As-Salamu Alaykum wa Rahmatu Llahi. Ramadan Mubarak.
I just wanted to share a post that I made on a forum recently regarding the Aqidah of Mulla Ali al-Qari. In Sha’ Allah there is some benefit in it for others.
It seems to me that the Imam only at times affirms the Madh’hab of the Salaf in affirmation of the Attributes and rejection of false interpretations. For example, in his explanation of Mishkat al-Masabih he explains the statement of the Prophet SAWS, ‘By He in whose Hand is the soul of Muhammad’:
[Mirqat al-Mafatih 1/76]
And this is the classic Mu’attilah Ta’weel of ‘Yad’ as ‘Ni’mah’.
He goes on to say:
[Ibid]
In the above Master’s thesis, it affirms that al-Qari combined Ma’na and Kayfiyyah in the Tafweedh that he falsely attributed to the Salaf [see p. 395]. Rather any Tafweedh performed by the Salaf was in Kayfiyyah only.
Then the author points out how al-Qari attributes Ta’weel to the Salaf and in another text attributes it to the Khalaf [p. 407]. So the Ta’weel of al-Qari is two types: generalized [Ijmali] and particularized[Tafseeli]. The Ta’weel falsely attributed to the Salaf is ‘generalized’ since he believes that they never declared any of the Attributes to be upon their apparent meaning, rather they kept Allah distant from that without particularizing any Attributes, while the Khalaf particularized some Attributes for Tanzeeh and some for Ta’weel.
On page 422, al-Qari is shown to attribute himself to the Maturidiyyah in affirming only eight eternal Attributes, in rejection of the Asha’irah. At times he attributes himself to Ahl at-Tafweedh and falsely connects them with the Salaf. Then he defended the Aqidah of Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Qayyim against his own Shaykh, al-Haythami, in his declaration of them both as Mujassimah. However after his defense of the two Shaykhayn, he returned back to statements that opposed the Aqidah of the Salaf, specifically with this statement that if the Qur’an were conveyed upon what is in circulation among the Arabs of the meaning of Yad, Ayn, and Istawa, then truly the people would fall into evil beliefs of Tajseem, Tashbeeh, and the affirmation of direction, and this is similar to what the Jahmiyyah say [see p. 427].
The author then goes on to categorize al-Qari’s views on the Attributes into three issues: his division of the Attributes into ‘essence’ and ‘actions’, his assignment of only eight Attributes to ‘self’, and his belief that the Attributes of ‘action’ are not true Attributes but rather are related to Takween.
At any rate, the above book is excellent as it discusses the issues, brings al-Qari’s quotes, explains the position of the Salaf and other scholars, and then mentions whether al-Qari’s position was in conformity with that of the Salaf or not.
Biography of the Author of the above book
May Allah AWJ forgive Imam Mulla Ali al-Qari and have mercy on him. Ameen.
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