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رد: Allah’s Names and Attributes 6- The people of Tahrؤ«f and Ta‘tؤ«l claim that Ahl-us-Sunnah apply Ta’wؤ«l to some texts, in order to force them to do the same in the rest of the texts or, at least, relax their strict stance in this regard.
This is a claim that aims at producing confusion and doubt. It was published by some newspapers. The writer said: “You, Ahl-us-Sunnah, criticize us by saying that we apply Ta’wؤ«l, when you yourselves do the same. So, why are you blaming us for something that you do?!”
In fact, this argument, if true, would be a strong one. It is not for anyone to control when Ta’wؤ«l can be done, cannot be done, or must be done. However, Ahl-us-Sunnah wa al-Jamؤپ‘ah say that this claim aims at spreading confusion and doubt. We have never adopted the approach they claimed. You accuse us of it either to force us into adopting Ta’wؤ«l just as you did or to force us to remain silent in response to your distortion and compromise. Yet – with Allah’s help – we will never remain silent before such false accusations, of which we are innocent.
In response to that claim which some of the advocates of Ta’wؤ«l made and accused Ahl-us-Sunnah of, we have two answers :
First: We refuse the claim that the way adopted by Ahl-us-Sunnah is Ta’wؤ«l, since Ta’wؤ«l means, according to the later generations –which is the meaning those claimants intend – interpreting terms beyond their apparent meanings.
Ahl-us-Sunnah state that the apparent meaning of speech is what is understood from it based on the context or the speaker’s condition. Words do not have an intrinsic meaning for which they were created and cannot be used otherwise; rather, their meaning appears through the context and the state of the speaker.
As we studied rhetoric, we learned that the interrogative form denotes different meanings, and prepositions as well. So, what is the criteria for determining these meanings?Is it not the context? Then, the true meaning of speech is that indicated by its context, and its apparent meaning is that indicated by its context as well, based on the structure of the speech and the state of the speaker.This is a general answer, that we say that we do not assert that the apparent meaning is other than what is indicated by the context or the speaker’s state. Rather, what is indicated by the context is the true and apparent meaning of the speech, even if this term is used in another place to indicate a different meaning.Using the term in this place to denote the meaning indicated by the context is, actually, its true meaning. This is the first answer.The second answer: If we take it for granted that a term is interpreted beyond its apparent meaning, then Ahl-us-Sunnah never do this without supportive proof from the Qur’an or the Sunnah, whether part of the same context or not.I challenge anyone to provide any proof from the Qur’an or the Sunnah that deals with Allah’s Names and Attributes which Ahl-us-Sunnah interpret beyond its apparent meaning, unless they have proof of that from the Qur’an or the Sunnah of the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him).In that case, if the new meaning (not the apparent one) is supported by proof from the Qur’an and the Sunnah, then, in reality, they do not interpret the term away from the meaning that Allah wills, since they have known from other proof the meaning that Allah intended. Praise be to Allah, they never interpret texts beyond what is said to be their apparent meanings.There is not a single one among Ahl-us-Sunnah who employs his reason to reach a conclusion that negates what Allah affirms for Himself or to affirm something that is not understood from the speech’s apparent indication – praise be to Allah. If you wish, you may review their books to examine this fact.
The second answer: If we take it for granted that a term is interpreted beyond its apparent meaning, then Ahl-us-Sunnah never do this without supportive proof from the Qur’an or the Sunnah, whether part of the same context or not.
I challenge anyone to provide any proof from the Qur’an or the Sunnah that deals with Allah’s Names and Attributes which Ahl-us-Sunnah interpret beyond its apparent meaning, unless they have proof of that from the Qur’an or the Sunnah of the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him).
In that case, if the new meaning (not the apparent one) is supported by proof from the Qur’an and the Sunnah, then, in reality, they do not interpret the term away from the meaning that Allah wills, since they have known from other proof the meaning that Allah intended. Praise be to Allah, they never interpret texts beyond what is said to be their apparent meanings.
There is not a single one among Ahl-us-Sunnah who employs his reason to reach a conclusion that negates what Allah affirms for Himself or to affirm something that is not understood from the speech’s apparent indication – praise be to Allah. If you wish, you may review their books to examine this fact.
We will present some examples here, not all the examples. For, if we address all the examples where Ahl-us-Sunnah are accused of applying Ta’wؤ«l by interpreting terms beyond their apparent meanings, it would take us a long time indeed, but we will mention some examples:
First example: The people of Ta’wؤ«l say: You, Ahl-us-Sunnah, apply Ta’wؤ«l to Allah’s saying:{Then He [istawa] directed Himself to the heaven}[Al-Baqarah: 29]So you said that Istiwؤپ’ here means intention and will.While you say that the meaning of Istiwؤپ’ in Allah’s saying:{then He [istawa] rose over the Throne.}[Al-A‘rؤپf: 54]is highness and elevation.This is but Ta’wؤ«l applied to one of the two texts, which you cannot clear yourselves of. It is known that the verb "istawa" in the second verse obviously denotes being high over something, then when you say that the same verb "istawa" in the first verse implies intention and direction, then you interpreted the term "istawa" beyond its apparent meaning.Our answer to this is as follows: the meaning of the term "istawa" is determined according to the words to which it is joined. For instance, "istawa over the Throne" indicates rising high over it in a way that befits His Majesty, and in no way resembles the highness of a created being over another created being.However, in ‘istawa to the Heaven’, the preposition joined to it is ‘to’ which denotes destination, not highness. Being so, then the verb implies a meaning that indicates destination, and that meaning is the intention and will.This is the choice of some of Ahl-us-Sunnah, as they say that ’istawa to the Heaven’ means ‘qasad’ (aimed at/intended). When the ‘qasd’ is perfect, it is expressed as ’istiwؤپ’’,The root of the word "istiwؤپ’" in Arabic denotes perfection, as shown in Allah’s saying: {And when he attained his full strength, and [istawa] was perfect (in manhood)} [Al-Qasas: 14]
{Then He [istawa] directed Himself to the heaven}
[Al-Baqarah: 29]
So you said that Istiwؤپ’ here means intention and will.
