And we believe in the negation of everything that Allah has negated about Himself, or that His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) has negated about Him, and that this negation entails the affirmation of the perfection of its opposite.
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The Shaykh : He said "And we believe in" "And we believe in the negation of everything that Allah has negated about Himself, or that His Messenger has negated about Him, and that this" "And we also believe that this negation entails the affirmation of the perfection of its opposite" Also, whatever Allah has negated about Himself, we believe that it is negated from Allah. It is obligatory for us, because Allah has informed us that it is negated from Him, so it is obligatory for us to believe in that. But we add to this: what? The affirmation of the perfection of the opposite. Because we believe that there is no pure negation in the attributes of Allah. If it were a pure negation...
The student: Non-existence.
The Shaykh : What is a pure non-existence? And pure non-existence is nothing, let alone being a perfection. And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) only negates what He negates from His attributes to clarify His perfection, not just to negate that. Now, we remain silent regarding what Allah and His Messenger have remained silent about. This is reason, and this is honor, and this is proper conduct with Allah. What Allah has affirmed, we affirm. What He has negated, we negate. What He has remained silent about...
The student: We remain silent about it.
The Shaykh : We remain silent about it. This is reason, and it is also the requirement of the Shari'ah. And on this basis, if someone asks: What do you say about a body? What do you say about a direction? What do you say about a space? What do you say about a limit? The Mutakallimun (theologians) started stumbling in this, and they reached the negation of the attributes from Allah. For example, he says to you: If you affirm that Allah has a real hand, then you have ascribed a body to Him, you have made a body for Allah. Do you say that Allah is a body? Tell me, what do you say? I say that Allah the Exalted has not described Himself as a body, nor as not a body. So what is our position, rationally and in terms of consideration? Rationally and in terms of consideration: silence. We say: No, we do not say that Allah is a body, nor that He is not a body. But we believe that He has a real hand and a real rising above the Throne. As for "body" or "not a body," we do not say...
If he says it is necessary and insists, I say to him: As for the word "body," I neither affirm it nor negate it, no matter what you say. As for its meaning, if you mean by "body" a body composed of blood, flesh, bone, nerves, and the like, then Allah the Exalted is free from that, there is no doubt. And if you mean by "body" that which stands on its own and is described with the attributes befitting it, then I say this is the meaning. And on this basis, we say: What is our position regarding the word?
The student: Silence.
The Shaykh : No, no. We neither affirm nor negate the meaning. What?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : We specify. We say: If you mean by "body" what is understood from the bodies of created beings, bodies composed of organs, flesh, blood, nerves, and the like, then this is impossible for Allah. And if you mean by "body" that which stands on its own and is described with what befits it, then this is the truth, and we affirm it for Allah, and there is no harm in it for us. For this reason, the people of denial of the divine attributes call the people of the Sunnah and the community "those who ascribe a body to Allah," "those who liken Allah to creation," "Hashawiyyah," and "Nawabit." And what does "Hashawiyyah" mean?
The student: ... the internal organs.
The Shaykh : From "hashw" (stuffing).
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Meaning, they are not like that. The Nawabit, do you know the Nawabit that grow on the edge of the crop? Yes, the Nawabit, there is no good in them, on the edges. We say: Describe us as you wish. Your brothers described the messengers as madmen, poets,[Adh-Dhariyat 51:52]
The student: A sorcerer or a madman.
The Shaykh : A sorcerer, yes, sorcerers.[Adh-Dhariyat 51:52] So you describe us as you wish. Yes, he says: We continue.
The student: Non-existence.
The Shaykh : What is a pure non-existence? And pure non-existence is nothing, let alone being a perfection. And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) only negates what He negates from His attributes to clarify His perfection, not just to negate that. Now, we remain silent regarding what Allah and His Messenger have remained silent about. This is reason, and this is honor, and this is proper conduct with Allah. What Allah has affirmed, we affirm. What He has negated, we negate. What He has remained silent about...
The student: We remain silent about it.
The Shaykh : We remain silent about it. This is reason, and it is also the requirement of the Shari'ah. And on this basis, if someone asks: What do you say about a body? What do you say about a direction? What do you say about a space? What do you say about a limit? The Mutakallimun (theologians) started stumbling in this, and they reached the negation of the attributes from Allah. For example, he says to you: If you affirm that Allah has a real hand, then you have ascribed a body to Him, you have made a body for Allah. Do you say that Allah is a body? Tell me, what do you say? I say that Allah the Exalted has not described Himself as a body, nor as not a body. So what is our position, rationally and in terms of consideration? Rationally and in terms of consideration: silence. We say: No, we do not say that Allah is a body, nor that He is not a body. But we believe that He has a real hand and a real rising above the Throne. As for "body" or "not a body," we do not say...
If he says it is necessary and insists, I say to him: As for the word "body," I neither affirm it nor negate it, no matter what you say. As for its meaning, if you mean by "body" a body composed of blood, flesh, bone, nerves, and the like, then Allah the Exalted is free from that, there is no doubt. And if you mean by "body" that which stands on its own and is described with the attributes befitting it, then I say this is the meaning. And on this basis, we say: What is our position regarding the word?
The student: Silence.
The Shaykh : No, no. We neither affirm nor negate the meaning. What?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : We specify. We say: If you mean by "body" what is understood from the bodies of created beings, bodies composed of organs, flesh, blood, nerves, and the like, then this is impossible for Allah. And if you mean by "body" that which stands on its own and is described with what befits it, then this is the truth, and we affirm it for Allah, and there is no harm in it for us. For this reason, the people of denial of the divine attributes call the people of the Sunnah and the community "those who ascribe a body to Allah," "those who liken Allah to creation," "Hashawiyyah," and "Nawabit." And what does "Hashawiyyah" mean?
The student: ... the internal organs.
The Shaykh : From "hashw" (stuffing).
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Meaning, they are not like that. The Nawabit, do you know the Nawabit that grow on the edge of the crop? Yes, the Nawabit, there is no good in them, on the edges. We say: Describe us as you wish. Your brothers described the messengers as madmen, poets,
Similarly, there came not to those before them any messenger except that they said
كذلك ما أتى الذين من قبلهم من رسول إلا قالوا ...The student: A sorcerer or a madman.
The Shaykh : A sorcerer, yes, sorcerers.