Question:
Ibn Qayyim in Kitab Ruh did not believe the Ruh existed before the Body. Also how to understand Baydawi’s opinion about the Day of the covenant?( أي أخرج من أصلابهم نسلهم على ما يتوالدون قرناً بعد قرن،)
Answer:
There is no such position on the part of Ibn al-Qayyim to my knowledge. As to the statement of al-Baydawi it is the understanding of the totality of Ahl al-Sunna for the verse of al-A`raf 7:172, whereby he said:
{And when your nurturing Lord took from the children of Ādam—from their backs—their offspring) [dhurriyyatahum]}
i.e. He brought out from their loins their progeny in the sense of what they will generate from one era after another.” I.e. everyone from the first to the last legally-tasked creature, in the literal sense and not “as a metaphorical representation” as Zamakhshari had said. The gloss and the literal understanding are further confirmed by the explicit hadith to that effect mentioning the appearance of their being brought out in countless numbers as being like ants.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
