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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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Answer to the objection regarding the descent of the Creator in the last third of the night?

Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : A questioner says.

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, O Messenger. In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. And if the one speaking is not me, then before you bring up the questions, say: We thank so-and-so and so-and-so for this valuable guidance. I thank the Shaykh. No, no, say nothing, say nothing. Come, we said: In the name of Allah.

The questioner : Honorable Shaykh! He asks: Some people say, how does Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) descend to the lower half of the earth if it is night, when it is day in the other half? And how do we answer their statement?

The Shaykh : Yes, we answer his statement as simply as possible. Do you believe in Allah and His Messenger? We ask the questioner this first. If he says, Yes, I believe in Allah and His Messenger, we say: Say what Allah and His Messenger said. As long as the last third of the night or half the night remains, the divine descent is established. And when the dawn breaks, the time of descent ends. No one can ask this question except a man who is overly meticulous and delves too deep, who is ruined by the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
(peace and blessings be upon him) The overly meticulous are ruined. He said it three times,صلى الله عليه وسلم هلك المتنطعون قالها ثلاث مرات،
The overly meticulous are ruined, the overly meticulous are ruined. And let this questioner and those like him read the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He)
The only statement of the [true] believers when they are called to Allah and His Messenger to judge between them is that they say, "We hear and we obey."إِنَّمَا كَانَ قَوْلَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذَا دُعُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَهُمْ أَن يَقُولُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا
[An-Nur 24:51]
, so let the person say: We heard and we obeyed, and we believe. As for how He descends, and whether it is night or day for the people in the other half of the earth, that is a great error. This question is forbidden, and it is not permissible for a person to ask this question, because this means that he is in doubt about the matter. Doubt in the news of Allah and His Messenger is disbelief. The matter is not light, O people. This question strikes the face of its owner, and it is said to him: You are ruined because you are overly meticulous. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The overly meticulous are ruined. So beware, my Muslim brother, of objecting to the news of Allah and His Messenger with such defective objections. Say: We heard and we obeyed. The Lord descends to the lowest heaven as long as the last third of the night remains. And when the dawn breaks, there is no descent. As for how the other third revolves around the earth, no one can bring this up except if he is in doubt. We ask Allah for safety.
Source قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، لقاء[214 من 216] الجواب على إشكال حوال مسألة نزول الخالق في الثلث الآخر من الليل؟! الشيخ ابن عثيمين — youtube.com

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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