LITERALISM AND THE ATTRIBUTES OF ALLAH

NU HA MIM KELLER

Literalism and the Attributes of Allah

Literalism and the Attributes of Allah

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I received a letter in Jordan not too long ago from a British Muslim, asking me questions about modern calls to replace traditional Islam with an ostensible "return t ot h e wa yo ft h eS a l a f ,o r e a r l y Mu s l i ms . " Wh e n Ia n s we r e do n eo ft h e s e questions, I realized that many other people might be wondering the same thing, and thought that presenting the question to you tonight in a wider forum might be of greater benefit to the British Muslim and non-Muslim audience. The letter asked me: Are the Hanbali Mujtahid Imams al-Dhahiri and Ibn Hazm considered Ahl al-Sunna? And was Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal an anthropomorphistmeaning someone who ascribed human attributes to Allah? Can you provide me e x a mp l e so f t h es a y i n g so f I ma mA h ma dt h a t s h o wh ed i dn o t h a v ea n t h r o p o mo r p h i c A q i d a ? The questions proved to be related in ways unsuspected by their author. What unites them is literalism as an interpretive principle, which is the subj e c t o f myt a l kt o n i g h t . Wewi l l l o o ka t i t f i r s t i nr e s p e c t t oi j t i h a d , me a n i n gt h e q u a l i f i e dd e d u c t i o no f I s l a mi cl e g a l r u l i n g sf r o mt h eK o r a na n dh a d i t h . B u t wewi l l l o o ka t l i t e r a l i s ma l s o , a n dmo s t c a r e f u l l y , f r o mt h ep o i n t o f view of a q i d ao rI s l a mi cb e l i e f , i nu n d e r s t a n d i n gt h eK o r a n i cv e r s e sa n dp r o p h e t i ch a d i t h st h a ta r ec a l l e d mu t a s h a b i h a to r u n c l e a ri n me a n i n g such as the verse in Surat al-Fath that says, " A l l a h sh a n di sa b o v et h e i r h a n d s "( K o r a n4 8 : 1 0 ) t e r me d u n c l e a ri n me a n i n g , mu t a s habih, because linguistically hand can bear multiple interpretations, and its ostensive s e n s es e e ms t oi mp l y b e l i e fi naG o d wi t hh u ma na t t r i b u t e s , t h a ti s ,a n t h r o p o mo r p h i s m,a nu n d e r s t a n d i n gc a t e g o r i c a l l y rejected by the Koranic verse in Surat al-Shura, "There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him" (Koran 42:11). We shall see that literalism was a school of thought in Islamic jurisprudence, though not considered a very strong one by traditional scholars. But in tenets of faith, and particularly in interpreting the relation of the mutashabihat to the attributes of A l l a h , l i t e r a l i s mh a sn e v e r b e e na c c e p t e da sa nI s l a mi cs c h o o l o f t h o u g h t , n e i t h e r a mo n gt h eS a l a f o r e a r l yMu s l i ms , n o r t h ose who came later. In answer to the first question, "Are the Hanbali Mujtahid Imams al-Dhahiri and Ibn Hazm considered Ahl al-Sunna?" Dawud ibn A l i a l -Dhahiri of Isfahan, who died 270 years after the Hijra, and Abu Muhammad ibn Hazm, who died 456 years after the Hijra, were not followers of Ahmad ibn Hanbal but Dhahiris or l i t e r a l i s t s i nj u r i s p r u d e n c e .Wh e t h e rD a wu da l -Dhahiri was a mujtahidmeaning qualified to issue expert Islamic legal opinionhas been disagreed upon by Muslim scholars, not only for reasons we will discuss, but also because little that he wrote has come down to us. As for Ibn Hazm, traditional Islamic scholars have not accepted his claims to be a mujtahid, the first qualification of which is to have comprehensive knowledge of the Koran and hadith. Scholars point to his many substantive mistakes in hadi t hk n o wl e d g e ,a n da d d u c e , f o re x a mp l e , t h a ti f s o me o n ed o e s n te v e n know, as Ibn Hazm did not, about the existence of the Sunan of al-Tirmidhi, who died nearly a hundred and fifty years before

