The Shaykh’s remarks on some of the schools of thought today, such as the Rafidah, the Mu’tazilah, the Asha’irah, and the Maturidiyyah, and their methodology in dealing with the texts of the attributes, and an explanation of their contradiction in this regard

The Shaykh : ... Indeed, some of the schools of thought that exist on the face of the earth today are not from the people of the Sunnah, such as the Rafidah and their like. They are those who deny the divine attributes (ta’til) with regard to the divine attributes; that is, they follow the methodology of the Mu’tazilah of old. The Mu’tazilah interpreted (ta’wil) many of the verses in which some of the later generations (the Khalaf), namely the Asha’irah and the Maturidiyyah, differed from them. In other words, the Asha’irah and the Maturidiyyah agree with the Mu’tazilah in their interpretation of some of these verses, such as the verse of rising above the Throne (istiwa’). They interpret it with the meaning of religious innovation (bid’ah), which is in reality misguidance into which they fell, even though they claimed to be fleeing from misguidance when they interpreted the saying of Allah the Exalted: That is, they said "He took control" (istawla). I do not wish to stop here; I may return to it if time permits. However, I want to draw your attention to the fact that some of the sects that adhere to the methodology of the later generations (the Khalaf) in the verses of the attributes and the hadiths of the attributes agree with the Mu’tazilah in interpreting some of these verses and differ from them in others. Among these verses is the previous one: As you see in the verse, there is a purification of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and an affirmation of the attributes of hearing and sight for Him. What did the Mu’tazilah say about these two attributes? Did they say as the Lord of the Worlds said, "He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing"? No, rather they interpreted the attributes of hearing and sight as knowledge, and this is denial of the divine attributes (ta’til). They said, "There is nothing like Him," which is a purification of Allah. Here they agree with us in the purification of Allah, but they exaggerated in the purification of Allah, as I mentioned earlier. They said, "He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing," meaning "He is the All-Knowing," thereby denying the attributes of hearing and sight.
As for the Maturidiyyah and the Asha’irah, who, as I mentioned earlier, agree with the Mu’tazilah in interpreting some of the verses and hadiths of the attributes, they stopped here with the Salafi methodology and said, "He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing," meaning that Allah has the attributes of hearing and sight. But what did they do when the Mu’tazilah said to them, "This is likening Allah to creation (tashbih), because the human being has hearing and sight, as the Qur'an testifies, where Allah the Exalted said regarding the first human being, Adam (peace be upon him): The Mu’tazilah said, "If we say that Allah has the attributes of hearing and sight, we have likened Him to the created beings." The Asha’irah and the Maturidiyyah answered here with the answer of the righteous predecessors (the Salaf), saying, "We describe Allah the Exalted with what He has described Himself with, so we say, 'He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing,' but there is nothing like Him." So we say to these Asha’irah and Maturidiyyah: Be with the righteous predecessors (the Salaf) in all the verses of the attributes and all the hadiths of the attributes. Affirm what the Lord has affirmed for Himself of attributes, along with the purification of Allah: Did they adhere to this methodology? No, they were led astray from it, which is the truth, just as you speak. That principle they adopted is a deviation from the verses and the explicit evidence that the righteous predecessors (the Salaf), may Allah be pleased with them and they with Him, said, "The knowledge of the later generations (the Khalaf) is more knowledgeable and more wise, whereas the knowledge of the righteous predecessors (the Salaf) is only safer." As if they made the knowledge of the Salaf a kind of knowledge of dervishes who do not delve deeply into understanding the texts, while the later generations (the Khalaf) are the most knowledgeable and the wisest. Great is the word that comes out of their mouths; they do not speak except a lie. In reality, they are in the greatest state of confusion. Sometimes they are Salafis in some attributes, and the example is before you. They said, "He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing; He has the attributes of hearing and sight, but His hearing is not like our hearing, and His sight is not like our sight." We said, "This is the truth. So why do you not say, 'The Most Merciful rose above the Throne (istiwa’),' meaning He rose in a manner befitting His perfection? Instead, you interpreted 'rising' (istiw'a) as 'taking control' (istawla). I wish you had not interpreted it this way and had stopped at the position of some other people who did not stand with the creed of the Salaf nor with the creed of the later generations (the Khalaf), such as the Mu’tazilah and others, who said, 'We entrust the meaning to Allah' (tafwid)."