently
never reported from him.
[131]Here al-Najjad moves from an apologetic
and descriptive stance concerned primarily with the evidence at hand to an
aggressive stance aiming at the persons of those who question it. Towards the
end of the passage he once more modifies his attack so as to represent any
disputation of Mujahid’s narration as an attack on the Prophet (s) himself.
[132]This could be either Ibn Abi al-Dunya –
‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Ubayd, Abu Bakr al-Qurashi al-Baghdadi (d. 281),
or Abu Bakr al-Khallal. Both of them were prolific writers and narrated from
Abu Dawud. It is, moreover, established that al-Najjad narrated from Ibn Abi
al-Dunya but not that he narrated from al-Khallal. However, it is more likely
that the latter is meant since in his book al-Sunna he insisted heavily on the statement
that Allah literally sits on the Throne and that Jahmis alone deny it, whereas
no such extremism is known from Ibn Abi al-Dunya. Furthermore, the accusation
of Jahmism is typical of al-Khallal and of Hanbalis of his period to that of
Ibn Abi Ya‘la in general.
[135]Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan, Abu
Ja‘far al-Daqiqi (d. 266), a truthful narrator (sadûq) from whom Ibn Majah and Abu Dawud took
three hadiths in all. The latter said of him that “he had little insight”.
Al-Dhahabi,Mizan (3:632
#7893).
[137]Here al-Najjad again rephrases his
argument to read like a condemnation of those who deny the pre-eminence of the
Prophet (s). His rhetoric is much enhanced by the fact that such a denial
unanimously amounts to disbelief. However, al-Tirmidhi only rejected the
authenticity of Mujahid’s report! Cf. al-Khallal’s Sunna (p. 232).
[142]Hajji Khalifa, Kashf al-Zunun (2:1438). This has been removed from
the printed edition of both Abu Hayyan’s commentaries al-Bahr al-Muhit and al-Nahr
al-Madd min al-Bahr [passage
on ayat al-Kursi] by their
Cairo publisher as the latter acknowledged it himself. See al-Kawthari’s note
in his commentary on Ibn al-Subki’s al-Sayf
al-Saqil (p. 96-97) and
al-Ghumari’s Bida‘ al-Tafasir (p. 156).
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