The Mujassimah, the Qadariyyah and the Jabariyyah

Then there were a number of others. There were the Mujassimah (simply the Mujassimah, the anthropomorphists) or the Mushabbihah, the comparers. They were just obsessed with this idea that Allah (swt) had a human-like form. And some said that Allah (swt) is like this beautiful young person; that He looks like a beautiful young person, in this form. Allah is in this place, sitting on His throne, encompassed by it. Allah has a physical hand. He has fingers, as He mentions in the hadith, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) mentions in the hadith. So they were just outright anthropomorphists, Mushabbihah.

There were other groups, like the Qadariyyah and the Jabariyyah. These were either the libertarians or the fatalists. The one group said that the human being does not have any free will. So everything that we do, it is as though we are being forced to do it, and we are driven to do it. The question that then arises is: why are we punished for the bad deeds that we do? Why are we rewarded for the good deeds we do, if we are actually forced into whatever we are doing? We have no free will of our own.

On the other hand, there was the other group, who said: no, of course we have free will. We have free will, because otherwise this would be a problem. Allah (swt) created this human being, created in him or her the faculty to do these things, and then He left them on their own. So they more or less believe that Allah creates these things, that He is the one who gives the power and the ability, and that He then lets them do as they will. He does not know what they are going to do. They do as they will, and He only finds out afterwards. So according to them, knowledge of this only came to Allah (swt) after it had actually occurred. Lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh.

Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah tread a very fine line between the two. Because this is an issue about which the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself said: do not venture into it, because you will not comprehend it. It is inconceivable to the mind. It is incomprehensible to the mind. It is simply too deep, and beyond our limited capabilities as human beings, and as one creation among all of the creations of Allah (swt). So do not even go into it. That too is discussed in detail in later chapters. There is a certain amount of knowledge that we have been given from the Prophet (peace be upon him), and the ʿulamāʾ have discussed it; but to understand everything, and all the subtleties of it, is impossible. But, in shāʾ Allāh, that is dealt with as well.