What is the response to the Asha'irah regarding their figurative interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted: "So wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah"?
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Question:
Some of the contemporary callers of the Asha'irah deny the belief of the Salaf, which is not to interpret the ambiguous verses, then he explains his own belief, which is based on interpretation, and then he says: if this is the belief of the Salaf, that is, not interpreting the ambiguous verses, why did Ibn Taymiyyah take offense when he interpreted "face" as "direction" in His saying
Answer:
when he interpreted "face" as "direction" in the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:115]. This is an ignorant person, this is an ignorant person who does not know about the Arabic language. "Face" in the Arabic language has several meanings, among which is the face, which is the known face, which is an attribute of Allah the Mighty and Majestic, and it is also in the created beings; the face is known, the face is known, and this is the attribute which is among the attributes of Allah, an essential attribute of Allah the Mighty and Majestic. And "face" also means direction, the direction, [Al-Baqarah 2:115] meaning the direction, the direction toward which the worshipper turns. And if this is while traveling, one prays the voluntary prayer on the mount, wherever the mount takes him, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did, or if he does not know the qiblah and strives to find it and prays according to the result of his effort, then it is revealed to him afterwards that it was wrong, his prayer is valid because he did what he was able to do, he did what he was able to do [Al-Baqarah 2:115].
And it was said that the verse was revealed regarding this matter, that some people were traveling, they strove to find the qiblah and prayed, then when the day came, they realized that they were not facing the direction of the qiblah, so Allah revealed this verse:[Al-Baqarah 2:115] meaning the direction that Allah commanded you to turn toward.
So this person does not know the language, or he is misleading, meaning some of them know but they mislead in this and confuse the people. He must study the language first and know the meanings of "face" and what is intended by it in every context. He is not speaking like this and confusing the people, yes.
Some of the contemporary callers of the Asha'irah deny the belief of the Salaf, which is not to interpret the ambiguous verses, then he explains his own belief, which is based on interpretation, and then he says: if this is the belief of the Salaf, that is, not interpreting the ambiguous verses, why did Ibn Taymiyyah take offense when he interpreted "face" as "direction" in His saying
Answer:
when he interpreted "face" as "direction" in the saying of Allah the Exalted:
So wherever you [might] turn, there is the Face of Allah
فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِSo wherever you [might] turn, there is the Face of Allah
فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِSo wherever you [might] turn, there is the Face of Allah
فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِAnd it was said that the verse was revealed regarding this matter, that some people were traveling, they strove to find the qiblah and prayed, then when the day came, they realized that they were not facing the direction of the qiblah, so Allah revealed this verse:
And to Allah belongs the east and the west. So wherever you [might] turn, there is the Face of Allah. Indeed, Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.
وَلِلَّهِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌSo this person does not know the language, or he is misleading, meaning some of them know but they mislead in this and confuse the people. He must study the language first and know the meanings of "face" and what is intended by it in every context. He is not speaking like this and confusing the people, yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما الرد على الأشاعرة في تأويل قوله تعالى ﴿ فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ﴾؟ الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.