Discussion of the sects that deny the attributes of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
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The Shaykh : The reality is that they say what they say, and will not say, nor will they ever say, anything else; because they claim that describing Allah with speech necessitates likening Him to creation, and this is the root of misguidance. When they hear such an attribute, they immediately interpret and understand it as an attribute befitting themselves, as if they heard Allah (Mighty and Majestic) say: [Ash-Shuraa 42:11]; so He has an ear to hear with, and cavities, and salt water... and so on. After they understand it in this wrong way, they negate the attribute entirely and say: So He is not All-Hearing. But what compelled you and drove you into this dilemma to say: Allah hears as we hear?!
Praise be to Allah, many of the sects did not fall into this misguidance; that is, the misguidance of denying the divine hearing and the divine sight. The well-known sects, such as the Asha'irah and the Maturidiyyah, did not fall into such figurative interpretation regarding these two attributes. But why did they not apply this sound understanding to all the divine attributes? Just as we say: His hearing is not like our hearing, His sight is not like our sight, and the speech of Allah is not like our speech, the matter is settled. Especially since Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has created in this age a sign to alert the heedless among these people: Why do you liken Allah (Mighty and Majestic) when you hear that He described Himself with speech? Does this necessitate that Allah has a mouth, has two lips, has teeth, has saliva, has a larynx, and so on?!
So our Lord created in these times a deaf and mute machine that nonetheless speaks in a clear Arabic language, without possessing the limbs that exist in humans. If Allah created from matter a substance that speaks without limbs, is not Allah (Mighty and Majestic), who created this substance, more capable—without any comparison, of course—of speaking without what? These limbs and these organs?! That is a very, very clear matter.
From this, the misguidance of opposing the methodology of the righteous Salaf becomes apparent, as well as what necessarily follows from it: the denial of the texts of the Book and the Sunnah on the flimsiest of doubts. Here we are now with this sacred hadith: Allah says to one of His servants on the Day of Resurrection. What does any person who has been granted some understanding of the Arabic language understand? Allah speaks, and the servant responds to Him by saying: O my Lord, how can I visit You when You are the Lord of the worlds?! Does this not mean that there is an address between the Lord (Glorified and Exalted is He) and one of His servants?! This is a very, very self-evident matter. Yet these alternatives were nullified by a philosophy that entered the Muslims long ago, which caused them to deny dozens, indeed hundreds, of texts from the Book and the Sunnah, as I hinted to you earlier. And this is the example before you.
So it is obligatory for us to believe that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says to one of His servants on the Day of Resurrection: O My servant, I was sick and you did not visit Me! And the answer comes: How can I visit You when You are the Lord of the worlds?!
This is what I also wanted to draw your attention to, even though the hadith, as we mentioned earlier, was narrated to explain the virtue of visiting the sick and the virtue of feeding the needy, as well as giving them drink. And now we stop here to devote ourselves to answering some questions, and the continuation of the lesson, if Allah wills, in this hadith in the next lesson, by the permission of Allah.
Then, before I forget, I remind the brothers that our next lesson, and those thereafter until Allah wills, will begin immediately after the Maghrib prayer. So I hope that those present will inform the listeners, and that the brothers do not be late; because after the obligatory Maghrib prayer, in the nearest mosque, we will begin and finish with the Adhan for Isha, and we will pray Isha here, if Allah wills. As for Maghrib, it will be in the nearest mosque, as has been the case previously.
Yes.
There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُPraise be to Allah, many of the sects did not fall into this misguidance; that is, the misguidance of denying the divine hearing and the divine sight. The well-known sects, such as the Asha'irah and the Maturidiyyah, did not fall into such figurative interpretation regarding these two attributes. But why did they not apply this sound understanding to all the divine attributes? Just as we say: His hearing is not like our hearing, His sight is not like our sight, and the speech of Allah is not like our speech, the matter is settled. Especially since Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has created in this age a sign to alert the heedless among these people: Why do you liken Allah (Mighty and Majestic) when you hear that He described Himself with speech
And Allah spoke to Musa directly
وَكَلَّمَ اللَّهُ مُوسَى تَكْلِيمًاSo our Lord created in these times a deaf and mute machine that nonetheless speaks in a clear Arabic language, without possessing the limbs that exist in humans. If Allah created from matter a substance that speaks without limbs, is not Allah (Mighty and Majestic), who created this substance, more capable—without any comparison, of course—of speaking without what? These limbs and these organs?! That is a very, very clear matter.
From this, the misguidance of opposing the methodology of the righteous Salaf becomes apparent, as well as what necessarily follows from it: the denial of the texts of the Book and the Sunnah on the flimsiest of doubts. Here we are now with this sacred hadith: Allah says to one of His servants on the Day of Resurrection. What does any person who has been granted some understanding of the Arabic language understand? Allah speaks, and the servant responds to Him by saying: O my Lord, how can I visit You when You are the Lord of the worlds?! Does this not mean that there is an address between the Lord (Glorified and Exalted is He) and one of His servants?! This is a very, very self-evident matter. Yet these alternatives were nullified by a philosophy that entered the Muslims long ago, which caused them to deny dozens, indeed hundreds, of texts from the Book and the Sunnah, as I hinted to you earlier. And this is the example before you.
So it is obligatory for us to believe that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says to one of His servants on the Day of Resurrection: O My servant, I was sick and you did not visit Me! And the answer comes: How can I visit You when You are the Lord of the worlds?!
This is what I also wanted to draw your attention to, even though the hadith, as we mentioned earlier, was narrated to explain the virtue of visiting the sick and the virtue of feeding the needy, as well as giving them drink. And now we stop here to devote ourselves to answering some questions, and the continuation of the lesson, if Allah wills, in this hadith in the next lesson, by the permission of Allah.
Then, before I forget, I remind the brothers that our next lesson, and those thereafter until Allah wills, will begin immediately after the Maghrib prayer. So I hope that those present will inform the listeners, and that the brothers do not be late; because after the obligatory Maghrib prayer, in the nearest mosque, we will begin and finish with the Adhan for Isha, and we will pray Isha here, if Allah wills. As for Maghrib, it will be in the nearest mosque, as has been the case previously.
Yes.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.