Thread
The Creed of the Salaf regarding Allegorical Reports
By Hujjatul Islām Imām Ghazālī
رضي الله عنه
Iljām al-'Awāmm 'an 'Ilm al-Kalām (A Return to a Purity in Creed)
﷽
The Creed of the Salaf regarding Allegorical Reports
By Hujjatul Islām Imām Ghazālī
رضي الله عنه
Iljām al-'Awāmm 'an 'Ilm al-Kalām (A Return to a Purity in Creed)
﷽
"The reality of the approach of the Salaf - which is the truth in our view- is that any lay person who confronts one of these controversial ambiguous ahādīth is obliged to conform to seven matters:
1. Exoneration (Taqdīs)
A person should absolve Allāhﷻ from bodily characteristics and subordinate characters [of a body].
A person should absolve Allāhﷻ from bodily characteristics and subordinate characters [of a body].
2. Affirmation (Taṣdīq)
Believe in what the Prophet ﷺ said, that what he mentioned is the truth, that he is truthful in whatever he says, and that it is truth in accord with what he said and intended.
Believe in what the Prophet ﷺ said, that what he mentioned is the truth, that he is truthful in whatever he says, and that it is truth in accord with what he said and intended.
3. Acknowledgement (al-i'tirāf bi al-'ajz)
Acknowledge one's inability to know the intent of Allāh and His Messengerﷺ as it is beyond the scope of one's capacity.
Acknowledge one's inability to know the intent of Allāh and His Messengerﷺ as it is beyond the scope of one's capacity.
4. Silence (sukūt)
Not to ask about it's meaning..., know that asking about it is an illicit innovation (bid'ah), that by indulging in it one is bringing serious risk to his faith, and that he is on the verge of rejecting faith by indulging in it without knowing.
Not to ask about it's meaning..., know that asking about it is an illicit innovation (bid'ah), that by indulging in it one is bringing serious risk to his faith, and that he is on the verge of rejecting faith by indulging in it without knowing.
5. Abstinence (al-imsāk)
Not to alter or replace those expressions with another language, not to add or subtract from it, nor to combine or seperate [any words]. Rather one is only to utter that particular expression or word in that particular manner of mention, grammatical
Not to alter or replace those expressions with another language, not to add or subtract from it, nor to combine or seperate [any words]. Rather one is only to utter that particular expression or word in that particular manner of mention, grammatical
classification, declension and wording.
6. Restraint (al-kaff)
This is to keep one's heart from searching and pondering over it.
This is to keep one's heart from searching and pondering over it.
7. Yielding to the People of Knowledge (Specialists) (al-taslīm li ahlihi)
Not to believe that just because such a thing is confusing to him due to his inability, that it was also confusing to the Prophet ﷺ, to the other Prophets, to the truly sincere in faith (Ṣiddīqīn),
Not to believe that just because such a thing is confusing to him due to his inability, that it was also confusing to the Prophet ﷺ, to the other Prophets, to the truly sincere in faith (Ṣiddīqīn),
Or the friends of Allāh (awliyā')
These are seven protocols that every single one of the Salaf believed to be an obligation of all laypersons - and [it] should not be thought that the Salaf disagreed about any part of that.
These are seven protocols that every single one of the Salaf believed to be an obligation of all laypersons - and [it] should not be thought that the Salaf disagreed about any part of that.
Imām Ghazālī also says
"The indulgence of laypersons in figurative interpretation and indulging with them in it on the part of the learned is a blameworthy innovation"
"The indulgence of laypersons in figurative interpretation and indulging with them in it on the part of the learned is a blameworthy innovation"
And Allāh knows Best
