ExplanationofaSummaryofalAqeedatulHamawiyyahofibnTaymiyyah ByImaamMuhammadibnSaalihalUthaymeen (WeaskAllaahtoforgivehim,hisparentsandalltheMuslims,Aameen) TranslatedbyAbooazZubayrAbdurRahmaanHarrison

TablesofContents INTRODUCTION CHAPTER1: THEOBLIGATIONUPONTHESERVANTREGARDINGHISRELIGION CHAPTER2: THEPROPHETSMESSAGEINCLUDESTHETRUEEXPLANATIONOFTHE FOUNDATIONSOFTHERELIGION&ITSDETAILEDMATTERS CHAPTER3: THEWAYOFAHLUSSUNNAHREGARDINGALLAAHSNAMES& ATTRIBUTES CHAPTERS4: EXPLANATIONOFTHETERMINOLOGY(TAHREEF,TATEEL,TAKYEEF, TAMTHEEL,TASHBEEH,&ILHAAD) CHAPTER5: THETRUTHOFTHEMETHODOLOGYOFTHESALAFANDTHE FALSEHOODOFGIVINGPRECEDENCETOTHEMETHODOLOGYOFTHE KHALAFINKNOWLEDGES&WISDOM CHAPTER6: SOMESTATEMENTSOFMODERNAUTHORSAGAINSTTHE METHODOLOGYOFTHESALAF CHAPTER7: CONCEALINGTHETRUTHWITHFALSEHOODBYSOMEOFTHEMODERN AUTHORS CHAPTER8: THEREPORTEDSTATEMENTSOFTHESALAFREGARDINGTHE ATTRIBUTES CHAPTER9: THEHIGHNESS(ULUWW)OFALLAAH&ITSPROOFS

CHAPTER10: THESENSEOFPOSITIONASITPERTAINSTOALLAAH CHAPTER11: THERISINGOFALLAAH(ISTIWAA)OVERHISTHRONE(ARSH) PARTONE PARTTWO:THETHRONE(ARSH) CHAPTER12: THEMAIYYAHOFALLAAH(BEINGWITHHISCREATION) CHAPTER13: COMBININGBETWEENTHETEXTSOFTHEHIGHNESS(ULUWW)OF ALLAAHABOVEHISCREATIONANDTHEMAIYYAHOFALLAAH (BEINGWITHHISCREATION) CHAPTER14: ALLAAHSDESCENDINGTOTHEHEAVENOFTHEDUNYAA PARTONE PARTTWO:COMBININGBETWEENTHETEXTSOFTHEULUWW (HIGHNESS)OFALLAAH&HISDESCENDING CHAPTER15: AFFIRMINGTHEATTRIBUTEOFALLAAHSFACE CHAPTER16: THETWOHANDSOFALLAAH CHAPTER17: THETWOEYESOFALLAAH CHAPTER18: THEFORMSINWHICHTHEATTRIBUTESOFALLAAHSTWOHANDS& TWOEYESHAVEBEENREPORTED CHAPTER19: THESPEECHOFALLAAH PARTONE PARTTWO:THEQURAANISTHESPEECHOFALLAAH PARTTHREE:OURRECITATIONOFTHEQURAAN

 CHAPTER20: THEEMERGENCEOFTATEELANDITSORIGINS CHAPTER21: THEMETHODOLOGYOFTHOSEWHODENYALLAAHSATTRIBUTES PARTONE PARTTWO:SOMEOFTHEFALSEALLEGATIONSOFTHIS METHODOLOGY PARTTHREE:THEDOUBTS&FABRICATIONSTHESEDENIERSRELY UPONASPROOF CHAPTER22: EACHOFTHETWOGROUPSOFTATEEL&TAMTHEELACTUALLY COMBINEBETWEENBOTHTATEEL&TAMTHEEL CHAPTER23: THESALAFSWARNINGAGAINSTPHILOSOPHICALSPEECH(ILMAL KALAAM CHAPTER24: THECATEGORIESOFDEVIANTPEOPLECONCERNINGTHEBELIEFIN ALLAAH&THELASTDAY PARTONE PARTTWO:THEMETHODOLOGYOFTHEPEOPLEOFTAWEEL REGARDINGTHEAFTERLIFE PARTTHREE:THEPEOPLEOFTAJHEEL PARTFOUR:THETAFSEEROFTHEQURAAN CHAPTER25: THEDIVISIONOFTHEPEOPLEOFTHEQIBLAHREGARDINGTHE AAYAAT&AHAADEETHOFTHEATTRIBUTES CHAPTER26: THEEVILNAMESWITHWHICHTHEPEOPLEOFINNOVATIONREFERTO THEPEOPLEOFTHESUNNAH CHAPTER27: ISLAAM&EEMAAN PARTONE

