The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:
تَفْتَرِقُ هَذِهِ الأُمَّةُ ثَلاثَةً وَسَبْعِينَ
فِرْقَةً كُلُّهَا فِي النَّارِ ، إلا وَاحِدَةً , قَالُوا : وَمَا تِلْكَ
الْفِرْقَةُ ؟ ، قَالَ : مَنْ كَانَ عَلَى مَا أَنَا عَلَيْهِ الْيَوْمَ
وَأَصْحَابِي
“This
Umma shall split into seventy-three sects; all of them in the Fire except One.”
They asked: Which Sect is it? He said: “The One which is upon what I am upon
today, and my Companions.”
(Mu’jam
al-Awsat of Tabarani)
In the time of the Prophet’s
ﷺ own
Companions, four major sects emerged; 1. the Khawarij, 2. the Shi’a,
3. the Qadariya, and 4. the Murji’a. Virtually all
of the seventy-two deviated sects and parties are derived from a few major
branches, particularly these four. In this entry we will look at some of the
peculiar and heretical doctrines of various Mu’tazilite sects. Keep in mind the
Mu’tazila are included within the Qadariya branch:
1. Hudhailiya:
Abu ‘l-Hudhail Hamdan b. al-‘Allaf (752 – 840 CE).
Doctrine: The movements of
those who dwell eternally in heaven or hell will cease, and will be followed by
an everlasting rest and stillness. In this state of rest those in heaven will
experience all their pleasures and those in hell all their suffering. Abu
‘l-Hudhail was forced into this position in order to overcome a difficulty
about the beginning of the universe, namely, that phenomena which have no
beginning are like those which have no end as they are both infinite. To this
he replied: ‘I do not believe in a movement that has no end, just as I do not
believe in a movement that has no beginning; all will turn into an everlasting
rest.’
2. Nazzamiya:
Ibrahim b. Sayyar b. Hani’ al-Nazzam (775 – 845 CE).
Doctrine: God created all existing things as they are now
in the one act of creation: minerals, plants, animals and men. His creation of
Adam did not precede that of his posterity except that some of them were put in
a latent condition in others. The order of their precedence is simply the
result of their coming forth from this hidden state, not that of their creation
and coming into being at that time.
The miraculous nature of the Qur’an, according to Nazzam,
consists in giving information about past and future events, in averting
temptations to challenge the Qur’an, in [God’s] forcibly preventing the Arabs
from engaging in such attempts and rendering them incapable. Had they been left
to themselves, they would have been able to produce a chapter like one in the
Qur’an with its beauty, eloquence and style.
3. Khabitiya: Ahmad b. Khabit (d. 332
H).
Doctrine: They assign to the Messiah one of the divine
prerogatives, agreeing with the Christians in their belief that he is the one
who will call mankind to a reckoning in the next life. He is the one meant by
God’s words: ‘Your Lord comes with angels in their ranks.’ He is also the one
who will come in shadowing clouds, and who is referred to by the words of God:
‘Until your Lord comes.’ Again, he is the one of whom the Prophet spoke when he
said, ‘God created Adam in the image of the Most Merciful.’ Also when he said,
‘The Most Powerful will put his foot in the fire.’ Ahmad b. Khabit maintained
that the Messiah put on a body of flesh.
Ibn Khabit says that every species of animal forms a
separate community, according to God’s words: ‘There is not an animal that
lives on the earth, nor a bird that flies on its wings but forms part of
communities like you.’ To every community, moreover, there is a messenger of
its own kind; as God says, ‘There never was a community without a warner having
lived among them.’
4. Bishriya: Bishr b. al-Mu’tamir (d.
210 H / 825 CE).
Doctrine: Whoever repents of a grave sin and commits
it again deserves punishment for the first sin also, because his repentance was
accepted on condition that he did not sin again.
5. Mu’ammariya: Mu’ammar b. ‘Abbad
al-Sulami (d. 215 H / 830 CE).
Doctrine: It is related of Mu’ammar that he objected
to saying that God is qadim (eternal), because the word qadim is
taken from qaduma, yaqdumu, hence qadim (active
participle). It is, therefore, a verb, as for example, ‘He took from it both
what had become old, qaduma, and what was new, hadutha.’ He also
said that qadim implies priority in time, whereas God’s existence does
not belong to the sphere of time.
6. Murdariya: ‘Isa b. Subaih known as
Abu Musa al-Murdar (d. 226 H).
Doctrine: On the question of power he said God can lie
and do injustice; and if he did lie or commit an injustice then he would be a
lying and unjust God.
With respect to the Qur’an he held that men have power
to produce something similar to it in diction, style and excellence of
composition.
7. Hishamiya: Hisham b. ‘Amr al-Fuwati
(d. 230 H / 845 CE).
Doctrine: An imam, he said, may not be appointed in
time of civil war and strife, but may be appointed only when there is concord
and peace.
Hisham also held the unusual view that heaven and hell
are not yet created, because there is no advantage in their existence if they
are both empty, and if no one is enjoying them or suffering in them.
8. Jahiziya: ‘Amr b. Bahr Abu ‘Uthman
al-Jahiz (776 – 869 CE).
Doctrine: Among the heresies of al-Jahiz there is also
his view that Allah does not cause anyone to enter hell, but that hell attracts
its people of itself by its very nature, and then holds on to them of itself
forever.
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment