Hisham's life was long...
Hisham's life was long, and he lived up to the time of the Imam al-Kazim, peace be upon him (129/746–183/799). A brief biography of Hisham Al-Jawaliqi Hisham ibn Salim is the second of the two Hishams to whom they attributed the doctrine of pure corporealism and anthropomorphism; we shall review what has been cited in both Imami and non-Imami hadith.
A Tradition from Muhammad ibn Hakim, who said: I described for Abu 'l-Hasan, peace be upon him, the belief of Hisham al-Jawaliqi, and what he says about the long- haired young man (ash-shabu 'l-muwaffar) . .
.[^6] A Tradition from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Khazzaz and Muhammad ibn al-Husayn who said: We called upon Abu 'l-Hasan ar-Rida, peace be upon him, and we related to him that Muhammad, may Allah bless him and his family and [grant them salvation], saw his Lord in the form of a long-haired young man, of the age of boys of thirty years.
We said: 'Hisham ibn Salim and his renowned companion at-Taq[^7] and al-Maythami[^8] stated that He is hollow in the centre but the rest is firm.'[^9] A Tradition from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Nasr al- Bazanti from ar-Rida, peace be upon him. He said: He said to me: 'O Ahmad! What is the difference between you and the followers of Hisham ibn al-Hakam with respect to Unicity?' I said: 'May I be made your ransom!
We believe in the form because of the hadith which narrates: "The Prophet of Allah, may Allah bless him and his family [and grant them salvation], saw his Lord in the form of a young man", and Hisham ibn al-Hakam believes in denying [that God has a] body.'[^10] This indicates that Hisham denied the form, because its assertion would require that Allah has a body.
al-Kishshi relates from ‘Abdu 'l-Malik ibn Hisham al-Hannat that he said to Abu 'l-Hasan ar-Rida, peace be upon him: May I be made your ransom!
Hisham ibn Salim claims that Allah, the Great, the Exalted, is a form, and that Adam was created in the image of the Lord, and he describes this and that – and I indicated my flank and the hair on my head[^11] – and Yunus[^12] a client of the Al Yaqtin and Hisham ibn al- Hakam claim that God is a thing unlike [other] things, that things are distinct from Him and He from things.