Background Information
After abandoning the Mu'tazilah, Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (d. 324H) adopted the creed of Ibn Kullaab (d. 240H) and his followers whose creed was to affirm all of what Ahl us-Sunnah affirmed inclusive of Allaah being above the Throne, with His Essence, and affirmation of the sifaat dhaatiyyah such as Face, Hands, Eyes, without ta'weel and tafweed, but to reject the Sifaat Fi'liyyah (actions tied to Allaah's will and power) for the reason that they could not answer the objections of the Mu'tazilah that affirming Sifaat Fi'liyyah necessitates Allah is a jism (body). So succumbing to that, the Kullaabis rejected the Sifaat Fi'liyyah (istiwaa, Nuzool, pleasure, anger, love etc.). The Early Ash'aris took on this madhhab of Ibn Kullaab and it became popularized through them and simply took on the label of "Ash'ariyyah", even though they (the Asha'riyyah) were not its originators. The Early Ash'aris maintained the bulk of this creed, but the later ones, starting from the end of the fifth century, reverted back to the doctrines of the Mu'tazilah and Jahmiyyah in certain issues, and the doctrines of kafirs like Ibn Sina (d. 429H) such as in their doctrine of "Allaah is not within the universe nor outside of it" see here), opposing the early Kullaabis in that. They also adopted the very ta'weels of the Jahmiyyah and Mu'tazilah that the Early Ash'aris refuted.
Today what we have are Jahmiyyah who reject Allaah is above the Throne with His Essence (something the early Kullaabi Ash'aris affirmed) and they reject the sifaat dhaatiyyah such as face, hands, eyes, which the Early Ash'aris affirmed without ta'weel or tafweed and these Early Ash'aris rebutted the ta'weels of the Jahmiyyah and Mu'tazilah, as well as their allegations of Tajseem. So these people who are present today, with all their institutions and centers of learning in all the various parts of the world, teaching what they claim is "Ash'ariyyah" are not in fact teaching the Kullaabi creed that Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari adopted after abandoning the Mu'tazilah. They are teaching the doctrines of the Jahmites especially in regards to the subjects mentioned.
So in this series of articles we will document the top intellectual frauds (in no particular order) being perpetrated by these people, deceiving the Muslims and hoodwinking them, causing them to be distrustful of the creed of the Salaf which is nothing but the manifest truth, and instead them directing them to their "Tawheed of al-Jawhar wal-'Arad" which uses nothing - in describing Allaah - but the very words, classifications, and terminologies of the very atheist Philosophers they claimed to oppose!
Intellectual Fraud Regarding Ibn Kullaab and His Creed
We have presented information in numerous other articles regarding Abdullaah bin Sa'eed bin Kullaab (d. 240H) and he was the first of the Mutakallimeen to affirm something of the attributes, in opposition to the Mu'tazilah and Jahmiyyah. He thus became known as the "Imaam of the Sifaatiyyah", and he is held in high esteem amongst the early Ash'arites and is mentioned by the likes of al-Juwaynee (d. 478) and Abu Mansur al-Bagdhadi (d. 429H), and he was also praised greatly by the likes of Ibn Fawrak (d. 406H).
Here is the fraud: - and we don't need to elaborate on it too much because the details are found in other articles on this site - basically when the Jahmite Ash'arites are faced with the facts that Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari abandoned the Mu'tazilah and then adopted the Kullaabi creed due to his mixing with the Kullaabis - they then rush to find praises of Ibn Kullaab and to proclaim that he was upon the Sunnah, as a means of establishing that the creed al-Ash'ari adopted was the truth. This action of theirs arises because they know that the likes of Imaam Ahmad spoke severely against Ibn Kullaab and considered him to be an Innovator. This was because Ibn Kullaab was the originator of the "Kalaam Nafsee" doctrine, which was considered a re-opening of the door for the Jahmiyyah and the saying of the creation of the Qur'an, after it had been closed following the mihnah (trial). So the Ash'arites then rush to defend al-Ash'ari through this defense of Ibn Kullaab, and through all of this we see the specific motives in operation.
There is no doubt that in the biographies of Ibn Kullaab he is mentioned in a positive light from the angle that he was the closest of the Mutakallimeen to the Sunnah. However, this puts the Jahmite Ash'arites into a deeper ditch (rather than taking them out of it) because Ibn Kullaab's creed is essentially summarized and explained as:
To affirm most of what Ahl us-Sunnah affirm except to deny what is considered an event, occurrence (hawaadith).
