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Clarification of the Statement of Assim al-Hakeem That Divine Qadar Was Created
Filed under: Belief in the Divine Decree
Sunday, November 11 2012 - by Abu.Iyaad
Key topics: Assim Al-Hakeem Al-Qadar


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Clarification of the Statement of Assim al-Hakeem That Divine qadar Was Created

On his website, the following question and answer appears:

Here is an actual screenshot of the fatwa given by Assim al-Hakeem.

Comments and Observations

ONE: It is not permissible to give shallow and dangerous answers to great and serious affairs of the religion. It is not permissible for a person to put himself forward as a muftee for the Muslims at large when he is clearly not qualified (as indicated by such a shallow answer) and unable to present and articulate an answer that is clear, unambiguous, makes tafseel (detail) and fulfils the need of the questioner.

TWO: Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullaah) said in al-Majmoo' (8/410,413):

The word al-qadar, can be intended (to mean) al-taqdeer (Allaah's act of determining affairs) or al-muqaddar (that which has been determined). So if you intend that the actions of the servants are the very same as the taqdeer of Allaah which is His knowledge (ilm) and His speech (kalaam) and His will (mashi'ah) and the likes of this from His attributes, then this is an error and falsehood. For the actions of the servants are not from the attributes of Allaah, the Exalted at all. And if you meant that they are decreed (muqaddarah), Allaah the Exalted determined them, then this is the truth... [a little later, refuting the Hulooliyyah] ... it is said to him: His command (amr) and His qadar which is His attribute (sifah), such as His will and His speech, is uncreated. But as for His command (amr) which is the matter decreed, then it is created. Hence, the maqdoor is created, and that which is commanded (ma'moor bihi) is created, even if they are labelled "amr" and "qadar."

The word al-qadar is one of those such words (just like al-amr, al-khalq etc.) which can be used in one of two ways, one that refers to the actual act or one that refers to the actual entity resulting from the act - thus khalq (creation) can refer to Allah's act of creating or it can refer to the entity of the creation that has been created, and amr (command) can refer to Allaah's command (which entails His actual speech, kalaam) or the actual command itself (such as praying for example, which is commanded). Likewise for al-qadar. Once this is understood, the question posed to Assim al-Hakeem was "Is it OK to say that qadr/divine Predestination was created," and so it is clear that "divine predestination" here followed by "was" would make the reader think that we are speaking of the attributes of Allah, the Sublime and Exalted, and likewise His act.

THREE: Without such a clarification therefore, the ambiguous affirmation that the "Divine Decree" "was" created is falsehood and comprises kufr (disbelief) since the Divine Decree includes the knowledge (ilm), the will (mashee'ah) of Allaah, the Mighty and Exalted, and likewise the speech (kalaam) of Allaah, and also Allaah's act of creating and bringing into existence entities and their actions. As for the writing (kitaabah) which is the writing of the pen (qalam) into the tablet (lawh), then that is created, as Allaah created the pen and then ordered it to write and so it wrote into the preserved tablet, so the actual writing is created (meaning the Preserved Tablet is a created entity), though Allah's order and command for the Pen to write is not created. As for the other three levels of qadar which are knowledge, will and creating (and which also include speech, kalaam), then it is a repugnant error to imply by such a shallow answer that they are created. The statement that the Divine Decree was "created" therefore, is an extremely dangerous statement because the Divine Decree refers to many things, it refers to Allaah's attributes and it refers to His actions. The knowledge of Allaah is His attribute. The mashee'ah, or iraadah (will, wish) and kalaam (speech) of Allaah are His attributes. Allaah creating (khalq), creating is His action. Hence, to imply that all of this is created is baatil (falsehood), this is very dangerous, it is a statement that comprises kufr, because it means Allaah's attribute of knowledge and will and speech and His action (of creating, khalq and bringing into existence, eejaad) are created.

FOUR: So when this statement implies that Allaah's attributes and His actions are created, then this brings us to close to the sayings of the Mu'tazilah who explain away His attributes as being other than Him, meaning His attributes are in reality just manifestations of attributes in created things. So hence, when it is said Allaah's power, it merely refers to the power Allaah put in created things, but it is said to be His power metaphorically, not that there is an attribute for Allaah's essence called "power," just like it is said, "Allaah's Messenger" or "Allaah's House," these are created things but which are ascribed to Allaah, but they are not attributes of Allaah, so this is how the Mu'tazilah explained away the attributes mentioned for Allaah in the revealed texts. So this statement made by Assim al-Hakeem in the context of answering this question, it's implications are that some of the attributes of Allaah are created and His actions are created, and this is huge and repugnant error, because in giving a simple three-letter word answer (by saying "yes") to a very serious question, something of the belief of the Mu'tazilah is implied.

