Sanusi Creed (Ash`ari Theology) - Madina

Ilm al-Kalam

Tahawiyya is void of philosophy and based on textual evidence
Sanusiyya is based on rational arguments
Kalam = to affirm Islamic tenets of belief
Opinions on the name:
Named as such due to the hotly debated Quran is the Speech of Allah issue.
Requires a lot of discussion

Development of Kalam

Era of fitna
Muslims met different ideologies which they didn't have answers to.
Various sects starting to emerge: Mutazila, Qadariyya, Jabariyya, etc.
Textual answers to belief are not accepted by non-believers because the arguments become circular.
Needed a method to communicate with non-believes.
Not initially developed by Sunnis: developed by Mutazila
Wasil b. Ata' (d. 748), student of Hassan al-Basri
Mutazila call themselves: “Ahl al-Adl wa al-Tawhid”
Most Mutazila were Hanafis
Story of manzila bayn al-manziltayn where Hasan al-Basri said: “قد اعتزل عنا”
Original books not entirely preserved. Later Mutazila writings are available, like Qadi Abdul Jabbar (d. 1025) who was a Shafii
Wrote Sharh Usul al-Khamsa and al-Mughni fi Abwab al-Tawhid wal-Adl (recently discovered)
Had very rational and convincing arguments. This ideology started to spread along with the caliphate. E.g. fitna of the creation of the Quran
Sunnis wanted to develop their own rational arguments in line with Sunna to combat the Mutazila, and now in the modern age with the rise of Atheism.
Kalam of Sunni scholars is not the same as the Kalam of Mutazila. It was within the boundaries of Quran and Sunna
Imam Shafii, Abu Yusuf were against kalam. However, it wasn't the same kalam.
Sunni Kalam was developed later
Abu Hanifa himself had rational arguments with non-believers

Philosophers

Merged with Greek philosophy
Examples: Ibn Sina, Ibn Rushd
They agreed in principle with the Mutazila
Ghazali refuted them through the book called: Tahafat al-Falasifa

Separation of Aqida and Kalam

Aqida is established by Quran and Sunna. Doesn't change and are not disagreed upon.
Kalam arguments defend Aqida. The arguments can be effective and not be effective. Scholars may disagree with a Kalam argument yet do not disagree with Aqida.
Kalam arguments are now outdated and needs revisions..
However, Aqida is never outdated and needs no revision.

Development of Ashari School

How do you prove existence of God?
Through the world around you.
Elements of medieval physics and meta-physics
Elements of Aristotilian and Platonic thought
Founder: Abu al-Hasan al-Ashari
Step father was Ali al-Jubbai, a Mutazli
Grew up learning Mu'tazili thought
Lots of stories around how his views changed.
Famous story:
Issue: Mutazila say that it's incumbent on Allah to do the right thing. While Sunnis believe that Allah does whatever he wills.
Iman al-Ashari had a debate with al-Jubbai about 3 hypothetical brothers
1: Spends entire life in obedience to Allah
-Jubbai: he'll end up in Janna
2: Spends entire life in disobedience to Allah
Jubbai: he'll end up in Hellfire
3: Dies young before he was a mukallaf
Jubbai: he'll be between Janna and Hellfire
Ashari: asked, this brother may ask Allah, why did you not allow me to live so I can enter Janna?
Jubbai: Allah will say because when you grew up I knew that you will end up in Jahannam
Ashari: asked, what would Allah say to the 2nd brother when he asks that why did you not take my life when I was young?
Jubbai had no answer
Ashari left Mutazili school and became Sunni and started to defend the Sunni school against the Mutazila
Ashari was not necessarily the first in Ashari theology.
School was named after him due to his maqam and contribution

Books

Beginner
Sanusi Creed / Umm al-Barahin by Yusuf al-Sanusi
Unfortunately, does not focus much on Samiyyat
Jawhara al-Tawhid by Ibrahim al-Laqani
Kharida al-Bahiyya (Poem) by Ahmad al-Dardir
Intermediate
Commentaries on the beginner level books. Authors themselves wrote commentaries on these books
al-Iqtisad fil Itiqad by Ghazali
al-Irshad by Juwayni (teacher of Ghazali)
Upper Intermediate
Nihaya al-Aqdam by Taj al-Din al-Shahrastani
al-Arbain by Fakr al-Din al-Razi
Advanced
Sharh al-Maqasid by Sad al-Din al-Taftazani
Shah al-Mawaqif by al-Sharif Jurjani
Abkar al-Afkar by Sayf al-Din al-Amidi

