KSA Blocks Website Stating Imam An-Nawawi was an Asha'ri
Salamu ‘alaykum brethren,
Alhamdulillah for the freedom Allah has bestowed upon us all to use our minds to reason and rationalize our law. I was speaking with my cousins who live in Dammam Saudi Arabia today, and we were discussing the bida’ah of the wahhabis and their deviations from the Sunnah of the Nabi ‘alayhis salam. They asked for some references and so I gave them a well known arabic site that refutes the wahhabis. Here is an example:
http://www.soufia.org/vb/showthread.php?t=11435
This is a defense of Imam An-Nawawi being an Asha’ri in creed done by some Sunni students, actually quoting the deviances and lies of the pseudo-salafis of our day. The site was “Blocked!” They could not access an article in defense of Imam An-Nawawi being an Asha’ri!
Here is the Picture of the error they receive:
(click image to make it larger)
The actual error read:
Sorry, the requested page is unavailable.
If you believe the requested page should not be blocked please click here.
This is proof that they will go to all and any means to keep the mass of the Saudis in ignorance about the reality of things, the reality that their devious masters distort for their own sad gains. I was truly shocked that they would strip away from Muslims the freedom to debate whether or not Imam An-Nawawi was an Asha’ri! What are they truly afraid of if they hold the truth? We allow the deviant arguments of the pseudo-salafis to enter our websites, even quoting their pages word for word. What this shows is that they are scared of the truth and what will become of their illegitimate government and “scholardom” which was appointed by the sons of Aalis-Sa’ud, the servants of the enemies of our Lord!
May Allah guide their evil government aright, and allow the Sunnis to once again teach truth, as they did for 1300 years, inside of the land of the Harams! Amin!
As-Salaamun ‘Alaikum,
It would be wise if the Brother from Dammam/Saudi Arabia hand on a screenshot of his “blocked access” to the article concerning Imam an-Nawawi, which you could integrate in this article here on seekingilm…this would be more solid evidence….wa Allahu a’lam.
I will ask my cousins to take the picture insha’allah.
Masha’allah I like the site you are linking to brother At-Turkistani!
http://www.muslimische-gemeinde.de
Very Sunni indeed!
We have uploaded the screen shot of them blocking the website!
I looked at the link and to be honest, it is not really convincing, there was a long list of quotes from Sharh Saheeh Muslim, yet, as scholars like our Shaykh, Shaykh Mashhur Hasan have noted, which the link refers to as being “Majhul” (!?), Imam Nawawi (rahimahullah) also had abundant statements clearly disagreeing with Ash’ari dialectic such as in regards to the Ash’ari Kalam concept of the ‘First Obligation’, which Imam an-Nawawi clearly rejected. Yet, in keeping with contemporary Ash’ari polemics intellectual denial is the modus operandi unfortunately.
Also, the link made no referral whatsoever to the role and writings of Imam an-Nawawi’s student Ibn Attar, author of the lengthy biography of Imam Nawawi Tuhfat ut-Talibin.
Salafis do not claim that Imam an-Nawawi was Salafi in creed, except at the end of his life, for his Sharh of Saheeh Muslim is full of tafwidh of the ma’an along with ta’wil at times, then at other times leaving the Attributes as they have arrived. Remember, Imam an-Nawawi relied heavily what has previously relayed by the pure Ash’ari al-Ma’zari in his Sharh of Saheeh Muslim, hence the agreement with the Ash’aris in much of Imam an-Nawawi’s Sharh.
But to claim that the Imam was a pure Ash’ari who died upon that creed, which his student Ibn Attar says he did not die upon, and that Imam an-Nawawi agreed with Ash’ari concepts such as the First Obligation, Allah’s Speech being Created, denial of Allah’ s ‘Uluww and so on – is quite frankly intellectual denial as is so common in contemporary Ash’ari discourse.
Bismillah
Salamu ‘alaykum,
The link utilizes the very words of Imam an-Nawawi to prove his Asha’iri-ness; His repeated approach to the sifaat and creedal issues from the way of the Asha’ris are clear and the article shows such. As for the first obligation – that is the rationalization that Allah exists – what you have said is true, meaning that he believed that kalaam did not have to be utilized to know Allah. This however is not an anti-Asha’ri stance. Some of the Mutakallimin, as he himself stated in his Sharh of the Sahih, held this view as well, and so his view is one of the Asha’ri views. This is also the view of the Mutakallim Asha’ri, Imam al-Ghazzali who said that the ‘Awamm (laity) are not obligated to delve into Kalaam.
