What is your opinion on combining the attribute of the Face with seeking the Face of Allah in one's deeds?

The Shaykh: And upon him.

The questioner: But here are two questions that are appropriate, meaning they relate to creed, and they are on roughly the same topic. The first question is: What is your opinion on combining the interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted with the attribute of the Face, and the deed by which one seeks His Face? The question is roughly on the topic of creed or attributes. Explain to us what is correct and what is not correct in interpreting the saying of the Merciful, "He has established Himself upon the Throne."

The Shaykh: What did the first question say?

The questioner: What is your opinion on combining, how do we combine the interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted with the attribute of the Face, and the deed by which one seeks Your Face? Allah. I mean, if we say that we only seek the Face of Allah the Exalted with our deeds. Yes, indeed.

The Shaykh: The answer covers both questions or the two parts of the question. The Face of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, refers to His Essence, Mighty and Majestic, along with all His attributes that are inseparable from Him. So, as they say, it is from specifying a part while intending the whole. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is a single Essence described with all attributes of perfection and free from all attributes of deficiency. So His Face, His Hand, and every attribute that came in the Qur'an or in the authentic Sunnah are among His attributes, Blessed and Exalted is He. So if a person seeks the Face of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, he is only seeking to draw near to Him, Exalted is He, in His Essence and His attributes. And what was the second question?

The questioner: A comment on this broadcast? It is feared that when we say regarding the attributes of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, that this is from specifying a part while intending the whole, that the interpreters will interpret this specification or this statement, which is not fitting on its surface for the Essence of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and His attributes. Therefore, I perhaps see that it is better to say regarding such an attribute that it is a metonymy for the Divine Essence, because a metonymy intends the necessary concomitant of the thing, and the original meaning remains the thing itself. So it is permissible to apply it to the original meaning, and there is no contradiction then.

The Shaykh: It is as you said, but, praise be to Allah, I avoided using the word "part."

The questioner : Yes, indeed.

The Shaykh: I did not say a part of it.

The questioner: By Allah, I did not notice. The second question, which is: Explain to us what is correct and what is not correct in interpreting the saying of Allah the Exalted .

The Shaykh: This is a topic that, praise be to Allah, has been addressed in the books of the Sunnah and the books of the scholars of the righteous Salaf, so the matter does not require much lengthening of the speech. Rather, I mention the report transmitted from Imam Malik, the Imam of the City of Migration, may Allah have mercy on him. When a questioner came to him and asked him, saying: O Malik, "The Merciful has established Himself upon the Throne," how did He establish Himself? He said: The establishment is known, the how is unknown, and asking about it is an innovation. Take this man away, for he is an innovator. Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The establishment is known. Linguistically, it is as if he is saying: It is not befitting for you to ask about the how of the establishment, because the how is unknown. As for the meaning of the establishment, you know it because you are an Arab. So the establishment is known. It is the rising above for Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, as befits His greatness and majesty. As for the how, it is unknown.
And this is a rule that Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, established or drew attention to. It is applied to all the Divine attributes mentioned in the Book and the Sunnah. It puts a stone in the mouth of every innovator who tries to interpret an attribute of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, whether it is mentioned in the Book or in the Sunnah. Do not say "how" regarding any attribute. "And your Lord comes" and "And your Lord comes." Do not say "how," but rather believe that the coming of Allah is a real attribute that befits the Essence of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and His greatness, and that it does not resemble the coming of the created beings. Like His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He.
And He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. He preceded it with His saying, "There is nothing like Him." So He is All-Hearing; do not say "All-Hearing" in the sense of "All-Knowing," or "All-Seeing" in the sense of "All-Knowing," for that is ta'til (denial of the divine attributes). Rather, say "All-Seeing" with a seeing that befits Him, and "All-Hearing" with a hearing that befits Him, because He preceded it by saying, "There is nothing like Him." This is tanzih (transcendence), followed by ithbat (affirmation). "Thus, the Most Merciful, established Himself on the Throne." That is, He exalted Himself. How?
Not "how." For that reason, Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "The istiwaa' (rising above the Throne) is known, the 'how' is unknown, and asking about it is bid'ah (religious innovation)." Asking about the "how" is bid'ah because the manner is impossible to know. We have not seen the essence of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, with our eyes, so that we might know something of His attributes. Among ourselves, there are things pertaining to us that we do not know, such as the soul by which we live. So how can we know the Creator of the heavens and the earth in His essence or in any of His attributes? Exalted is Allah, Mighty and Majestic. "The wrongdoers" So there is no ta'til (denial of the divine attributes) and no tashbih (likening Allah to creation). No ta'til, which is believing in the attributes as they came, and no tashbih, meaning no takyif (asking how an attribute is), due to His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He: . Yes.