Introduction

In all the various discussions that take place, in person, on blogs, forums and the likes, one of the greatest slanders made against Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamaa'ah by today's Jahmiyyah [posing as Ash'arites and slandering the good name of Abu al-Hasan al- Ash'ari (rahimahullaah) by doing so] is that they - by implication - accuse the entirety of the Salaf, and likewise the forerunners of the early Ash'ariyyah , Ibn Kullaab , al-Muhaasibee, al-Qalaanisee, and likewise, the early Ash'ariyyah , al- Ash'ari himself, Ibn Mahdi al-Tabari , al- Baqillani , as being Mujassimah .

There will probably be voices of disgust and uproar at such a suggestion, but as we will demonstrate, this is indeed the case, as much as it tries to be hidden and shoved under the carpet. The reality is that most people who aspire to be "Ash'aris" are merely mental playthings for their academic leaders who are perpetrating a great swindle. This swindle should become clear as we progress through this series inshaa'Allaah, and we advise the aspiring " Ash'ari " to have a sense of shame and honour, and not let himself be intellecually and academically abused any more on account of his own ignorance.

Because this slander of Tajseem is grave, then it is important to aid one's Muslim brother, be he the oppressed or the one oppressing, and so the intent is to aid those poor souls against their souls and save them from having to meet Allaah whilst having slandered a multitude of Sunnis (Atharis, Salafis, all synonymous terms) with the accusation of tajsim , based upon either a) pure taqlid of their guides (like Keller, Yusuf, Naruiji , Kawthari and others who conceal the truth, perhaps deliberately), or b) corrupted intellects through which they are deluded into thinking they understand their doctrinal school [most of them are deluded and actually grasp very little of the issues as is plainly evident from a survey of their polemics over years]. They don't even grasp the sayings of those whom they ascribe to whether that be Abu Mansur al-Baghdadi (d. 429H), or Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi (d. 458H), or even Imam al-Tahawi (d. 321H). So inshaa'Allaah, in this series of articles, we aim to lift that fog from their eyes and aid them against their oppressive souls.

Separating and Not Generalizing

is to generalize, when one should make distinction , and that the failure to do this brings such corruption in knowledge based matters, that it is behind most if not all deviation. And this is actually the problem of today's pseudo-Ash'aris [those who remain deluded into thinking they are following the specific creed of if we assume he remained a Kullaabi]. So it is obligatory to separate out the various factions, because a lot of the statements of the Scholars amongst the Salaf and the Khalaf were made in certain contexts and applied to very specific positions held by specific factions . The failure to distinguish between them means that you are possibly subjecting yourself to entry into Hellfire for accusing another Muslim of that which He is free of (i.e. of tajseem), and this is accusing the average Muslim, let alone the Scholar from Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Athar! As many of the scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah have pointed out in the past, that from the greatest crimes in knowledge, and that the failure to do this brings such corruption in knowledge based matters, that it is behind most if not all deviation. And this is actually the problem of today's pseudo-Ash'aris [those who remain deluded into thinking they are following the specific creed of al- Ash'ari , when they have very little, if not zero connection to al- Ash'ari , evenhe remained a Kullaabi]. So it is obligatory to separate out the various factions, because a lot of the statements of the Scholars amongst the Salaf and the Khalaf were made inand applied toheld by. The failure to distinguish between them means that you are possibly subjecting yourself to entry into Hellfire for accusing another Muslim of that which He is free of (i.e. of tajseem), and this is accusing the average Muslim, let alone the Scholar from Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Athar!

The Various Factions

We can divide the factions into two groups:

The first: the followers of the revealed Books and sent Messengers who took the truth from these sources and considered them the manifest truth and firmly believed that Allah is the most-knowledgeable (أعلم) of His own self, the most eloquent in speech (افصح) and intended nothing but guidance, direction to His creation through what He revealed. Likewise they firmly believe that the Messenger is the most knowledgeable of the creation (أعلم) regarding Allaah, the Most High, and most eloquent in speech in the creation (افصح) and most sincere in intending good (أنصح) for the Ummah). Upon this foundation they accepted whatever Allaah and His Messenger affirmed for Him in the manner that is outlined further below.

