The ruling on the phrase "We have not seen Allah, but we have known Him by reason"
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. This questioner says: There is a phrase that is often repeated, which is their saying, "We have not seen Allah, but we have known Him by reason."
The Shaykh:
Yes, in this world, we have not seen Allah, and no one sees Him in this world, not even Musa (peace be upon him), the noble one of Allah, when[Al-A'raf 7:143] because no one sees Allah in this world; humans are not able to see Allah.
In this world, they have no ability, no capacity, and no power. When Allah manifested Himself to the mountain, it crumbled and became dust. When his Lord manifested Himself to the mountain, He made it crumble. How then is it with a human being? So in this world, it is not possible, not even for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) on the night of the Ascension; on the correct view, he did not see Allah with his eye, but rather he saw Him with his heart and his insight. As for in Paradise, the believers see their Lord, as the verses and hadiths have been mass-transmitted regarding this. The believers, I mean. As for the disbelievers, they do not see Allah, not[Ghafir 40:43]. Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Mutaffifin 83:15] Allah the Mighty and Majestic has forbidden them from seeing Him because they did not believe in Him in this world, so He has forbidden them from seeing Him in the Hereafter. Yes.
The questioner:
We have known Him by reason. We have known Him by reason.
The Shaykh:
Yes, indeed, by the evidence of reason. Yes, by the evidence of reason. If you look at the universe, look at the creation of the heavens and the earth, the stars, the clouds, the winds, the seas, and the trees, does this not point you to the power of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) and to faith in Him? Yes. The evidence is of two types: cosmic evidence visible to the eye, and Qur'anic evidence, which is revelation from Allah the Exalted. All of it points to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Yes.
May Allah reward you. This questioner says: There is a phrase that is often repeated, which is their saying, "We have not seen Allah, but we have known Him by reason."
The Shaykh:
Yes, in this world, we have not seen Allah, and no one sees Him in this world, not even Musa (peace be upon him), the noble one of Allah, when
he said, "My Lord, show me [Yourself] that I may look at You." [Allah] said, "You will not see Me
قَالَ رَبِّ أَرِنِي أَنظُرْ إِلَيْكَ قَالَ لَن تَرَانِيIn this world, they have no ability, no capacity, and no power. When Allah manifested Himself to the mountain, it crumbled and became dust. When his Lord manifested Himself to the mountain, He made it crumble. How then is it with a human being? So in this world, it is not possible, not even for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) on the night of the Ascension; on the correct view, he did not see Allah with his eye, but rather he saw Him with his heart and his insight. As for in Paradise, the believers see their Lord, as the verses and hadiths have been mass-transmitted regarding this. The believers, I mean. As for the disbelievers, they do not see Allah, not
in this world or in the Hereafter
فِي الدُّنْيَا وَلَا فِي الْآخِرَةِNo! Indeed, from their Lord, that Day, they will be partitioned.
كَلَّا إِنَّهُمْ عَن رَّبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَّمَحْجُوبُونَThe questioner:
We have known Him by reason. We have known Him by reason.
The Shaykh:
Yes, indeed, by the evidence of reason. Yes, by the evidence of reason. If you look at the universe, look at the creation of the heavens and the earth, the stars, the clouds, the winds, the seas, and the trees, does this not point you to the power of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) and to faith in Him? Yes. The evidence is of two types: cosmic evidence visible to the eye, and Qur'anic evidence, which is revelation from Allah the Exalted. All of it points to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [147/186] حكم عبارة "الله ما رأيناه ولكن بالعقل عرفناه" - صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.