PARTTWO:THEINCREASINGANDDECREASINGOFEEMAAN PARTTHREE:THEWAYSOFINCREASING&DECREASINGEEMAAN PARTFOUR:ISTITHNAAREGARDINGEEMAAN

Introduction AllpraiseandthanksareduetoAllaah.WepraiseHim,seekHishelpand Hisforgiveness.WeseekrefugewithAllaahfromtheevilsofourownselvesand from our bad deeds. Whomever Allaah guides, none can misguide him and whomever He misguides, there is no guide for him. I testify that nothing deserves worship except Allaah alone, with no partner and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger may Allaah send prayers upon him, hisfamily,andhiscompanions. Asforthefollowing: ) with guidance and the true Allaah has sent Muhammad ( religion.Hesenthimasamercytotheworld,asanexamplefortheworkers,and as a proof against all the servants. He (Muhammad) fulfilled the trust, conveyed themessage,advisedtheUmmah,andheclarifiedforthepeopleallofwhatthey need regarding the foundations of their religion as well as its detailed matters. He left no good except that he clarified it and encouraged it, and he left no evil but that he warned the Ummah from it so much so that he left his Ummah upon a clear, white path its night as clear as its day. His companions traversed this path, shining and radiant. Afterwards, the best generations took it from them in thesamestateuntiloppressionfrowneduponthemwiththedarknessofvarious innovations by which the innovators conspired against Islaam and its people. The people then wandered in confusion purposelessly, and they began building their Aqeedah beliefs upon a spiders web. However, the Lord upholds His religionwithHisclosehelpersuponwhomHebestowsEemaan,knowledge,and wisdom by which they prevent these enemies. They repel their plot back against their own throats. So no one ever comes out with his innovation except that Allaah andfor thisdeservespraise and thanks destines to send someone from AhlusSunnahwhorefutesanddisproveshisinnovationandextinguishesit. There was from the foremost of those who stood up against these innovators ShaykhulIslaam TaqiyyudDeen Ahmad ibn AbdulHaleem ibn AbdusSalaam ibn Taymiyyah alHaraanee, adDimashqee. He was born in Haraan (inIraaq) on Monday, the 10th of Rabee alAwwal in the Hijrah year of 661 and he died while imprisoned oppressively in the fortress of Damascus in DhulQidahintheHijrahyear728mayAllaahhavemercyonhim. He has many works on the clarification and explanation of the Sunnah, thereinforcementofitspillars,andthedestructionofinnovations.

 One of the worksonthis subjectis his alFatwaa alHamawiyyah which he wrote as an answer to a question presented to him in the Hijrah year of 698 from Hamaah, a place in ashShaam. In it, he was asked what the scholars and Imaams of the religion say concerning the Aayaat and the Ahaadeeth of the Si/aat, or the attributes and characteristics of Allaah. So he answered in about 83 pages and due to which, he suffered trials and afflictions. May Allaah reward himonbehalfofIslaamandtheMuslimswiththebestofrewards. Due to the difficulty in understanding and comprehending this answer from many readers, I wanted to summarize the most important points from it along with some other needed additions. I have named it Fathu Rabbil BariyyahbiTalkheesalHamawiyyah. IfirstpublisheditintheHijrahyear1380.Iamnowpublishingitasecond timeandperhapschangingwhatIseebeneficialofadditionsordeletions. IaskAllaahtomakeoureffortsincerelyforHisFaceandasabenefitto Hisservants,forindeedHeisGenerousandKind. TheAuthor (MuhammadibnSaalihalUthaymeen)

CHAPTER1 TheObligationupontheServantRegardingHisReligion The obligation on the servant concerning his religion is following what ) says, as well Allaah says and what His Messenger Muhammad ( astheRightlyGuidedSuccessorsafterhimfromtheCompanions,andthosewho followedtheminrighteousness. ThisisbecauseAllaahsentMuhammad( )withclarifications and guidance and obligated upon all of the people to believe in him and follow himoutwardlyandinwardly.He( )said:

