A question about the verses of the attributes.

The questioner : The methodology of the Salaf regarding the attributes in the verses of the attributes and their hadiths is that they say, "We pass them over as they came," or it is said that they are not interpreted, and whoever interprets any of them is a Jahmi or something like that. We seek clarification: Are the hadiths of the attributes understood in their meaning, or is their meaning delegated? May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : Beware of this. What we understand from this phrase, "We pass them over as they came," is that we understand them according to their apparent meaning and their implication in the Arabic style, without applying the tool of ta'wil (figurative interpretation) to them, which is most akin to tahrif (distortion of a text's meaning) and ta'til (denial of the divine attributes). It is not the intention, obviously, in this phrase that we read them and do not understand their meaning. These attributes came in a clear Arabic tongue in the Book and the Sunnah, so it is necessary to understand them, and then to pass over their apparent meaning without interpreting them or denying their meaning. The scholars of the Salaf proceeded in this manner in interpreting the verses of the attributes, and we did not find from any of them that the verses of the attributes and the hadiths of the attributes are not to be understood, and that this is the meaning of the statement of some of the Salaf, "Pass them over as they came." This is not what is intended. Rather, what is intended is passing them over while understanding their meaning. In this, the attributes are affirmed according to the Arabic meaning that comes to mind, not by not understanding them, because the result of not understanding them is that we do not describe Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) with anything of what He has described Himself with, and this is the very essence of ta'til (denial of the divine attributes). It was reported from some of our imams, Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) or his Shaykh, Ibn Taymiyyah, when he said, "The one who ascribes a body to Allah worships an idol, and the one who denies the attributes worships nothing." Denying the attributes and not understanding them is what leads to the denial of the existence of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) pointed to this in his last statement: "The one who ascribes a body to Allah worships an idol, and the one who denies the attributes worships nothing." This is what we understand from these words. This is the truth, of which there is no doubt.