خلافات المتكلمين في الصفات الإلهية وموقف إبن تيمية منها

Abstract

The doctrine of the person of Allah (Al-tawhied) as developed in Muslim thought, covered the great part of the field of Muslim Theology. Evedently, the ninety nine most beautiful names, the abstract qualities (sifat) which lie behind them, and the anthropomorphic expressions (such as: God’s face, eyes and hands) raised dangers to the Unity (tawhied) of God religiously and philosophically. Avery important problem in Muslim Theology is the relation of the these qualities or attributes (Sifat) to his essence (dhat). The Mutazila claimed that divine attributes are not eternal entities added to his essence, but identical with the being (Abu Al-Hudhail), negations of shortcomings (Knowledge: negation of ignorance etc.; Al-Nazzam), or inherent in the essence through mani-ahwal (Abu Hashim). The resultant Orthodox (Ahl-Alsunna) statement, after a long controversy over the relation of these attributes to his essence, is that they are not He, nor are they other than He. The struggle was to maintain the internal unity of the personality of Allah. In the matter of anthropomorphism some theologians ( Hashwiya, Korramia, and some Shiea sects) Lay too much stress on the literal meaning of some Koranic and sunna terms that model Allah after the image of man. The Jahmiya, the Mutazila, and latter Ashariets held opposite view, and so were anxious to avoid anthropomorphic expressions. They applied the allegorical method (tawil) to all anthropomorphic expressions, like God’s hands or his face, and took them in the sense of bounty and Knowledge. The Orthodox (Ahl- Alsunna) were obliged to take a middle position. They believed that God attributes as confirmed in Koran and Sunna must be taken in their literal sense without asking Questions “bila Kaif.” This rule should be applied to all anthropomorphic expressions. The struggle was to do justice to the Koranic and Sunna descriptions of him. Ibn Tymia, the most eminent Muslim Jurist and Theologian of the 13th-14th centuries in Syria and Egypt, who belonged to the Hanbalite school of Islamic law, was relentless enemy of Islamic speculative theology(Kalam), Sufism, Sheism, Greek philosophy, and Aristotelian logic. 8 His criticism of speculative theology of God attributes (sifat), as far as I know, has never been fully and systematically examined. This thesis “Muslim theologians controversies over God attributes with special reference to Ibn Taymya’s position” attempts to do that. The thesis is divided into four parts. The first part is introductory, and it acquaints the reader with the literature review. Part two and three examined the Muslims theological debate upon the ninety nine most beautiful names, the anthropomorphic expressions, the application of the allegorical method (tawil), and the dangers raised to the unity of God (tawhied)religiously and philosophically. The last part expound and examined Ibn Taymiya’s attack against Muslim Theologians who believed that by reason they could reach ultimate truth. He assured that reason could never grasp the nature of Allah because he is unknowable to human powers, and we must accept and believe what we are taught by him and by his messenger, the prophet. The significance of Ibn Taymiya’s criticism of Muslim speculative theology of God attributes lies in the fact that it defines what I called, “A new Muslim Theology” which consists of a system of dogmatics full of fertile new ideas. Throughout his criticism he demonstrated great skill in finding weaknesses in his fellow Muslims speculative theology of God attributes (Sifat).