What is the meaning of the Salaf's statement: "The one who ascribes a body to Allah worships an idol, and the one who denies the divine attributes worships nothing."
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The questioner : The brother is asking for clarification of the phrase "the one who ascribes a body to Allah worships an idol." What is the meaning of "the one who ascribes a body to Allah worships an idol"?
The Shaykh : It means those who liken Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to some of His creations. I do not know, for example, if you have seen or been afflicted by the Christians, for instance, sometimes they depict their Lord, their object of worship, in the form of an old man... and so on. This is their god. And the Jews state in their distorted Torah, without a doubt, that Jacob (peace be upon him) met Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) and wrestled with Him, and he overpowered Him. Jacob overpowered his Lord and did not release Him until He took a covenant from him to bless his children. This type is ascribing a body to Allah. There is no one among the Muslims, especially those who claim to follow the Book and the Sunnah, who has any kind of likening or ascribing a body to Allah in their mind. The intended meaning is that the "mujassimah" (those who ascribe a body to Allah) are a sect that has perished. They used to believe that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) resembles one of His creations; they likened Him as being large, tall, handsome, and so on. This is ascribing a body to Allah. And in reality, by the grace of Allah, this has perished, so those who used to fight this ascribing of a body to Allah remained, living in figurative interpretation, which is the brother of denial of the divine attributes. So if we say, as we established earlier, that nothing is like any of the attributes of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), and He is such and such, and He is such and such, in all His names (Blessed and Exalted is He) and attributes, and now I recall a word from some of the scholars of the later generations, namely al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, the author of the History of Baghdad. He has a small treatise, but it is very useful, in the manuscripts of the Zahiriyyah Library. He says: "The statement regarding the attributes is like the statement regarding the essence." So all the disputants, whether from the Salafis, the Khalafis, or the Mu'awwidin, all agree that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has an essence, and all attributes of perfection. But does any of them say two things: that Allah is not an essence, because if we said "essence," we would have likened Him? No one says that to us. Likewise, does anyone say that the essence of Allah is like the essence of His creation? No one says that. So Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has an essence, and if you wish not to say "essence," say He has existence. And we cannot say anything other than this. So Allah has existence, and Allah has an essence. What we say about the essence of Allah and His existence, we say likewise about all the attributes of Allah and His names, affirming and negating: we affirm what He affirmed, and we purify or negate what He negated, and we do not say except what our Lord said. We say about the essence what is said about the attributes. Do we know how the essence is? No one does. Do we know how the attributes are? No one knows. Do we negate the essence for fear of likening? No. Do we negate any of the attributes for fear of likening? No. This is the most concise thing said on this topic: that we believe in the essence of Allah what we believe in His attributes, and that we believe in His attributes what we believe in His essence, negatively and positively: we negate from Him what He negated to avoid likening, and we affirm for Him what He affirmed of the attributes. And Allah is sufficient for the believers in the fight.
The Shaykh : It means those who liken Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to some of His creations. I do not know, for example, if you have seen or been afflicted by the Christians, for instance, sometimes they depict their Lord, their object of worship, in the form of an old man... and so on. This is their god. And the Jews state in their distorted Torah, without a doubt, that Jacob (peace be upon him) met Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) and wrestled with Him, and he overpowered Him. Jacob overpowered his Lord and did not release Him until He took a covenant from him to bless his children. This type is ascribing a body to Allah. There is no one among the Muslims, especially those who claim to follow the Book and the Sunnah, who has any kind of likening or ascribing a body to Allah in their mind. The intended meaning is that the "mujassimah" (those who ascribe a body to Allah) are a sect that has perished. They used to believe that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) resembles one of His creations; they likened Him as being large, tall, handsome, and so on. This is ascribing a body to Allah. And in reality, by the grace of Allah, this has perished, so those who used to fight this ascribing of a body to Allah remained, living in figurative interpretation, which is the brother of denial of the divine attributes. So if we say, as we established earlier, that nothing is like any of the attributes of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), and He is such and such, and He is such and such, in all His names (Blessed and Exalted is He) and attributes, and now I recall a word from some of the scholars of the later generations, namely al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, the author of the History of Baghdad. He has a small treatise, but it is very useful, in the manuscripts of the Zahiriyyah Library. He says: "The statement regarding the attributes is like the statement regarding the essence." So all the disputants, whether from the Salafis, the Khalafis, or the Mu'awwidin, all agree that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has an essence, and all attributes of perfection. But does any of them say two things: that Allah is not an essence, because if we said "essence," we would have likened Him? No one says that to us. Likewise, does anyone say that the essence of Allah is like the essence of His creation? No one says that. So Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has an essence, and if you wish not to say "essence," say He has existence. And we cannot say anything other than this. So Allah has existence, and Allah has an essence. What we say about the essence of Allah and His existence, we say likewise about all the attributes of Allah and His names, affirming and negating: we affirm what He affirmed, and we purify or negate what He negated, and we do not say except what our Lord said. We say about the essence what is said about the attributes. Do we know how the essence is? No one does. Do we know how the attributes are? No one knows. Do we negate the essence for fear of likening? No. Do we negate any of the attributes for fear of likening? No. This is the most concise thing said on this topic: that we believe in the essence of Allah what we believe in His attributes, and that we believe in His attributes what we believe in His essence, negatively and positively: we negate from Him what He negated to avoid likening, and we affirm for Him what He affirmed of the attributes. And Allah is sufficient for the believers in the fight.