The Movement Of Aql In Sunni Hadith

[Qa'im]

As a part of my al-Kafi discussion series, we have been exploring the various dimensions of the first hadith in al-Kafi, which is the following:

 

 

أخبرنا أبوجعفر محمد بن يعقوب قال: حدثني عدة من أصحابنا منهم محمد بن يحيى العطار، عن أحمد بن محمد، عن الحسن بن محبوب، عن العلاء بن رزين، عن محمد بن مسلم، عن أبي جعفر (عليه السلام) قال: لما خلق الله العقل استنطقه ثم قال له:

أقبل فأقبل ثم قال له: أدبر فأدبر ثم قال: وعزتي وجلالي ما خلقت خلقا هو أحب إلي منك ولا أكملتك إلا فيمن احب، أما إني إياك آمر، وإياك أنهى وإياك اعاقب، وإياك اثيب.

 

1 – Abu Ja`far Muhammad b. Ya`qub reported to us. He said: A number of our companions narrated to me – from them was Muhammad b. Yahya the perfumist – from Ahmad b. Muhammad from al-Hasan b. Mahbub from al-`Ala b. Razin from Muhammad b. Muslim from Abu Ja`far عليه السلام.
 
He said: When Allah created the intellect, He interrogated it. Then He said to it: Draw near. So it drew near. Then He said to it: Go back. So it went back. Then He said: By My glory and My majesty, I have not created a creation that is more beloved to Me than you. And I have not perfected you but in one whom I love. Truly, by you I command and by you I forbid. And by you I punish, and by you I reward.
 
 
It turns out that this report has some variations in Sunni literature. I will highlight the differences from the reader's discretion:
 
 

 

الحسن البصري مرفوعا مرسلا لما خلق الله العقل قال له أقبل فأقبل ثم قال له أدبر فأدبر قال ما خلقت خلقا أحب إلي منك بك آخذ وبك أعطي .

 

`Abdullah b. Ahmad b. Hanbal in his zawa'id of Kitab az-Zuhd narrated from `Ali b. Muslim at-Tusi from Sayyar b. Hatim al-`Anazi from Ja`far b. Sulayman ad-Duba`i from Malik b. Dinar from al-Hasan al-Basri (marfoo`).
 
He said: When Allah created the intellect, He said to it: Draw near. So it drew near. Then He said to it: Go back. So it went back. So He said: [Oath missing] I have not created a creation that is more beloved to Me than you. By you I take and by you I give.
 
 

 

قال الحسن البصري: لما خلق الله عز وجل العقل، قال له: أقبل، فأقبل، ثم قال له: أدبر، فأدبر، وقال: ما خلقت خلقًا هو أحب إلىَّ منك، إني بك أُعبد، وبك أُعرف، وبك آخذ، وبك أُعطي [شعب الإيمان للبيهقي (4/ 154) برقم (4632) ] .

 

al-Bayhaqi in his Shu`ab al-Iman from Ibn `Adi (?) from `Ubaydallah b. Muhammad b. Hafs al-`A'ishi from Salih al-Murri from al-Hasan al-Basri.
 
He said: When Allah created the intellect, He said to it: Draw near. So it drew near. Then He said to it: Go back. So it went back. So He said: [Oath missing] I have not created a creation that is more beloved to Me than you. Truly, by you I am worshiped, and by you I am recognized, and by you I take, and by you I give.
 
 

 

14 - حدثنا : عبد الله قال : ثنا محمد بن بكار قال ثنا حفص بن عمر قاضي حلب عن الفضل بن عيسى عن أبي عثمان النهدي عن أبي هريرة : عن النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم قال : لما خلق الله تعالى العقل قال له : قم فقام ثم قال له : أدبر فأدبر ثم قال له : أقبل فأقبل ثم قال له : أقعد فقعد فقال عز و جل : ما خلقت خلقا خيرا منك ولا أكرم منك ولا أفضل منك ولا أحسن منك بك آخذ وبك أعطي وبك أعز وبك أعرف وأياك أعاتب بك الثواب وعليك العقاب

 

 
Ibn Abu'l Dunya in his al-`Aql wa Fadlhih narrated from `Abdullah from Muhammad b. Bakkar from Hafs b. `Umar the Judge of Aleppo from al-Fadl b. `Isa from Abu `Uthman an-Nahdi from Abu Hurayra from the Prophet .
 
