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From the Fatwas of the scholars of Azhar regarding the one who believes that
Allah enters creations or is in a material direction.
Introduction
The
imam and great scholar, the muhaddith, The Renewer of the Religion, Abu
Muhammad, Mahmud Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Khitaab, Al-Subkiyy,
Al-Azhariyy, the founder of the Association of Islamic Law in Egypt,
the author of Al-Manhal Al-^Athb Al-Mawruud Sharh Sunan Abiy Daawuud
(an explanation of Abu Daawuud), who died 1352 h., may God have mercy
upon him, said in his book "Ithaf Al-Kaa’inaat bi-Bayaan Mathhab
Al-Salaf wa Al-Khalaf Fi Al-Mutashaabihaat", page 2:
Praise
to the Lord of the Worlds, who is clear of the attributes of creation,
like direction and body and place and physical highness, and may God
raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad, who wiped out shirk and blasphemy
and ordered us to believe that Allah is clear of created attributes and
revealed to him in the Koran what means that Allah is one, doesn’t have
a partner or parts, that He does not need anything or anyone, does not
beget and was not begotten and that He has no equal, and also revealed
to him what means that Allah does not resemble anything and that He
hears and sees everything. May Allah also raise the rank of the
Prophet’s companions and all those who imitated his ways.
After that, Mahmud Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Khitaab, Al-Subkiyy says:
The question asked:
Some
of those who desire knowledge about the beliefs of the religion and to
stand firm in the school of the salaf and khalaf with regard to the
hadiths and aayaat that do not have a clear or well known meaning (
called mutashaabihaat in Arabic) asked as follows:
What
is the saying of the scholars, may Allah protect them, regarding the
one who believes that God has a physical direction, and that He sits on
the throne in a special place and says, “this is the belief of the
salaf!” promotes this idea, and accuses those who deny this of
blasphemy. All this while pointing to the 2 aayahs:
الرحمن على العرش استوى and ءأمنتم من في السماء
(
If
someone translated them literally, they would say “The Merciful
established on the throne” and “Do you feel safe from who is in the
sky?”. In the first case one should know that istawa has some 14
different meanings in Arabic (not just to establish), and that the
meaning of ^Arsh is something the scholars disagreed upon. The second
Aayah is said to refer to the angels, because the sky is their abode.
In other words, there is nothing which says that these two Aayas must
be taken literally.)
Is this a valid or an invalid
belief? If invalid, does the one who says so commit blasphemy so that
all his previous works are annulled, such as prayer, fasting and other
religious activities and is his marriage contract invalidated? If he
dies in this state, before repenting, is he not washed and prayed for
and buried in the graveyards of the muslims? Is the one who believed
that what this one is saying is true, also a non-muslim, like him? What
is your saying about what some people say that denying that Allah is
attributed with the six directions (i.e. up, down, front, back and the two sides)
is wrong, and that it entails denying His existence? Let us benefit
from your showing of what the mathhab of the salaf and the khalaf in
these two aayas, and other aayas, such as,
"إليه يصعد الكلم الطيب"
(
If translated literally, it would say “to Him ascend the good words.”) and the hadith,
"ينـزل ربنا إلى السماء الدنيا
(
If translated literally, it would say “He descends to the sky of the world.”) with a complete and satisfactory explanation.
Include
the sayings of the scholars of hadith, Quran-explanation, fiqh and
tawheed, and clarify completely, so that the tongues of those who speak
thoughtlessly are silenced - those who liken Allah to His creation and
believe that what the khalaf scholars did in terms of ta'weel (interpreting figuratively)
is blasphemy, while claiming that this is the way of the Jahmiyyah, the
blasphemous sect, and spread this rumor among the common people. May
Allah reward you!
The Answer of The Imam Abu Muhammad Mahmud Khitaab Al-Subkiyy
The
answer of the Imam Abu Muhammad Mahmud Khitaab Al-Subkiyy: So I
answered, by Allah's help, and said: In the name of Allah, the one who
is merciful to muslims and non-muslims in this life, but only to
muslims in the next. Praise to Allah, the Creator of true guidance, and
may Allah raise the rank of the one who was given wisdom and clear
speech, and of those who support him and his companions, whom Allah
guided and gave success and steadfastness. After saying that, the
judgment is that this belief is invalid, and the one who believes it is
a non-Muslim by the consensus of those who count among the scholars.
