A talk about some of the Maturidiyyah who returned to the methodology of the Salaf.
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The Shaykh : Following up on my previous words, we must clarify so that no one assumes that all the Asha'irah and all the Maturidiyyah follow this methodology. No; there are people who realized the truth and returned to the methodology of the people of the Sunnah. Among them is a man from the distinguished Hanafi Maturidi scholars who said a very beautiful poem on this occasion:
"And the Lord of the Throne is above the Throne, but *** without the description of settling and connection"
The questioner: Allah is the Greatest!
The Shaykh : Do you see?
The questioner : Because this is not befitting.
The Shaykh : It is not befitting His Majesty (Mighty and Majestic).
"And the Lord of the Throne is above the Throne, *** But without the description of being situated or connected."
Similarly, for example, Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni, the author of a treatise—what a treatise it is!—in which he followed the methodology of the righteous Salaf, stating that Allah has the attribute of elevation without likening Allah to creation and without denial of the divine attributes. The treatise is printed in the collection of the Muniriyyah treatises, if you have looked at it.
So the whole reason for this figurative interpretation, whether of the divine speech or the divine rising above the Throne or the divine descent, is that they compared the Creator to the created, and compared the unseen to the seen. Here I like the words of Ibn Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him), even though he exaggerated in denying analogical reasoning, when he says: "All analogical reasoning is invalid, and if there were any truth in it, this would be the very essence of falsehood."
The questioner : ... truth ...
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed. "This would be the very essence of falsehood."
The questioner : He is strict in his opinion.
The Shaykh : It is indeed the very essence of falsehood for a person to say that the Lord of the worlds is like the created beings, so he falls into a problem and then denies the verses of attributes and the hadiths of attributes, and so on.
"And the Lord of the Throne is above the Throne, but *** without the description of settling and connection"
The questioner: Allah is the Greatest!
The Shaykh : Do you see?
The questioner : Because this is not befitting.
The Shaykh : It is not befitting His Majesty (Mighty and Majestic).
"And the Lord of the Throne is above the Throne, *** But without the description of being situated or connected."
Similarly, for example, Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni, the author of a treatise—what a treatise it is!—in which he followed the methodology of the righteous Salaf, stating that Allah has the attribute of elevation without likening Allah to creation and without denial of the divine attributes. The treatise is printed in the collection of the Muniriyyah treatises, if you have looked at it.
So the whole reason for this figurative interpretation, whether of the divine speech or the divine rising above the Throne or the divine descent, is that they compared the Creator to the created, and compared the unseen to the seen. Here I like the words of Ibn Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him), even though he exaggerated in denying analogical reasoning, when he says: "All analogical reasoning is invalid, and if there were any truth in it, this would be the very essence of falsehood."
The questioner : ... truth ...
The Shaykh : Yes, indeed. "This would be the very essence of falsehood."
The questioner : He is strict in his opinion.
The Shaykh : It is indeed the very essence of falsehood for a person to say that the Lord of the worlds is like the created beings, so he falls into a problem and then denies the verses of attributes and the hadiths of attributes, and so on.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.