He said: When Allah created the intellect, He said to it: Stand up. So it stood up. Then He said to it: Go back. So it went back. Then He said to it: Draw near. So it drew near. Then He said to it: Sit down. So it sat down. So He said: [Oath missing] I have not created a creation better than you, nor more noble than you, nor more virtuous than you, nor more beautiful than you. By you I take, by you I give, by you I dignify, by you I am recognized, and I guilt you, and by you I reward, and the punishment is upon you.
 
 

أخبرنا محمد بن أبي منصور قال أخبرنا ابن المبارك بن عبد الجبار قال أخبرنا أحمد بن الحرث قال حدثنا جدي محمد بن عبد الكريم قال حدثنا الهيثم ابن عدي قال حدثنا الأعمش عن عمر وبن مرة عن عبد الرحمن بن سابط عن ابن عباس قال لما خلق الله العقل قال له أدبر فأدبر ثم قال له أقبل فأقبل قال وعزتي ما خلقت خلقاً قط أحسن منك فبك أعطي وبك آخذ وبك أعاقب.

 
Ibn al-Jawzi in his Akhbar al-Adhkiya narrates from Muhammad b. Abi Mansoor from Ibn al-Mubarak b. `Abd al-Jabbar from Ahmad b. al-Harith from his grandfather Muhammad b. `Abd al-Kareem from al-Haytham b. `Adi from al-A`mash from `Umar and the son of Marra from `Abd ar-Rahman b. Sabit from Ibn `Abbas.
 
He said: When Allah created the intellect, He said to it: Go back. So it went back. Then He said to it: Draw near. So it drew near. Then He said: By My glory [...] I have never created a creature more beautiful than you. So by you I give and by you I take and by you I guilt.
 
 

حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى بْنِ مَنْدَهِ الأَصْبَهَانِيُّ ، ثنا أَبُو هَمَّامٍ الْوَلِيدُ بْنُ شُجَاعٍ ، ثنا سَعِيدُ بْنُ الْفَضْلِ الْقُرَشِيُّ ، ثنا عُمَرُ بْنُ أَبِي صَالِحٍ الْعَتَكِيُّ ، عَنْ أَبِي غَالِبٍ ، عَنْ أَبِي أُمَامَةَ ، قَالَ : قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : " لَمَّا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ الْعَقْلَ ، قَالَ لَهُ : أَقْبِلْ فَأَقْبَلَ ، ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُ : أَدْبِرْ فَأَدْبَرَ ، قَالَ : وَعِزَّتِي مَا خَلَقْتُ خَلْقًا أَعْجَبَ إِلَيَّ مِنْكَ ، بِكَ أُعْطِي وَبِكَ الثَّوَابُ ، وَعَلَيْكَ الْعِقَابُ" .

 
Tabarani in his Mu`jam al-Kabeer narrated from Muhammad b. Yahya b. Mandah al-Asbahani from Abu Hammam al-Waleed b. Shuja` from Sa`eed b. al-Fadl al-Qurashi from `Umar b. Abi Salih al-`Ataki from Abi Ghalib from Abi Umama.
 
He said: The Messenger of Allah said: When Allah created the intellect, He said to it: Draw near. So it drew near. Then He said to it: Go back. So it went back. Then He said: By My glory [...] I have not created a creation more preferred to Me than you. By you I give, and by you are the rewards, and the punishment is upon you.
 
