The division of the people of innovation regarding the names of Allah the Exalted and His attributes.
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The Shaykh : So they divided into multiple categories regarding the names of Allah and His attributes:
One group said: It is never permissible to describe Allah, neither by existence nor by non-existence. Do not say "He exists" or "He does not exist." Well, what does He become? They said: Do not say "He exists" or "He does not exist." May Allah curse you, where do we go? They said: If you say He exists, you liken Him to existing things, making Him like Zayd and 'Amr who exist. And if you say He does not exist, you liken Him to non-existent things, making Him like a human before he was created. So there is no escape. Well, tell me what should I say? They said: Say "He is neither existent nor non-existent." Yes, well. The Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said to them: "This proposition is impossible and inconceivable", meaning it is impossible for a thing to be neither existent nor non-existent. Why? "Because non-existence and existence are opposites, and opposites do not coexist nor can both be negated". Negation and affirmation; one of them is not possible, and it must be one or the other. So if you say: He is neither existent nor non-existent, you have negated both opposites and likened Him to what? To the impossible and inconceivable things. If we say He exists, we liken Him to existing things, which is the lesser of the two, as existing things are possible and existent. Or if we liken Him to non-existent things, that is also possible. But likening Him to something that is neither existent nor non-existent is impossible. The minds of all the sons of Adam reject this thing and do not accept it. Be aware, these people said: He is neither existent nor non-existent.
He said: Other people came and said: Do not describe Him with affirmation, and do not describe Him with negation. My intention is: describe Him with negation and do not describe Him with affirmation. Meaning, they permit negating the attributes from Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), but do not affirm them. Meaning, we do not say: He is Alive. What do they say? Say: He is not dead. Do not say He is Alive. We do not say: He is All-Knowing. What do they say? He is not ignorant. And so on. Why? They said: If you affirm something for Him, you liken Him to existing things, because in their claim, all existing things are similar. So you do not affirm anything for Him. As for negation, fill the whole world with negation, even though what exists in the Book and the Sunnah regarding the attributes of Allah is much more affirmation than negation. They say: Do not fill the heavens and the earth and what is between them with negation in what you describe Allah with, but do not affirm a single attribute for Him. Do you understand? These people describe Allah the Exalted with negation without affirmation.
Well, it was said to them: Allah said about Himself "Hearing, Seeing," and so on. They said: This is from the category of additions, meaning hearing is attributed to Him, not because He possesses the attribute, but because He has a created thing that hears. So "Hearing" means He does not have hearing, but He has something heard.
Or a second group said: These descriptions are for His creations and not for Him. As for Him, no attribute is affirmed for Him.
Then a group came who are less severe than these, and they affirmed the names without the attributes. This is what the Mu'tazilah adopted. They affirmed the names of Allah and said: Allah is Hearing, Seeing, Able, All-Knowing, Wise, and so on. But He has no attribute, absolutely no attribute? Absolutely not. What does "Hearing" mean in the Arabic language? "Hearing" means He has hearing. They said: No. Say: Hearing without hearing, Seeing without sight, All-Knowing without knowledge, Wise without wisdom. Just as we say: A minister without a ministry. Look, and may Allah protect us from that. These people claim to be rational. Well, are these people less severe than the first group or not? Less severe.
A fourth group came and said: No, we affirm the names for Him in reality, and we affirm for Him specific, enumerated attributes indicated by reason, and we deny the rest. Well, what do you affirm for Him? They said: We affirm for Him only seven attributes. Yes, and we deny the rest by distortion, not by disbelief, because if they denied them by disbelief, they would be disbelievers. But they deny them by distortion, which is what they claim is figurative interpretation.
Well, the seven attributes are summarized in the saying:
"He has life, speech, and sight *** Hearing, will, knowledge, and power"
Life, speech, hearing, and sight. What comes after? Knowledge, speech, and power. Will and power. Seven attributes, and we do not affirm the rest. Yes.
"He has life, speech, and sight *** Hearing, will, knowledge, and power"
We affirm these and do not affirm the rest. Why? They said: Because reason indicated them, and the rest of the attributes were not indicated by reason. So we affirm what reason indicated and deny what reason did not indicate. And these are the Asha'irah, who believed in some and denied some.
So these, these are the categories of people in denying the attributes, and all of them branch out from the innovation of JahmAs-Sunan al-Kubra lil-Nasa'i 12:118 The lesson, if Allah wills, will continue.
The innovations came: the innovation of indwelling and union, and the denial of the resurrection, and the like. These branched out from the innovation of the Jahmiyyah and the Mu'tazilah.
