Chapter On Prohibition on Attributing to Allah What He Himself has not Done so
H 264, Ch. 10, h 1
Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from al-‘Abbass ibn Ma‘ruf from
ibn abu Najran from Hammad ibn ‘Uthman from Abd al-Rahim ibn ‘Utayk al-Qusayr
who has said the following.
"I wrote through ‘Abdal Malik ibn ’a‘yan to Imam abu ‘Abdallah
(a.s.). "In Iraq there are people who attribute to Allah forms and lines. If you
consider it proper, may Allah take my soul in your service, please write for me the
correct belief in the issue of the Oneness of Allah."
The Imam wrote for me, "May Allah grant you blessings. You have asked about the Oneness of Allah and the belief of the group before you. Exalted is Allah, to Who nothing is similar. He is All-hearing and All-seeing. Allah is above what certain people attribute to Him and analogize Him with His creatures and the lies of those who speak lies about Him. Note that the true doctrine in the Oneness of Allah is what is revealed in the Quran in about the attributes of Allah, the Almighty, the Exalted. Keep away from the belief in Allah, the Most High, all ideas that amount to ignoring His existence altogether and those that amount to analogizing Him with the creatures. Neither should His existence be negated nor should He be considered similar to anything. He, Allah, the Most High exists. Exalted is He and far above what is falsely attributed to Him. Do not exceed the limits of the Quran lest you go astray after the clear presentation of Truth."
H 265, Ch. 10, h 2
Muhammad ibn Isma‘il has narrated from al-Fadl ibn Shadhan from ibn abu ‘Umayr from Ibrahim ibn ‘Abd al-Hamid from abu Hamzah who has said that Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn said to me, "O abu Hamzah, Allah cannot be defined by the created things. Our Lord is far above being described through the attributes. How can the infinite be defined by the finite? ‘ No mortal eyes can see Him, but He can see all eyes. He is All-kind and All-aware.’" (6:103)
H 266, Ch. 10, h 3
Muhammad ibn abu ‘Abdallah has narrated from Muhammad ibn
Isma‘il from al-Husayn ibn al-Hassan from Bakr ibn Salih from al-Hassan ibn
Sa‘id from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Khazzaz and Muhammad ibn al-Husayn they both have
said the following.
"We met Imam abu abu al-Hassan al-Rida (a.s.) and stated to him that Prophet Muhammad
(s.a.) saw His Lord in the fashion of a full grown young man of thirty years and added
that Hisham ibn Salim and Sahib al-Taq and al-Maythami say that He is hallow down to His
navel and the rest is solid. The Imam bowed down to a prostrating position and then said,
‘(O Lord), Glory belongs to you they have not recognized You nor have they
acknowledged Your Oneness thus, they attribute to You such things. (O Lord, Glory belongs
to You, had they recognized You they would have attributed to You what you yourself have
attributed to Yourself and they would not have considered You similar to things other than
You. O Lord, I do not attribute to You anything other than what You have attributed to
Yourself and do not consider You similar to Your creatures. To You belongs all good. Do
not place me among the unjust ones.’ The Imam (a.s.) then turned to us saying,
"Whatever you may imagine (make Wahm of) consider Allah some thing other than
it." He continued, ‘We, people of the family of the Prophet (s.a.), are the
middle type and the criteria. Those who exceed can not catch up with us and those who
follow can not go ahead of us. O Muhammad, when the messenger of Allah looked at the
greatness of his Lord he was of the type of people as fully grown up as thirty years old
people. O Muhammad, my Lord, the Majestic, the Glorious, is far greater than to be of the
qualities of the creatures." The narrator has said that I said, "May the Lord
take my soul for your service, who was the one with his feet in the green?" The Imam
said, "He was Prophet Muhammad (s.a.) when looked at his Lord with his heart He
placed him in the light like that of the Hujub so he can see what is inside the Hujub. Of
the light of Allah some are green, red, white and others. O Muhammad whatever has
confirmation in the book and the Sunnah we affirm it."
H 267, Ch. 10, h 4
Ali ibn Muhammad and Muhammad ibn al-Hassan have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from Ahmad ibn Bashir al-Barqi who has said that ‘Abbass ibn ‘Amir al-Qasbani who has said that Harun ibn al-Juham from abu Hamza from Imam Ali ibn al-Husayn (a.s.) has reported the following. "Even if all those in heavens and earth would gather together to speak of the greatness of Allah they will not be able to do so."
H 268, Ch. 10, h 5
Sahl has narrated from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Hamdani who has said the
following.
