The Shaykh’s remarks on the statement, “The polytheists believed that Allah is Wise,” and his refutation of the Asha'irah who deny this attribute.

The Shaykh : The second point of caution: Professor 'Ayd 'Abbasi spoke about the oneness of lordship, stating that the majority of people and nations, even the polytheists, believe in this type of tawhid. This is a true statement. However, in the course of his speech, he said that they believe in Allah as the Creator, the Manager, and the Wise. I want to draw attention to this, and I have a goal in mind beyond the apparent goal of my words. His statement that the polytheists believed that this universe has a Creator and a Manager would have been acceptable if he had stopped there. But he added another description and attribute, which is the attribute of wisdom for Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). Yet he attributed to the disbelievers the belief that Allah also possesses this attribute, namely that He is Wise. It is regrettable to say, and this is the other point I am aiming at in this speech, that the belief that Allah is Wise is not only something that the polytheists who associated partners with Allah in the oneness of worship and the oneness of attributes did not believe in, as you heard some detail about that. It is not only these polytheists who did not know Allah as Wise; they knew Him as Creator, Nurturer, and Manager, but they did not know Him as Wise. But, unfortunately, there are today masses of Muslims who do not believe in this attribute for Allah, Lord of the worlds. This is what I wanted to point out. Describing the polytheists as believing that Allah is Wise is an error, because we know that this wisdom is, in many matters, a matter of faith. For this reason, some Islamic sects, some Islamic schools of thought, have doubted this attribute. I will not hide the truth, and therefore I say that the books of the Asha'irah are full of the statement that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is not described as Wise, despite their knowledge that this noble name is mentioned in the noble, wise Qur'an. But they interpret this name, Al-Hakim, as being from al-hukm (judgment) rather than al-hikmah (wisdom). So He is Hakim on the pattern of fa'il, meaning the doer, i.e., He is a Judge. As for Him being Wise in the sense that He places things in their proper place accompanied by wisdom, this, unfortunately, I do not say that the Asha'irah do not believe in it, but they explicitly deny it, and their books are full of that, and their arguments are well known. They ask and say: What is the wisdom in torturing children? Where is the wisdom in torturing children? Where is the wisdom in torturing animals? Undoubtedly, the believing Muslim who believes in the wisdom of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: "By Allah, I may not know what the wisdom is in torturing children." Although some scholars of tawhid who believe in this name, Al-Hakim, and its correct meaning try to find an apparent wisdom in the tormenting of children and the torturing of animals, I believe in my opinion that not every Muslim is able to discover the divine wisdom in every divine action. Therefore, in the end, one must have faith. Faith is the first condition in describing the believers who believe in the unseen and establish prayer. So belief in the unseen is the true distinction between the sincere believer and the false believer. If we know that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) described Himself as Wise, we must believe, whether the wisdom is apparent to us or not. The wisdom of the Wise, All-Knowing One is clear and evident in much of this witnessed creation, especially for those specialized in studying the system of this universe. But there remain many or few matters in which the wisdom is hidden from all people, or most people, or the least of people. So what prevents us from saying The inability of the Asha'irah to grasp the wisdom in some of the actions of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in what He creates led them to deviate from this Qur'anic text. They say Allah said: This is how they say: And they exaggerate in this until they deny the attributes by which Allah described Himself in His Book and described Him by in the words of His Prophet. Yet they interpret these attributes. Why? They say: To purify Allah, Lord of the worlds. Then they forget all this and describe Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with what they describe tyrants with: that He is "Doer of what He wills" without justice and without wisdom. From here they arrived at the explicit statement in the famous creed of the Jewel among the Asha'irah: "It is for Allah to torment the obedient and reward the disobedient" And some of them, who have no shame and no modesty, explained this by saying that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He, far above what the wrongdoers say, greatly) has the right to put Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and throw him into the lowest depth of the Fire in place of Iblis the accursed, and to raise Iblis the accursed and place him in the unique rank that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned in the hadith well known to you all. They said this in their books: that He has the right to reward the disobedient and torment the obedient. So why does He not torment the animal? And why does He not torment the child who does not know obedience from disobedience? And they say it is for Allah to torment the obedient, to put the Messenger in the lowest depth of the Fire, and to raise Iblis to the highest ranks of the Gardens.
They said this explicitly. Where did they take this from? From the general statements of the noble verses: Undoubtedly, He is effective in what He wills. Can anyone prevent Him from what He wills? But does “effective in what He wills” mean that He has no justice? Far be it from Allah. Does “effective in what He wills” mean that He has no wisdom? Far be it from Allah. And therefore, as we always say, every issue must bring its texts together and the conclusion must be taken from the sum of these texts. “Effective in what He wills” means that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) intends from this text and its like that no one can prevent Him from what He wills to do. But this does not mean that He is not Wise and not Just. How? Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says: Tyrants among the slaves may do this, as is the reality today and is observed: they raise the lowly criminals to positions and very high ranks, and they reverse things by placing righteous people in positions that small children could handle.
This is the affair of tyrants. Allah (Mighty and Majestic), the Compeller in truth, the Wise, the All-Knowing, is free from everything that contradicts the attribute of perfection in Him (Blessed and Exalted is He). This is what I wanted to point out. Incidentally, as I said, I want to kill two birds with one stone. The first bird is that we do not describe the disbelievers as believing that Allah is Wise, because some Muslims did not believe in it, even though Allah (Mighty and Majestic) revealed this attribute in the noble Qur'an. The second bird is drawing attention to the importance of the Salafi call, which calls all people to return to the Book and the Sunnah without deviating to taking the words of the scholars of kalam. Among the scholars of kalam is what is shirk and disbelief in the Qur'an, and this is an example of that. It has come to you by way of warning against describing the disbelievers as believing that Allah is Wise, while they say that Allah is the Creator and Manager of the universe, they believe that He is Wise. If Muslims believe in it, that is their duty, because Allah mentioned to them in the Qur'an that the disbelievers who do not believe in Allah or the Last Day cannot believe that Allah is Wise, because His wisdom is hidden in many matters. For this reason, the Asha'irah fell into this dangerous deviation.