These are the people who drank from the stream at its highest, purest, cleanest, most-refreshing, most-satisfying source. Their language was identical to that of Allaah and His Messenger, they were drinking pure and thus speaking pure, what goes in is what comes out . This drink does not intoxicate nor befog or leave unsatiated. These people did not consider the Qur'an as mere akhbaar (news, reports, information), rather they knew it contains the most powerful reason, rationale and argument too. These people are soundest in belief, in constitution of the mind, and clearest in thought, the most upright and moderate in speech and opinion - so may your mother be bereaved of you if you knew this and then turned on your heels and went to other than them, who are:

These are the people who think the Qur'an is mere akhbaar (reports, news, information) and does not contain inherent rationale and reason that can be depended upon, spoken with, and implemented in debate, and they think this would be circular reasoning. Thus they went to drink from the stream much lower down, after it has been polluted with the blood , puss and dung [figuratively speaking] of the Greek Philosophers , Hellenized Jews, Hellenized Christians, and the Sabean star and idol-worshippers [read this series]. Anyone who drank from this was condemned by the Salaf and warned against. This was the condemned ilm al- Kalaam in the view of the Salaf, the speech of al-ajsaam and al-a'raad (bodies and incidental attributes). Those who drank from this polluted water began saying [through both the tongue of disposition and the tongue of flesh] that the speech from He who is a'lam (أعلم) and afsah (افصح) (Allaah) and the speech of he who is a'lam (أعلم) and afsah (افصح) and ansah (أنصح) in the creation (the Messenger) contains - [if left as it is in the language of those to whom it was sent upon what they would have ordinarily understood from it] - that which is utter misguidance and kufr, that is, tashbih, tajsim and that it was meant only for the dumb commoners who were too dumb to understand the real truth, and Allaah and His Messenger were forced to used that language so as not to turn to the majority to Atheism . So whilst Allaah and His Messenger instilled faith in the majority through the language of tajsim and tashbih, it was supposedly left to these Mutakallimin to now present the real Tawhid , to complete what Allaah and His Messenger never completed (and how could they when the Arabic language is supposedly deficient and the majority of the audience is supposedly too dumb to understand the real truth). So it was supposedly left to these people then to establish the true and real Tawhid upon what they had inherited of the refuse of previous nations, which originated from a star and idol-worshipping pagan disbeliever, his language, terminology and Metaphysics . Hence, the real truth is in the sayings, language and terminology of those and not in the language of Allaah and His Messenger. So when these people (the Mutakallimin) had drunk from this polluted water, they then began to "correct" Allaah and His Messenger and presented "the real and true language" that represents the "absolute truth", the true and real language of Tawhid which Allaah and His Messenger were unable to express, or chose not to express, which is the language of al-ajsaam and al-a'raad , and the "negative theology" of the Greeks, Hindus, Hellenized Jews, Hellenized Christians, the Sabeans and others, "Allaah is not a jism , not a jawhar , not an 'arad..." and so on. And from this you will understand that great statement of that great Shafi'ite Imaam, Ibn Surayj (d. 306H) who said, as narrated from him by Abu Ismaa'eel al-Harawi with his isnaad, in "Dhamm ul-Kalaam" and as mentioned by Ibn Taymiyyah in " Bayaan Talbees al- Jahmiyyah ": توحيد اهل العلم وجماعة المسلمين أشهد أن لا اله الا الله وان محمدا رسول الله وتوحيد اهل الباطل الخوض في الأعراض والأجسام وانما بعث النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم بانكار ذلك The Tawheed of the people of knowledge and the jamaa'ah of the Muslims is "I testify none is worthy of worship except Allaah (alone) and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah". And the Tawheed of the people of falsehood is disputing about al-a'raad (incidental attributes) and al-ajsaam (bodies) and the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) was sent with the rejection of that. So the Prophet (alayhis salaam) was sent with what is pure, clean, wholesome, and to reject that which previous nations had been drinking from, from that which is tainted, mixed, impure, and which led them astray in speaking about their Lord. And you should know that these people (the Ahl al-Kalaam) are united with the Philosophers upon what we have just mentioned above, do not delude yourself and insult your own intelligence by denying this [just because you saw them fighting with the Philosophers on other issues], and if you choose to remain in cloud cuckoo, go and read these three articles and see if you can find any difference between the sayings of al-Ghazali [d. 505H] (read it here), al-Razi [d.606H] (read it here) and that Kafir, Ibn Sinaa [d. 429H] (read it here), who they followed in this matter after getting diseased by reading his books such as al-Shifaa and al-Ishaaraat. Then when you have verified that what we have said is indeed the truth and this is indeed the very evil perception of these people [whether it is expressed, implied, hinted at, or concealed], then just choose and decide if you want drink from the stream contaminated with puss, urine, faeces, or from the stream of purity and innocence. And we petition you not to insult your intelligence a second time and start confusing between that Kalaam the Salaf condemned which leads to this evil perception towards Allaah and His Messenger, and between that Kalaam which is simply establishing the truth by reliance upon the Qur'an , Hadith and sound uncorrupted reason. The Kalaam that the Salaf condemned (al-ajsaam wal-a'raad) is not sound uncorrupted reason, it is the refuse of previous Hellenized nations (Jews, Christians, Sabeans) originating in the language and philosophy of Aristotle , about which al-Shafi'ee (d. 204H) said, as reported by as-Suyuti in Sawn al-Mantiq (1/47-48): ماجهل الناس ولااختلفوا إلا لتركهم لسان العرب وميلهم إلى لسان ارسطوطاليس The people did not become ignorant and nor differ (with each other) except due to their abandonment of the language of the Arabs and their inclination to the language of Aristotle . It is the Kalaam of jawaahir (substances) and a'raad (their incidental attributes) which all of the Mutakallimin founded their theology upon.

