SOURCE:http://www.sunnah.org/aqida/anthro/anthro4.htm

ON THE ANTHROPOMORPHISM OF “SALAFIS”

Ibn Taymiyya’s Literal Representation of Allah’s “Descent”

We understand something of the contemporary scholar’s impression of Ibn Taymiyya from the Tuhfat al-nuzzar or “Travels” of Ibn Battuta, who relates:

“When I came to Damascus there was a man called Ibn Taymiyya speaking about religious science, but there was something strange in his mind One day he was giving the Jum`a sermon and he said, ”Our Lord descends to the nearest heaven thus,” then he went down two steps on the minbar and he said “like my descending” (kanuzuli hadha).”

This well-known incident is confirmed both internally through Ibn Taymiyya’s own writings, and externally as related in Ibn Hajar’s Durar Najm al-Din Sulayman ibn `Abd al-Qawi) al-Tufi (al-Hanbali) said:

“They ascertained that he had blurted out certain words concerning doctrine which came out of his mouth in the context of his sermons and legal decisions, and they mentioned that he had cited the hadith of Allah’s descent, then climbed down two steps from the minbar and said: “Just like this descent of mine” and he was categorized as an anthropomorphist.”¹

Ibn Taymiyya’s conception of Allah’s bodily descent is also stated in his own writings, as shown from the following excerpt from his al-Ta’sis fi al-radd `ala asas al-taqdis, written as a refutation of Imam al-Razi who was a fierce enemy of the Karramiyya and other anthropomorphists: The Creator, Glorified and Exalted is He, is above the world and His being above is literal, not in the sense of dignity or rank. It may be said of the precedence of a certain object over another that it is with respect to dignity or rank, or that it is with respect to location. For example, respectively: the precedence of the learned over the ignorant and the precedence of the imam over the one praying behind him. Allah’s precedence over the world is not like that, rather, it is a literal precedence (i.e. in time). Similarly the elevation above the world could be said to be with respect to dignity or rank, as for example when it said that the learned is above the ignorant. But Allah’s elevation over the world is not like that, rather He is elevated over it literally (i.e. in space). And this is the known elevation and the known precedence<sup>2</sup> It should be clear that the above in no way represents the position of Imam Ahmad or his school. As Ibn al-Jawzi reported in his Daf` shubah al-tashbih: `Ali ibn Muhammad ibn `Umar al-Dabbas related to us that Rizq Allah ibn `Abd al-Wahhab al-Tamimi said: “Ahmad ibn Hanbal did not attribute a direction to the Creator.” ³

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¹ Ibn Hajar, al-Durar 1:153. ² Ibn Taymiyya, al-Ta’sis al-radd `ala asas al-taqdis 1:111.

³ Ibn al-Jawzi, Daf` shubah al-tashbih p. 135.

Reproduced with permission from Shaykh M. Hisham Kabbani’s _The Repudiation of “Salafi” Innovations_ (Kazi, 1996) p. 96-97.Blessings and Peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions

“O” you foolish Wahhabis and Salafis who make such misguided scholar like Ibn Taymiyya as their shayk ul Islam who has made Allah into a body like a human being and has dared to insult Allah ascribing that he descends and ascends like a human being from the heavens .

He ( Ibn Taymiyya) has also dared to insult Allah giving Him a direction in space stating Allah is elevated over world literally (i.e. in space) when Allah is free from space and direction as He is the

Al Zahir and Al Batin ( The Manifest and the Hidden )

Unto Allah belong the East and the West, and whithersoever ye turn, there is Allah’s Countenance. Lo! Allah is All-Embracing,All-Knowing. Quran Surah Al Baqra verse 115

By Allah you foolish Wahhabis and Salafis repent from insulting Allah and stop giving and restricting Allah to a certain direction .

“O” so called Salafi fools stop saying Allah descends and ascends like we human beings do , repent of this blasphemy and the greatest evil bidah made in Islam by any Islamic cults .

And you so called Salafi and Wahhabi fools DARE to call the Scholars , Imams and Sufi Saints of Ahle Sunnah (Sunni) as bidati !!!?

First correct your own aqeeda and evil pseudo Islamic beliefs regarding Allah and STOP insulting Allah by your Anthropomorphism before you are kicked out properly from Ahle Sunnah Jamat ( Sunni) .

I would like to challenge any hypocrite so called Wahhabi and Salafi fool to prove all the true Muslims of Ahle Sunnah (Sunni) that Allah is restricted to space or heaven ONLY and Allah ascends and descends like humans !!! , if you cant do it , and you will never be able to do it Allah Hu Akbar , then repent for your Insult to Allah and abandon your satanic cults of Wahhabi or Salafi and join the true Muslim Jamat of Ahle Sunnah ( Sunni) .

Courtsey

Dr Syed Abdul Raheem

Author of Answering Wahhabism and Salafism