A Summary of What Has Preceded in This Chapter
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : In the name of Allah. The author (may Allah have mercy on him) explains the positions of the people of ta'til (denial of the divine attributes), or the views that contradict the statement of the Salaf (the earliest generations). He mentions what has preceded regarding the denial of the rising above the Throne of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and His speech. He clarifies that this necessitates the ta'til (denial of the divine attributes) of the one who denies the attributes of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and of the Messenger, and of the religion, and of the Shari'ah (Islamic sacred law), and indeed of all religions. He also mentions that added to these false views is the claim that faith is merely the affirmation of Allah, mere affirmation. This is the view of the Jahmiyyah (a sect that denied the divine attributes), who say that if a person affirms Allah, he is a believer with complete faith, and that faith cannot decrease, because faith is acknowledgment, and acknowledgment does not vary. He says:
"If he affirms Him and denies every prescribed attribute, *** And does not fear disobedience,
Faith does not decrease by a mustard seed, *** How could it, for it is not subject to decrease?"
They say that the most upright people in the religion of Allah and the strongest in obedience to Him are like the one who does not perform obedience. One person spends the hours of the night and day in obedience to Allah and avoids sins, while another does the opposite, committing sins during the hours of the night and day and avoiding acts of obedience. Yet both affirm that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) exists. They say that their faith is the same; the faith of the most sinful person is like the faith of the most just person. Yes.
Also, among their bad and false statements is their claim that prophethood is not a description that resides in a person, but rather the attachment of the ancient meaning to one of the people. The ancient meaning is speech, the speech of Allah. That is, the Prophet is the one to whom the speech of Allah, which is the ancient meaning, attaches. They do not affirm that the speech of Allah is in letters by which Jibril (Gabriel) descends upon this Prophet, making him a Prophet. No. They say that the Messenger is the one to whom the mental meaning attaches. And yet they say that this attachment is not fixed in the external reality, but is only in the mind and does not truly exist in the external reality; it is something the mind posits.
"If he affirms Him and denies every prescribed attribute, *** And does not fear disobedience,
Faith does not decrease by a mustard seed, *** How could it, for it is not subject to decrease?"
They say that the most upright people in the religion of Allah and the strongest in obedience to Him are like the one who does not perform obedience. One person spends the hours of the night and day in obedience to Allah and avoids sins, while another does the opposite, committing sins during the hours of the night and day and avoiding acts of obedience. Yet both affirm that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) exists. They say that their faith is the same; the faith of the most sinful person is like the faith of the most just person. Yes.
Also, among their bad and false statements is their claim that prophethood is not a description that resides in a person, but rather the attachment of the ancient meaning to one of the people. The ancient meaning is speech, the speech of Allah. That is, the Prophet is the one to whom the speech of Allah, which is the ancient meaning, attaches. They do not affirm that the speech of Allah is in letters by which Jibril (Gabriel) descends upon this Prophet, making him a Prophet. No. They say that the Messenger is the one to whom the mental meaning attaches. And yet they say that this attachment is not fixed in the external reality, but is only in the mind and does not truly exist in the external reality; it is something the mind posits.