Nuh Ha Mim Keller

Literalism and the Attributes of Allah

Ibn Hazm did, it is not clear how he can be considered a mujtahid. But aside from their qualifications, what interests us tonight i st h e i r D h a h i r i s mo r t e x t u a l l i t e r a l i s m a sa ni n t e r p r e t i v eme t h o d .
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What the Dhahiris are most famous for is their denial of all qiyas or analogy. It is recorded, for example, that Dawud held that t h eK o r a n i cp r o h i b i t i o no f s a y i n g" U f f "i nd i s g u s t t oo n e sp a r e n t sd i dn o t p r o v et h a t i t wa swr o n gt ob e a t t h e m, s i n c et h el iteral content of the verse only concerned saying "Uff," and no analogy could be drawn from this about anything else. Similarly, Ibn Hazm seems to have believed the prohibition in hadith of urinating into a pool of water did not show that there is anything wrong with defecating in it. These are two examples of denials of what is called in Arabic a qiyas jaliyy meaning an a fortiori analogy. Denying the validity of the a fortiori analogy is so counterintuitive, that Imam al-Juwayni, who died 478 years after the Hijra, has said: The position adopted by the most exacting of scholars is that those who deny analogy are not considered scholars of t h eU mma o rc o n v e y e r so ft h eS h a r i a ,b e c a u s et h e yo p p o s eo u to fme r eo b s t i n a c ya n de x c h a n g ec a l u mn i e sa b o u tt h i n g s established by an overwhelming preponderence of the evidence, conveyed by whole groups from whole groups back to their prophetic origin (tawatur). F o rmo s to ft h eS h a r i ap r o c e e d sf r o m i j t i h a d ,a n dt h eu n i q u i v o c a l s t a t e me n t sf r o m t h eK o r a na n dh a d i t hd on o td e a l [ n :i n s p e c i f i cp a r t i c u l a r sb yn a me ]wi t he v e n at e n t ho f t h eS h a r i a[ n :a smo s to f I s l a mi cl i f ei sc o v e r e db yg eneral principles given by Allah to guide Muslims in every culture and time], so they [the literalists] are not considered of the learned" (al-Dhahabi, S i y a r a l a ma l -n u b a l a [ B e i r u t :Mu a s s a s aa l -Risala, 1401/1984], 13.105). F r o m J u wa y n i sr e ma r kt h a t" t he uniquivocal statements from the Koran and hadith do not deal with even a tenth of the S h a r i a , " we c a nu n d e r s t a n d a ma i ni mp e t u so fD h a h i r it h o u g h tb y wh i c hi td i f f e r e df r o m t h ef o u rs c h o o l so fS u n n i jurisprudence; namely, that it radically truncated the r a n g ea n dr e l e v a n c eo ft h eS h a r i at on o t h i n g mo r et h a nt h o s er u l i n g s established by the literal wording (dhahir) of hadiths or verses. And this is perhaps one reason today for renewed interest in the long-dead school, namely, that it frees people from ha v i n gt ol e a r na n df o l l o wt h el a r g ep a r to f t h eS h a r i ad e d u c e df r o m t h e general and comprehensive ethos of the Koran and sunna. But secondly, if one reflects for a moment on the fiqh questions we hear urged today by youthful reformers in our mosques, it is plain that a great many of what are termed "Salafi ijtihads" are not salafi (early Muslim) at all, but mere Dhahiri or literalist interpretations of hadiths. To their credit, the movement we are speaking of has revived interest in hadith among Islamic sc h o l a r sa c r o s st h eb o a r d .B u ti th a sa l s og i v e nr i s et oab i d ao r r e p r e h e n s i b l ei n n o v a t i o n ;n a me l y ,t h a tt h ee mp h a s i so n hadith and its ancillary disciplines to the exclusion of other Islamic sciences equally necessary to understanding the revelation, such as fiqh methodology, or the conditioning of hadith by general principles expressed in the Koran, has created a false d i c h o t o myi nma n yMu s l i ms mi n d so f e i t h e r f i q ho r h a d i t h , wh e r ewh a t i sn e e d e di sf i q ho r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f h a d i t h .

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Literalism and the Attributes of Allah

For example, a young man, after leading us at salat al-fajr prayer in Chicago a few months ago, told a latecomer to the first r a k a( wh oh a db e e nf i n i s h i n gh i ss u n n ap r a y e rwh e nt h ei q a ma ( c a l lt oc o mme n c e )wa s ma d e ) :" I ft h ep r e s c r i b e dp r a y e r b e g i n s ,y o ud o n tf i n i s ht h es u n n a ,b u tq u i ta n dj o i nt h eg r o u p .D o n tl i s t e nt oA b uH a n i f a ,o rMa l i k ,o rS h a f i i ;t h eh a d i t hi s c l e a r :L as a l a t ab a d aa l -iqama illa al-ma k t u b a T h e r ei sn op r a y e r a f t e r t h ei q a mae x c e p t t h ep r e s c r i b e do n e . " N o w, t h ed h a h i ro r l i t e r a l me a n i n g o f t h eh a d i t h wa sa sh es a i d , b u t t h eI ma mso f S h a r i ah a v en o t u n d e r s t o o di t t h i swa yf o r the very good reason that Allah says in Surat Muhammad of the Koran, "And do not nullify your works" (Koran 47:33), and to simply quit an act of worshipnamely, the sunnar a k a sb e f o r ef a j r i sp r e c i s e l yt on u l l i f yo n eo f o n e swo r k s . Scholars rather understand the hadith to mean that one may not begin a sunna (or other nafila) prayer after the call to commence (iqama) is given. And this is very usual in human language: to use a general expression, in this case, "There is no prayer" to mean a specific part or aspect of it; namely, "There is no initiating a prayer." Consider how the Koran says, "Ask the village we were in, and the caravan that we came with" (Koran 12:82), where the dhahir or literal meaning of village and caravan; namely, the assemblage of stone huts and the string of pack animals, are not things that can be askedbut rather a specific aspect or part of them is intended; that is, the people of the village and the people of the caravan, or rather, just some of them. There are many similar expressions in every language, "Put the tea on the stove," for example, not meaning to heap the dried leaves on the stove, but rather to put them in a pot, add water, and light the stove, and so on. It is all the more surprising that anyone, Dhahiri or otherwise, could have ever imagined that Arabic, with its incomparable richness in figures of speech, could be so impoverished as to lack this basic expressive faculty. In reference to modern re-formers of Islam, such literalism necessarily forces itself upon someone trained in hadith alone, as mo s to ft h e m a r e ,wh e nt h e yt r yt od e d u c eS h a r i ar u l i n g s wi t h o u tma s t e r yo ft h ei n t e r p r e t i v et o o l sn e e d e dt o me e tt h e challenges that face the mujtahid, for example, in joining between a number of hadiths on a particular question that seem to conflict, or the many other intellectual problems involved in doing ijtihad. This has made some contemporary Muslims seriously believe that it is a matter of either following "the Koran and sunna," or one of the schools of the mujtahid Imams. This idea has only gained credibility today because so few Muslims understand what ijtihad is or how it is done. I believe this can be cured by familiarizing Mus l i mswi t hc o n c r e t ee x a mp l e so fh o w mu j t a h i dI ma msh a v ed e r i v e dp a r t i c u l a rS h a r i ar u l i n g s from the Koran and hadith. Such examples would first show the breadth of their hadith knowledgeMu h a mma di b n U b a y d Allah ibn al-Munadi, for example, who died in 272 years after the Hijra, heard Ahmad ibn Hanbal say that having memorized three hundred thousand hadiths was not enough to be a mujtahida n ds e c o n d ,wo u l ds h o wt h e mu j t a h i d s ma s t e r yo ft h e deductive principles that enabled them to join between all the primary texts. Until this is done, the advocates of this movement will probably continue to follow the ijtihad of non-mujtahids (the sheikhs who inspire their confidence), under the catch phrase "Koran and sunna" just as if the real mujtahids were unfamiliar with these.

