Does Allah, Mighty and Majestic, see in this world and in the Hereafter?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Does Allah, Mighty and Majestic, have a face? Does He see? When does He see?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : On the Day of Resurrection. It is not possible to see Him in this world, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family):As-Sunan al-Kubra lil-Nasa'i 56:104 It is not possible. If someone came to us and said, "By Allah, I saw my Lord last night, and He spoke to me and said, 'O so-and-so,' or 'O Abu so-and-so, this is forbidden and this is permissible,'" we would not accept it, because we know that no one will see their Lord except after they die, and they will not see Him, Mighty and Majestic, except on the Day of Resurrection or in Paradise. May Allah grant us the pleasure of looking upon Your noble face. Does Allah, Mighty and Majestic, truly see? Yes, He truly sees. But if the believers see Him on the Day of Resurrection, is it possible for them to comprehend Him? Answer, everyone.
The student: No.
The Shaykh : It is not possible. Just as we know that He is All-Knowing, yet it is not possible for us to encompass His knowledge, it is not possible for us to comprehend Him. Listen to the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic:[Al-An'am 6:103] Now, if a person says that Musa (peace be upon him) said: [Al-A'raf 7:143] because he longed to see Allah when Allah, Mighty and Majestic, spoke to him. When he came to the appointed time, Allah the Exalted said: [Al-A'raf 7:143] He said that out of longing for Allah, Mighty and Majestic. He said to him: Does this mean in this world, or in this world and the Hereafter? Yes.
The student: In this world.
The Shaykh : In this world? You will not see Me. Yes, you will not see Me, as you requested of Me. You cannot do this.[Al-A'raf 7:143] Allah gave him an example so he would understand. Look at the mountain. [Al-A'raf 7:143] Conditioning something on the impossible makes it what? Conditioning something on the impossible makes it impossible. Therefore, listen to the poet who says:
"If the crow grows white, I will come to my family. If the crow grows white, I will come to my family *** And the pitch becomes like fresh milk"
Is the crow known or not? Do you know it? What is a crow?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Ugly? No, it is not ugly. How is it ugly? Haha. Wait, man. Is it black or white?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Black. Good. So, if the crow grows white, it means it becomes white.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : No, the verse is: "If the crow grows white, I will come to my family." Good. Rest. "And the pitch becomes like fresh milk" Do you know what pitch is? Go on, what is it?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : What is pitch? Is it black in color? It cannot be white. Good. I say that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said to Musa:[Al-A'raf 7:143] And Allah knows best how He manifested Himself? We do not know. When His Lord manifested Himself to the mountain, He made it crumble. The mountain crumbled before Musa while he was looking at it. A mountain became dust. So, is it possible after this? Is it possible after this that Musa could bear the sight of Allah?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : It is not possible; if the mountain did not stand firm, how could Moses?[Al-A'raf 7:143] He fainted from the terror of what he saw. [Al-A'raf 7:143] "I turn to You" means, like the story of Noah, he asked about what he had no knowledge of, and Moses asked to see his Lord out of longing for Allah, but it became clear that this is impossible.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : On the Day of Resurrection. It is not possible to see Him in this world, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family):
And know that you will not see your Lord until you die.
واعلموا أنكم لن تروا ربكم حتى تموتواThe student: No.
The Shaykh : It is not possible. Just as we know that He is All-Knowing, yet it is not possible for us to encompass His knowledge, it is not possible for us to comprehend Him. Listen to the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic:
Vision perceives Him not, but He perceives [all] vision
لا تدركه الأبصار وهو يدرك الأبصارhe said, "My Lord, show me [Yourself] that I may look at You."
قال رب ارني أنظر إليكAnd when Moses arrived at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said, "My Lord, show me [Yourself] that I may look at You."
وَلَمَّا جَاءَ مُوسَى لِمِيقَاتِنَا وَكَلَّمَهُ رَبُّهُ قَالَ رَبِّ أَرِنِي أَنْظُرْ إِلَيْكَHe said: You will not see Me.
قَالَ لَنْ تَرَانِيHe said: You will not see Me.
قَالَ لَنْ تَرَانِيThe student: In this world.
The Shaykh : In this world? You will not see Me. Yes, you will not see Me, as you requested of Me. You cannot do this.
but look at the mountain
وَلَكِنِ انْظُرْ إِلَى الْجَبَلِif it should remain in place, then you will see Me
فَإِنِ اسْتَقَرَّ مَكَانَهُ فَسَوْفَ تَرَانِي"If the crow grows white, I will come to my family. If the crow grows white, I will come to my family *** And the pitch becomes like fresh milk"
Is the crow known or not? Do you know it? What is a crow?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Ugly? No, it is not ugly. How is it ugly? Haha. Wait, man. Is it black or white?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Black. Good. So, if the crow grows white, it means it becomes white.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : No, the verse is: "If the crow grows white, I will come to my family." Good. Rest. "And the pitch becomes like fresh milk" Do you know what pitch is? Go on, what is it?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : What is pitch? Is it black in color? It cannot be white. Good. I say that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said to Musa:
if it should remain in place, then you will see Me." But when his Lord appeared to the mountain
إن استقر مكانه فسوف تراني فلما تجلى ربه للجبلThe student: ... .
The Shaykh : It is not possible; if the mountain did not stand firm, how could Moses?