-
The_Foundations_of_the_Islamic_Belief, page : 88
it will
be punished or made happy by punishment and delight of non-sensual nature. They are extremists.
The true middle-road (called Asharia after Imam Abul Hasan Al Ashari) between this complete
allegorism
and the rigidity of the Hanbalites is subtle and obscure. It is found only by those who enjoy Divine
Guidance and comprehend things by the aid of Divine Light, not by hearsay. Then when the mysteries
of
things are revealed to them, so that they see them as they are, they go back to the Koran and
prophetic
quotations and their wording; whatever agrees with what they see with the light of certainty they
affirm,
and whatever disagrees with it they interpret allegorically. But he who bases his knowledge of these
things on mere hearsay will thereby fail to secure a firm foothold or gain a well defined position
therein.
Such a man who confines himself to mere hearsay would do better to follow the position of Ahmad ibn
Hanbal.
But a closer examination and definition of the middle-road position in these things belongs to the
be punished or made happy by punishment and delight of non-sensual nature. They are extremists.
The true middle-road (called Asharia after Imam Abul Hasan Al Ashari) between this complete
allegorism
and the rigidity of the Hanbalites is subtle and obscure. It is found only by those who enjoy Divine
Guidance and comprehend things by the aid of Divine Light, not by hearsay. Then when the mysteries
of
things are revealed to them, so that they see them as they are, they go back to the Koran and
prophetic
quotations and their wording; whatever agrees with what they see with the light of certainty they
affirm,
and whatever disagrees with it they interpret allegorically. But he who bases his knowledge of these
things on mere hearsay will thereby fail to secure a firm foothold or gain a well defined position
therein.
Such a man who confines himself to mere hearsay would do better to follow the position of Ahmad ibn
Hanbal.
But a closer examination and definition of the middle-road position in these things belongs to the