The Meaning of the Salaf's Statement Regarding the Attributes: "Let Them Pass As They Came"

The Shaykh : And the Salaf—as we have said—did not depart from this principle. They interpreted the Qur'an as any Arab would understand it, and this is the intent behind some of the phrases attributed to some of the Salaf, such as Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah and others, when they say: "Let them pass as they came." They do not mean let them pass as they came without understanding, but rather let them pass as they came without figurative interpretation; because the meaning in them is clear, as we gave an example earlier with the attributes of hearing and seeing. So it is not befitting for us to stop here and interpret figuratively as some of the extremists of the Mu'tazilah did. Some of these later people who departed from the Salaf and the Khalaf in their stance against the complete ignorance toward the verses of Allah and the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) concerning the attributes may not know that some of the Mu'tazilah interpreted the previous verse: , saying: "The All-Hearing, the All-Seeing" means "the All-Knowing." This example clarifies to our brothers present what the word "denial of the attributes" means: that is, negating them. And naturally, negating them by one who claims Islam can only be through the path of denial, which is figurative interpretation. So when the Mu'tazilah said: , meaning "the All-Knowing," it became clear to anyone with knowledge that this is a denial of the attributes of hearing and seeing. And why did the Mu'tazilah deny these two attributes? For the same reason that the figurative interpreters deny many of the verses of attributes, such as rising above the Throne, the Hand, and the like, which we referred to earlier. What is this reason? The Mu'tazilah said: If we say that Allah has hearing, we have likened Him to us. And if we say that Allah has seeing, we have likened Him to us. Therefore, we say—meaning the Mu'tazilah—that Allah is not described as All-Hearing or All-Seeing, but rather the intent of this verse regarding these two attributes is that He is All-Knowing.
What did the Mu'tazilah gain by this figurative interpretation? It is the same thing that the figurative interpreters gained by their many interpretations, and in reality, it is nothing. Because when they said: "the All-Knowing," we today say: So-and-so is All-Knowing. And Allah (Mighty and Majestic) related the statement of Yusuf (peace be upon him) when he said to the governor of Egypt: . So what did the Mu'tazilah gain from this interpretation of that noble verse They gained nothing; because this attribute is also something by which the created are described. So what is the way out? The way out is to adhere to the Qur'anic text in its transcendence and its affirmation. This is the transcendence. "the All-Knowing" in other verses. So we say: He is All-Hearing, but His hearing is not like our hearing. He is All-Seeing, but His seeing is not like our seeing. His knowledge is not like our knowledge. And it is sufficient for us to say: He is the Creator of these creatures, including their hearing and seeing, as He said: . But everyone knows that the hearing and seeing of this first created being, Adam (peace and blessings be upon him), whom Allah Himself described as making him All-Hearing and All-Seeing; we all know that his hearing and seeing are created, and that all that is created does not resemble the Creator (Glorified and Exalted is He).
Therefore, the truth that a Muslim must believe in first and find rest in, away from the trial of likening and denial in which the Mu'tazilah fell in the past, and then some of those who claim to follow the Sunnah, the Asha'irah and the Maturidiyyah, followed them, is combining transcendence with affirmation. Because there is no escape for any person or any sect from affirming for Allah (Mighty and Majestic) at least some of the attributes. And whatever attribute one affirms for Allah (Mighty and Majestic), one will find that attribute present in one of the creations of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). So we say, for example, after every prayer, the Verse of the Throne: . And here we are now alive. Does the fact that we are alive mean that we have likened ourselves in the attribute of life to the life of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), which is eternal, having no beginning, and no Creator, but He is the One who is where there is nothing, as came in the authentic hadiths? No one ever thinks of such a doubt except in the manner of these deniers, which led them to deny real facts because of their deviation from the Islamic Shari'ah, the Book and the Sunnah, and even more so their deviation from the methodology of the righteous Salaf.
These people are compelled to say one of two things, following the method of the Mu'tazilah in denying the attributes of hearing and seeing, and the method of the Asha'irah and their like in denying the attribute of descending, coming, and rising above the Throne, and the like. They must say one of two things: We who are alive are not alive. Why? Because if we say I am alive and you are alive, it becomes a sharing with the Alive (Glorified and Exalted is He), the Self-Subsisting. Does anyone say this to transcend Allah (Mighty and Majestic) from resembling the created? There is absolutely no necessary connection between the two. And therefore, they did not fall into this catastrophe. None of them said: We are not alive. Rather, they say: Our life is not like His life (Blessed and Exalted is He). His life is intrinsic, and our life is acquired by His creation (Blessed and Exalted is He). Or they say—and this is worse: Since we are alive, Allah is not Alive; because it would become a likening. This is not what a person is compelled to say, and they never fell into this great catastrophe. But they said something exactly similar to it.
And reflect with me, and you will find the matter with this complete clarity. What is the difference between saying: Man is alive and Allah is alive, but the life of Allah is not like our life? This is self-evident. And what is the difference between a person saying: Allah is All-Hearing and All-Seeing, but not like our hearing and seeing? This is exactly like that; because we established transcendence and then affirmed. . So what is the difference between saying: He rose above the Throne, not like our rising, and He comes, not like our coming, and He descends, not like our descending? And what is the meaning then of the claim that the Salaf did not understand the meaning of "Allah descends every night in the last third to the lowest heaven"? Who says that the Salaf did not understand this? The Salaf understood and believed, as He (the Exalted) said: .