The proof in terms of reasoning
The
proof of reasoning for this is that Allah's existence is eternal
without a beginning, and does not resemble anything that has a
beginning.
The proof in terms of Quran and Hadith
In
terms of what has been related, the proof is "He does not resemble
anything, and He is All-Hearing, All-Seeing." (meaning of suurah 42,
11).
(
What Al-Subkiy has mentioned is enough for the sound
minded, because Islam does not teach something contradictory - all its
teachings are harmonious in meaning. However, in order to bring Hadiths
as well as Quran and logical reasoning, he might have added that
Al-Bayhaqiyy, Muslim and others, related the hadith of the Messenger of
Allah, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam: "You are adh-Dhahir,hence there is
nothing above You, and You are al-Batin, hence there is nothing
underneath You." Then Al-Bayhaqiyy said (in his book "Al-Asmaa' wa
as-Sifaat"): "If there is nothing above Him and nothing underneath Him,
then He is not in a place.")
The consequence of these proofs for the one who believes something contradictory to them
Accordingly,
anyone that believes that Allah settled in a place, or was in contact
with it or anything else that has a beginning, such as the ^Arsh
(sometimes translated as "throne" - it is a creation with 4 legs, and
is like the Kaabah for the Angles), or the Kursiyy (sometimes
translated as "chair"), or the sky, or the earth, or anything else - he
is a blasphemer absolutely and without a doubt. All his religious works
are invalid, such as prayer, fasting and Hajj, and his wife is
separated, and he must repent immediately. If he dies with this belief,
then he is not washed, not prayed for, and he is not buried in the
graveyard of the muslims. In addition, all those who believed that his
belief is the truth take this same judgment. May Allah protect us from
the evils of our selves and the liability of our bad deeds.
As
for such a person's encouragement of others to have such blasphemous
beliefs, and his telling them that the one who does not have it is a
blasphemer; this (activity of his) is (another) blasphemy and an
abhorrent lie with the intent to spread deviance. As for him taking as
evidence, according to his invalid claim, the two aayas mentioned, and
their likes, to show that Allah settles on the ^arsh, or sits on it, or
descends in the sky or the like, as this group of people claims... They
do this despite the fact that Allah's attribute of speech (which the revealed book of the Quran refers to)
is not created, and it is one of the eternal attributes of Allah that
existed before the ^Arsh or the sky, so Allah is attributed with "^ala
al-^arsh istawa" before the ^arsh existed. Moreover, was He sitting,
according to them, on the non existing ^arsh before it existed???!! Was
He (according to them) in the sky before it existed???!!
(The
revealed book of the Quran refers to Allah's attribute of speech (which
does not have a beginning, or an end, and does not change - as is true
for all of His attributes), just as the word "Allah" refers to
the Creator and is not Him Himself. Words, languages, letters and
sounds are all obviously created things - if someone is in doubt, let
them say "bism-i-llaah-ir-Rahmaan-ir-Rahiim" without a beginning or an
end! The word "Quran" in Arabic may refer to Allah's eternal attribute
of speech or to the book. It is kufr to say that the Quran is created
if one means Allah's attribute. It is a sin (but not kufr) to say so if
one is referring to the book, because it is inappropriate and a bid^ah.)
These
(sorts of claims) are something a rational being does not even hesitate
about. Does sound reason accept that something eternal settles in
something that has a beginning? Verily we are Allah's creation and we
will return to be judged by Him! In summary, this careless person and
his likes have claimed something that cannot be verified; neither by
reason, nor by what has been related. They have committed blasphemy,
and they think they have done something good! And the greatest calamity
that they are struck by is that they claim to be salafis, while they
are deviants from the true path, and disgracing the best among the
muslims. There is no power or ability other than what Allah creates!
(Subki's saying that this belief
"cannot be verified neither by reason, nor by what has been related"
needs some explanation. In terms of reason it is clear, because
Allah is eternal, and directions are not, as Subki has already pointed
out. For more details, you may read the article Foundations of the Religion.
The scholars all agreed that all Hadith and Quran sayings must be understood by their apparent meaning, with two exceptions only:
The first exception is if taking it literally would lead to the absurd, i.e. it is self contradictory, such as saying "a square circle" or "the part is larger than the whole." Saying that Allah is actually in a geographical direction leads to saying either that directions are
eternal or that Allah changed from being without direction to having a
direction. This cannot be, because direction is an attribute of space,
and space is attributed with change, therefore it must be a creation.
