“Two Notifications”:

The First Notification:

The statement of Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned previously in his Nuniyyah:

“And likewise, the fourth one has ascended,

And [so did] Abu ‘Ubaydah, the companion of al-Shaybani.”

By “Abu ‘Ubaydah,” he means: Ma‘mar ibn al-Muthanna (d. 208 AH), the author of several works, including his book Majaz al-Qur’an regarding the interpretation of the obscure vocabulary of the Qur’an (gharib al-Qur’an). Scholars of both old and modern times have relied upon it. By majaz, he intends what is permissible in the Arabic language in terms of expressing Qur’anic wording and stylistic modes, not the technical majaz (metaphor) used by rhetoricians and theologians, which refers to diverting speech from its literal meaning (al-zahir).

In this book of his, there is figurative interpretation (ta’wil) of some of the Attributes, such as the Face, the Eye, Plotting (al-makr), and others. He is also accused of holding the views of the Kharijites and the Shu‘ubiyyah (anti-Arab sentiment).

Ibn Qutaybah (d. 276 AH, may Allah have mercy on him) said in the book al-Ma‘arif (p. 543): “Obscure vocabulary was his primary focus, as were the history and battles of the Arabs. Despite his knowledge, he might not recite a line of poetry without breaking its meter, and he would make mistakes when reading the Qur’an from the text. He used to hate the Arabs and authored a book on their shortcomings (mathalib), and he held the view of the Kharijites.” [End of quote].

I say: He is distinct from Abu ‘Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam (d. 234 AH, may Allah have mercy on him), the famous Imam and author of the books Gharib al-Hadith, al-Iman, and others.