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What is the beliefs of Imam Ahmed and ibn Taymiyya?

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what is the beliefs of imam Ahmed ibn hanbal and is hanbali aqidah correct? Is hanbali fiqh similar or same to beliefs of shaykh ibn taymiyyah (ra)?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāhi wa barakātuh.

Imām Abū ‘Abdillāh Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ibn Hilāl (164 – 241 H) – rahimahullāh ta‘ālā –, the founder of the Hanbalī madhhab of fiqh, was a great imām of Ahlus Sunnah wa l-Jamā‘ah. His madhhab is one of the four established schools of Islāmic jurisprudence. He was on the ‘aqīdah of Ahlus Sunnah wa l-Jamā‘ah.

However, the “Hanbalī ‘aqīdah” that developed shortly after Imām Ahmad ibn Hanbal rahimahullāh ta‘ālā, attributing itself to the great imām, became contaminated by anthropomorphic beliefs (meaning, the belief that – na‘ūdhu billāh – Allāh Ta‘ālā is a tangible, physical entity). Hāfiz Ibn al-Jawzī (510 – 597 H) – rahimahullāh ta‘ālā –, one of the major scholars of the Hanbalī school, wrote a treatise called Daf‘ Shubah al-Tashbīh (Repelling the Doubts of Likening [Allāh to creation]), defending Imām Ahmad rahimahullāh against the innovated beliefs later ascribed to him by those who claimed to follow his school.[1]  

Ibn ‘Aqīl (431 – 513 H) rahimahullāh, also a major scholar belonging to the Hanbalī madhhab, wrote against the anthropomorphism that crept into his school.[2]

Ibn Taymiyyah, unfortunately, opposed the ‘ulamā’ of Ahlus Sunnah wa l-Jamā‘ah in many issues of ‘aqīdah. For example, he supported anthropomorphic ideas with respect to Allāh.[3] Moreover, he upheld the view that Hellfire will come to an end, which is in conflict with many verses of the Qur’ān and the established doctrine of Ahlus Sunnah wa l-Jamā‘ah[4]. He also believed in the misguided concept of “originated entities that have no beginning” (hawādith lā awwala lahā), which asserts that created beings have always existed along with Allāh Ta‘ālā.[5]

Major scholars of Ahlus Sunnah refuted Ibn Taymiyyah on these corrupt views. For example, his esteemed contemporary, Imām Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī (683 – 756 H), wrote a work called al-Durar al-Mudiyyah fi l-Radd ‘ala Ibn Taymiyyah, in which he mentions Ibn Taymiyyah’s anthropomorphism and his view of “originated entities that have no beginning”. Imām Taqī al-Dīn Abū Bakr al-Husnī (752 – 829 H), a great jurist of the Shāfi‘ī madhhab, also wrote a refutation of Ibn Taymiyyah, called Daf‘ Shubah man Shabbaha wa Tamarrada wa Nasaba dhālika ila l-Imām Ahmada (Repelling the Doubts of the one Who Made a Likeness [between Allāh and creation] and Rebelled and Attributed that to Imām Ahmad). In it, he made reference to, and refuted, all the abovementioned aberrations of Ibn Taymiyyah.

Hence, Muslims should avoid any creed presenting itself as the so-called “Hanbalī ‘aqīdah,” or the ‘aqīdah of Ibn Taymiyyah.

Instead, for a common Muslim, the statements on Islāmic belief contained in al-‘Aqīdat al-Tahāwiyyah of Imām Abū Ja‘far al-Tahāwī (239 – 321 H) rahimahullāh, which has been endorsed by the ‘ulamā’ of Ahlus Sunnah wa l-Jamā‘ah[6], is sufficient.

Refuting the notion of any similarity between Creator and creation, Imām al-Tahāwī mentions:

من وصف الله بمعنى من معاني البشر فقد كفر

“The one who attributes Allāh with a property from the properties of man, he has disbelieved.”

Rejecting anthropomorphism, he says:

تعالى عن الحدود والغايات، والأركان والأعضاء والأدوات، لا تحويه الجهات الست كسائر المبتدعات

“[Allāh] is elevated beyond limits and boundaries, and parts, limbs and instruments. The six directions do not encompass Him like [they do] all created things.”

Rejecting the concept of the termination of Hellfire, he mentions:

والجنة والنار مخلوقتان، لا تفنيان أبدا ولا تبيدان

“Jannah and Nār are created. They will never perish nor come to an end.”

Rejecting the view that created things have always existed with Allāh, he writes:

له معنى الربوبية ولا مربوب ومعنى الخالق ولا مخلوق

“He had the property of Lordship when there was nothing lorded over and the property of Creator when there was no creation.”