Nuh Ha Mim Keller

Literalism and the Attributes of Allah

The followers perhaps cannot be blamed, since "for someone who has never travelled, his mother is the only cook." But I do blame the sheikhs who, whatever their motivations, write and speak as if they were the only cooks.
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Finally, if the shortc o mi n g so f D h a h i r i i n t e r p r e t a t i o ni sp l a i ne n o u g hi nf i q h , i n a q i d a , i tc a na mo u n tt oo u t r i g h tk u f r , a swh e n someone reads the Koranic verse, "Today We forget you as you have forgotten this day of yours" (Koran 45:34), and affirms that Allah forgets, which is an imperfection, and not permissible to affirm of Allah. Of this sort of literalism, Dawud al-Dhahiri and Ibn Hazm were innocent, for this is anthropomorphism, meaning to believe Allah has human attributes, and as such is beyond the pale of Islam. Regarding the second question that I received in my letter, of whether Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal was an anthropomorphist, this is something that has been asked since early times, particularly since someone forged an anthropormorphic tract called Kitab al-sunna [ T h eb o o ko f t h es u n n a ]a n dp u tt h en a meo f I ma m A h ma di b nH a n b a l ss o nA b d u l l a ho ni t . I twa sp u b l i s h e di nt wo volumes in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, by Ibn al-Qayyim Publishing House, in 1986. Il o o k e dt h i sb o o ko v e rwi t ho u rt e a c h e ri nh a d i t h , S h e i k hS h u a y b al-A r n a u t , wh oh a de x a mi n e di to n ed a y , a n ds a i dt h a ta t least 50 percent of the hadiths in it are weak or outright forgeries. He was dismayed how Muhammad al-Qahtani, the editor and c o mme n t a t o r ,c o u l dh a v eb e e ng i v e n aP h . d .i nI s l a mi cf a i t h( a q i d a )f rom Umm al-Qura University in Mecca for readying for publication a work as sadly wanting in authenticity as this. Ostensibly a "hadith" work, it contains some of the most hard-core anthropomorphism found anywhere, such as the hadith on page 301 of the first volume that "when He Most Blessed and Exalted sits on the Kursi, a squeak is heard like the squeak of a new leather saddle"; or on page 294 of the same volume: "Allah wrote the Torah for Moses with His hand while leaning back on a rock, on tablets of pearl, and the screech of the quill could be heard. There was no veil between Him and him," or the hadith on page 510 of the second volume: "The angels were created from the light of His two elbows and chest," and so on. The work also puts lies in the mouthso f ma j o rH a n b a l i s c h o l a r sa n do t h e r s , s u c ha sK h a r i j a[ i b nMu s a ba l -Sarakhsi], who died 1 6 8a f t e r t h eH i j r a , a n dwh oo np a g e1 0 6o f v o l u meo n ei sq u o t e da b o u t i s t i wa ( s o me t i me st r a n s l a t e da sb e i n g e s t a b l i s h e d o n t h eT h r o n e ) ," D o e si s t i wa me a na n y t h i ng except sitting?"with a chain of transmission containing a liar (kadhdhab), an u n i d e n t i f i a b l e( ma j h u l ) , p l u st h et e x t , wi t hi t sc o n t r a d i c t i o n( mu k h a l a f a )o f I s l a mi cf a i t h( a q i d a ) . O rc o n s i d e rt h en ol e s sthan forty-nine pages of vilifications of Abu Hanifa and his school that it mendaciously ascribes to major Imams, such as relating on page 180 of the first volume that Ishaq ibn Mansur al-Kusaj, who died 251 years after the Hijra said, "I asked Ahmad Ibn H a n b a l , I sama nr e wa r d e db yA l l a hf o r l o a t h i n gA b uH a n i f aa n dh i sc o l l e a g u e s ? a n dh es a i d , Y e s , b yA l l a h . " To ascribe things so fatuous to a man of godfearingness (taqwa) like Ahmad, whose respect for other scholars is well attested to by chains of transmission that are rigorously authenticated (sahih), is one of the things by which this counterfeit work overreaches itself, and ends in cancelling any credibility that the name on it may have been intended to give it.

