Is there a contradiction between the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) (And You are the Hidden, and there is nothing beneath You) and the exaltation of Allah above His creation?
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The questioner : ... The saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) Some people.
The Shaykh : And You are "the Hidden".
The questioner : "There is nothing beneath You"
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Some people cite this hadith to deny the exaltation. What is the response to this doubt?
The Shaykh : Why does this hadith deny the exaltation?
The questioner : They say that "the Hidden" means what is beneath ... Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Is this interpretation correct?
The Shaykh : What is beneath Allah.
The questioner : That is, the belief of the people of the Sunnah is that Allah is above everything, above the Throne. So they say that the meaning of "the Hidden" is that there is nothing below Him. They understand it this way. Is this meaning correct?
The Shaykh : No, it is not correct.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The rule is that an explicit text is not nullified by a text that is open to two interpretations. Rather, the text that can be interpreted in two ways is interpreted in a way that does not contradict the explicit text. And, praise be to Allah, there is nothing in the Shari'ah, in the Book or the authentic Sunnah, that contradicts the exaltation of Allah above His Throne. How could any of that be the case, when the exaltation of Allah above His Throne and His rising above His creation is a mass-transmitted matter in narration and transmission from the Salaf, in the Qur'an and the Sunnah? It is not a single verse or hadith; it is extremely mass-transmitted. Imam al-Dhahabi wrote a book on this, *Al-'Ilm li al-'Ali al-Ghaffar*. So it is not permissible to interpret this hadith, "there is nothing beneath You," to mean that He is not exalted. No, this does not contradict the meaning of this phrase in what remains in my mind: that there is no value to any of Your creation in relation to Your existence and Your exaltation above Your creation. So there is no contradiction between this hadith and the texts that are like mountains in affirming the exaltation of the Exalted, the All-Forgiving.
Yes
O Allah, You are the Manifest, and there is nothing above You, and You are the Hidden, and there is nothing beneath You.
اللهم أنت الظاهر وليس فوقك شيء وأنت الباطن ليس دونك شيءThe Shaykh : And You are "the Hidden".
The questioner : "There is nothing beneath You"
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Some people cite this hadith to deny the exaltation. What is the response to this doubt?
The Shaykh : Why does this hadith deny the exaltation?
The questioner : They say that "the Hidden" means what is beneath ... Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Is this interpretation correct?
The Shaykh : What is beneath Allah.
The questioner : That is, the belief of the people of the Sunnah is that Allah is above everything, above the Throne. So they say that the meaning of "the Hidden" is that there is nothing below Him. They understand it this way. Is this meaning correct?
The Shaykh : No, it is not correct.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The rule is that an explicit text is not nullified by a text that is open to two interpretations. Rather, the text that can be interpreted in two ways is interpreted in a way that does not contradict the explicit text. And, praise be to Allah, there is nothing in the Shari'ah, in the Book or the authentic Sunnah, that contradicts the exaltation of Allah above His Throne. How could any of that be the case, when the exaltation of Allah above His Throne and His rising above His creation is a mass-transmitted matter in narration and transmission from the Salaf, in the Qur'an and the Sunnah? It is not a single verse or hadith; it is extremely mass-transmitted. Imam al-Dhahabi wrote a book on this, *Al-'Ilm li al-'Ali al-Ghaffar*. So it is not permissible to interpret this hadith, "there is nothing beneath You," to mean that He is not exalted. No, this does not contradict the meaning of this phrase in what remains in my mind: that there is no value to any of Your creation in relation to Your existence and Your exaltation above Your creation. So there is no contradiction between this hadith and the texts that are like mountains in affirming the exaltation of the Exalted, the All-Forgiving.
Yes
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.