The Salaf's Creed Regarding the Attributes of Allah, the Resurrection, and the Reward

Question:
This questioner says in this question: Your Eminence! Explain to us how the belief of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was regarding the attributes of Allah and the oneness of Allah, and regarding the Qur'an, and the resurrection and the recompense. May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon the Messenger of Allah, upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance. As for what follows:
This is a great question, worthy of attention. The belief of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the names of Allah, His attributes, the resurrection, and the rising, and other matters, is what the great Qur'an and the pure, authentic Sunnah from the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) indicated. They received from their Prophet the belief indicated by the great Qur'an, which is: faith in Allah, that He is their Lord and their true worshipped One , to whom worship is not permissible except for Him . He is the One to whom prayer is directed, to whom supplication is made, from whom aid is sought, to whom vows are made, to whom prayer is offered, to whom prostration is made, and for whom sacrifice is slaughtered... and so on. Worship is His right .
So their creed is that worship is the right of Allah alone, and that nothing of it is directed to other than Allah, neither to an angel brought near, nor to a sent prophet. They used to worship idols in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, call upon them, and seek aid from them, as well as trees and stones. When Allah sent His Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and guided them to Islam, they knew that what they were upon was falsehood, and that it was major shirk (associating partners with Allah), and that all acts of worship must be for Allah alone.
And their belief in the names of Allah and His attributes is faith in them, passing them over as they came, without asking how or likening. They believe that Allah is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing, the Wise, the All-Knowing, the Most Merciful, the Compassionate, and that He rose above the Throne above all creation, and that He is the Most High, the Magnificent , and that He is the Living, the Self-Subsisting, and that He directs His servants as He wills, managing affairs, creating creation, and providing for the servants. There is nothing like Him, no example for Him, and no equal for Him , and He, the Exalted, says: .
This is the belief of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the names of Allah and His attributes. They believe that He, the Exalted, is above the Throne, above all creation, and that He is the Most High, the Magnificent, and that deeds are raised to Him—the righteous deeds—as He, (Exalted and Majestic is He), said: , and He, (Exalted and Majestic is He), said: . Al-'uruj is the ascent from below to above. And He, (Exalted and Majestic is He), said: , He said: , and He said regarding Isa: , and He said: .
So He is above the Throne, above all creation. He is the Most High, the Most Elevated. He is above the Throne, as He, the Exalted, said: . He is above the Throne, above all creation, having risen above it. Istiwa' is the height and elevation above the Throne, a rising befitting the majesty of Allah. He does not resemble His creation in their rising, nor in their speech, nor in anything else. So He, the Exalted, is the Most High, the Most Elevated above the Throne without how. The people of the Sunnah and the community, who are the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and their followers, do not ask how. They do not say: "How did He rise?" Rather, they say: "He rose above the Throne without how," meaning: in the manner that He, the Exalted, knows. We do not know the manner of His attributes, (Exalted and Majestic is He). Rather, we say: He rose without how. And He is the Most Merciful, the Compassionate, and He is the Almighty, the Wise, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing without how. But we know with certainty that His attributes are complete, and that there is nothing like Him, no example for Him. He, the Exalted, said: .
So it is not permissible for anyone to ask how or to liken. The Mushabbihah are disbelievers. Whoever likens Allah to His creation has disbelieved and lied against His saying, the Exalted: . And whoever denies His attributes and rejects them, like the Jahmiyyah, has disbelieved. Or whoever denies their meanings, like the Mu'tazilah, has disbelieved. So it is obligatory to affirm His names and attributes, their wording and their meaning. It is obligatory to affirm the names and attributes for Allah, (may He be exalted) , in wording and meaning. So He is described by them, and He, the Exalted, has their meanings. So He is the Most High, and He has the height. He is the Most Merciful, and He has mercy. He is the All-Hearing, and He hears. He is the All-Seeing, and He sees... and so on. They are all true in the manner befitting Allah. There is nothing like Him in that, no equal for Him, and no peer for Him, the Exalted .
And the speech of Allah is revealed and not created. He spoke with the Qur'an, and His speech is revealed and not created. And so He spoke to Musa. He spoke to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). He speaks to the angels. His speech is true and is heard. There is nothing like it. His speech is spoken of like the other attributes. It is valid, real speech that does not resemble the speech of created beings. It is one of His attributes, like hearing, seeing, satisfaction, anger, and mercy, and other of His attributes, (Exalted and Majestic is He).
It is obligatory for all those who are accountable to believe in His names and attributes, and to believe in everything that Allah and His Messenger have informed us of, without distortion, denial of the divine attributes, asking how an attribute is, or comparing Allah to creation, and without addition or subtraction. Rather, it is obligatory to affirm what Allah and His Messenger have affirmed, and to deny what Allah and His Messenger have denied. This is the creed of the people of the Sunnah and the community, and the creed of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them)and those most pleased with them.
As for those who changed and altered, they are not of the truth in anything, and they are not of the people of the Sunnah in anything, like the Jahmiyyah, the Mu'tazilah, the Rafidah... and others. The people of the Sunnah and the community believe that Allah, the Exalted, is One with no partner, and they hold the meaning of the saying: "La ilaha illa Allah," and that its meaning is: "There is no true worshipped One except Allah." So they believe that He, the Exalted, is the true worshipped One, and that there is no god other than Him, no partner for Him. And they believe that He, the Exalted, is the Possessor of the best names and the highest attributes, and that His names are all good, and that His attributes are all high. He does not resemble anything of His creation, the Exalted, in any of His attributes.
And it is obligatory for all those who are accountable to believe in that, and to follow the methodology of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them and grant them satisfaction), which is the oneness of Allah, and sincerity to Him, and the belief that He is worthy of worship, and the belief in His names and attributes, and that they are true, and that He, the Exalted, has no likeness, no example, no equal, and is not compared to His creation, (may He be exalted) , the Exalted, , . This is the religion of Allah. This is the truth that the messengers (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon them) came with. Yes.

The presenter: May Allah reward you with good, O Shaykh.