Tag Archives: Names and Attributes

Ibn al-Qayyim Explains the Disbelief of Ibn Sina (Avicenna)

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In the Name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful…

Since the publication of our article, The Reality of Ibn Sina (Avicenna), Famous Scientist and Philosopher, many people have been asking for more detailed proofs that Ibn Sina was not actually a Muslim, specifically from his own beliefs.

This article provides more detailed proof about his specific beliefs from the writings of one of the most amazing scholars in Islamic history, Ibn Qayyim al-Jowziyyah (d.751), may Allaah have Mercy on him.

After Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned that Aboo Nasr al-Faaraabee (or Al-Farabi), like Ibn Sina, was upon an extreme deviation of the concepts promoted by Aristotle, including disbelief in Allaah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Last Day, he went on to say:

Perhaps an ignorant person might say that we have dealt too harshly with them, ascribing them to disbelief in Allaah, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers. This is not far-fetched for someone who is ignorant of both their writings and the reality of true Islaamic teachings.

[Disbelief in Allaah]

You should know: According to the teachings of the best of the modern philosophers, their voice, and their role model whom they prefer over the Messengers themselves, Aboo ‘Alee Ibn Sina, Allaah – Glorified and Exonorated above their claims – is merely one who exists in a general way, without having a single attribute, nor any chosen actions at all. He does not know anything about the universe at all. He does not know how many planets there are, nor does he know anything of the unseen. He does not speak, nor does He have any attribute at all (in their beliefs).

It should be clearly known that this concept is (that Allaah is) just an imaginary idea in one’s mind, having no reality. Its most apparent manifestation of this is when a person thinks of it and defines it in his mind, as he would imagine other theoretical concepts. This is certainly not the Lord to whose Way the Messengers called, the One whom the previous nations knew of.

The real Lord of the universe, the God of the Messengers, is clearly not this “lord” whom the heretics call to, stripping him of any real presence and any attribute or action, claiming he is neither part of the universe, nor beyond it, nor having any connection at all to it, nor being seperate from it, nor being in front of it or above it, nor on the left or right, etc. The difference between the two is like the difference between existence and non-existence, like the difference between affirming something and negating it (i.e. complete opposites)!

In fact, anything that could possibly exist would be more complete than this “god” who the heretics call to, the one their intellects have carved, while real carved idols have a real existence and this “lord” does not. He can only exist within the imagination!

All of this is the case, while these heretics are more correct Continue reading →

A Question About Allaah’s Names that Some Scholars Have Affirmed Using Texts that do not Have the “Al-” Prefix, Like “Al-Haleem”

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In the Name of Allaah…

Regarding the book Exemplary Principles Concerning the Names and Attributes of Allaah, in the evidences section for Allaah’s Names, there may be names with ‘al’ before them, but in the evidence used for those names there is no ‘al’. For example, on page 246, Name #22,  it gives the name Al-Haleem but in the Aayah below that it says Haleemun (not al-Haleem). So is this something allowed, or is it that the name al-Haleem is established in another place in the Qur’aan or Sunnah ? Should I just trust the names of Allaah with ‘al’ at the beginning shown in the book, although the evidences used for those names dont always come with ‘al’? This is an important issue for me as I am worried about affirming a Name for Allaah that is not His Name.

Having “Al-” or not is not the only one consideration the scholars use for establishing a Name for Allaah. If it was only this then we would not be able to complete a list of 99 names, and our list would include other names like “At-Tabeeb” (the Doctor) and “Ad-Dahr” (The Time), which are unanimously (or almost unanimously) not considered to be from Allaah’s Beautiful Names.

So the scholars generally consider:

  • the meanings and general contexts of the textual evidence
  • idhaafah or lack of it (a kind of Arabic construction)
  • taqyeed or itlaaq (generality or limited restriction)
  • ishtiqaaq (derivitaves)
  • the “Al-” prefix

You can review these language issues with an Arabic teacher who has knowledge of the correct beliefs if you are not clear on them.

Specifically, with names like al-Haleem, al-Ilaah, and others are discussed, there is no Qur’aanic text referring to Allaah as Al-Haleem or Al-Ilaah, and I do not know of any hadeeth either.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen affirmed them both and others like them without relying on a text with “Al-“, since the context in both Qur’aanic passages was unrestricted, or “mutlaq”. So the Verse meaning “Your ilaah (object of worship) is one ilaah, there is no ilaah other than Him…” and Verses like it were used to establish the name “Al-Ilaah”, and the Verse you mentioned for al-Haleem, and so on.

This is known to the scholars, since if you were to stick to only Names that come with only clear explicit Alif-Laam “Al-” prefix, then you would only gather about 40/50 or so names from the texts. And since the Messenger (sallallaahu alayhe wa sallam) encouraged us to seek after the 99 Names, then there must be another way to compile them than just relying only on “Al-“.  And then the scholars differed in their specific methods of deriving Allaah’s Names from the texts.

And Allaah knows best.

Written by: Moosaa Richardson