The Methodology of the Salaf Regarding the Texts of the Attributes
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The Shaykh : ... The important thing is that the fundamental principle by which a person finds comfort and his conscience is at ease in reality is to take the texts at their apparent meaning. As for the texts of knowledge, my brothers, we have no room for anything else; we have only what was narrated. It is merely a report delivered to us. Can we deal with it and leave it as it is? If one of the created beings told you a report, could you manipulate his report and leave it as it is? How much more so with the report of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, concerning a matter that is not trivial, but rather a matter concerning His Self, Glorified and Exalted is He, His attributes, and His actions? This is what we must submit to in reality. However, we know that this is something that may repel those who are repelled by it among the people, namely that the Creator is free from likening Him to creation, which they attribute to such texts. The Creator is free from such a thing. Even if we wanted to depict it, is the walking of all created beings the same? No; some walk on two legs, some on four, and some on their bellies. If walking among created beings varies and differs, how can the walking of the Creator be like the walking of the created? The hurrying of Allah, do you think it is like your hurrying? I am not addressing you specifically; I mean, O human being, yes, do not think it is like the hurrying of a human being, because if you said it is like the hurrying of a human being, what would that fall into?
The student: Likening Allah to creation
The Shaykh : It falls into likening Allah to creation and comparing Him to creation. But we believe that the hurrying is fast walking, but how was it? We do not know. This is what a person submits to, and it is even what enables him to satisfy his Lord on the Day of Resurrection, because Allah will ask him, "Why did you divert My words from such-and-such to such-and-such? What is your evidence?" Yes, you may say, "I believe that You, Glorified and Exalted is He, and praised be You, did such-and-such, but not like our action, and it does not resemble our action." Is this an argument or not? This is an argument, and we submit to it. Therefore, in truth, I am amazed at great scholars who went to figurative interpretation, even though we do not doubt their sincerity, but the matter became confused for them. I mean, if I asked you, they say that the intellect indicates the will, and the evidence of the intellect for it is specification. How is the specification? I mean, the fact that Allah makes the sky a sky in this form, and the earth an earth in this form, and the human a human in this form, and the camel a camel in this form, that He specifies each with what distinguishes it and indicates it, does this indicate the will? Without a doubt, because things did not differ except by the will of the Creator. This is clear evidence. But the indication of kindness to creation by bringing benefits to them and repelling harms from them indicates mercy, or does it not? Does the Merciful aid creation when they call for aid? Yes. And one who has no mercy, does he care? Now, which is clearer and more evident: the indication of bestowing favors and kindness upon creation to mercy, or the indication of specification to the will? The indication of bestowing favors is more primary and clearer. The common person in the market says, "What Allah willed, here is the rain and here is the spring," and he says, "Praise be to Allah, the mercy of Allah." But if you come and say to him, "Show me that Allah has a will established for Him by the intellect through specification," he may not know. I mean, some students of knowledge whom we know do not understand the indication of specification to the will. So how about one who says that the mercy intended is the will, or that the mercy intended is the kindness, which is a created thing? Yes, or do we affirm the mercy? This is difficult. How? What will you oppose Allah with on the Day of Resurrection? Therefore, these matters, and praise be to Allah, the school of the Salaf in them is strong and straight, and there is no hardship, and a person does not feel a burden of responsibility before Allah, Mighty and Majestic, because he says, "O Lord, I was informed about You thus, either in the Book of Allah or in what the Messenger informed us about You." And Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear. And as I told you a little while ago, if the judge only judges... As for the matters of knowledge, the scale on the Day of Resurrection, is it a real scale or not?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : But the Mu'tazilah said, "No, there is no real scale." A real scale is with the weighing of goods and trade and the like. The scale on the Day of Resurrection is the establishment of justice among people. As for a scale with two pans by which good deeds and bad deeds are weighed, this is not correct. What is your opinion of this?
The student: It is invalid.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that this is invalid. But how? The crime is a matter whose path is pure knowledge only. You go and measure it and say there is nothing, while He is capable of everything. If Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, had willed to only display His justice, He, Glorified and Exalted is He, would have been a just ruler without scales, without a Book, without anything, without the testimony of skins and limbs. He would say, "I did it, O My servant, such-and-such," and the matter would end. But all this is to display justice to the eye, so that people and all creation testify to this justice. So the important thing is that introducing intellects into the matters of knowledge that are based on reports is the cause of misguidance. What is your position in the matters of knowledge that are based on reports? Submission. You do not feel constrained. And I say, be apparent in the matter of creed. Yes, in creed, a person must be upon the apparent meaning of the texts and not deal with anything at all.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly. The descent, we do not say it is by hurrying or by anything other than hurrying. We do not know. We say He descends, Glorified and Exalted is He, in a real descent, but we do not say it is by hurrying.
The questioner : In *The Correct Rules*, the soul of the Rahman...
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : That the soul of the Rahman comes...
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly, correct.
The questioner : This is not taken at its apparent meaning.
The Shaykh : No, no, this is its apparent meaning, because the apparent meaning of the wording is what the context indicates. So here, the hadith has two aspects. The first aspect: that "nafs" is a verbal noun from "naffasa" (to relieve), and the verbal noun is
The student: "Tanaffisan"
The Shaykh : It is not the verbal noun "tanaffisan." "Nafs" is a verbal noun, like "faraja" (relief) from "faraja" (to relieve), "tafrigan" (relief) and "farajan" (relief). So the meaning of "the soul of the Rahman" is His relief from the direction of the Yemen. This is one point.
