Rattibha

A (🧵) in regards to delegating or leaving the text
One of the errors from ahlul-kalām and the mufawwiḍah is that they believe certain terms equals to tafwīd al-maʿnā per se
Such as:
-Pass it on as it came
-Delegate the meaning
-Don't interpret it
This, however, is incorrect

1. "Passing it on as it came"
People tend to ascribe tafwīḍ al- maʿnā whenever an Imām speaks in such a way
However, this more often than not refers to a discouragement to re-interpret it in a manner where the text itself would be distorted

Ibn al-Qayyim: People disagreed on many legal rulings, yet they didn’t disagree on the Verses pertinent to the Sifāt and its indications
Rather, the Sahābah and Tābi’un unanimously agreed on acknowledging them and passing them on while understanding their meanings and realities

Similarly, passing it on doesn't negate affirmation of the meaning unless specified
Sufyān ibn Uyayna said: "كل شيء وصف الله به نفسه في القرآن فقراءته تفسيره، لا كيف ولا مثل"
That its recitation is its interpretation in regards to what Allāh described Himself with

Imām adh-Dhahabī commented on this and said:
"وكما قال سفيان وغيره: قراءتها تفسيرها، يعني أنها بينة واضحة في اللغة لا يبتغي لها مضايق التأويل والتحريف. وهذا هو مذهب السلف، مع اتفاقهم أيضاً أنها لا تشبه صفات البشر بوجه، إذ الباري لا مثل له، لا في ذاته، ولا في صفاته."

He said: as Sufyān and others said: ‘Its recitation is in fact its interpretation – which means, it's obvious and clear in the language, such that one should not opt for (a different) interpretation or distortion"
1/2

"This is the Maḏhab of the Salaf, while they all agree that they do not resemble the attributes of man. For Allāh has no likeness, neither in His Essence, nor in His Attributes"
2/2

Prior to this he said: "المتأخرون من أهل النظر قالوا مقالة مولدة، ما علمت أحداً سبقهم بها. قالوا: هذه الصفات تمر كما جاءت ولا تؤول، مع اعتقاد أن ظاهرها غير"

adh-Dhahabī:"The latter ones from the speculative theologians invented a new belief. I do not know of anyone preceding them in that.
They said: "These attributes are passed on as they have come and not interpreted while believing that the apparent meaning is not intended"

2. "Delegate the meaning or text"
Furthermore, there is this misconception that Salafi's don't delegate the text in any way
That's incorrect as salafi's delegate anything which goes pass the "kayf" to Allāh
So the question then is, what does that entail?

Imām Ibn khuzaymah, after mentioning the transmisions from the scholars of the hijaz and iraq:
"فنشهد شهادة مقر بلسانه مصدق بقلبه متيقن بما في هذه الأخبار من ذكر النزول، من غير أن نصف الكيفية، لأن نبينا ﷺ لم يصف لنا كيفية نزول خالقنا إلى السماء الدنيا، وأعلمنا أنه ينزل"
1/2

He continued:
"والله عز وجل ولَّى نبيه ﷺ بيان ما بالمسلمين إليه الحاجة من أمر دينهم، فنحن قائلون مصدقون بما في هذه الأخبار من ذلك النزول، غير متكلفين للنزول بصفة الكيفية، إذ النبي ﷺ لم يصف كيفية النزول"
2/2

Imām Ibn-khuzayma started by attesting that the reports have a certainty to them, without describing "how"
He then continues by saying that this is due to the fact that the Prophet ﷺ did not explain how Allāh descended to the lower heaven, but he, nonetheless, informed us of it

Further on he said that the Prophet ﷺ had been given the task to explain the matters of dīn
Therefore, it's obligatory to attest to the reports (affirmation) and to not go beyond the kayf i.e. delve further into the finer details of it since the Prophet ﷺ didn't go beyond that

3. "Don't interpret it"
This is a classic one which people tend to misunderstand. There is always some form of interpretation when we read the nuṣūṣ.
The real question is, what shouldn't be interpreted? Or to what degree does one leave it as it is?

Imām al-Qāsim said:
"هَذِهِ الْأَحَادِيثُ صِحَاحٌ حَمَلَهَا أَصْحَابُ الْحَدِيثِ والفقهاء بعضهم على بَعْضٍ، وهِيَ عِنْدَنَا حَقٌّ لَا نَشُكُّ فِيهَا"
"وَلَكِنْ إِذَا قِيلَ: كَيْفَ وَضَعَ قَدَمَهُ؟ وَكَيْفَ ضَحِكَ؟ قُلْنَا: لَا يُفَسَّر هَذَا وَلَا سَمِعْنَا أَحَدًا يُفَسِّرُهُ."

He said: "These authentic narrations have been transmitted by the people of hadith and the jurists, from one to another, and they are the truth for us and we won't doubt them"
1/2

He continued: "However, when it is asked, 'How did He put his foot on Hellfire?' And 'How did He laugh?' We reply, 'They shouldn't be interpreted and we have heard no one interpreting them."
This is a clear example from the salaf where their "interpretation" stops at the how

However, there is another context in which this statement "Don't interpret it" was used, and this was due to the followers of Jahm who went way beyond the "kayf" and re-interpreted the nuṣūṣ to a large degree

ash-Shaybānī said: ",اتَّفَقَ الْفُقَهَاءُ كُلُّهُمْ مِنَ الْمَشْرِقِ إِلَى الْمَغْرِبِ عَلَى الْإِيمَانِ بِالْقُرْآنِ وَالْأَحَادِيثِ الَّتِي جَاءَ بِهَا الثِّقَاتُ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي
1/3

He continued:
"صِفَةِ الرَّبِّ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ مِنْ غَيْرِ تَغْيِيرٍ وَلَا وَصْفٍ وَلَا تَشْبِيهٍ , فَمَنْ فَسَّرَ الْيَوْمَ شَيْئًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ , فَقَدْ خَرَجَ مِمَّا كَانَ عَلَيْهِ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ"
2/3

And concluded: "وَفَارَقَ الْجَمَاعَةَ , فَإِنَّهُمْ لَمْ يَصِفُوا وَلَمْ يُفَسِّرُوا , وَلَكِنْ أَفْتَوْا بِمَا فِي الْكِتَابِ وَالسُّنَّةِ ثُمَّ سَكَتُوا , فَمَنْ قَالَ بِقَوْلِ جَهْمٍ فَقَدْ فَارَقَ الْجَمَاعَةَ؛ لِأَنَّهُ قَدْ وَصَفَهُ بِصِفَةِ لَا شَيْءَ"
3/3

ash-Shaybānī: All of the jurists from the East to the West are unanimously agreed in having faith in the Qur'ān and the ʾaḥādīṯ which came through the trustworthy narrators from the Prophet ﷺ on the description of the Lord without change, nor description and nor tashbīh
1/3

"So whoever explained anything from that today, then he has departed from that which the Prophet ﷺ was upon and he has separated from jamāʻah, for they did not describe & explain, however they gave verdicts upon what is in the Book and the Sunnah then they remained silent"
2/3

He concluded: "(but) Whoever spoke with the saying of Jahm, then he has separated from the jamāʻah because he described Him with the description of a non - entity"
3/3
Obviously there are other examples, but i had to limit it to these few given the length of the thread

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