Clarifying the True Meaning of Ibn Taymiyyah's Statement on Events That Have No Beginning
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Question:
By Allah, Shaykh Salih, many of those who disparage the Shaykh of Islam, Ibn Taymiyyah, attribute to him the claim that in his book *Al-Radd 'ala al-Bakri* he held the view that there are occurrences with no beginning. This is mentioned in many of the books that are being distributed now. So I do not know what you say about this, O Shaykh, and is this statement established from the Shaykh of Islam?
Answer:
This is a lie, and it is not new; it was said before by al-Subki and others. The Shaykh did not say that there are occurrences with no beginning. Rather, the Shaykh says that the actions of Allah have no beginning, because Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) has no beginning, so His actions have no beginning. He intended to refute those who say that the actions and attributes are created, and that time passed for Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He above what they say) in which He did not act and did not possess these attributes. Because if we say that the attributes and actions are eternal, it necessitates the multiplicity of eternal beings, they say, which is the multiplicity of gods. This is ignorance, and may Allah protect us from it. The human being among us, meaning, to Allah belongs the highest example, from the moment he is born, he possesses some attributes, is that not so? So is it said that so-and-so’s woman gave birth to several people because she gave birth to a person who has attributes? Yes.
So does the multiplicity of attributes necessitate the multiplicity of the one described? They wanted to confuse the people with this, and they said that the Shaykh says there are occurrences with no beginning. No, the Shaykh says that the actions of Allah and the attributes of Allah have no beginning, just as He (Glorified and Exalted is He) has no beginning. And the multiplicity of attributes and actions does not indicate the multiplicity of the one described. This is a fallacy. This was the intention of the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him). This is mentioned in the commentary on the *Tahawiyyah*, his refutation is mentioned there, and the Shaykh clarified it in his refutation of al-Razi in *Tatweer al-Taqdis* and in other of his books. Yes.
By Allah, Shaykh Salih, many of those who disparage the Shaykh of Islam, Ibn Taymiyyah, attribute to him the claim that in his book *Al-Radd 'ala al-Bakri* he held the view that there are occurrences with no beginning. This is mentioned in many of the books that are being distributed now. So I do not know what you say about this, O Shaykh, and is this statement established from the Shaykh of Islam?
Answer:
This is a lie, and it is not new; it was said before by al-Subki and others. The Shaykh did not say that there are occurrences with no beginning. Rather, the Shaykh says that the actions of Allah have no beginning, because Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) has no beginning, so His actions have no beginning. He intended to refute those who say that the actions and attributes are created, and that time passed for Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He above what they say) in which He did not act and did not possess these attributes. Because if we say that the attributes and actions are eternal, it necessitates the multiplicity of eternal beings, they say, which is the multiplicity of gods. This is ignorance, and may Allah protect us from it. The human being among us, meaning, to Allah belongs the highest example, from the moment he is born, he possesses some attributes, is that not so? So is it said that so-and-so’s woman gave birth to several people because she gave birth to a person who has attributes? Yes.
So does the multiplicity of attributes necessitate the multiplicity of the one described? They wanted to confuse the people with this, and they said that the Shaykh says there are occurrences with no beginning. No, the Shaykh says that the actions of Allah and the attributes of Allah have no beginning, just as He (Glorified and Exalted is He) has no beginning. And the multiplicity of attributes and actions does not indicate the multiplicity of the one described. This is a fallacy. This was the intention of the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him). This is mentioned in the commentary on the *Tahawiyyah*, his refutation is mentioned there, and the Shaykh clarified it in his refutation of al-Razi in *Tatweer al-Taqdis* and in other of his books. Yes.
Source
الفوزان - لقاء مع طلبة العلم بحائل — archive.org (57:25)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.