FIVE: Al-Ghazali, Imaam of the Ash'ari Jahmites, made a statement, "Nothing exists except Allaah and His actions" and what he really means by this is that nothing exists except Allaah and His creation, when he says, "actions", he does not mean Allaah's actions, as in actual actions ascribed to Allaah, rather, he means by "actions', the actual created entities. So on the surface, this statement appears to be correct, but what it really means is that Allaah has no actions tied to His will and power and ascribed to His essence through which entities are created by Him and brought into existence. They are operating upon the same principle of the Mu'tazilah that we just highlighted in the previous point, but the Mu'tazilah use this principle (Allaah's attributes are other than Him) to deny all His attributes, whereas the Ash'aris borrowed this principle from the Mu'tazilah, and used it to say essentially that Allah's actions are other than Him to deny that Allaah has actions tied to His will and power, and has actions which are ascribed to His essence, because they believe that this entails ascribing "hawaadith" (events) to Allaah's essence, which would make him just like all other created bodies. So they speak of a principle (الفعل هو المفعول والخلق هو المخلوق), "The act is but the thing brought about and the act of creating is but the created entity itself" - this essentially means that instead of having a) a creator, then b) an action performed by the creator and ascribed to His essence, and then c) the resultant created thing (i.e. three things) we only actually have two, so we make the act of creating and resultant created thing [b) and c)] into one which is just the resultant created thing, and in this way, we have eliminated the act in the middle. This is what the As'haris do and this is a way to deny Allaah has actions by using the principle of the Mu'tazilah to deny the actions. They have made Allaah's actions to be synonymous with the actual created things, just like the Mu'tazilah made the attributes of Allaah to be synonymous with those same attributes manifested in created things without there being actual attributes for Allaah's essence. Hence, when Assim al-Hakeem says that it is correct to say that the Divine qadar was created, and from the Divine qadar is the action of Allaah of khalq and eejaad (creating entities, and bringing them and their actions into existence), then this means Allaah's actions are created - and the only refuge one has in order to provide an explanation for this to avoid its apparent kufr is the saying of the Ash'aris which is something more obscure, which is that Allaah's actions are not real actions but just a symbolic way of referring to His creation, meaning essentially that His actions are His creation - as was intended by al-Ghazali in support of the Ash'ari Jahmee creed of denying Allaah has actions tied to His will and power. So we can now also add the bid'ah of the Ash'ariyyah into the list - and this shows that when one does not take care in speaking about these serious issues and the words one uses, it can have serious implications, and necessitate such falsehood that the person speaking (answering) may not realize.

SIX: Since the Divine qadar also comprises the attribute of the speech of Allaah (kalaam), since it is by His speech that Allaah creates, since He commands through His speech on account of which the previously determined Divine qadar is brought into existence, then we also have the saying of the Jahmiyyah that the speech of Allaah is created, and the Qur'an is from the speech of Allaah, and therefore the Qur'an is created. Now these are all implications of the answer given by Assim al-Hakeem - we are not accusing him of these statements - but we are indicating that when a person does not really give due consideration to great and serious matters of the religion, then he will speak haphazardly and with such shallowness that can lead to confusing other people and expressing statements the realities and implications of which he does not grasp and which can put other people to trial and confusion in their deen.

SEVEN: In light of the above, this brother needs to make a clarification and to correct this blameworthy conduct of giving shallow, erroneous answers in relation to great and mighty affairs, which in turn (as in this instance) may imply beliefs of kufr and also enter into the realm of some of the innovated concepts of the Ahl al-Kalaam from the Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah and Ash'ariyyah. For the sake of clarification, it is not being asserted that Assim al-Hakeem believes that Allaah's attributes or actions are created, but only that he has given a shallow and repugnant answer to a great and mighty topic, which can imply beliefs of kufr. Essentially, this man is not qualified to answer in such matters, and should resign himself to the Scholars, the people of knowledge and not put the people to trial by presenting himself as an independent muftee through his website as clearly appears to be the case. We ask Allaah for pardon and safety in speech and action.



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