Moreover, it cannot be that Allah changes, because that would
mean He needs a creator. For more on this, see the above article link.
The second exception is if there are other hadiths and
Quranic sayings that contradict the literal meaning. In this case
there are many texts that contradicts the claim that Allah is in a
direction, among them: "He does not resemble anything," as Subki mentioned.)
The Salaf's way of dealing with mutashaabihaat
Concerning
the way of the salaf (the scholars of the first 3 centuries) and khalaf
(scholars after the salaf) in dealing with the aayahs and hadiths that
do not have only one possible or well-known meaning: they all agreed
that Allah is clear of and above the attributes of whatever has a
beginning. Therefore, He does not have a place for Him on the Arsh or
the sky or anywhere else. He is also not attributed with settling in or
on anything that has a beginning, and not with transformation or
movement or the like. Rather, He is as he was before the existence of
the Arsh or the Kursi or the skies and other things that have a
beginning. The Haafith (ibn Hajar al-Asqalani) said in al-Fath
(Fath-ul-Baariy - the explanation of al-Bukhaariy): "the Fuqahaa' (fiqh
scholars) all agreed, from east to west, upon the belief in the Quran
and the hadiths that trustworthy people related from the Prophet (may
Allah raise his rank) about the attributes of Allah, without likening
them to creation or explanation."
They only disagreed on the matter of explaining the meaning of these aayahs, so the salaf (i.e. most of them)
believe in them as they were related and that they are not literally
meant, because of the saying of Allah which means, "He does not
resemble anything and He is All-Hearing, All-Seeing", and leave the
meaning be, due to the saying of Allah that means: "and noone knows
their meaning except Allah" (suurah 3, 5 – more details later).
Accordingly, they say regarding the Aayah "Al-Rahman ^alaa al-^Arsh istawa" (if literally translated it would say “He established on the throne”), that He "istawa" in a sense that befits Him, and only He knows it, and regarding the aayah "'a 'amintum man fii al-samaa'" (if literally translated it would say: “Do You feel safe from who is in the sky?”)
that we believe in it and the meaning that Allah gave it, while
clearing Him of the attributes of whatever has a beginning and of
settling (in a place.) They also say about the Aayah "yad-ullahi fawqa
aydiyhim" (if literally translated it would say: “His hand is above their hands”)
that He has a "yad" not like our yad (i.e. our hand), and only Allah
knows it. This was their way in dealing with these aayahs that do not
have only a single possible meaning or only one famous meaning.
A saying of Ibn Kathir and Nu^aym Ibn Hammaad about mutashaabihaat
The great salafi (
i.e. that he was like the salaf in his ways, not that this is a mathhab) Imam Ibn Kathiir said: "As for the saying of Allah "thumma istawa ^alaa al-^arsh" (
if someone translated it literally he would say "then He ascended the throne"),
there are so very many sayings about this that this is not the place to
mention them all, and we will rather take the way of the pious salaf,
Malik, al-Awzaa^iy, Al-Thawriy, Al-Layth ibn Sa^d, Al-Shaafi3iy, Ahmad
ibn Hanbal, Ishaaq in Raahwayh and other imams, new and old, which is
to pass by them without giving them a how, or a likeness, or deny them.
As for the apparent literal meanings that come to the minds of those
who liken Allah to His creation; those are rejected, because He does
not resemble anything, and there is nothing like Him, and he is
All-Seeing, All-Hearing. Rather, it is like what the imams said, among
them Nu^aym Ibn Hammaad Al-Khuzaa^iyy, the sheikh of Al-Bukhaariyy:
"The one who likens Allah to His creation has committed blasphemy, and
the one who denies what Allah has attributed to Himself has also
committed blasphemy. There is no (meaning of) likening (to the
creation) in any of what Allah has attributed to Himself or what the
Prophet attributed to Him. So the one who affirms what has been related
in plain aayahs and authentic hadiths in a way that is befitting with
Allah' greatness, and denies that Allah has any flaws; he has taken the
path of guidance." The like of the above is to be found in all tafseer
books of the masterful imams.
