What is the definitive statement regarding Allah’s saying, “Allah mocks them,” and His saying, “Allah has mocked them,” and other similar verses? Do we affirm what Allah has affirmed for Himself, or do we interpret them according to their implications, as some exegetes have said?

The questioner : The questioner asks: What is the statement regarding Allah’s saying and His saying and other similar verses? Do we affirm what Allah has affirmed for Himself, or do we interpret them according to their implications, as some exegetes have said? May Allah reward you with good?

The Shaykh : The answer to this question is well known among the Salaf and the followers of the Salaf, and in contrast, among the followers of the Khalaf. It is known that the Salaf used to say regarding such a verse and that one, "Command it as it came", and they did not mean, as some of the Khalaf today suppose, that they command it without understanding. Rather, they command it as it came with correct understanding, without likening Allah to creation or asking how an attribute is, and consequently without figurative interpretation or denial of the divine attributes. The decisive answer in such two verses is that we should keep in mind the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) regarding two other attributes, namely the attributes of hearing and sight, when our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) said: In the verse there is purification of Allah from all imperfections, and there is affirmation of the attributes of hearing and sight. The meaning of purification is that when we affirm for Allah (Mighty and Majestic) an attribute that came in His Book or in the Sunnah of His Prophet, we affirm it for Him in a manner befitting His greatness (Blessed and Exalted is He) and His majesty, and we do not ask how an attribute is, saying that His hearing is like our hearing and His sight is like our sight. Just as we do not interpret that figuratively, as some of the extremists of the Mu'tazilah did in the past, where they interpreted hearing and sight as knowledge, saying that He is the All-Hearing and the All-Seeing, meaning that He is the All-Knowing. This is because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has described Himself with knowledge in more than one verse in the Noble Qur'an. So when those extremist Mu'tazilah come and interpret hearing and sight as knowledge, that is the denial of the divine attributes about which some of our early scholars, such as Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allah have mercy on them), said: "The one who denies the attributes worships nothing, and the one who ascribes a body to Allah worships an idol". On this basis of purification and affirmation without likening Allah to creation or figurative interpretation, we say regarding the two previous verses about mocking Allah, the mockers of His verses, and the mockery of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) of those and their like, that it is a mockery befitting Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and it is not from the category of one human mocking another human or one human making fun of another human. Both the verse and the other are presented in the manner of the ambiguous verses; we pass them over as they came with sound understanding, in accordance with what the righteous Salaf did, without likening Allah to creation. Here, we do not liken the mockery of Allah of the polytheists to the mockery of people of one another. Rather, we say it is a mockery befitting Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), as it came exactly in the authentic, established report from Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him), that a man came to him and said: O Malik, How did He rise above the Throne? He said: "The rising above the Throne is known, the how is unknown, and asking about it is a religious innovation. Take the man out, for he is an innovator". Similarly, we know that mockery is known linguistically, and it is the opposite of the mocker with a mockery from his like. But Allah (Mighty and Majestic), since it is established for us with certainty that there is nothing like Him, we do not say His mockery is like our mockery. As Malik said, the rising of Allah above His Throne is known, but it is without a how, and asking about the how is a religious innovation. Therefore, he ordered the man to be taken out, considering him an innovator. Therefore, we say regarding all the verses of the attributes, including the attribute of mockery and derision, their meanings are known linguistically, but there is no asking how an attribute is and no likening Allah to creation. And this is the methodology in all the verses of the attributes and the hadiths of the attributes.