What is meant by “the beliefs of the old women of Nishapur” in the words of Imam al-Haramayn?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. It is reported that Imam al-Haramayn said, “I wish we would die upon the beliefs of the old women of Nishapur.” He asks: What did he mean by the beliefs of these old women?
Answer:
That they did not enter into the science of kalam (theology) and disputation. He wished that they had not entered into the science of disputation and the science of kalam, and that they remained upon fitrah (the innate natural disposition), just as the old women are upon their fitrah. Yes, this is evidence of the invalidity of the science of kalam, and that it leads only to confusion and turmoil. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. It is reported that Imam al-Haramayn said, “I wish we would die upon the beliefs of the old women of Nishapur.” He asks: What did he mean by the beliefs of these old women?
Answer:
That they did not enter into the science of kalam (theology) and disputation. He wished that they had not entered into the science of disputation and the science of kalam, and that they remained upon fitrah (the innate natural disposition), just as the old women are upon their fitrah. Yes, this is evidence of the invalidity of the science of kalam, and that it leads only to confusion and turmoil. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 434- ما المقصود بـ«عقائد عجائز نيسابور» في كلام إمام الحرمين؟ - صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.