Nuh Ha Mim Keller

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T h ea s c r i p t i o no ft h i sb o o kt oA h ma di b nH a n b a l ss o n A b d u l l a hf a i l sf r o m ah a d i t h point of view, since there are two unidentifiable (majhul) transmitters in the chain of ascription whose names are given as Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Simsar and Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Harawi, of whom no other trace exists anywhere, a fact that the editor and commentator, Muhammad al-Qahtani, on page 105 of the first volume tries to sweep under the rug by saying that the work was quoted by Ibn Taymiya and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya. But the fact that such a work even exists may give one an idea of the kinds of things that have been circulated about Ahmad after his death, and the total lack of scrupulousness among a handful of anthropomorphists who tried literally everything to spread their innovations. Another work with its share of anthropomorphisms and forgeries is Ibn al-Qayyim al-J a wz i y y a sI j t i ma a l -juyush al-Islamiyya [ T h e me e t i n go ft h eI s l a mi ca r mi e s ] ,p u b l i s h e db y A wwa da l -Mu t i qi nR i y a d ,S a u d iA r a b i a ,i n1 9 8 8 ,wh i c ho np a g e3 3 0 mentions as a hadith of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), the words "Honor the cow, for it has not lifted its h e a dt ot h es k ys i n c et h e[ g o l d e n ]c a l fwa swo r s h i p p e d ,o u to fs h a me ( h a y a )b e f o r eA l l a h Mi g h t ya n d Ma j e s t i c , "a ma wd u hadith forgery apparently intended to encourage Muslims to believe that Allah is physically above the cow in the sky. On page 97 of the same work, Ibn al-Qayyim also mentions the hadith of Bukhari, warning of the Antichrist (al-Masih al-Dajjal), who in the Last Days will come forth and claim to be God; of which the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "Allah has sent no prophet except that he warned his people of the One Eyed Liar, and that he is one-eyedand that your Lord is not one-eyedand that he shall have unbeliever (kafir) written between his two eyes" (Sahih al-Bukhari, 8.172). Ibn al-Qayyim comments, "The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) negated the attribute of one-eyedness [of Allah], which is proof that Allah Most High literally has two eyes." Now, any primer on logical fallacies could have told Ibn al-Qayyim that the negation of a quality does not entail the affirmation of its contrary, an example of the "Black and White Fallacy" (for example, "If it is not white, it is therefore black," "If you are not my friend, you must be my enemy," and so on), though what he attempts to prove here does show the kind of anthropomorphism he is trying to promote. Forged chains of hadith transmission in Ibn al-Q a y y i m sI j t i ma a l -juyush alIslamiyya are the subject of a forthcoming work by a Jordanian scholar, I nS h a A l l a h , wh i c ht h o s ei n t e r e s t e dma yr e a d . For all of these reasons, the utmost care must be used in ascribing tenets of faith to Ahmad ibn Hanbal or other Imams, especially when made by anthropomorphists whose concern is to create credibility for the ideas we are talking about. Many would-be revivers of these ideas today have been misled by their uncritical acceptance of the statements and chains of ascription found in the books of Ibn Taymiya and Ibn al-Qayyim, which they cite in print and rely on, and from whence they get the idea that these were the positions of the early Muslims and prophetic Companions or Sahaba.

Nuh Ha Mim Keller

Literalism and the Attributes of Allah

Umbrage has unfortunately been taken at the biographies I appended to my translation Reliance of the Traveller about Ibn Taymiya and Ibn al-Q a y y i m,wh i c hd e t a i lt h eg u l fb e t we e nI b nT a y mi y a si n n o v a t i o n sa n dt h e a q i d ao ft h ee a r l y Mu s l i ms , though anyone interested can read about it in any number of other books, one of the best of which has been published in Cairo in 1970 by Dar al-Nahda al- A r a b i y y a , a n di sc a l l e dI b nT a y mi y al a y s as a l a f i y y a n[ I b nT a y mi y ai sn o ta ne a r l yMu s l i m] , b yt h e A z h a rp r o f e s s o ro fI s l a mi cf a i t h( a q i d a )Ma n s u rMu h a mma d U wa y s ,wh i c hf o c u s e sp r i ma r i l yo nt e n e t so fb e l i e f .A n o t h e rwa s written by a scholar who lived shortly after Ibn al-Qayyim in the same city, Taqi al-Din Abu Bakr al-Hisni, author of the famous S h a f i if i q h ma n u a lK i f a y aa l -akhyar [The sufficiency of the pious], whose book on Ibn Taymiya is called D a f s h u b a h ma n shabbaha wa tamarrada wa nasaba dhalika ila al-sayyid al-jalil al-Imam Ahmad [Rebuttal of the insinuations of him who makes a n t h r o p o mo r p h i s msa n dr e b e l s , a n da s c r i b e st h a tt ot h en o b l ema s t e rI ma mA h ma d ] , p u b l i s h e di nC a i r oi n1 9 3 1b yD a rI h y a al-Kutub al- A r a b i y y a . Whoever reads these and similar works with an open mind cannot fail to notice the hoax that has been perpetrated by moneyed q u a r t e r si no u r t i me s , o f e q u a t i n gt h et e n e t so f as ma l l b a n do f a n t h r o p o mo r p h i s t st ot h eI s l a mi cb e l i e f ( a q i d a )o f I ma mA h mad and other scholars of the early Muslims (al-salaf). T h er e a l ( a q i d a )o f I ma mA h ma d wa sv e r ys i mp l e , a n dc o n s i s t e d , ma i n l yo f t a f wi d , t h a t i s , t oc o n s i g nt oA l l a ht h eme a n i n go f t h emu t a s h a b i h a to r u n a p p a r e n tme a n i n g s o f t h eK o r a na n dh a d i t h , a c c e p t i n gt h e i rwo r d sa st h e yh a v ec ome without saying or claiming to know how they are meant. His position is close to that of a number of other early scholars, who would not even countenance changing the Koranic order of the words or substituting words imagined to be synonyms. For them, the verse in Sura Taha, "The All-me r c i f u l i s e s t a b l i s h e d ( i s t a wa )u p o nt h eT h r o n e "( K o r a n2 0 : 5 ) d o e sn o te n a b l eo n et os a yt h a t" A l l a hi s e s t a b l i s h e d u p o nT h r o n e , "o rt h a t" T h eA l l -merciful is upon the Throne" or anything else besides "The All-merciful i s e s t a b l i s h e d ( i s t a wa )u p o nt h eT h r o n e . "F u l l s t o p .T h e i rp o s i t i o ni se x e mp l i f i e db yS u f y a ni b n U y a y n a ,wh od i e d9 8y e a r sa f t e rt h eH i j r a ,a n d wh os a i d ," T h ei n t e r p r e t a t i o n( t a f s i r )o fe v e r y t h i n g wi t h wh i c hA l l a hh a s described Himself in His book is to r e c i t ei ta n dr e ma i ns i l e n ta b o u ti t . "I ta l s or e s e mb l e st h ep o s i t i o no fI ma m S h a f i i ,wh o simply said: "I believe in what has come from Allah as it was intended by Allah, and I believe in what has come from the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) as it was intended by the Messenger of Allah." I ts h o u l db ea p p r e c i a t e dh o w f a rt h i ss c h o o lo ft a f wi do r c o n s i g n i n gt h ek n o wl e d g eo fwh a ti s me a n tt oA l l a h i sf r o m u n d e r s t a n d i n gt h e mu t a s h a b i h a to r u n a p p a r e n ti n me a n i n g , s c r i p t u r a le x p r e ssions about Allah as though they were meant l i t e r a l l y( a l aa l -dhahir). The Hanbali Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-K h a l l a l ,wh od i e di nH i j r ay e a r3 1 1 ,a n d wh ot o o kh i sf i q hf r o m I ma m A h ma d s students, relates in his book al-Sunna through his chain of narrators from Hanbal ibn Ishaq al-Shaybani, the son of the brother o f A h ma di b nH a n b a l sf a t h e r , t h a tI ma mA h ma dwa sa s k e da b o u t t h eh a d i t h sme n t i o n i n g" A l l a h sd e s c e n d i n g , "" s e e i n gA l l a h , "

