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Under this
second group come two main questions; the question of divine
decree (qadar), and the question of free will and
predestination. Here also the Traditions reported from the
Prophet were the basis of the Ibadhis attitude to the problems.
The following are some of the Traditions reported in the Ibadhi
collection of Hadith concerning divine decree (qadar):
1) The
Apostle of God said "I declare myself before God quit of the
Qadarites, I declare myself before God quit of the Murjiites, as
God and His Apostles acquitted them"39.
2) "The
Qadarites are the Magians of the community. Do not visit them
when they are ailing, nor pray over them when they are dead"40.
3) "Two
groups of my community (ummah), will not enjoy my intercession
on the day of Resurrection, God accursed them by the works of
seventy Prophets before me." They said, "Who are they, O
Apostle of God?" He said, "The Qadarites and the Murjiites."
They said, "Who are the Murjiites?" He said, "Those who say
that faith is sayings without deeds, and the Qadarites are those
who commit sins and say it is a compulsion from God, for if God
willed, we would not associate any thing with Him, nor would we
commit sins"41.
4)
"There would not be an infidelity, (Kufr), without dis-belief in
the divine decree (qadar) being its key"42.
5) "The
first thing God created was the Pen. He said to it, 'Write'.
It said, 'What shall I write?' He said, 'Write down what is
fated (al-qadar)', so it wrote all that would take place up to
the Day of Judgement"43.
6) When
the sperm falls into the womb, God reveals to the angel of the
wombs that he should write. He says, 'O Lord, what shall I
write?' He says, 'Write happy or unhappy with his deeds, and
write down the trace to be made by him (atharahu), his work, his
term of life, and his sustenance'"44.
7) "Jabir
b. Zaid said, 'Ibn Abbas was asked about him who says that he
can perform what God ordered and refrain from what God forbade
him without God creating his actions. He said, 'Suraqah b.
Jasham asked the Apostle of God? Is it in a thing of fresh
start or in a previously decided thing?" he said, 'Nay, but in
a previously decided thing.' Suraqah again said, 'What is the
work for then, O Apostle of God?' He said, 'Work, for everyone
is guided to that for which he was created'"45.
The first
six Traditions are reported in mursal form; they were all
reported by Jabir b. Zaid from the Prophet. The Companion is
missing from the isnad in the Ibadhi collection. But these
Traditions were reported by uninterrupted chains in the Sunni
collections.46
al-Rabi b. Habib, after reporting those Traditions, commented,
"These Traditions indicate that God created the actions of man,
and man does not perform them on his own apart from God. He has
decided them and knows to what end man will come"47.
The view
that Man creates his own actions had already appeared in Basrah.
A certain Ma'bad al-Juhani was the first to institute the
discussion on qadar there48.
This view was also propagated by his student Ghailan al_Dimashqi.
it seems that this view found its way into the Ibadhi circles in
Basrah and other places. it is reported that discussions on the
question took place between Ghailan and the second Ibadhi Imam,
Abu Ubaidah Muslim b. Abi Karimah49.
However, some Ibadhis adopted the Qadarites' views but they were
strongly opposed by Abu Ubaidah. Ibadhi sources named among
those who adopted the Qadarites' views, Hamzah al-Kufi, al-Harith
al-Ibadhi and Atiyah, the latter from Khurasan. Abu Ubaidah
refuted their views and told Hamzah that he disagreed with
Ghailan for his similar views. Hamzah and his colleagues were
ostracised by the Ibadhis and were prevented from attending
Ibadhi sessions (majalis)50.
The question
of qadar. 'divine decree' was one of the main questions on
which arguments and discussions took place between Ibadhis and
their opponents, first the Qadarites, and later the Mu'tazilites.
Those arguments existed even before Abu Ubaidah. Abu Sufyan
Mahbub b. al-Rahil said, "Suhar al-Abdi, the teacher of Abu
Ubaidah, used to say 'Argue with people (Qadarites) about the
knowledge of God (al-ilm). If they accede to you, they are
defeated, and if they refuse to accede to you, they become
infidels"51.
Abu Ubaidah
himself used to discuss this question of 'decree' following the
same method as was laid down by his teacher Suhar. It is
reported that a man came to Abu Ubaidah and talked to him about
qadar. Abu Ubaidah said to him, 'Did God know what people will
do, or to what end they will come before he created them?" The
man said, "How quickly you sought help from 'knowledge' O, Abu
Ubaidah, these are the arguments of the weak people." Abu
Ubaidah said, "Pass beyond this weakness first," and the man
gave no answer and each one went his way52.
