Al-Qurtubi & Ar-Razi vs follower of Ibn Taymiyyah (Light?)

Question:

Is the god of Al-Qurtubi and Ar-Razi not light, while the god of the servants of Ibn Taymiyyah is light?

Answer:

Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Al-Qurtubi writes: “It is permissible to say, as a praise, that God is in possession of light, because He created everything and He enlightened everything from its beginning to the dawn, but the Sublime is not one of the actual lights! Exalted be He above what the unjust say! Hisham Al-Jawaqili and a group of the embodiments (those who give God a body) say: “He is light, but not like the lights and a body, but not like the bodies.” And all of this is impossible to ascribe to God, both from the point of view of the mind and the tradition as known in its place of linguistics. They are entangled in a contradiction with their statement, for their very word says: “A body or light.” In the literal sense, and their word says: “Not like the lights.” And “Not like the bodies.” As a denial, whereas they confirmed it as a body and light, and this is a paradox, and the ascertainment of the reality of this takes place in linguistics.” [Al-Jami’ Li-Ahkam Al-Qur’an, Volume 15 page 255]

قال محمد بن أحمد القرطبي: فيجوز أن يقال لله تعالى نور من جهة المدح لأنه أوجد الأشياء، ونور جميع الأشياء منه ابتداؤها وعنه صدورها، وهو سبحانه ليس من الأضواء المدركة جل وتعالى عما يقول الظالمون علوا كبيرا. وقد قال هشام الجوالقي وطائفة من المجسمة: هو نور لا كالأنوار، وجسم لا كالأجسام. وهذا كله محال على الله تعالى عقلا ونقلا على ما يعرف في موضعه من علم الكلام. ثم إن قولهم متناقض؛ فإن قولهم جسم أو نور حكم عليه بحقيقة ذلك، وقولهم لا كالأنوار ولا كالأجسام نفي لما أثبتوه من الجسمية والنور؛ وذلك متناقض، وتحقيقه في علم الكلام

Fakhr-ud-Din Ar-Razi writes: “It is impossible for God to be light and thus it is confirmed that there is no way to ignore the interpretation.” [At-Tafsir-ul-Kabir / Mafatih-ul-Ghaib, Volume 23 page 225]

قال فخر الدين الرازي: فيستحيل أن يكون الإله نورا فثبت أنه لا بد من التأويل

Fakhr-ud-Din Ar-Razi writes: “The meaning is that God is the leader of the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth and this is the opinion of Ibn Abbas and the majority, May God be well pleased with them.” [At-Tafsir-ul-Kabir / Mafatih-ul-Ghaib, Volume 23 page 225]

قال فخر الدين الرازي: ان المراد الله هادي أهل السموات والأرض وهو قول ابن عباس والأكثرين رضي الله عنهم

Fakhr-ud-Din Ar-Razi writes: “It is obvious that He is not Light Himself with His essence, but the Light is His possession.” [At-Tafsir-ul-Kabir / Mafatih-ul-Ghaib, Volume 23 page 224]

قال فخر الدين الرزاي: صريح في أنه ليس ذاته نفس النور بل النور مضاف إليه

In contrast, the servants of Ibn Taymiyyah believe that God is literally light.

Abd-ur-Rahman Ibn Nasir Ibn As-Sa’di writes: “God is the Light of the heavens and the earth both concretely and meaning-wise and this is so because the Sublime Himself is Light with His Being.” [Taysir Al-Karim Ar-Rahman Fi Tafsir Kalam Al-Mannan, Volume 18 Page 568]

قال عبد الرحمن بن ناصر بن السعدي: ٱلله نور ٱلسموت وٱلأرض الحسي والمعنوي وذلك أنه تعالى بذاته نور