And on this basis, Ibn Kullaab denied the Sifaat Fi'liyyah (actions tied to Allaah's will and power, considered events, occurrences by the Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah) - whilst at the same time he affirmed the sifaat dhaatiyyah such as Face, Hands, Eyes and also affirmed Allaah's uluww (being above the creation). Ibn Kullaab was unable to counter the doubts of the Mu'tazilah regarding the issue of hawaadith and thus, he negated the Sifaat Fi'liyyah, in order to remain consistent, since he shared with the other Mutakallimeen (Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah) with the intellectual proof they made to be the foundation of their religion.
Here is where the fraud gets a little deeper. Bearing the above in mind, at the same time, contemporary Jahmite Ash'aris claim that Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari only had one repentance, not two, meaning that there were only two stages in his life, not three, and these were the Mu'tazili and post-Mu'tazili stages. The reason why they argue this is to avoid affirming that Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari eventually tended to the madhhab of Imaam Ahmad. They also claim that the book "al-Ibaanah" was written upon the Kullaabi aqidah and methodology.
Accepting this to be true for argument's sake, then this means that all Ash'arites today (who are really Jahmiyyah) are committing the following intellectual and academic frauds:
- sifaat dhaatiyyah: Accusing Ahl us-Sunnah, the Salafis, Atharis, (all synonymous terms) of being Mujassimah merely because they affirm the attributes of Face, Hands, Eyes and the likes, upon the way of the Salaf, and upon the way of Ibn Kullaab and upon the way of Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (even if we accept for argument's sake that he remained a Kullaabi), and upon the way of al-Baqillani, Ibn Mahdee at-Tabari and al-Bayhaqi. This is from the greatest of intellectual frauds being perpetrated today by the likes of Hamza Yusuf, Nuh Keller and other promiment Jahmite Ash'aris, parading as followers of Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari when he is free of them and they are free of him.
- al-uluww: Accusing Ahl us-Sunnah, the Salafis, Atharis, (all synonymous terms) of being Mujassimah because they affirm that Allaah is above the Throne, above the heavens, upon the way of the Salaf, and Ibn Kullab and Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari, and al-Baqillani and Ibn Mahdee at-Tabaree. Meanwhile they simply adopted the viewpoint of the Philosophers (whom they claim to be enemies of) like the kafir Ibn Sina (d. 429H) that Allaah is neither within the universe nor outside of it.
So accepting that Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari only had two stages in his life, then that argument does not avail today's Jahmiyyah of anything. What strengthens all of the above is that the Early Ash'aris like al-Baqillani, and Ibn Mahdee at-Tabaree and others, also affirmed those specific sifaat dhaatiyyah and Allaah's uluww - in opposition to the Jahmiyyah and Mu'tazilah.
So this is another of their great contemporary intellectual frauds. This means that they are perpetrating great and mighty slanders against the followers of the Salaf, in fact not just upon them, but upon the early Kullaabi Ash'aris as well, who are by default (according to today's Jahmiyyah posing as "Ash'aris), also Mujassimah, and they will have to answer for all of this one day.
To read further into this, refer to the following series:
And the following series of articles is an elaboration, by way of an example, upon the above:
- Undercover Ash'aris: Understanding The Intellectual Fraud Needed by Today's Ash'aris To Prop Up and Defend their (Neo-Jahmite) Creed: Analysis of a Sample of Marifah Apologeticism Regarding Distinction Between the Attributes - Part 1 - (see here)
- Undercover Ash'aris: Understanding The Intellectual Fraud Needed by Today's Ash'aris To Prop Up and Defend their (Neo-Jahmite) Creed: Analysis of a Sample of Marifah Apologeticism Regarding Distinction Between the Attributes - Part 2 - (see here)
- Recommended Text of Repentance: For the Marifah (Jahmite) Ash'aris From Their Academic and Intellectual Fraud in Which They Were Caught Red-Handed - (see here)
- Requesting Marifah Staff: (And All Contemporary Jahmiyyah Posing as 'Ash'arites' in Every Corner of the World) To Announce Their Repentance For Lying Against Allaah and His Religion and For Reviling the Deen of the Early Kullaabi Ash'arites - (see here)