As for Ibn al-’Attar’s Tuhfat-at-Talibin – the bio of Imam an-Nawawi – then it does not even make mention of the intricacies of Imam an-Nawawi’s ‘aqidah regarding the sifaat and related issues.
All can download the brief treatise here:
http://www.aslein.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1942&d=1240778841
So why would you have them quote from Ibn al-’Attar’s work when in fact he does not mention Nawawi’s take on the sifaatullah or even Sunni Kalaam? Ibn al-’Attar’s bio remains silent on the details of Imam an-Nawawi’s detailed creed, all 52 pages of it that I have in my possession!
And what proof – and I mean by that from his words – do you have that he abandoned all of what he wrote in the Sharh of Sahih Muslim regarding Allah’s Sifat not being literal, or in his Majmu’ and elsewhere supporting Kalaam, refuting your creed of literalism, and adopting the way of tafwid?
Your words hold two possible implications:
1) that Ibn al-’Attar claimed that Imam an-Nawawi died on OTHER than the belief of the Asha’ris…
2) That Ibn Al-’Attar simply did not Say he was an asha’ri at the time of his death…
If it is the first, then we want you to bring for us the clear statement of Ibn Al-Attar denying for Imam An-Nawawi ascription to the Mutakallimin and the Asha’ris. If it is the second, then Ibn Al-Attar did not delve into the creed of Imam an-Nawawi in his bio in detail and so just because he DID NOT say that he was an Asha’ri, does not mean that Imam An-Nawawi was not an Asha’ri, it simply means that Ibn Al-’Attar did not delve into the matter of Imam An-Nawawi’s creed in detail and did not elucidate upon the matter. Whatever the case, your words are deceitful and I do not know if you intend by them either 1 or 2 and you should speak clearly and the truth, not conjecture.
Not true. I have heard with my own ears pseudo-salafis claim it, especially in the late 90s and early 2000s when their claims were left mostly unchallenged in English by the Sunnis. And if one simply does a simple search on Shaykh Google, they will find plenty of pseudo-salafis arguing that he held the view of the pseudo-salafis. It is possible though that you simply have not encountered what we have, so you are excused for ignorance of it.
Your claims about ” Uluww ” / transcendence, which you want us to believe is literally applicable to “height” and thus direction etc, have been responded to by Imam An-Nawawi himself in his Sharh Sahih Muslim which we have quoted on this site many a time, and as for Allah’s kalaam being created, then I will not waste my time on entertaining such frivolous stupidities, as we all know Imam al-Juwayni, Ghazzali, al-Bayhaqi and others explain this point clearly – but pseudo-salafis would like to waste our time continuously entertaining their tahreef!
And lastly, and Alhamdulillah – for He has saved us from your belief in a pagan god of limbs and direction, none of what you have said has cast aspersion to the validity of the article the KSA has blocked. In fact, the KSA wahhabi “religious authorities” know good and well the threat posed by such freedom of information regarding Imam an-Nawawi. For any rational person can see that when he attributes himself to Sunni kalaam, teaches its books, adopts it style and prose, quotes the Imams of the school in refutation of the literalist pseudo-salafi neo-Muqatili school, and calls the people of the school “his companions/comrades”, He is of them!
But of course, pseudo-salafis must rewrite history to give their lies some “validity”.
Ya Rasulullah! Salat was Salam ‘alayk!
May Allah grant us all tawfiq! amin
al-Salam Alaikum,
To be “fair” – they probably blocked the whole site, not the article. If you look at the front page, just the column down the right is enough to give the Saudi firewall admin a heart attack. Al-hamdulillah, it’s a great site (as is yours,) but they were probably more worried about article after article attacking the Wahhabiyya by name than about the details of Imam al-Nawawi’s Ash`ari creed.
ws wr wb
lol!
I live in the KSA and a friend of mine who is a mutawa referred this site to me. Is there any way to unblock this site here?
Salaam brother Hamza and whoever else,
check out this site http://turbohide.com/ (or just google it)
its for unrestricted and uncensored browsing , allowing you to bypass network restrictions and the like n keeps u anonymous at the same time.
Wslm