Imam ʿAfīf al-Dīn al-Yāfiʿī (d. 768 AH) on the Doctrinal Positions of the Ashʿarīs, Later Ḥanbalīs, and Literalists [Ḥashawiyya] Regarding the Divine Attributes (Ṣifāt of Allāh)
Imam ʿAfīf al-Dīn al-Yāfiʿī (d. 768 AH) said in his work known as Mirʾāt al-Jinān wa-ʿIbrat al-Yaqẓān fī Maʿrifat mā Yuʿtabar min Ḥawādith al-Zamān[i], under the year 558 AH, vol. 3/p. 47:
قلت: وأما ما ذكرت من تأخير الكرم على العقيدة، فذكر ابن سمرة أنه لقي الفقيه الإمام الواعظ الشريف محمد بن أحمد العثماني، وأنه ناظره في العقيدة – والشريف أشعري – فنظر الإمام يحيى مذهب الحنابلة، وذكر أنه استدل بالآية، وأنه ظهر بالحجة إلى أن نزف الشريف العرق من وجهه، كأنه يعني: خجلاً.
I said: As for what you mentioned about postponing generosity over creed, Ibn Samura mentioned that he met the jurist, Imam, preacher, al-Sharīf Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-ʿUthmānī, and debated with him about aqida (creedal matters) – al-Sharīf being an Ashʿarī – while Imam Yaḥyā defended the Ḥanbalī school. He mentioned that he provided evidence from the verse, and his argument prevailed until sweat dripped from al-Sharīf’s face, as if from embarrassment.
وأما اجتماعه بالشريف المذكور، فظاهره الصحة، خلاف ما ذكر بعض الناس أنه اجتمع في تلك الحجة بأبي حامد الغزالي، وأنه بحث معه في المسائل الفقهية – وعليه فيو كما هو زي حجاج اليمن – وأن وأبا حامد أعجبه بحثه، فذلك غير صحيح، فإن الإمام أبا حامد توفي قبل ذلك في سنة خمس وخمسمائة.
As for his meeting with the aforementioned al-Sharīf, it appears authentic, unlike what some people mentioned about him meeting Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī during that pilgrimage and discussing jurisprudential matters with him – while dressed in the attire of Yemeni pilgrims – and that Abū Ḥāmid was impressed by his discussion. This is incorrect, as Imam Abū Ḥāmid had died before that in the year 505.
وأما ما ذكر من كون عقيدته حنبلية فصحيح بالنسبة إلى الحنابلة المتأخرين – حاشى الإمام أحمد – والمتقدمين منهم، وقد أوضحت ذلك، وأشبعت الكلام فيه في كتابي: المرهم، وإليه أشرت بقولي:وفي حشويات كسوفان أظلما … هما جهة والحرف حاش ابن حنبل
As for what was mentioned about his creed being Ḥanbalī, this is true in relation to the later Ḥanbalīs – excluding Imam Aḥmad – and their predecessors. I have clarified this and elaborated on it in my book: al-Marham, to which I referred in my saying: “And in the literalist [ḥashawiyyāt] interpretations are two dark eclipses… they are direction (jiha) and letter (harf[ii]), excluding Ibn Ḥanbal.”
أعني أن ذلك مذهب الحشوية بعد أن أسفيت البدور لأئمة كل مذهب، وذكرت أن بدور المذاهب الثلاثة أنارت، وأنه حصل في بدور مذهب الحشوية كسوفان مظلمان، وهما ما ذكرت من القول بالجهة والحرف والصوت في كلام الله تعالى.
I mean that this is the school of the extreme literalists [ḥashwiyya][iii] after I revealed the full moons of the Imams of each school, and mentioned that the full moons of the three schools[iv] illuminated, while in the full moons of the literalist [ḥashwiyya] school occurred two dark eclipses, which are what I mentioned regarding the assertion of direction, letter, and sound (sawt) in the speech of Allah the Exalted.
