PLEASE NOTE: these are short handed notes from the book which might need further clarification to the reader but has been made available for the purpose of benefit for those who are familiar with the topic
Taken from Vol 6 Pg. 185 onwards, Majmoo al-Fataawa of Ibn Taymiyyah (Allah have mercy on him)
The people of Kalam say the name is not the one that is named:
Their Shubuhat:
1-Surah al-Ala, Ism and Rabb are mentioned separately
2-Lil Allah al-Asma – so Allah owns them
3-They used to worship idols and names they made up, thus showing a difference between the names and the idols
4-Huroof are created: Allah is Azali whereas us calling Him
“Allah” is Haadith. Only Allah is existed so if Names and Attributes existed
also this would be Shirk
5-The Lafdh “Allaah” doesn’t exist, if you look up you don’t see
the words Allah but rather you will see the entity (this is a contradiction with their beliefs on Jihah)
6-The name of something is separate to the essence, if they were
the same this would mean multiple essences
The stance of the people of al-Bid’ah:
1-Ism is different
2-Some made Tawaquf
Reason for this issue
-the reason why they want to seperate the Ism from the Musamma is so that Ta'teel of His Names and mainly His Attributes can then be justified.
Response from Ahl as-Sunnah:
1-The Usl is about Names and Attributes and Kalaam of Allah,
their view goes against the way of the Salaf. We affirm and His Attributes are
not created but our actions are created
Shafi and others if a person say Ism is not Musamma then realise
this person is a Zindeeq
Also affirmed by Ahmad and the students of Ahmad such as
al-Khallal and Kirmani
2-The creation using the names, no one uses them to refer to
Allah being inside the creation
3-The belief of Ahl as-Sunnah was affirmed by the Mutaqdmin of
Ahl al-Kalam, such as Ibn Fawrak and others
4-There is difference between Ism and something being referred
to. So if a person is called something and referred to then the people are
talking about the essence of that thing but not that the essence is present
itself. Without the Ism and its relationship to the Musamma, how would a person
refer or even call to them?
5-The Harf Dhu/Dhee – linguistic proof that the Ism is connected
to the Musamma. Not only that He has the attribute but it is a description of
the essence otherwise calling to them would be Shirk
6-The attributes can be actions and they come from the essence,
otherwise they would be Shirk
7-The Ayat they have used is actually a proof against them when
going back to the Tafsir
e.g. Surah al-Ala, the command from Allah to mention His name
and praise Him with it. Hence its from the Adhkar of Sujood.
8-Their view goes against the use of the Arabic language and all
other languages
9-The Ayat that talk about Prophets and Allah talking to them,
it means Allah talked to them and their essence. E.g. “O Prophet”, “O Adam”
etc.
10-The Salaf rejected their Aqidah because they wanted to say
there is an essence but everything else is created, all of the Names and
Attributes including the name “Allah” itself.
11-Allah existed in eternity but so did His Names and
Attributes. Othewrise it would mean that Allah existed without any Names or
Attributes. It would also mean that they are Haadith after, and there is
nothing Haadith about Allah.
12-The people of Kalam affirm certain Names and Attributes,
affirming them in Azal also. This is a contradiction from their stance
13-Without Ism being connected to Musamma, whom do we end up
referring to? The Khitaab is then only Dhihni
14-If we were to differentiate between Ism and Musamma, this
will create a Zaaid to the essence which doesn’t exist
e.g. Allah is Allah but not the essence, the essence is
something else!?
15-It is possible for one essence to have several attributes,
this doesn’t mean that they are separate essences. They are Mutardif not
Mubaayan.
16-The word “ism” itself has the meaning of [Basrieen say] Samoo
(something named) or [Kufiyeen say] Simaa (a signal for something). Either way,
linguistics have define the Ism being placed to be part of the Musamma.
17-The people of Aqidah who have the correct Aqidah will worship
Allah the most and the best, because they connect the Ism with the Musamma. So
when worship Allah and call onto Him, we call on to His essence but not His
Attributes but those Attributes describe the essence that we are worshipping
And Allah Knows best
