The issue of the presence of Allah (Mighty and Majestic); is it a presence of His essence, or is it the presence of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with His knowledge?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : May Allah keep you safe. I do not know about the disagreement among some of our shaykhs here regarding the issue of the presence of Allah (Mighty and Majestic); is it a presence of His essence, or is it the presence of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with His knowledge?
The Shaykh : If it is as in His saying (Mighty and Majestic):[Al-Hadid 57:4] then it is a presence of knowledge, as was narrated from the Salaf or some of the Salaf; especially what al-Dhahabi mentioned about Imam Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, one of the shaykhs of Imam Ahmad; where he said: "Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) is above His Throne with His essence, separate from His creation, and He is with them with His knowledge."
The questioner : Did Imam Ahmad say this?
The Shaykh : His shaykh, Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, said: "Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) is above His Throne with His essence, separate from His creation, and He is with them with His knowledge."
The questioner : Fine; this contradicts the presence of the essence.
The Shaykh : You say: the presence of the essence, where do we take the presence of the essence from?
The questioner : There is no contradiction... that is what I meant.
The Shaykh : Correct; there is no contradiction, but we say: where do we establish it from? First: it is obligatory for us to establish it so that it is valid for us to say: there is no contradiction between this and that. And I know that I... I had read something of this meaning from Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, even though I am not remembering it now. As for the contradiction of the essence, it is specific to the believers, whereas the presence of knowledge; it includes all people. But we say: what is the text by which we establish the presence of the essence?
The questioner : The same question is directed... so there is no text for it in the Qur'an or the Sunnah...
The Shaykh : ... .
The questioner : We say: He rose above the Throne, we say: with His essence... is there a text that specifies that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is with His essence... is this...?
The Shaykh : This is correct - may Allah bless you - but now we have two expressions; presence of the essence and presence of knowledge. So when I answer: where did we take the presence of the essence from, not specifically regarding the word "essence," but regarding the meaning we understand from this expression, which is more specific - as I explained earlier - than the presence of knowledge, perhaps I was able to.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Okay.
The questioner : ... the texts that came with the presence of knowledge, can you... on knowledge, but what I read did not have knowledge at its beginning and knowledge at its end... as for the general presence, it should be.
The Shaykh : This is what I told you about, where is the text that enables us to understand from it the presence of the essence, or as you said lastly: the general presence? And I do not understand the general presence except as the presence of knowledge, so we do not differ in the naming. What is the text, what is the evidence that we can say: this indicates the presence of the essence or the general presence as you said lastly? What is the text?
The questioner : ... the texts of the general presence are those that indicate this.
The Shaykh : For example?
The questioner : Allah (Mighty and Majestic):[Al-Hadid 57:4] "Wherever you are"...
The Shaykh : Yes, it is clear - also - with Him by His helping us against the disbelievers.
The questioner : Yes, but is this from the implications of the presence?
The Shaykh : Yes, but the context and the preceding and following are among the clarifiers and restrictors. This is not ta'wil (figurative interpretation) as we gave you an example: Is this ta'wil? You and the moon; it is not ta'wil; because ta'wil is taking the word away from its apparent indication, whereas these texts, their apparent indication is what they call ta'wil, so it is not ta'wil. The words of Ibn Taymiyyah... Allah opened up to him, and I call him by what the Sufis call those who do not deserve, the ones who know Allah. Shaykh al-Islam is among those who know Allah; because Allah opened up to him from the sciences what we have not seen in many of those before him or after him.
The Shaykh : If it is as in His saying (Mighty and Majestic):
and He is with you wherever you are
وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنْتُمْThe questioner : Did Imam Ahmad say this?
The Shaykh : His shaykh, Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, said: "Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) is above His Throne with His essence, separate from His creation, and He is with them with His knowledge."
The questioner : Fine; this contradicts the presence of the essence.
The Shaykh : You say: the presence of the essence, where do we take the presence of the essence from?
The questioner : There is no contradiction... that is what I meant.
The Shaykh : Correct; there is no contradiction, but we say: where do we establish it from? First: it is obligatory for us to establish it so that it is valid for us to say: there is no contradiction between this and that. And I know that I... I had read something of this meaning from Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, even though I am not remembering it now. As for the contradiction of the essence, it is specific to the believers, whereas the presence of knowledge; it includes all people. But we say: what is the text by which we establish the presence of the essence?
The questioner : The same question is directed... so there is no text for it in the Qur'an or the Sunnah...
The Shaykh : ... .
The questioner : We say: He rose above the Throne, we say: with His essence... is there a text that specifies that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is with His essence... is this...?
The Shaykh : This is correct - may Allah bless you - but now we have two expressions; presence of the essence and presence of knowledge. So when I answer: where did we take the presence of the essence from, not specifically regarding the word "essence," but regarding the meaning we understand from this expression, which is more specific - as I explained earlier - than the presence of knowledge, perhaps I was able to.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Okay.
The questioner : ... the texts that came with the presence of knowledge, can you... on knowledge, but what I read did not have knowledge at its beginning and knowledge at its end... as for the general presence, it should be.
The Shaykh : This is what I told you about, where is the text that enables us to understand from it the presence of the essence, or as you said lastly: the general presence? And I do not understand the general presence except as the presence of knowledge, so we do not differ in the naming. What is the text, what is the evidence that we can say: this indicates the presence of the essence or the general presence as you said lastly? What is the text?
The questioner : ... the texts of the general presence are those that indicate this.
The Shaykh : For example?
The questioner : Allah (Mighty and Majestic):
and He is with you wherever you are
وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنْتُمْThe Shaykh : Yes, it is clear - also - with Him by His helping us against the disbelievers.
The questioner : Yes, but is this from the implications of the presence?
The Shaykh : Yes, but the context and the preceding and following are among the clarifiers and restrictors. This is not ta'wil (figurative interpretation) as we gave you an example:
And ask the town
وَاسْأَلِ الْقَرْيَةَ
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.