The Second Issue: A Comment on the Statement: "The Polytheists Believed That Allah Is Wise"

The Shaykh : The Second Note: The professor "Ayyad 'Abassi" spoke about the oneness of lordship, stating that this type of tawhid is believed in by the majority of people and nations, even the polytheists. This is a true statement. However, in the course of his speech, he stated that they believe Allah is the Creator, the Manager, and the Wise. I want to draw attention to this, and I have a goal other than the apparent goal of my words. His statement: "The polytheists believed that this universe has a Creator and a Manager"—if he had stopped there, the statement would have been accepted. But he added to that another description and attribute; it is an attribute of truth for Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), but he attributed to the disbelievers that they also believed in Allah this attribute, namely that He is Wise.
It is regrettable that I must say—and this is the other point I am aiming at with this speech—that the belief that Allah is Wise is not only something that the polytheists who associated partners with Allah in the oneness of worship and the oneness of attributes did not believe in, as you heard some detail about that. It is not only these polytheists who did not know Allah as Wise; they knew Him as the Creator, the Nurturer, and the Manager, but they did not know Him as Wise. However, with great regret, there are masses of Muslims today who do not believe in this attribute for Allah, the Lord of the worlds. This is what I wanted to point out. That is, describing the polytheists as believing that Allah is Wise is an error, because we know that this wisdom is, in many matters, a matter of faith. For that reason, some Islamic sects, some Islamic schools of thought, doubted this attribute. I do not conceal the truth; therefore, I say that the books of the Ash'ariyyah are full of the statement that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is not described as Wise, despite their knowledge that this noble name is mentioned in the noble, wise Qur'an. But they interpret this name, "Wise," as being from "judgment" (hukm) and not from "wisdom" (hikmah); so He is "Wise" (Hakim) on the pattern of Fa'il, meaning the Doer; that is, He is a Judge. As for Him being Wise in the sense that He places things in their proper place accompanied by wisdom, this—regrettably—I do not say that the Ash'ariyyah do not believe in it, but they explicitly deny it, and their books are full of that, and their arguments are well known. Because they ask and say: What is the wisdom in torturing children? Where is the wisdom in torturing children? Where is the wisdom in torturing animals?
There is no doubt that the Muslim who believes in the wisdom of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: By Allah, I may not know what the wisdom is in torturing children. And although some scholars of tawhid who believe in this name, "Wise," and its correct meaning try to find an apparent wisdom in the torment of children and the torture of animals, in my belief, not every Muslim is able to discover the divine wisdom in every divine action. Therefore, in the end, one must have faith; the faith that is the first condition in describing the believers . So, belief in the unseen is the true distinction between the sincere believer and the lying believer. If we know that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) described Himself as Wise, we must believe, whether the wisdom is apparent to us or not. However, the wisdom of the Wise, the All-Knowing is clear and evident in much of this witnessed creation, especially for those specialized in studying the system of this universe. But there remain many or few matters in which the wisdom is hidden from all people, or most people, or the least of people. So what prevents us from saying: ?
The inability of the Ash'ariyyah to grasp the wisdom in some of the actions of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in what He creates led them to deviate from this Qur'anic text. They say: Allah said: , . They understood that to mean He is not questioned about what He does because He does what has no wisdom in it, He does what has no justice in it, meaning like any tyrant among the tyrants of the earth who acts within the limits of his tyranny without being bound by justice or wisdom. Thus they say: and they exaggerate in that until they deny the attributes by which Allah described Himself in His Book, and by which His Prophet described Him in his hadith. Yet they interpret these attributes. Why? They say: To purify Allah, the Lord of the worlds. Then they forget all of this and describe Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with what they describe tyrants with: that He is without justice and without wisdom. From here, they arrived at explicitly stating in their creed, the famous "Jawharah" among the Ash'ariyyah: "It is for Allah to torment the obedient and reward the disobedient." The explanation of this by some of them, who have no shame and no modesty, is that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He above what the wrongdoers say, greatly) has the right to put Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and throw him into the lowest depth of the Fire in place of the accursed Iblis, and to raise the accursed Iblis and place him in the unique degree that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: in the hadith known to you all. They said this in their books: "It is for Him to reward the disobedient and torment the obedient." So why does He not torment the animal? And why does He not torment the child who does not know obedience from disobedience? And they say: It is for Allah to torment the obedient, to put the Messenger in the lowest depth of the Fire, and to raise Iblis to the highest degrees of the Gardens.
They said this explicitly. Where did they take this from? From the general statements of the noble verses . Without doubt, He is the Doer of what He wills. Can anyone prevent Him from what He wills? But does "Doer of what He wills" mean that He has no justice? Far be it from Allah! Does "Doer of what He wills" mean that He has no wisdom? Far be it from Allah! Therefore, as we always and forever say, every issue must have its texts combined with one another, and the conclusion must be taken from the sum of these texts. "Doer of what He wills" means, from this text and its like, that no one can prevent Allah (Mighty and Majestic) from what He wills to do. But this does not mean that He is not Wise and not Just. How, when Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: ?
The tyrants among the slaves may do this, as is the reality today and is witnessed; they raise the lowly criminals to high positions and jobs, and they reverse things; they put righteous people in jobs that small children can perform. This is the affair of the tyrants. As for Allah (Mighty and Majestic), the Compeller in truth, the Wise, the All-Knowing, He is purified from everything that contradicts the attribute of perfection in Him (Blessed and Exalted is He).
This is what I wanted to point out on this occasion. And I want—as I said—to kill two birds with one stone. The first bird: that we do not describe the disbelievers as believing that Allah is Wise, because some Muslims did not believe in it, even though Allah (Mighty and Majestic) revealed this attribute in the Noble Qur'an. The second bird: drawing attention to the importance of the Salafi call, which calls all people to return to the Book and the Sunnah without deviating to taking the words of the scholars of kalam. Among the scholars of kalam is what is shirk and disbelief in the Qur'an. And this is an example that has come to you by way of warning against describing the disbelievers as believing that Allah is Wise, at the time when they say that Allah is the Creator and Manager of the universe, they believe that He is Wise. If the Muslims believe in it, that is their duty, because Allah mentioned to them in the Qur'an that the disbelievers who do not believe in Allah or the Last Day, etc., cannot believe that Allah is Wise, because His wisdom is hidden in many matters. For that reason, the Ash'ariyyah fell into this dangerous deviation.