Karramiyya Explained

Karramiyya (Arabic: كرّاميّه | Karrāmiyyah) was a Hanafi-Mujassim^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]} sect in Islam which flourished in the central and eastern parts of the Islamic worlds, and especially in the Iranian regions, from the 9th century until the Mongol invasions in the 13th century.^[7]

The sect was founded by a Sistani named Muhammad ibn Karram^[8] (d. 896) who was a popular preacher in Khurasan in the 9th century in the vicinity of Nishapur. He later emigrated with many of his followers to Jerusalem. According to him, the Karrāmites were also called the "followers of Abū'Abdallāh" (aṣḥāb Abī'Abdallāh) .^[9] Its main distribution areas were in Greater Khorasan, Transoxiana and eastern peripheral areas of Iran. Early Ghaznavids and the early Ghurid dynasty granted the Karrāmīyan rulership. The most important center of the community remained until the end of the 11th century Nishapur. After its decline, the Karrāmīya survived only in Ghazni and Ghor in the area of today's Afghanistan.

Doctrine

The doctrine of the Karramiyya consisted of literalism and anthropomorphism. Ibn Karram considered that God was a substance and that He had a body (jism) finite in certain directions when He comes into contact with the Throne.^{[10] [11]} This belief was rejected by orthodox Sunni Muslim scholars such as: Abu Bakr al-Samarqandi (d. 268/881–2), al-Hakim al-Samarqandi (d. 342/953), 'Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi (d. 429/1037–8), the Ash'arites, and Maturidites in general.

Ibn Hajar al-Haytami stated that, "They believe that God is a body sitting on the Throne, touching it and resting on it, and then moves down every night during the last third of the night to the heavens, and then goes back to His place at dawn."^[12]

They also believed that Munkar and Nakir angels were actually the same as guardian angels on the right and left side of every person.^[13]

The Karramiyya also held the view that the world was eternal and that God's power was limited.^[10]

These beliefs were rejected by many Sunni theologians as heretical and eventually disappeared. The Karramiyya operated centers of worship and propagated asceticism.^[14]

Unlike other corporealist groups, the Karramiyya emphasised use of reason to defend their beliefs.^{[15] [16] [17] [18]}

See also

• Asas al-Taqdis

Notes and References

1. Book: . A History of Palestine, 634-1099 . 1997 . . 9780521599849 . 301 . Ethel Broido.
2. Book: Nile Green . Sufism: A Global History . 2012 . . 9781405157612 . 45.
3. Web site: . Siyar A'lam al-Nubala' (The Biographies of the Most Noble) . Islamweb.net . ar.
4. Web site: . Lisan al-Mizan (Tongue of the Balance) . al-eman.com . ar.
5. Web site: من هم "الكرامية" ولماذا وصفهم أهل السنة والجماعة بأصحاب البدعة؟ . . ar.
6. https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/kerramiyye KERRÂMİYYE, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, v. 25, pp. 294-296, 2002.
7. Encyclopedia: Karrāmiyya. BRILL . August 28, 2014.
8. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/karramiya Encyclopedia Iranica, "KARRĀMIYA"
9. Zysow: Two unrecognized Karrāmī texts. 1988, p. 580
10. Book: Lewis . B. . Menage . V.L. . Pellat . Ch. . Schacht . J. . Encyclopaedia of Islam . IV (Iran-Kha) . Brill . Leiden, Netherlands . 1997 . 1st. pub. 1978 . 9004078193 . 667. Bernard Lewis . New .
11. Book: Material Culture and Asian Religions: Text, Image, Object. Benjamin. Fleming. Richard . Mann. Routledge. 2014. 333. 978-1-135013738. August 28, 2014.
12. Yossef Rapoport and Shahab Ahmed, Introduction in Ibn Taymiyya and His Times, eds. Yossef Rapoport and Shahab Ahmed (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2010), 278
13. Book: J. Hoffman, Valerie . The Essentials of Ibadi Islam. Syracuse University Press. 2012. 328. 978-0815650843. August 28, 2014.
14. Book: Porter Berkey, Jonathan . The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800 . 2. illustrated, reprint. Cambridge University Press. 2003. 9780521588133. 286. August 28, 2014.
15. Hashim, Abdul Quddus, and Abdull Rahman Mahmood. "Isu Melihat Allah SWT di Akhirat Antara Al-Būtī dan Salafiyyah Semasa." Fikiran Masyarakat 5.1 (2017): 41-49.
16. Encyclopedia: Zysow . Aron . Iranica . KARRĀMIYA . 1 October 2020 . en . 15 October 2011 . Encyclopædia Iranica Foundation . 15 . 590–601 . Among later Muslim thinkers Ebn Taymiya (d. 728/1328) stands out as a sympathetic, if critical, student of Karrāmi theology, and he took it upon himself to write an extensive commentary on Faḵr-al-Din Rāzi's anti-Karrāmi work Asās al-taqdis, in which he defended the traditionist and Karrāmi positions on the key points of dispute.
17. Web site: https://al-maktaba.org/book/31901/1144. . etal . ar:كتاب موسوعة الفرق المنتسبة للإسلام - الدرر السنية. dorar.net. وقام أيضا أبو عبدالله محمد بن كرام بسجستان ونواحيها ينصر مذهب أهل السنة والجماعة، والمثبتة للصفات والقدر وحب الصحابة وغير ذلك، ويرد على الجهمية والمعتزلة والرافضة وغيرهم، ويوافقهم على أصول مقالاتهم التي بها قالوا ما قالوا، ويخالفهم في لوازمها، كما خالفهم ابن كلاب والأشعري، لكن هؤلاء منتسبون إلى السنة والحديث، وابن كرام منتسب إلى مذهب أهل الرأي.
18. Book: Ibn Taymiyyah. Ibn Taymiyyah. Bayan al-Talbis al-Jahmiyyah. ar.