Explanation of al-'Aqeedatu at-Tahaawiyyah Shaykh 'Ali al-Halabi

[عقيل الهندي]

10 - [Ever] Living – He does not die; Sufficient, He does not sleep

11 – A creator; without having purpose, a provider without effort.

Shaykh Muhammd Naasir Ud-Deen al-Albaani said, ‘i.e without heaviness or burden, as in the explanation of al-‘Aqeedatu at-Tahaawiyyah’, p. 125 – 4th edition’

12 – He causes death without fear and gives life without burden.

13 – He has always been, with his attributes, before His creation – He has never increased in His attributes, gaining that which He did not have before. And just as He has always been with His attributes, He shall remain forever.

Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah said in al-Tis’eeniyyah (2/456), while refuting some groups in this matter, incorporating the author’s speech, ‘As for the fuqahaa, Ahlul Haddeth, the Soofiyyah some of the people of rhetoric, from those who refute the mu’tazilah from the murji’ah, shee’ah and karraamiyyah and others, they dispel the evidences that have been mentioned and say that He is not a doer except with an action that is independent in itself; a being that is independent in itself and the creation that is independent in itself is different to the creation that is created.
And this is what the fuqahaa from the companions of Abu Haneefah, ash-Shaafi’ee, Ahmad and Maalik mention in their books – just as the fuqahaa of the Hanafiyyah have mentioned, like at-Tahaawi, Abu Mansoor al-Maatooridi and others, as al-Baghawai mentioned in Sharh us-Sunnah and as the companions of Ahmad, like Abu Ishaaq, Abu Bakr Abdul-‘Azeez al-Qaadi and others have mentioned…’

[معز النيجيري]

BaarakhaAllaahu feek Brother
May Allaah give you tawfeeq

Your translation here "A creator with a purpose"

I believe it should be "[COLOR="rgb(139, 0, 0)"]A creator without a need[/COLOR]"

May Allaah reward you

[معز النيجيري]

المشاركة الأصلية كتبت بواسطة معز النيجيري

BaarakhaAllaahu feek Brother
May Allaah give you tawfeeq

Your translation here "A creator with a purpose"

I believe it should be "[COLOR="rgb(139, 0, 0)"]A creator without a need[/COLOR]"

May Allaah reward you

I meant instead of

"without having purpose"

it should be "without having need

[عقيل الهندي]

Wa feeka baarak Allaah - your suggestion is correct. What I wrote may suggest that Allaah has no purpose.

[عقيل الهندي]

14 – It was not after His creation of the creation that He deserved the name the Creator, nor after bringing about all that exists that He deserved the name the Originator.

The Imaam ‘Uthmaan bin S’ad ad-Daarimi said in ‘The Rebuttal of Bishr al-Mareesee’, p.9, ‘And Allaah, may His name be sanctified, all His names are equal – He was always as such and will remain as such. No attribute of His has come about, nor any name of His [has come about] having not had it. He was al-Khaaliq [the creator] before the creation; ar-Razzaaq [the Provider] before providing; knowledgeable before there were things to know; Hearing before the sounds of the creation were audible and Seeing before seeing created individuals.’
And the respected Shaykh Ahmad bin S’ad al-Ghaamidee said in at-Ta’leeqaat al-Jaliyyah, pp. 24-25, ‘This is affirmation that from the names of Allaah are al-Khaaliq and al-Baari, and that He had them before He created the creation.
And it should not be thought that Allaah never created before and then did so. The creation of Allaah cannot find a beginning for them, despite the belief that every created being has a beginning and end. What is being discussed are the actions of Allaah.’
Shaykh ‘Ali al-Halabi: How can the latter part of this statement be reconciled with the issue of the first created being and the people of knowledge’s difference with regards to it (was it the Throne or the Pen?), as will appear under point 47 if Allaah so wills. And the understanding that is in conformity is that the intent here is the created beings of this world.
And, in order to hasten benefit, I quote some speech of the Imaam Ibn Abil-‘Izz al-Hanafee in his explanation, p. 133, as a guide to the heart of the matter, ‘Before asserting that the things that have come about have a beginning, distortion is necessary – that Allaah was not doing the action and then was.
And this does not necessitate the [complete] oldness of the world – as everything except Allaah is newly-created and had the potential of being present with Allaah’s making of it. It has nothing from itself except need and want – descriptions for everything other than Allaah.
See Majmoo al-Fataawa (vol. 18, p. 213 and after).
Al-allaamah Ibn ‘Isa reported in his explanation of an-Nooniyyah on the authority of Sayf ad-Deen as-Sa’oodi al-Hanafi [Who died in 736AH and has a biography in ad-Durara al-Kaaminah (1/492), in that which as-Sakhaawi reported on him in al-Qawl al-Mubni fi tarjamati Ibn il-Arabi that he quoted these lines from at-Tahhaawi and then commented, ‘This is a criteria of the belief of the Muslims – its meaning, the intent behind it and wording fly in the face of the saying of the accursed author of al-Fusoos.’
By whom he means Ibn ‘Arabi the Soofee.
See the explanation of an-Nooniyyah (1/348-349), as he quotes from at-Tahhaawi often.

