We said that the attributes are eternal in their origin, so what is the meaning of the statement that the mercy of Allah preceded His anger?
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The questioner : You mentioned that the attribute is eternal in its origin. Yes.
The Shaykh : Actions.
The questioner : Yes, but how is one to answer regarding the authentic hadith, as narrated by Abu Hayyah, in which He says, "My mercy preceded My anger"? This precedence indicates that...
The Shaykh : Did you hear his question? He says: If you say that the actions of the attributes are eternal in their origin, what is the answer to His statement, "My mercy preceded My anger"? The meaning is that when the cause for anger and the cause for mercy are present, the mercy takes precedence. This meaning is not that it preceded in eternity. In other words, when something necessitates the anger of Allah and the mercy of Allah, the mercy prevails and takes precedence.
The Shaykh : Actions.
The questioner : Yes, but how is one to answer regarding the authentic hadith, as narrated by Abu Hayyah, in which He says, "My mercy preceded My anger"? This precedence indicates that...
The Shaykh : Did you hear his question? He says: If you say that the actions of the attributes are eternal in their origin, what is the answer to His statement, "My mercy preceded My anger"? The meaning is that when the cause for anger and the cause for mercy are present, the mercy takes precedence. This meaning is not that it preceded in eternity. In other words, when something necessitates the anger of Allah and the mercy of Allah, the mercy prevails and takes precedence.
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، 4346 - 4600 قلنا أن الصفات أصلها أزلي فما معنى إن رحمة الله سبقت غضبه؟ ابن عثيمين — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.