What is the sound method for dealing with apparently ambiguous texts about the Attributes?
2026-09-21
T41 · Ibn Taymiyyah
Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah
شيخ الإسلام أحمد بن تيمية
Selected explanation · Selected source passage(s) — fully translated
Selected continuous passage; light punctuation normalization has been applied for reading. The English translates every displayed Arabic paragraph; this selection is not the complete surrounding work. Square brackets identify translator-supplied clarification.
النص العربي
المقتطف
وَأَمَّا أُولَئِكَ - كنفاة الصِّفَاتِ مِنْ الْجَهْمِيَّة وَمَنْ وَافَقَهُمْ مِنْ الْمُعْتَزِلَةِ وَغَيْرِهِمْ وَكَالْفَلَاسِفَةِ - فَيَجْعَلُونَ مَا ابْتَدَعُوهُ هُمْ بِرَأْيِهِمْ هُوَ الْمُحْكَمَ الَّذِي يَجِبُ اتِّبَاعُهُ وَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ مَعَهُمْ مِنْ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْكِتَابِ وَالسُّنَّةِ مَا يُوَافِقُهُ وَيَجْعَلُونَ مَا جَاءَتْ بِهِ الْأَنْبِيَاءُ وَإِنْ كَانَ صَرِيحًا قَدْ يُعْلَمُ مَعْنَاهُ بِالضَّرُورَةِ يَجْعَلُونَهُ مِنْ الْمُتَشَابِهِ
English translation
English translation reviewed against the displayed Arabic by SalafAlSalih editorial preparation (AI-assisted); explanatory additions appear in square brackets or separate notes.
Selected explanation
As for those people—such as the deniers of the attributes among the Jahmiyyah, those of the Muʿtazilah and others who agree with them, and the philosophers—they make what they themselves have invented through their opinions the definitive principle that must be followed, even if they have nothing from the prophets, the Book, or the Sunnah that agrees with it. They classify what the prophets brought as ambiguous, even when it is explicit and its meaning may be necessarily known.
Source and editorial notes
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 13/143
مجموع الفتاوى
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā
Arabic passage checked against the cited volume and printed page. English reviewed against every displayed Arabic paragraph on 14 October 2026.