Part 89

Ahmad [Ibn Hanbal] responded to this question in one of the two versions of his teachings, saying that Islam is the words [testimony] one utters. Al-Zuhri says that

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sometimes he [Ahmad] agreed with those who hold this view, while at other times he did not. Rather, he mentions the fact that both the Book and the Sunnah support the notion that Islam is to be distinguished from belief. Hence, when he responded by referring to al-Zuhri’s statement, al-Maymini replied to him, saying: “Oh, Abu “Abd Allah! Do you distinguish between Islam and belief?” “Yes,” he replied. “On what basis can we argue for this view?” he asked. “Most of the hadiths provide evidence in support of this,” he replied. Then he [al-Maymini] said: “The fornicator is not a believer so long as he commits fornication, and the thief is not a believer so long as he steals.” Allah says: “The desert Arabs: Say: ‘We believe.’ Say: ‘You have no faith; but you [only] say: We have submitted our wills to Allah ...’” (49:14). I then asked him: “So do you base your views on the straightforward meaning of the Book and the Sunan?” “Yes,” he replied. “So what about the Murji?ites’ view that Islam is an utterance?” He replied: “They consider the Muslim and the believer to be one and the same. Moreover, they view them both as having belief as perfect and complete as that of Gabriel.” I then asked: “Is this the basis of our argument against them?” “Yes,” he said, “since Ahmad has replied that they consider the flagrant sinner to be a believer with belief as complete and perfect as that of the angel Gabriel.”

As for his statement that the Murji”ites considered the Muslim and the believer to be one and the same, it is the view of those who hold that religion and belief are the same thing. For Islam is religion, and they make no distinction between Islam and belief. This is the view of the Murji’ites according to many of the authoritative scholars of Islam, such as al-Shafi‘l, Abu ‘Ubayd, and others who have debated with those who take this position. For it is known from the writings of the Murji’ites that they make a distinction between the terms “religion” and “belief,” and between Islam and “belief,” saying that part of Islam is belief, and part of it is works. Some of these works are religious obligations, while others are supererogatory acts of devotion. However, the words of the pious ancestors were based on what appeared to them to be the teachings of heretical sects such as the Jahmites, to whom they used to attribute the view that Allah is everywhere. This was the teaching of a sect known as the Najjarites; but as for the majority of their opponents among the Jahmites, the Mu‘tazilites, the Dararites, and others, they taught that Allah is neither within the world, outside the world, nor above it.

Similarly we have what they wrote about the Qadarite sect, to whom they attributed the view that neither [divine] knowledge nor the Qur’an is [uncreated]. Concerning the Qadarites, Ibn ‘Umar once said: “If you should encounter the followers of that sect, inform them that I have nothing to do with them, and that they in turn should have nothing more to do with me.” This is the sect that says that Allah gives commands and prohibitions to His servants without having any prior knowledge of who will obey or disobey him, or who will enter Heaven or Hell, until these things had actually occurred. Therefore they said that the command was ’unuf, new—that is, it was newly begun or musta’naf, commenced. For example, one might refer to a “new garden,” meaning one that is growing profusely yet has never been tended before. With reference to Allah, it means that He comes to know for the first time who is blessed and who is damned; this awareness begins without Allah’s having had prior knowledge of such things and without there being a preexisting book [in which future events are recorded]. Hence, what one does is not based on a sort of emulation of a preordained divine decree; rather, it comes about as an entirely new event. If someone wants to do something, he predetermines within himself what he desires to do, then proceeds to do it, revealing outwardly what he has determined in his heart. This sort of predetermination within one’s self is called khalq, creation. As the poet said:

Ah, you are sharpening what you have created, while some people create, yet do not sharpen.

In other words, unlike other people, you are a person who, if he sets his mind to something, carries it out and brings it to pass. As Allah says: “Indeed, We have created every thing by measure” (54:49). Before creating anything, Allah knows everything that will be. Moreover, He creates according to His will, since He knows and desires whatever He makes. His knowledge and His will are selfexistent, and based on this self-existent will and knowledge Allah speaks, as when He says: “That I will fill Hell with you [Iblis] and those of them [mankind] that follow you, together” (38:85); and “And had it not been for a Word that went forth before from your Lord, and a term already determined, the judgment would have been inevitable [in this world]” (20:129); and “And, indeed, Our Word has gone forth of old for Our slaves—the Messengers. That they indeed would be made

