What is the ruling on testing people by asking them about the manner of the attribute, such as Allah’s rising above His Throne?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what is the ruling on asking about the manner of the attribute in order to know a man’s creed and to test him, for example?
Answer:
No, one does not ask about the manner at all, and it is not permissible to ask about the manner. One asks about the meaning: what does “istawa” (rising above) mean? Not everyone asks; the one who asks is the learned one who has knowledge. As for the common person, you surprise him and ask him about something he does not know, so it is not permissible, because he might answer with an answer that is not befitting Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So do not ask except a learned, understanding person. Yes.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what is the ruling on asking about the manner of the attribute in order to know a man’s creed and to test him, for example?
Answer:
No, one does not ask about the manner at all, and it is not permissible to ask about the manner. One asks about the meaning: what does “istawa” (rising above) mean? Not everyone asks; the one who asks is the learned one who has knowledge. As for the common person, you surprise him and ask him about something he does not know, so it is not permissible, because he might answer with an answer that is not befitting Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So do not ask except a learned, understanding person. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [344 -1024] ما حكم امتحان الناس بسؤالهم عن كيفية الصفة مثل استواء الله على عرشه؟ - صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.