Transcendent Anthropomorphism - Dr. Wesley Muhammad

2. Divine Transcendence in the Qur"§n
D.B. MacDonald, in his article on ‘Allāh’ in the Encyclopedia of Islam, made this observation:
The (Qur"§nic) descriptions (of God) are at first sight a strange combination of anthropomorphism
and metaphysics…With only a little ingenuity in one-sidedness an absolutely anthropomorphic
deity could be put together, or a practically pantheistic, or a coldly and aloofly rationalistic
(deity).” 11
This “strange combination of anthropomorphism and metaphysics” is what characterizes the
transcendently anthropomorphic deities of the ancient Near East and Israel. 12 Like the Bible, the Qur"§n
affirms that God is both like and unlike man. He is a being, shay" (6:19), which, by definition, is delimited
and characterized. 13 Some of the mentioned characteristics or ‘attributes’ (Arabic ßif§t, sing. ßifa) of God
indicate an anthropomorphic deity. 14 As a delimited being God possess a face (wajh, 55:26) with eyes
(20:39; 11:37); two hands (yadayya, 38:75; 5:64), a leg (sāq, 68:42), side (janb, 39:56) a soul (nafs, 3:28,
5:116) and a spirit (råÈ, 66:12); He is in the heavens (67:16) established (istawā) on his throne (7:54).
From there he will “come” to earth (2:210). The qur’anic God also has some human behaviors: he gets
angry (1:7, 2:61, 3:112 and 162, 4:93, etc.); he is cunning (3:54, 8:30, 10:21, 13:42, etc.); he pokes fun
(2:15).
Rahbar called attention to the fact that God’s ‘Most Beautiful Names,’ al-Asmā" al-\usna, can be
divided into “anthropomorphic” or “dispositional” names, i.e. names in which God is disposed towards
and likened to man, and “metaphysical” or non-dispositional names - names which seem inappropriate as
designations for man. 15 Despite the prominence given the latter by Muslim theologians, these amount to
only a half dozen of the ninety-nine names; Al-Quddūs, the Holy; Al-Khāliq, the Creator; Al-Laãif, the
Subtle; Al-Badī, the Incomparable; Al-Ghānī, the Independent; Al-Nūr, the Light. These are completely
dwarfed, however, by Names that could just as easily, and in some cases more easily, be applied to man.
God, like man, is Al-Mu’min, the Faithful; As-Sāmi, the Hearer; Al-Baßir, the Seer; Al-Wadūd, the Loving;
Al-Hayy, the Living; Al-Wājid, the Finder; Al-£§hir, The Evident; Al-Barr, the Righteous; Al-‘abår, the
Patient etc. The rest of the Names can just as easily be descriptions of man.
11
D.B. Macdonald, Encyclopedia of Islam (First Edition; hereafter EI1 ) 1:303, 306, s.v. “All§h.”
12
See above.
13
See below.
14
On Islamic anthropomorphism, its sources, history and influences, see: Richard C. Martin, The Encyclopedia of the Qur"§n
(Leiden: Brill, 2001)(hereafter EQ), s.v. “Anthropomorphism,” 1: 106ff; Daniel Gimaret, Dieu à l’image de l’homme: les
anthropomorphismes de la sunna et leur interprétation par les théologiens (Paris: Patrimoines, 1997). On Islamic
anthropomorphism, its sources, history and influences, see also; Gerhard Böwering, EQ, s.v. “God and His Attributes,” 2:316-331;
Josef van Ess, Theologie und Gesellschaft im 2. und 3. Jahrhundert Hidschra (hereafter TG), 6 vols. (Berlin: Walter de
Gruyter, 1992), particularly vol. 4. ; idem, “TashbÊh wa-TanzÊh,” EI2 10: 341-344; idem. “The Youthful God: Anthropomorphism in
Early Islam,” The University Lecture in Religion at Arizona State University, March 3, 1988 (Tempe: Arizona State University,
1988); Claude Gilliot, “Muq§til, Grand Exégete, Traditionniste Et Théologien Maudit,” Journal Asiatique 179 (1991): 39-84; EI,
s.v. “TashbÊh,” by R. Strothmann, 4:685f; Michel Allard, Le problªeme des attributs divins dans la doctrine d'al-As’ar¸i et
de ses premiers grands disciples. (Beyrouth, Impr. catholique; 1965); Helmut Ritter, Das Meer Der Seele (Leiden: E. J. Brill,
1955), 445-503 (=Helmut Ritter, The Ocean of the Soul: Man, the World and God in the Stories of FarÊd al-DÊn #Aãã§r,
trns and ed. John O’Kane and Bernd Radtke (Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2003), 448-519; Kees Wagtendonk, “Images in Islam: Discussion
of a Paradox” in Effigies Dei, ed. Dirk van Der Plas (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1987) 112-129; J.M.S. Baljon, “Qur"anic
Anthropomorphisms,” Islamic Studies 27 (1988): 119-127;W. Montgomery Watt, “Some Muslim Discussions of
Anthropomorphism” and “Created in His Image: A Study in Islamic Theology,” in his Early Islam (Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press, 1990), 86-93, 94-100; Georges C. Anawati, “Attributes of God: Islamic Concepts” in Encyclopedia of Religion
1:513-519; A. Al-Azmeh, “Orthodoxy and Hanbalite Fideism.” Arabica 35 (1988): 253-266; Robert M. Haddad, “Iconoclasts and
Mu’tazila: The Politics of Anthropomorphism.” The Greek Orthodox Theological Review 27 (Summer – Fall 1982): 287-305; W.
Madelung, “The Controversy Concerning the Creation of the Koran.” in idem, Religious Schools and Sects in Medieval Islam.
London: Variorum Reprints, 1985. V; Binyamin Abrahamov, Anthropomorphism and Interpretation of the Qur"§n in the
Theology of Al-QasÊm Ibn Ibrahim (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1996); idem, Al-K§sim b. Ibr§hÊm on the Proof of God’s Existence
(Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1990), 25ff; J. Windrow Sweetman, Islam and Christian Theology 2 vols. (London: Lutterworth Press, 1947),
1.2:27-47; Merlin Swartz in A Medieval Critique of Anthropomorphism: Ibn al-JawzÊ’s Kit§b Akhb§r aß-‘if§t, a
Citical Edition of the Arabic Text with Translation, Introduction and Notes (Leiden: Brill, 2002); Wesley Williams,
“Aspects of the Creed of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal: A Study of Anthropomorphism is Early Islamic Discourse,” International Journal of
Middle East Studies 34 (2002): 441-463.
15
See below.