Say: Oh mankind, indeed I am the Messenger of Allaah to you all, [from Him] to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. There is no god but Him; He gives life and causes death. So believe in Allaah and His Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, who believes in Allaah and His Words, and follow him that you may be guided.[SooratulAraaf,7:158] AndtheProphet( )said:

.
Itisincumbentuponyou(tofollow)mySunnahandtheSunnahofthe RightlyGuidedSuccessorsafterme.Holdfasttoitandbiteontoitwith your molars. And beware of the newlyinvented matters, for every newlyinvented matter is an innovation and every innovation is misguidance. 1
Recorded by atTirmidhee (2676) and he said it is Hasan Saheeh. Also recorded by Aboo Daawood (4607), Ibn Maajah (42), and Ahmad (4/126). Ibn Hibbaan and alHaakim declared it to beSaheeh.
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 TheRightlyGuidedSuccessorsarethosewhocameafterandfollowedthe Prophet ( ) in beneficial knowledge and righteous action. The most deserving of people of this description are the Companions. Allaah chose them ) and the establishment of for the companionship of His Prophet ( His Religion. And Allaah would not choose while He is the Most Knowledgeable, the Most Wise for the companionship of His Prophet except the most complete of people in Eemaan, the highest in intellect, the most righteous in action, the most determined, and the closest guided to the path. So they are the most deserving of people to be followed after their Prophet ( ), and after them are the Imaams of the religion, those who are knownfortheirguidanceandwellbeing.

 CHAPTER2 TheProphetsMessageIncludestheTrueExplanationoftheFoundationsof theReligion&ItsDetailedMatters The message of the Prophet ( ) is comprised of two things: )said, beneficialknowledge,andrighteousaction,justasAllaah(

It is He who has sent His Messenger with (1) guidance and (2) the religion of truth to manifest it over all religions, although the Mushrikoonhateit.[SooratutTawbah,9:33] Theguidanceisthebeneficialknowledge,whilethereligionoftruthisthe righteous action that is based upon sincerity to Allaah and following His Messenger( ). And beneficial knowledge includes any knowledge that contains a benefit totheUmmahforitslifeintheDunyaaandtheHereafter.Thefirstofknowledge that enters into that is the knowledge of Allaahs Names, His Characteristics and Attributes, and His Actions. Knowing this is the most beneficial of all sciences and it is the most superior of the divine message. It is the summarization of the prophetic Dawah. By it, the religion is established in statement, action and belief. For this reason, it is impossible to think the Prophet ( ) would neglect this knowledge and not completely explain it, leaving no doubts regarding it and repelling all uncertainties. This is impossible from various perspectives: Firstly: The Prophets ( ) message contains light and guidance. Allaah sent him as a bringer of good news as well as a warner, as a caller to AllaahbyHispermission and a shininglamp so muchso thathelefthis Ummah upon a clear, white path its night as clear as its day. No one deviates from it except that he becomes destroyed. And the greatest of lights and the most significant is what the heart obtains from knowing Allaah, His Names, Attributes and His Actions. Therefore, there is no way that the Prophet

