Explanation of al-Tahawi's statement: "… and He is Exalted above limits, ends, joints, limbs, and instruments. The six directions do not contain Him as they contain other created things."

The Shaykh : Therefore, they do not assert the negation or affirmation of these attributes unless it becomes clear what is affirmed by them; what is affirmed is affirmed, and what is negated is negated. This is because among the later scholars, these terms have become ambiguous and vague in their technical usage, like other technical terms. Not all of them use them in their original linguistic meaning. For this reason, the negators use them to negate both the truth and falsehood, and they attribute to the affirmers what they do not actually say. Some of the affirmers introduce a false meaning that contradicts the statement of the Salaf and what the Book and the Balance indicate. No text from the Book or the Sunnah has come regarding the negation or affirmation of these specific terms. It is not for us to describe Allah the Exalted with what He has not described Himself with, nor with what His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) has described Him with, whether by negation or affirmation. We are only followers, not innovators. Does Allah have limbs, joints, and instruments, as he said? Is this said? People are on three schools of thought: some say this negation, some say the opposite, meaning they affirm that Allah has limbs, joints, and instruments, and some distinguish. This is the truth in which there is no doubt, because it is what the Salafi principles, and the reports transmitted from them, approve. Why? Because we actually know, by studying the statements of the Khalaf on the subject of attributes, that they say in interpreting the statement of Allah the Exalted "His Power." So why do you not say "His Hand"? They say this means affirming limbs and organs for Him, and this is likening Allah Mighty and Majestic to creation. And Allah does not have limbs, so Allah does not have a hand. This is a negation. So what was said here of the schools of thought is a negation that Allah Mighty and Majestic has limbs, joints, and instruments. And behold, these who negate that Allah has such things mentioned intend by this negation the negation of what is established in the Book and the Sunnah of the description of Allah Mighty and Majestic that He has hands. So, out of fear that the one who affirms the attributes of Allah Mighty and Majestic will fall into such a negation of what is established in the Qur'an, it is not permissible for him to say "Allah does not have limbs," because those who say this negation intended by it the negation that Allah has a hand, and this is established in the Book and the Sunnah. And this negation is false. Likewise, the opposite should not be said. It should not be said that Allah has limbs. Here "limbs" is plural, while "hand" and "hands" is dual. It has been established in the Sunnah that Allah Mighty and Majestic, on the Day of Resurrection, when the people of Paradise enter Paradise and the people of the Fire enter the Fire, the Fire will not be filled with its people. So Allah Blessed and Exalted is He says to it and it says Then the Lord Blessed and Exalted is He places His foot, and it says "Enough, enough." Do we affirm the foot for Allah Mighty and Majestic? The way of the Salaf, as we have learned, is to affirm everything that Allah has affirmed for Himself, including what we are currently discussing. Allah has two hands, and Allah has a foot. Some of them call these things that Allah affirmed in His Book and His Messenger in his hadith "limbs," then they build upon this that Allah is sanctified from having limbs. So Allah does not have two hands and Allah does not have a leg. So we do not say "Allah does not have," we do not say first affirming that Allah has limbs, because in that there is an implication of likening the Creator to the created, and Allah did not say about Himself that He has limbs, but He said He has two hands, He has a foot, He has hearing, He has sight, and so on. So it is not correct to assert the negation or the affirmation, because the assertion of these terms in negation, meaning that we say "Allah does not have limbs," the innovators took this statement as a pretext to deny the divine attributes. And we do not say either, on the opposite side of this negation, "Allah has limbs," because in this affirmation there is likening. And the truth is that we come with the terms that Allah Mighty and Majestic affirmed for Himself, so we say He has a hand, we do not say He has a limb. He has a foot, we do not say He has a limb. And we do not say He has limbs, including sight and hearing, because merely saying this opens the way for the innovators. So you are likening, and Allah says So Allah does not have limbs. So block the way for the interpreters and the innovators. Do not affirm a term that the Book and the Sunnah have not affirmed. And this is faith and submission to what came from Allah Mighty and Majestic and from His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).

The questioner : My question, Shaykh?

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : In … Sahih Muslim … and in the hadith … .

The Shaykh : To Allah and His Messenger, then … and he did not implement any of that practically. What do we say about this person? Is he a believer or a disbeliever?
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The questioner : For us, this is a disbeliever. We do not know his reality, because here it is apparent.

The Shaykh : And as for the Lord of the worlds who created him.

The questioner : And as for the Lord of the worlds, He knows and gives him his right as a believer.

The Shaykh : That is all.

The questioner : But we are now in the process of judging this society, in the process of judging this society by its appearance.

The Shaykh : Very well.

The questioner : So when we see a society that does not say "There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : We judge it to be a disbelieving society.

The Shaykh : Very well.

The questioner : A disbelieving society, and after this, what is in his heart is a matter left to Allah.

The Shaykh : Yes, but this image is not realized … meaning we do not want to imagine a believing society in its heart, and nothing appears from its actions that testifies to what is in its heart at all … .

The questioner : Yes, this is if we correct the phrase.

The Shaykh : … We reconsider it.
Al-'Aid 'Abassi: Is it possible, Professor, to record it from your first words? This is your first words … .

The Shaykh : Is the recording working now?
Al-'Aid 'Abassi: Yes, it is.

The Shaykh : Please, read, my brother.