What is your opinion of those who say that there were created beings before this world so as not to negate the attribute of creation for Allah the Exalted?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you. Some people say that the created world... meaning that every individual is created from nothing, but at the same time, there is no time in which there is not a created being for Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He... so that... creation... what...
The Shaykh : This is the opinion of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) and his student Ibn al-Qayyim, and it is correct. But of the created beings, some are known to us and some are not. I mean, for example, if someone asked: Is there anything before the Throne? Is there anything before the water upon which the Throne was? We say yes, but we do not know what that thing is, because Allah has always been and continues to be a Creator. Yes.
The questioner : ... But do we stop, or do we rule that it was in...
The Shaykh : As long as Allah is a Creator, it is permissible that He creates, but we affirm what we affirm...
The questioner : ... We stop.
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : Is it possible that...
The Shaykh : Yes, a sequence in the past is possible. Yes, but we do not affirm that Allah created... Glorified and Exalted is He, He created it in accordance with His wisdom. Yes.
The Shaykh : This is the opinion of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) and his student Ibn al-Qayyim, and it is correct. But of the created beings, some are known to us and some are not. I mean, for example, if someone asked: Is there anything before the Throne? Is there anything before the water upon which the Throne was? We say yes, but we do not know what that thing is, because Allah has always been and continues to be a Creator. Yes.
The questioner : ... But do we stop, or do we rule that it was in...
The Shaykh : As long as Allah is a Creator, it is permissible that He creates, but we affirm what we affirm...
The questioner : ... We stop.
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : Is it possible that...
The Shaykh : Yes, a sequence in the past is possible. Yes, but we do not affirm that Allah created... Glorified and Exalted is He, He created it in accordance with His wisdom. Yes.