Sanusiyya Creed (al-Sughra)

Algerian, Maliki in Fiqh, Ashari in theology d. 895H

Text

Judgements (الحكم)

Define: to affirm or deny something
Three types:
1. Legal / Shari (Usul al-Fiqh)
  1. Wajib, Mandub, Mubah, Makruh, Haram
2. Rational / Aqli
  1. Existence of pink flying elephants (rationally possible, can be imagined)
  2. Something that is a square and a circle (rationally impossible, cannot be imagined)
  3. Something that exists and does not exist at the same time
  4. Actual infinity
  5. Two Gods
  6. Dragons
3. Empirical / Ada (Takrar)
  1. Based on repetition, such as sun always rises from the East so it will always rise from the East in future
Are the following rationally possible?
1. A part is greater than the whole: Impossible
2. Fire that doesn't burn paper: Possible, but empirically impossible.
3. A child born without a father: Possible
4. An effect without a cause: Impossible
5. Dragons: Possible

Rational Judgements are of three types

Wajib: Absolutely necessary - mind cannot accept the non-existence of.
Musthil: Absolutely impossible - mind cannot accept the existence of.
Ja'iz: Possible - mind can accept the existence or the non-existence. This is all that exists.

Mukallaf - must know what is Wajib, Mustahil, and Jaiz for Allah

Who is a mukallaf?
1. Pubescent / Baligh
2. Rational / Aqil
3. Received the sound message / Dawa
  1. Ashari school requirement.
  2. Maturidis and Mutazila disagree. One must rationally be able to conclude the existence of God.
  3. Are the parents of Rasulullah ﷺ saved?
    1. وما كنا معذبين حتى نبعث الله رسولا
    2. لتنذر قوما ما أنذر آباؤهم
    3. Some Hanafi scholars argued, like Mulla Ali al-Qari, that they cannot be saved. Also found in Fiqh al-Akbar (Abu Hanifa)
  4. Tribe in a deep amazon forest, are they accountable? According to Ashari they are not accountable?
  5. Those who heard a corrupt version of Islam
    1. Ghazali: Faysal al-Tafriqa bayn al-Islam wa al-Zandiqa
    2. Ghazali said they are not accountable.
    3. Like the media today
  6. Marjoy Ahari Opinion: Those who died without Takleef will enter Janna.
  7. Other opinions:
    1. They will be tested on day of judgement
    2. Also opinions of children of Muslims and Kuffar
4. Has at least one sense between hearing or seeing / Saleem al-Hawas

