Clarification of the Meanings of Some Noble Verses
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From 'Abd al-'Aziz ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Baz to the honorable brother Dr. M. A. H, may Allah preserve him
Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and after that:
I refer to your letter, which stated: We ask your excellence to clarify the meanings of the following noble verses: In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate: [Al-An'am: 3] and the verse: [Al-Baqarah: 255] and the verse: [Al-Zukhruf: 84] and the verse: [Al-Mujadilah: 7] and the hadith of the girl narrated by Muslim when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked her: ? She said: In the sky. He said to her: ? She said: You are the Messenger of Allah. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: We ask for clarification of the meanings of these noble verses, and clarification of the meaning of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the girl?
I inform you that the general meaning of the noble verses and the noble Prophetic hadith is the indication of the greatness of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), His exaltation above His creation, His divinity for all creatures, and the comprehensiveness and inclusiveness of His knowledge of everything, whether large or small, secret or public, and the manifestation of His power over everything, and the negation of any incapacity from Him (Glorified and Exalted is He).
As for their specific meaning: His saying (the Exalted):[Al-Baqarah 2:255] indicates the greatness and vastness of the Footstool, and it also indicates the greatness of its Creator (Glorified and Exalted is He) and the perfection of His power. And His saying: [Al-Baqarah 2:255] means: It does not burden Him or weigh Him down to preserve the heavens and the earth and what is in them and between them; rather, that is easy for Him and simple for Him. He is the Sustainer of every soul of what it has earned, the Watcher over all things, so nothing is hidden from Him and nothing is concealed from Him. All things are humble before Him, submissive and abject, small in relation to Him (Glorified and Exalted is He), needy and poor before Him, while He is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy, the Doer of what He wills, who is not questioned about what He does, but they are questioned. He is the Subjugator of all things, the Reckoner of all things, the High, the Great Watcher, there is no god but Him and no Lord besides Him.
And His saying (the Exalted):[Al-An'am 6:3] indicates that the One being called upon is Allah in the heavens and in the earth, and that those in the heavens and those in the earth worship Him, declare His oneness, and acknowledge His divinity, calling Him Allah and invoking Him out of hope and fear, except for those among the jinn or humans who disbelieve. It also indicates the vastness of the knowledge of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), His awareness of His servants, and His encompassing knowledge of what they do, whether it is secret or public. So the secret and the public are equal with Him (Glorified and Exalted is He); He counts all the deeds of the servants, their good and their evil.
And His saying (the Exalted):[Az-Zukhruf 43:84] means: He (Glorified and Exalted is He) is the God of those in the sky and the God of those in the earth, and their people worship Him. All of them are submissive to Him and abject before Him, except for those overcome by wretchedness who disbelieved in Allah and did not believe in Him. He is the Wise in His legislation and His decree, the All-Knowing of all the deeds of His servants (Glorified and Exalted is He).
And His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): [Al-Mujadilah: 7] means: He (Glorified and Exalted is He) is aware of all His servants wherever they are, hearing their speech, their secrets, and their whispered conversations. His messengers, the noble angels and the recording guardians, also write down what they whisper, with the knowledge of Allah of it and His hearing of it.
The intended meaning of the companionship mentioned in this verse, according to the people of the Sunnah and the community, is the companionship of His knowledge (Glorified and Exalted is He). So He is with them by His knowledge, but His hearing is also with His knowledge encompassing them, and His sight penetrates them. So He (Glorified and Exalted is He) is aware of His creation, and nothing of their affairs is hidden from Him, while He (Glorified and Exalted is He) is above all creation, having risen above His Throne in a manner befitting His majesty and greatness, and He does not resemble His creation in any of His attributes, as He said (peace and blessings be upon him) : [Al-Shura: 11]. Then He will inform them on the Day of Resurrection of all the deeds they did in this world; for He (Glorified and Exalted is He) is All-Knowing of everything, All-Encompassing of everything, the Knower of the unseen, from whose knowledge nothing the weight of an atom in the heavens or on the earth or smaller than that or greater is hidden, except in a clear Book.
As for the hadith of the girl, whose master wanted to free her as expiation for what he had done in striking her, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to her: She said: In the sky. He said: She said: The Messenger of Allah. He said: In it is the indication of the exaltation of Allah above His creation, and that acknowledging this is evidence of faith. This is the concise meaning of what you asked about.
It is obligatory for the Muslim to follow the path of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding these verses and the authentic hadiths in their meaning that indicate the names and attributes of Allah. That path is: to believe in them, to hold the correctness of what they indicate, and to affirm them for Him (Glorified and Exalted is He) in the manner befitting Him, without distortion, without denial, without asking how, and without likening Him to creation. This is the correct path that the righteous predecessors followed and agreed upon. It is also obligatory for the Muslim who wants safety for himself and to avoid falling into what angers Allah to turn away from the path of the people of misguidance who interpret the attributes of Allah or deny them from Him (Glorified and Exalted is He), far above what the wrongdoers say, in great exaltation.
A fatwa has previously been issued by the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta regarding affirming the exaltation of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), so we are attaching a copy of it for further benefit. We are also attaching a copy of (Al-'Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah) by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and its explanation by Shaykh Muhammad Khalil al-Haraz, which contains an extensive study on the topic you asked about.
We ask Allah to grant everyone beneficial knowledge and to act upon it, and to guide everyone to what pleases Him. Indeed, He is the All-Hearing, the Responsive. And may peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon you.
