The Shaykh’s clarification of the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the Athar regarding the attributes of Allah, including the attribute of speech.

The Shaykh : The third methodology remains, stating: We affirm for Allah what He has affirmed for Himself. He has affirmed for Himself speech, and this Qur'an is the speech of Allah, not the speech of a created being from among the creation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), ever. But how? We do not know. Perhaps you have heard the statement of Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) when a questioner came to him and said: "O Malik, How did He rise above the Throne?" He said: "The rising is known, the how is unknown, belief in it is obligatory, and asking about it is an innovation. Take this man out, for he is an innovator." So he said: The rising is known linguistically, and it is elevation. So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is above all creation, as we read in the Qur'an, and we say in prostration: "Glory to my Lord, the Most High." But His rising is not like my rising on the chair, or yours, or anyone else's. It is a rising befitting His greatness and majesty. We do not say, as the Mu'tazilah and the Asha'irah and others say today, that there is a gathering like this one, and one of them says, thinking he is remembering Allah: "Allah is present in all existence, Allah is present in all existence." Have you not heard this tawhid (the oneness of Allah)?

The questioner: No.

The Shaykh : Have you not heard it? Congratulations to you, hehehe. We hear it often. If you were to ask a questioner now, any person you know or do not know: Where is Allah?! He would say to you: Allah is everywhere. And I am more amazed than you, how do you say: I have not heard this statement, and you have lived in Cairo.

The questioner : And also in Oman.

The Shaykh : I do not know, perhaps he is new to Oman.

The questioner : No, it is long-standing.

The Shaykh : Ah, do you know him from long ago?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Are you long-time here?

The questioner : Yes, for a few years.

The Shaykh : Years?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : What Allah willed! The important thing!

The questioner : He is a resident here.

The Shaykh : A resident here?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Where does he reside?

The questioner : Here, my neighbor.

The Shaykh : I mean, is he close to you?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Ah, if Allah wills, then we will have another session.

The questioner : He, O our Shaykh, has requested to visit you for about months. He wants to write a biography for you in his translation of the book *Umdat al-Salik fi al-Fiqh al-Shafi'i*. Perhaps I mentioned something of this to you.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : But you were busy during that period, a little, I mean. That is it. Praise be to Allah, our Lord facilitated the meeting.

The Shaykh : The important thing, may Allah bless you, so the answer to this question is known to people today, among Shaykhs, preachers, guides, and doctors, and so on: Allah is everywhere.

The questioner : This is hulul (incarnation).

The Shaykh : This is hulul, may Allah bless you. This is hulul, and the correct creed is what Malik said.

The questioner : He is free from hulul.

The Shaykh : But, and Malik said: . As for saying: Allah is present in every place!! Do you not know that among the places are sewers, drains, bars, and cinemas, and what a person does not enter, not even a disbeliever, not even an open sinner, except out of necessity? They make their Lord in places they do not enter except out of necessity. Is this tawhid (the oneness of Allah)?! This is called: tawhīl, with a lam. This is called tawhīl. Therefore, one of the jurists of the Hanafi Maturidiyyah said: The Maturidiyyah here are two groups: a group that agrees with the Asha'irah in denying the elevation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and they agree with the Mu'tazilah that Allah is present in every place. And a group among them agrees with the people of the Sunnah, and their speaker said:
"And the Lord of the Throne is above the Throne, but *** without the description of settling and connection."
Do you understand the meaning of this statement?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : And this is an interpretation of His statement (Mighty and Majestic): . Indeed, Allah is rich beyond all the worlds, all the created beings, let alone a Footstool or a Throne that carries Him. So these creeds, my brother, must be taken from the Book and the Sunnah, and not from the jurisprudence called *al-Fiqh al-Akbar*, even if the attribution to Imam Abu Hanifah (may Allah have mercy on him) were correct, and it is not correctly attributed.