 
-------------------------
 
There are many others. Here are a few points to consider:

• The narration seems to come from late first century Hijaz, as consistently goes back to Hasan al-Basri (Basra and Medina), al-Baqir (Medina), as-Sadiq (Medina), and Ibn `Abbas (Mecca). From there it goes to Kufa, Basra, Baghdad, Syria, and Qum, depending on the chain.

• Most chains do not go back to the Prophet, but are rather sayings of Ibn Abbas, Hasan al-Basri, and al-Baqir. These three are associated with the Ahl al-Bayt: Hasan al-Basri and Ibn `Abbas were both students of `Ali.

• If these narrators relayed this hadith, it must have come from a divine source, because it is qudsi in nature.

• It is possible that these narrations were attributed to Hasan al-Basri and Ibn `Abbas because the hadith-chain culture had not yet been cultivated in the first century (tadlees of sahaba and tabi`een).

• Although these chains are weak by Sunni standards, there are many of them, which gives it some ithbaat and decreases the chances of it being a fabrication.

• Similar hadiths can be found in al-Kafi, al-Malahim wal Fitan by Ibn Tawus, al-Khisal by Saduq, al-Akyas wal Mukhtareen by al-Hakim at-Tirmidhi, and Kanz al-`Ummal.

• "By you I take and by you I give" could be a statement about reward and punishment being measured by the aql's capacity.

• In hadith 2, Allah is both worshiped and recognized through the aql, giving it a key function in our religion.

• In hadith 3, the aql stands up and sits down. What does this mean? How is the cosmic movement of the aql to be undestood?

• In hadith 3, the aql is described as the best, most noble, most virtuous, and most beautiful creation of Allah. This is similar to a hadith in al-Khisal which says the same.

• In hadith 3, the punishment is upon the aql. Does this mean that the aql is capable of disobeying Allah? If so, can it be the best creation?

• In hadith 4, does Allah guilt the aql?

 

 

[Chaotic Muslem]

Salam

Since this is regarding the sunni opinion , i found this by ibn tayymyiah

 

 

[ ص: 336 ] وسئل : عن أحاديث : هل هي صحيحة ؟ وهل رواها أحد من المعتبرين بإسناد صحيح ؟ وهي قوله : { أول ما خلق الله العقل قال له : أقبل فأقبل . ثم قال له : أدبر فأدبر . ثم قال : وعزتي وجلالي ما خلقت خلقا أكرم علي منك : بك آخذ وبك أعطي ; وبك أثيب وبك أعاقب } . وقوله : { أمرت أن أخاطب الناس على قدر عقولهم } وهل هذا اللفظ هو لفظ حديث ؟ أو فيه تحريف ؟ أو زيادة أو نقص ؟ وقوله : { إن الله من علي فيما من علي : أن أعطيتك فاتحة الكتاب وهي من كنوز عرشي قسمتها بيني وبينك نصفين } وقوله : { الناس شركاء في ثلاث : الماء والكلأ والنار } . 
 

   
 

   
 

الحاشية رقم: 1 فأجاب : أما الحديث الأول فهو كذب موضوع عند أهل العلم بالحديث ليس هو في شيء من كتب الإسلام المعتمدة وإنما يرويه مثل داود ابن المحبر وأمثاله من المصنفين في العقل ويذكره أصحاب " رسائل إخوان الصفا " ونحوهم من المتفلسفة وقد ذكره أبو حامد في بعض [ ص: 337 ] كتبه وابن عربي وابن سبعين وأمثال هؤلاء وهو عند أهل العلم بالحديث كذب على النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم كما ذكر ذلك أبو حاتم الرازي وأبو الفرج ابن الجوزي وغيرهما من المصنفين في علم الحديث . 