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triumphant. And that Our forces, they indeed would be the victors” (37:171—73); and “Indeed, We gave the Book to Moses, but differences arose therein, and had it not been for a Word that had gone forth before from your Lord, the case would have been judged between them . . .” (11:110). Among the things Allah records in the Book are those things that He predetermines. He says: “Know you not that Allah knows all that is in heaven and on earth? Indeed, it is all in the Book. Indeed! That is easy for Allah” (22:70). According to Ibn ‘Abbas, Allah creates humanity knowing what they would do beforehand; then He speaks of His knowledge, saying: “Be a Book,” and so it was a Book. Then He reveals evidence of this. Allah says: “Know you not that Allah knows all that is in heaven and on earth? Indeed, it is all in the Book. Indeed! That is easy for Allah” (22:70). He also says: “No calamity falls on the earth or in yourselves but it is inscribed in the Book of decrees, before We bring it into existence. Indeed, that is easy for Allah” (57:22); and “And indeed We have written in the Zabiir [Book of Psalms] after the Reminder [the Message given to Moses], My righteous slaves will inherit the earth” (21:105); and “Allah effaces what He will and confirms [what He will]. And with Him is the Mother of the Book” (13:39); and “And when you said to the angels: ‘Indeed, I am about to place a viceroy on earth.’ They said: ‘Will you place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood while we glorify You with praises and thanks and sanctify You?’ He says: ‘I know that which you do not know’” (2:30). So if even the Angels had prior knowledge of the destruction and bloodshed that human beings would bring about on earth, how much more knowledge would Allah have of such things? This is true whether, as most Qur’anic exegetists hold, the Angels came to know such things by a revelation from Allah [in which case He is more knowledgeable than they were concerning that which He had revealed to them] or whether, as some believe, the Angels made such a statement based on what they had seen before. Allah knows best what shall become of His creatures, who themselves have no knowledge that He himself has not taught them, or that He has not revealed to His Prophets or others. For none of us comprehends anything of Allah’s knowledge unless He wills it.

Allah speaks to the Angels, saying: “. . . Indeed, I am about to place a viceroy on earth . . .” (2:30), before commanding them to prostrate themselves to Adam, before Iblis had refused to bow down, before He had forbidden Adam to eat from the tree, and before Adam had eaten from it, thereby bringing about his fall to earth.

Hence, Allah already knows that He will appoint Adam as a vicegerent on earth even as He gave both Adam and Iblis commands that He knew they would disobey, whereupon He commands them both to descend to earth and to be His vicegerents there. This makes it clear that Allah knows ahead of time that they will disobey His commands. Iblis refused to bow down to Adam, hating him, becoming his enemy, and tempting him to eat from the tree and thereby become a sinner like himself. Iblis had sworn that he would lure all human beings into sin, requesting that he be granted jurisdiction over the earth until the day when all would be resurrected, since he was set on luring Adam and his progeny into temptation with all the power at his disposal. However, Adam received words from Allah that led him to repent; he was then rightly guided by his Lord and chosen as a prophet. In this way, human beings obtained a way to find happiness and to be delivered from the snares into which Satan might cause them to fall through his deceitful allure. This way was the way of repentance. Allah says: “So that Allah will punish the hypocrites, men and women, and the men and women who associate partners in worship with Him. And Allah will pardon the believers, men and women . . .” (33:73). For Allah’s foreordained decree encompassed all these things before they came to pass. As for Iblis, he persisted in his sinful ways, excusing himself by objecting that this was Allah’s foreordained decree and asking for the right to oversee earth’s affairs in hopes of luring others into destruction. However, Adam and his wife turned to Allah in repentance. Allah says: “They said: ‘Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If you forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be the losers” (7:23). As a result, Allah restored Adam to His grace, chose him and gave him right guidance, then set him on earth to work there in obedience to Him, so that consequently Allah might elevate him in such a way that after this his entrance into Paradise might be more perfect than it would have been otherwise. For whoever of Adam’s descendants sins, then follows Adam’s example by repenting, shall be blessed. And if he repents, believes and does good works, Allah will transform his evil deeds into good ones. In fact, like all Allah-fearing saints, he will be more righteous after his repentance than he was before having sinned. As for those who follow Iblis’ example by persisting in their sin, using Allah’s foreknowledge as an excuse for their actions and attempting to lure others into temptation, they will be among those of whom Allah says: “That I will fill Hell with you [Iblis] and those of them [mankind] that follow you, together” (38:85).