Part 16

As for citing as the evidence the words of Ibn Al-Jawzi on this subject, we say: The sayings of the scholars may be cited as evidence or evidence may be cited against them, and the saying of one scholar is not an evidence against the rest of them.

As for their claim that Imam Ahmad made Ta‘wil in the Hadith:

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“Verily, the hearts ‘of the sons of Adam are between two of the Fingers of the Most Beneficent.” And the Hadith:

(oN Gb ail fa 55 Sed “The Black Stone is the right Hand of Allah in the earth.” and the Words of Allah, the Most High:

Sak ch Bee ae Ek CG KE Bs ‘And He is with you (by His Knowledge) wheresoever you may be. mee] We say: It has not been authentically reported from Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, that he made Ta’wil of the above-mentioned two Ahadith.

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Shaikhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, said in Al-Fatawa (5:398) in the collection of Ibn Qasim: As for what was reported by Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali, that Imam Ahmad did not make Ta’wil except in three things:

(250 pal asi te 351 el “The Black Stone is the right Hand of Allah in the earth.” and: tgAS3I lal by otel og oti Sth “The hearts of the sons of Adam are between two of the Fingers of the Most Beneficent.”

tad ds ell ons bei eo! “Verily, I find the Spirit of the Most Beneficent in the direction of Yemen.”

This report is a lie against Ahmad; no one has transmitted it from him with an authentic chain of narrators, and it is not known that any of his companions transmitted it from him.

As for the Words of Allah, the Most High:

‘And He is with you (by His nevi, wheresoever you may be. rl) Imam Ahmad did not make Ta’wil of it; he only explained it by one of its essential attributes, which is Knowledge, in reply to the Jahmiyyah,'?! who explained it in a manner which contradicted its true meaning, claiming that it necessitates the belief

() Al-Hadid 57:4 '?] Jahmiyyah: Named after its founder, Jahm bin Safwan, the Jahmiyyah movement denied all of the Names and Attributes of Allah.

that Allah, the Most High is in every place in His Person Exalted is Allah above what they claim. So he, may Allah have mercy on him, explained that His being with them here means that He encompasses the creation by His Knowledge of them. This is because being with something or someone does not necessitate its physical presence or mixing with it. Rather it must be understood in each place according to its context; this is why we say: He gave me milk with water to drink. And it is said: I prayed with the congregation. And it is said: So-and-so’s wife is with him. In the first example, associating and mixing is necessarily understood, while in the second example, sharing the same place and the same deed must be understood, without mixing; and in the third example, accompanying must be understood, even though they may not share the same place or action. Once it is clear that the meaning of being with something or someone differs according to what is annexed to it, and it is not possible to say that it necessitates associating and mixing, or sharing the same place, because it is impossible to attribute that to Allah, the Almighty, the All-Powerful, due to the fact that it is confirmed that He is in no way similar to them and the fact that He is far above them. Therefore, He is with us and He is over His Throne, above the heavens, because He encompasses us with His Knowledge, His Omnipotence, His Authority, His Hearing, His Seeing and His Organizing the affairs of the creation and other matters necessitated by His Lordship. So, if a commentator explained it as meaning Knowledge, he has not exceeded what is necessitated by it and he is not thereby guilty of Ta‘wil, except, at any rate, to those who understand being with someone or something as meaning sharing the same place or associating and mixing. And we have already said that this is not necessarily so in all cases. This regards what has been transmitted from Imam Ahmad concerning the (supposed) Ta’wil of these three evidences.

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As for looking at the texts themselves, we have mentioned above that there is no Ta’wil in the Noble Verse, if a commentator explained it as meaning knowledge, because that is a part of what must necessarily be understood by it, it is not a form of distorting its meaning from what must be understood by it.

As for the Hadith:

“Verily, the hearts of the sons of Adam are between two of the

Fingers of the Most Beneficent are like one heart and He does with

them as He wills.” It was narrated by Muslim in his Sahih, in the Book of Al-Qadar in the third Chapter, number 17, page 2045; and there is no Ta'wil in it, according to Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama‘ah, since they confirm belief in the Fingers of Allah, the Most High in a manner befitting Him, and the fact that our hearts are between two Fingers does not necessitate that they are touching the hearts. This is because the clouds are held between the heavens and the earth and they neither touch the sky nor the earth; likewise, the hearts of the sons of Adam are between two Fingers of the Most Beneficent and it does not necessitate that they are touching them.

