The Waqifa (those who suspend judgement on the Qur'an)

الواقفة ⁦(في القرآن)⁩

A name given by third-century hadith imams to those who, in the dispute over the createdness of the Qur'an, said 'The Qur'an is God's speech' but would say neither 'created' nor 'uncreated'. Ahmad ibn Hanbal, in reports from him, counts them one of the three branches of the Jahmiyya, and distinguishes the disputant versed in theology, the one not versed in it, and the ignorant person who is to be taught.

Summary

"The Waqifa" ("those who stop") is a name given by third-century hadith imams to those who suspended judgement in the question of the createdness of the Qur'an, saying "the Qur'an is God's speech" but neither "created" nor "uncreated". It is a name by which their opponents described a position, not the name of an organised group that called itself so. They appear in the chapter "Abu Abd Allah's view of the Waqifa" in Abd Allah ibn Ahmad's Kitab al-Sunna. ¹ ²

As their opponents defined them

The editor Adil Al Hamdan quotes Harb al-Kirmani's Sunna: the Waqifa are those who say "the Qur'an is God's speech" but do not say "uncreated". ¹ He quotes from al-Khallal Ahmad ibn Hanbal's saying that the Jahmiyya divided into three branches, one being "those who doubted", meaning the Waqifa. ³ In al-Hasan ibn Thawab's report Ahmad called them "a kind of Jahmiyya who hid behind suspending judgement". ¹

Those associated with the view

In Ibrahim ibn al-Harith's report, as the editor quotes it from Harb al-Kirmani's Sunna, Ahmad was asked whether one who says "I do not say the Qur'an is created, nor that it is not created" can be among Ahl al-Sunna; he said no, and that he had heard that "Ibn Mu'adhdhal" held this view and that many people of Basra had been led astray by it. ¹

Ahmad's judgement

Abd Allah relates that his father, asked about the Waqifa, said: whoever of them disputes and is known for theology is a Jahmi; whoever is not known for theology is to be shunned until he returns; whoever has no knowledge is to ask and learn. ² The editor quotes Abu Dawud's report that Ahmad was asked whether a man may say "God's speech" and stop there; he said silence would have been allowed had people not fallen into the dispute, but since they have spoken he should speak. ¹ And from Ibn Abi Hatim: one who suspends judgement out of ignorance is taught and declared an innovator, not an unbeliever, while one who suspends judgement in doubt is a Jahmi. ²

See May one say "my utterance of the Qur'an is created", or suspend judgement?

Not yet covered

Everything here comes from their hadith-scholar opponents; the arguments of those who suspended judgement, from their own books or other sources, and academic studies have not yet been added.

Sources

Kitab al-Sunna of Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal, ed. Adil ibn Abd Allah Al Hamdan, Dar al-Lu'lu'a, Beirut, 4th ed., 1441 AH / 2020 , p. 117

Kitab al-Sunna of Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal, ed. Adil ibn Abd Allah Al Hamdan, Dar al-Lu'lu'a, Beirut, 4th ed., 1441 AH / 2020 , p. 118

Kitab al-Sunna of Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal, ed. Adil ibn Abd Allah Al Hamdan, Dar al-Lu'lu'a, Beirut, 4th ed., 1441 AH / 2020 , p. 92

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