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Literalism and the Attributes of Allah

and "placing His foot on hell"; and the like, and Ahmad replied: "We bel i e v ei nt h e ma n dc o n s i d e rt h e mt r u e , wi t h o u t h o w a n d wi t h o u t me a n i n g ( b i l ak a y f awal ama n a ) . "
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A n dh es a i d , wh e nt h e ya s k e dh i ma b o u tA l l a h si s t i wa [ t r a n s l a t e da b o v ea se s t a b l i s h e d ] : " H ei s e s t a b l i s h e d u p o nt h eT h r o n e ( i s t a wa a l aa l - A r s h )h o we v e rH ewi l l sa n da sH ewi l l s , wi t h o u t a n yl i mi t o r a n yd e s c r i p t i o nt h a t b ema d eb ya n yd e s c r i b e r ( D a f shubah al-tashbih, 28). This demonstrates how far Imam Ahmad was from anthropomorphism, though a third example is even more explicit. The Imam and hadith master (hafiz) al-Bayhaqi relates in his Manaqib al-Imam Ahmad [The memorable actions of Imam Ahmad], through his chain of narrators that: Ahmad condemned those who said Allah was a "body," saying, " T h en a me so f t h i n g sa r et a k e nf r o mt h eS h a r i aa n dt he Arabic l a n g u a g e .T h el a n g u a g e sp o s s e s s o r sh a v eu s e dt h i s wo r d[ b o d y ]f o rs o me t h i n gt h a th a sh e i g h t ,b r e a d t h ,t h i c k n e s s , construction, form, and composition, while Allah Most High is beyond all of that, and may not be termed a "body" because of being bey o n da n y me a n i n go fe mb o d i e d n e s s .T h i sh a sn o tb e e nc o n v e y e db yt h eS h a r i a ,a n ds oi sr e b u t t e d "( a l -Barahin als a t i a , 1 6 4 ) . T h e s ee x a mp l e sp r o v i d ea na c c u r a t ei d e ao f A h ma d s A q i d a , a sc o n v e y e dt ou sb yt h eh a d i t h ma s t e r s( h u f f a z )o f t h eU mma , who have d i s t i n g u i s h e dt h et r u er e p o r t sf r o mt h es p u r i o u sa t t r i b u t i o n so f t h ea n t h r o p o mo r p h i s t s o p i n i o n st ot h e i rI ma m, b o t h early and late. But it is perhaps even more instructive, in view of the recrudescence of these ideas today, to look at an earlier work agai n s tH a n b a l ia n t h r o p o mo r p h i s t sa b o u tt h i sb i d a ,f o rt h el i g h tt h i sl i t e r a t u r es h e d su p o nt h es c i e n c eo ft e x t u a l interpretation, and I will conclude my talk tonight to it. As you may know, the true architect of the Hanbali madhhab was not actually Imam Ahmad, who did not like to see any of his positions written down, but rather these were conveyed orally by various students at different times, one reason there are often a number of different narratives from him on legal questions. It is probably no exaggeration to say that the real founder of the H a n b a l i ma d h h a b wa st h eI ma m a n dh a d i t h ma s t e r( h a f i z ) A b da l -Rahman ibn al-Jawzi, who died 597 years after the Hijra, and who recorded all the narratives from Imam Ahmad, distinguished the well-authenticated from the poorly-authenticated, and organized them into a coherent body of fiqh jurisprudence. Ibn al-Jawziwho is not to be confused with Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyatook the question of people associating anthropomorphism with Hanbalism so seriously that he wrote a book, D a f s h u b a ha l -tashbih bi akaff al-tanzih [Rebuttal of the insinuations of anthropomorphism at the hands of transcendence], refuting this heresy and exonerating his Imam of any association with it. One of the most significant points he makes in this work is the principle that al-Idafatu la tufidu al-sifa, meaning that an ascriptive construction, called in Arabic an idafa, t h exo ft h ey o ri no t h e rwo r d s , y sx d o e sn o te s t a b l i s ht h a t xi sa n