The second thing: If "the soul of the Rahman" were assumed to be a soul, and the hadith indicated that, where would it come from the direction of the Yemen? It would come from the direction of the sky. So in the wording, there is what prevents it from being intended as an attribute. Yes, and as you reflect, it is impossible except that the indication of the texts is truth, and it is the most difficult of all. But Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, made it clear But Allah made it clear in the same hadith. And as you know, this is what indicates that if the apparent meaning of the texts were false, Allah would have made it clear so that the servants do not believe in it what is not befitting Him. And this is the greatest evidence that all the distorted texts are not on a sound path, because if Allah had intended for them other than their apparent meaning, He would have made them clear to the servants. He would not leave the servants in blindness. If Allah, my brothers, if Allah made clear to us simple things [Al-Mujadila 58:11] The Qur'an is the speech of Allah. What is your opinion of this etiquette regarding creed, which is the foundation of faith? Is this not a simple thing? It is a simple thing, yet Allah did not leave it for us. He did not leave the wife's share as one-eighth of the wealth and the mother's share as one-sixth of the wealth without specifying and dividing it. How would He not specify what is obligatory in His Self, what is impossible, and what is permissible? And likewise the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), as taught us how to sit to relieve ourselves.
The student: Likening Allah to creation
The Shaykh : It falls into likening Allah to creation and comparing Him to creation. But we believe that the hurrying is fast walking, but how was it? We do not know. This is what a person submits to, and it is even what enables him to satisfy his Lord on the Day of Resurrection, because Allah will ask him, "Why did you divert My words from such-and-such to such-and-such? What is your evidence?" Yes, you may say, "I believe that You, Glorified and Exalted is He, and praised be You, did such-and-such, but not like our action, and it does not resemble our action." Is this an argument or not? This is an argument, and we submit to it. Therefore, in truth, I am amazed at great scholars who went to figurative interpretation, even though we do not doubt their sincerity, but the matter became confused for them. I mean, if I asked you, they say that the intellect indicates the will, and the evidence of the intellect for it is specification. How is the specification? I mean, the fact that Allah makes the sky a sky in this form, and the earth an earth in this form, and the human a human in this form, and the camel a camel in this form, that He specifies each with what distinguishes it and indicates it, does this indicate the will? Without a doubt, because things did not differ except by the will of the Creator. This is clear evidence. But the indication of kindness to creation by bringing benefits to them and repelling harms from them indicates mercy, or does it not? Does the Merciful aid creation when they call for aid? Yes. And one who has no mercy, does he care? Now, which is clearer and more evident: the indication of bestowing favors and kindness upon creation to mercy, or the indication of specification to the will? The indication of bestowing favors is more primary and clearer. The common person in the market says, "What Allah willed, here is the rain and here is the spring," and he says, "Praise be to Allah, the mercy of Allah." But if you come and say to him, "Show me that Allah has a will established for Him by the intellect through specification," he may not know. I mean, some students of knowledge whom we know do not understand the indication of specification to the will. So how about one who says that the mercy intended is the will, or that the mercy intended is the kindness, which is a created thing? Yes, or do we affirm the mercy? This is difficult. How? What will you oppose Allah with on the Day of Resurrection? Therefore, these matters, and praise be to Allah, the school of the Salaf in them is strong and straight, and there is no hardship, and a person does not feel a burden of responsibility before Allah, Mighty and Majestic, because he says, "O Lord, I was informed about You thus, either in the Book of Allah or in what the Messenger informed us about You." And Allah does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear. And as I told you a little while ago, if the judge only judges... As for the matters of knowledge, the scale on the Day of Resurrection, is it a real scale or not?
The student: Yes.
The Shaykh : But the Mu'tazilah said, "No, there is no real scale." A real scale is with the weighing of goods and trade and the like. The scale on the Day of Resurrection is the establishment of justice among people. As for a scale with two pans by which good deeds and bad deeds are weighed, this is not correct. What is your opinion of this?
The student: It is invalid.
The Shaykh : There is no doubt that this is invalid. But how? The crime is a matter whose path is pure knowledge only. You go and measure it and say there is nothing, while He is capable of everything. If Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, had willed to only display His justice, He, Glorified and Exalted is He, would have been a just ruler without scales, without a Book, without anything, without the testimony of skins and limbs. He would say, "I did it, O My servant, such-and-such," and the matter would end. But all this is to display justice to the eye, so that people and all creation testify to this justice. So the important thing is that introducing intellects into the matters of knowledge that are based on reports is the cause of misguidance. What is your position in the matters of knowledge that are based on reports? Submission. You do not feel constrained. And I say, be apparent in the matter of creed. Yes, in creed, a person must be upon the apparent meaning of the texts and not deal with anything at all.
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly. The descent, we do not say it is by hurrying or by anything other than hurrying. We do not know. We say He descends, Glorified and Exalted is He, in a real descent, but we do not say it is by hurrying.
The questioner : In *The Correct Rules*, the soul of the Rahman...
The Shaykh : What?
The questioner : That the soul of the Rahman comes...
The Shaykh : Yes, exactly, correct.
The questioner : This is not taken at its apparent meaning.
The Shaykh : No, no, this is its apparent meaning, because the apparent meaning of the wording is what the context indicates. So here, the hadith has two aspects. The first aspect: that "nafs" is a verbal noun from "naffasa" (to relieve), and the verbal noun is
The student: "Tanaffisan"
The Shaykh : It is not the verbal noun "tanaffisan." "Nafs" is a verbal noun, like "faraja" (relief) from "faraja" (to relieve), "tafrigan" (relief) and "farajan" (relief). So the meaning of "the soul of the Rahman" is His relief from the direction of the Yemen. This is one point.
The second thing: If "the soul of the Rahman" were assumed to be a soul, and the hadith indicated that, where would it come from the direction of the Yemen? It would come from the direction of the sky. So in the wording, there is what prevents it from being intended as an attribute. Yes, and as you reflect, it is impossible except that the indication of the texts is truth, and it is the most difficult of all. But Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, made it clear