Questions and Answers of the Ahli Sunnah Waljama'ah Creed (Part 2)

Originally written in Bahasa Malaysia by Abu Syafiq Al-Asy'ary.
Translated into English by Elixir Rhapsody.

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Questions and Answers

The Aqidah of the Ahli Sunnah Waljama'ah

4. What are the As-Salaf scholars and what is their creed?

The As-Salaf scholars are basically Ahli Sunnah Waljama'ah scholars and they lived during the first 300 Hijriyyah years.

All As-Salaf scholars hold on to the creed (aqidah) that:-

Allah is the God of all worlds, He exists without a beginning nor an end, Most Glorious of Allah Whom is not covered and confined within a place, in fact He exists without being at a place, He exists not at the sky and His place is not at the earth. Allah is the Creator of the Throne ('Arasy) which is created to display His Authority and that is not made to be a place for Allah's essence (zat). Because He is the Creator of places therefore He does not need a place.

5. Prove that the creed of the As-Salaf Scholars is that "Allah Exists Without a Place"?

Only a few statements from the As-Salaf scholars as well as the Prophet's companions will be placed here as proof that among the creed of the As-Salaf scholars are:

Allah Exists Without a Place

i. A companion of the Prophet who is very well-known and also praised for his knowledge, who is none other than Sayyidina 'Ali Karamullah Wajhah (who passed away on 40 Hijriyyah) once mentioned which means that:

"And it is that Allah exists without a place. Therefore, He now also still exists without a place."

That statement is recorded in Imam Abu Mansur al-Baghdadiyy in his famous book titled Al-Farq Bayna Al-Firaq in page 256 which is published by Dar-al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah.

This means that among the Companions' and Salaf scholars' creed is that "Allah exists without a place" whereby He is neither bounded by any place nor all places. It is also mentioned in the same page of the same book that Imam 'Ali made a statement that meant:

"And Allah created the Arasy (Throne) to exhibit His Power and it is not created to be a place for His Essence."

ii. Imam Al-Syafi'iyy rahimullah who passed away on 204 Hijriyyah once said:

"The proof that Allah exists without a place is that Allah Ta'ala already existed and place did not exist yet. Then Allah created place and still persists in His azali (already existing eternally) Attribute as how before place was created. Therefore, there should not be any changes in His Essence as well as Attributes.

Imam Al-Syafi'iyy's statement is stated by Imam al-Hafiz Murtadha az-Zabidiyy in his book Ithaf al-Sadah al-Muttaqin, Chapter 2, page 36, published by Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah.

iii. A well-known imam for his book about creed entitled 'Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah is Imam al-Hafiz Ahmad bin Salamah Abu Ja‘far al-Tahawiyy (a Salaf scholar who passed away on 321 Hijriyyah). In his book (published by Dar al-Yaqin) on page 5, he stated that:

"Allah is not at (not bounded to) the 6 angles (up, down, right, left, front, back) like all creations."

6. What is the As-Salaf scholars hold about unclear (al-Mutasyabihat) Al-Quran sentences and hadiths?

It is found that the As-Salaf scholars hold about unclear Al-Quran sentences and hadiths about Allah Ta'ala's attributes is that most of the As-Salaf scholars chose not to describe these sentences in detail (takwil tafsiliyy). Rather, they chose to deny the extrinsic meaning of these sentences (takwil ijmaliyy) and leave the true meaning of these sentences to the All-Knowing without holding on to its extrinsic meaning, without inclining the personification and anthropomorphism (tasybih wa tajsim) as well as placement attributes to Allah's Essence.

However, there are also Salaf scholars who chose to describe these unclear sentences in detail such as Imam al-Bukhariyy in his book Sahih al-Bukhariyy whereby he describes Allah's commandment in the Al-Qasas verse, sentence 88:

"His Face" meaning His Kingdom.

7. What about the Al-Khalaf scholars? Who are they and what is their hold?

The Khalaf scholars are also a part of the Ahli Sunnah Wal Jama'ah and they are categorised as scholars who lived after the first 300 Hijriyyah.

The creed of the Khalaf scholars are not out of line of the Al-Quran and Al-Hadith as well as the scholars' consensus (ijma' ulama).

The Khalaf scholars' creed is never opposite nor against the Salaf scholars' creed. In fact, the Salaf scholars' creed is the Khalaf scholars' creed, and vice versa.

However, in terms of describing matters that are related to Allah's attributes and inclination to Allah, the Khalaf scholars have chosen to give a detailed description to prevent any personification nor anthropomorphism assumptions about Allah's attributes.

For example, there are many Khalaf scholars who define some of Allah's attributes in detail to a parallel meaning in the Arabic language that is qualified for Allah as well as easily understood by the general public and knowledge seekers to prevent untrue assumptions about Allah's attributes.

However, there are also Khalaf scholars who don't describe in detail.

8. What is the evidence that the Al-Khalaf scholars' creed is "Allah Exists Without a Place"?

A few statements of the Khalaf scholars that Allah exists without a place will be placed here:

i. Al-Hafiz Ibn Jawziyy al-Hanbaliyy rahimahullah (who passed away on 597 Hijriyyah) stated in his book Daf' Syubhah al-Tasybih, page 189, published by Dar Imam al-Nawawiyy that:

"And it is true among the scholars that Allah is not bounded to the skies, earths and is not at every place."

ii. Imam Hujjah al-Islam Abu Hamid al-Ghazaliyy (who passed away on 505 Hijriyyah) stated in his famous book Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din that:

"And Allah is not bounded to place as well as the 6 directions and Allah is not surrounded by the skies and earth."

Please refer to the book Ithaf al-Sadah al-Muttaqin Fi Syarh Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din, Chapter 2, page 36, published by Dar al-Kutub 'Ilmiyyah, Beirut.

Therefore, this means that the creed of the Khalaf scholars is that Allah exists without a place.

~To Be Continued~


Source: Abu Syafiq Al-Asy'ary