( ) did not explain this knowledge with the most important of explanations. Secondly:TheProphet( )taughthisUmmaheverythingthat it needs from the affairs of the religion and the Dunyaa. He even taught the manners of eating, drinking, sitting, sleeping, etc. Aboo Dharr () said, ) died and there is no bird that flaps its Allaahs Messenger ( wings except that he mentioned to us some knowledge about it. There is no doubt that the knowledge of Allaah, His Names, Attributes, and Actions is included under this general principle. Rather, it is the first and foremost due to theextremeneedforitandnecessityofknowingit. Thirdly: 2 Eemaan in Allaah, His Names, Attributes, and Actions is the basis of the whole religion and the summarization of the call of the Messengers. It is the most serious of obligations and the best of what the hearts gain, and the best of what the intellects perceive. So how would the Prophet ( ) neglect it without teaching and explaining it while he taught what was of less importanceandvirtue?! Fourthly:TheProphet( )wasthemostknowledgeable personofhisLord.Hewasthemostsincereadvisertothecreationandthemost eloquentinconveyingandexplainingthemessage.Therefore,itisnotpossible, withthiscompleteconveyance,thathewouldleaveexplainingtheissueof EemaaninAllaah,HisNamesandAttributes,leavingitunclearand questionable. Fifthly: The companions () must have spoken correctly concerning this issue (Allaahs Names, Attributes, and Actions) because the oppositeofthiswouldeitherbe(1)thattheyremainedsilentregardingitor(2) that they spoke falsely concerning it. Both of these are impossible regarding the Companions. 1. As for the point that the Companions remained silent on the matter of theAqeedahofAllaahsNamesandAttributes,thenthisisimpossibleduetothe following reasons. Either, their silence was due to their own ignorance of what Allaah obligated regarding the Names and Attributes, and what He has made
Here, Shaykh ibn alUthaymeen is still mentioning the various aspects that disprove the assumption that the Prophet did not completely explain the issue of Eemaan in Allaahs Names, Attributes,andActions.(T.N.)
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permissible and prohibited; or their silence was based upon a certain knowledge they had regarding that, yet they concealed it. And both of these are also impossible: As for their remaining silent due to ignorance: Then there is no heart withlife,awareness,asearchforknowledge,andadesireforworshipexceptthat its greatest concern would be the search for Eemaan in Allaah, and knowing His Names and Attributes, and actualizing that with certain knowledge and Aqeedah.Thereisnodoubtthatthebestgenerationsthebestofthembeingthe Companions were the most complete of people regarding the life of the hearts, loving of good, and actualizing beneficial knowledge. For this, the Prophet ( )said,

The best of people are my generation, then those who follow after them,andthenthosewhofollowafterthem. 3 This preference is general encompassing their virtue in everything that bringsoneclosertoAllaahfromstatements,actions,orbeliefs. In addition, if we assume that the Companions were ignorant of the truth regardingthismatter,thentheignoranceofthosewhocameafterthemwouldbe even more obvious. This is because knowing what is affirmed to Allaah of the NamesandAttributes,orwhatisnegatedfromHimthisisonlylearnedbyway of Messengership and the Companions are the intermediary between the ) and the Ummah. So based upon this assumption, it Messenger ( meansthatnoonehasanyknowledgeregardingthismatterandthisisobviously unreasonable. As for their remaining silent due to concealing the truth: Every intelligent and just person who knows the situation of the Companions ( )andtheirconcernwithspreadingthebeneficialknowledgeandconveyingit to the Ummah, would never accuse them of concealing the truth, especially not in the most serious and obligated of all matters knowing Allaah, His Names andAttributes.

RecordedbyalBukhaaree(2652)andMuslim(2533).

In addition, there has already come from them many true statements regarding this issue and anyone who seeks them and follows them would know aboutthis. 2.AsforthepointthattheCompanionsspokeincorrectlyonthe matterof theAqeedahofAllaahsNamesandAttributes,thenthisisfalsefortworeasons. First: Speaking falsely about an issue would mean that it would not be possible to base any sound proof upon such statements. Moreover, it is known that the Companions () are the farthest of people in speaking about a matter upon which no sound proof could be based, especially if that matter is in regards to Eemaan in Allaah and the affairs of the unseen. As so, they are the firstpeopletopracticeAllaahscommand,

Anddontpursue(say)thatofwhichyouhavenoknowledge(of). [SooratulIsraa,17:36] AndHisstatement:

Say: My Lord has indeed forbidden are immoralities whether committed openly or secretly, sins (of all kinds), unrighteous oppression, joining partners (in worship) with Allah for which He has given no authority, and saying things about Allaah what you dont know.[SooratulAraaf,7:33] Second: Speaking falsely about any matter has its origin based either upontrueignoranceofthetruth,oruponadesiretomisguidethecreation(while actuallyknowingthetruth).Again,bothoftheseareimpossiblepertainingtothe rightsoftheCompanions() . As for the impossibility of a true ignorance of the matter, then this has alreadybeenexplained.

