What is the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding the attributes of Allah the Exalted?
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The questioner : I want to know the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding the attributes, may you be rewarded.
The Shaykh : The methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding what Allah described Himself with, or what His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) described Him with, is to accept this description, believe in it, and hold that it is true in its reality. However, they purify Allah the Exalted from any deficiency in these attributes or from resembling the created beings in them.
For example, they believe in the power of Allah, and they believe that this power will not be accompanied by weakness, and they believe that this power does not resemble the powers of the created beings. No matter how many of them gather and how numerous they are, their power will not be like the power of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
They believe that Allah the Exalted has a real hand, and they believe that this hand is a powerful, great hand. Allah the Exalted said:[Az-Zumar 39:67] And He said: [Al-Anbya 21:104] And they believe that this hand does not resemble the hands of the created beings, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Ash-Shuraa 42:11].
So the rule, regarding what has come of the attributes of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in the Qur'an or the Sunnah, is to believe in them and accept them, and to purify Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) from any deficiency in them, and to purify Allah the Exalted from being similar to the created beings in them.
This is the path that the people of the Sunnah and the community, from the Salaf of this Ummah and its imams, have followed. For this reason, they used to say regarding the verses of attributes and their hadiths: "Accept them as they came, without asking how".
Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about istiwaa' (rising above the Throne), and it was said to him:[Taha 20:5] How did He rise? So he lowered his head until sweat poured from him, then he said: "The istiwaa' is not unknown, the how is not comprehensible, belief in it is obligatory, and asking about it is a religious innovation". He said: "The istiwaa' is not unknown" because it is known in the Arabic language that the meaning of "istawa'a upon such-and-such" is that He rose above it. "The how is not comprehensible" meaning it is not grasped by the intellect, because it is beyond what our minds can conceive. "Belief in it is obligatory" because the text has come with it; Allah mentioned His rising above His Throne in seven places in His Book. "And asking about it is a religious innovation" meaning asking about its how is a religious innovation, not asking about its meaning. For there is no blame on a person to ask about the meaning of the verses of attributes and their hadiths, because this is among the matters that can be reached. As for the how, it is not permissible to ask about it, because it is among the matters that cannot be reached, and it was not the custom of the Salaf. For this reason, he (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "And asking about it is a religious innovation".
And so we say regarding the rest of the attributes: that their meaning is known, their how is unknown, belief in them is obligatory, and asking about them is a religious innovation. So we say, for example, regarding the Eye: that its meaning is known, its how is unknown, belief in it is obligatory, and asking about its how is a religious innovation. And so we say regarding the Face and other things that have come in the Book and the Sunnah of the attributes of Allah: that their meaning is known and their how is unknown.
The questioner : May Allah bless you, O honorable Shaykh.
The Shaykh : The methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding what Allah described Himself with, or what His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) described Him with, is to accept this description, believe in it, and hold that it is true in its reality. However, they purify Allah the Exalted from any deficiency in these attributes or from resembling the created beings in them.
For example, they believe in the power of Allah, and they believe that this power will not be accompanied by weakness, and they believe that this power does not resemble the powers of the created beings. No matter how many of them gather and how numerous they are, their power will not be like the power of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
They believe that Allah the Exalted has a real hand, and they believe that this hand is a powerful, great hand. Allah the Exalted said:
They have not appraised Allah with true appraisal, while the earth entirely will be [within] His grip on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be folded in His right hand
وَمَا قَدَرُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ وَالأَرْضُ جَمِيعًا قَبْضَتُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَالسَّموَاتُ مَطْوِيَّاتٌ بِيَمِينِهِThe Day when We will fold the heaven like the folding of a [written] sheet for the records. As We began the first creation, We will repeat it. [That is] a promise binding upon Us. Indeed, We will do it.
يَوْمَ نَطْوِي السَّمَاءَ كَطَيِّ السِّجِلِّ لِلْكُتُبِ كَمَا بَدَأْنَا أَوَّلَ خَلْقٍ نُعِيدُهُ وَعْدًا عَلَيْنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا فَاعِلِينَThere is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ البَصِيرُSo the rule, regarding what has come of the attributes of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in the Qur'an or the Sunnah, is to believe in them and accept them, and to purify Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) from any deficiency in them, and to purify Allah the Exalted from being similar to the created beings in them.
This is the path that the people of the Sunnah and the community, from the Salaf of this Ummah and its imams, have followed. For this reason, they used to say regarding the verses of attributes and their hadiths: "Accept them as they came, without asking how".
Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked about istiwaa' (rising above the Throne), and it was said to him:
The Most Merciful [who is] above the Throne established.
الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَىAnd so we say regarding the rest of the attributes: that their meaning is known, their how is unknown, belief in them is obligatory, and asking about them is a religious innovation. So we say, for example, regarding the Eye: that its meaning is known, its how is unknown, belief in it is obligatory, and asking about its how is a religious innovation. And so we say regarding the Face and other things that have come in the Book and the Sunnah of the attributes of Allah: that their meaning is known and their how is unknown.
The questioner : May Allah bless you, O honorable Shaykh.