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Refutation of the Aḥbāsh

Imām Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī

A refutation of many of the hallmarks of the deviant ʿaqīdah perpetrated by the followers of ʿAbdullāh al-Ḥabashī.

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And for that there is no salvation for the Muslims in this age except that they return to what the pious predecessors were upon and that they actualise in themselves the statement of their Prophet when he ﷺ said, while descriibng the saved sect, he said: “It is the one (sect) that is upon that which I and my Companions are upon.” I wanted to finish the discourse with this Ḥadīth. However, I remembered that from the previously presented questions that those Ahbash from among those things that they negate is the Hand that Allāh describes Himself as having it. They say the Yad (Hand) is an organ, Subhān Allāh! So they speak from themselves because how can they say about the Hand that Allāh mentioned, they say that it is a limb or an organ! These people from the most ignorant of people if not from the most misguided of people that is because they make analogy upon the unseen by that that which is seen. On the contrary they confound the most unseen of the unseen and He is Allāh (تبارك وتعالى) upon themselves. This is in the limits of imbecility if not in the limits of heresy. We go side by side with them in the way of arguing not in the way of ʿAqīdah and may Allāh forbid that we should be partners with them in their ʿAqīdah. We say to them Allāh is the Being that is described with the descriptions of Perfection. Do you say this with us? It is a must that they say with us “yes” or they will say no. So, if they say no then this is what will prove their misguidance and emphasise what they are upon. So there is no speech for us with them because speech with them in that case would be speech with the zanādiqah (heretics). And we are now supposed to speak with Muslims that testify there is no deity worthy of worship in truth except Allāh alone and Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allāh, and they pray, and so on and so forth. So, if they said we are with you that Allāh (عز وجل) is a being, for Him are all the Attributes of Perfection. So, if they said this statement then indeed they would have contraḍīcted themselves when they said, ‘Allāh is a Being and He has Attributes.’ And you o speaker with the rhetoric of the scholars of theological rhetoric…when you say, “the Hand is an organ.” This is an organ with regards to your being, so is your being like the Being of Allāh? Or is the Being/Essence of Allāh like your being? You will say, ‘May Allāh forbid that.’ So His Essence or Being is not like the other essences and therefore His Attributes are not like the rest of the attributes of the creation. So then the problem has ended o group of people, the problem has ended. It is said of the Essence what is said regarding the Attributes. It is said regarding the Attributes what is said of the Essence/Being affirmatively and negatively. Allāh is a being; He has all the Attributes of Perfection and is far removed from all the attributes of deficiency. That is His saying, “There is nothing like Him (Allāh) and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer” (Ash-Shūrā’: 42: 11). So He is the All-Hearing and the All-Seeing. Allāh spoke the truth. However, His Hearing is not like our hearing, His Sight is not like our sight. It is a must for those who are arguing in falsehood and those who take cover under true speech, its outward appearance is truth and its inwardness is false; it is a must for those to repudiate all of the (falsely interpreted) attributes of Allāh (عز وجل). Why? Because the description of Allāh with these attributes most of times it is a sharing of utterance and not a sharing of essential meaning. Allāh (عز وجل) said about Ādam,

“…We made him hearing and seeing” (Al-‘Insān: 76: 2).

And He also described Himself that He is,

“All-Hearing and All-Seeing” (Ash-Shūrā’: 42: 11).

Has the time ended (for the durūs)? Ok, we end then. So we say if Allāh (عز وجل) said,

“He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer” (Ash-Shūrā’: 42: 11)

And He described Ādam (عليه السلام) that He made him hearing and seeing, so upon the way of those Ahbash and the likes of them from the Mu’atilah (the deniers) one of two things is inevitable. Either he says that Allāh is not as He said,

“He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer” (Ash-Shūrā’: 42: 11)

because He said of Ādam,

“…We made him hearing and seeing” (Al-‘Insān: 76: 2)

or that we say, no, He (Allāh) is as He describes Himself, however His saying regarding Ādam

“…We made him hearing and seeing” (Al-‘Insān: 76: 2)

it is not like that (i.e. not like the Attributes of Seeing and Hearing of Allāh). So, there must be denial of either of the two descriptions (by the Ahbash) either the one from them connected to Allāh (عز وجل) and this is Kufr (disbelief) or what is connected to the description by Allāh for Ādam (عليه السلام) that He made him hearing and seeing; the denial of that is also Kufr (disbelief). So they (the Ahbash & their likes) are revolving between Kufr and that is the final recompense for he who did not follow the pious predecessors and for that it was said, “All of the good is in the following of those who have past (the salaf) and all of the bad is in the Bidʿah (innovation) of those that came after it (i.e. khalaf).” So we advise all those present not to give ears to scholars of rhetoric and not to their henchmen. And it is upon them to know the ʿAqīdah of the Salaf so that they can be in shā Allāh guided ones. And all praise is for the Lord of the Ālamīn (all that exists).

Question: And it is no secret that the people of innovation in every point of time manifest an affair, they try in their thought to make the light of the Sunnah secret, so should we accompany the people of innovation as with regards to the refutation of them or what is the advice from you in the likes of this for us and for our brothers inside and abroad? And may Allāh bless you.

Answer: The refutation of the people of innovation is not permissible except for he who is an Ālim of the Sunnah from one angle and of Bidʿah from the other angle. Perhaps you will remember with me the Ḥadīth of Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman in the Sahīh-hain he said, “The people used to ask the Messenger ﷺ of Allāh about the good and I used to ask him about the bad fearing that I would fall into it.” And this is as the poet said, “I have known the evil not for the sake of evil but rather for the sake of protecting myself from it. And whosoever does not know the good from the bad he will fall into it (the bad/evil).” So he who is a knower of the good and evil like Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman and he was therefore in this age a knower of the Sunnah in turn following it and he urges the people towards it, and a knower of Bidʿah in turn staying away from it and he warns the people from it then this person is he who is the one it is permissible for him to argue/refute the people of innovation or the innovators. As for what some of our brothers do; those who have not been given from knowledge except a small portion and then they enter into the argumentation with he who is stronger than him knowledge-wise even if this knowledge is mixed with a lot of Bidʿah or theological rhetoric as we said before. So those (people) we advise them to have regret for themselves and that they go away from the innovators and not to argue with them because they will be affected by their false arguments like that question that you heard in the beginning of this sitting and you heard the refutation of it that they gift their ear to every ‘Naik’ (i.e. every Tom) and everyone that yells, so the false argument gets connected to the mind of the one hearing and then until a scholar is facilitated for him that is able to remove this false argument for him. With that the texts have been piled up abundantly from our pious predecessors, from the scholars like Mālik and Aḥmad (ibn Ḥanbal) and other than them that they have used to warn the people abundantly from sitting with the people of innovation. Even more so they used to order them to the cutting them off (boycotting) fearing that something form their (Ahl Bidʿah’s) false arguments would take activation in their soul. So, this is I think the answer to what you asked. And the reward is from Allāh. In shā Allāh as long as we are sincere and aim firstly at the beneficial knowledge that which has been drawn from the Book of Allāh and from the Sunnah of the Messenger ﷺ and upon the Manhaj of the Salaf us-Saleh firstly. And then also intending to act upon what we have learned and after that we ask Allāh (عز وجل) to increase us and you in knowledge.

Glory be to You O Allāh. And You we praise and I testify that there is no deity worthy of worship in truth except You and I seek Your forgiveness, and I seek Your repentance.

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Published: June 15, 2007
Edited: January 6, 2022

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