Examples of how the Salaf dealt with mutashaabihaat
They
say about the hadith (which if translated literally, would say that)
"our Lord descends to the sky of the world," that this has a meaning
that befits Allah, and that only Allah knows it. Then there is another
hadith, the Hadith of the slave girl related by Muslim and Abu Daawood
where it is mentioned that the Prophet said to her: "aina Allah? and
she said "fii as-samaa'" (which if translated literally, would be said
to mean "where is Allah" and that she said " in the sky") and that he
said "who am I?" and she answered "you are the Messenger of Allah."
Then he said "free her, for she is a believer." This hadith is handled
with the same approach as the aayah "'a 'amintum man fii as-samaa'" and
likewise all other such hadiths and aayahs. They took this approach
because of the aayah:
هو
الذي أنزل عليك الكتاب منه آيات محكمات هن أم الكتاب وأخر متشابهات ، فأما
الذين في قلوبهم زيغ فيتبعون ما تشابه منه ابتغاء الفتنة وابتغاء تأويله ،
وما يعلم تأويله إلا الله والراسخون في العلم يقولون ءامنا به كل من عند
ربنا وما يذّكّر إلا أولوا الألباب
(
This Aayah
(suurah3, 7) means that: Allah revealed to Prophet Muhammad some Aayahs
–called muhkamaat (محكمات) - that have only one meaning according to
the Arabic language or only one famous meaning, such as those
prescribing halaal and haraam, and other aayahs – called mutashaabihaat
(متشابهات) - that do not. Those with deviance in their hearts will
emphasize the latter kind of aayahs in order to spread deviance (i.e.
by contradicting the meaning of the muhkamaat) through pretending that
they are only explaining the meaning. Only Allah knows their meaning,
and the very knowledgeable say “we believe in them, they are all from
Our Lord”, and only the sound minded take heed and ponder this.)
The salaf (i.e. the salaf in general, not all of them)
said there is a full stop in the aayah after, "only Allah knows their
meaning." As for the "steadfast in knowledge" mentioned after this in
the Quran; this is the beginning of a new sentence (i.e. they do not
know the meaning) to show that the great scholars believe in these
aayahs, (i.e. without assigning a particular meaning.)
The Khalaf's way of dealing with mutashaabihaat
Regarding the Khalaf (scholars after the 3rd century); they say (
i.e. it is more prevalent among them to say)
that these aayahs and hadiths have a known meaning, so the meaning of
"istawa" is "control", and the meaning of "man fii as-samaa'" (
if literally translated it would say "who is in the sky")
is that it is a figure of speech referring to His punishment, authority
and orders, or it is simply a figurative way of praising Allah by
attributing to him above-ness and greatness, and clearing him of
lowliness or below-ness, NOT that He settles in it. This is because
settlement is an attribute of bodies and signifies having a beginning,
and Allah is clear of that. (
Also, understanding it literally
contradicts aayah 93 of surat Maryam, which means: "All those in the
heavens and earth must come to Allah as a slave." It is possible also
that the word "who" is referring to the angels, because the sky is
their abode. Finally, the sky is below the ^arsh...
The meaning of (literally translated) "descending" in the hadith is that His Messenger or His Mercy descends. (The
hadith attributes the so called "descending" to the last 3rd of the
night, and since it is always the last 3rd of the night somewhere on
earth, we know that the meaning is NOT that Allah is moving from one
place to another.) As for the Prophet's approval of the
slave-girl's hint towards the sky; this was a concise way from her of
showing that she was not associating partners with Allah, because it
was thereby known that she did not worship the idols on earth. (Also,
some scholars said the hadith has weaknesses in its text, because
Abd-ur-Razzaaq related it without any mention of the words "aina?"
or "fii as-samaa'".)
This is the way of the khalaf
in all aayahs and hadiths of this kind, based on their saying that the
full stop in the aayah about the aayahs that do not have a single
possible, or well known, meaning comes after ""only Allah knows their
meaning and those steadfast in knowledge," i.e. the steadfast in
knowledge knows their meaning. Their proof is that the Quran is in
Arabic, and this Arabic uses these expressions. However, the weightiest
opinion is that of the salaf. (Note: he means of course that the
majority of the salaf take this approach to this aayah, not absolutely
all, since this would be consensus (ijmaa^.))
The one who attributes to the salaf or khalaf other than this is a deviant and a deviator.