It is also
reported that a Mu'tazili called Ibn al-Shaikh al-Basri, while
performing the sa'y while on pilgrimage in Mecca, asked Abu
Ubaidah, "Are you one who claims that God is disobeyed against
His will"53.
It appears
that the early Ibadhi authorities regarded the question of
'divine decree' (qadar) as of less importance compared with the
attitudes of the Kharijites who brought about serious
innovations regarding their relations to the Muslim community,
and the tyrant rulers who administered laws other than what is
revealed by God.
The Ibadhi
authority, Abu Sufyan Mahbub said, "Abu Ubaidah Muslim b. Abi
Karimah used to weaken the question of 'divine decree'(كان
يضّعف من أمر القدر), and say, 'By God, it is not like
marrying a married woman (captured in wars against fellow
Muslims), or regarding migration as an obligatory duty, or
ruling by laws other than what is revealed by God. But it is an
opinion which was brought about by people, whosoever admitted
that God knew of things before they come into existence has
acknowledge the 'divine decree'"54.
The other
question was the problem of predestination and free will (al-Jabr
wa al-ikhtiyar). Ibadhi sources preserved views ascribed to Abu
Ubaidah Muslim b. Abi Karimah concerning this question. His
attitude was not one of a clear acknowledgement of free will or
predestination. Abu Sufyan said, "Abu Ubaidah and Ibn al-Shaikh
al-Basri met at Mina. Ibn al-Shaikh asked Abu Ubaidah, 'Has God
compelled anyone to obedience (ta'ah) or to disobedience (ma'siyah)?"
Abu Ubaidah said, 'I do not maintain that God has compelled
anyone to obedience or disobedience. If I have to say anything
in this matter, I would say that God predestined that the people
of piety (taqwa) by greatly frightening and intimidating them.'
In another version, "with the great reward He showed to them.'
Ibn al-Shaikh said, 'Is it the 'knowledge' of God that led them
to act with disobedience?' Abu Ubaidah said, 'God forbid, I did
not say so, but their spirits tempted them, and Satan has decked
out fair their deeds to them, and so they acted according to
what God knew"55.
It is also
reported that Abu Ubaidah was asked whether the infidel has the
capacity to become a Muslim while he is an infidel? He said, "I
do not say that he who can bring a bundle of firewood from a
profane territory to a sacred enclave56 cannot
pray two rak'as, and I do not say that he is capable of doing so
unless he is guided and helped by God'57.
Abu Ubaidah's opinion on free will is expressed as follows:
"God has ordered people to obedience, He liked it and decked it
out. Whosoever acted according to it, that is with the
knowledge of God, and He favoured him"58.
This opinion of Abu Ubaidah formed the basis of the Ibadhi view
of 'acquisition' (iktisab), i.e. the deeds are God's by creation
and man's by acquisition59.
It seems
that the opinion of the early Ibadhi scholars on this problem
was not sufficiently clear and determined for there was a
conflict of opinion on this matter between the Ibadhis of Jabal
Nufusah and the Ibadhis of Afriqiyah, i.e. Tunisia and Algeria.
The latter held that man is free in acquiring his acts' 60,
while the Nufusis believed in Jabl, i.e. being created with
natural disposition to do what God 'knows' of one's actions61.
However, all Ibadhis of North Africa, apart from this question
of jabl and ikhtiyar, acknowledged 'acquisition' (iktisab).
Jitali, in Sharh al-Nuniyah, tried to explain the word jabl in a
way which distinguishes it from the word jabr, which means
compulsion and does not leave any way open for acquisition62.
According to Nufusi scholars, no opinions were reported on this
question from the early Ibadhi Imams of Basrah, or from their
students, the 'bearers of learning,' or even from the Rustumid
Imams63.
However, the idea of jabl has disappeared from Ibadhi writings
of Nufusah since the time of Abu Sakin 'Amir b. Ali al-Shammakhi,
a contemporary of al-Jitali, who expressed in his 'Aqidah, al-Diyanat,
the view that people 'acquire' and perform their actions and
they are not compelled to them64. |
