whom G od cboj'e for. his apoftle, and intrujied with his word, by giving
thee the tables of the law, and whom he vouchj'afed to admit to difcourfe
with himfelf: how many years doji thou find the law was written before
I was created ? Says MoJ'es, Forty And doji thou not find, replied Adam,
thefe words therein-, And Adam rebelled againfi his Lord and tranfi
grejfed? which MoJ'es confeffing, Doji thou therefore blame me, continued
he, for doing that which G od wrote o f me that I fhould do,
forty years before Ï was created-, nay, for what was decreed concerning
me fifty thoufand years before the creation o f heaven and earth ? In the
conclufion of which difpute Mohammed declared that Adam had the
better o f Mofes \ On the other fide, it is urged in the behalf of
the Motazalites, that Mohammed declaring that the Kadarians and
Morgians had been curfed by the tongues of feventy prophets, and
being afked who the Kadarians were, anfwered, ThoJ’e who offert that
G o d predeftinated them to be guilty o f rebellion, and yet puntjhes them
fo r it : al Hafan is alfo faid to have declared, that G od fent Mohammed
to the Arabs vihx\t they were Kadarians, or Jabarians, and
laid their fins upon G o d : and to confirm the matter this fentence
of the Koran is quoted When they commit a filthy aSlion, they fay,
We found our fathers praSlifing the fame, and G o d hath commanded
us Jo to do : Say, Verily G o d -commandeth not filthy allions 3. .
Of the i i . The Sefdtians held the oppofite opinion to the Motazalites in
the refpeâ to the eternal attributes o f G od, which they affirmed -, making
Sefaùans. diftinbtion between the effential attributes and thofe of operation:
and hence they were named Sefdtians, or Attributifs. Their doctrine
was that of the firft Mohammedans, who were not yet acquainted
with thefe nice diftindtions : but this fedt afterwards introduced another
fpecies of declarative attributes, or fuch as were neceflTarily ufed
in hiftorical narration, as hands, face, eyes, &c. which they dtd not
offer to explain, but contented themfelves with faying they were in
the law, and that they called them declarative attributes4. However,
at length, by giving various explications and interpretations of
thefe attributes, they divided into many different opinions: fome,
by taking the words in the literal fenfe, fell into the notion of a
. likenefs or fimilitude between G od and created beings ; to which it is
faid the Karaites among the Jews, who are for the literal interpretation
of Mofes's law, had fhewn them the way J : others explained
them in another manner, faying that no creature was like G od,
1 Ebn al Alhir, al Bokhari, apud Poc. p. 236. 2 Chap. 7. p. 119. 3 Al Motarrezl, a*
pud eund. p. 237, 238. 4 Al Shahreft. apud Poc, Spec. p. 223. * V. Poc. ib, p. 224.
but
but that they neither underftood, nor thought it neceffary to explain
the precife fignification of the words which feem to affirm the fame
of both; it being fufficient to believe that G od hath no companion
or fimilitude O f this opinion was Malec Ebn Ans, who declared as
to the expreffion of G o d ’ s fitting on his throne, in particular, that
though the meaning is known, yet the manner is unknown ; and that it
is neceffary to believe it, but herefy to make any queftions about it |
The fedts of the Sefdtians are, ;
1. The AJharians, the followers of Abu l Hafan al AJhari, who
was'firft a Motazalite, and the feholar of Abu A li al Jobbai, but dif-
agreeing from his mafter in opinion as to G o d ’s being bound (as the
Motazalites afiferi) to do always that which, is befi or mod expedient,
left him, and fee up a new fedt of himfelf. The occafion of this
difference was the putting a cafe concerning three brothers, the firft
of whom lived in obedience to G o d , the fecond in rebellion againft
him, and the third died an infant. A l Jobbai being afked what he
thought would become of them, anfwered, that the firft would be
rewarded in paradife, the fecond punifhed in hell, and^ the third neither
rewarded nor punifhed: but what, objected al AJhari, if the third
fay, 0 L ord, i f thou hadfi given me longer life, that I might have -en-
lred paradife with my believing brother, it would have been better for me-,
to which al Jobbai replied, that G od would anfwer, I knew that i f thou
hadfi lived longer, thou wouldfi have been a wicked perfon, and therefore
cajl into hell. Then, retorted al AJhari, the feGond will fay, O L ord,
•why didfi thou not take me away while I was an infant, as thou didfi my.
brother, that I might not have dejerved to be punijhed for my fins, nor
to be cafi into hell? To which al Jobbai could return no other anfwer,
than that G od prolonged his life to give him an opportunity
of obtaining the higheft degree of perfe&ion, which was beft for
him: but al AJhari demanding farther, why he did not for the fame
reafon grant the other a longer life to whom it would have been
equally advantageous; A l Jobbai was fo put to it, that he afked whether
the devil poffefled him ? Ato, fays al. AJhari, but the mafier's afs
•will not pafs the bridge 2; i. e. he is pofed.
The opinions of the AJharians were, i. That they allowed the
attributes of G o d to be diftindt from his effence, yet fo as to forbid
any comparijon to be made between G o d and his creatures 3. This
was alfo the opinion of Ahmed Ebn Hanbal, and David al IJpahani,
1 V. eund. ib. 1 2 Auttor al Mawâkef, & al Safa3i, apud Poc. ubi fup. p. 230, &c. Ebn
Khalec. in vita al Jobbai. 3 Al Shahreit. apud Poc..Spec. p. 230.
and