Is it true that Imam Ahmad saw Allah (Mighty and Majestic)?

The questioner : Regarding this, my brother, I recall reading in the book *Mukhtasar Minhaj al-Qasidin* that Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah be pleased with him) saw Allah. It is reported that he said: "I saw Allah, so I asked Him—Ahmad asked Allah—what is the thing He loves most for people to draw near to Him by? He said: By My speech. He said: By understanding it or without understanding it? He said: By understanding it or without understanding it." Perhaps this narration has passed you by?

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner : The truth is, we have not been able to understand how Ahmad said he saw Allah. So if you could clarify Ahmad's statement for us, if it is authentic from Ahmad.

The Shaykh : I have corrected your question at the end, my brother. You know that the hadiths narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) include what is authentic and what is not authentic, and that the method of distinguishing the authentic from the weak refers to a science called the science of hadith. As for the method of knowing the statements of scholars—whether they are Companions, Successors, or leading mujtahids—there is no path for it except the path of the science of hadith itself. But there is a great difference: if a hadith comes in a book saying "The Messenger of Allah said," it has no value.

The questioner : You have concluded your answer regarding Imam Ahmad.

The Shaykh : What did we say? What were we discussing?

The questioner : That Imam Ahmad saw Allah.

The Shaykh : Yes, so I was saying that in the hadiths we have something called—I think you have heard of it—called the sanad. The study of the sanad, which is a chain of men, leads us, or this study leads us, to knowing whether this hadith is authentic or not. The statements of scholars generally do not have sanads. Therefore, any statement that comes to us from a scholar is presented to the Book and the Sunnah. What agrees with them is accepted, and what does not agree with them is cast aside. And if it is neither this nor that, you are at your option: do not make it a religion for yourself, and do not be fanatical about it. This statement is perhaps closer to the second possibility, that it is contrary to the Shari'ah, namely that one sees Allah, because it has not been transmitted except from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that he saw Allah in his dream. As for anyone other than the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), that has not been transmitted, so that we might say it is a known matter among some righteous people. If it has not been transmitted first from the Salaf, and secondly, it contains a phrase that may encourage people to turn away from something like His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He):