Six Necessary Attributes of God

Wujud / Existence
1. Dhat & Sifat: Him and his attributes
2. Wujud is sifah nafsiyya
Qidam / Non-beginning existence
Baqa / Non-ending existence
Mukhalafa li al-Hawadith / Non-resemblance to all ‘events' of all things that have a beginning
1. Hawadith: Contingent / Accident
2. Contingency / Huduth = Something that exists but it has a beginning. Anything that has a beginning must also be possible.
Self-existence / al-Qiyam bi Nafsihi
1. Does not need a place / mahal -
1. he transcends space
2. does not need a locus to exist,
3. is not an attribute of something else.
4. example: the grey color cannot exist with being an attribute of something. The grey color needs a locus.
5. His sifat (attributes) require his dhat (essence).
6. His dhat are the mahal / locus
2. Does not need a specifier / originator / mukhassis
1. Does not require anything to create him
Absolute Oneness / Wahdaniyya negates the following, i.e.
1. Kam Muttasil - he is not composed of parts in his dhat, each of his sifat
1. We do not negate Kam Muttasil from Allah's afal, since there are many actions being created
2. Kam Munfasil - there is no other existence other than him, in his dhat, each of his sifat, or afal
3. Causality / Afal / Occasionalism: Nothing can create or effect is created by Allah.
1. Asharis believe that in reality there is no link between cause and effect. Everything the case exists Allah creates the effect. Allah also creates the cause.
2. Example: A fire burns. Allah created fire, it's ability to burn, and the burning, the thing that burns, and its burning.
3. Does Allah have a cause?
1. For anything, two things are Mumkin (possible): Adam: non-existence Wujud: existence
2. What about Wajib (necessary existence) that you cannot conceive of Adam? So Allah is Wajib
4. Kasb / Earning: The intent or choice to do something and Allah creates the action for it.
1. Is our action “commanding Allah” by making a choice?
Sifat Nafsiyya (Attribute of Self)
1. Wujud (هو الله)
Sifat Salbiyya (Negating Attributes):
1. Qidam (لم يولد), Baqa (لم يلد), Mukhalafa li al-Hawadith (ولم يكن له كفوا احد), al-Qiyam bi Nafsihi (الصمد), and Wahdaniyya (احد)
2. Qidam negates a beginning, Baqa negates an end, etc.
3. These sifat are madum = they have no extramental existence. These don't exist. They are just descriptions of his existence and they negate imperfections of his existence.
4. Exercise of Extramental Existence: Do they have it?
1. A cat - Yes, you see it moving around.
2. The cat's possible existence - No. Necessities or possibilities do not have an extramental existence.
3. The direction of the cat - No. direction is always relative to something else.
4. How long was the cat alive? No.
5. Time - No. Mutakallimun say that time does not have extramental existence. Time is always relative to something else.
6. Allah's attribute of Power - Yes.
7. Allah's attribute of being different from creation - No. Salbiyya does not exist.
8. Color - Yes. But it doesn't have a body.
9. Movement - Yes. But it doesn't have a body. It comes into existence and goes out of existence.

Seven Attributes of Meaning - attributes in meaning only that do not tell you who the attributed is.

