The story of the Companion Mu'awiyah ibn al-Hakam (may Allah be pleased with him) and his slave girl, whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked about Allah the Exalted.

The Shaykh : This hadith was narrated by Imam Muslim in the Book of Prayer. The man, as he relates it about himself, is one of the Companions, Mu'awiyah ibn al-Hakam al-Sulami. He said: This means they were silencing him. It seems the man was a recent convert to Islam and had not yet learned the rulings appropriate for prayer. When they cast their eyes at him to silence him, he was exasperated by them. So what did he do but raise his voice shouting He was treating a poor thing, in his opinion. He said: This means "be quiet." He said: Here he depicts the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) etiquette, gentleness, and humility, and how, after he became aware of this great mistake, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would punish him and treat him. And what did he find? The exact opposite. He expresses this psychological state by saying: - Here is the point: Why did Imam Muslim bring this hadith in the Book of Prayer? Because of his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying - , and the story ended with just that. Meaning, he taught him the best teaching. It seems that when the man felt the gentleness in the teaching, he hoped to gain more knowledge. And since he knew he was ignorant, he began asking the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) question after question. He said: The scholars and commentators say this is "attaching to the impossible" a miracle and never, never As if he is asking, "Is it sufficient for me to free her as expiation for this beating?" He said: He went and brought her directly to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) hastened to address her with the words So this hadith is the backbone-breaker for the ta'wil (figurative interpretation) proponents who, out of their misguidance and deviation from the Book and the Sunnah, say that Allah is everywhere, that Allah is in all of existence. And this [hadith] says that Allah is in the sky. So the brother Ali, and we know that Shaykh Abdullah is an Ash'ari, and he has a book he named according to a principle they call by a name other than its true name. What did he name his book? "The Straight Path" And in it is a great deviation from the Book and the Sunnah, especially regarding creed in general, and more specifically regarding the attribute of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that He is the Most High, the Most Exalted. So they deleted this hadith, as they say, in order to remove the proof. But this is extreme foolishness. What is the reason? The reason is that they seem not to know that this hadith exists in dozens of books. Even if we suppose that Muslim left the world entirely, this hadith exists in the Muwatta of Imam Malik, which is two degrees higher than Muslim. Meaning, Muslim narrates from Imam Ahmad, and Imam Ahmad narrates from al-Shafi'i, and al-Shafi'i narrates from Malik. So Malik is among those who narrated this hadith in the books of the Muwatta. And the same Ahmad exists in his book, the Musnad. What do they gain from this deletion other than proving their misguidance and foolishness... I say, on this occasion, the thing that draws attention is: how did this slave girl know her Lord and that He is in the sky? And today, if you ask the shaykhs of the world, except for those whom Allah wills, and they are few, the question the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) directed to the slave girl, you do not hear anything but the answer that deviates from the Book and the Sunnah: "Allah is everywhere." How did the slave girl hit the mark and these shaykhs miss? The slave girl lived in a pure Islamic society, the society of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and there is none purer than it. So, in her state... and Allah knows best, she received this creed from her master, from her master's guardians, from her neighbors, and so on. So when she was asked, she answered correctly. It is not necessary for her to have a doctorate. But today, ask the doctors of the end times, and you will not hear this answer that you hear from this slave girl. The reason is that study today is not one hundred percent Islamic study, let alone the society. So we seek help from Allah.