Peace be upon you, and Allah’s mercy and blessings, and after that:
I refer to your letter, which stated: We ask your excellence to clarify the meanings of the following noble verses: In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate:
And He is Allah, [the only deity] in the heavens and the earth. He knows your secret and what you make public, and He knows that which you earn.
وَهُوَ اللَّهُ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَفِي الْأَرْضِ يَعْلَمُ سِرَّكُمْ وَجَهْرَكُمْ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تَكْسِبُونَHis Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most Great.
وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَلا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُAnd it is Allah who is [the only] deity in the heaven, and on the earth [the only] deity. And He is the Wise, the Knowing.
وَهُوَ الَّذِي فِي السَّمَاءِ إِلَهٌ وَفِي الْأَرْضِ إِلَهٌ وَهُوَ الْحَكِيمُ الْعَلِيمُThere is in no private conversation three but that He is the fourth of them, nor are there five but that He is the sixth of them - and no less than that and no more except that He is with them [in knowledge] wherever they are. Then He will inform them of what they did, on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed Allah is, of all things, Knowing.
مَا يَكُونُ مِنْ نَجْوَى ثَلاثَةٍ إِلا هُوَ رَابِعُهُمْ وَلا خَمْسَةٍ إِلا هُوَ سَادِسُهُمْ وَلا أَدْنَى مِنْ ذَلِكَ وَلا أَكْثَرَ إِلا هُوَ مَعَهُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كَانُوا ثُمَّ يُنَبِّئُهُمْ بِمَا عَمِلُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌWhere is Allah
أين اللهWho am I?
من أناSet her free, for she is a believer
أعتقها فإنها مؤمنةI inform you that the general meaning of the noble verses and the noble Prophetic hadith is the indication of the greatness of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), His exaltation above His creation, His divinity for all creatures, and the comprehensiveness and inclusiveness of His knowledge of everything, whether large or small, secret or public, and the manifestation of His power over everything, and the negation of any incapacity from Him (Glorified and Exalted is He).
As for their specific meaning: His saying (the Exalted):
His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth
وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَand their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most Great.
وَلا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُAnd His saying (the Exalted):
And He is Allah, [the only deity] in the heavens and the earth. He knows your secret and what you make public, and He knows that which you earn.
وَهُوَ اللَّهُ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَفِي الْأَرْضِ يَعْلَمُ سِرَّكُمْ وَجَهْرَكُمْ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تَكْسِبُونَAnd His saying (the Exalted):
And it is Allah who is [the only] deity in the heaven, and on the earth [the only] deity. And He is the Wise, the Knowing.
وَهُوَ الَّذِي فِي السَّمَاءِ إِلَهٌ وَفِي الْأَرْضِ إِلَهٌ وَهُوَ الْحَكِيمُ الْعَلِيمُAnd His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He):
Have you not considered that Allah knows what is in the heavens and what is on the earth? There is in no private conversation three but that He is the fourth of them, nor are there five but that He is the sixth of them - and no less than that and no more except that He is with them [in knowledge] wherever they are. Then He will inform them of what they did, on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed Allah is, of all things, Knowing.
أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ مَا يَكُونُ مِنْ نَجْوَى ثَلاثَةٍ إِلا هُوَ رَابِعُهُمْ وَلا خَمْسَةٍ إِلا هُوَ سَادِسُهُمْ وَلا أَدْنَى مِنْ ذَلِكَ وَلا أَكْثَرَ إِلا هُوَ مَعَهُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كَانُوا ثُمَّ يُنَبِّئُهُمْ بِمَا عَمِلُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌThe intended meaning of the companionship mentioned in this verse, according to the people of the Sunnah and the community, is the companionship of His knowledge (Glorified and Exalted is He). So He is with them by His knowledge, but His hearing is also with His knowledge encompassing them, and His sight penetrates them. So He (Glorified and Exalted is He) is aware of His creation, and nothing of their affairs is hidden from Him, while He (Glorified and Exalted is He) is above all creation, having risen above His Throne in a manner befitting His majesty and greatness, and He does not resemble His creation in any of His attributes, as He said (peace and blessings be upon him) :
There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُAs for the hadith of the girl, whose master wanted to free her as expiation for what he had done in striking her, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to her:
Where is Allah?
أين الله؟Who am I?
من أنا؟Set her free, for she is a believer
أعتقها فإنها مؤمنةIt is obligatory for the Muslim to follow the path of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding these verses and the authentic hadiths in their meaning that indicate the names and attributes of Allah. That path is: to believe in them, to hold the correctness of what they indicate, and to affirm them for Him (Glorified and Exalted is He) in the manner befitting Him, without distortion, without denial, without asking how, and without likening Him to creation. This is the correct path that the righteous predecessors followed and agreed upon. It is also obligatory for the Muslim who wants safety for himself and to avoid falling into what angers Allah to turn away from the path of the people of misguidance who interpret the attributes of Allah or deny them from Him (Glorified and Exalted is He), far above what the wrongdoers say, in great exaltation.
A fatwa has previously been issued by the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta regarding affirming the exaltation of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), so we are attaching a copy of it for further benefit. We are also attaching a copy of (Al-'Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah) by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and its explanation by Shaykh Muhammad Khalil al-Haraz, which contains an extensive study on the topic you asked about.
We ask Allah to grant everyone beneficial knowledge and to act upon it, and to guide everyone to what pleases Him. Indeed, He is the All-Hearing, the Responsive. And may peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon you.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.