The Position of the People of the Sunnah Regarding the Attributes of Allah, and Mentioning the Statement of Imam Malik Concerning Rising Above the Throne

The Shaykh : And among us now are students of knowledge who, when they encounter one of the attributes of Allah, they tear it apart. They do not deny it, but they exaggerate and delve deep into it until they end up likening the Lord (Mighty and Majestic) to creation. They discuss with you, saying, “Allah has fingers. Indeed, Allah has fingers. What are the fingers?” He asks you, “How many fingers does He have? Does He have nails? Does He have spaces between them?” And so on. This is forbidden. Regarding the issues of the attributes, I believe in them as they came, and I do not ask. If you ask, you are destroyed. Look at the imams (may Allah have mercy on them). A man said to Imam Malik: “O Abu 'Abdullah, ‘The Most Merciful rose above the Throne.’ How did He rise?” The questioner is asking, and how did He rise? What is the manner of it? He did not ask about the meaning. If he had said, “What is the meaning of rising above the Throne?” I would have answered. But he said, “How did He rise?” And are you required to ask about the manner? Never. Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) was silent, and he was in the mosque of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). He lowered his head until he was sweating profusely. Why was he sweating? Because of the weight of the question on himself. He was sweating, then he raised his head and said: “O this one, the rising above the Throne is not unknown, the manner is not comprehensible, belief in it is obligatory, and asking about it is a religious innovation.” Words of light, what Allah willed. May Allah grant success to whom He wills and bestow upon him words that serve as a beacon for Muslims. Some scholars narrate this statement, saying, “The rising above the Throne is known, the manner is unknown, belief in it is obligatory, and asking about it is a religious innovation.” But the wording we quoted first is “the rising above the Throne is not unknown.” “Not unknown” means, brother,
The student: It means known.

The Shaykh : It means known. It means known. Well done. And “the manner is not comprehensible” means that we do not grasp it with our minds. And how can we grasp the manner of one of the attributes of Allah with the mind, while Allah (Mighty and Majestic) says regarding the senses: And perception by the senses is easy. Everyone perceives by the senses, even the most dull-witted person in the world perceives by the senses. So, that which is not perceived by the senses, meaning that the eyes do not perceive it, that it does not encompass it, is not perceived by the mind, meaning that we do not know the manners of His attributes at all. And belief in it is obligatory. Belief in what? In the rising above the Throne. It is obligatory because Allah the Exalted affirmed it for Himself, and what He affirmed for Himself, we must submit to it and affirm it. And asking about it is a religious innovation. Asking about what? About the manner, not about the meaning, because the meaning is said to be not unknown, it is known. But if you ask about the manner, that is a religious innovation. And why was it a religious innovation? We say: It was a religious innovation for two reasons. The first reason: The Companions did not ask the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) about it. And we know that the Companions were more eager than we are to know Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And who answered them? The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), who is the most knowledgeable of creation about Allah. So the cause was present, the requirement was present, the absence of a barrier was present, and yet they did not ask the Messenger because they knew that our minds are too short and too lowly to grasp the manner of an attribute of Allah. They believed in the rising above the Throne and did not ask about it. And glory to Allah, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) did not ask about it, and you come at the end of time and ask about it. Are you more knowledgeable about Allah than they were? Are you more reverent toward Allah than they were? Are you more loving of Allah than they were? No. So it is a religious innovation. Why? O brother.
The student: For two reasons: The first reason: The Companions did not ask the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about it.

The Shaykh : Well done. May Allah bless you. The second reason: Asking about the manner of the attributes of Allah is a characteristic of the people of innovation. And what does “a characteristic of them” mean? It means one of their signs. The people of innovation are those who ask about the manners to embarrass the affirmers. Do you know that in the early period of this Ummah, and still, there is scholarly disagreement regarding the attributes of Allah? The people divided into six sections, which the Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned at the end of *Al-Fatwa al-Hamawiyyah*. Whoever wishes to refer to it, let him refer to it. But the people of innovation come to the people of affirmation and say: How did He rise above the Throne? How are the hands? How is the extending? For what purpose? So that the person stops, because he does not know this. So if he stops, he says, “If you do not have knowledge, you do not have knowledge. You are not qualified to ask about the attributes of Allah.” It is an embarrassment. But some of the people of the Sunnah mentioned a very good, silencing statement. He said: “If the Jahmi says to you, ‘Allah descends to the lowest heaven, so how does He descend?’ Say to him, ‘Allah informed us that He descends, but He did not inform us how He descends.’” Glory to Allah, precise and clear words. He informed us that He descends, but He did not inform us how He descends. He informed us that He has hands, but He did not inform us what the hands are like, or how the hands are? He informed us that He created Adam with His hands, as He said to Iblis: But if a person comes and asks how He created him with His hands, what is said? We must say, “Creation is known. Yes, Allah informed us that He created him with His hand, but He did not inform us how He created him, nor how His hand is.” And these are matters of the unseen, and we must restrict ourselves to what the text brought. And therefore, the best method regarding the names of Allah and His attributes is the method of the righteous Salaf, who are the people of the Sunnah and the community. As for other methods, they are all defective because of the false implications they entail. Even if they did not contain anything else, they contradict the apparent meaning of the Book and the Sunnah, and they contradict the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). Because the Companions, O people, are in scholarly consensus on affirmation, on affirming the texts as they are. So if someone says, “What is your evidence that they are in consensus on the texts as they are?” We say, “Because the Qur'an was revealed in the language of whom?
The student: The Arabs.

The Shaykh : And the Arabs, the Companions, the Qur'an was revealed in their language, and not a single letter from them interpreted the Qur'an contrary to its apparent meaning regarding the attributes of Allah. So they understood it, and there is no need for us to say, “Bring the transmission.” Now, perhaps we have expanded a little, but there is no harm. If we say that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), if He interpreted the Qur'an with something, we take it. If the Messenger interpreted it with something, we take it. If the scholars of the Companions interpreted it with something, we take it. If the imams of the Tabi'un, who received the knowledge of exegesis from the Companions, interpreted it with something, we take it. And anything other than that is not a proof.