What is your opinion on the belief of the Mufawwidah regarding the attributes?

The questioner : The questioner asks: What is your opinion on the belief of the Mufawwidah, who say, "We remain silent about these attributes and do not speak of anything regarding them, neither affirming nor denying"? Is it truly the most necessary position? It is clear to many people, especially scholars. Did any of the great Imams fall into tafwid (delegation of meaning), thinking that it is the belief of the people of the Sunnah and the community?

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. This is a very important question, but the answer is that we say: Tafwid (delegation) is of two types: tafwid of the modality (kayfiyyah) and tafwid of the meaning. As for tafwid of the modality, this is obligatory and is the path of the people of the Sunnah and the community. By this we mean: if someone asks us, "How did Allah rise (istawa) above His Throne? How does Allah descend to the lowest heaven? What is the nature of Allah’s face? What is the nature of Allah’s hand?" and the like, it is obligatory for us to delegate the matter and say, "We do not know." We do not say, "It has no modality," but we say, "We do not know." This is the meaning of the statement of the Salaf, which was transmitted by al-Awza'i and others. They said, "Leave them as they came," meaning the verses of the attributes and the hadiths about them. They said, "Leave them as they came without asking how (bila kayf)," meaning without asking about the modality (takyif). The famous narration from Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) is that a man said to him, "O Abu 'Abd Allah, 'The Most Merciful rose above the Throne.' How did He rise?" He said, "O this one, the rising (istiwaa') is not unknown, but the modality is not comprehensible. Belief in it is obligatory, and asking about it is an innovation (bid'ah)." So he (may Allah have mercy on him) made it clear that the meaning of the rising is not unknown; rather, it is clear in the Arabic language, because "istawa 'ala" means "He rose above it and settled with a specific type of rising and settling." However, the modality is the unknown part. But Imam Malik said, "The modality is not comprehensible." It is also famous that he said, "The modality is unknown," but the phrase "not comprehensible" is more eloquent, and it is the one I have seen transmitted by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah from him in his treatise al-Hamawiyyah: "The modality is not comprehensible." He said "not comprehensible" to mean that the intellect cannot grasp it. If the intellect cannot grasp it, and there is nothing in the hearing (the Book and the Sunnah) that indicates the modality, then it is obligatory to refrain from it, because a thing cannot be affirmed except by one of two proofs: the auditory (the Book and the Sunnah) or the rational. If the rational indication is absent, along with the absence of the auditory indication, it is obligatory for us to remain silent and not speak. And this, my brothers, is because it is never possible to grasp the modality of a thing except by one of three ways: either witnessing that thing, or witnessing its like, or the report of the Truthful One about it. Apart from that, there is never any way for you to know the modality. And when we apply this rule to what we know of the attributes of Allah, we find that none of these ways exist. There is no witnessing, no witnessing of a like, and no truthful report. Therefore, tafwid of the meaning is true, and it is what the righteous Salaf were upon, and it is what the believer must say and believe. As for tafwid of the meaning, this is invalid (batil). Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said about it in his book al-'Aql wa al-Naql (The Intellect and the Transmission), which is also called Muwafaqat Sarih al-Ma'qul li Sahih al-Manqul (The Agreement of the Clear Intellect with the Authentic Transmission), and it is a great book. Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said about it that there is no second like it in existence, meaning this book. But I do not advise a beginner student of knowledge to read it, because it is difficult. In this book, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah says that the statement of the people of tafwid (of meaning) is among the worst of the statements of the people of innovation and deviation. It is among the worst of the statements of the people of innovation and deviation, because their statement actually implies that the Salaf of the Ummah (may Allah have mercy on them and be pleased with them, and may He include us with them in the stations of the Hereafter) in their belief implies that all the righteous Salaf lived their times without understanding anything of the speech of Allah or the speech of His Messenger in the greatest and most noble of matters, which is belief. Because if we say they do not understand the meaning, then they did not understand belief, since understanding a word without its meaning is nothing; rather, it is husks with no kernel. For this reason, this statement became one of the worst of the statements of the people of innovation and deviation, because it implies belittling the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and belittling Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, 'Ali, Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn 'Abbas, and other eminent scholars from the Companions and those after them from the Salaf of the Ummah. It implies that they were ignorant people who did not know anything of the meanings of the names and attributes of Allah. This is a very great flaw in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and in the Salaf of the Ummah. And by this we know the invalidity of the famous phrase, which is what was said: "The path of the Salaf is safer, and the path of the Khalaf is more knowledgeable and more wise." This factual claim is a false, invalid statement, one of the most false of claims, and it is also contradictory. If you say that the path of the Salaf is safer, then by Allah, tell me: is it by knowledge and wisdom? Because if an ignorant person is safe, it is by way of coincidence, and if an unwise person is safe, it is also by way of coincidence. Therefore, the one who is in safety and has safety is the one who built his belief on knowledge and wisdom. So if you, O claimant, claim that the path of the Salaf is safer and that the path of the Khalaf is more knowledgeable and more wise, we say: You are correct in saying that the path of the Salaf is safer, and you are lying in saying that the path of the Khalaf is more knowledgeable and more wise. Rather, the path of the Salaf is safer, more knowledgeable, and more wise, and by Allah, it is so. But the one who has a veil of ignorance over his heart thinks that the path of the Khalaf is more knowledgeable and more wise. How dare a speaker say that "istawa" means "istawla" (dominated)? Does he testify that Allah intended this meaning by this word?
Never can one find a testimony by anything that testifies to Allah that He intended that. Is it by the way of language? Language does not indicate what he said. Is it by the way of the Sunnah? The language of the Shari'ah? The Sunnah did not mention what he said. Is it by the way of the intellect? The intellect refutes what he said. For Allah had dominated (istawla) the Throne before the creation of the heavens and the earth, and when He created the heavens and the earth, and after the creation of the heavens and the earth. And Allah the Exalted is dominant over all His dominion, Glorified and Exalted is He, and He is the Owner of all things. Would this speaker say that it is permissible for us to say that Allah is dominant over the mountain?
"He rose (istawa) above the mountain" meaning "He is dominant over it"? No one says that. So it is upon us, my Muslim brothers, it is upon us to adhere to what the righteous Salaf were upon: submission to the meaning that Allah and His Messenger intended, and not to say about Allah what we do not know, lest we fall into clear misguidance. And success is from Allah. Yes.

Another questioner : I think it is the Isra'iliyyat.

The Shaykh : Yes, what is it? Did this happen? The question asks: "Did any of the Imams fall into this?" We say: I do not know of anyone among the Imams who fell into this. And among the strange things is that some people think that this is the school of the people of the Sunnah and the community, and they say that tafwid is the school of the people of the Sunnah and the community. But we say: Yes, it is the school of the people of the Sunnah and the community, but only in tafwid of the modality, not in tafwid of the meaning.