Dividing speech into literal and figurative, and the statement of Imam Ahmad.

The questioner : May Allah reward you. Did the denial of figurative speech precede the Shaykh al-Islam and his student?

The Shaykh : Fine, we say to them: dividing speech into literal and figurative was not known in the era of the Companions and the Tabi'un, because dividing speech into literal and figurative occurred later. Yes.

The questioner : Shaykh, may Allah bless you. Do the common people frequently interpret dreams?

The Shaykh : They even mentioned regarding Imam Ahmad, concerning the saying of Allah the Exalted: and similar pronouns that indicate the plural, while He is One, Mighty and Majestic. He said: "This is from the figurative usage of the language". So they thought that Imam Ahmad affirmed figurative speech. But Shaykh al-Islam answered this, saying that the meaning of his statement "from the figurative usage of the language" is that the language permits a person to express himself using the plural form. Yes.