Answered by our Shaykh, the ‘Allāmah, the Trustworthy Advisor, Abu ‘Abdirrahmān Yahya bin ‘Ali Al-Hajūri – may Allāh preserve him – on the 25th, Dhūl-Hijjah, 1441H
Question:
Is Nawawis retraction from the madhab of the Ashā’irah (Ash’aris) authentic with the fact that he said in a part he mentioned what necessitates the correctness of his aqīdah with the scholars of the Salaf and he affirmed in it that the Quran is the speech of Allah, uncreated he spoke with it with harf (letters) and sawt (voice), he said;
“And what is amazing is that the books of the Ashā’irah are filled with that the speech of Allah was revealed upon His Prophet ﷺ and written in the masāhif and recited on the tongues upon reality then they say what was revealed is an expression (of the speech of Allah) and what is written (in the Mushaf) is not what was written (by Allah) and what is recited is not the actual Quran so they fall into clear-cut contradiction and dull and weak follow-up statements and it suffices in the falsification of this belief that they are incapable of explicitly saying it.”
Answer:
“I say the foundation with us is there occurred from Nawawi some clear ta’wīl (mis-interpretation) in his explanation also in (the book) Al-Adhkār, it is clear in his authoring’s, especially in the explanation of Sahih Muslim, and this is a mas’alah (issue) from the masā’il (issues), after establishing the authenticity of this transmission to him or this piece of writing to him because how many writings are attributed to authors and the attribution is not authentic and perhaps it is criticized with strong criticisms in it, so if this mas’alah which was mentioned is authentic to him he is in this mas’alah upon the statement of Ahlus-Sunnah and in other than it, it needs to be looked into, for verily ta’wīl of the Sifāt (Attributes of Allāh) with him is not in this only, so if he refuted the Ashā’irah in this mas’alah, he didn’t refute them in another.
So he remains upon that foundation that he has ta’wīl and may Allāh have mercy on him and pardon all, what is in his books of this is to be avoided and if this writing is authentic he is upon the correct path in it, and in other than it he is in need of expressing himself in this writing or other than it until his condition is known in it and it can be said that he retracted to the Manhaj of the Salaf and verily it is said he retracted from this masalah, is this not so? This one specifically, not every mas’alah, for verily the mistakes that took place from Nawawi – and some of the people of knowledge considered him to be an Imām, like in the biography of Dhahabi and those after him, Ibn Kathīr and Ibn Abdil-Hādi and a group say Imam Nawawi – , what occured from him was not minute in this topic, and likewise tabarruk (seeking barakah) from the relics of the righteous folk and oppositions in ta’wīl of the Sifāt, in some of his writings and what it is of this nature
So if it is authentic in this mas’alah specifically he has attained what is correct and in other than it he needs to refute the Ashā’irah as Abul-Hasan al-Ash’ari clarified in ‘Al-Ibānah’ in many masā’il, he didn’t make a clarification in one mas’alah, and Shawkāni also in ‘At-Tuhaf fi Madhāhib us-Salaf’, he clarified in many masā’il not one, so it remains if this is authentic from Nawawi then he is upon the statement of Ahlus-Sunnah when it comes to the harf and sawt and what is of this nature, refuting the Ashā’irah, along with that it needs to be known, as for it to be said that he retracted to the statement of Ahlus-Sunnah concerning what is related to ta’wīl upon its totality then this is loading his speech with that what it doesn’t contain.”
Translated by: Abū ‘Abdillāh ‘Omar bin Yahya Al-‘Akawi
Telegram link of the channel: https://t.me/ShaykhYahyaEn
Original Fatwa Audio: https://t.me/sh_yahia_duroos/7608