The Meaning of the Salaf's Statement Regarding the Attributes: "We leave them as they came." And the refutation of the Mu'tazilah, the Asha'irah, and the Maturidiyyah in their denial of the attributes or some of them.

The Shaykh : And the Salaf, as we said, did not depart from this principle. They interpreted the Qur'an in the way every Arab understands it, and this is the intent behind some of the phrases transmitted from some of the Salaf, such as Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah and others, when they say, "We leave them as they came." They do not mean that we leave them as they came without understanding, but rather that we leave them as they came without figurative interpretation, because the meaning in them is clear, as we gave the example earlier of the attributes of hearing and seeing. So it is not befitting for us to stop here and interpret them figuratively as some of the extremists of the Mu'tazilah did. Some of these later people who departed from the Salaf and the Khalaf in their stance of complete ignorance toward the verses of Allah and the hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the attributes may not know that some of the Mu'tazilah interpreted the previous verse , saying that "The All-Hearing, the All-Seeing" means "The All-Knowing." This example clarifies to our brothers present what the phrase "denial of the attributes" means, i.e., rejecting them. And naturally, this rejection can only occur through the path of denial from one who claims to belong to Islam, which is figurative interpretation. So when the Mu'tazilah said that "The All-Hearing, the All-Seeing" means "knowledge," it became clear to anyone with knowledge that this is a denial of the attributes of hearing and seeing. And why did the Mu'tazilah deny these two attributes? For the same reason that the interpreters deny many of the verses of the attributes, such as rising above the Throne, the Hand, and the like, which we referred to earlier. The Mu'tazilah said, "If we say that Allah has hearing, we have likened Him to us. And if we say that Allah has sight, we have likened Him to us." Therefore, we, meaning the Mu'tazilah, say that Allah is not described as All-Hearing or All-Seeing, but rather the intent of this verse regarding these two attributes is that He is All-Knowing. What did the Mu'tazilah gain from this interpretation? It is the same as what the interpreters gained from their many interpretations, which is in reality nothing. Because when they said "The All-Hearing, the All-Seeing" means "The All-Knowing," we today say so-and-so is knowledgeable. And Allah Mighty and Majestic related about Yusuf (peace be upon him) when he said to the governor of Egypt . So what did the Mu'tazilah gain from this interpretation of that noble verse when they said there is no hearing and no sight, but the meaning is "The All-Knowing"? They gained nothing, because this attribute is also one by which the created beings are described. So what is the way out? The way out is to adhere to the Qur'anic text by purifying Allah and affirming it . This is the purification . So we say He is All-Hearing, but His hearing is not like our hearing. He is All-Seeing, but His sight is not like our sight. His knowledge is not like our knowledge. And it is sufficient for us to say that He is the Creator of these created beings, including their hearing and sight, as He said . But everyone knows that the hearing and sight of this first created being, Adam (peace be upon him), whom Allah Himself described as making him hearing and seeing, is created. And everything that is created has no likeness to the Creator, Glorified and Exalted is He. Therefore, the truth that a Muslim must believe in first, and find rest in it from the trial of likening and denial in which the Mu'tazilah fell in the past, and then some of those who claim to follow the Sunnah, the Asha'irah and the Maturidiyyah, followed them, is combining purification with affirmation. Because there is no escape for any person or any sect from affirming for Allah Mighty and Majestic at least some of the attributes. And whatever attribute one affirms for Allah Mighty and Majestic, one will find that this attribute exists in one of the creations of Allah Blessed and Exalted is He. So we say, for example, after every prayer, the Verse of the Throne: "The Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting." And here we are now, we are alive. Does that mean we have likened ourselves in the attribute of life to the life of Allah Mighty and Majestic, which is eternal, having no beginning and no creator, but He is the One who exists where there is nothing, as came in the authentic hadiths? No one ever imagines such a doubt, except in the manner of these deniers who led them to deny real facts due to their deviation from the Islamic Shari'ah, the Book and the Sunnah, and even more so their deviation from the methodology of the righteous Salaf. These people are compelled to be one of two things, in their manner of denying the attribute of hearing and seeing like the Mu'tazilah, and the manner of denying the attribute of descending, coming, and rising above the Throne like the Asha'irah and their like. They must be in one of two states: We, the living, are not alive. Why? Because if we say "I am alive" and "you are alive," it becomes a sharing with the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting, Glorified and Exalted is He. And does anyone say this to purify Allah Mighty and Majestic from being likened to created things? There is no necessary connection between the two things at all. And therefore, they did not fall into this catastrophe. None of them said, "We are not alive." Rather, they say, "Our life is not like His life, Blessed and Exalted is He. His life is intrinsic, and our life is acquired by His creation, Blessed and Exalted is He." Or they say, "And if we are alive, then Allah is not alive, because it would become a likening." No, this is not what a person is compelled to say, and they never fell into this great catastrophe. But they said what is exactly similar to it. Reflect with me, and you will find the matter with complete clarity. What is the difference between saying "Man is alive and Allah is alive, but the life of Allah is not like our life," which is self-evident, and saying "Allah is All-Hearing and All-Seeing, but not like our hearing and sight"? This is exactly like that. Because we established purification and then affirmed . So what is the difference between saying "He rose above the Throne, not like our rising above," and "He comes down, not like our coming down," and "He descends, not like our descending"? And what is the meaning of the claim that the Salaf did not understand the meaning of "Allah descends every night in the last third of the night to the lowest heaven"? Who says that the Salaf did not understand this? The Salaf understood and believed, as Allah the Exalted said: