The denial by the people of ta'til (denial of the divine attributes) of the vision of Allah using the same argument, and the clarification of the Sunnah principle that everything attributed to Allah is Himself, with examples such as the descent of Allah to
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The Shaykh :"And likewise, if we say, 'He is seen, Glorified is He' *** You say, 'Is He a body to be seen with the eye?'"
"A body?" This is a question of denial, meaning: Is He a body such that He can be seen? And if that were the case, they denied, they denied what? They denied the vision.
"But if we say, 'He has a Face, as in the text, *** Or we say, 'He has two hands, likewise'"
And likewise, if we say, as in the text, that *** The heart is between the fingers of the Most Merciful
And likewise, if we say, the fingers are above it *** All the worlds, and they are in a state of trembling
And likewise, if we say, His two hands are for His earth *** And His heaven, grasping them on the Day of Resurrection
And likewise, if we say, He will uncover His leg *** And that assembly will fall prostrate to their chins
And likewise, if we say, ... " to the end of it.
The author mentioned several attributes regarding the descent to the lowest heaven. It is established in the two Sahihs and others, from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah and others, that He descends to the lowest heaven; He Himself, Mighty and Majestic, descends to the lowest heaven. Know that the established principle is that everything attributed to Allah is Himself. This is the original rule: everything attributed to Allah is to Himself, as Ibn al-Qayyim established in *Mukhtasar al-Sawa'iq*, and it is the apparent meaning of the wording. What Allah attributes to Himself is to Himself; this is the original rule unless there is a preventer. So when it comes in the hadith:Muwatta Malik 15:32, what is meant by the descent? The descent of Allah Himself. But the people of tahrif (distortion of a text's meaning) refused to say anything but that "Our Lord descends," meaning His command descends; "Our Lord descends" means His command descends. The response to them is that we say:
The command of Allah descends to the earth and to the heavens at all times. Allah the Exalted said:[As-Sajdah 32:5].
They said: "It is His mercy that descends." We said: This is like the first case. Mercy descends at all times and does not end at the sky; it ends at the earth. And the descent of mercy to the lowest heaven has no benefit for us.
They said: "An angel from His angels descends." An angel from His angels descends. We said: An angel cannot say, "Whoever calls upon Me, I will respond to him," because if the angel said this, it would be kufr (disbelief), as it would make the angel himself a god who responds. Therefore, it is established that the One who descends is Allah. But do we say: with a specific manner of His descent? No, that is haram (forbidden). Do we say: when He descends, the lowest heaven is above Him? No, because Allah has absolute elevation. So He descends while being above everything.
If someone says: This is inconceivable, we say: It is inconceivable for the created being, but for the Creator, His attributes cannot be comprehended. And it is obligatory for us to say: He descends, and He is above everything. Good.
"A body?" This is a question of denial, meaning: Is He a body such that He can be seen? And if that were the case, they denied, they denied what? They denied the vision.
"But if we say, 'He has a Face, as in the text, *** Or we say, 'He has two hands, likewise'"
And likewise, if we say, as in the text, that *** The heart is between the fingers of the Most Merciful
And likewise, if we say, the fingers are above it *** All the worlds, and they are in a state of trembling
And likewise, if we say, His two hands are for His earth *** And His heaven, grasping them on the Day of Resurrection
And likewise, if we say, He will uncover His leg *** And that assembly will fall prostrate to their chins
And likewise, if we say, ... " to the end of it.
The author mentioned several attributes regarding the descent to the lowest heaven. It is established in the two Sahihs and others, from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah and others, that He descends to the lowest heaven; He Himself, Mighty and Majestic, descends to the lowest heaven. Know that the established principle is that everything attributed to Allah is Himself. This is the original rule: everything attributed to Allah is to Himself, as Ibn al-Qayyim established in *Mukhtasar al-Sawa'iq*, and it is the apparent meaning of the wording. What Allah attributes to Himself is to Himself; this is the original rule unless there is a preventer. So when it comes in the hadith:
Our Lord, the Blessed and Exalted, descends every night to the heaven of this world when the last third of the night is still to come and says, 'Who will call on Me so that I may answer him? Who will ask Me so that I may give him? Who will ask forgiveness of Me so that I may forgive him?'
ينزل ربنا إلى السماء الدنيا حين يبقى ثلث الليل الآخر فيقول : من يدعوني فأستجيب له من يسألني فأعطيه من يستغفرني فأغفر لهThe command of Allah descends to the earth and to the heavens at all times. Allah the Exalted said:
He arranges [each] matter from the heaven to the earth; then
يدبر الأمر من السماء إلى الأرض ثم يرجع إليهThey said: "It is His mercy that descends." We said: This is like the first case. Mercy descends at all times and does not end at the sky; it ends at the earth. And the descent of mercy to the lowest heaven has no benefit for us.
They said: "An angel from His angels descends." An angel from His angels descends. We said: An angel cannot say, "Whoever calls upon Me, I will respond to him," because if the angel said this, it would be kufr (disbelief), as it would make the angel himself a god who responds. Therefore, it is established that the One who descends is Allah. But do we say: with a specific manner of His descent? No, that is haram (forbidden). Do we say: when He descends, the lowest heaven is above Him? No, because Allah has absolute elevation. So He descends while being above everything.
If someone says: This is inconceivable, we say: It is inconceivable for the created being, but for the Creator, His attributes cannot be comprehended. And it is obligatory for us to say: He descends, and He is above everything. Good.