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THE DIFFERENCES
The most vital difference amongst the Muslim sects; is
the question of compulsion or freedom of man in his actions.
There are four groups:
1. The Mu'tazilah say that man is completely free to do whatever
he wished, and that Cod has no power over his actions at all. This view is known
as tafwiz delegation of power by God to man. This group is also known as
Qadariyyah.
2. The Mujabbirah (also known
as Jabriyyah) say that "man has no power over any of his actions. He is a tool
in the hands of Allah like pen in our hand." This view is known as
jabr-compulsion.
3. The Asha'irah say that
man has no power or will of his own in his actions; but he still 'earns' or
"acquires" the action. The term they use to describe their belief is kasb which
literally means to earn, to acquire. What they actually mean is a
riddle.
4. The Shi'ah Ithna-'Asharis says
that man is neither completely independent of Allah nor compelled by Allah, but
the actual position is between these two extremes. The Shi'ite belief is known
as al-amr bayna '1-amrayn. This will be explained later on.
It will be seen that the theories of Mu'tazilah, the
Mujabbirah and the Shi'ah are easily understood for what they stand. But the
Ashairah's theory of kasb is as incomprehensible as the Christians' belief of
three-in-one god. it is clear that they have used the term kasb as a mask to
hide their actual belief which is completely identical to the Mujabbirah's
belief of compulsion. 'Allamah Shibli Nu'mani, a famous Sunni scholar of India,
says, "Those who were bold enough, openly adopted the belief in compulsion and
came to be known as Jabriyyah. Those who were hesitent to use the word jabr,
used the guise of 'kasb' and 'iradah'. This guise was invented by Abu '1-Hasan
al-Ash'ari." I, therefore, will treat both the Jabriyyah and the Asha'irah as
one. And as the present days' Sunnis are all Asha'irah and as the topic under
discussion is of vital importanca, I propose to deal with it in some
detail.
THE SUNNIS' BELIEF
The position of the Sunnis in this respect has been
explained by Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali as follows: 'No act of any individual
even though it is earned (kasb) by him, is independent of the will of Allah for
its existence; and there does not occur in either the physical or the
extra-terrestrial world the wink of an eye, the hind of a thought, or the most
sudden glance, except by the decree of Allah, of His power, desire and will.
This includes evil and good, benefit and harm, success and failure sin and
righteousness, obedience and disobedience, polytheism and true
belief."
It will not be out of place to
mention that this belief was invented by, and under the influence of, Banu
Umayyah to provide a respectable mask to their debauchery and tyranny As
'Allamah Shibli Nu'mani has admitted in his book 'Ilmu'l-Kalam:
"Although all the causes were present which were
responsible for the differences in faith, yet the political differences started
the ball rolling. The reign of Banu Umayyah was full of cruelty and bloodshed;
and in reaction to that there was a Spirit of revolt among the common people.
But the well-wishers of the government always silenced the people by saying that
'whatever happens takes place according to the will of Almighty, and as such
people should not raise their voice at all. Everything was destined beforehand;
and whatever happens, good or bad, happens according to the will of Allah; and
we should bow down to that."
I think this
disclosure-that the idea of jabr (and its disguised version known as 'kasb') was
nothing but a weapon of tyrant rulers to subdue the oppressed masses-is more
than enough to discredit this belief.
THE SHI'ITE BELIEF
1. Al-Amr Bayna '1-Amrayn
The Shi'ah Ithna-'Asharis, on the other hand, say that we know thedifference between falling down from a roof-top and coming down by ladders. The
second act is done by our own power, will and intention; while the falling down
is not so. And we know that our actions are not like falling down from the
roof-top; instead they are like coming down the ladder with out own will and
power Therefore, what we do are our own actions and should not be attributed
solely to Allah.
