al-Ayn wal-Athar fi Aqaid Ahl al-Athar
- Author died
- 1071 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Maʾmūn lil-Turāth
al-Ayn wal-Athar fi Aqaid Ahl al-Athar (The Essence and Tradition Regarding the Creeds of the People of Tradition) is a theological treatise on Sunni-Hanbali creed by the Damascene jurist and Mufti of the Hanbalis, Abd al-Baqi al-Hanbali (1005–1071 AH / 1596–1661 CE), also known as Ibn Faqih Fassa .
Purpose and Composition
The author composed the treatise at the request of companions who asked him to assemble a concise work compiling the traditionalist (Athari) theological tenets of the Hanbali school . The book clarifies the positions narrated from Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and addresses theological debates between the Hanbalis and the Ash'aris .
Structure and Contents
The book is structured around three primary objectives (maqasid) alongside five supplementary discussions (tatimmat) :
- The First Objective (al-Maqsad al-Awwal): Details explicitly transmitted doctrines from Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal . It contains several thematic sections covering:
- Divine speech and the Quran as uncreated .
- Transcendence (tanzih), negating spatial containment, physical body (jism), accident (arad), and substance (jawhar) from God, and the prohibition of allegorical interpretation (ta'wil) of divine attributes while maintaining their affirmation without anthropomorphism .
- Divine acts, predestination (qadar), and the acquisition of human actions .
- The definitions of Islam and faith (iman), its increase and decrease, and the rules of declaring disbelief (takfir) .
- Eschatology and unseen matters (sam'iyyat), such as the torment of the grave, the Scale, the Bridge (al-Sirat), the Basin (al-Hawd), Paradise, and Hellfire .
- Prophecy, miracles, the saintly miracles (karamat), and commanding right and forbidding wrong .
- The Second Objective (al-Maqsad al-Thani): Explores points of doctrinal disagreement between Hanbalis and Ash'aris, such as the divine ascending over the Throne (al-istiwa'), descending (al-nuzul), and coming (al-maji' and al-ityan), presenting the Hanbali evidences for their affirmation upon their outward meaning without modality .
- The Third Objective (al-Maqsad al-Thalith): Focuses exclusively on the issue of divine speech (al-kalam) and the Quran, collecting narrations from Imam Ahmad and theological citations from diverse authorities .
Method and Sources
In defending the Athari stance on divine speech, the author quotes Ash'ari theologians such as al-Sayyid al-Sharif al-Jurjani, al-Shahrastani, and Adud al-Din al-Iji, as well as Sufi writers such as Abd al-Rahman al-Jami and Ibn Arabi (relying on Jami's citations of the Futuhat), using their statements as proof-texts in dialectical arguments . He also draws upon classic Hadith and Hanbali references, including works by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani and Mansur al-Buhuti .
Abridgments and Editions
An abridgment of the work was titled Insan al-Ayn wa-Jala' al-Ghayn (The Pupil of the Eye and the Clarification of Cloudiness) . The text was edited by Isam Qal'aji, reviewed by Abd al-Aziz Rabbah, and published by Dar al-Ma'mun lil-Turath in Damascus and Beirut (1407 AH / 1987 CE) .
Answer updated