Ibn al-Qayyim’s Defense of Ibn Karam
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The Shaykh :"These are the articles of Ibn Karam, and *** they have never refuted them with proof"
Now, Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) is defending this? He is defending Ibn Karam. There is no doubt that defending a person whose evil is less than that of others is a good thing. And he will clarify, if Allah wills, in the second chapter that his speech is also not correct.
"How" means: It is very far-fetched that they would refute them.
"And what he said is closer to *** reason, the athar, and the Qur'an than theirs"
Is this correct? What Ibn Karam said is closer to reason, the athar—which are the sunnah—and the Qur'an, the speech of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), than what the Mu'tazilah and the Jahmiyyah said. This is because Ibn Karam differed from the people of the Sunnah in only one thing. What is it? Here?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : The createdness of speech as a type. If he had said its createdness is individual, he would have agreed with the people of the Sunnah. He said its createdness is a type, because he feared that saying its createdness is a type, and since speech, as you know, is arranged with some of it following some, if he said its eternality is a type, he feared that saying its eternality is a type would lead to an infinite regress of created things. And in his opinion, this necessitates the denial of the Creator (Mighty and Majestic), the eternality of the Creator. And it has passed us that this does not necessitate that, and that it is not correct.
Now, Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) is defending this? He is defending Ibn Karam. There is no doubt that defending a person whose evil is less than that of others is a good thing. And he will clarify, if Allah wills, in the second chapter that his speech is also not correct.
"How" means: It is very far-fetched that they would refute them.
"And what he said is closer to *** reason, the athar, and the Qur'an than theirs"
Is this correct? What Ibn Karam said is closer to reason, the athar—which are the sunnah—and the Qur'an, the speech of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), than what the Mu'tazilah and the Jahmiyyah said. This is because Ibn Karam differed from the people of the Sunnah in only one thing. What is it? Here?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : The createdness of speech as a type. If he had said its createdness is individual, he would have agreed with the people of the Sunnah. He said its createdness is a type, because he feared that saying its createdness is a type, and since speech, as you know, is arranged with some of it following some, if he said its eternality is a type, he feared that saying its eternality is a type would lead to an infinite regress of created things. And in his opinion, this necessitates the denial of the Creator (Mighty and Majestic), the eternality of the Creator. And it has passed us that this does not necessitate that, and that it is not correct.