The Third Topic: Is the attribute of being with (Mu'ayyah) an essential attribute or an attribute of action? The Fourth Topic on Mu'ayyah: Is it a reality or not?
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The Shaykh : Now, a second discussion regarding Mu'ayyah: Is Mu'ayyah an essential attribute or an attribute of action?
The student: There is a distinction.
The Shaykh : There is a distinction here. As for the Mu'ayyah that means encompassing or implies encompassing, it is
The student: Essential
The Shaykh : an essential attribute, because Allah has always been and will always be encompassing the creation with knowledge, power, and dominion, and so on. As for the specific Mu'ayyah, it is an attribute of action. How so? Because every attribute that is accompanied by a cause is among the attributes
The student: The practical.
The Shaykh : of action. This criterion was previously mentioned regarding the attribute of pleasure (Rida), which is an attribute of action because it is accompanied by a cause. When the cause by which Allah is pleased is present, the pleasure is present. Similarly, with Mu'ayyah: when a person has taqwa (mindfulness of Allah), Allah is with him; when patience is present, Allah is with him; when excellence in worship is present, Allah is with him. Therefore, it is among the attributes of action.
The third discussion on Mu'ayyah: Is it a reality or not? We mentioned that some of the Salaf interpreted it as a necessary concomitant, which is such that a person hardly sees anything other than it. Others said it is a reality, but it is a Mu'ayyah that befits Allah, specific to Him. It is not possible that Allah the Exalted is with a person on earth in the same way as the Mu'ayyah of a created being with another created being. A created being may be accompanied by another, and they may gather in one place, or they may separate. Even the Mu'ayyah of a created being with another created being does not necessarily mean they gather in one place. It is said, for example, that so-and-so's wife is with him, while he is in Makkah and she is in Riyadh; they are in different places.
The student: There is a distinction.
The Shaykh : There is a distinction here. As for the Mu'ayyah that means encompassing or implies encompassing, it is
The student: Essential
The Shaykh : an essential attribute, because Allah has always been and will always be encompassing the creation with knowledge, power, and dominion, and so on. As for the specific Mu'ayyah, it is an attribute of action. How so? Because every attribute that is accompanied by a cause is among the attributes
The student: The practical.
The Shaykh : of action. This criterion was previously mentioned regarding the attribute of pleasure (Rida), which is an attribute of action because it is accompanied by a cause. When the cause by which Allah is pleased is present, the pleasure is present. Similarly, with Mu'ayyah: when a person has taqwa (mindfulness of Allah), Allah is with him; when patience is present, Allah is with him; when excellence in worship is present, Allah is with him. Therefore, it is among the attributes of action.
The third discussion on Mu'ayyah: Is it a reality or not? We mentioned that some of the Salaf interpreted it as a necessary concomitant, which is such that a person hardly sees anything other than it. Others said it is a reality, but it is a Mu'ayyah that befits Allah, specific to Him. It is not possible that Allah the Exalted is with a person on earth in the same way as the Mu'ayyah of a created being with another created being. A created being may be accompanied by another, and they may gather in one place, or they may separate. Even the Mu'ayyah of a created being with another created being does not necessarily mean they gather in one place. It is said, for example, that so-and-so's wife is with him, while he is in Makkah and she is in Riyadh; they are in different places.