[عقيل الهندي]

15. He was always the Lord even when there was nothing to be Lord of, and always the Creator even when there was no creation.

16. In the same way, He is the "Bringer of life to the dead," after He had brought them to life and deserves this name before bringing them to life, similarly, He deserves the name of "the Creator" before He created them.

17. This is because He is capable of anything, and everything is dependent on Him, everything is easy for Him, and He is not in need of anything. {There is nothing like Him and He is the Hearer, the Seer} (al-Shura: 42:11)

Shaykh Muhammad bin Abdil-‘Azeez bin Maani’: ‘Some say “and He is capable of that which He wills”, which is not correct. Rather, what is is that which appears in the Book and Sunnah, {And He is capable of all things} – due to His general Will and Ability, in contrast to [that which] the people of I’tizaal [hold], who say that Allaah does not will His slave to fall into disobedience – rather the slave falls into it due to their own will, not Allaah’s. For this reason, one of their misguided individuals said,

The ignorant, and those who say his saying, claim that disobedience is from the Will of the Creator,

If what he says is true then why has He ordained Punishment for sexual relations outside marriage and the severing of the hand of the thief

[عقيل الهندي]

18. He created the creation with His knowledge.
19. He ordained their destinies.
20. He gave them [fixed] life spans.
21. Nothing about them was hidden from Him before He created them, and He knew what that they would do before He created them.
22. He ordered them to obey Him and forbade them to disobey Him.
23. Everything happens according to His degree and will, and His Will is accomplished. The slaves have no will except in that which He has willed for them and that which He Wills is and that which He does not Will is not.

Shaykh Muhammad Naasir ud-Deen al-Albaani: He intends by this that His Will and Want envelops all that which occurs in being; from good and evil, guidance and misguidance.
And the ayaat that prove this are many and well-known and can be referred to in the explanation (p. 145-146) and other than it.

The purpose of this paragraph is refutation of the Mu’tazilah, who negate His general Will. And it is necessary to note that affirming it does not necessitate Allaah’s loving everything that occurs, as loving is different from willing. If this were not the case, there would be no difference between the one who obeys and the one who disobeys – and this has been explicitly stated by some of the senior holders of the belief of wahdatil wujood; that both the obedience and disobedient are in fact obeying Allaah’s will!
And the mathhab of the salaf and jurists, and most of those from Ahlus Sunnah who affirm pre-destination and other than them, differentiate between wanting and loving. And towards this fact, the author of the poem Bad al-Umaali[1] eluded in his saying,

The One who wants good and ugly evil, but is not pleased with it

Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah said, ‘Then the Qadariyyah say that He does not Love disbelief, ill-doing and disobedience and does not want any of it – so that which He did not Will is and that which He wills is not!

A group from among those who affirm it say that which He Wills is and that which He does not Will is not. Therefore, He Wants disbelief, evil-doing and disobedience but not religiously, or He Wants it from the disbeliever but not from the believer. And for this reason, He loves disbelief, evil-doing and disobedience but does not Love it as religion. He Loves it for the disbeliever but not from the believer!

And both of these sayings are erroneous, in opposition to the Book, Sunnah and consensus of the salaf of the Ummah and her Imaams, as they are in agreement that that which Allaah Wills is and that which He does not Will is not; that nothing is except through His Will. They are in agreement that He does not Love ruin and is not pleased with disbelieve for his slaves and as for the disbelievers, {when they plot by night in words that He does not approve} [an-Nisa: 108][2]


[1] Which is known as the Laamiyyah by Siraaj ad-Deen Abil-Hasan ‘Ali bin Uthmaan al-Farghaani, who died in 569AH. His biography is in al-Jawaahir al-Madiyyah (2/583) and the poem is in his qaseedah (p. 19 of Majmoo’ muhimmaat al-funoon) and see also Mu’jam al-Matboo’aat (9/499) of as-Sarkees.

[2] Majmoo’ al-Fataawa (7/115-116) – and Ibn al-Qayyim explained this in Shifaa al-‘aleel p. 120-134, so refer to it, for it is of importance.