These attributes actually exist. Have an extra-mental existence.
1. Sunni: these attributes exist. However, his sifat are not the same thing (la aynuhu) as his essence or separate from his essence (la ghayrihi). Some Ashari say that this is beyond rational comprehension.
2. Mutazila: they do not exist as attributes. They believed in Divine Simplicity. He himself has Qudra but does not have an attribute of Qudra.
Ilm / Knowledge
1. Linked to Jaiz (Possible)
2. Encompasses everything: including necessary, impossible, and possible.
3. Possible includes:
1. Will exist (Muradat):
1. Things that existed in the past, but no longer exist now.
2. Things that exist now
3. Things that will exist in the future
2. Will not exist:
1. Things that will not exist in the future
4. What is the knowledge of Allah linked to and what sort of a linkage is it?
1. Ilm encomapsses everything (wajid, mumkin, mustahil) and has a Tanjizi Qadim linkage to all three
2. Whether something comes into existence or not, or whether it has the potential of existence or not, Allah's knowledge encompasses it.
5. Ishtirak Lafzi / Manawi = commonality in wording / meaning
1. Example: I have a leg. A cat has a leg. A table has a leg.
2. Allah has Ilm. Is it the same as our Ilm? No. There's only Ishtirak Lafzi and not Manawi.
3. Does Allah have a “Had” (formal definition of essence) in his attributes. It is impossible for us to have a Had for his attributes. We can only relate to a “Rasm” (description of the attributes). But we don't know what they are. We only have Ishtirak Lafzi.
Irada / Will
1. Linked to Jaiz (Possible)
2. Specifies what things will exist out of the possibilities of what could exist.
3. Also specifies the time, place, etc. for those things to exist.
4. The fact the universe came into existence at a particular moment in time is evidence that Allah has a Irada
5. Linkage = Taalluq, Potentiality = Suluh
1. Irada has taalluq with Mumkinat, and the taalluq is Suluhi Qadeem (pre-eternal potentiality)
2. Muradat had Tanjizi Qadeem (pre-eternal effectiveness)
3. Linkages do not exist extramentally.
Qudra / Power
1. Linked to Jaiz (Possible)
2. Once His Irada is specified, the Qudra then creates it as Allah willed for it to be?
3. Problem that linkages solve: How can Allah who is beyond time and space and is not subject to change effect something in a time and place?
1. Philosophers said: Universe also has to be pre-eternal. If the case is pre-eternal then the effect must be pre-eternal.
2. Ghazali refuted them: Say a man moves away from the tree. The man has changed. His relativity to the tree has change. But the tree didn't change.
1. Qudra (tree) has a link (relativity) to the Hadith (man)
2. This linkage (relativity) is also Hadith
3. But the Qudra (tree) is not contingent
4. Qudra has taalluq with Mumkinat, and the taalluq is Suluhi Qadeem (pre-eternal potentiality)
5. Muradat had Tanjizi al-Hadith (pre-eternal contingency)
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7. Question: Can God create a rock so heavy that he cannot lift or do anything that negates his Godhood since he can do anything? Two answers:
1. Allah's Irada and Qudra are not linked to what is impossible. Opposite of what is wajib is mustahil
2. Allah cannot do what is rationally impossible. Or better adab way of saying it is: That which is rationally impossible does not entail the capacity of ever existing in the first place, and hence can never exist.
8. Ashari: Qudra's linkages to Hawadith are called Afal Allah. His actions are manifestations of his Qudra
Haya' / Life
1. Does not have any linkages
2. It's a rational precondition to all other attributes
Sam / Hearing
Basar / Seeing
1. Sam and Basr are both linked to mawjudat excrementally
2. Mawjudat can be divided into:
1. Wajib and Mumkin
2. Linkage to wajibat are tanjizi qadim
3. Linkage to mumkinat are tanjizi hadith
3. Allah can hear color and see sound and everything in existence. His hearing and sight is unlimited.
Kalam / Speech
1. Kalam Nafsi is the attribute of Allah = Kalam Allah
1. Pre-eternal
2. Not composed of letters or sound
3. It is linked to what Ilm is linked to which is tanjizi qadim
4. A meaning that subsists in the divine entity
5. Also indicates a meaning
6. Maturidi say Musa didn't hear kalam nafsi
7. Ashari say that Musa did hear kalam nafsi, not in letters and sounds.
2. Kalam Lafzi is the kalam that is revealed
1. Contingent. Has a beginning. Tartib and ordering of what verses were revealed.
2. Contains a meaning, indicates a meaning
3. Both are not the same: Quran is Nafsi and Lafzi.
4. One linkage is the same and it is tanjizi qadim to wajib, mumkin, and mustahil
5. Mutazila disagreed and said that Allah didn't have Kalam. For them it's not different from Knowledge
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Seven Attributes Pertaining to Meaning (Manaiwiyaah)

Agreement with attributes of meaning
Him being Qadir is the same as him being attributed with Qadr. This is why major Ashari scholars say that these seven attributes pertaining to meaning are not necessary since they are the same as attributes of meaning.
Hal:
1. Example: Allah is Alim, Qadir
2. Mutazila say: Allah has a hal / state of having all knowledge and having all power.
1. They are ahwal, not attributes
2. Have no extramental existence.
3. There are in the state of existence and non-existence.
4. Between adam and wujud
3. Some Ashari scholars like Juwayni, Sanusi, etc. said that proofs of Mutazila of ahwal are valid but are not affirmed.
4. Majority of scholars who negate ahwal say being in the state of knowledge is the same thing as saying he has ilm. Hal doesn't exist.
5. Abu Hasan al-Asari negated ahwal.

