Benefits of the Hadith: (… Our Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, descends every night to the lower heaven …) and all its narrations.
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The Shaykh : In this hadith, the hadith of the descent affirms the voluntary actions of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, that He does what He wills whenever He wills. Those who denied this among the people of theology, such as the Asha'irah, the Mu'tazilah, and others, said that it is not possible for Allah the Exalted to be described with actions, because actions are created, and the created does not subsist except in a created entity, which would necessitate that Allah is created. They also said that if this action is a perfection, why did He not possess it before doing it? And if it is not a perfection, it must be negated from Allah. All such doubts are invalid in the face of the text, because it is obligatory to accept the text and not to object to it. As for the first point, their claim that created actions do not subsist except in a created entity is a false premise, because we observe, and we are created, actions of ours that occur before they did not exist, even though the human being is created. So the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, brings into existence from His actions what did not exist before, such as the descent to the lower heaven and rising above the Throne; this did not occur except after the creation of the heaven and after the creation of the Throne. As for their claim that if it is a perfection, why did He not possess it before, and if it is not a perfection, it is a defect from which He must be purified, it is said: It is a perfection at its time. A thing may be a perfection in one place and not a perfection in another place, or at one time and not at another. It is a perfection when Allah does it. And if wisdom does not necessitate doing it, He does not do it, Mighty and Majestic. There is no doubt that the one who acts by choice and the one who acts what he wills is more perfect than the one who… what?
The student: Than the one other than Him.
The Shaykh : Than the one who does not act. So the fact that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, does what He wills, such as the descent, rising above the Throne, coming to judge, speaking, and others, is more perfect than if He were not capable of such things, or more perfect than if He were not receptive to them, because these people say that He is not receptive to these actions. So they made Him, may Allah protect us from that, like an inanimate object that does not accept movement and does not accept action. All of this is wrong. Rather, it is obligatory upon us to accept what came in the Book and the Sunnah as it came, because these are matters of the unseen, and they are broader than our minds. Yes.
The student: Than the one other than Him.
The Shaykh : Than the one who does not act. So the fact that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, does what He wills, such as the descent, rising above the Throne, coming to judge, speaking, and others, is more perfect than if He were not capable of such things, or more perfect than if He were not receptive to them, because these people say that He is not receptive to these actions. So they made Him, may Allah protect us from that, like an inanimate object that does not accept movement and does not accept action. All of this is wrong. Rather, it is obligatory upon us to accept what came in the Book and the Sunnah as it came, because these are matters of the unseen, and they are broader than our minds. Yes.