Again, we see that there
are some of our actions for which we are either praised or blamed, while for
other happenings we are neither praised nor condemned. It clearly shows that the
first category is within our power and will, and the second category is beyond
our wll and power. For example, we may be advised to treat an ailment in this or
that way, but we cannot be advised to recover from the illness. It means that
getting treatment is within our power, but getting well is not within the sphere
of our activities.
Therefore, we say that
there are many things and aspects of life which are within our power and will,
while some others are not within our power, Those things for which we can be
advised praised or blamed, are within our power and will. And the
commandments of religion (the Shariah)' come under this category, because we
have been advised or ordered to do this and not to do that, and because we are
praised when we obey those commands and blamed when we disobey them. Therefore,
it is absolutely wrong to say that our sins and righteousness, our obedience and
disobedience, our true beliefs and wrong belief are by decree of Allah and His
desire and will.
Shaykh as-Saduq says, "Allah possesses foreknowledge
of human actions, but does not compel them to act in any particular
manner"
But neither does this mean that
man is completely independent of Allah. In fact, the power and will to act as we
like is given to us by Allah. Thus Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (peace be upon him)
said, "There is no compulsion (by Allah), nor is there absolute delegation of
power (from Allah to man); but the real position is between these two extremes,
al-amr bayna '1-amryan.
The following example clearly portrays this "middle
position". Suppose a man's hand is totally paralysed to an extent that he cannot
move even a finger A doctor has fitted an electrical device on his hand which,
on being switched on, enables the man to use his hand freely in a normal way.
The device is activated by a remote control which the doctor keeps in his own
custody. When the doctor switches the device on, the man uses his hand in any
way he intends, but when the device is off, he cannot do nothing. Now if the
device is on and the patient does any work, can that work be attributed
independently to him? No because the power comes from that device which is fully
controlled by the doctor, Then can it be attributed to the doctor? No, because
the man had done it by his own free will and choice. This is exactly the
position of our activities. We are not under compulsion because the will and
choice is ours; nor are we completely independent, because the power to do
whatever we intend to do comes from God.'
And at what point does our ability to do things start?
Imam Musa al-Kazim (peace be upon him) said, "A man acquires that ability when
four conditions are fulfilled:1. when there is nothing to hinder his plans; 2.
his health , 3. the faculties (needed for that work) are up to the required
standard; and 4. Allah provides him the occasion of that work. When all these
conditions are fulfilled, a man becomes capable of acting according to his own
free will."
When asked for an example, the
Imam said, "Let us suppose that there is a man, without any hindrance, of good
health and proper strength; yet he cannot commit adultery unless he finds a
woman. When he gets a woman (and the fourth condition is fulfilled), then it is
up to him to choose one of the two alternatives: either he controls his evil
emotions and saves himself as (Prophet) Yusuf did, or he commits adultery. If he
protects himself from that sin, it will not be by compulsion of Allah (as some
people think). And if he commits the sin, it does not mean that he was above the
power of Allah (as others think)."
2. Predestination & the Day of
Judgement
According to our point of view, if any one believes in predestination, then he cannot at the same time believe
in the day of judgement (qiyamat). If Allah decrees every act which is done by
us, then why should He inflict punishment upon us for those sins, evils and
transgressions, for polytheism, disbelief and immoralities which He Himself
predestined for us. It will be gross injustice.
Here is a talk of Imam Musa al-Kazim (peace be upon
him) in his childhood with Imam Abu Hanifah, the founder of the Hanafi school of
Sunni laws:-Abu Hanifah once went to meet Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (peace be upon
him). The Imam was inside his house and Abu Hanifah was waiting for him to come
out. In the meantime, a small child came out and Abu Hanifah, just to pass some
time, asked him, "0 child, from whom is the action of man?" The child at once
said, "0 Abu Hanifah, there are only three imaginable sources: either the man
himself is the originator of his action; or God is the doer of that action; or
both together are the originators of that action. Now if God is the doer of the
actions of man, then why does He inflict punishment on man for the sins? Is it
not injustice (zulm)? And Allah says, "Verily Allah is not unjust to His
creatures." And if both man and God are partners in that crime, then is it
not gross injustice that the powerful partner (i.e., Cod) punishes the weaker
partner (i.e., man) for an action which both of them performed together? And as
these two alternatives are proved to be illogical and impossible, the third
theory is proved to be correct that man does his actions by his own power and
will."I
Abu Hanifah kissed the forehead of
the child. That child was Musa, later known as al-Kazim, the seventh Imam of the
Shi'ahs.