وأما ما ذكرت – من كون الإمام أحمد والمتقدمين من أصحابه – براء مما ادعاه المتأخرون منهم، فممن نص على ذلك بعض الحنابلة: وهو الإمام أبو الفيج بن الجوزي، حتى ذكر أنهم صاروا شبه على المذهب باعتقادهم الذي يتوهم غيرهم أنه مذهب أحمد.
As for what I mentioned – about Imam Aḥmad and his early companions being innocent of what their later followers claimed – this was explicitly stated by some Ḥanbalīs, including Imam Abū al-Faraj ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597 AH), who mentioned that they became a source of confusion for the school with their beliefs that others mistakenly think are the doctrine (Madhhab) of Aḥmad.
وليس العجب من حنابلة الفيوع وإنما العجب من شافعية الفيوع كصاحب البيان المذكور ومن تابعه من أهل الجبال، والكلام معهم في شيئين: أحدهما الاحتجاج، والثاني الأئمة المحتجون.
The surprise is not from the Ḥanbalī branches but rather from the Shāfiʿī branches, like the author of the aforementioned al-Bayān and his mountain-dwelling followers. The discussion with them concerns two matters: first, the argumentation, and second, the arguing Imams.
أما الاحتجاج فاستمداده من إلىاهين العقلية القواطع ونصوص الكتاب والسنة المنيرات السواطع، وذلك لعمري يحتاج في ذكره إلى مصنف مستقل مشتمل على مجلمات لايسع هذا المكان شيء منها.
As for the argumentation, it draws from decisive rational proofs and the illuminating, conclusive texts of the Book and Sunna, which, by my life, requires a separate composition containing summaries, none of which this space can accommodate.
وأما الأئمة المحتجون فقد ذكرت منهم مائة إمام في كتابي: الموسوم بألفاش المعلم شاوش وكتاب المرهم المعلم بشرف المفاخر العلية في مناقب الأئمة الأشعرية، وما اجتلوا به من الفضائل والمحاسن الحميدة والطريقة السديدة والأوصاف الجميلة.
As for the authoritative Imams who presented proofs, I have mentioned one hundred Imams among them in my books: titled Alfāsh al-Muʿallim Shāwush and al-Marham al-Muʿallim bi-Sharaf al-Mafākhir al-ʿAliyya fī Manāqib al-Aʾimma al-Ashʿariyya,” and what they possessed of virtues, praiseworthy qualities, righteous methodology, and beautiful characteristics.
ومن متأخريهم جمال الإسلام الشيخ أبو إسحاق الشيرازي وتصنيفه في ذلك معروف – أعني تصنيفه في أصول الدين، وكذا فتياه التي رواها الإمام الحافظ أبو القاسم ابن عساكر، وأنه قال فيها: الأشعرية رؤوس أهل السنة، وقد أوضحت ذلك في كتابي: المرهم.
Among their later scholars is the Beauty of Islam, Shaykh Abū Isḥāq al-Shīrāzī (d. 476 AH), whose work on this is well-known – I mean his work on the foundations of religion (Usul al-Dīn), as well as his legal opinion narrated by Imam al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Qāsim Ibn ʿAsākir (d. 571 AH), in which he said: “The Ashʿarīs are the leaders of the People of the Sunnah (Ahlus-Sunna),” and I have clarified this in my book: al-Marham.
وكان الشيخ أبو إسحاق وحده فيه كفاية لصاحب البيان المذكور، فإنه هو وغيره معترفون له بالفضائل العديدة والمحاسن الحميدة والطريقة السديدة، والأوصاف الجميلة الملاح ألفاهدة له بالصلاح والفلاح.
Shaykh Abū Isḥāq alone would have been sufficient for the author of the aforementioned al-Bayān, as he and others acknowledge his numerous virtues, praiseworthy qualities, righteous methodology, and beautiful characteristics that testify to his righteousness and success.
