Is it permissible to deny Allah the attribute of movement? And an explanation of the disagreement between the scholars of theology and the scholars of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) regarding the meaning and essence of movement.

The Shaykh : When we say "He comes," we do not say it from our own minds, but rather in following the text of our Lord. And when we say: , we do not say this from our minds either, but rather in following the hadith of our Prophet. Did our Lord or our Prophet say "He moves"? No. So we do not say it. Especially since this movement necessitates vacating one place and occupying another, and so on. It is said the same about all attributes, whether affirming or denying them: we believe in what is established in the Book or the Sunnah, and we do not believe in what is not established in the Book and the Sunnah. The issue of movement is an accusation by the scholars of theology against the scholars of tawhid who believe in the coming and the descending, by which Allah has described Himself. They interpret the coming and the descending in a way that befits humans. As for the Salaf, they do not interpret it in a way that befits humans. Therefore, they first fabricate lies against Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) when they interpret the coming and the descending with false interpretations. Then they fabricate lies against the believing, monotheistic, righteous Salaf and those who followed their path until the Day of Judgment, claiming that they say Allah moves. Far be it! The Salaf do not say He moves. Rather, the Salaf do not say that Allah is in a direction. This is a practical point right now. Although they say, as He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: , , . All these verses, and many others, and the hadiths of the Messenger are more numerous, confirm this attribute that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is above all creation. Do we say that Allah is in a direction? We do not say that Allah is in a direction. Do we say that Allah is not in a direction? We do not say that Allah is not in a direction. Because both statements lead to a prohibited matter that contradicts the Shari'ah. If we say that Allah has a direction, we have described Him with what He has not described Himself with. And if we say He is not in a direction, the mind jumps to denying what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said regarding the attribute of elevation. This is the reality of most Muslims today, who deny the attribute by which they profess their faith with their tongues. Every worshipper, when he prostrates, says: "Glory to my Lord, the Most High." What is "the Most High"? Most of them are lost; they do not understand the meaning of "the Most High." The attribute of elevation for Allah means that He is above everything that is high, however high and elevated it may be. They do not understand this. Why? As we said earlier, and it must be repeated because a new group has gathered: Muslims today are divided into three groups regarding this divine attribute. The believers who are truly monotheists describe Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with the attribute of absolute elevation, the attribute of absolute superiority, which means that Allah is not in a place, while He is above the Throne. This is the creed of the righteous Salaf and the creed of the people of pure tawhid from the followers of the four imams. As one of them said: "And the Lord of the Throne is above the Throne, but without the description of sitting or connection." Allah is not sitting, He is not seated on the Throne. He is the One who is free of need from all the worlds. From here comes a new accusation from the Khalaf (the later generations) against the Salaf: they claim that affirming the attribute of elevation for Allah (Mighty and Majestic) above the Throne necessitates that He is seated on the Throne. Far be it from Allah! This is not what a Muslim says. But some ignorant people among Muslims fabricate lies against those who purify Allah and those who affirm the attribute of elevation, claiming that they say of their Lord that He is seated on the Throne, sitting on the Throne. Far be it from Allah! So the attribute of movement has not come, so it is not said. The attribute of sitting has not come, so it is not said. The attribute of settling on the Throne has not come, so it is not said. So, there is nothing like Him, and He is the One who rose above the Throne. This is the rule regarding tawhid, purifying Allah, and believing in what He has described Himself with. We say with every attribute that has come, and we do not say with an attribute that has not come, even if the literal meaning that has not come comes to mind from the attribute that has come, such as the attribute of direction. Some people say and ask, and they have the right to ask due to their ignorance: "Well, since you say that the Most Merciful has risen above the Throne, and since He is above everything, He is in a direction." We say: No, He is not in a direction, because He was, and there was no time and no place. Regarding our earth now, especially for those who know something of astronomy and those who say that the earth is spherical: look at this round surface. If we draw a straight line now that goes down and pierces the earth like an axis from the top surface to the opposite surface, do you see that the opposite surface is below us or what? The general public does not understand this. But those who understand astronomy and that the earth is spherical will say that if this arrow goes down to the center of the earth, that is the bottom. But if it continues like this, piercing through to the other surface, that is the top of the earth, because the earth is spherical. So in every direction, the surface of the earth is the top, and the center of the earth is the bottom. So Allah (Mighty and Majestic), who has described Himself with His saying: "" and He is "" ; so He has the attribute of absolute elevation, whether we are in this direction or in the opposite direction. And it is amazing that this geographical fact was established by one of the scholars, a Muslim scholar, of course, from those who were among the scholars of theology who interpreted the verses of istiwaa' (rising above the Throne) and superiority with a false interpretation, meaning that Allah has the attribute of elevation figuratively, not in reality. Then Allah (Mighty and Majestic) guided him, so he adopted the creed of the Salaf. Then he explained it, relying on the science of astronomy, as I mentioned earlier. He says, and this is Imam al-Juwayni, known as the Imam of the Two Harams, because he was a very famous and renowned scholar. So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) guided him to the creed of the Salaf, and he said: "I believe that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has the attribute of absolute superiority, and that He was before He created time and before He created place, and He was not in a place and He was not in a time. So He is now as He was, in that He is not in a place. So He has the attribute of elevation." Therefore, the Muslim's creed is not sound ever unless he understands the Book and the Sunnah as the righteous Salaf did: purifying Allah without denying His attributes, and affirming without likening Him to creation . This is the answer to your question: Is our Lord described with movement? The answer is no. Why? Because first, it has not come in the Book and the Sunnah. And second, because this attribute is among the attributes of the created beings, so we do not describe the Lord of the worlds with an attribute of the created beings. If an attribute comes in the Qur'an or the Sunnah and some heedless people think it resembles an attribute of the created beings, we say: No, there is nothing like Him, neither in His essence nor in His attributes, as we explained earlier.