Impossible Attributes

Non-existence / Adam - opposite of Wujud
Emergence / Huduth, opposite of Qidam
Evanescence / Turu al-Adam / Fana, opposite of Baqa
Similarity to events / Mumathalah lil-Hawadith, opposite of Mukhalafah al-Hawadith
1. like Him being a body [i.e. that His lofty essence would take up a portion of space], or
2. that He would be a condition that is established on that body, or
3. that He be in a given direction with relation to that body, or
4. that He Himself be in a given direction, or
5. that He be confined to place or time
1. transcends time and space, or change
6. or that His lofty essence be described with that of created things,
7. or that He be described with “smallness” or “bigness”, or
1. Bigness implies greatness, not size
8. that He be described as having motives (aghrad) (in order to protect Himself) in His actions and decrees.
1. Does this mean he doesn't have Hikmah? No.
2. Ghard precedes and guides the action.
3. Hikmah is the consequence of an action.
4. Gharad > Fil / Hukm > Hikmah
5.
9. Non-self subsisting / La yakun Qa'iman bi-Nafsihi, opposite of al-Qiyam bi Nafsihi
1. like Him being an attribute that exists in a given place (mahal), or
2. Him needing that which would particularize (mukhassis) Him.
10. Not be One / La yakun Wahid, opposite of Wahdaniyya
1. Like His essence being composed of different parts (affirmatin of kam muttasil), or
2. that there be something similar to Him in His essence or attributes (affirmation of kam munfasil), or
3. that there be in existence an entity which has an intrinsic effect (wujud mu'atthar) in a given action.
1. His actions have independent efficacy. All his actions are his, creating, destroying, creation of accidents etc.
2. Mutazila: Misunderstanding of Mutazila is that if something is burning, then the burning is caused by the fire. Most of them say: burning is caused by the Allah. But they make a distinction for human action.
3. Philosophers (Ibn Sina, Ibn Rushd, etc.): Say that all cause and effect is within “nature” (tab). Fire actually creates burning.
1. Ghazali said that if this is affirmed, then we're denying miracles of the Prophets and hence did takfir of the falasifa
2. Later scholars were lenient and said that Ghazali took the statements of falasifa literally.
4. Ibn al-Arabi: talked about wahdat al-wujud. Existence of contingent beings in actuality is Allah's existence.
1. If taken literally, this would be an idea of kufr because then you say that God is in everything.
2. Should be taken metaphorically
Incapacity / ‘Ajz, opposite of Qudra
1. of doing a conceivable act or the creation of something in the universe while He dislikes its existence [i.e. that He, exalted is He, did not will it into existence] or
1. Qudra is linked to only the realm of possibility
Heedlessness / Ghafla, opposite of Irada
1. to give existence while in a state of stupefaction or heedlessness, or for entertainment, or (that this thing came into existence) “naturally”.
2. Example: Murder exists. Allah does not like murder. Did he create it?
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5. Karaha (hate) is not the opposite of love
6. Karaha (hate) is the opposite of Will
1. He didn't Will for evil to exist. But it still came into existence.
7. Sanusi is saying it's impossible for something to come into existence without his Will, and he chose to use the word karaha as an opposite statement.
Ignorance / Jahl, opposite of Ilm
1. Philosophers: If Zayd went was out of his house at 9:00 into his house at 11:00. If Allah's knowledge is preeternal and he knew that Zayd is inside the house then his knowledge is wrong, because he was only in his house at 11:00. If Allah knew that he will be in the house at 11:00 then his knowledge is changing.
2. This is due to the taalluqat. His knowledge doesn't change or it is wrong. Just because the known is changing, doesn't mean his knowledge is changing. Everything is known (malum) to Allah. Just the taalluq changes.
3. Pleasure and Anger is a manifestation of his Will.
Death / Mawt, opposite of Haya
Deafness / Samam, opposite of Sam
Blindness / ‘Ama), opposite of Basar
Speechlessness / Bakam), opposite of Kalam
Opposites of Manawiyyah

