And Shaikh Nasr ul-Maqdisee ash-Shaafi'ee said in
the book 'al-Hujjah', 'And if someone should say, 'You have mentioned what is obligatory
upon the People of Islaam of following the Book of Allaah and following the Sunnah of His
Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) ...' until he said, '...so he mentioned their madhaahibs (ways, i.e. what
they were upon and held to) and what they had agreed upon with respect to their beliefs
and what we are obliged to hold from those matters that they had ijmaa' upon, so what is
obligatory: that which I found the People of Knowledge upon and those whom I met and took
knowledge from and those whose saying has reached me from other than them ... then he
mentioned a summary of the creed of Ahl us-Sunnah and in it occurs, 'Verily, Allaah
ascended His Throne, and is separate and distinct (baa'in) from His creation'." End
of his words.
Shaikh ul-Islaam also quotes from Abu 'Umar Ibn
'Abdul-Barr, from the Shaikh and 'Aarif, Ma'mar bn Ahmad al-Asbahaanee, from Abdur-Rahmaan
bin Abee Haatim, the athar of al-Awzaa'ee, from Abu Hasan al-Ash'aree and some of his
major companions. He also quotes from Ibn 'Asaakir, Ibn Fawraak and Alee bin Mahdee
at-Tabaree, who are the greatest of the companions of al-Ash'aree and also from
al-Qurtubee the mufassir as occurs in 'Bayaan ut-Talbees' (2/332). In fact he quotes this
ijmaa' from twenty imaams from the Salaf and the Khalaf as occurs in 'Dar' ut-Ta'aarud'
(1/245), including the Imaam, Ahmad bin Hanbal, Alee bin al-Madeenee, Ishaaq bin
Ibraaheem, Daawood bin 'Alee, Uthmaan ad-Daarimee, Ibn Khuzaimah, Ibn Kullaab,
al-Qalaanisee, al-Ash'aree, Abu Hasan at-Tabari, Abu Bakr al-Ismaa'eelee, Abu Nu'aym
al-Asbahaanee, Ibn 'Abdul-Barr and others which are many in number.
All of those Imaams say that Allaah is above the
Throne with ijmaa' (concensus) [5]. So do they (also) agree upon the opposing rational
proof, which the intellect (seemingly) proves to be correct? Far be it from them! For
there is no intelligence, nor textual proof with the philosophers, only doubts, crimes,
desires and suspicions, some of which destroy others!!
The Fourth
That the saying of those philosophers necessitates
the most ugly and detestable of requirements and that is describing Allaah with
non-existence. Shaikh ul-Islaam said in 'Bayaan ut-Talbees' (2/104), "And this is
from that which the Scholars of Ahl us-Sunnah and the Imaams of the Deen are agreed upon,
that the saying of the Jahmiyyah that, 'He is not above the Throne nor inside the world,
nor outside of it' implies that He is non-existent, having no reality, nor existence, and
they (the Ahl us-Sunnah) have explained this more than once." End of his words.
Know that the objective here is not to narrate
rational proofs, requisites and refutations against the doubts that the philosophers
amongst Ahl ul-Kalaam have preferred. Whoever desires a lengthy treatment should return to
the books of Shaikh ul-Islaam, such as 'Bayaan Talbees ul-Jahmiyyah' and 'Dar'
ut-Ta'araud', for they contain hundreds of pages of the refutation of the false principles
of the philosophers, those for which they are not capable of bringing any criticism or
reply. Let that which we have quoted be a key and an illumination by which the heart of
the seeker of truth is strengthened.
The Fifth
After this Shaikh ul-Islaam established that the
difference in applying 'al-jihah' (direction) to Allaah is a difference in wording
(alone), for all of those who affirm the highness of Allaah above His creation (at the
same time) negate the direction which the philosophers presume, which limits Allaah and
confines Him, and they affirm that Allaah is above His Throne, regardless of whether you
call it 'al-jihah' (direction) or not. Therefore, the difference occurs with respect to
the wording, and not in the meaning.