The Mujassimah — When Allah Is Turned into a Figure

Mujassimah refers to those who conceive of Allah as a jism, figure, form, direction, position or entity imagined as independently existing.

But tajsim does not begin with hands, feet or a face.

It begins earlier:

WHEN “ALLAH” IS FIRST TURNED INTO A FIGURE WITHIN THE MIND.

Then that figure is given:

ESSENCE,

ATTRIBUTES,

ACTIONS.

Whereas the structure is not like that.

⸻

1. ALLAH IS NOT A THING

Allah states:

لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ

“There is nothing whatsoever like Him.”

— Ash-Shura 42:11

Notice:

شَيْءٌ — A THING

If within the mind there still remains:

an unseen individual,

an invisible figure,

an entity located somewhere,

a separate “one” who then possesses attributes,

then Allah is still being placed within the category of:

A THING.

This is where tajsim begins.

⸻

2. THE TONGUE DENIES JISM — THE MIND STILL RETAINS A FIGURE

Some people say with their lips:

“Allah has no body.”

“Allah is not a material substance.”

“Allah does not resemble creation.”

But open the box of their thinking again.

There is still a space specially reserved for:

“THE FIGURE OF ALLAH.”

Without form, they say.

Without body, they say.

Without material substance, they say.

Yet still imagined as:

AN ENTITY THAT EXISTS “OVER THERE”.

The body has been negated.

Material substance has been negated.

But:

THE FIGURE IS STILL RESERVED.

They may not realise that the problem of tajsim has not yet been resolved.

Because before a body can be assigned to something, the mind must first create:

THAT SOMETHING.

Therefore, a person can reject jism with the tongue while still retaining the structure of Mujassimah within the mind.

⸻

3. TAJSIM IS NOT ONLY ABOUT BODILY PARTS

Many people assume that Mujassimah refers only to someone who says:

“Allah has a physical hand.”

That comes later.

Before there can be a hand, there must first be:

A FIGURE THAT POSSESSES THE HAND.

Before there can be a face, there must first be:

A FIGURE THAT POSSESSES THE FACE.

Before there can be direction, there must first be:

AN ENTITY TO BE PLACED WITHIN THAT DIRECTION.

Therefore, the root of the problem is:

DESCRIPTION IS TRANSFORMED INTO A FIGURE.

⸻

4. ESSENCE IS NOT THE PERSON

This must be clearly distinguished.

ESSENCE is not a figure.

ESSENCE is not a physical person.

ESSENCE is not an entity.

ESSENCE is:

meaning,

purpose,

direction,

content,

essence.

We recognise the Essence through:

ATTRIBUTES MANIFESTED THROUGH ACTIONS.

Therefore, do not write:

ESSENCE = PERSON

Instead:

PERSON

→ the bearer who can be witnessed

ATTRIBUTES

→ embedded within and manifested through the person

ACTIONS

→ actions that reveal the attributes

ESSENCE

→ the meaning/content recognised from the entirety of those Attributes and Actions

The entirety of the description:

ESSENCE + ATTRIBUTES + ACTIONS

is called:

ALLAH

⸻

5. ALLAH IS NOT A FOURTH FIGURE

A major error occurs when people arrange it as:

ALLAH

↓

possesses an Essence

↓

possesses Attributes

↓

performs Actions.

That structure has created a FOURTH FIGURE named Allah.

Then that figure is given three additional categories.

Whereas:

Allah is not an additional figure.

Allah is THE NAME FOR THE ENTIRETY OF THE DESCRIPTION:

ESSENCE + ATTRIBUTES + ACTIONS

⸻

6. ATTRIBUTES MUST EXIST UPON A BEARER WHO CAN BE WITNESSED

Trustworthiness is not an object.

Truthfulness is not an object.

Compassion is not an object.

Knowledge is not an object.

Attributes do not stand independently.

They must be manifested upon A PERSON WHO CAN BE WITNESSED.

Then, through Actions, we recognise the:

MEANING, CONTENT AND ESSENCE

of that person.

That is the Essence.

Therefore, the structure is:

PERSON

↓

ATTRIBUTES

↓

ACTIONS

↓

ESSENCE — the meaning/content that becomes known

↓

the entirety of the description is called

ALLAH

⸻

7. FIGURES ASSOCIATED WITH MUJASSIMAH

In the historical debates surrounding tajsim and tashbih, names that have been associated with these ideas include:

Muhammad ibn Karram
— founder of the Karramiyyah.

Abu Ya‘qub al-Jurjani

Muqatil ibn Sulayman

Hisham ibn al-Hakam

Ibn Taymiyyah
— also associated by some of his critics with tajsim/tashbih in debates concerning the divine attributes, direction and the ‘Arsh.