One group said: It is never permissible to describe Allah, neither by existence nor by non-existence. Do not say "He exists" or "He does not exist." Well, what does He become? They said: Do not say "He exists" or "He does not exist." May Allah curse you, where do we go? They said: If you say He exists, you liken Him to existing things, making Him like Zayd and 'Amr who exist. And if you say He does not exist, you liken Him to non-existent things, making Him like a human before he was created. So there is no escape. Well, tell me what should I say? They said: Say "He is neither existent nor non-existent." Yes, well. The Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said to them: "This proposition is impossible and inconceivable", meaning it is impossible for a thing to be neither existent nor non-existent. Why? "Because non-existence and existence are opposites, and opposites do not coexist nor can both be negated". Negation and affirmation; one of them is not possible, and it must be one or the other. So if you say: He is neither existent nor non-existent, you have negated both opposites and likened Him to what? To the impossible and inconceivable things. If we say He exists, we liken Him to existing things, which is the lesser of the two, as existing things are possible and existent. Or if we liken Him to non-existent things, that is also possible. But likening Him to something that is neither existent nor non-existent is impossible. The minds of all the sons of Adam reject this thing and do not accept it. Be aware, these people said: He is neither existent nor non-existent.
He said: Other people came and said: Do not describe Him with affirmation, and do not describe Him with negation. My intention is: describe Him with negation and do not describe Him with affirmation. Meaning, they permit negating the attributes from Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), but do not affirm them. Meaning, we do not say: He is Alive. What do they say? Say: He is not dead. Do not say He is Alive. We do not say: He is All-Knowing. What do they say? He is not ignorant. And so on. Why? They said: If you affirm something for Him, you liken Him to existing things, because in their claim, all existing things are similar. So you do not affirm anything for Him. As for negation, fill the whole world with negation, even though what exists in the Book and the Sunnah regarding the attributes of Allah is much more affirmation than negation. They say: Do not fill the heavens and the earth and what is between them with negation in what you describe Allah with, but do not affirm a single attribute for Him. Do you understand? These people describe Allah the Exalted with negation without affirmation.
Well, it was said to them: Allah said about Himself "Hearing, Seeing," and so on. They said: This is from the category of additions, meaning hearing is attributed to Him, not because He possesses the attribute, but because He has a created thing that hears. So "Hearing" means He does not have hearing, but He has something heard.
Or a second group said: These descriptions are for His creations and not for Him. As for Him, no attribute is affirmed for Him.
Then a group came who are less severe than these, and they affirmed the names without the attributes. This is what the Mu'tazilah adopted. They affirmed the names of Allah and said: Allah is Hearing, Seeing, Able, All-Knowing, Wise, and so on. But He has no attribute, absolutely no attribute? Absolutely not. What does "Hearing" mean in the Arabic language? "Hearing" means He has hearing. They said: No. Say: Hearing without hearing, Seeing without sight, All-Knowing without knowledge, Wise without wisdom. Just as we say: A minister without a ministry. Look, and may Allah protect us from that. These people claim to be rational. Well, are these people less severe than the first group or not? Less severe.
A fourth group came and said: No, we affirm the names for Him in reality, and we affirm for Him specific, enumerated attributes indicated by reason, and we deny the rest. Well, what do you affirm for Him? They said: We affirm for Him only seven attributes. Yes, and we deny the rest by distortion, not by disbelief, because if they denied them by disbelief, they would be disbelievers. But they deny them by distortion, which is what they claim is figurative interpretation.
Well, the seven attributes are summarized in the saying:
"He has life, speech, and sight *** Hearing, will, knowledge, and power"
Life, speech, hearing, and sight. What comes after? Knowledge, speech, and power. Will and power. Seven attributes, and we do not affirm the rest. Yes.
"He has life, speech, and sight *** Hearing, will, knowledge, and power"
We affirm these and do not affirm the rest. Why? They said: Because reason indicated them, and the rest of the attributes were not indicated by reason. So we affirm what reason indicated and deny what reason did not indicate. And these are the Asha'irah, who believed in some and denied some.
So these, these are the categories of people in denying the attributes, and all of them branch out from the innovation of Jahm
And whoever introduces a bad practice in Islam, he bears its sin and the sin of whoever acts according to it until the Day of Resurrection.
ومن سن في الإسلام سنة سيئة، فعليه وزرها ووزر من عمل بها إلى يوم القيامةThe innovations came: the innovation of indwelling and union, and the denial of the resurrection, and the like. These branched out from the innovation of the Jahmiyyah and the Mu'tazilah.