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a t t r i b u t eo fy . T h i si si mp o r t a n tb e c a u s et h ea n t h r o p o mo r p h i s t so fh i sd a y ,a swe l l a sI b nT a y mi y y ai nt h es e v e n t hc e n t u r y after the Hijra, used many ascriptive constructions (idafa) that appear in hadiths and Koranic verses as proof that Allah had "attributes" that bolstered their conceptions of Him. To clarify with examples, you are doubtless familiar with the Koranic verse in Surat al-Fath of the Sahaba swearing a fealty pact ( b a y a )t ot h eP r o p h e t ( A l l a hb l e s sh i ma n dg i v eh i mp e a c e ) , t h a t s a y s , " A l l a h sh a n di sa b o v et h e i r h a n d s "( K o r a n4 8 : 1 0 ) . H e r e ,wi t ht h e wo r d sy a dA l l a h i t h eh a n do fA l l a h , I b na l -J a wz i sp r i n c i p l e me a n st h a twe a r en o te n t i t l e dt oa f f i r m,o nt h e basis of the Arabic wording alone, that "Allah has a hand" as an attribute (sifa) of His entity. It could be that this Arabic expression is simply meant to emphasize the tremendousness of the offense of breaking this pact, as some scholars state, for the Proph e t ( A l l a hb l e s sh i ma n dg i v eh i mp e a c e )p l a c e dh i sh a n do nt o po f t h eS a h a b a s , a n dt h ewo r d i n gc o u l db eaf i g u r eo f s p e e c he mp h a s i z i n gA l l a h sb a c k i n go f t h i sa c t i o n ;a n dc l a s s i c a l A r a b i ca b o u n d si ns u c hf i g u r e so f s p e e c h . T h eP r o p h e th i ms e l f (Allah bless him and give him peace) used hand as a figure of speech in the rigorously authenticated (sahih) hadith, 'AlMuslimu man salima l-Muslimuna min lisanihi wa yadih' "The Muslim is he who the Muslims are safe from his tongue and his hand," where hand means anything within his power to do to them, whether with his hand, his foot, or by any other means. As Imam al-Ghazali says of the word hand: One should realize that hand may mean two different things. The first is the primary lexical sense; namely, the bodily member composed of flesh, bone, and nervous tissue. Now, flesh, bone, and nervous tissue make up a specific body with specific attributes; meaning, by body, something of an amount (with height, width, depth) that prevents anything else from occupying wherever it is, until it is moved from that place. Or [secondly] the word may be used figuratively, in another sense with no relation to that of a body at all: as when one says, " T h ec i t yi si nt h el e a d e r sh a n d s , "t h e me a n i n go fwh i c hi s we l lu n d e r s t o o d ,e v e ni ft h el e a d e r sh a n d sa r e mi s s i n g ,f o r example. (al-Ghazali, Iljam al- a wa m a n i l ma l -kalam [Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al- A r a b i , 1 4 0 6 / 1 9 8 5 ] , 5 5 ) . Weh a v ea l r e a d yme n t i o n e dt h es c h o o l o f t h o u g h to f A h ma di b nH a n b a l , S h a f i i , a n do t h e re a r l yMu s l i mso f u n derstanding the mu t a s h a b i h a to r u n a p p a r e n ti n me a n i n g , s c r i p t u r a l e x p r e s s i o n sa b o u tA l l a hb yt a f wi do r c o n s i g n i n gt h ek n o wl e d g eo f wh a ti s me a n tt oA l l a h . B u ts e c o n d l y , weh a v es e e nf r o mt h ee x a mp l eo f t h eh a n d , t h a tb e c a u s eo f t h ef i g u r a t i v er i c h n e s sthe Arabic language, and also to protect against the danger of anthropomorphism, many Muslim scholars were able to explain certain of t h emu t a s h a b i h a t o r u n a p p a r e n t i nme a n i n g e x p r e s s i o n si nK o r a n i cv e r s e sa n dh a d i t h sb yt a wi l , o r f i g u r a t i v e l y . This naturally drew the criticism of neo-Hanbalis, at their forefront Ibn Taymiya and Ibn al-Q a y y i m,a si ts t i l l d o e so ft o d a y s " r e f o r me r s "o fI s l a m,wh oe c h ot h e s et wo sa r g u me n t st h a tf i g u r a t i v ei n t e r p r e t a t i o n( t a wi l )wa sa r e p r e h e n s i b l ed e p a r t u r e ( b i d a )b yA s h a r i sa n do t h e r sf r o m t h e wa yo ft h ee a r l y Mu s l i ms( s a l a f ) ;a n d wh oc a l l f o ra " r e t u r nt ot h es u n n a , "t h a ti s ,t o anthropomorphic literalism.

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Literalism and the Attributes of Allah

