Jahm bin Safwan facts for kids

Jahm bin Safwan (Arabic: جَهْم بن صَفْوان, romanized: Jahm bin Ṣafwān) was an important Islamic thinker. He lived during the end of the Umayyad period. Jahm was connected to Al-Harith ibn Surayj, who led a rebellion in a region called Khurasan. Jahm was killed in the year 745.

Who Was Jahm bin Safwan?

Jahm was born in a city called Kufa. Later, he moved to Khurasan and lived in Tirmidh. He learned from a teacher named al-Ja'd b. Dirham. Al-Ja'd b. Dirham was known for some very different ideas. For example, he was one of the first Muslims to say that the Qur'an was "created." This meant he believed it was not eternal, like God.

Jahm worked as an assistant to Al-Harith ibn Surayj. Al-Harith was leading a revolt against the Umayyad government. Jahm was killed during a battle in 746. Even though the revolt failed, it made the Umayyad government weaker. This helped the Abbasid Revolution succeed later on.

What Did Jahm Teach?

It's a bit tricky to know exactly what Jahm taught. This is because we don't have his own writings. What we know comes from other scholars who wrote about him. These scholars often disagreed with his ideas.

God's Qualities

Jahm believed that only a few qualities could be truly said about God. These included things like God being the creator and having divine power. He thought it was wrong to say God "speaks." Because of this, he believed the Qur'an could not be God's eternal word. He thought it must have been created.

Extreme Determinism

Jahm also believed in something called "extreme determinism." This is the idea that everything that happens is already decided by God. He thought that people only act "metaphorically." For example, when we say the sun "sets," it's just a way of speaking. Jahm believed it's actually God who makes the sun go down. People don't truly have free will to choose their actions.

Jahm's Influence and Legacy

Jahm did not leave any books or writings of his own. However, his ideas were discussed by many later Muslim scholars. His teachings were often brought up when people criticized the Mu'tazila group. The Mu'tazila also believed that the Qur'an was created. This was an idea that Jahm had also held.

Criticism of Jahm's Ideas

Many scholars disagreed with Jahm's teachings. They wrote books and had debates to explain why.

Scholars of His Time

Muqatil ibn Sulayman was a scholar who lived at the same time as Jahm. Muqatil strongly disagreed with Jahm. They had a big debate in a mosque about God's qualities. Both scholars wrote books to argue against each other. Muqatil even used his political connections to get Jahm sent away from one city.

Abu Hanifah was another very important scholar. He also criticized Jahm's ideas. Abu Hanifah even said that Jahm was a disbeliever because of his views.

Later Scholars

Many scholars who came after Jahm also wrote against his doctrines. This included famous Hadith scholars like Ahmad ibn Hanbal. His students, such as al-Bukhari and Abu Dawud as-Sijistani, also wrote refutations.

Later Islamic theologians, like Abu Hasan al-Ash'ari and Abu Mansur al-Maturidi, continued to criticize Jahm. His ideas were often mentioned in their works about different religious groups.

See also

• Muqatil ibn Sulayman
• Jahmi
• Jabriyah