Continuation of the discussion on the Asha'irah's creed regarding the attribute of speech for Allah (Mighty and Majestic)
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The Shaykh : But among the wisdom of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and His establishment of His proof against those who oppose His Shari'ah is that... first, those who deviate from the Shari'ah of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) are to establish their falsehood with evidence from the Book and the Sunnah, except when we find that their evidence turns back against them.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : So their evidence turns back against them, and what we are dealing with here is exactly of this nature. These Asha'irah and Maturidiyyah said: We cannot deny the divine speech because it contradicts the evidence of the Book and the Sunnah. Here, they are refuting the Mu'tazilah; they are refuting the Mu'tazilah and agreeing with the people of the Sunnah and the Salaf in this. But from another angle, they meet with the Mu'tazilah and the opponents... regarding speech; because they also deny the real speech, just as the Mu'tazilah do. By this denial, they contradict the people of the Sunnah. Therefore, as we mentioned earlier, they agree with the Mu'tazilah from one side and contradict them from another; and from another side, they agree with the people of the Sunnah and the Salaf from one angle and contradict them from another. In addition to this, they meet with the Mu'tazilah in denying the real divine speech, and this is a contradiction by all of them against the righteous Salaf.
They contradict the Mu'tazilah in the belief that Allah speaks. The Mu'tazilah explicitly state that Allah does not speak. By this apparent affirmation of divine speech, they agree with the people of the Sunnah, but in reality, this agreement is merely formal and verbal. Because if we clarify the matter with them, the speech they believe in is the speech of the Mu'tazilah, but with a slight modification. The Mu'tazilah say: The speech of Allah in reality... He does not speak. But the Asha'irah say: Allah, in reality, does not speak either, but He has a mental speech, which is what the Mu'tazilah did not believe in.
We say now: What did the ta'wilers gain, whether they are from the Asha'irah or the Maturidiyyah, in interpreting the real divine speech as mental speech? ... The reason, if you know the motive of the Mu'tazilah on one side and the Maturidiyyah and Asha'irah on the other side; if you know the motive of these and those to deny the real, verbal divine speech, you will know that they gained nothing from their interpretation of the real speech as mental speech...
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : So their evidence turns back against them, and what we are dealing with here is exactly of this nature. These Asha'irah and Maturidiyyah said: We cannot deny the divine speech because it contradicts the evidence of the Book and the Sunnah. Here, they are refuting the Mu'tazilah; they are refuting the Mu'tazilah and agreeing with the people of the Sunnah and the Salaf in this. But from another angle, they meet with the Mu'tazilah and the opponents... regarding speech; because they also deny the real speech, just as the Mu'tazilah do. By this denial, they contradict the people of the Sunnah. Therefore, as we mentioned earlier, they agree with the Mu'tazilah from one side and contradict them from another; and from another side, they agree with the people of the Sunnah and the Salaf from one angle and contradict them from another. In addition to this, they meet with the Mu'tazilah in denying the real divine speech, and this is a contradiction by all of them against the righteous Salaf.
They contradict the Mu'tazilah in the belief that Allah speaks. The Mu'tazilah explicitly state that Allah does not speak. By this apparent affirmation of divine speech, they agree with the people of the Sunnah, but in reality, this agreement is merely formal and verbal. Because if we clarify the matter with them, the speech they believe in is the speech of the Mu'tazilah, but with a slight modification. The Mu'tazilah say: The speech of Allah in reality... He does not speak. But the Asha'irah say: Allah, in reality, does not speak either, but He has a mental speech, which is what the Mu'tazilah did not believe in.
We say now: What did the ta'wilers gain, whether they are from the Asha'irah or the Maturidiyyah, in interpreting the real divine speech as mental speech? ... The reason, if you know the motive of the Mu'tazilah on one side and the Maturidiyyah and Asha'irah on the other side; if you know the motive of these and those to deny the real, verbal divine speech, you will know that they gained nothing from their interpretation of the real speech as mental speech...
Source
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