Now, the obvious question in the face of such "reforms" is whether literalism is really identical with pristine Islamic faith ( a q i d a ) . O r r a t h e r d i df i g u r a t i v ei n t e r p r e t a t i o n( t a wi l )e x i s t a mo n gt h es a l a f ?Wewi l l a n s we r t h i sq u e s t i o nwi t ha c t u a l e x amples o fmu t a s h a b i h a to r u n a p p a r e n ti n me a n i n g K o r a n i cv e r s e sa n dh a d i t h s ,a n de x a mi n eh o wt h ee a r l i e s ts c h o l a rs interpreted them: 1. Forgetting. We have mentioned above the Koranic verse, "Today We forget you as you have forgotten this day of yours" (Koran 45:34), which the early Muslims used to interpret figuratively, as reported by a scholar who was himself an early Muslim (salafi) and indeed, the sheikh of the early Muslims in Koranic exegesis, the hadith master (hafiz) Ibn Jarir al-Tabari who died 310 years after the Hijra, and who explains the above verse as meaning: " T h i sd a y ,R e s u r r e c t i o nD a y ,We s h a l l f o r g e tt h e m, s oa st o s a y , Wes h a l l a b a n d o nt h e mt ot h e i r p u n i s h me n t . " N o w,t h i si sp r e c i s e l yt a wi l ,o ri n t e r p r e t a t i o ni no t h e rt h a nt h ev e r s e so s t e n s i v es e n s e .A l -Tabari ascribes this interpretation, through his chains of transmission, to the Compa n i o n( S a h a b i )I b n A b b a s( A l l a hb e we l lp l e a s e d wi t hh i m)a s we l la st o Mu j a h i d , I b n A b b a s sma i ns t u d e n t i nK o r a n i ce x e g e s i s( J a mi a l -bayan, 8.202). 2. Hands. In the verse, "And the sky We built with hands; verily We outspread [it]" (Koran 51:47), al-Tabari ascribes the figurative e x p l a n a t i o n( t a wi l )o f wi t hh a n d sa sme a n i n g" wi t hp o we r( b i q u wwa ) "t h r o u g hf i v ec h a i n so f t r a n s mi s s i o nt oI b n A b b a s , wh o d i e d6 8y e a r sa f t e rt h eH i j r a ,Mu j a h i d wh od i e d1 0 4y e a r sa f t e rt h eH i j r a ,Q a t a d a[ i b nD a a ma ]wh o died 118 years after the Hijra, Mansur [ibn Zadhan al-Thaqafi] who died 131 years after the Hijra, and Sufyan al-Thawri who died 161 years after the H i j r a( J a mi a l -bayan, 27.7 8). I mention these dates to show just how early they were. 3. Shin. Of the Koranic verse, "On a day when shin shall be exposed, they shall be ordered to prostrate, but be unable" (Koran 68:42), al-Tabari says, " An u mb e ro ft h ee x e g e t e so ft h eC o mp a n i o n s( S a h a b a )a n dt h e i rs t u d e n t s( t a b i i n )h e l dt h a ti t[ ad a y wh e n shin shall b ee x p o s e d ]me a n st h a t ad i r ema t t e r ( a mr u ns h a d i d )s h a l l b ed i s c l o s e d "( J a mi a l -bayan, 29.38) t h es h i n sa s s o c i a t i o n wi t hd i r e n e s sb e i n gt h a ti twa sc u s t o ma r yf o rA r a b wa r r i o r sf i g h t i n gi nt h ed e s e r tt or e a d yt h e ms e l v e s to move fast and hard through the sand in the thick of the fight by lifting the hems of their garments above the shin. This was a p p a r e n t l yl o s t u p o nl a t e ra n t h r o p o mo r p h i s t s , wh os a i dt h ev e r s ep r o v e d A l l a hh a sas h i n , o r , a c c o r d i n gt oo t h e r s , t wos h i ns, s i n c eo n e wo u l db eu n b e c o mi n g . Al-T a b a r ia l s or e l a t e sf r o m Mu h a mma di b n U b a y da l -Muharibi, who relates from Ibn alMu b a r a k , f r o mU s a mai b nZ a y d , f r o m I k r i ma , f r o mI b n A b b a st h a ts h i ni nt h ea b o v ev e r s eme a n s" ad a yo f wa ra n dd i r e n e s s

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Literalism and the Attributes of Allah

(harbin wa shidda)" (ibid., 29.38). All of these narrators are those of the sahih or rigorously authenticated collections except U s a mai b nZ a y d , wh o s eh a d i t h sa r eh a s a no r we l l a u t h e n t i c a t e d .
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4. Laughter. Of the hadith related in Sahih al-Bukhari from Abu Hurayra that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, Allah Most High laughs about two men, one of whom kills the other, but both of whom enter paradise: the one fights in the path of Allah and is killed, and afterwards Allah forgives the killer, and then he fights in the path of Allah and is martyred, the hadith master al-Bayhaqi records that the scribe of Bukhari [Muhammad ibn Yusuf] al-Farabri related that Imam al-Bukhari said, "The meaning of laughter in it is mercy" (Kitab al-a s ma waa l -sifat, 298). 5. Coming. The hadith master (hafiz) Ibn Kathir reports that Imam al-Bayhaqi related from al-H a k i mf r o mA b u A mri b na l -Sammak, from H a n b a l , t h es o no f t h eb r o t h e ro f A h ma di b nH a n b a l sf a t h e r , t h a tA h ma di b nH a n b a l f i g u r a t i v e l yi n t e r p r e t e dt h ewo r do f A l l a h Most High, "And your Lord shall come . . ." (Koran 89:22), as meaning "His recompense (thawab) shall come." Al-Bayhaqi said, "This chain of narrators has absolutely nothing wrong in it" (al-Bidaya wa al-nihaya,10.342). In other words, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, like the Companions (Sahaba) and other early Muslims mentioned above, sometimes also gave figurative i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s( t a wi l )t os c r i p t u r a l e x p r e s s i o n st h a tmi g h to t h e r wi s eh a v eb e e n mi s i n t e r p r e t e da n t h r o p o mo r p h i c a l l y . T h i swa s also the way of Abul Hasan al-A s h a r i ,f o u n d e ro ft h eA s h a r is c h o o lo fI s l a mi cb e l i e f , wh oh a dt wo v i e ws a b o u tt h e mu t a s h a b i h a t ,t h ef i r s tb e i n gt a f wi d ,o r c o n s i g n i n gt h ek n o wl e d g eo fwh a ti sme a n tt oA l l a h , a n dt h es e c o n db e i n gt a wi l o r f i g u r a t i v ei n t e r p r e t a t i o n wh e nn e e d e dt oa v o i dt h es u g g e s t i o no fthe anthropomorphism that is explicitly rejected by the Koran. I nl i g h to f t h ee x a mp l e sq u o t e da b o v ea b o u ts u c h wo r d sa b o u tA l l a ha s f o r g e t t i n g , h a n d s , s h i n , l a u g h t e r , c o mi n g , a n d so f o r t h , i t i sp l a i nt h a t Mu s l i mss c h o l a r so f A q i d a , wh e t h e ro f t h eA s h a r i s c h o o l o ra n yo t h e r , d i dn o t o r i g i n a t et a wi l o rf i g u r a t i v e interpretation, but rather it had been with Muslims from the beginning, because that was the nature of the Arabic language. A n di ft h ea b o v ef i g u r e sa r en o tt h es a l a fo r e a r l y Mu s l i ms , wh oa r e ?I b nT a y mi y aa n dI b na l -Qayyim, who died more than seven centuries after the Hijra? I nv i e wo ft h ef o r e g o i n ge x a mp l e so ff i g u r a t i v ei n t e r p r e t a t i o nb ye a r l y Mu s l i ms ,we h a v et oa s k ,Wh o s e e a r l yI s l a m wo u l d t o d a y sr e f o r me r so f A q i d ah a v eu sreturn to? Imam Abu Hanifa first noted, "Two depraved opinions have reached us from East, those of Jahm [ibn Safwan], the nullifier of the divine attributes, and those of Muqatil [ibn Sulayman al-Balkhi, the likener o f A l l a ht oH i sc r e a t i o n "( S i y a r a l a m al-n u b a l a , 7 . 2 0 2 ) .

