Explanation of the author's statement: "And these are the most unstable and contradictory of people, for they have no firm footing in what can be interpreted and what cannot, nor in determining the intended meaning."
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : All right, the author (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "And these are the most unstable and contradictory of people, for they have no firm footing in what can be interpreted and what cannot, nor in determining the intended meaning". Correct.
These are the most unstable of people because they have no firm footing in what can be interpreted and what cannot. For this reason, you find some of them, especially the Asha'irah, affirming some of the attributes and denying others, because they say this can be interpreted and this cannot. Likewise, the Mu'tazilah were unstable; some of them denied the attributes but not the names, while others denied both the names and the attributes, so they had no firm footing in what can be interpreted and what cannot.
Likewise, they have no firm footing in determining the intended meaning. What is intended by this? Power, grace, strength, and the like. This indicates the invalidity of their statements, because the contradiction of statements is among the strongest evidence for their invalidity.
And these used to appear to be defending the Sunnah while concealing themselves behind the doctrine of divine transcendence.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Yes, "Moreover, most of the meanings they claim are known from the state of the speaker and the context of his speech to be not what he intended in that specific address which they interpreted"
For example, Allah the Exalted said:[Sad 38:75] They say the intended meaning of "hand" here is grace or strength.
We say to them: There is no doubt that "hand" is used in the Arabic language to mean grace and strength, as in the hadith of the Battle of al-Hudaybiyyah: "If not for..." He addressed Abu Bakr saying:Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 37:317 meaning "hand" in the sense of grace, and as al-Mutanabbi said:
"And how many hands of the darkness of night are with you *** that tell you that the Manichaeans lie" The Manichaeans are a sect of the Zoroastrians who say that darkness creates evil. So he is saying: You give gifts at night, and night is darkness, so say: from which hand, meaning: from which grace.
And they say: "I have no hand in this matter" meaning: strength.
We say there is no doubt that "hand" is used to mean strength, but is it possible that strength is intended in such a statement as Allah the Exalted said:[Sad 38:75]? The context of the speech prevents this absolutely, for what does "in My hand" mean, i.e., in My grace or in My strength? This is not possible.
So the conclusion is that the Shaykh al-Islam also says: "The meanings they claim or assert are known from the state of the speaker and the context of his speech to be not what he intended" and in that case, their claim is false.
These are the most unstable of people because they have no firm footing in what can be interpreted and what cannot. For this reason, you find some of them, especially the Asha'irah, affirming some of the attributes and denying others, because they say this can be interpreted and this cannot. Likewise, the Mu'tazilah were unstable; some of them denied the attributes but not the names, while others denied both the names and the attributes, so they had no firm footing in what can be interpreted and what cannot.
Likewise, they have no firm footing in determining the intended meaning. What is intended by this? Power, grace, strength, and the like. This indicates the invalidity of their statements, because the contradiction of statements is among the strongest evidence for their invalidity.
And these used to appear to be defending the Sunnah while concealing themselves behind the doctrine of divine transcendence.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Yes, "Moreover, most of the meanings they claim are known from the state of the speaker and the context of his speech to be not what he intended in that specific address which they interpreted"
For example, Allah the Exalted said:
to that which I created with My hands
لما خلقت بيديWe say to them: There is no doubt that "hand" is used in the Arabic language to mean grace and strength, as in the hadith of the Battle of al-Hudaybiyyah: "If not for..." He addressed Abu Bakr saying:
If not for your hand with me, I would not have permitted you to speak
لولا يد لك عندي لم أجزك بها لكلمتك"And how many hands of the darkness of night are with you *** that tell you that the Manichaeans lie" The Manichaeans are a sect of the Zoroastrians who say that darkness creates evil. So he is saying: You give gifts at night, and night is darkness, so say: from which hand, meaning: from which grace.
And they say: "I have no hand in this matter" meaning: strength.
We say there is no doubt that "hand" is used to mean strength, but is it possible that strength is intended in such a statement as Allah the Exalted said:
what prevented you from prostrating to that which I created with My hands?
ما منعك أن تسجد لما خلقت بيديSo the conclusion is that the Shaykh al-Islam also says: "The meanings they claim or assert are known from the state of the speaker and the context of his speech to be not what he intended" and in that case, their claim is false.