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7/28/2019 Wesley Williams, Aspects of the Creed of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal
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Int. J. Middle East Stud. 34 (2002).441-463. Printed in the United States of AmericaDOl: 1O.1017.S0020743802003021
Wesley Williams
ASPECTS OF THE CREED OF IMAM AHMAD IBN
HANBAL: A STUDY OF ANTHROPOMORPHISM
IN EARLY ISLAMIC DISCOURSE
Today, the religion of Islam is most distinctly characterized by the emphasis it places
on the transcendence of God.
1
God's otherness (mukhalafa), it is said, is presupposedin Islamic thinking from the Qur'an. A review of the history of dogmatic development
in Islam reveals, however, that during the formative period-that is, the period to
about 9503-divine transcendence was only one alternative among several models
attempting to explain God's unity. Indeed, it coexisted alongside its antithesis, "assimi
lation" (tashbrh), or as we term it, anthropomorphism.4Muslim and Western scholars
agree that, although the anthropomorphist model certainly existed-the various here
siographies attest to i t - i t existed only on the margins of Islam, in the extravagant
fancies of a few deviant doctors.5 Thus, anthropomorphist ideas were relevant only
marginally, if at all, to Islam's attempt at theological self-definition. Such, at least, is
the current scholarly consensus. But how accurate is this reading of Islam's theologi
cal history?Anthropomorphic conceptions of God, particularly as they appear in scripture, have
perplexed and perturbed religious thinkers of all eras.6Although anthropomorphism
became self-evident in the Christian doctrine of incarnation, the histories of Judaism
and Islam are alike in that both present such conceptions as the source of great theo
logical controversy and strife.7Contemplative Jews, in many cases influenced by Hel
lenistic ideas, thought it appropriate to find figurative meanings to the biblical pas
sages implying divine corporeality, meanings that were more palatable to their
understanding of God's holiness.RThis trend was particularly strong in Egypt where
the Greek translation of the Bible (Septuagint) was reportedly produced in the 3rd
century B.c.E.9 Other scholars, in no way embarrassed by images of an embodied
deity, increased and concretized these images. to In the end, normative Jewish belief
would settle on an incorporeal deity, thanks in no small measure to the great philoso
pher Maimonides.11Judaism would eventually become so characterized by an "invisi
ble, non-theophanous" deity that one can easily forget how recently such notions
established themselves as central postulates of the faith.12
Islam experienced similar developments, but contrary to the large body of academic
literature examining Judaic anthropomorphist trends, relatively few scholars have
Wesley Williams is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor. Mich. 48105, USA; e-mail: wwwillia@umich.edu.
© 2002 Cambridge University Press 0020·7438102 $9.50
7/28/2019 Wesley Williams, Aspects of the Creed of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal
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Anthropomorphism in Early Islam: A Reappraisal 463
Study of Theophany and Visio Dei in Early Islam," paper presented at the 16th Annual Middle East History
and Theory Conference, University of Chicago, Chicago, 12 May 2ool.
'''See Gilliot, "Muqatil, grand exegete."
''''See Isaiah Goldfeld, "MuqatilIbn
Sulayman."in
Arabic and Islamic Sllldies, ed. Jacob Mansour (Ramat-Gan: Bar-Han University Press, 1978), 2: 17.
"'On Muqatil's doctrines, see al-Ash'ari, Maqalat al-Islamiyyin, ed. Helmut Ritter (Istanbul. 1929-33),
209 f; van Ess, TG, 2:529 f; Gilliot, "Muqatil, grand exegete."