Incarnation and pantheism Fatwa No: 11542
- Fatwa Date:4-10-2010
What are incarnation and pantheism?
All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
Incarnation and pantheism are two polytheistic beliefs, which is apparent from their definition.
Incarnation would mean that Allaah enters into some of His creation and unite with them, like the Christian belief that Allaah entered into the Messiah 'Eesaa (Jesus), the son of Maryam (Mary) the belief that many of the Imaams of Ar-Raafidhah hold about 'Ali and the belief of some people that Allaah entered the body of Al-Hallaaj and some Sufi Shaykhs. Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah mentioned that some people believe that Allaah The Almighty entered into the body of the Messiah and others claim that Allaah The Exalted dwells with His Essence everywhere – Exalted may He be above all that they say. These people are the Jahmiyyah whom the Companions called disbelievers.
As for Pantheism, it means that created beings themselves are Allaah The Almighty. Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah labeled it as general pantheism, which was the doctrine of Ibn ‘Arabi, Al-Qoonawi, At-Tilmisaani, Ibn Sab‘een, Ash-Shushtari, Ibn Al-Faaridh and their followers. He said that these people claim that whatever attribute, good or bad, the human being is described with is an attribute of Allaah as well. They also claim that worshippers of idols worshipped only Allaah. Among their sayings are "God is all and all is God," thus, by implication, worshippers of idols in fact worship Allaah and, according to Ibn ‘Arabi, those who worshipped the calf were correct. Fir‘awn (Pharaoh) was a prominent worshipper and his claim to Lordship was valid.
To be certain of their disbelief, it is sufficient to know that the least of their deviant statements is that Fir‘awn died as a believer and free of sin, as well as the other statements that Shaykh Al-Islam mentioned.
There are many other things that prove beyond any shadow of doubt their disbelief and apostasy.
We supplicate Allaah to grant us steadfastness on the path of truth.
And Allaah Knows best.