Part 21

A. Rejection is of two types:

1. Disputation of denial; this is disbelief without any doubt, for if a person denied a Name of Allah or Attribute that has been confirmed in the Book (of Allah) and the Sunnah, such as by saying: Allah does not have a Hand, then he is a disbeliever, according to the consensus of the Muslims. Because denying something that Allah and His Messenger # have informed us is an act of disbelief which removes a person from the pale of Islam.

2. Denial by Ta’wil (interpretation). Here one does not deny it, but he gives it an interpretation. This is divided into two categories:

First, that this interpretation is plausible within the Arabic language. This does not necessitate disbelief.

Second, that it is not plausible in the Arabic language. Then this necessitates disbelief. Because if is not plausible then it is a denial, and this is disbelief. Such as, when a person says: Allah does not have a real Hand, nor does it carry the meaning of Grace or Power, then he is a disbeliever, because he has completely rejected it, so he has denied the actuality of it. If he said regarding the Words of Allah, the Most High:

“both His Hands are widely outstretched.’"") that the meaning of His Hands is the heavens and the earth, then he is a disbeliever, because it is not correct in the Arabic

language, and it is its implication required in the realization of the Shari‘ah, therefore, he is a rejecter who has belied.

But if he said that the meaning of the Hand is Grace or Power, then he does not commit disbelief thereby, because the word hand in the Arabic language can also mean grace; the poet said:

And how much Grace from You is there in the darkness of night. Which tells that the Manawiyyah are lying.

And hand here means grace, because Al-Manawiyyah'”! say that darkness does not bring forth goodness, it only brings forth evil.

Q. 40. What is the ruling on one who believes that the Attributes of the Creator are like the attributes of the created?

, A. Whoever believes that the Attributes of the Creator are like

(1 Al-Ma‘idah 5:64 21 Al-Manawiyyah: A sect which existed in Persia both prior to and after the advent of Islam.

Fatawa Arkanul-Islam 142 PY! Sy! subs

the attributes of the created is astray; because the Attributes of the Creator do not resemble the attributes of the created, according to the evidence of the Noble Qur’4n; Allah, the Most High says:

“There is ne like. Him, od He Tre is the All-Hearer, the All-

Seer,!"] And the fact that two things that are similar in name or attribute does not necessitate that they are similar in reality; this is a well known rule. Does not a human being have a face? Does not the camel have a face? The two are the same in name, but they are not the same in reality. A camel has a hand and corn has a hand,'?! but are the two hands the same? The answer is no. Therefore, why do you not say: Allah, the Almighty, the AllPowerful has a Face and it does not resemble the faces of the created beings and Allah has a Hand and it does not resemble the hands of the created beings?! Allah, the Most High says:

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“They made not a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him. And on the Day of Resurrection the whole of the earth will be grasped by His Hand and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand."?}

'2] While it is not said in English that a camel has a hand and that corn has a hand, it is sometimes said so in Arabic; the former example refers to the camel’s forefoot, while the latter refers to the ear of corn, which sticks out from the stem of the plant, somewhat resembling a hand.

é2eh jut! BS Teal ols py “And (remember) the Day when We shall roll up the heaven like a scroll rolled up for books.”!")

Is there a hand among the hands of the created beings that is like this Hand? No. Then we must know that the Creator does not resemble the created, neither in His Self, nor in His Attributes:

all bel 3 Rid AS SD “There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearer, the AllSeer'?1

Therefore it is never permissible to try to imagine the manner of any of Allah’s Attributes, nor is it permissible to believe that the Attributes of Allah are like the attributes of the created beings.

Q. 41. It is well known that night rotates around the planet earth and Allah, the Almighty, the All-Powerful descends to the lowest heaven in the latter third of the night, and this necessitates that all of the night be in the lowest heaven. What is the answer to this?

A. It is incumbent upon us to believe in the Names and Attributes by which Allah has described Himself in His Book or on the tongue of His Messenger #% without corrupting the meaning, without negation, without explaining the manner of the Attribute, and without resorting to comparison.

Corruption is of the texts (of the Quran and Hadith), negation is in beliefs, explaining the manner is in the Attributes, and comparison is also in the Attributes, except that it is more specific than explaining the manner of it, because it means to explain the manner of it within the limits of the thing to which it is being compared.

