Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Qurṭubī’s Attitude toward Anthropomorphic Descriptions of God (Tashbīh)

Abstract

This article deals with particular aspects of Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Qurṭubī’stheological worldview. Here I explore the ways in which al-Qurṭubī deals withanthropomorphic expressions of God in two of his Quranic exegeses: Al-Jāmiʿli-aḥkām al-Qurʾān wa-l-mubayyin li-mā taḍammanahu min al-sunna wa-āyal-furqān (The Comprehensive Legal Commentary of the Qurʾān, SheddingLight on the Sunna and the Decisive Verses it Contains); and Al-Asnā fī sharḥasmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā (The Sublime Commentary on God’s Best and MostBeautiful Names and His Attributes). These treatises serve as major sources forunderstanding al-Qurṭubī’s hermeneutical methodology and his approach toanthropomorphic expressions in the Quran and the Ḥadīth literature. I focus onal-Qurṭubī’s attitude toward three theological schools: The Traditionalist, theMuʽtazila and the Ashʽariyya. Moreover, I explore al-Qurṭubī’s interpretationsof three Quranic anthropomorphic expressions: ‘seating on the throne’, ‘God’shand’, and ‘God’s face’.