As for the impossibility of a desire to misguide the creation, then this wouldbeaveryevilobjective.Itisimpracticaltothinkthiswouldcomefromthe Companions those who were known for their absolute advice and concern for thewellbeingandloveofgoodfortheUmmah. In addition, if we hold that it is possible for them to have evil objectives and intentions regarding this matter, then we must also hold the possibility that theywouldlikewisehaveevilintentionsinwhattheysaidregardingalltheother subjects of knowledge and religion. In this case, placing trust upon their statements and information about these subjects would vanish. Of course, this is one of the falsest of accusations because it would constitute a slander against the wholeShareeah. Therefore, if it is clear that the Companions () must have spoken truthfully and correctly, regarding this matter; then they were speaking either simply from their intellects or by way of revelation. The first is not probable because the intellect cannot possibly perceive all of the details of what Allaah has obligated regarding His Attributes of perfection. Therefore, the second option is left, and that is that they learned this knowledge by way of the message of the Prophet ( ). If so, then that would necessitate that the Prophet ( ) explained the truth regarding Allaahs Names and Attributesandthisistherequiredbelief.

CHAPTER3 TheWayofAhlusSunnahRegardingAllaahsNames&Attributes AhlusSunnah wal]amaaah: They are the ones who have united upon ) and working according to it taking the Sunnah of the Prophet ( outwardlyandinwardlyinspeech,action,andbeliefs.Theirwayofdealingwith theNamesandAttributesofAllaahisasfollows: Firstly: Regarding Ithbaat (Affirmation) Affirming whatever Allaah has affirmedforHimselfinHisBook,oruponthetongueoftheMessengerofAllaah ( )withoutmakingTahreef,Tateel,Takyeef,norTamtheel. 4 Secondly: Regarding Nafee (Negation) Their approach is to negate whatever Allaah has negated from Himself in His Book, or upon the tongue of ), while at the same time holding theAqeedah of His Messenger ( affirmingtheperfectionofitsoppositetoAllaah. Thirdly: In those issues in which no negation nor affirmation has been reported, the issues that people have disputed about such as Allaahs body, or Allaah occupying a certain space, or position, etc.; AhlusSunnah withhold from speakingaboutit.Theyneither affirmnornegatetheseissuesduetothefactthat nothing has come to us regarding them. As for the meanings of these, then they seek more details. For example, if these issues intend evil and falsehood, then they refute them and declare Allaah free from these imperfections. However, if they intend the truth and they do not contradict Allaah, then they may accept them. Thisapproachistherequiredpathtotake.Itisthemiddlecoursebetween thePeopleofTateelandthePeopleofTamtheel. Both the intellect and what has been conveyed indicate the obligation of thispathindealingwiththeNamesandAttributesofAllaah. As for the intellect: The proof of this is the fact that detailed statements regardingwhatisobligatory,permissible,andprohibitedregardingAllaahisnot

Shaykh Ibn alUthaymeen will explain all of these terms shortly. However, in order to fully understandtheinformationprovidedbeforetheirexplanation,itmaybepreferabletoskipahead to understand these terms and then come back to this point. This may help in a better understandingofthepointsShaykhIbnalUthaymeenismaking,andAllaahknowsbest.(T.N.)
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perceived except through what has been conveyed (through revelation). Therefore, it is then necessary to follow whatever has been conveyed by affirming whatever has been affirmed, negating whatever has been negated, and remainingsilentonwhathasnotbeenmentioned. Asforwhathasbeenconveyed:Fromtheseproofsisthestatementof ): Allaah(

And to Allaah belong the best names, so call upon Him using them. And leave those who deviate (make Ilhaad) concerning His Names. They will be recompensed for what they have been doing. [Sooratul Araaf,7:180] AndHisstatement,

There is nothing like Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing. [SooratushShooraa,42:11] AndHisstatement,

Anddontpursue(say)thatofwhichyouhavenoknowledge(about). [SooratulIsraa,17:36] The First Aayah proves the obligation of Ithbaat (Affirmation) without makingTahreeforTateelbecausebothoftheseareaformofIlhaad(Deviation). The Second Aayah proves the obligation of negating any form of Tamtheel. The Third Aayah proves the negation of any form of Takyeef, as well as withholding and remaining silent in regards to whatever neither Ithbaat (Affirmation)norNafee(Negation)hasbeenreported.

