The Methodology of the People of the Sunnah and the Community Regarding the Names and Attributes

Question:
Your Eminence, what is the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding the names and attributes?

Answer:
The methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding the names and attributes is to affirm them for Allah in the manner befitting Allah, in the manner befitting His Majesty (Exalted and Majestic is He), without distortion or denial of the divine attributes, and without asking how an attribute is or comparing Allah to creation. The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) and those who followed them with excellence are the people of the Sunnah and the community. Their principle is: faith in the names and attributes of Allah, affirming them for Allah, that they are the truth, and that they are established in the manner befitting Allah, without distorting them by addition or subtraction, and without denying them as the Jahmiyyah do, and without likening Allah to creation as the anthropomorphists do. Rather, they believe that they are the truth, and that Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) is named by them and described by their meanings, affirming without likening, and purifying without denial; unlike the Jahmiyyah, the Mu'tazilah, and whoever follows in their footsteps.
The Jahmiyyah denied the names and attributes of Allah, and the Mu'tazilah denied the attributes. They said: "Hearing without a sense of hearing, Knowing without knowledge." This is the extreme of denial of the divine attributes; we seek refuge in Allah. This is misguidance and disbelief. So the people of the Sunnah and the community say: "Knowing with knowledge, Hearing with a sense of hearing, Merciful with mercy." They affirm His names and attributes (Exalted and Majestic is He). This is the statement of the people of the Sunnah and the community: they affirm the names of Allah, and they affirm the attributes indicated by the names, and that they are befitting for Allah, and that His creation does not resemble Him in them. As He, Glorified is He, said: Allah is al-Samad (the Self-Sufficient). He has not begotten, nor been begotten, and there is none comparable to Him. [Surah al-Ikhlas: 3-4] No one is comparable to Him, because He is perfect in everything (Glorified and Exalted is He).
He has the highest likeness, and He has the highest description in everything. And He, the Exalted, said: [Surah al-Shura: 11] Because of His perfection in His essence and attributes, nothing resembles Him. All created things are deficient, and He has absolute perfection (Glorified and Exalted is He). The knowledge of the created is deficient, His mercy is deficient, His hearing is deficient, and so on. As for the attributes of Allah, they are perfect, no deficiency affects them, and they are established for Allah, and His creation does not resemble Him in them.
Hearing, He hears the words of His servants, He hears their supplication even if they are in the depths of the sea, and even if they are in the lower strata. He hears their supplication, and He hears their movements, and He knows their conditions. Nothing is hidden from Him [Surah al-Mujadilah: 7]. And He, Glorified is He, says: [Surah al-Talaq: 12] (Glorified and Exalted is He), Yes.

The presenter: May Allah reward you, O Shaykh.