TASHBIH

(Arabic: assimilating), in Islam, anthropomorphism, comparing God to created things. Both tashbih and its opposite, ta'til (divesting God of all attributes), are regarded as sins in Islamic theology. The difficulty in dealing with the nature of God in Islam arises from the seemingly contradictory views contained in the Qur'an (Islamic scripture). On the one hand God is described as unique and not similar to anything that the mind can imagine; on the other hand he is referred to in the language of anthropomorphismhaving eyes, ears, hands, and face, and sitting on his throne and talking and listening. Some Muslim theologians argued that the Qur'an used such human concepts and idioms because there are no other means of delivering God's message to man and urged that they be interpreted allegorically rather than literally. Al-Ash'ari, a 10th-century Muslim theologian, asserted that the hands, eyes, and face of God and his sitting and talking must be recognized literally without asking how. In the literature of the Sufis (Muslim mystics) God is spoken of in the language and style of ordinary love poetry, which the Sufis interpret allegorically. This is done on the grounds that man is created after God's own image. When Ibn al-'Arabi (Muslim mystic of the 12th century) published his collection of poems Tarjuman al-ashwaq (The Interpreter of Desires), the Muslim orthodox rejected his claim of alluding to divine realities and accused him of actually celebrating the charms of his mistress. He wrote a lengthy interpretation of the poetic text to avoid the accusation of tashbih. Both tashbih and ta'til were avoided by many theologians who spoke rather of tanzih (keeping God pure) and of tathbit (confirming God's attributes). The major reason for the fear of tashbih is that it can easily lead to paganism and idolatry, while ta'til leads to atheism.