Al-Kafi · Hadith 4

The Book on Oneness of Allah (God) · Chapter On Prohibition on Considering Allah as having Body (JISM) and Form (SURAH) · Volume 1, book 3, chapter 11, Hadith 4

Original Arabic text

4ـ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله عَمَّنْ ذَكَرَهُ عَنْ عَلِيِّ بْنِ الْعَبَّاسِ عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ أَبِي نَصْرٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ حَكِيمٍ قَالَ وَصَفْتُ لابِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ (عَلَيْهِ السَّلام) قَوْلَ هِشَامِ بْنِ سَالِمٍ الْجَوَالِيقِيِّ وَحَكَيْتُ لَهُ قَوْلَ هِشَامِ بْنِ الْحَكَمِ أَنَّهُ جِسْمٌ فَقَالَ إِنَّ الله تَعَالَى لا يُشْبِهُهُ شَيْ‏ءٌ أَيُّ فُحْشٍ أَوْ خَناً أَعْظَمُ مِنْ قَوْلِ مَنْ يَصِفُ خَالِقَ الاشْيَاءِ بِجِسْمٍ أَوْ صُورَةٍ أَوْ بِخِلْقَةٍ أَوْ بِتَحْدِيدٍ وَأَعْضَاءٍ تَعَالَى الله عَنْ ذَلِكَ عُلُوّاً كَبِيراً.

Published English translation

4. Muhammad ibn Abu ‘Abdallah has narrated from those he mentioned from Ali ibn al-‘Abbass from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn abu Nasr from Muhammad ibn Hakim. He has said that I explained to abu Ibrahim (Musa al-Kadhim (a.s.), the words of Hisham ibn Salim al-Jawaliqi and the words of Hisham ibn al-Hakam that say Allah is a body. The Imam (a.s.) said, “Allah, the Most High, is not similar to any of the things. What can be more blasphemous and scandalous than to describe the Creator of all things by means of body, form, type of creation, limitations, limbs and organs. Allah, the Most High, the Great, is far above these things.”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: مرسل

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (2/3)

Assessment transcribed from the source's named scholar and reference. No new grading or consensus is asserted; differing entries remain separate.

Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi: Catalogue non-inclusion note (not an authenticity grade)

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī

Source records non-inclusion in this scholar's selection; this is not itself a weak or authentic grade.

Source, rights, and attribution

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edition: Al-Kafi, volume 1, Thaqalayn digital edition / Muhammad Sarwar translation
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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
source Revision: becbad600b693ce23735d7403c4126ce7c896d34
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