Section Four:
“Al-Hadd” (the Boundary) is not an Attribute from the Attributes of Allah the Exalted
Al-Khattabi denounced the People of the Sunnah for their affirmation of “al-Hadd” for Allah the Exalted, claiming that they have added an attribute to Allah—the Mighty and Majestic—among those attributes not mentioned in the Book or the Sunnah.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) critiqued him in Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyyah (3/42), saying:
“The proponents of affirmation (ahl al-ithbat) who oppose al-Khattabi and his like respond to this in several ways:
First: The statement he mentioned would only be valid if they had said that He possesses an attribute called ‘al-Hadd,’ as this refuter imagined! No one has ever said this, nor would any rational person say it, for such a statement has no reality. This is because among the attributes with which anything is described—just as one is described as having a hand or knowledge—there is no specific attribute called ‘al-Hadd.’ Rather, al-Hadd is that by which a thing is distinguished from other things in terms of its characteristics and measure, as is well known of the term al-Hadd regarding existing entities.” End quote.
I say: The text of al-Khattabi’s words and the response of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) to him will follow in the appendix of this book (p. 332); so refer to it there.
المبحث الرابع:
«الحَدُّ» ليس صفةً من صفاتِ الله تعالى
شَنَّعَ الخطَّابيُّ على أهلِ السُّنَّةِ في إثباتِهِم «الحَدَّ» لله تعالى، فزَعَمَ أنَّهُم زادوا الله عز وجل صفةً من الصِّفات التي لم ينطِق بها الكتابُ والسُّنَّةُ.
وقد تعقَّبَهُ شيخُ الإسلام ابن تيمية رحمه الله في «بيان تلبيس الجهمية» (٣/ ٤٢) فقال:
أهل الإثبات المنازعون للخطَّابي وذويه يُجيبون عن هذا بوجوه:
أحدها: أنَّ هذا الكلام الذي ذكره إنَّما يتوجَّه لو قالوا: إنَّ له صفة هي (الحَدُّ) كما توهَّمَهُ هذا الرَّادُّ عليهم!
وهذا لم يَقُلْه أحدٌ، ولا يقوله عاقلٌ؛ فإنَّ هذا الكلام لا حقيقة له؛ إذ ليس في الصِّفات التي يُوصَفُ بها شيءٌ من الموصوفات - كما يُوصَف باليدِ والعلمِ - صفةٌ مُعيَّنةٌ يقال لها: (الحَدُّ)، وإنَّما الحَدُّ ما يتميَّزُ به الشيء عن غيره من صفتِهِ وقَدْرِهِ، كما هو المعروفُ من لفظ الحَدِّ في الموجودات. اهـ
قلتُ: سيأتي نصُّ كلام الخطَّابي ورَدُّ شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية رحمه الله عليه في الملحق بهذا الكتاب (ص٣٣٢)، فانظره هناك.