Possible Attributes

That which is conceivable with regards to Him, exalted is He, is doing every possible (mumkin) act or leaving it.
1. Mutaliza: Disagree. For example: Justice is necessary for Allah. Reward the person who does good and punish one who does evil. It is necessary to do what is in the best interest of the creation.
2. We say, it is in the realm of possibility, and reward one who does good and punish the one who does will. This is through revelation. This is his Will. It is not rationally necessary. Is there someone compelling Allah to do this?
3. We can only understand this through revelation. Mutaliza say that you have to have Aqidah by reason. We say that you have to have revelation reach us for us to have Taklif.
Existence of God
T: The evidence of His existence, exalted is He, is the occurrence (createdness) of the world. For if it had no Originator, rather it existed of itself, that would necessitate that one of two equivalent states (i.e. either existence or non-existence) be equivalent to the other while at the same time be prevalent over it without any (external) cause! Such a matter is impossible.
T: The evidence for the occurrence (createdness) of the world is its inseparability from those occurring (created) conditions such as motion, stillness and so on. And that which is inseparable from a created entity is itself created. The evidence for the occurrence (createdness) of these conditions is the witnessing of their alteration from non-existence to existence and from existence to non-existence.
World has a beginning = It's contingent.
If it's contingent = it's not necessary
Necessary = cannot not exist
If it came into existence = possible to exist
Contingent = possible
From existence to non-existence there must be an external cause
T: The evidence for the necessity of His Beginningless Eternality (qidam), exalted is He, is that if He wasn't Beginninglessly Eternal qadam then He would have been created, and hence, would be in need of that which would bring Him into existence, thereby necessitating continuous circularity (dawr) or an infinite regress of causes (tasalsul).
Two Kalam arguments (deductive)
From Contingency (Hadith)
(P1 = sughra) Everything that is contingent (begins to exist) has a cause
(P2 = kubra) The Universe is contingent
(C = natijah) Therefore the Universe has a Cause
From Possibility (Mumkin)
(P1) Everything that has a possible existence must have a cause
(P2) The Universe has a possible existence
(C) Therefore the Universe has a Cause
Contingency of Substances (Bodies) and Accidents
Accidents are attributes of Bodies, cannot exist on their own
Contingency of Accidents
Movement and stillness are accidents
Something that occupies space must be still or be moving. Cannot be both.
Therefore accidents are contingent, deduced through observation.
Contingency of Substances
Substances are inseparable from accidents (e.g. motion and stillness)
Something that is inseparable from contingencies must also be contingent, because contingencies cannot exist pre-eternally.
Every body that is in a series of contingencies is contingent
If all of them were non-existent, does the non-existence apply to all of them simultaneously? If it doesn't and the non-existence precedes all the whole chain, then it was contingent.
Contingencies of Color, Taste, Smell
These cannot be independent of substances
They are also contingent
Therefore, substances are contingent
Since contingencies cannot exist externally, then the universe that's composed of substances is also contingent.
Contingencies have a possible existence
Everything that has a possible existence must have a Cause
The Cause
Cause cannot be the Universe itself. Something that is contingent cannot be a cause for any effect.
Could the cause be a product of the Universe? Each entity being a cause of another creates a never-ending loop (al-dawr) and is impossible.
Razi: Every effect is reliant upon a cause. If both entities were the effect of each other, they both are reliant on each other and itself. A > B > A > A, that is absurd.
The cause must be independent of the Universe
Existence of Infinity is Impossible
A subset of something cannot be equal as the whole. It is not possible.
S_{1</sub≠ S₂+1}
Therefore the infinite regression (tasalsul) of causes is also impossible.
Therefore it is not possible for the cause of the Universe to be contingent nor a possible existence. The cause of the Universe must be a Necessary existence, which exists without a beginning nor an end.
https://quranunlocked.com/52/35 am khuliqu min ghayri shayin am humu al-khaliquna
—
Twenty Sifat of Allah
Wajibah (6)
Nafsiyyah
1. Wujud
Salbiyyah
1. Qidam
2. Baqa
3. Mukhalafah al-Hawadith
4. al-Qiyam bi Nafsihi
5. Wahdaniyyah
Maani (7)
1. Ilm
2. Irada
3. Qudra
4. Haya
5. Sam
6. Basar
7. Kalam
Manawiyyah (7)
1. Kawnuhu Alim
2. Kawnuhu Murid
3. Kawnuhu Qadir
4. Kawnuhu Hayy
5. Kawnuhu Sami
6. Kawnuhu Basir
7. Kawnuhu Mutakallim
Mustahilah (20)
1. Adam
2. Huduth
3. Fana
4. Mumathalah lil-Hawadith
5. La yakun Qa'iman bi-Nafsihi
6. La yakun Wahidan
7. Jahl
8. Ghaflah
9. Ajz
10. Mawt
11. Samam
12. Ama
13. Bakam
14. Kawnuhu Jahalah
15. Kawnuhu Ghafil
16. Kawnuhu Aajiz
17. Kawnuhu Mayyit
18. Kawnuhu Summ
19. Kawnuhu Ama
20. Kawnuhu Bukm