While you say that the meaning of Istiwؤپ’ in Allah’s saying:
{then He [istawa] rose over the Throne.}
[Al-A‘rؤپf: 54]
is highness and elevation.
This is but Ta’wؤ«l applied to one of the two texts, which you cannot clear yourselves of. It is known that the verb "istawa" in the second verse obviously denotes being high over something, then when you say that the same verb "istawa" in the first verse implies intention and direction, then you interpreted the term "istawa" beyond its apparent meaning.
Our answer to this is as follows: the meaning of the term "istawa" is determined according to the words to which it is joined. For instance, "istawa over the Throne" indicates rising high over it in a way that befits His Majesty, and in no way resembles the highness of a created being over another created being.
However, in ‘istawa to the Heaven’, the preposition joined to it is ‘to’ which denotes destination, not highness. Being so, then the verb implies a meaning that indicates destination, and that meaning is the intention and will.
This is the choice of some of Ahl-us-Sunnah, as they say that ’istawa to the Heaven’ means ‘qasad’ (aimed at/intended). When the ‘qasd’ is perfect, it is expressed as ’istiwؤپ’’,
The root of the word "istiwؤپ’" in Arabic denotes perfection, as shown in Allah’s saying: {And when he attained his full strength, and [istawa] was perfect (in manhood)} [Al-Qasas: 14]
Another answer is that we can say that ’istawa to the Heaven’ means rose high. Al-Baghawi said: “This statement is reported from Ibn ‘Abbؤپs and the majority of scholars of Tafsؤ«r.”
However, we must not believe that the attribute of Highness did not belong to Allah Almighty when He created the earth;rather, Allah Almighty has always been and will forever be High because Highness is an intrinsic essence-related attribute of Him.It is true that istiwؤپ’ here means rising high; however, we do not know how it takes place. This is another answer about the verse.In short, if we interpret "istawa to the Heaven" to mean directed Himself to it in a way that befits His Perfection, then we do not go beyond the apparent meaning of the term.And we explained that this variance resulted from the difference in the prepositions used in the two verses.
rather, Allah Almighty has always been and will forever be High because Highness is an intrinsic essence-related attribute of Him.
It is true that istiwؤپ’ here means rising high; however, we do not know how it takes place. This is another answer about the verse.
In short, if we interpret "istawa to the Heaven" to mean directed Himself to it in a way that befits His Perfection, then we do not go beyond the apparent meaning of the term.
And we explained that this variance resulted from the difference in the prepositions used in the two verses.
If, however, we adopt the second view which is attributed to Ibn ‘Abbؤپs and most of the scholars of Tafsؤ«r that istawa means rose high, then we may not hold the false supposition that Allah has never been high before.
The second example: the people of Ta’wؤ«l say: “You, Ahl-us-Sunnah, explained Allah’s saying {Sailing in Our Eyes} [Al-Qamar: 14] to mean ‘sailing under our observation’, which is contrary to the apparent meaning of that statement.”
In reply, we ask them: “What do you understand from this statement?”Can anyone understand that the preposition ‘in’ in this verse denotes place, whereby the meaning is that the Arc of Noah (peace be upon him) sails ‘in’ the Eye of Allah?! This is impossible. No one would understand the statement as such. It is probable that the Arabic preposition ‘bi’ could denote a place in some cases, but never in this one.
Can anyone understand that the preposition ‘in’ in this verse denotes place, whereby the meaning is that the Arc of Noah (peace be upon him) sails ‘in’ the Eye of Allah?! This is impossible. No one would understand the statement as such. It is probable that the Arabic preposition ‘bi’ could denote a place in some cases, but never in this one.
Hence, we would never concede that the apparent meaning of this verse is what you claim it to be.
Those who interpreted the verse as {Sailing under Our observation} did so by way of interpreting a term based on its lؤپzim (a meaning associated with it), and this is correct and is not considered going beyond the apparent meaning. That is because the dilؤپlah (signification) of a term has three cases: dilؤپlat mutؤپbaqah (identical signification), dilؤپlat tadammun (partial signification), or dilؤپlat iltizؤپm (associative signification: a signification not explicitly reflected by the term but is necessarily associated with it). All three cases do not take the term away from its apparent indication.
I will explain these three types of dilؤپlah with the following example: The term ‘house’. It refers to the whole house by way of dilؤپlat mutؤپbaqah (identical signification). That is, it means a building consisting of chambers, rooms, halls, and so on.The term also refers to each room or chamber or hall of that house by way of dilؤپlat tadammun (partial signification), and denotes that that house necessarily has a builder who built it by way of dilؤپlat iltizؤپm (associative signification).
The term also refers to each room or chamber or hall of that house by way of dilؤپlat tadammun (partial signification), and denotes that that house necessarily has a builder who built it by way of dilؤپlat iltizؤپm (associative signification). |