ومع هذا فلفظ الحديث : { أول ما خلق الله العقل قال له : أقبل فأقبل وقال له أدبر فأدبر قال ما خلقت خلقا أكرم علي منك فبك آخذ . وبك أعطي وبك الثواب وبك العقاب } وفي لفظ { لما خلق الله العقل قال له : كذلك } ومعنى هذا اللفظ أنه قال للعقل في أول أوقات خلقه ; ليس فيه أن العقل أول المخلوقات لكن المتفلسفة القائلون بقدم العالم أتباع أرسطو هم ومن سلك سبيلهم من باطنية الشيعة والمتصوفة والمتكلمة رووه أول ما خلق الله العقل بالضم ليكون ذلك حجة لمذهبهم في أن أول المبدعات هو العقل الأول وهذا اللفظ لم يروه به أحد من أهل الحديث بل اللفظ المروي مع ضعفه يدل على نقيض هذا المعنى فإنه قال : { ما خلقت خلقا أكرم علي منك } فدل على أنه قد خلق قبله غيره والذي يسميه الفلاسفة العقل الأول ليس قبله مخلوق عندهم . 

وأيضا فإنه قال : { بك آخذ وبك أعطي وبك الثواب وبك العقاب } فجعل به هذه الأعراض الأربعة وعند أولئك المتفلسفة الباطنية : [ ص: 338 ] أن جميع العالم صدر عن العقل الأول وهو رب السموات والأرض وما بينهما عندهم وإن كان مربوبا للواجب بنفسه وهو عندهم متولد عن الله لازم لذاته وليس هذا قول أحد من أهل الملل لا المسلمين ولا اليهود ولا النصارى إلا من ألحد منهم ولا هو قول المجوس ولا جمهور الصابئين ولا أكثر المشركين ولا جمهور الفلاسفة بل هو قول طائفة منهم . 

وأيضا فإن العقل في لغة المسلمين عرض من الأعراض قائم بغيره وهو غريزة أو علم أو عمل بالعلم ; ليس العقل في لغتهم جوهرا قائما بنفسه فيمتنع أن يكون أول المخلوقات عرضا قائما بغيره فإن العرض لا يقوم إلا بمحل فيمتنع وجوده قبل وجود شيء من الأعيان وأما أولئك المتفلسفة : ففي اصطلاحهم أنه جوهر قائم بنفسه وليس هذا المعنى هو معنى العقل في لغة المسلمين والنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم خاطب المسلمين بلغة العرب لا بلغة اليونان فعلم أن المعنى الذي أراده المتفلسفة لم يقصده الرسول لو كان تكلم بهذا اللفظ فكيف إذا لم يتكلم به . 

 

Too lazy to translate but in brief : It is fabricated hadith.

 

and from the sunni forum discussion on this hadith

 

 

وهذا الحديث قد أخرجه ابن عدي في الكامل 2/798، و 6/2040 من حديث أبي هريرة، وفي إسناده الفضل ابن عيسى الرقاشي وحفص بن عمر قاضي حلب أما الفضل فقال الذهبي: "ضعفوه". الميزان 3/356، وأما حفص فقال عنه أبو حاتم: ضعيف، وقال أبو زرعة: "منكر الحديث"، وقال ابن حبان: "يروي عن الثقات الموضوعات لا يحل الاحتجاج به". الميزان 1/563 وأخرج الحديث ابن الجوزي عن العقيلي بسنده من حديث أبي أمامة - رضي الله عنه -. قال ابن الجوزي: "هذا حديث لا يصح فيه سعيد بن الفضل الرقاشي وعمر العتكي وأبو غالب مجهولون منكروا الحديث لا يتابع أحد منهم على حديثه"، ثم نقل عن الإمام أحمد قوله: "هذا حديث موضوع ليس له أصل"، وقال العقيلي: "ولا يثبت في هذا المتن شيء" الموضوعات 1/175 وانظر: الفوائد المجموعة في الأحاديث الموضوعة ص 478.

http://www.dd-sunnah.net/forum/showthread.php?t=157951

 

 

so as you see, they see it as fabrication of philosophers , ismalilis and shia to support the notion of the first mind العقل الاول which i have no idea about its philosophical signifigance.

