Chapter: The saying of Allah the Exalted: “And Allah was Hearing, Seeing.” Al-A'mash narrated from Tamim from Urwah from A'ishah that she said: Praise be to Allah who encompassed the voices with His hearing.

The reciter: Chapter
Al-A'mash said, from Tamim, from Urwah, from A'ishah that she said: الحمدلله الذي وسع سمعه الأصوات فأنزل الله على النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قد سمع الله قول التي تجادلك في زوجها ... Praise be to Allah who encompassed the voices with His hearing, so Allah revealed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Allah has heard the statement of the woman who argues with you regarding her husband...".

The Shaykh : His saying: These are two of the names of Allah: al-Sami' (the Hearing) and al-Basir (the Seeing). Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, frequently pairs them together, meaning al-Sami' and al-Basir. Hearing pertains to perceiving sounds, and seeing pertains to perceiving actions. Thus, words are connected to hearing, and actions to seeing. For this reason, Allah the Exalted frequently pairs them. Al-Sami' is one of the names of Allah the Exalted, and it has two meanings: The first meaning is perceiving what is heard, and the second meaning is responding to what is heard. Based on this—and is this session being recorded?—the first meaning is perceiving what is heard, and the second is responding to what is heard. Good. From the first category is what the author, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned: the saying of Allah the Exalted: And from the second category is the saying of Allah the Exalted regarding Ibrahim: Meaning, the One who responds to it. It is not intended by that He is the One who perceives and hears it, because mere hearing does not correspond to the supplicant's saying: Rather, what corresponds to his supplication is the response to the supplication. Good. Then know that hearing, in the first meaning, i.e., the meaning of perceiving what is heard, is divided into three categories: general, for support, and for threat. The general is like this verse: This is general, encompassing everything He hears, everything that is heard. So "Allah hears" is connected to it; He hears the voices of the children of Adam and what they say of good and evil, the voices of beasts, and the voices of insects, even the rustling of ants on a bare rock. He, Mighty and Majestic, does not miss anything. This is hearing in the general sense. Sometimes it is intended as a threat, like the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: And His saying: This is intended as a threat. The third is what is intended as support, like His saying to Musa and Harun when they said: The hearing intended here is hearing of support, victory, and defense. This is hearing in the sense of perceiving what is heard. As for hearing in the sense of responding to the supplicant, an example is the saying of Allah the Exalted: And the saying of the one praying: "Allah hears the one who praises Him." Here, "hears" means "Allah responds to the one who praises Him." It is not intended to be merely hearing the voice of the one praising, but rather His response. So if someone asks: Does "hearing" come to mean "responding"? We say: Yes, it comes to mean responding. Allah the Exalted said: The meaning of "they do not hear" is "they do not respond." Otherwise, they do hear the remembrance being recited to them; they hear it from the people, but they do not respond. Good. Then know that the hearing and seeing of Allah are real attributes and do not reduce to knowledge, contrary to the Mu'tazilah who say that Allah does not hear or see, may Allah protect us from that, and that the meaning of hearing and seeing is knowledge without seeing the object or hearing the statement. But we say: You have erred greatly. Rather, hearing is distinct from knowledge, because the knowledge of Allah the Exalted pertains to a thing before it is heard and before it is seen. He knows what was and what will be. Then he mentioned the hadith of A'ishah that she said: الحمد لله الذي سمعه الأصوات فأنزل الله على النبي قد سمع الله قول التي تجادلك في زوجها Praise be to Allah who encompassed the voices with His hearing, so Allah revealed to the Prophet: "Allah has heard the statement of the woman who argues with you regarding her husband" This is a woman who came to complain to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about her husband. Her husband had committed zihar with her, meaning he said to her: "You are to me like the back of my mother." They considered zihar in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance to be a final divorce. She came to complain to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that she was old and had children from her husband, and that her husband had committed zihar with her. She complained to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was conversing with her and making the matter easy for her, but she refused and persisted. So Allah the Exalted revealed these verses. Indeed, the verses meaning regarding his case A'ishah said: Glory be to Allah! Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is above His Throne, hearing her speech and hearing her conversation with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his conversation with her. Reflect on how the verse came with the past tense and the present tense: Just as this root "s-m-' (hear)" came to mean wonder, like the saying of Allah the Exalted: Meaning, what I hear and what I see.