The Methodology of the Salaf in the Chapter of Names and Attributes, and an Explanation of the Report of Ibn al-Mubarak Concerning the Essence of Allah (Mighty and Majestic)
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The Shaykh : And how excellent is what some of the Imams of the Salaf said, namely Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, one of the great scholars and teachers of Imam Ahmad, and one of the great mujahideen who used to go on military expeditions and garrison the frontier (may Allah have mercy on him). He used to say a word that summarizes the subject in these few words: "Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) is above His Throne with His Essence, distinct from His creation, and He is with them with His knowledge". This combines faith in the attributes with purifying the Lord of the Worlds from entering into created things—and I hope you memorize this phrase from this Imam, for it summarizes for you the subject of the disagreement existing between the Salaf and the Khalaf regarding the attributes, especially concerning the verse of istiwaa' (rising above the Throne). Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak says: "Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) is above His Throne with His Essence, distinct from His creation", meaning: He is not mixed with them, as many people today say, even among those who are thought to possess knowledge, who say: "The knowledge of the Salaf is safer, and the knowledge of the Khalaf is more practical and more precise". What do these Khalaf say?!
Allah is everywhere; Allah exists in all existence. This is a phrase we hear from the scholar and the unlearned, the ignorant and the knowledgeable, with no difference between them, despite Allah (Mighty and Majestic) making a distinction in the clear Qur'an between the knowledgeable and others, where He said:[Az-Zumar 39:9] As for these, they have agreed in denying this correct creed that you just heard from Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak: "Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) is above His Throne with His Essence, distinct from His creation, and He is with you with His knowledge":
As for His Essence, He is above the Throne (Blessed and Exalted is He). What do the Khalaf say?
He is everywhere; Allah is everywhere; Allah exists in all existence. How do they believe this when they know that Allah was and there was nothing with Him, as in the hadith of Imran ibn Husayn, which Imam al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih: meaning: there was no existence with Him. And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says in the clear Qur'an: [Ya-Sin 36:82] So He created the creation in six days, as mentioned in the Qur'an and the Sunnah. So before He created, was He in a place?!
Far be it from Him; He is free of need of time and place. And when He created place, how do these people say that Allah is in every place? That means they have ascribed a body to Him, at the very time they accuse the people of the Sunnah of ascribing a body to Him, based on the principle of the one who said: "She threw at me her ailment and then slipped away". They know that place, as I mentioned earlier, was non-existence, then Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created it. And this place differs; there is a place of good and a place of evil. And as you know from the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he was asked about the best of places and the worst of places, he answered (peace and blessings be upon him):Al-Mustadrak lil-Hakim 2:17 Do you not see that the mosque is a place? Is not the market a place? Are there not toilets in the market? Are there not toilets and places of zina (unlawful sexual intercourse) and the like in some of the lands of the disbelievers? Are there not corridors and sewers for filth?!
These are all places. Is Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in these places?!
Far be it from Allah from what the wrongdoers say, in a great exaltation. Therefore, the correct creed is that we understand all the verses as the righteous Salaf interpreted them. That is why we always and forever repeat: the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and the practice of the Companions and the righteous Salaf. So it is no wonder that an Imam from among the Imams who follow the Salaf said that word which was written, as they used to say in old times, in gold ink. He said—and may his mouth not be opened in vain:
"Knowledge is what Allah said, what His Messenger said, *** What the Companions said, not mere pretense"
Knowledge is: Allah said, His Messenger said *** The Companions said:
He did not stop at what people stop at today, which is "Allah said" and "The Messenger of Allah said." And that is because, as we mentioned to you earlier, the words of Allah and the words of the Messenger of Allah are subjected to ta'wil (figurative interpretation) by the misguided sects, with interpretations that rule these texts as non-existent. And the example we gave you earlier about the Qadiyyan is not far off; how did they interpret meaning: the adornment of the prophets? And so the old misguided sects, some of which still exist today, all follow this methodology of denying the verses and hadiths without turning to what the Salaf were upon. Therefore, Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) spoke excellently when he said:
"Knowledge is: Allah said, His Messenger said *** The Companions said, not by deception
Is knowledge setting up a dispute, foolishly *** Between the Messenger and the opinion of a jurist?