[عقيل الهندي]

24. He Guides whomever He wills, and protects them, and keeps them safe, out of His
Excellence; and He leads astray whomever He wills, abases them, and tests them, out of His Justice.
25. All of them are subject to His Will – between His Excellence and Justice.
26. He is exalted above having partners or equals.
27. None can ward off His decree or delay His command or supersede His order.
28. We believe in all of this and are certain that everything comes from Him.
29. And [we believe and are certain] that Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) is His chosen slave and elect Prophet and His Messenger with whom He is well pleased.

Shaykh Muhammad Naasir ud-Deen al-Albaani: Know that every messenger [rasool] is a prophet [nabi] but not every prophet [nabi] is a messenger [rasool].
They [the scholars] have mentioned differences between a messenger and prophet, that you can see in Tafseer al-Aloosi (5/449-450) and others.
And I hold the most correct opinion that the messenger is the one who has been sent with a new legislation and the prophet who has been sent to confirm the legislation of who preceded them and they are, of course, ordered to convey it – as it is known that the scholars are ordered to convey, so the prophets are more likely to be, as is apparent.

[عقيل الهندي]

30. And [we believe and are certain] that he [Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)] is the seal of the prophets; Imaam of the God-fearing; leader of the messengers and Habeeb [beloved] of the Lord of all creation.

Shaykh Muhammad Naasir ud-Deen al-Albaani: This belief is established in many ahadeeth that the Ummah has received with acceptance. The explainer has mentioned some of them (on p. 169 of the fourth edition), so do refer to it, as it benefits knowledge and certainty, for indeed he is certainly, sall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, the leader of the messengers.
And it is with sorrow that I say that this belief is not believed by those who give the condition for the hadeeth that must be believed in that it reaches the status of mutawaatir. So how would those who categorically state that ‘aqeedah is not taken except from the Qur’aan, like Shaykh Shaltoot[1] and others, believe?
And I have refuted all of them, from twenty angles in my book ‘The Obligation of Accepting the Hadeeth al-Aahaad in ‘aqeedah and a Refutation of the Doubts of those who Differ’.[2] At the end of the book, I cited some twenty examples of established ‘aqeedah contained within the authentic ahadeeth that would be necessary for them to reject and this belief [mentioned in this point of at-Tahhaawiyyah] is one of them. So refer to it, for it has been printed and is important.
[1] Mahmood Shaltoot – from the masha’ikh of Azhar, from 1958 to 1963, the year in which he died. His biography is in al-A’laam (7/173) by az-Zirikli.
Shaykh Shaltoot has a good word that may (!) oppose that which is famously attributed to him (that which our Shaykh mentioned on him here), for in his treatise ‘Bid’ah, its causes and harms’, p. 30 with my footnote under the section Causes of Innovation under the heading ‘Giving the Intellect the Benefit of the Doubt in Legislation’ and said, ‘Indeed Allaah gave the intellect a limit to which it can comprehend and did not give it the capacity to comprehend everything…’ He then said, ‘…and much innovation is introduced in this manner – by the ruling of the limited intellect, may of the affairs of the unseen that have been reported in authentic ahadeeth are rejected – like the Siraat [Bridge], the meezaan [the scales], the gathering of the people, bodily bliss and punishment, seeing al-Baari, and other than these that the intellect cannot grasp or understand, from this, the descent of Isa bin Maryam, about which the ahadeeth are authentic…’
Shaykh Ali: So you see, may Allaah preserve you, that his speech with regards to matters of the unseen hinge upon the authenticity and establishment of ahadeeth – so if the texts are proven, faith in that which they necessitate is obligatory – without putting the condition that they reach the level of mutawaatir, or the fact that they are ahaad, or other than this.
And this is certainly the preferred opinion.
The Imaam Ibn Abil-‘Izz al-Hanafi said in his explanation (p. 355), ‘And the narration of the individual [Khabar al-waahid], if the Ummah accepts it, in action, belief and faith, benefits certain knowledge in the opinion of the majority of the Ummah and it is one of the categories of Mutawaatir – and the Salaf never had any difference in this.’
Imaam al-Bukhaari committed an entire Book in his Saheeh with the title ‘The Narrations of Individuals’ [Akhbaar al-Aahaad] in which he establishes his proofs and consolidates the foundations of its acceptance.
And even if it is the case that Shaykh Shaltoot’s view was that belief is not established with the narrations of individuals, it is a rejected, quashed opinion.
And if we consider and accept that which he eluded to in his book ‘al-Bid’ah’, it could be taken to be a withdrawal of that which he had previously said. And this is what we hope from Allaah, the exalted and High, and indeed, He is Able to do that.

[2] It was printed some years ago. [Translated in English and available online http://d1.islamhouse.com/data/en/ih_...elief_Laws.pdf (accessed 27 Safar 1435AH/ 31/12/13CE- Translator’s Note]