Fatawa Arkanul-Islam 144 PRY! OST sobs

So, our beliefs must be free from these four dangerous things. It is an obligation upon every person to prevent himself from asking why and how, in matters relating to the Names and Attributes of Allah, and likewise, he must prevent himself from thinking about the manner of them. When a person follows this path, he will be most at ease; and this is the position of the Salaf, may Allah have mercy on them, and this is why when a man came to Malik bin Anas, may Allah have mercy on him, and said: Oh Abu ‘Abdullah!

“The Most Gracious (Allah) rose over (Istawa) the (Mighty) Throne (in a manner that suits His Majesty)."""! How did He ascend?

Upon hearing this, he bowed his head and the sweat poured profusely from him and he said: The Istawa is not unknown, but the manner of it is not understood, to believe in it is an obligation, and to ask about it is an innovation and I consider you naught but an innovator.

This person who says that Allah descends to the lowest heaven when only the latter third of the night remains every night, and that this necessitates that all of the night is in the lowest heaven, because the night revolves around the whole of the earth and that the third moves from this place to another, we answer him by saying:

This question was not asked by the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, and if such a question entered the heart of the submissive believer, Allah and His Messenger # would have explained it.

We say, that as long as the latter third of the night remains in this place, then the Descent is beyond doubt, and when the

night ends, the Descent is no more, and we do not know the manner of Allah’s Descent, nor does our knowledge comprehend it. But we know that there is nothing like Him, Most Glorified and we must submit (to Allah) and say: ‘We hear, we believe, we follow and we obey.’ This is our duty.

Q. 42. What is the belief of the Salaf regarding seeing Allah? And what is the ruling on one who claims that Allah cannot be seen by the human eye, and that what is meant by Ar-Ru’yah""! is complete and perfect certainty?

A. Allah, the Almighty, the All-Powerful says in the Noble Quran where He mentioned the Resurrection:

“Some faces that Day shall be Nadirah (shining and radiant).

Looking at their Lord (Allah).”'?! And He has attributed looking to the faces, and the part of the face that looks is the eye; and in the Verse is evidence that Allah, the Most Glorified, the Most High is seen by the eye. But our seeing Allah by our eyes does not necessitate that we encompass Him, because Allah, the Most High says:

“but they will never encompass anything of His Knowledge.

So, if it is impossible for us to encompass Him by our knowledge and encompassing by knowledge is broader and more comprehensive than encompassing by sight, and the proof of that is the Words of Allah, the Most High:

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0 ar-Ru’yah: Sight, vision. 1 Al-Qiyamah 75:22

“No vision can grasp Him, but He grasps all vision.”""!

Then even if He is seen by sight, sight cannot comprehend Him. Allah, the Almighty, the All-Powerful is seen by the eye in reality, but He is not comprehended by this vision, because He, the Almighty, the All-Powerful is too Great to be encompassed by it.

This is the belief of the Salaf and they consider that the greatest blessing bestowed upon mankind is to behold the Face of Allah, the Almighty, the All-Powerful. This is why one of the supplications of the Prophet #% was:

gts J Bd lich “I ask You for the pleasure of beholding Your Face. He said:

“the pleasure of beholding.””

Because there is a great pleasure in this, which none can attain except those who attain it through Allah’s Blessing and through His Bounty. And I ask Allah, the Most High to make us among them, this is the reality of the vision upon which the Salaf are agreed.

As for one who claims that Allah is not seen by the human eye and that Ar-Ru'yah means complete and perfect certainty, this opinion of his is false, it contradicts the evidences, and contradicts the facts. Because complete and perfect certainty is found in this world also. The Prophet #% said, regarding the explanation of Ihsan:

!2] Reported by An-Nasa’i in the Book of Forgetfulness, Chapter 62

“Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him, for though you do not see Him, verily, He sees you.’""!

Worshipping Allah as if one sees Him is complete and perfect certainty. Therefore, the claim that this Ru’yah means complete and perfect certainty because one who is absolutely certain of something is like one who sees something with his own eyes, is a false claim, and it is a corruption of the evidences. Such claim is not Ta’‘wil, it is a false corruption that must be rejected against the one who said it. And Allah is the One from Whom help is sought.