No, and no denial of the attributes and their negation, out of fear of ta'til (denial of the divine attributes) and tashbih (likening Allah to creation)
This is how we must understand the call of the Book and the Sunnah upon the methodology of the righteous Salaf. And this is how the callers to Allah must act, if they are scholars. But if they are not, as we said using the Syrian expression: "like a shallow one"—and perhaps you do not understand this term, so I say: one who is in the shallows, meaning at the beginning of knowledge, at the beginning of the sea of knowledge—then it is not for him to appoint himself a caller who calls his equals, as our brother said earlier, to save them from misguidance by drinking khamr (intoxicants), stealing, committing zina, and so on; there is no harm in that. But to inherit that from them, and to think of himself that he is a caller, especially if he inherits it, and that is a problem. He inherits a caller and is sent to the lands of disbelief in the name of a caller, and there are no scholars there, so he is forced to issue fatwas, and he goes astray and leads others astray. So the one who lacks a thing cannot give it. And this is enough, and praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
Allah is everywhere; Allah exists in all existence. This is a phrase we hear from the scholar and the unlearned, the ignorant and the knowledgeable, with no difference between them, despite Allah (Mighty and Majestic) making a distinction in the clear Qur'an between the knowledgeable and others, where He said:
Are those who know equal to those who do not know?
هل يستوي الذين يعلمون والذين لا يعلمونAs for His Essence, He is above the Throne (Blessed and Exalted is He). What do the Khalaf say?
He is everywhere; Allah is everywhere; Allah exists in all existence. How do they believe this when they know that Allah was and there was nothing with Him, as in the hadith of Imran ibn Husayn, which Imam al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih:
He was and there was nothing with Him.
كان ولا شيء معهHis command is only when He intends a thing that He says to it, "Be," and it is.
إنما أمره إذا أراد شيئاً أن يقول له كن فيكونFar be it from Him; He is free of need of time and place. And when He created place, how do these people say that Allah is in every place? That means they have ascribed a body to Him, at the very time they accuse the people of the Sunnah of ascribing a body to Him, based on the principle of the one who said: "She threw at me her ailment and then slipped away". They know that place, as I mentioned earlier, was non-existence, then Allah (Mighty and Majestic) created it. And this place differs; there is a place of good and a place of evil. And as you know from the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he was asked about the best of places and the worst of places, he answered (peace and blessings be upon him):
The best of places are the mosques, and the worst of places are the markets.
خير البقاع المساجد ، وشر البقاع الأسواقThese are all places. Is Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in these places?!
Far be it from Allah from what the wrongdoers say, in a great exaltation. Therefore, the correct creed is that we understand all the verses as the righteous Salaf interpreted them. That is why we always and forever repeat: the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and the practice of the Companions and the righteous Salaf. So it is no wonder that an Imam from among the Imams who follow the Salaf said that word which was written, as they used to say in old times, in gold ink. He said—and may his mouth not be opened in vain:
"Knowledge is what Allah said, what His Messenger said, *** What the Companions said, not mere pretense"
Knowledge is: Allah said, His Messenger said *** The Companions said:
He did not stop at what people stop at today, which is "Allah said" and "The Messenger of Allah said." And that is because, as we mentioned to you earlier, the words of Allah and the words of the Messenger of Allah are subjected to ta'wil (figurative interpretation) by the misguided sects, with interpretations that rule these texts as non-existent. And the example we gave you earlier about the Qadiyyan is not far off; how did they interpret
the seal of the prophets
خاتم النبيين"Knowledge is: Allah said, His Messenger said *** The Companions said, not by deception
Is knowledge setting up a dispute, foolishly *** Between the Messenger and the opinion of a jurist?
No, and no denial of the attributes and their negation, out of fear of ta'til (denial of the divine attributes) and tashbih (likening Allah to creation)
This is how we must understand the call of the Book and the Sunnah upon the methodology of the righteous Salaf. And this is how the callers to Allah must act, if they are scholars. But if they are not, as we said using the Syrian expression: "like a shallow one"—and perhaps you do not understand this term, so I say: one who is in the shallows, meaning at the beginning of knowledge, at the beginning of the sea of knowledge—then it is not for him to appoint himself a caller who calls his equals, as our brother said earlier, to save them from misguidance by drinking khamr (intoxicants), stealing, committing zina, and so on; there is no harm in that. But to inherit that from them, and to think of himself that he is a caller, especially if he inherits it, and that is a problem. He inherits a caller and is sent to the lands of disbelief in the name of a caller, and there are no scholars there, so he is forced to issue fatwas, and he goes astray and leads others astray. So the one who lacks a thing cannot give it. And this is enough, and praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.