Explanation of the author's statement: "And the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) said about the methodology of these people in the book (Al-'Aql wa al-Naql), p. 121, vol. 1"
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The Shaykh : And the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) said about the methodology of these people in the book "Al-'Aql wa al-Naql", p. 121, vol. 1, in the edition that is in the margin of Manhaj al-Sunnah, which is the last edition, because this was written before the last edition. He says: "Thus it becomes clear that the statement of the people of tafwid, who claim to be followers of the Sunnah and the Salaf, is among the worst of the statements of the people of religious innovation and deviation".
The strange thing is that many people who do not know the madhab of the Salaf say: The people of the Sunnah are divided into two categories, and there is no third.
Pay attention: the people of ta'wil and the people of tafwid, the people of ta'wil and the people of tafwid, and by tafwid they mean delegating the meaning, which is actually ignorance (tajhil).
If we say that the people of the Sunnah do not fall outside these two categories, it means that the Salaf are not among the people of the Sunnah. Why? Because the Salaf affirm the meaning and do not interpret it figuratively, so they are not like the people of ignorance (tawfid) nor are they like the people of denial (ta'til).
So here we say there is a third category that you left out, and they are the people of the Sunnah, who are those who delegate the modality and affirm the meaning, and they are the Salaf. He says: We know the meaning of istiwaa', but we do not know its modality; we know the meaning of the Hand, but we do not know its modality. For this reason, when Imam Malik was asked about istiwaa' and it was said to him:[Taha 20:5] How did He rise above the Throne? He said: "The rising above the Throne is not unknown, the modality is not comprehensible, belief in it is obligatory, and asking about it is a religious innovation". What does "the rising above the Throne is not unknown" mean? It means that its meaning is known in the Arabic language; everyone knows the meaning of "istawa" (rose above) a thing. And "the modality is not comprehensible" means that we do not grasp it with our minds. Is it known by text? The modality? No? It is not known, so both the rational and textual evidence regarding it are absent, and it is necessary to refrain from it, meaning: regarding the modality. And belief in it is obligatory; belief in the rising above the Throne in its reality is obligatory, and asking about it, meaning about its modality, is a religious innovation, "and you are nothing but an innovator".
And likewise we say regarding the rest of the attributes: the descent to the lowest heaven is not unknown, the modality is not comprehensible, belief in it is obligatory, and asking about it is a religious innovation, and likewise we say regarding the rest of the attributes.
The strange thing is that many people who do not know the madhab of the Salaf say: The people of the Sunnah are divided into two categories, and there is no third.
Pay attention: the people of ta'wil and the people of tafwid, the people of ta'wil and the people of tafwid, and by tafwid they mean delegating the meaning, which is actually ignorance (tajhil).
If we say that the people of the Sunnah do not fall outside these two categories, it means that the Salaf are not among the people of the Sunnah. Why? Because the Salaf affirm the meaning and do not interpret it figuratively, so they are not like the people of ignorance (tawfid) nor are they like the people of denial (ta'til).
So here we say there is a third category that you left out, and they are the people of the Sunnah, who are those who delegate the modality and affirm the meaning, and they are the Salaf. He says: We know the meaning of istiwaa', but we do not know its modality; we know the meaning of the Hand, but we do not know its modality. For this reason, when Imam Malik was asked about istiwaa' and it was said to him:
The Most Merciful [who is] above the Throne established.
الرحمن على العرش استوىAnd likewise we say regarding the rest of the attributes: the descent to the lowest heaven is not unknown, the modality is not comprehensible, belief in it is obligatory, and asking about it is a religious innovation, and likewise we say regarding the rest of the attributes.