The Meaning of the Attributes of Will and Anger for Allah and the Response to Those Who Deny the Attribute of Anger for Allah

The Shaykh : They affirmed the attribute of Will for Allah and said that Allah wills, but they did not affirm the attribute of Anger for Allah. They said that Allah does not become angry. I ask you: Do you agree that Allah does not become angry?
The student: We do not agree.

The Shaykh : Why do we not agree? In the Qur'an ... and He is most knowledgeable about Himself. What is anger in your view? They said anger means taking revenge or the will to take revenge. So they interpreted it either as a created thing separate from Allah, which is taking revenge, or as something they acknowledge, which is the will. I hope you pay attention, especially the students of knowledge. We say to them: Why did you deny anger?
They said: Because anger is the boiling of the blood of the heart due to the love of taking revenge on the one against whom one is angry. This is the anger of the created being, and Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is free from that. Interpreting anger with this meaning is not befitting of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, without doubt. It is not possible for us to interpret the anger of Allah in this way, because this is the anger of the created being. And Allah the Exalted said: Do you understand or not? They said: It is not possible for us to affirm anger for Allah, because anger is the boiling of the blood of the heart due to the love of taking revenge, and this is impossible in the case of Allah. Do you understand or not? Now, we say to them: Do you affirm the will for Allah? They said: Yes, we affirm the will for Allah. You affirmed the will for Allah. Allah is a Willer and He wills. Now, what is the will? It is the inclination toward a thing for the hope of benefit or the repelling of harm. You want a thing, why? You want to eat food, why? To repel hunger, is that not so? You want to marry, why? To seek a child, is that not so? So, what is the interpretation of the will? The inclination toward a thing for what purpose? For the hope of benefit or the repelling of harm. Is the will with this meaning befitting of Allah? Because the obedience of the obedient does not benefit Allah, and the disobedience of the disobedient does not harm Him. It is not befitting of Allah. And what did they say? They said: The will that you interpreted is the will of the created being, and we affirm for Allah a will that is befitting of Him.
We said to them: This is true. If the anger that you said is the boiling of the blood of the heart is the anger of the created being, and the anger of the Creator is befitting of Him, Mighty and Majestic, then just as you affirmed the will, it is necessary for you to affirm the anger. If you deny the anger, it is necessary for you to deny the will. Is that right or not? Necessary means: be consistent with the rule. Either affirm all of them or deny all of them. As for you contradicting yourselves, this means that your rule is not straight and that you are contradictory. So what is the reference? The reference is to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So we say: We affirm that Allah has anger, as Allah affirmed it for Himself, but it is not like the anger of the created beings, due to His saying, the Exalted: And so it is with all the attributes. And by this, we are saved from many evils and from great contradictions. Al-Razi was among the scholars of kalam, indeed among the heads of the scholars of kalam. He delved into it and fell into its depths, and he labored in it, and he wrote and composed, and he stood and sat, and in the end he says: "I have reflected upon the paths of kalam" Listen to the words of one of the heads of the mutakallimun (theologians). He says: "I have reflected upon the paths of kalam and the philosophical methodologies, and I did not find them to cure an illness or quench a thirst" To cure an illness means to cure a sick person, and to quench a thirst means to quench a thirsty person. "And I found the closest path to be the path of the Qur'an" Allah is the Greatest. "I read in the affirmations

The Most Merciful [who is] above the Throne established.

الرحمن على العرش استوى

[Taha 20:5]

,

To Him ascends good speech

إليه يصعد الكلم الطيب

[Fatir 35:10]

and I read in the denials

There is nothing like unto Him

ليس كمثله شيء

[Ash-Shuraa 42:11]

but they do not encompass it in knowledge.

ولا يحيطون به علما

[Taha 20:110]

" Meaning, I affirm what the Qur'an affirmed and I deny what the Qur'an denied. He said: "And whoever has experienced what I have experienced will know what I know" Allah is the Greatest. This is said by a prominent, leading scholar. Whoever has experienced what I have experienced, yes, will know what I know. So I say: In what Allah described Himself with, I affirm what He affirmed for Himself and I deny what He denied of Himself. So I say: Allah has anger, not like the anger of the created beings. He has mercy, not like the mercy of the created beings. He has pleasure, not like the pleasure of the created beings. He has love, not like the love of the created beings. And this is not impossible for us to say, just as we say that Allah the Exalted has a Self that does not resemble the Selves of the created beings. And by this, we are saved and we become followers of the Book and the Sunnah.