He was asked about Ibn Hajar’s statement in Fath al-Bari: “And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is not described as being above (the creation).” Does this imply that we describe Him with physical perception?
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The questioner : The Imam Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani (may Allah have mercy on him)
The Shaykh : (May Allah have mercy on him).
The questioner : says in Fath al-Bari, “And it is not necessary to describe Allah, Mighty and Majestic, as being above (the creation) just because this is from the side of physical perception, for it is impossible that this be so…”
The Shaykh : that this is from the side of
The questioner : Yes.
Another questioner : physical perception
The Shaykh : physical perception
The questioner : “From the side of physical perception, it is not necessary to say that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is described as being above (the creation).”
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : “That this is from the side of physical perception, this is impossible for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and rather it is from the side of meaning.” This is what he says. So all the speech that is said about Hasan al-Saqaf is also said about Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani. Why? Because of the very speech of this man, and because many scholars have said this.
The Shaykh : No, no. Did Ibn Hajar say, “Allah is neither inside the world nor outside of it”?
The questioner : We want this statement.
The Shaykh : No, I want this statement. I am asking you now: which of the two statements is more dangerous?
The questioner : Both are dangerous.
The Shaykh : You have not answered. You have not answered.
The questioner : Both are dangerous, and all of them.
The Shaykh : I agree that both are dangerous, but one is dangerous and the other is more dangerous, correct?
The questioner : I do not see a difference. It is more dangerous.
The Shaykh : You want to lose people’s questions.
The questioner : I do not know. I do not know.
The Shaykh : Okay, are you the one asking now? Do you believe that the non-existent is neither inside the world nor outside of it?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay, is Allah existent or non-existent?
The questioner : Yes, he is present.
The Shaykh : Where is He?
The questioner : But there are things…
The Shaykh : No, but that is an explanatory clause. May Allah reward you. I have not spoken. I am still asking you: Where is He? You say “but,” but where is the thing being explained? You want… with me.
The questioner : Ah
The Shaykh : I repeat the question: Where is He? Since you agree with me that the non-existent is that which is neither inside the world nor outside of it, then Allah—we asked inquiringly—is He non-existent or existent? Far be it from Allah, He is existent.
The questioner: Present
The Shaykh : Okay, where is He? I am waiting for the answer.
The questioner : Along the lines of the question of the intellect: Where is it?
The Shaykh : In your body. In your body.
The questioner : Where is the knowledge?
The Shaykh : In your body.
The questioner : But it is not described as being inside something or outside of it.
The Shaykh : You have just now… I answered you, accommodating you, following you, but I thought you would treat me according to what is due. Is the reward for goodness anything but goodness?
The questioner : Hehehe.
The Shaykh : That it is like how I followed you. You do not follow me. Just answer me.
The questioner : Yes.
Another questioner : May Allah reward you with good, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : I followed you. You do not follow me. Just answer me: Where is He?
The questioner : I say, as Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani said, “That it is impossible for this to be from the side of physical perception.”
The Shaykh : This is a deviation. And I say, as he said, and I say, as he said.
The questioner : This is all that I said.
The Shaykh : Okay, but you say that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, rose above the Throne.
The questioner : In the meaning that He intended, which is what I am saying.
The Shaykh : In the meaning that He intended and made His servants understand, or did He veil it from them?
The questioner : Of course, Allah knows best, meaning.
The Shaykh: Allah knows best.
The Shaykh : Hehehe.
The questioner : I cannot say.
The Shaykh : Yes.
Another questioner : He is the best answer, meaning.
The Shaykh : Good, good.
Another questioner : … better than the others.
The Shaykh : In any case, this taking and giving will yield something of good, if Allah wills. Do you not feel with me that you are ignorant of your creed? And here the effect of the scholars of kalam (theology) appears, a serious and very serious effect. Is Allah, Mighty and Majestic, not as He said:[Ash-Shuraa 42:11] Yes.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes. Okay, is He not as He said: I am asking you a question now, but I hope your position is not the previous one. Are You Hearing and Seeing, or are You Deaf and Blind?
The questioner : Hearing and Seeing.
The Shaykh : Okay, there is no likening (tashbih). Answer.
The questioner : Allah knows best.
The Shaykh : Allah knows best? Then where is the creed? Where is the creed, O Abu Aish? What do they call you?
The questioner : Abu Talhah.
The Shaykh : Abu Talhah, what Allah willed. May Allah be pleased with Abu Talhah.
Another questioner : May Allah be pleased with him.
The questioner : Allah, Mighty and Majestic, hears and sees, but not with a pupil or an organ.
The Shaykh : Okay, I ask you another question, and may it not be like those who said that Allah sees with a pupil. Why do you not speak?
The questioner : Hehehe.
The Shaykh : There is no power and no strength except with Allah, O people. This man has misled you, by Allah. He has misled you with his slip of the tongue and his poor expression. But where is the one who understands this poor expression? There is no one among the Muslims who says that Allah is Seeing with a pupil, and that Allah is Hearing with what is it called? The ear? No one says this. But this man makes a grain into a dome and a grape into a tavern. He magnifies the small and diminishes the great. We seek help from Allah. Two matters, and they are of great importance. Then he does not distinguish between a matter that the Messenger, who does not approve of error, approved, and a matter in which one acts. I do not say he is the most knowledgeable of people, and he is prone to error, but rather the most ignorant of people, naming it a good innovation. Then you find this man going around the hadith of the addition and blessings in the first taslim, denying it. Why? Because it does not suit his desire, even though he could have approved it according to his deviated madhhab, saying that this is an addition.