ومنهم شيخ الإسلام معدن الفضائل والمحاسن ومعتمد الفتاوى الشيخ محيي الدين النواوي، فقد ملأت محاسنه الآفاق، وحصل من الموالف والمخالف عليه الاتفاق، فكان فيه وحده كفاية لمن عاصره منهم، وأتى بعده، ومذهبه معروف في شرح مسلم وغيره من كتبه فيما يتعلق بالعقيدة.
Among them is Shaykh al-Islam, the source of virtues and merits, the authority of legal opinions, Shaykh Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Nawawī (d. 676 AH), whose virtues have filled the horizons, and both supporters and opponents have agreed upon him. He alone would have been sufficient for his contemporaries and those who came after him, and his doctrine is well-known in his commentary on (Sahih) Muslim and his other books concerning matters of creed.
ومنهم حجة الإسلام أبو حامد الغزالي، ومحاسنه وفضائله وعلومه ودلائله أكثر من أن تحصر، وأشهر من أن تذكر، وقد وقف المذكور يحيى على كتابه: الأحياء، وهو في العلوم بحر تلاطمت أمواجه، ومرتقى سنام عسر معراجه.
Among them is the Proof of Islam Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (d. 505 AH), whose virtues, merits, sciences, and proofs are too numerous to count and too famous to mention. The aforementioned Yaḥyā has examined his book al-Iḥyāʾ, which is in the sciences an ocean whose waves crash against each other, and an ascent whose climb is difficult to scale.
فكل واحد من الثلاثة المذكورين فيه كفاية للمقتدين، فكيف باجتماعهم مع ما حووه من الفضل والدين!! بل اجتماع ألوف منهم الإمامين من الأئمة الأعلام المبرزين من المشايخ العارفين أولي الأنوار والأسرار واليقين، والعلماء الفضلاء الشاملين من المذاهب الثلاثة المعروفة!!
Each one of the three mentioned would be sufficient for those who follow them, so how about their combination with all they possessed of virtue and religion!! Rather, the gathering of thousands of them, the two Imams from among the distinguished leading imams of the gnostic shaykhs, possessors of lights, secrets and certainty, and the virtuous scholars encompassing the three well-known schools!!
وفي عقيدة الشيخ الإمام عز الدين عبد العزيز بن عبد السلام وحدها كفاية لمن رآها واعتقدها من العلماء، وكذا عقيدة الشيخ الكبير الولي الشهير أبي عبد الله القرشي، وقد ذكرت ألفاظها في كتابي المرهم، وكذلك عقيدة الإمام شهاب الدين السهروردي الموسومة بأعلام آلهدى، وغيرهم ممن يطول عددهم ويسمو مجدهم.
The creed of Shaykh al-Imam ʿIzz al-Dīn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd al-Salām (d. 660 AH) alone is sufficient for those scholars who have seen and believed in it, as is the creed of the great Shaykh, the renowned saint Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Qurashī, whose words I have mentioned in my book al-Marham, and likewise the creed of Imam Shihāb al-Dīn al-Suhrawardī (d. 587 AH) titled Aʿlām al-Hudā, and others whose numbers are lengthy and whose glory is elevated.
قلت: وأما قول الخصوم من المذكورين وغيرهم: مذهبنا مذهب السلف، فهذا جهل منهم بمذهب السلف، فإن السلف ما خالفوا مذهب الخلف، إلا بعدم ذكرهم للماويل، مع اعتقادهم تنزيه الله تعالى عن سمات الخلق من التجسم والمكان والحركة والانتقال وسائر، سمات الحدوث والتغير والزوال، وقليل منهم وافق جمهور الخلف في ألفاويل، وقليل من الخلف وافق جمهور السلف في عدم ذكرهم ألفاويل.
I said: As for the statement of the opponents from those mentioned and others: “Our school is the school of the predecessors [Salaf],” this shows their ignorance of the predecessors’ school, for the predecessors did not differ from the successors [khalaf] except in not mentioning figurative interpretation [taʾwīl], while still believing in Allah’s transcendence above the attributes of creation such as corporeality, place, movement, transition, and other attributes of temporality, change, and cessation. A few of them agreed with the majority of the successors in figurative interpretations [taʾwīl], and a few of the successors agreed with the majority of the predecessors in not mentioning figurative interpretation [taʾwīl].
