How do you understand the reports from the Salaf regarding the verses of attributes that imply tafwid?
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The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Our Shaykh, may Allah bless you and reward you with the best reward. Some reports have come from some of the Salaf regarding the verses of attributes that imply tafwid!
Another questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. What is implied by them?!
The questioner : Tafwid, tafwid: such as negating the meanings from the texts, and negating interpretation from the texts. For example, Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said about some of the verses of attributes: "We believe in them and affirm them, but we do not ask how, nor do we seek their meaning." And for example, Abu Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam said: "We narrate these hadiths but we do not seek their meanings." Also, it is reported from Sufyan (may Allah have mercy on him) that he forbade...
Another questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
The questioner : He forbade translating the verses of attributes into other languages.
The Shaykh : Join us, join us, may Allah bless you.
The questioner : We do not start to bother the brothers, like the prominent, obvious scholar.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : So how do we understand these reports from the Salaf?
The Shaykh : Well, in my opinion, it is a matter on which there is no disagreement among the majority of Muslims, whether they follow the methodology of the Salaf or the methodology of the Khalaf. All of them agree that there are verses whose meanings are certainly understood. Among these are some verses related to attributes, such as al-Qadir (the All-Powerful) and al-‘Alim (the All-Knowing). The meanings of such attributes are known to all Muslims, both groups mentioned earlier. If this fact is an established truth, not only among the Salafis, but also among the Khalafis, the ta’wil practitioners, and the theologians, then the reports I recited to you from Imam Ahmad and others must be understood in a way that does not contradict this principle I mentioned earlier. It is impossible and patently false to interpret these reports to mean that all verses are passed over without us understanding their meanings. Rather, they must be understood in one of two ways. The first is that a scholar, no matter how high his status in knowledge, as it is said, "Half of knowledge is not knowing," may face a text and not find a clear meaning for it, like the meanings of the two attributes I mentioned earlier, al-Sami‘ (the All-Hearing) and al-Basir (the All-Seeing). In that case, he passes the verse as it is and does not seek its meaning because it is closed to him. This is the first interpretation. The second interpretation is that he intends the meaning that comes to people’s minds, which leads to tashbih (likening Allah to creation). In this case as well, it is the place to place these reports I recited. This is my answer. However, I have something I must point out, because we see that all scholars, except those whom Allah has protected, and they are few, when they cite reports from some of the Salaf, their stance is like their stance on some weak hadiths. They pass over these weak hadiths as long as they do not conflict with the Shari’ah, and they do not scrutinize their narrators and chains. Similarly, they deal with such reports. That is to say, frankly, these reports may not stand up to hadith criticism. First, they may not have connected chains. It is said, "It is reported from Imam Ahmad such and such." In that case, they do not have the weight to deserve the detailed answer you are hearing now. As they say in some Arab countries, "This dead man does not deserve this condolence." Why? Because the report has no camel to ride and no bridle to lead it. These reports may be of this nature. If their chains are verified to their sources, then you have already heard the answer earlier.
Another questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. What is implied by them?!
The questioner : Tafwid, tafwid: such as negating the meanings from the texts, and negating interpretation from the texts. For example, Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said about some of the verses of attributes: "We believe in them and affirm them, but we do not ask how, nor do we seek their meaning." And for example, Abu Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam said: "We narrate these hadiths but we do not seek their meanings." Also, it is reported from Sufyan (may Allah have mercy on him) that he forbade...
Another questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh : And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah.
The questioner : He forbade translating the verses of attributes into other languages.
The Shaykh : Join us, join us, may Allah bless you.
The questioner : We do not start to bother the brothers, like the prominent, obvious scholar.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : So how do we understand these reports from the Salaf?
The Shaykh : Well, in my opinion, it is a matter on which there is no disagreement among the majority of Muslims, whether they follow the methodology of the Salaf or the methodology of the Khalaf. All of them agree that there are verses whose meanings are certainly understood. Among these are some verses related to attributes, such as al-Qadir (the All-Powerful) and al-‘Alim (the All-Knowing). The meanings of such attributes are known to all Muslims, both groups mentioned earlier. If this fact is an established truth, not only among the Salafis, but also among the Khalafis, the ta’wil practitioners, and the theologians, then the reports I recited to you from Imam Ahmad and others must be understood in a way that does not contradict this principle I mentioned earlier. It is impossible and patently false to interpret these reports to mean that all verses are passed over without us understanding their meanings. Rather, they must be understood in one of two ways. The first is that a scholar, no matter how high his status in knowledge, as it is said, "Half of knowledge is not knowing," may face a text and not find a clear meaning for it, like the meanings of the two attributes I mentioned earlier, al-Sami‘ (the All-Hearing) and al-Basir (the All-Seeing). In that case, he passes the verse as it is and does not seek its meaning because it is closed to him. This is the first interpretation. The second interpretation is that he intends the meaning that comes to people’s minds, which leads to tashbih (likening Allah to creation). In this case as well, it is the place to place these reports I recited. This is my answer. However, I have something I must point out, because we see that all scholars, except those whom Allah has protected, and they are few, when they cite reports from some of the Salaf, their stance is like their stance on some weak hadiths. They pass over these weak hadiths as long as they do not conflict with the Shari’ah, and they do not scrutinize their narrators and chains. Similarly, they deal with such reports. That is to say, frankly, these reports may not stand up to hadith criticism. First, they may not have connected chains. It is said, "It is reported from Imam Ahmad such and such." In that case, they do not have the weight to deserve the detailed answer you are hearing now. As they say in some Arab countries, "This dead man does not deserve this condolence." Why? Because the report has no camel to ride and no bridle to lead it. These reports may be of this nature. If their chains are verified to their sources, then you have already heard the answer earlier.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.