 Everything that has been affirmed for Allaah of attributes, then they are attributes and characteristics of perfection, upon which He is praised for and there is no form of defect whatsoever with them. So all of the attributes of perfectionareaffirmedforAllaahintheirmostcompleteforms. Likewise,everythingthatAllaahhasnegatedfromHimselfisanimperfect or defectiveattribute that contradictsHisperfection. Therefore, all attributes and characteristics of imperfection are not to be associated with Allaah due to His absolute perfection. Additionally, whatever Allaah negates from Himself, then what is required is to negate that attribute as well as to affirm the opposite attribute with perfection. This is because negation alone does not indicate complete perfection unless and until it includes affirming a praiseworthy attribute. Negation alone could be due to a reason such as inability or weakness andthereforebeadefect. The reason for the negation of a certain characteristic could possibly be duetoalackofcapability(ofhavingthatcharacteristic).Inthatcase,itwouldnot bepraiseworthy,suchassaying,Thewalldoesntprovideanyshade. If this is clear, then we say that whenever Allaah negates from Himself oppression and injustice, 5 for example, then what is required is to negate that particular attribute of oppression and injustice while also affirming the complete opposite to Allaah, which is perfect justice and fairness. Similarly, when He negates fatigue and tiredness from Himself, 6 then what is required is to, negate the attribute of fatigue while also affirming its opposite, which is perfect strength. This is the way in dealing with the rest of the attributes that Allaah negatesfromHimself,andAllaahknowsbest.

SuchastheAayah,AndsurelyAllaahisnotunjustto(His)servants.[SoorahAaliImraan, 3:182].(T.N.) 6 Such as the Aayah, And indeed We created the heavens and the earth and all between them insixdaysandnothingoffatiguetouchedUs.[SooratulQaaf,50:38].(T.N.)
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ExplanationoftheTerminology (Tahreef,Tateel,Takyeef,Tamtheel,Tashbeeh,&Ilhaad) TheMeaningofTahreef Linguistically:Changing InIslaamicterminology:Changingatextinwordingormeaning. Changing the word of a text may or may not also change the meaning alongwithit.Tahreefisofthreetypes: 1.Tahreefthatchangesthewordingaswellasthemeaningsuchasthe Tahreefmadebysome(innovators)ofAllaahsstatement,

And Allaah spoke to Moosaa with (direct) speech. [SooratunNisaa, 4:164] They change the textAllaah to make it in the accusative case (making it thedirectobject)tomeanthatthespeechwasspokenbyMoosaatoAllaah. 2. Tahreef that changes the wording but not the meaning such as recitingalHamdulillaah...inSoorahalFaatihahtoalHamdalillaah...

AllpraiseandthanksareduetoAllaah,theLordoftheWorlds [SooratulFaatihah,1:1] 7 Most of the time this occurs only from someone who is unaware (of the correct pronunciation or by mistake) if he does not have a certain intention for doingso.

Shaykh Ibn alUthaymeen holds the opinion that this is the first actual Aayah of Soorah al Faatihah and not the Basmalah as is written in most copies of the Quraan. See Tafseer Juz AmmabytheauthororhisTafseerSooratulBaqarah.(T.N.)
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3.Tahreefthatchangesthemeaningonlysuchaschangingthemeaning of a word from its apparent meaning with no proof. An example of this is changingthemeaningoftheTwoHandswhentheyareassociatedwithAllaahto meanstrengthorblessingsandwhateverissimilartothis. TheMeaningofTateel Linguistically:Strippingaway,emptying InIslaamic terminology:Denying the Names and Attributes of Allaah, or denyingsomeofthem. Tateelisoftwotypes: 1. Absolute Tateel such as the Tateel made by the Jahmiyyah who deny alloftheAttributeswhiletheextremelydeviantonesamongthemevendenythe NamesofAllaahaswell. 2. Partial Tateel such as the Tateel made by the Ashariyyah who deny some of the Attributes while affirming others. The first person to be known for makingTateelinthisUmmahwasalJadibnDirham. TheMeaningofTakyeef Takyeef is to speak (or hold a belief) abouthow an attribute is, such as saying, Allaahs Hands are like... or His descending to the heaven of the Dunyaaislike... TheMeaningofTamtheelandTashbeeh Tamtheelistoacknowledgethatsomethingisequaltosomethingelse. Tashbeehistoacknowledgethatsomethingissimilartosomethingelse. Therefore, Tamtheel is to make a likeness between two things in all perspectives, and Tashbeeh is to make a likeness between them in most of their