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These are not an either-o rf o r Mu s l i ms .J a h m sb r a n do f Mu t a z i l i s m h a sb e e nd e a df o ro v e ra t h o u s a n dy e a r s , wh i l e anthropomorphic literalism is a heresy that in previous centuries was confined to a handful of sects like the Hanbalis addressed by Imam Ibn al-J a wz i i nh i sD a f s h u b a ha l -tashbih, or like the forgers of Kitab al-s u n n awh oa s c r i b e di t t oI ma mA h ma d ss o n A b d u l l a h , o r l i k et h eK a r r a mi y y a , a ne a r l ys e c t wh ob e l i e v e dA l l a ht ob eac o r p o r e a l e n t i t y" s i t t i n gi np e r s o no nH i sT hrone." As for Islamic orthodoxy, the Imam of Ahl al-S u n n ai nt e n e t so f f a i t h , A b da l -Qahir al-B a g h d a d i s a y si nh i s a q i d ama n u a l U s u l al-din [The fundamentals of the religion]: Anyone who considers his Lord to resemble the form of a person [. . . ] is only worshipping a person like himself. As for the permissibility of eating the meat he slaughters or of marriage with him, his ruling is that of an idol-worshipper. . . . Regarding the anthropomorphists of Khurasan, of the Karramiyya, it is obligatory to consider them unbelievers because they affirm that Allah has a physical limit and boundary from underneath, from whence He is contact with His Throne (alBaghdadi, Usul al-d i n[ I s t a n b u l :Ma t b a aa l -Dawla, 1346/1929], 337). In previous Islamic centuries, s o me o n e wh o wo r s h i p p e d ag o d wh o s i t s , mo v e sa b o u t , a n ds of o r t h ,wa sc o n s i d e r e dt ob ei n s e r i o u st r o u b l ei nh i sf a i t h( a q i d a ) . O u rq u e s t i o ns h o u l db e :I f a n t h r o p o mo r p h i cl i t e r a l i s m we r ea na c c e p t a b l eI s l a mi cs c h o o l of thought, why was it counted among heresies and rejected for the first seven centuries of Islam that preceded Ibn Taymiya and his student Ibn al-Qayyim, and condemned by the scholars of Ahl al-Sunna thereafter? To summarize everything I have said tonight, we have seen three ways of understa n d i n gt h emu t a s h a b i h a t , o r u n a p p a r e n ti n me a n i n g v e r s e sa n dh a d i t h s :t a f wi d , c o n s i g n i n gt h ek n o wl e d g eo fwh a ti s me a n tt oA l l a h , t a wi l , f i g u r a t i v ei n t e r p r e t a t i o n wi t h i nt h ep a r a me t e r so f c l a s s i c a l A r a b i cu s a g e , a n dl a s t l yt a s h b i h , o r a n t h r o p o mo r p h i cl i t e r a l i s m. We s a wt h a tt h e wa yo ft a f wi do r c o n s i g n i n gt h ek n o wl e d g eo fwh a ti sme a n tt oA l l a h , wa st h e wa yo fS h a f i i ,A h ma d ,a n d ma n yo f t h ee a r l y Mu s l i ms .A s e c o n di n t e r p r e t i v ep o s s i b i l i t y ,t h e wa yo f t a wi l ,o r f i g u r a t i v ei n t e r p r e t a t i o n , wa salso done by the Companions (Sahaba) and many other early Muslims as reported above. In classical scholarship, both have been considered I s l a mi c ,a n db o t hs e e m n e e d e d ,t h o u g ht a f wi di ss u p e r i o rwh e r ei td o e sn o tl e a dt oc o n f u s i o na b o u tA l l a h st r a n s c e n d e n c e beyond the attributes of created things, in accordance with the Koranic verse, "There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him" (Koran 42:11). As for anthropomorphism, it is clear from this verse and from the entire history of the Umma, that it is not an Islamic school of thought, and never has been. In all times and places, Islam has invited non-Muslims to faith in the Incomparable Reality called Allah; not making man a god, and not making God a man. Wa jazakum Allah khayran, wa l-h a md ul i L l a h i R a b b i l A l amin.

Nuh Ha Mim Keller