What is the meaning of al-Shafi'i's statement regarding the Mu'tazilah: "Argue with them using knowledge; if they acknowledge it, they are defeated, and if they deny it, they are disbelievers"?
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Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner asks: What is the basis for Imam al-Shafi'i's argument against the Mu'tazilah when he said, "Argue with them using knowledge; if they acknowledge it, they are defeated, and if they deny it, they are disbelievers"?
Answer:
Yes. If they acknowledge that Allah knew everything from eternity, then He decreed it. It follows from His knowledge of it that He decreed it. If they deny it and say that Allah did not know it, they are disbelievers, because they denied it and described Allah with ignorance, may Allah protect us from that. This is disbelief. Yes.
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. This questioner asks: What is the basis for Imam al-Shafi'i's argument against the Mu'tazilah when he said, "Argue with them using knowledge; if they acknowledge it, they are defeated, and if they deny it, they are disbelievers"?
Answer:
Yes. If they acknowledge that Allah knew everything from eternity, then He decreed it. It follows from His knowledge of it that He decreed it. If they deny it and say that Allah did not know it, they are disbelievers, because they denied it and described Allah with ignorance, may Allah protect us from that. This is disbelief. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [459 -858] ما معنى قول الشافعي في المعتزلة: جادلوهم بالعلم، فإن أقروا به خصموا، وإن نفوه كفروا؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.