3. Abu Hanifah' & Bahlul. "STORY"
Imam Abu Hanifah, of course, believed that man does nothing by his own will apd power
inspite
of the clever and logical discourse 'Of Imam Musa al-Kizim, mentioned above, he
did not change his belief. Once his heory led to a tragi-comic event.
Bahlul means wise and chief. It was the name of a
famous companion of Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq who lived up to the last days of Imam
'Ali an-Naqi and saw Imam Hasan al-'Askari also. As a twist of fate, he is
commonly referred to as Bahlul 'Majnun' (Bahlul, the lunatic). This is so
because he pretended to be insane in order to save himself from the
responsibilities of judgeship offered to him by the Caliph Harun ar-Rashid. But,
wise as he was, he took advantage of his supposed lunacy and always censured
great people of his time (including the kings) for their
short-comings.
Once he heard Imam Abu Hanifah (who lived in Kufa)
telling his disciples that," I have heard three things from Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq
which I think are wrong." The disciples asked what those things were. Imam Abu
Hanifah said:
"First of all, Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq says that Allah
cannot be seen. But it is wrong. If a thing does exist, then it must be seen.
Secondly, he says that Satan will be punished in Hell. But it is absurd. Because
Satan was created from fire: how can fire do any harm to a thing or person made
of fire? Thirdly, he says that a man's action is done by his will and power, and
that he is responsible for it. But it is wrong because all the actions of man
are done by Allah's will and power, and Allah is, actually, responsible for
it."
The disciples' applaud had just begun when Bahlull
took a lump of clay and sent it hurtling towards Abu Hanifah. It hit him on the
forehead, he cried in anguish and pain. The disciples caught Bahlul, and Abu
Hanifah took him to the judge.
The judge
heard the complaint and asked Bahlul whether the allegation was true.
Bahlul: "0 Judge! Imam Abu Hanifah alleges that he is
suffering from a searing pain in his head because of the clay which hit him. But
I think he is lying. I cannot believe him until I see the pain."
Abu Hanifah: "You really are mad! How can I show you
the pain? Has anybody ever seen a pain?"
Bahlull: "But 0 Judge, he was just teaching his disciples that if
a thing does exist, then it must be seen. As he cannot show the pain, I submit
that according to his own belief, he is not suffering from any pain at
all"
Abu Hanifah: "Oh! my head is
splitting because of the pain."
Bahlul: "0
Judge, there is another matter which I just remembered. He was also telling his
disciples that as Satan is made of fire, the fire of Hell cannot do him any
harm. Now man is made of clay, as the Qur'an says, and it was a lump of clay
which hit him. I wonder how can he claim that a lump of Clay did harm to a man
made of clay?"
Abu Hanifah: "0 Judge!
Bahlul wants to go Scot free by his verbosity. Please, take my revenge from
him."
Bahlul: "0 Judge, I think lmam Abu
Hanifah has very wrongfully brought me in this court. He was just teaching his
disciples that all the actions of man are done by Allah, and that Allah is
responsible for those actions. Now, why did he bring me here? if he really is
suffering from the effect of that lump of clay, he should file suit against
Allah who did hit him with that clay. Why should a poor harmless person like me
be brought to the court. When all I am supposed to do was in fact done by
Allah?"
The judge acquitted
Bahlul.
Source:
The Justice of God
By : Sayyed Saeed Akhtar
Rizvi
