A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ( r.a. ) approved of, and practiced, tawaswswul .  Imam Ahmad ( r.a. ) used to make tawaswswul through the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) a part of every du’a , according to Imam ‘Ala’ ad-Din Abi Hassan ‘Ali ibn Sulayman al-Mardawi ( r.a. ).  He wrote, in his al-Inswaf fi Ma’rifat ar-Rajih min al-Khilaf ‘ala Madzhab al-Imam al-Mubajjal Ahmad ibn Hanbal , “The correct position of the madzhab is that it is permissible in one’s supplication to use as means a pious person, and it is said that it is desirable.  Imam Ahmad said to Abu Bakr al-Marwazi, ‘Let him use the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) as a means in his supplication to Allah.’”   To corroborate, this same report is found in Imam Ahmad’s ( r.a. ) Kitab al-Manasik , narrated by his student, Imam Abu Bakr ‘Abdullah ibn Ahmad al-Marwazi ( r.a. ).  The lengthy wording of the tawaswswul according to the Hanbali madzhab , as established by Imam Abu al-Wafa’ ‘...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam ‘Ala ad-Din Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Mardawi ( r.a. ), as recorded in Kitab al-Inswaf , commenting on the theological position of Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ( r.a. ) and the Hanbali madzhab , said, “The correct position of the madzhab is that it is permissible in one’s du’a to use, as one’s means, of a pious person, and it is said that it is desirable.  Imam Ahmad said to Abu Bakr al-Marwazi, ‘Let him use the Prophet ( s.a.w. ) as a means in his supplication to Allah ( s.w.t. ).’” This is also cited in  Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah ’s ( r.a. ) Majmu’ al-Fatawa .

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Tashbih is the position that there are similarities beyond analogies between Allah ( s.w.t. ) and His Creation.  Tajsim is the related position that imputes a bodily form to Allah ( s.w.t. ).  Tashbih emerged before Islam among certain Jewish and Christian sects, and then spread to certain radical sects in Muslim lands; its more prominent proponents include certain Shi’ah groups, the Karramiyyah , and the Hashwiyyah .  It is based on a particular understanding of those scriptural verses whose apparent meaning expresses similarities between Allah ( s.w.t. ) and Creation.   The Shi’ah ghuluw , extremists, who took such a position include Mughirah bin Sa’id, who claimed that the one he worshipped was a man of light with a crown upon his head and limbs, unlike a man; and Bayan bin Sam’an, who maintained that the one he worshipped was a human being enveloped in light but for his face.   The Karramiyyyah were named after ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu al-Faraj ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Jawzy ( r.a. ) said, “Whoever says, ‘He is established on the Throne in person’, has diverted the sense of the verse to that of sensory perception.  Such a person must not neglect that the principle is established by the mind, by which we have come to know Allah, and have attributed pre-eternity to Him decisively.  If you said, ‘We read the ahadits and keep quiet, no one would criticise you; it is only your taking them in the external sense which is hideous.  Therefore, do not bring into the school of this pious man of the Salaf, Imam Ahmad, that which does not belong in it.  You have clothed this madzhab with an ugly deed, so that it is no longer said ‘Hanbali’ except in the sense of ‘anthropomorphist’.”   And yet, this is exactly what has happened with the Wahhabi sect when they claim to be of the Hanbali madzhab , and people believe them.  Imam ibn al-Jawzy ( r.a....

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Imam Abu al-Faraj ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Jawzy ( r.a. ) narrated, from Qadhi Abi Ya’la Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ibn al-Farra’ ( r.a. ), in his al-Mu’tamad fi Uswul al-Fiqh , with a chain of narration extending to Shaykh Swalih ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ( r.a .), that the latter said, “I related to my father that a certain group of people associate us with Yazid and claim that we love him.   He responded, ‘O my son, how can that be when it is impossible for anyone who truly believes in God to love Yazid.’   So, I asked him why he does not curse him, to which he replied, ‘O my son, when did you see me cursing anything or anyone?   However, why should one not curse the one who was Cursed by Allah ( s.w.t. ) in His Book.’   I asked my father where Yazid is Cursed in God’s Book.   He responded, ‘In the verse:   سُوۡرَةُ محَمَّد فَهَلۡ عَسَيۡتُمۡ إِن تَوَلَّيۡتُمۡ أَن تُفۡسِدُواْ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَتُ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ The following is originally extracted from Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah ( r.a. ): A Heresiography , by Dr. Jibril Fu’ad Haddad.   However, it should be noted that this article is of a slightly different tone and less harsh towards Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah ( r.a. ).   Shaykh Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Abu al-Qasim ibn Taymiyyah, Taqi al-Din Abu al-‘Abbas ibn Shihab ad-Din ibn Majd al-Din al-Harrani ad-Dimashqi al-Hanbali ( r.a. ) was one of the most influential scholars of the late Hanbali school, praised by the ahadits master, Imam Swalah ad-Din al-‘Ala’i Khalil ibn Kaykaldi ( r.a. ) as, “Our shaykh , master, and imam , between us and Allah Almighty, the master of verification, the wayfarer of the best path, the owner of the multifarious merits and overpowering proofs which all hosts agree are impossible to enumerate, the shaykh , the imam and faithful servant of his Lord, t...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ   The following is adapted from “Refutations of Shaykh ibn Taymiyyah’s ( r.a. ) Two Doctrines of Tawhid ” by Ustadz Abu Hamid ibn Marzuq.   Imam Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ( r.a. ), the imam of the madzhab of Shaykh Taqi’ ad-Din Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah ( r.a. ), never said that tawhid consisted in two parts: tawhid ar-rububiyyah and tawhid al-uluhiyyah .   Imam Ahmad ( r.a. ) also never said, “Whoever does not know tawhid al-uluhiyyah , then his knowledge of tawhid ar-rububiyyah is not taken into account because the idolaters also had such knowledge.”   This is not part of Imam ibn Hanbal’s ( r.a. ) doctrine of ‘aqidah , and is not found in the compilations of his followers such as Imam Abu al-Faraj ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Jawzy’s ( r.a. ) Manaqib Ahmad ibn Hanbal , and other books.   This innovated doctrine of Shaykh ibn Taymiyyah ( r.a. ) is not found in the works and teachings of any of ...