EXAMPLES OF INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE GROSS ANTHROPOMORPHISTS [MUJASSIMA] IN ISLAMIC HISTORY

In examining the historical trajectory of anthropomorphic interpretations, scholarly attention must be directed toward notable figures and schools who, in their approach to the Ṣifāt of Allāh (Divine Attributes), insisted upon adopting the ẓāhir (apparent) meanings of scriptural texts without appropriate theological nuance. These figures, exceeding the bounds of orthodox interpretation established by the true followers of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamāʿah throughout the centuries.

While an exhaustive enumeration of all individuals who subscribed to tajsīm (anthropomorphism) lies beyond our scope, particular focus must be given to those historical figures whose hermeneutical methodologies gained prominence through their literal interpretations of the Qurʾān and Ḥadīth. Their approach to divine attributes, without consideration for established principles of tanzīh (divine transcendence), led to conclusions that effectively attributed physical characteristics to Allah. At times this reminds one of the methodology of some aligned to pseudo-Salafīyyah in recent times.

Muḥammad ibn Saʿdūn al-ʿAbdarī:

In Siyar al-Nubalāʾ (19/579) by Imam al-Dhahabī: “Al-ʿAbdarī: The Sheikh, the Imam, the unique critical hadith master, Abū ʿĀmir Muḥammad ibn Saʿdūn ibn Marajī ibn Saʿdūn al-Qurashī al-ʿAbdarī al-Mayūrqī al-Maghribī al-Ẓāhirī, resident of Baghdad, born in Cordoba. He was one of the oceans of knowledge if not for anthropomorphism [tajsīm] in him. We ask Allah for safety.”

And in Tadhkirat al-Ḥuffāẓ (4/72) by al-Dhahabī: “Al-ʿAbdarī: The Imam, the hadith master, the great scholar, Abū ʿĀmir Muḥammad ibn Saʿdūn ibn Marajī al-Qurashī al-ʿAbdarī al-Mayūrqī al-Andalusī… The hadith master Ibn ʿAsākir said: Abū ʿĀmir was a Dāwūdī, and he was the most memorizing sheikh I met… He mentioned that he entered Damascus. I heard him say when Imam Mālik was mentioned: ‘A rough, crude one who struck Hishām with a whip…’ It reached me that he said regarding ‘The Day when the shin shall be laid bare,’ and he struck his shin saying: ‘A shin like this shin of mine.’ I say: This is a disconnected story, and this is the saying of the misguided anthropomorphists [mujassima], and I don’t believe this reached the level of al-ʿAbdarī.

Then he said: And it reached me that he said: ‘The people of innovation argue using His words: ‘There is nothing like unto Him,’ meaning: in divinity, but as for form, He is like me and you…’ He then recited His words: ‘O wives of the Prophet! You are not like other women if you are God-fearing,’ meaning: in sanctity!”

Aḥmad ibn Manṣūr Abū al-Saʿādāt:

In Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl by al-Dhahabī (1/305): “Aḥmad ibn Manṣūr Abū al-Saʿādāt narrates from the companions of al-Ṭabarānī, and Abū Nahshal ʿAbd al-Ṣamad al-ʿAnbarī narrates from him. Yaḥyā ibn Mandah said: ‘A heretical liar.’

I say: And among his fabrications is a hadith in which he says: ‘And before the Lord is a tablet containing the names of those who affirm the form and the vision and the modality, and He boasts of them to the angels.’

I say: So this is the anthropomorphist [mujassim] sheikh whom Allah will not shy from punishing, as how [could He] when he has fabricated [lies].”

Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Khālawayh al-Aṣbahānī:

In Lisān al-Mīzān (5/39) by al-Hafiz ibn Hajar al Asqalani: “Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn ʿUmar ibn Abī Bakr, Abū Jaʿfar known as Khālawayh al-Aṣbahānī, heard much and wrote with his hand and he is well-known. Ibn al-Najjār said: I asked our sheikh Abū ʿAbdullāh al-Ḥanbalī about him in Aṣbahān, and he said: ‘He was from the extreme Ḥanbalīs who were anthropomorphists [mujassima].'”

Abū Shuʿayb al-Ballāl:

In Lisān al-Mīzān (7/63): “Abū Shuʿayb al-Ballāl: Ibn Ḥazm mentioned that he was an anthropomorphist [mujassim], and he used to say that his Lord is in human form of flesh and blood, and that He becomes happy and sad, and becomes ill and recovers.”

Al-Mughīra ibn Saʿīd al-ʿIjlī:

In Al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh by Ibn al-Athīr (5/207): “Al-Mughīra’s view was anthropomorphism [tajsīm]. He would say that Allah is in the form of a man with a crown on his head, and that His limbs are equal to the number of alphabet letters, and he would say what no tongue can utter, highly exalted is Allah above that.

He says: When Allah the Exalted wanted to create, He spoke His greatest name, and it flew and landed on His crown. Then He wrote with His finger on His palm the deeds of His servants of disobedience and obedience. When He saw the acts of disobedience, He broke into sweat, and from His sweat gathered two seas, one salty and dark and the other sweet and bright. Then He looked into the sea and saw His shadow and went to grab it, but it flew, so He caught up with it and plucked out the eyes of that shadow and destroyed it. Then He created from its eyes the sun and another sky, and He created from the salty sea the disbelievers, and from the sweet sea the believers.”

Hishām ibn al-Ḥakam ,ʿAlī ibn Manṣūr, Muḥammad ibn al-Khalīl and Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān

Ibn al-Jawzī said in Talbīs Iblīs (1/107):

Some people stopped at the apparent [ẓāhir] meanings and interpreted them according to sensory perception, so some of them said that Allah is a body – exalted is Allah above that. This is the doctrine of Hishām ibn al-Ḥakam, ʿAlī ibn Manṣūr, Muḥammad ibn al-Khalīl, and Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. Then they differed: some said He is a body like bodies, while others said not like bodies. Then they differed further: some said He is light, and others said He is in the form of a white ingot – this is what Hishām ibn al-Ḥakam used to say. He would say that his god is seven spans by His own span – highly exalted is Allah above that with great exaltation – and that He sees what is beneath the soil through a ray connecting from Him to what is seen.

I say: I was only amazed at the specification of seven spans until I realized he made Him like humans, as a human’s height is seven spans by his own span. Abū Muḥammad al-Nawbakhtī reported from al-Jāḥiẓ from al-Naẓẓām that Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam made five different statements about anthropomorphism [tashbīh] in one year, concluding with his deity being seven spans by His own span. Some people said He is in the form of an ingot, and some said He is in the form of pure crystal of uniform roundness that appears the same from whatever angle you look at it. And Hishām said He is finite in essence, to the point that he said the mountain is bigger than Him. He said He has a quiddity that He knows.

 
O Allāh, protect us from the misguidance of anthropomorphism (tajsīm), the distortion of Your divine attributes (Ṣifāt). Guide us to understand Your transcendence (tanzīh) beyond human limitations and to worship You with pure and clear hearts. Keep us steadfast on the path of truth and grant us wisdom to avoid any misinterpretations of Your divine attributes. O Allāh, save us from falling into the trap of likening (tashbīh) You to Your creation, for You are far above any resemblance to the created beings. Āmīn.