Question Summary:
What is the beliefs of Imam Ahmed and ibn Taymiyya?

Question Detail:

what is the beliefs of imam Ahmed ibn hanbal and is hanbali aqidah correct? Is hanbali fiqh similar or same to beliefs of shaykh ibn taymiyyah (ra)?

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāhi wa barakātuh.
Imām Abū ‘Abdillāh Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal ibn Hilāl (164 – 241 H) – rahimahullāh ta‘ālā –, the founder of the Hanbalī madhhab of fiqh, was a great imām of Ahlus Sunnah wa l-Jamā‘ah. His madhhab is one of the four established schools of Islāmic jurisprudence. He was on the ‘aqīdah of Ahlus Sunnah wa l-Jamā‘ah.
However, the “Hanbalī ‘aqīdah” that developed shortly after Imām Ahmad ibn Hanbal rahimahullāh ta‘ālā, attributing itself to the great imām, became contaminated by anthropomorphic beliefs (meaning, the belief that – na‘ūdhu billāh – Allāh Ta‘ālā is a tangible, physical entity). Hāfiz Ibn al-Jawzī (510 - 597 H) – rahimahullāh ta‘ālā –, one of the major scholars of the Hanbalī school, wrote a treatise called Daf‘ Shubah al-Tashbīh (Repelling the Doubts of Likening [Allāh to creation]), defending Imām Ahmad rahimahullāh against the innovated beliefs later ascribed to him by those who claimed to follow his school.[1]  
Ibn ‘Aqīl (431 – 513 H) rahimahullāh, also a major scholar belonging to the Hanbalī madhhab, wrote against the anthropomorphism that crept into his school.[2]
Ibn Taymiyyah, unfortunately, opposed the ‘ulamā’ of Ahlus Sunnah wa l-Jamā‘ah in many issues of ‘aqīdah. For example, he supported anthropomorphic ideas with respect to Allāh.[3] Moreover, he upheld the view that Hellfire will come to an end, which is in conflict with many verses of the Qur’ān and the established doctrine of Ahlus Sunnah wa l-Jamā‘ah[4]. He also believed in the misguided concept of “originated entities that have no beginning” (hawādith lā awwala lahā), which asserts that created beings have always existed along with Allāh Ta‘ālā.[5]
Major scholars of Ahlus Sunnah refuted Ibn Taymiyyah on these corrupt views. For example, his esteemed contemporary, Imām Taqī al-Dīn al-Subkī (683 – 756 H), wrote a work called al-Durar al-Mudiyyah fi l-Radd ‘ala Ibn Taymiyyah, in which he mentions Ibn Taymiyyah’s anthropomorphism and his view of “originated entities that have no beginning”. Imām Taqī al-Dīn Abū Bakr al-Husnī (752 – 829 H), a great jurist of the Shāfi‘ī madhhab, also wrote a refutation of Ibn Taymiyyah, called Daf‘ Shubah man Shabbaha wa Tamarrada wa Nasaba dhālika ila l-Imām Ahmada (Repelling the Doubts of the one Who Made a Likeness [between Allāh and creation] and Rebelled and Attributed that to Imām Ahmad). In it, he made reference to, and refuted, all the abovementioned aberrations of Ibn Taymiyyah.
Hence, Muslims should avoid any creed presenting itself as the so-called “Hanbalī ‘aqīdah,” or the ‘aqīdah of Ibn Taymiyyah.
Instead, for a common Muslim, the statements on Islāmic belief contained in al-‘Aqīdat al-Tahāwiyyah of Imām Abū Ja‘far al-Tahāwī (239 – 321 H) rahimahullāh, which has been endorsed by the ‘ulamā’ of Ahlus Sunnah wa l-Jamā‘ah[6], is sufficient.
Refuting the notion of any similarity between Creator and creation, Imām al-Tahāwī mentions:
من وصف الله بمعنى من معاني البشر فقد كفر
“The one who attributes Allāh with a property from the properties of man, he has disbelieved.”
Rejecting anthropomorphism, he says:
تعالى عن الحدود والغايات، والأركان والأعضاء والأدوات، لا تحويه الجهات الست كسائر المبتدعات
“[Allāh] is elevated beyond limits and boundaries, and parts, limbs and instruments. The six directions do not encompass Him like [they do] all created things.”
Rejecting the concept of the termination of Hellfire, he mentions:
والجنة والنار مخلوقتان، لا تفنيان أبدا ولا تبيدان
“Jannah and Nār are created. They will never perish nor come to an end.”
Rejecting the view that created things have always existed with Allāh, he writes:
له معنى الربوبية ولا مربوب ومعنى الخالق ولا مخلوق
“He had the property of Lordship when there was nothing lorded over and the property of Creator when there was no creation.”
One should learn the clear creed of the Salaf (righteous predecessors) as presented by Imām al-Tahāwī in his ‘Aqīdah, and avoid dabbling in dubious presentations of Islāmic beliefs. Muslims who are not ‘ulamā’ or do not have a background in the Islāmic sciences should suffice with the brief exposition found in al-‘Aqīdat al-Tahāwiyyah and must not delve into intricate matters of ‘aqīdah, as this will lead to confusion and may cause errors in belief.
Learned Muslims should beware of some unreliable commentaries of al-‘Aqīdat al-Tahāwiyyah which oppose the clear statements of Imām al-Tahāwī, famous amongst them, Sharh al-‘Aqīdat al-Tahāwiyyah of Ibn Abi l-‘Izz (d. 792 H), in which the commentator adopted some of the erroneous views of Ibn Taymiyyah. Some of the reliable commentaries of Imām al-Tahāwī’s ‘Aqīdah are those by Qādī Ismā‘īl ibn Ibrāhīm al-Shaybānī (d. 629 H), Abū Hafs Sirāj al-Dīn al-Ghaznawī (d. 773) and ‘Abd al-Ghanī al-Maydānī (d. 1298), all of which are in print[7].
And Allah Ta‘ālā Knows Best
Zameelur Rahman
Student Darul Iftaa
UK
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
www.daruliftaa.net