This is easy. If they mention Ibn Hajar and al-Nawawi, as for Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him), my opinion is that he is not on the methodology of the Asha'irah; the man is wavering.
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The student: ...
The Shaykh : This is easy. If they mention Ibn Hajar and al-Nawawi, as for Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him), my opinion is that he is not on the methodology of the Asha'irah; the man is wavering. Sometimes he speaks with words that are one hundred percent the words of the people of the Sunnah, and sometimes he transmits the words of the Asha'irah. Sometimes he transmits from Shaykh al-Islam, affirming his statement. Al-Nawawi, truly (may Allah have mercy on him), is on the madhhab of the Asha'irah in everything I have read of his books. But if they confront us with so-and-so and so-and-so, we say: Do you know the truth by the men, or the men by the truth? If they say: We know the truth by the men, we say: We have Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, Imam Ahmad, and other great scholars. So these are opposed to those. Then we have something above everyone: the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). Bring us one piece of evidence that supports the madhhab of the Asha'irah, which says: "Istawa" means "istawala" (to dominate). None of them said: "Istawa" means "istawala." They all say: "Istawa" means "ala" (to be above). How did we know this? We knew this because they recite the Qur'an and know its meaning, and it did not come from any of them a statement diverting the wording from its apparent meaning. Praise be to Allah, the truth is clear. So if someone said to us: The Companions unanimously agreed that the meaning of His saying: is that He is above it. They unanimously agreed. Can anyone possibly dispute and say: They did not unanimously agree? It is not possible, because we know that the Companions recite the Qur'an and apply its meaning to the Arabic language, and in the Arabic language, in all its instances, when "istawa" is followed by "ala," the intended meaning is being above.
The Shaykh : This is easy. If they mention Ibn Hajar and al-Nawawi, as for Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him), my opinion is that he is not on the methodology of the Asha'irah; the man is wavering. Sometimes he speaks with words that are one hundred percent the words of the people of the Sunnah, and sometimes he transmits the words of the Asha'irah. Sometimes he transmits from Shaykh al-Islam, affirming his statement. Al-Nawawi, truly (may Allah have mercy on him), is on the madhhab of the Asha'irah in everything I have read of his books. But if they confront us with so-and-so and so-and-so, we say: Do you know the truth by the men, or the men by the truth? If they say: We know the truth by the men, we say: We have Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim, Imam Ahmad, and other great scholars. So these are opposed to those. Then we have something above everyone: the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them). Bring us one piece of evidence that supports the madhhab of the Asha'irah, which says: "Istawa" means "istawala" (to dominate). None of them said: "Istawa" means "istawala." They all say: "Istawa" means "ala" (to be above). How did we know this? We knew this because they recite the Qur'an and know its meaning, and it did not come from any of them a statement diverting the wording from its apparent meaning. Praise be to Allah, the truth is clear. So if someone said to us: The Companions unanimously agreed that the meaning of His saying: