IMĀM TĀJ AL-DĪN AL-SUBKĪ (D. 771 AH) ON THE PSEUDO-ḤANBALĪS IN HIS TIME AND THEIR FALSE ʿAQĪDA
In his magnum opus Ṭabaqāt al-Shāfiʿiyyah al-Kubrā (2/16-17), the eminent Shāfiʿī jurist and historian Tāj al-Dīn al-Subkī (d. 771/1370) provides a significant historical account concerning theological disputations in his era. The text offers particularly salient observations regarding certain groups who, while claiming adherence to the theological methodology of Imām Aḥmed ibn Ḥanbal (d. 241/855), deviated substantially from established Sunnī doctrinal positions. This historical parallel bears noteworthy resemblance to contemporary theological debates within Islamic thought, particularly regarding modern Salafī interpretative frameworks.
He said the following in the named work:
وَقد تزايد الْحَال بالخطابية وهم المجسمة فِي زَمَاننَا هَذَا فصاروا يرَوْنَ الْكَذِب عَلَى مخالفيهم فِي العقيدة لَا سِيمَا الْقَائِم عَلَيْهِم بِكُل مَا يسوءه فِي نَفسه وَمَاله وَبَلغنِي أَن كَبِيرهمْ استفتى فِي شَافِعِيّ أيشهد عَلَيْهِ بِالْكَذِبِ فَقَالَ أَلَسْت تعتقد أَن دَمه حَلَال قَالَ نعم قَالَ فَمَا دون ذَلِك دون دَمه فاشهد وادفع فَسَاده عَن الْمُسلمين فَهَذِهِ عقيدتهم ويرون أَنهم الْمُسلمُونَ وَأَنَّهُمْ أهل السّنة وَلَو عدوا عددا لما بلغ علماؤهم وَلَا عَالم فيهم عَلَى الْحَقِيقَة مبلغا يعْتَبر ويكفرون غَالب عُلَمَاء الْأمة ثمَّ يعتزون إِلَى الإِمَام أَحْمد بن حَنْبَل رَضِي الله عَنهُ وَهُوَ مِنْهُم برِئ وَلكنه كَمَا قَالَ بعض العارفين ورأيته بِخَط الشَّيْخ تقى الدّين ابْن الصّلاح إمامان ابتلاهما الله بأصحابهما وهما بريان مِنْهُم أَحْمد ابْن حَنْبَل ابْتُلِيَ بالمُجَسِّمَة وجعفر الصَّادِق ابْتُلِيَ بالرافضة ثمَّ هَذَا الَّذِي ذَكرْنَاهُ هُوَ عَلَى طَريقَة النَّوَوِيّ رَحمَه اللَّه وَالَّذِي أرَاهُ أَن لَا تقبل شَهَادَتهم عَلَى سني
Meaning:
And the situation has increased with the Khaṭṭābiyyah, who are the anthropomorphists, in our time such that they now see it permissible to lie about their opponents in creed, especially those who stand against them in all that harms them in their self and wealth. And it has reached me that their leader was asked about giving false testimony against a Shāfiʿī, so he said “Don’t you believe that his blood is permissible?” He said “Yes.” He said “Then what is less than that is less than his blood, so testify and repel his corruption from the Muslims.” This is their creed and they see themselves as the Muslims and that they are the People of the Sunnah, but if they were to be counted, their scholars – and there is not really a scholar among them – would not reach a considerable number, and they declare most of the nation’s scholars as disbelievers, then they attribute themselves to Imam Aḥmed ibn Ḥanbal, may Allah be pleased with him, while he is innocent of them. But it is as some of the knowers said – and I saw it in the handwriting of Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn ibn al-Ṣalāḥ – two Imams were tested by Allah with their followers while they are innocent of them: Aḥmed ibn Ḥanbal was tested with the anthropomorphists, and Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq was tested with the Rāfiḍah (Shi’a). Then this which we have mentioned is according to the way of al-Nawawī, may Allah have mercy on him, and what I see is that their testimony should not be accepted against a Sunni.
