Asas al-Taqdis

Asas al-Taqdis (Arabic: أساس التقديس‎, lit. 'The Foundation of Declaring Allah's Transcendence'), also known as Ta'sis al-Taqdis (Arabic: تأسيس التقديس‎, lit. 'The Establishment of the Sacred') is an Islamic theological book, written by the Shafi'i-Ash'ari scholar Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 606/1209), as a methodical refutation of the Karramiyya and other anthropomorphists.[1][2]

Al-Razi actually wrote this work to counter the book Kitab al-Tawhid composed by the ultra-traditionalist Ibn Khuzayma in 4th/10th century Nisapur against the prevailing Mu'tazilite dogma. He referred to Ibn Khuzayma as 'the corporealist' (al-mujassim).[3]

He said in the book's introduction that he dedicated it especially to the Sultan Abu Bakr ibn Ayyub.

Content

The first part of the book opens with a categorical rejection of any corporeality regarding God, under the title of "Indications on God's Transcendence beyond Corporeality and on Him not Being Confined [by any spatial location]". That is, in fact, his definition of anthropomorphism: al-Razi maintains that the one God is not present in a direction; He is not a space-occupying entity and is not a body, an assertion for which he provides proofs based on rational and textual evidence.

Al-Razi raises numerous claims, which he then refutes. The claims he contradicts are namely those held by the corporealist Karramites and the ultra-traditionalists who affirmed God's direction (jiha) and its veridical meaning (as haqiqa: truth, reality). In his discussion al-Razi articulates the Mu'tazilite stance on this matter and explains the proper figurative interpretation (ta'wil), according to his opinion.[3]

Criticism

Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) and his student Ibn Qayyim (d. 751/1350) criticized and attacked it. Ibn Taymiyya attacked it in a book entitled al-Ta'sis fi Radd Asas al-Taqdis (Arabic: التأسيس في رد أساس التقديس‎), better known as Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyya (Arabic: بيان تلبيس الجهمية‎, lit. 'Explication of the Deceit of the Jahmiyya').[1][4][3]

See also

References
  1. Gibril Fouad Haddad. "Al-Fakhr al-Razi". sunnah.org. As-Sunnah Foundation of America. Archived from the original on 31 Oct 2020.
  2. Fakhr al-Din al-Razi. "Asas al-Taqdis". maktaba-falsafia.com (in Arabic). La Librairie de Philosophie et de Soufisme.
  3. Miriam Ovadia (2018). Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya and the Divine Attributes. Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science. Texts and Studies. 104. Brill Publishers. p. 288. ISBN 9789004372511.
  4. Jon Hoover. "Research Seminar: "God's relation to body and space in the theology of Ibn Taymiyya"". almahdi.edu. Al-Mahdi Institute (AMI).
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