[Skanderbeg]

Wasn't Hasan of Basra the second after Imam Ali a.s. in the chain of Alevi Shi'ism and Bektashi Shi'ism which leads to Haj Bektashi Veli?

[tendersoul]

Salam,

Thank you for your effort, specially for bringing together hadiths from sunni sources.

When from shia sources , it is narrated by Imam Baqir, it is highly possible it has been discussed by the prophet, probably to his ashabeh seir- the compions of the secret. Which was with Imam Ali and Salman farsi for sure, but was not discussed openly to rest of the masses, as the capacity of the rest of the people during that time was not ready for such knowledge yet.

Later on During the time of Imam Baqir, and Sadiq there were more people who had reached the capacity to be able to accept such knowledge hence it started being discussed more openly and chain of narrations about deeper science started from that time.

All Imams had one or few ashabeh seir.

Edited August 30, 2015 by tendersoul

[Qa'im]

On 8/30/2015 at 0:49 AM, Chaotic Muslem said:

Salam

Since this is regarding the sunni opinion , i found this by ibn tayymyiah

 

Too lazy to translate but in brief : It is fabricated hadith.

 

and from the sunni forum discussion on this hadith

 

so as you see, they see it as fabrication of philosophers , ismalilis and shia to support the notion of the first mind العقل الاول which i have no idea about its philosophical signifigance.

 

That is a very simplistic dismissal. The narration almost certainly originates from pre-Abbasid Hijaz, and from there it spreads to all over the Muslim world. Just because it was later utilized by Shi`as, it does not make it an exclusively Shi`i hadith. Let me demonstrate through a Sunni isnad tree:

 

 

Sunni chains (and there are more out there):

 

`Abdullah b. Ahmad b. Hanbal in his zawa'id of Kitab az-Zuhd narrated from `Ali b. Muslim at-Tusi from Sayyar b. Hatim al-`Anazi from Ja`far b. Sulayman ad-Duba`i from Malik b. Dinar from al-Hasan al-Basri.

 

al-Bayhaqi in his Shu`ab al-Iman from Ibn `Adi from `Ubaydallah b. Muhammad b. Hafs al-`A'ishi from Salih al-Murri from al-Hasan al-Basri.

 

Ibn Abu'l Dunya in his al-`Aql wa Fadlhih narrated from `Abdullah from Muhammad b. Bakkar from Hafs b. `Umar the Judge of Aleppo from al-Fadl b. `Isa from Abu `Uthman an-Nahdi from Abu Hurayra from the Prophet .

 

Ibn Abu'l Dunya in his al-`Aql wa Fadlih from Muhammad b. Bakkar ar-Rusafi from `Abd ar-Rahman b. Abu'l Zinad from Muhammad b. `Uqba from Kurayb b. Abi Muslim.

 

Ibn al-Jawzi in his Akhbar al-Adhkiya narrates from Muhammad b. Abi Mansoor from Ibn al-Mubarak b. `Abd al-Jabbar from Ahmad b. al-Harith from his grandfather Muhammad b. `Abd al-Kareem from al-Haytham b. `Adi from al-A`mash from `Umar and the son of Marra from `Abd ar-Rahman b. Sabit from Ibn `Abbas.

 

Tabarani in his Mu`jam al-Kabeer narrated from Muhammad b. Yahya b. Mandah al-Asbahani from Abu Hammam al-Waleed b. Shuja` from Sa`eed b. al-Fadl al-Qurashi from `Umar b. Abi Salih al-`Ataki from Abi Ghalib from Abi Umama.

 

al-Hakim at-Tirmidhi in his Nawadir al-Usool narrated from `Abd ar-Raheem b. Habib from Dawud b. al-Muhabbar from al-Hasan b. Dinar from al-Hasan al-Basri.

