And the body is composed of those two according to the philosopher, and that is refuted (Explanation of the philosophers' claim that the body is composed of matter and form, and Ibn al-Qayyim's refutation of them)
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The Shaykh :"And the body is composed of those two according to the philosopher, and that is refuted"
The philosophers say that the body is composed of matter and form, but Ibn al-Qayyim says that this is refuted; it is not so. Every body must have a form. We do not say that the form is composed with it; rather, every body must have a form, and it is not correct to say that it is composed of two things, for it is one single thing. Every existing thing must have a form appropriate to it. You say that the body is composed of matter and form in order to deny the attributes of Allah and other things, because if you make the body composed of two things, the attributes become other than the one described. This is what led them to deny the attributes of Allah, because they say: if you affirm an attribute for Allah, it necessitates the multiplicity of the eternal, and that these attributes would be eternal, while the Self of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is eternal. This would necessitate the multiplicity of the eternal. The Shaykh al-Islam and Ibn al-Qayyim refuted this and said: it is not possible to say that the body is composed of two things; rather, it is one single thing, but every existing thing must have a form.
The philosophers say that the body is composed of matter and form, but Ibn al-Qayyim says that this is refuted; it is not so. Every body must have a form. We do not say that the form is composed with it; rather, every body must have a form, and it is not correct to say that it is composed of two things, for it is one single thing. Every existing thing must have a form appropriate to it. You say that the body is composed of matter and form in order to deny the attributes of Allah and other things, because if you make the body composed of two things, the attributes become other than the one described. This is what led them to deny the attributes of Allah, because they say: if you affirm an attribute for Allah, it necessitates the multiplicity of the eternal, and that these attributes would be eternal, while the Self of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is eternal. This would necessitate the multiplicity of the eternal. The Shaykh al-Islam and Ibn al-Qayyim refuted this and said: it is not possible to say that the body is composed of two things; rather, it is one single thing, but every existing thing must have a form.