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The question

Is it true that Abu Hayyan al-Andalusi did not adhere to the madhhab of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah regarding the issues of Allah's Names and Attributes, and what is the evidence for that?

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Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · imported Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

Abo Hayyan did not adhere to the doctrine of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah regarding the issues of Allah’s Names and Attributes. For instance, concerning the attribute of 'coming' (al-itya'n), he contradicted them by stating: "Coming literally means moving from one space to another, and that is impossible for Allah the Almighty." He also attributed to the Salaf the method of tafwidh al-ma'ani (delegating the meaning). Regarding the attribute of Istawa (settling/ascending), he attributed to the majority of the Salaf the method of tafwidh al-ma'na (delegating the meaning), and he mentioned Sufyan al-Thawri's interpretation. In his commentary on the verse: (بل يداه مبسوطتان) "Rather, both His hands are extended," he favored the Mu'tazilite view of interpreting 'hands' as 'blessings', and he considered that attributes which might suggest anthropomorphism should be interpreted according to linguistic rules and metaphorical usage. Nevertheless, Abu Hayyan's tafsir is closer and safer than other tafsir books that rely on personal opinion (tafsir bi al-ra’y).

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Source platform
Ftawy
Original fatwa ID
93859
Imported
Translation status
Source text, unreviewed
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