 

Shi`i chains:

 

Ibn Tawus from Abu Salih al-Salili's Kitab al-Fitan from `Abd al-A`la b. Hammad an-Narsi from Hammad b. Salama from al-Hajjaj b. Artat an-Nakha`i from Abu'l `Abbas al-Walid b. `Abd ar-Rahman b. Abi Malik al-Hamadani from Abu `Abd ar-Rahman al-Qasim b. `Abd ar-Rahman from Abu Umama.

 

al-Barqi in his Kitab al-Mahasin narrates from Muhammad b. `Ali from Wahb b. Hafs from Abu Baseer from Ja`far as-Sadiq.

 

al-Barqi in his Kitab al-Mahasin narrates from as-Sindi b. Muhammad from al-`Alaa' b. Razeen from Muhammad b. Muslim from Muhammad al-Baqir and Ja`far as-Sadiq.

 

al-Barqi in his Kitab al-Mahasin narrates from Muhammad b. al-Hasan from Sahl b. Ziyad from Ibn Abi Najran from al-`Alaa' b. Razeen from Muhammad b. Muslim from Muhammad al-Baqir.

 

al-Barqi in his Kitab al-Mahasin narrates from al-Hasan b. Mahbub from al-`Alaa' b. Razeen from Muhammad b. al-Baqir.

 

al-Barqi in his Kitab al-Mahasin narrates from `Ali b. al-Hakam from Hisham b. al-Hakam from Ja`far as-Sadiq.

 

al-Barqi in his Kitab al-Mahasin narrates from `Abdullah b. al-Fadl an-Nawfali from his father from Ja`far as-Sadiq.

 

al-Barqi in his Kitab al-Mahasin narrates from one of his companions who raises it to `Ali ar-Rida.

 

al-Kulayni in his al-Kafi from Muhammad b. Ya`qub from them was Muhammad b. Yahya the perfumist from Ahmad b. Muhammad from al-Hasan b. Mahbub from al-`Ala b. Razin from Muhammad b. Muslim from Muhammad al-Baqir.

 

al-Kulayni in his al-Kafi from several of his companions from Ahmad b. Muhammad from `Ali b. Hadeed from Sama`a b. Mehran from Ja`far as-Sadiq.

 

From Ahmad b. Muhammad b. `Abd ar-Rahman al-Maruzi from Muhammad b. Ja`far al-Muqirri al-Jurjani from Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Mawsili from Muhammad b. `Asim at-Tarifi from `Ayyash b. Yazid b. al-Hasan b. `Ali al-Kuhhal the client of Zayd b. `Ali from his father from Musa b. Ja`far.

 

Any volunteers to make us a Shii isnad tree?

 

 

[Chaotic Muslem]

Well, the sunnis can judge their own literature the way they want , shrugs, just don't shoot the messenger.

I think your best chance is with Abu Huraira chain because it ends up with the prophet unlike the others. Also it appears in much earlier works like Nuskhat Abi Mus'hir

http://library.islamweb.net/hadith/display_hbook.php?bk_no=67&pid=31219&hid=52

if you clicked on Takhrij, you can find the other books in which this narration appeared. Abi Mus'hir died 218 while abu Dunyia died 281.

Ibn Aljawzi mentioned that hadith in the book of the intelligent but he also mentioned that hadith in the book of the fabricated narrations (kitab almawdo3at)

http://hdith.com/?s=لما+خلق+الله+العقل+قال+له

 

So, rijal wise, this hadith cannot stand.

Matn wise, i am not sure what's their problem with it.

[Qa'im]

The isnad tree to al-Barqi's Kitab al-Mahasin. Does not include the versions found in al-Kafi and al-Khisal.

 

[Chaotic Muslem]

The isnad tree to al-Barqi's Kitab al-Mahasin. Does not include the versions found in al-Kafi and al-Khisal.

 

 

 

care to explain the balloon of Muhammad bin al hassan, ibn zeyad and ibn abi najran?

who narrated from who and what's their relation to al barqi?

[Qa'im]

There should be a line between Muhammad b. al-Hasan and al-Barqi