So we can look at each of these two groups and their views:

From the People of the Sunnah, Hadith Who Did Not Delve Into The Heretical Kalaam (Huduth al-Ajsaam and Its Binding Necessities), Meaning They Drunk From the Stream At Its Higher, Purer Source.

We can divide these into three groups:

Those From The Ahl al- Kalaam Who Drunk, In Large or Small Amounts From the Dirty Stream, Lower Down

These are classified into two groups: a) Those whose Kalaam led them to ta'teel , and they are the Mu'attilah , and b) those whose Kalaam led them to Tajseem and tashbeeh , and they and the Mujassimah , Mushabbihah , Mukayyifah . So let us discuss each of these and lift the veil by Allaah's permission...

Fringe-Groups

It is important to mention that there were other groups that are hard to characterize. There are two groups we are going to mention here which is crucial to this entire subject and they are "Kalaamified" Hanbalis .

The Hanbali Ahl al-Kalaam: This is the Tamimi family, and they are Abu al-Hasan al-Tamimi, Abu al-Fadl al-Tamimi (d. 410H), Rizqullah al-Tamimi (d.448H). These kept ties with the Ash'arites who were heavily into Kalaam , like al- Baqillani and as a result they were influenced by it to such a degree that they misrepresented the views and statements of Imaam Ahmad and ascribed to him that which he is free and innocent of. Now al-Qadi Abu Ya'laa was also from this group, but he split and separated from the Tamimis and issues broke out between them (that is the subject of a separate article in this series). But we need to keep this faction in mind because they are used in the overall strategy of the Innovators to attack Ahl al-Sunnah. The Jahmified and Mu'tazilified Hanbalis: They are Ibn Aqeel and Ibn al-Jawzee. The former got poisoned by Mu'tazili teachers who despited being advised did not abandon them, and Ibn al-Jawzee was just mass confusion, and he had with him tajahhum and i'tizaal. Ibn Aqeel repented at the end of his life. And Ibn al-Jawzee wrote a work attacking specific Hanbalis (Abu Ya'laa, Ibn Haamid and his own teacher, Ibn al-Zaghuni), but this attack came from a Jahmee, Mu'tazilee perspective. It is important to note that whilst they attacked some of the Hanbalis , they also refuted and scorned the Ash'arites as a whole.

Discussion of the Framework and What Follows on From it