The Misguidance of the People of Theology in Their Excessive Use of Metaphor

The Shaykh : So, the root of denial of the divine attributes (ta'til) comes from the excessive use of metaphor. In this state of excessive use of metaphor, first, they contradict the Shari'ah, and second, they contradict the rule they established, which is that "it is not permissible to move from the literal meaning to the metaphorical meaning unless the literal meaning is impossible." Look, for example, at the figurative interpretation (ta'wil) they applied to the verse of the coming: Who came? Sometimes they say His mercy, sometimes His punishment, depending on the context. This is exactly like if an Arab man said, "The prince has come." What is the implied meaning of this phrase? "The prince has come" means the prince himself. This is not a literal meaning; it is a metaphor. What does it mean? It means the prince's servant came. Where was the phrase about the prince, and where did it fall? It fell to the prince's servant or slave. This is called... because the one who spoke and said "the prince has come" meant the prince. Now, when you say he did not mean the prince's servant, there should be evidence that it is impossible for the prince to come. But there is no evidence, neither in revelation nor in reason, that the prince's coming is impossible. So, this is denial of the divine attributes (ta'til) intended by the speaker. And this could be a human being. If one of us says today, "So-and-so the prince has come," is it permissible for anyone to understand that his servant came, or his wife came, or his son came? This is denial of the divine attributes (ta'til) itself. If this is not fitting between humans with one another, then it is even less fitting to interpret the speech of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with such an interpretation that aims at denial of the divine attributes (ta'til). What is the meaning of denial of the divine attributes (ta'til)? It means canceling the meaning intended by the speaker. We told you earlier that the Mu'tazilah said regarding that it means knowledge. So, He is not described as Hearing, nor is He described as Seeing. May Allah protect us from what they say. It is denial of the attributes of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And we said earlier that there is no need to repeat the speech as long as there are some other questions.