"I wrote to the man (Imam abu al-Hassan the 3rd (a.s.) explaining,
"Your followers in this city differ on the issue of the Oneness of Allah. Some of
them say that Allah has a body, and others say that Allah has a form." The Imam
replied in his own handwriting, "Glory belongs to Allah, Who can not be defined nor
described. There is nothing similar to Him. He is All-hearing, All-knowing, or the Imam
said All-seeing."
H 269, Ch. 10, h 6
Sahl has narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from Ibrahim from
Muhammad ibn Hakim who has said the following.
"Imam abu al-Hassan Musa ibn Ja‘far (a.s.) wrote to my father, ‘Allah is
far High, Glorious and Great than that one can reach the essence of His attribute. Speak
of only those of His attributes of which He Himself has spoken and refrain from attributes
other than those ones.’"
H 270, Ch. 10, h 7
Sahl has narrated from al-Sindi ibn al-Rabi‘ from ibn abu ‘Umayr from Hafs, brother of Marazim from al-Mufaddal who has said the "I asked Imam abu al-Hassan (a.s.) about certain matters of the attributes (of Allah) and the Imam said, "Do not exceed what is in the holy Quran."
H 271, Ch. 10, h 8
Sahl has narrated from Muhammad ibn Ali al-Qasani (the right name is
Ali ibn Muhammad, one of the companions of Imam abu al-Hassan al-Hadi, the tenth Imam
(a.s.) who has said the following.
"I wrote to the Imam explaining that people before us had differences on the issue of
the Oneness of Allah." The Imam wrote, "Glory belongs to Allah, Who can not be
defined nor described. There is nothing similar to Him. He is All-hearing,
All-seeing."
H 272, Ch. 10, h 9
Sahl has narrated from Bishr ibn Bashshar al-Nayshaburi who has said
the following.
"I wrote to the man (Imam) explaining that people before us had differences on the
issue of the Oneness of Allah. There were people who said that Allah had a body, others
said He had a form." The Imam wrote for me, "Glory belongs to Allah, Who can not
be defined nor described. There is nothing similar to Him. He is All-hearing,
All-seeing."
H 273, Ch. 10, h 10
Sahl has said that I wrote to abu Muhammad al-Hassan al-‘Askari (a.s.) in 255 AH., "Our people (ashabuna) differ on the issue of the Oneness of Allah. There are those who say he has a body and others say He has a certain form. If you would consider to instruct me in this matter on which I would rely without excess it would be a great favor to your servant." The Imam answered in his own handwriting, "You have asked about the Oneness of Allah. It is not your duty to find Allah’s self. Allah is One, the Only One. He has no children and is not anyone’s child. There nothing similar to Him. He is the Creator and is not created. He, the Most Holy, the Most High, creates whatever He wants of the bodies and non-bodies. He is not a body or a certain form. He gives form to whatever He wills but Himself is not a form, Majestic is His praise and Holy are His names and is far above being similar to other things. Only He, and not others, is the One to Who no one is similar and He is all-hearing and All-seeing."
H 274, Ch. 10, h 11
Muhammad ibn Isma'il has narrated from al-Fadl ibn Shadhan from Hammad
ibn ‘Isa from Rabi‘i ibn ‘Abdallah from al-Fudayl ibn Yasar, who has said
the following.
"I heard Imam abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) saying, ‘Allah cannot be defined. How
can He be defined when He Himself has said in His book, "They have not respected
Allah the way He truly should have been respected." (6:91) Therefore, He
cannot be described in any way but that He is great and above that.’"
H 275, Ch. 10, h 12
Ali ibn Muhammad has narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad and others from Muhammad ibn Sulayman from Ali ibn Ibrahim from ‘Abdallah ibn Sinan from abu ‘Abdallah (a.s.) who has said the following. "Allah is Great and High. People cannot describe Him nor can they reach the depth of His Greatness. ‘ No mortal eyes can see Him, but He can see all eyes. He is All-kind and All-aware.’" (6:103) He cannot be described by means of how and where. How can I describe Him by means of any condition? He Himself has created the conditions and how and so it came into being. We came to know conditions because of His designing them for us. How can I describe Him by means of space? It is He, Who spaced the space so it became space. I, thus, came to know space by means of what He has made it into space. How can I describe Him by means of positions when He Himself has given position to positions so it came into position. I, thus, came to know the position by means of what He has made to come into position. Allah, the Holy, the Most High, is in every place but is out of everything. ‘ No mortal eyes can see Him, but He can see all eyes. He is All-kind and All-aware.’" (6:103)