كل هذا حكاه الإمام محيي الدين النواوي عنهم في شرح صحيح مسلم، والعجب منهم، يقولون مذهبنا مذهب السلف، وهذا إمام المحدثين من السلف والخلف الذي مذهبه باهج ما أظلم ولا اندرس، شيخ الإمام الشافعي: مالك بن أنس، تأول قول رسول الله – صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم – ” ينزل ربنا كل ليلة إلى سماء الدنيا “. الحديث بتأويلين: أحدهما ينزل ملائكته تعالى ورحمته، والثاني أنه محمول على الاستعارة لأجابة ألفاعي واللطف، كما يقال: نزل الملك عن سريره إذا عدل في سيرته ولطف برعيته.
All of this was related by Imam Muḥyī al-Dīn al-Nawawī about them in his commentary on Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. The wonder about them is that they say “our school is the school of the predecessors [Salaf],” while here is the Imam of the hadith scholars from both the predecessors and successors, whose brilliant school has never been darkened or worn away, the teacher of Imam al-Shāfiʿī: Mālik ibn Anas, who interpreted [taʾwīl] the saying of the Messenger of Allah – peace and blessings be upon him and his family – “Our Lord descends every night to the lowest heaven.” He gave the hadith two interpretations [taʾwīl]: first, that His angels and mercy descend, and second, that it is metaphorical for answering supplications and showing kindness, just as it is said: “The king descended from his throne” when he acts justly in his conduct and shows kindness to his subjects.
Source details:
Title: Mirʾāt al-Jinān wa-ʿIbrat al-Yaqẓān fī Maʿrifat mā Yuʿtabar min Ḥawādith al-Zamān
Author: Abū Muḥammad ʿAfīf al-Dīn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Asʿad ibn ʿAlī ibn Sulaymān al-Yāfiʿī (d. 768 AH)
Publisher: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, Beirut – Lebanon, is edition 1417 AH – 1997 CE
Author Biography (from here – https://shamela.ws/author/357):
Al-Yāfiʿī (698-768 AH = 1298-1367 CE) ʿAbd Allāh ibn Asʿad ibn ʿAlī al-Yāfiʿī, ʿAfīf al-Dīn: A historian, researcher, and Sufi from among the Shāfiʿīs of Yemen. His lineage traces back to Yāfiʿ from Ḥimyar. He was born and raised in Aden. He performed pilgrimage in 712 AH and returned to Yemen. Then he went back to Mecca in 718 AH where he settled and eventually died. Among his works are:
– “Mirʾāt al-Jinān wa-ʿIbrat al-Yaqẓān fī Maʿrifat Ḥawādith al-Zamān” (printed) in four volumes
– “Nashr al-Maḥāsin al-Ghāliya fī Faḍl Mashāyikh al-Ṣūfiyya Aṣḥāb al-Maqāmāt al-ʿĀliya” (printed)
– “Al-Durr al-Naẓīm fī Khawāṣṣ al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm” (printed), a treatise
– “Marham al-ʿIlal al-Muʿḍila” (printed)
– “Rawḍ al-Rayāḥīn fī Manāqib al-Ṣāliḥīn” (printed)
– “Asnā al-Mafākhir fī Manāqib al-Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir” (manuscript)
Source: Al-Aʿlām by al-Ziriklī
Translated with footnotes by: Abul Hasan Hussain Ahmed
[i] “Mirror of Paradise and Lesson of the Vigilant in Knowledge of What is to be Learned from the Events of Time”
[ii] Jiha and Harf was ascribed to Allah by some and this led to some heated debates amongst various doctrinal schools
[iii] Some have translated ḥashwiyya as vulgar anthropomorphists
[iv] He may be referring to the Ash’ari, Maturidi and true Hanbali-Athari creedal schools within the Sunni tradition