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Karramiyya (Arabic:كرّاميّه,romanized: Karrāmiyyah) was aHanafi-Mujassim-Murji'ah[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] sect inIslam which flourished in the central and eastern parts of the Islamic worlds, and especially in the Iranian regions, from the 9th century until theMongol invasions in the 13th century.[8]
The sect was founded by aSistani namedMuhammad ibn Karram[9] (d. 896) who was a popular preacher inKhurasan in the 9th century in the vicinity ofNishapur. He later emigrated with many of his followers toJerusalem. According to him, the Karrāmites were also called the "followers of Abū'Abdallāh"(aṣḥāb Abī'Abdallāh).[10] Its main distribution areas were inGreater Khorasan,Transoxiana and eastern peripheral areas ofIran. EarlyGhaznavids and the earlyGhurid dynasty granted the Karrāmīyan rulership. The most important center of the community remained until the end of the 11th century Nishapur. After its decline, the Karrāmīya survived only inGhazni andGhor in the area of today'sAfghanistan.
The doctrine of the Karramiyya consisted ofliteralism andanthropomorphism. Ibn Karram considered that Allah was a substance and that He had a body (jism) finite in certain directions when He comes into contact with the Throne.[11][12][13] This belief was rejected by more mainstreamSunni Muslim scholars and groups including:Abu Bakr al-Samarqandi (d. 268/881–2),al-Hakim al-Samarqandi (d. 342/953),'Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi (d. 429/1037–8), theAsh'arites, andMaturidites in general.
Ibn Hajar al-Haytami stated that, "They believe that Allah is a body sitting on the Throne, touching it and resting on it, and then moves down every night during the last third of the night to the heavens, and then goes back to His place at dawn."[14]
They also believed thatMunkar and Nakir angels were actually the same as guardian angels on the right and left side of every person.[12]
The Karramiyya also held the view that the world was eternal and that Allah power was limited.[11]
These beliefs were rejected by manySunni theologians asheretical and eventually disappeared. The Karramiyya operated centers of worship and propagatedasceticism.[15]
Unlike other corporealist groups, the Karramiyya emphasised use of reason to defend their beliefs.[16][17][18][19]
Among later Muslim thinkers Ebn Taymiya (d. 728/1328) stands out as a sympathetic, if critical, student of Karrāmi theology, and he took it upon himself to write an extensive commentary on Faḵr-al-Din Rāzi's anti-Karrāmi work Asās al-taqdis, in which he defended the traditionist and Karrāmi positions on the key points of dispute
وقام أيضا أبو عبدالله محمد بن كرام بسجستان ونواحيها ينصر مذهب أهل السنة والجماعة، والمثبتة للصفات والقدر وحب الصحابة وغير ذلك، ويرد على الجهمية والمعتزلة والرافضة وغيرهم، ويوافقهم على أصول مقالاتهم التي بها قالوا ما قالوا، ويخالفهم في لوازمها، كما خالفهم ابن كلاب والأشعري، لكن هؤلاء منتسبون إلى السنة والحديث، وابن كرام منتسب إلى مذهب أهل الرأي