As for the Hadith: “The Black Stone is the right Hand of Allah in the earth.”

Shaikhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said regarding it in Al-Fatawa, (6:397) in the compilation of Ibn Qasim: It has been narrated from the Prophet #¢ with an unauthentic chain of narrators and what is well known is that it is from Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be

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pleased with them, who said: ‘The Black Stone is the right Hand of Allah in the earth, so whoever touched it and kissed it, it is as if he had shaken Allah’s right Hand and kissed it.’ So he restricted it to being on earth and not in every place and he says: ‘the right Hand of Allah in the earth,’ and the ruling on a restricted wording is different from something general and unrestricted. And he said: ‘so whoever touched it and kissed it, it is as if he had shaken Allah’s right Hand and kissed it.’ And it is well known that being similar to something is not the same as being identical to it.

I say: Accordingly, the Hadith is not speaking of the Attributes of Allah, the Most High whose meanings have been changed from the apparent meanings, therefore there is no Ta’wil in it at all.

As for their claim that there are two schools: One of them known as the school of Ibn Taymiyyah, we say that the attribution of this school to Ibn Taymiyyah is in order to claim that no one before him said these things. This is wrong, because the beliefs held by Ibn Taymiyyah are those which were held by the righteous Salaf and the Imams of the (Muslim) nation, and it was not he who introduced this school, as claimed by the one who says this, and who wishes thereby to minimize its importance and Allah is the One Who is asked for Help.

As for our position regarding those scholars who made Ta’‘wil, we say: Any of them who was known to have a good intention and who contributed positively to the religion and who followed the Sunnah is excused, due to his having exercised Ta’wil for some reason (which he saw as justifiable). However, his being excused does not mean that his path was not wrong, that is the method contrary to that of the righteous Salaf which was to understand them according to their apparent meaning, and to believe what that apparent meaning proved, without trying to explain how, and without comparison.

It is necessary to differentiate between the ruling on a saying, and on the one who said it, and between a deed and the one who performed it. So, if an incorrect statement emanates from the exercise of Ijtihad and a good intention, then the one who said it is not blamed for it. Indeed, he has a reward for his Tjtihad, according to the statement of the Prophet #:

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oi i Bi id “If a judge makes a ruling and he exercises Ijtihad (therein), and he is correct, then he has two rewards; but if he makes a ruling and exercise Ijtihad (therein) and he is wrong, then he has one reward.’"")

But as for him being described as astray, if what is meant by it is that he is completely astray, for which the person so described is held blameworthy and which is hated, then this description is not applied to this Mujtahid'?) who is known to have had a good intention, contributed positively to the religion, and followed the Sunnah.

But if what is intended by being astray is that his opinion contradicts the correct view, without indicating thereby censure of the one who holds it, then there is no objection to that, because such a person as this is not completely astray. Regarding his method, he is correct, since he has striven to the utmost of his ability to arrive at the truth, but as regards the result (of his Ijtihad) he is astray, since he has contradicted the truth.

"1 Reported by Ai-Bukhari in the Book of Holding Fast to the Book (of Allah) and the Sunnah, in the Chapter: The Reward of the Judge Who Exercises [jtihad and He is Correct or Wrong (7352) and by Muslim in the Book of Judgements, in the Chapter: Explanation of the Reward of the Judge When He Exercise Ijtihad (1716).

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And by this detailed explanation, doubts and worries are removed. And Allah is the One Who is asked.

Q. 30. What is the belief of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama‘ah . regarding the Names and Attributes of Allah? And what is the difference between a Name and an Attribute? And does confirming the Name necessitate confirming the Attribute? And does confirming the Attribute necessitate confirming the Name?

A. The belief of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jama‘ah regarding the Names and Attributes of Allah is to confirm the Names and Attributes which Allah has confirmed for Himself, without distorting the meaning, without negating it, with explaining how and without comparison.