Al-Hafiz Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi - Al-‘Awassim min al-Qawassim - The Fourth Position - Safeguard

Volume: (1) - Page Number: (209 / 210)

- And someone I trust from my teachers informed me that Abu Ya’la Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Farra, the head of the Hanbalis in Baghdad, used to say: When Allah, the Exalted, and the apparent meanings concerning His attributes are mentioned, he would say: “Impose upon me whatever you wish, for I will accept it, except for a beard and private parts.”

Abu al-Faraj Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Jawzi al-Hanbali - *Daf' Shubah al-Tashbih bi-Akuff al-Tanzih*

Margin of Page: (98)

- And it is astonishing, though not surprising coming from the anthropomorphist Hanbalis, that the hadith scholar Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi said in *Al-'Awasim* (2/283): "One of my trustworthy teachers informed me that Qadi Abu Ya'la al-Hanbali, when mentioning Allah, would say regarding the apparent meanings of His attributes as reported: 'Oblige me with whatever you wish, for I will accept it, except for a beard and private parts.'" Some of the Imams of the people of truth said: This is vile disbelief and mockery of Allah, and the one who says such a thing is ignorant of Him, not to be followed or even considered. He does not truly emulate his claimed Imam but is rather a partner of the polytheists in idol worship, for he neither worshiped Allah nor knew Him. Rather, he imagined an idol in his mind. Exalted is Allah far above what the atheists and deniers say, beyond all measure.

Al-Subki - *Al-Sayf al-Saqil Rad Ibn Zafil*

Margin of Page: (130)

- From the anthropomorphist Hanbalis, Al-Afeef al-Yafi'i stated in *(Marham al-'Ilal al-Mu'dhilah fi Daf' al-Shubah wal-Radd 'ala al-Mu'tazilah)* in its third volume: "The later Hanbalis have gone to excessive extremes in their religion, to an outrageous degree of foolishness. They have ascribed an ugly anthropomorphism to Allah and likened Him to His creation in a dreadful manner, attributing to Him many human-like traits. So much so that Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi said in *Al-'Awasim*: 'One of my trustworthy teachers informed me that Qadi Abu Ya'la al-Hanbali, when mentioning Allah, would say regarding the apparent meanings of His attributes: "Oblige me with whatever you wish, for I will accept it, except for a beard and private parts."' Some Imams of the people of truth said: This is vile disbelief and heinous mockery of Allah, and the one who says such a thing is ignorant of Him, not to be followed or even considered. He does not truly emulate his claimed Imam but is rather a partner of the polytheists in idol worship, for he neither worshiped Allah nor knew Him but rather imagined an idol in his mind. Exalted is Allah far above what the atheists and deniers say, beyond all measure."

"Similar to what Ibn al-Arabi narrated from Abu Ya'la is also reported in books on sects and creeds about Dawud al-Jawāribi—exalted is Allah above that. Then al-Yafi'i said: 'Ibn al-Jawzi from among the Hanbalis did well when he authored a book refuting them and quoted from them that they affirmed for Allah a form similar to that of a human being in its parts. He said in his book: These people have tainted this doctrine with something hideous, such that one cannot mention Hanbalism without associating it with anthropomorphism. He said: These people are manipulators who do not know Allah, have no understanding of Islam, and mislead the masses. Their words are blatantly anthropomorphic, and they have misled a great number of laypeople, bringing disgrace upon both the followers and the followed.' The book al-Yafi'i referenced is *Daf' Shubah al-Tashbih*, which is published and can be consulted."