The questioner : We do not hear, O Shaykh.
Another questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : In any case, they have broken their fast now. The lesson and the tooth, as we say, do not come together.
The Shaykh : (May Allah have mercy on him).
The questioner : says in Fath al-Bari, “And it is not necessary to describe Allah, Mighty and Majestic, as being above (the creation) just because this is from the side of physical perception, for it is impossible that this be so…”
The Shaykh : that this is from the side of
The questioner : Yes.
Another questioner : physical perception
The Shaykh : physical perception
The questioner : “From the side of physical perception, it is not necessary to say that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is described as being above (the creation).”
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : “That this is from the side of physical perception, this is impossible for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and rather it is from the side of meaning.” This is what he says. So all the speech that is said about Hasan al-Saqaf is also said about Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani. Why? Because of the very speech of this man, and because many scholars have said this.
The Shaykh : No, no. Did Ibn Hajar say, “Allah is neither inside the world nor outside of it”?
The questioner : We want this statement.
The Shaykh : No, I want this statement. I am asking you now: which of the two statements is more dangerous?
The questioner : Both are dangerous.
The Shaykh : You have not answered. You have not answered.
The questioner : Both are dangerous, and all of them.
The Shaykh : I agree that both are dangerous, but one is dangerous and the other is more dangerous, correct?
The questioner : I do not see a difference. It is more dangerous.
The Shaykh : You want to lose people’s questions.
The questioner : I do not know. I do not know.
The Shaykh : Okay, are you the one asking now? Do you believe that the non-existent is neither inside the world nor outside of it?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Okay, is Allah existent or non-existent?
The questioner : Yes, he is present.
The Shaykh : Where is He?
The questioner : But there are things…
The Shaykh : No, but that is an explanatory clause. May Allah reward you. I have not spoken. I am still asking you: Where is He? You say “but,” but where is the thing being explained? You want… with me.
The questioner : Ah
The Shaykh : I repeat the question: Where is He? Since you agree with me that the non-existent is that which is neither inside the world nor outside of it, then Allah—we asked inquiringly—is He non-existent or existent? Far be it from Allah, He is existent.
The questioner: Present
The Shaykh : Okay, where is He? I am waiting for the answer.
The questioner : Along the lines of the question of the intellect: Where is it?
The Shaykh : In your body. In your body.
The questioner : Where is the knowledge?
The Shaykh : In your body.
The questioner : But it is not described as being inside something or outside of it.
The Shaykh : You have just now… I answered you, accommodating you, following you, but I thought you would treat me according to what is due. Is the reward for goodness anything but goodness?
The questioner : Hehehe.
The Shaykh : That it is like how I followed you. You do not follow me. Just answer me.
The questioner : Yes.
Another questioner : May Allah reward you with good, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : I followed you. You do not follow me. Just answer me: Where is He?
The questioner : I say, as Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani said, “That it is impossible for this to be from the side of physical perception.”
The Shaykh : This is a deviation. And I say, as he said, and I say, as he said.
The questioner : This is all that I said.
The Shaykh : Okay, but you say that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, rose above the Throne.
The questioner : In the meaning that He intended, which is what I am saying.
The Shaykh : In the meaning that He intended and made His servants understand, or did He veil it from them?
The questioner : Of course, Allah knows best, meaning.
The Shaykh: Allah knows best.
The Shaykh : Hehehe.
The questioner : I cannot say.
The Shaykh : Yes.
Another questioner : He is the best answer, meaning.
The Shaykh : Good, good.
Another questioner : … better than the others.
The Shaykh : In any case, this taking and giving will yield something of good, if Allah wills. Do you not feel with me that you are ignorant of your creed? And here the effect of the scholars of kalam (theology) appears, a serious and very serious effect. Is Allah, Mighty and Majestic, not as He said:
There is nothing like unto Him
ليس كمثله شيءThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes. Okay, is He not as He said:
And He is the Hearing, the Seeing
و هو سميع البصيرThe questioner : Hearing and Seeing.
The Shaykh : Okay, there is no likening (tashbih). Answer.
The questioner : Allah knows best.
The Shaykh : Allah knows best? Then where is the creed? Where is the creed, O Abu Aish? What do they call you?
The questioner : Abu Talhah.
The Shaykh : Abu Talhah, what Allah willed. May Allah be pleased with Abu Talhah.
Another questioner : May Allah be pleased with him.
The questioner : Allah, Mighty and Majestic, hears and sees, but not with a pupil or an organ.
The Shaykh : Okay, I ask you another question, and may it not be like those who said that Allah sees with a pupil. Why do you not speak?
The questioner : Hehehe.
The Shaykh : There is no power and no strength except with Allah, O people. This man has misled you, by Allah. He has misled you with his slip of the tongue and his poor expression. But where is the one who understands this poor expression? There is no one among the Muslims who says that Allah is Seeing with a pupil, and that Allah is Hearing with what is it called? The ear? No one says this. But this man makes a grain into a dome and a grape into a tavern. He magnifies the small and diminishes the great. We seek help from Allah. Two matters, and they are of great importance. Then he does not distinguish between a matter that the Messenger, who does not approve of error, approved, and a matter in which one acts. I do not say he is the most knowledgeable of people, and he is prone to error, but rather the most ignorant of people, naming it a good innovation. Then you find this man going around the hadith of the addition and blessings in the first taslim, denying it. Why? Because it does not suit his desire, even though he could have approved it according to his deviated madhhab, saying that this is an addition.
The questioner : We do not hear, O Shaykh.
Another questioner : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : In any case, they have broken their fast now. The lesson and the tooth, as we say, do not come together.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.