A name is not the measure of truth.

What must be tested is:

THE CONSISTENCY OF THE ARGUMENT.

The historical label here should be read carefully: tajsim and tashbih were contested theological accusations, and their application to particular scholars was itself part of polemical debate. Modern scholarship likewise discusses anthropomorphism as a real but disputed current in early Islamic theology, while Ibn Taymiyyah in particular has been characterised as anthropomorphist by critics and some modern scholars. :chatgpt-content-reference{index=”0″}

⸻

8. FIGURES WHO EXPLAINED AND REJECTED TAJSIM

Among the classical figures who discussed or opposed tajsim were:

Abu al-Hasan al-Ash‘ari

‘Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi

Al-Tahawi

Ibn al-Jawzi

Fakhr al-Din al-Razi

Ibn al-Jawzi even wrote:

دَفْعُ شُبَهِ التَّشْبِيهِ بِأَكُفِّ التَّنْزِيهِ

a work directed against readings that, in his view, led towards corporeal or anthropomorphic conceptions of Allah. The work is indeed documented under Ibn al-Jawzi’s name. :chatgpt-content-reference{index=”1″}

⸻

9. AN ATTRIBUTE IS NOT A FORM

The Quran states:

وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ

“And He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”

— Ash-Shura 42:11

Hearing is an attribute.

Seeing is an attribute.

An attribute is not a bodily organ.

The problem emerges when the mind moves from:

HEARING → imagine ears

SEEING → imagine eyes

POWER → imagine a powerful figure

Then the description has been transformed into:

A FORM.

⸻

10. MUHAMMAD ﷺ — THE PERSON WHO CAN BE WITNESSED

If Allah is not a figure, how is Allah’s Risalah to be witnessed?

The Shahadah answers:

أَشْهَدُ

I WITNESS.

Witnessing is not imagination.

Witnessing requires:

A PERSON WHO CAN BE WITNESSED.

That person is:

مُحَمَّد ﷺ

Upon him:

ATTRIBUTES can be recognised,

ACTIONS can be witnessed,

CHARACTER can be read,

ESSENCE as meaning/content can be understood.

And the entirety of that description is called:

ALLAH.

⸻

11. THE AI ANALOGY

Search for a figure called:

AI.

You will not find a second figure named AI standing beside the server.

What is physical is the:

SERVER.

Running upon that server are:

CAPABILITIES,

ATTRIBUTES,

PROCESSES,

ACTIONS.

Through those actions, human beings recognise:

AI.

Therefore:

SERVER → BEARER

ATTRIBUTES → CAPABILITIES

ACTION → ACTIONS

ESSENCE / MEANING OF THE SYSTEM → ESSENCE

ENTIRETY OF THE DESCRIPTION → AI

AI is not a second figure.

This illustrates the distinction between:

THE BEARER

and:

THE NAME GIVEN TO THE ENTIRETY OF ITS DESCRIPTION.

⸻

12. MUJASSIMAH BEGINS WITHIN THE STRUCTURE OF THOUGHT

A person can say a thousand times:

“Allah has no body.”

But if within his mind there still remains:

A FIGURE NAMED ALLAH

then he has not yet resolved what this article identifies as the root of tajsim.

He has removed:

THE BODY

but retained:

THE ENTITY.

He has removed:

MATERIAL SUBSTANCE

but retained:

THE FIGURE.

He rejects:

FORM

but still reserves:

A MENTAL SPACE FOR “THE ONE OVER THERE”.

That is the problem.

⸻

CONCLUSION

Mujassimah is not only a problem of attributing hands, feet or bodily parts to Allah.

The problem begins when:

ALLAH IS TURNED INTO A FIGURE.

Whereas:

ESSENCE

= meaning, purpose, direction, content, essence.

ATTRIBUTES

= the attributes that become manifest.

ACTIONS

= the actions through which the attributes are revealed.

And the entirety of:

ESSENCE + ATTRIBUTES + ACTIONS

is the description called:

ALLAH.

Therefore:

THE TONGUE MAY SAY, “ALLAH HAS NO BODY.”

BUT IF THE MIND STILL RETAINS A FIGURE NAMED ALLAH, TAJSIM HAS NOT YET BEEN RESOLVED.

DO NOT ONLY REMOVE THE BODY.

REMOVE THE FIGURE THAT IS STILL RESERVED WITHIN THE MIND.

ALLAH IS NOT A THING — ALLAH IS THE DESCRIPTION OF ESSENCE, ATTRIBUTES AND ACTIONS.