The Jahmiyyah are very different from the Khalaf
The
one who claims that the way of the khalaf is the way of the Jahmiyyah
is a transgressor and a liar, because the Jahmiyyah are the followers
of Jahm Ibn Safwaan, who said that humans are forced to do what they do
and denied all ability to humans, and claimed that Paradise and Hell
will end. He also claimed that belief is only knowledge of Allah,
whereas blasphemy is not knowing Him. He said that noone does anything
except Allah, and that humans are said to have actions only as a figure
of speech, in the same way one says that "the sun passed its zenith" or
the "mill turned," without any actual real action or ability from them.
He also claimed that Allah’s knowledge has a beginning, and prevented
people from saying that Allah is attributed with life, knowledge or
will. He said "I don't attribute to Him an adjective that can be used
for others, such as existing, alive, willing and such," and accepted to
say that He has power, brings into existence, acts, creates, gives life
and death, because only He has these attributes. He also claimed that
Allah's attribute of speech has a beginning, as the Qadariyyah sect
did, and refused to say that Allah speaks. Our companions said he was a
blasphemer for all his deviances, and the Qadariyyah said he was an
infidel for his claim that Allah creates the acts of humans, so all the
nation said that he was a Kaafir. Here ends the quote (i.e. the above
description of the Jahmiyyah) from the book "Al-Farq Baina Al-Firaq",
written by the Imam Abu Mansuur ^Abd-ul-Qaadir Ibn Taahir
Al-Baghdaadiyy, page 199. From this you know that the scholars of the
Khalaf are free from the this sect and its claims.
An answer to those that claim that denial of direction is denial of existence
As
for the idea that denying that Allah is attributed with any of the six
directions is a denial of His existence, this is obviously invalid
since Allah existed before they existed, namely up, down, front, back,
left and right. Rather, He existed before the world as a whole by
consensus of ancient and later scholars. How then does someone that has
even a tiny mind picture that clearing Him of being attributed with
these 6 directions is the same as denying His existence??!! How can it
be imagined that the Eternal Allah's existence depends on some things
that have a beginning, or all of those that He created??!! You (Oh
Allah) are clear of all imperfection!
This is a great lie!
How (could it not be), when a number of the salaf and the khalaf have
plainly stated that the one who believes that Allah is in a direction (i.e. up)
is a blasphemer, as was stated by Al-Baghdadiyy. This was also the
saying of Abu Hanifa, Malik, Al-Shaafi^iyy, Abu Hasan Al-Ash^ariyy and
Al-Baaqillaaniyy, as mentioned by the great scholar Mullaa Aliyy Qaariy
in "Sharh al-Mishkaat" in the second volume on page 137. Allah said (what means that)
real blindness is not that of the eyes, but that of the heart (suurah
22, 46.) and that if Allah has not created the light of guidance in
someone's heart, then he will never be guided (suurah 24, 40.) We ask
Allah to guide us all on the straight path and block the misguidance of
the cursed Satan, and to raise the rank of The Last Of The Prophets,
and whoever follows him in his works.
A list of scholars that signed this fatwa
After
writing this, I have shown this answer to a number of honorable
scholars of Azhar University, and they have agreed and signed it, and
they are the following distinguished companions of ours:
- Sheikh Muhammad Najdi, the sheikh of the Shaafi^i followers.
- Sheikh Muhammad Sabii^ Al-Dhahabi, the sheikh of the Hanbaliyy followers.
- Sheikh Muhammad Al-^Azbi Rizq, the lecturer in the higher section.
- Sheikh Abd-ul-Hamiid ^Ammaar, the lecturer in the higher section.
- Sheikh Ali Al-Nahraawi, the lecturer in the higher section.
- Sheikh Dusuuqi Abdullah Al-Arabi, from the Council of the Great Scholars.
- Sheikh Muhammad Al-^Azbi Rizq, the lecturer in the higher section.
- Sheikh Ali Mahfuuth, the lecturer in specialization section of Azhar.
- Sheikh Ibrahim ^Iiaarah Al-Daljamuuni , the lecturer in specialization section of Azhar.
- Sheikh Muhammad ^Alyaan, from great scholars of Azhar.
- Sheikh Ahmad Makki, the lecturer in specialization section of Azhar.
- Sheikh Muhammad Husain Hamdaan.
--End of Fatwa--