Is the presence of Allah the Exalted essential, or is His presence by His knowledge?
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The questioner : I say, may Allah keep you safe, I do not know if the disagreement of some of our shaykhs here regarding the issue of the presence of Allah Mighty and Majestic has reached you.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.
The questioner : Is it an essential presence, or is it the presence of Allah Mighty and Majestic by His knowledge?
The Shaykh : If it is as in His saying, the Exalted:[Al-Hadid 57:4] then it is a presence by knowledge, as was narrated from the Salaf, or some of the Salaf, and especially what al-Dhahabi mentioned regarding Imam Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, one of the shaykhs of Imam Ahmad, where he said: "Allah Blessed and Exalted is above His Throne with His essence, distinct from His creation, and He is with them by His knowledge"
The questioner : This was said by Imam Ahmad.
The Shaykh : His shaykh, Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, his shaykh Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak: "Allah Blessed and Exalted is above His Throne with His essence, distinct from His creation, and He is with them by His knowledge"
The questioner : Now, does this contradict the essential presence?
The Shaykh : Where do we take the essential presence from?
The questioner : What, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Where do we take the essential presence from?
The questioner : There is no contradiction in the essence of Allah Mighty and Majestic.
The Shaykh : Oh professor, correct, there is no contradiction, but we say: where do we establish it from? First, it must be established for it to be valid for us to say there is no contradiction between this and that. And I know that, as if I had read something of this meaning from Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, though I am not remembering it now. The contradiction of the essence is specific to the believers, whereas what is the presence by knowledge? It includes all people. But what is the text by which we establish the essential presence?
The questioner : The same question is directed at you, may Allah reward you. In all the attributes, the term "essence" is a coined term and does not mean that there is a text in the Qur'an or the Sunnah about it.
The Shaykh : But I mean, now here...
The questioner : We say that Allah rose above the Throne and we say "with His essence," but there is no text that specifies that Allah is with His essence. We say "with His essence"... our school is against figurative interpretation and denial of the divine attributes.
The Shaykh : This is correct, may Allah bless you. But now we have two expressions: essential presence and presence by knowledge. So when I answer, "Where did we take the essential presence from?" it is not for the specific word "essence," but for the specific meaning we understand from this expression, which is more specific, as I explained earlier, than the presence by knowledge. Perhaps I was able to...
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : Very well.
The questioner : In the texts, it is understood as the texts came. The texts that came with the presence by knowledge are restricted to knowledge.[Al-Mujadila 58:7] mentions knowledge at its beginning and knowledge at its end, as Imam Ahmad said that it is to be understood as knowledge. As for the general presence, what is...
The Shaykh : This is what I am asking you about: where is the text that allows us to understand the essential presence, or as you said last, the general presence? And I do not understand the general presence except as the presence by knowledge. So we differ only in the naming.
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : What is the text? What is the evidence that we can say indicates the essential presence or the general presence, as you said last? What is the text?
The questioner : Understood, oh Shaykh. The texts of the general presence are what indicate this.
The Shaykh : For example
The questioner : Allah Mighty and Majestic, Allah is with you wherever you are, wherever you may be. There is no god but Allah.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : This is also clear: with us by His support and His assistance for us against the disbelievers.
The questioner : Yes, but this is among the implications of the presence.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Could this not be metaphorical, oh Shaykh?
The Shaykh : But the context, the context, the context, and the preceding text are among the clarifiers and restrictors. This is not figurative interpretation, as we gave you an example: Is this figurative interpretation? "I traveled and the moon" is not figurative interpretation, because figurative interpretation is taking the word away from its apparent meaning, whereas these texts have an apparent meaning of what they call figurative interpretation, so it is not figurative interpretation.
The words of Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, meaning Allah opened for him, and I call him by what the Sufis call those who do not deserve it: "one of those who know Allah" Shaykh al-Islam is one of those who know Allah, because Allah opened for him of the sciences what we have not seen in many of those before him or after him.
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.
The questioner : Is it an essential presence, or is it the presence of Allah Mighty and Majestic by His knowledge?
The Shaykh : If it is as in His saying, the Exalted:
and He is with you wherever you are
وهو معكم أين ما كنتمThe questioner : This was said by Imam Ahmad.
The Shaykh : His shaykh, Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, his shaykh Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak: "Allah Blessed and Exalted is above His Throne with His essence, distinct from His creation, and He is with them by His knowledge"
The questioner : Now, does this contradict the essential presence?
The Shaykh : Where do we take the essential presence from?
The questioner : What, O Shaykh?
The Shaykh : Where do we take the essential presence from?
The questioner : There is no contradiction in the essence of Allah Mighty and Majestic.
The Shaykh : Oh professor, correct, there is no contradiction, but we say: where do we establish it from? First, it must be established for it to be valid for us to say there is no contradiction between this and that. And I know that, as if I had read something of this meaning from Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, though I am not remembering it now. The contradiction of the essence is specific to the believers, whereas what is the presence by knowledge? It includes all people. But what is the text by which we establish the essential presence?
The questioner : The same question is directed at you, may Allah reward you. In all the attributes, the term "essence" is a coined term and does not mean that there is a text in the Qur'an or the Sunnah about it.
The Shaykh : But I mean, now here...
The questioner : We say that Allah rose above the Throne and we say "with His essence," but there is no text that specifies that Allah is with His essence. We say "with His essence"... our school is against figurative interpretation and denial of the divine attributes.
The Shaykh : This is correct, may Allah bless you. But now we have two expressions: essential presence and presence by knowledge. So when I answer, "Where did we take the essential presence from?" it is not for the specific word "essence," but for the specific meaning we understand from this expression, which is more specific, as I explained earlier, than the presence by knowledge. Perhaps I was able to...
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : Very well.
The questioner : In the texts, it is understood as the texts came. The texts that came with the presence by knowledge are restricted to knowledge.
There is in no private conversation three
ما يكون من نجوى ثلاثةThe Shaykh : This is what I am asking you about: where is the text that allows us to understand the essential presence, or as you said last, the general presence? And I do not understand the general presence except as the presence by knowledge. So we differ only in the naming.
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : What is the text? What is the evidence that we can say indicates the essential presence or the general presence, as you said last? What is the text?
The questioner : Understood, oh Shaykh. The texts of the general presence are what indicate this.
The Shaykh : For example
The questioner : Allah Mighty and Majestic, Allah is with you wherever you are, wherever you may be. There is no god but Allah.
Allah is with us
الله معناThe Shaykh : Yes, indeed
The questioner : Yes
The Shaykh : This is also clear: with us by His support and His assistance for us against the disbelievers.
The questioner : Yes, but this is among the implications of the presence.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Could this not be metaphorical, oh Shaykh?
The Shaykh : But the context, the context, the context, and the preceding text are among the clarifiers and restrictors. This is not figurative interpretation, as we gave you an example:
And ask the village
واسأل القريةThe words of Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, meaning Allah opened for him, and I call him by what the Sufis call those who do not deserve it: "one of those who know Allah" Shaykh al-Islam is one of those who know Allah, because Allah opened for him of the sciences what we have not seen in many of those before him or after him.