One should learn the clear creed of the Salaf (righteous predecessors) as presented by Imām al-Tahāwī in his ‘Aqīdah, and avoid dabbling in dubious presentations of Islāmic beliefs. Muslims who are not ‘ulamā’ or do not have a background in the Islāmic sciences should suffice with the brief exposition found in al-‘Aqīdat al-Tahāwiyyah and must not delve into intricate matters of ‘aqīdah, as this will lead to confusion and may cause errors in belief.

Learned Muslims should beware of some unreliable commentaries of al-‘Aqīdat al-Tahāwiyyah which oppose the clear statements of Imām al-Tahāwī, famous amongst them, Sharh al-‘Aqīdat al-Tahāwiyyah of Ibn Abi l-‘Izz (d. 792 H), in which the commentator adopted some of the erroneous views of Ibn Taymiyyah. Some of the reliable commentaries of Imām al-Tahāwī’s ‘Aqīdah are those by Qādī Ismā‘īl ibn Ibrāhīm al-Shaybānī (d. 629 H), Abū Hafs Sirāj al-Dīn al-Ghaznawī (d. 773) and ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Maydānī (d. 1298), all of which are in print[7].

And Allah Ta‘ālā Knows Best

Zameelur Rahman

Student Darul Iftaa
UK

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

www.daruliftaa.net


[1] قال ابن الجوزي: ورأيت من أصحابنا (الحنابلة) من تكلم فى الأصول بما لا يصلح، وانتدب للتصنيف ثلاثة: أبو عبد الله بن حامد (ت. ٤٠٣) وصاحبه القاضي أبو يعلى (ت. ٤٥٨) وابن الزاغوني (ت ٥٢٧) فصنفوا كتبا شانوا بها المذهب (الحنبلي)، ورأيتهم قد نزلوا مرتبة العوام فحملوا الصفات على مقتضى الحس…فرأيت الرد عليهم لازما لئلا ينسب الإمام أحمد إلى ذلك (دفع شبه التشبيه، المكتبة الأزهرية، ص٦-١٠)

[2] قال ابن عقيل: تعالى الله أن يكون له صفة تشغل الأمكنة، وليس الحق تعالى بذي أجزاء وأبعاض فيعالج بها…فما أسخف هذا الإعتقاد وأبعده عن مكون الأملاك والأفلاك…تعالى الله عن تجاهل المجسمة (دفع شبه التشبيه، ص ٤٣)

[3] قال ابن تيمية – على سبيل المثال: وإن أردت (أي الإمام الرازي بقوله الحنابلة التزموا الأجزاء) أنهم وصفوه بالصفات الخبرية مثل الوجه واليد، وذلك يقتضي التجزئة والتبعيض، أو أنهم وصفوه بما يقتضي أن يكون جسما والجسم متبعض ومتجزئ وإن لم يقولوا هو جسم فيقال له: لا اختصاص للحنابلة بذلك بل هذا مذهب جماهير أهل الإسلام بل وسائر أهل الملل وسلف الأمة وأئمتها! (بيان تلبيس الجهمية، مجمع الملك فهد ج١ ص٢٥١)

[4] بعض أقواله منقولة في رفع الأستار لإبطال أدلة القائلين بفناء النار، المكتب الإسلامي

[5] قال ابن تيمية: وإن قدر أن نوعها (الحوادث) لم يزل معه فهذه المعية لم ينفها شرع ولا عقل! بل هي من كماله! قال الله تعالى: أفمن يخلق كمن لا يخلق أفلا تذكرون. والخلق لا يزالون معه! (شرح حديث عمران بن حصين، مؤسسة الريان، ص٨٤)
قال الحافظ في فتح الباري: وهي أصرح فى الرد على من أثبت حوادث لا أول لها من رواية الباب، وهي (أي القول بحوادث لا أول لها) من مستشنع المسائل المنسوبة لابن تيمية (أي المنقولة منه) (وانظر: النقد القويم لما كتبه ابن تيمية على حديث عمران بن حصين)

[6] قال الإمام تاج الدين السبكي: وهذه المذاهب الأربعة – ولله الحمد – فى العقائد واحدة، إلا من لحق منها بأهل الإعتزال (من الحنفية والشافعية) والتجسيم (من الحنابلة)، وإلا فجمهورها على الحق يقرون عقيدة أبي جعفر الطحاوي، التي تلقاها العلماء سلفا وخلفا بالقبول (معيد النعم، دار الكتب العربي، ص ٢٢-٣)

[7] شرح العقيدة الطحاوية للقاضي إسماعيل بن إبراهيم بن علي الشيباني، دار الكتب العلمية
شرح عقيدة الإمام الطحاوي لأبي حفص سراج الدين عمر بن إسحاق الغزنوي الهندي، دارة الكرز
شرح العقيدة الطحاوية لعبد الغني الغنيمي، دار البصائر

This answer was collected from Askimam.org, which is operated under the supervision of Mufti Ebrahim Desai from South Africa.

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