characteristics.Sometimestheyareusedinterchangeably.Thedifferencebetween them(TamtheelandTashbeeh)andTakyeefisfromtwoaspects: 1. Takyeef is to speak (hold a belief, or seek an understanding) about how something is with or without affirming something to be similar to it. As for Tamtheel and Tashbeeh, they indicate ahow something is while affirming equalityorlikenesswithsomethingelse. From this point of view, Takyeef is more general because everyone who makesTamtheelisalsomakingTakyeef,butnottheotherwayaround. 2.TakyeefisspecifictotheAttributesofAllaah.However,Tamtheelcould be made concerning Qadr, the Attributes, and the Essence or Being (of Allaah). From this point of view, Tamtheel is then more general due to its being associatedwiththeSelforBeing,the&Attributes,orQadr. Inaddition,Tashbeeh,whichhasledmanypeopleastray,isoftwotypes: 1. Making Tashbeeh by acknowledging that the creation is similar to the Creator. 2. Making Tashbeeh by acknowledging that the Creator is similar to the creation. As for making Tashbeeh by making the creation similar to the Creator, then this means affirming that the creation possesses something which is only specifictotheCreatorfromactions,rights,orattributes. Tashbeeh in Action: An example of this would be what someone does who makes Shirk with Allaah in His Ruboobiyyoh, such as claiming that there is anothercreatoralongwithAllaah. Tashbeeh in Rights: An example of this would be what the Mushrikoon do with their idols claiming that they have a right to be worshipped. Therefore, theyworshippedthemalongwithAllaah. TashbeehinAttributes:Anexampleofthiswouldbewhattheextremists do concerning their praise of the Prophet ( ) or others such as the verse of poetry by the famous poet alMutanabbee while he was praising

Abdullaah ibn Yahyaa alBuhtaree, So be as you are, oh one who has no equal... As for making Tashbeeh by making the Creator similar to the creation, then this means affirming something of the Essence or Being of Allaah or His Attributesfromwhatisspecifictothecreation.Anexamplewouldbesayingthat the Hands of Allaah are like the hands of created beings, or that His rising over HisThroneislikethewayacreatedbeingwouldriseoversomething. It is said that the first person to be known for this type was Hishaam ibn alHakamtheRaafidhee(theextremistsoftheSheeah),andAllaahknowsbest. TheMeaningofIlhaad Linguistically:Deviating,incliningawayfrom In Islaamic terminology: Deviating away from what is required of Aqeedahoractions. Itisoftwotypes: Firstly:RegardingtheNamesofAllaah. Secondly:RegardingHisAayaat. AsforIlhaadregardingtheNamesofAllaah,itistodeviatefromthetruth thatisrequiredregardingthemanditisoffourtypes: 1. To deny something of the Names of Allaah, or denying something of the Attributes that the Names indicate, as the Muattilah (those who make Tateel)do. 2.TomaketheNamesindicateasimilitudeofAllaahwithHiscreation,as theMushabbihah(thosewhomakeTashbeeh)do. 3. To name Allaah witha namethat He has not named Himself with. This is because the Names of Allaah are only known by way of revelation. An example of this type is the naming of HimFather the Christians do orCause andDoerassomeoftheasphilosophersdo.

 4. To derive from His Names other names for idols such as derivingal LaatfromalIlaah(TheGod)andalUzzaafromalAzeez(TheMighty). As for Ilhaad regarding Allaahs Aayaat; it is in regards to the legislative Aayaat what the Messengers brought of rules and information, as well as in regards to the universal Aayaat anything Allaah has created in the heavens or earth. As for the Ilhaad regarding the legislative Aayaat; it is to make Tahreef of them,denytheinformationcontainedwithinthem,ortodisobeytheirrulings. As for Ilhaad regarding the universal Aayaat; it is to attribute and associatethemtootherthanAllaahortobelievethereiswithAllaahapartneror helperregardingthem. In conclusion, Ilhaad in both its forms are forbidden due to Allaahs statementthreateningthosewhomakeIlhaad:

And leave those who deviate (make Ilhaad) concerning His Names. They will be recompensed for what they have been doing. [Sooratul Araaf,7:180] AndHisStatement

Indeed those who deviate (make Ilhaad) regarding Our Aayaat are not hidden from Us. So is he who is thrown into the Fire better or he who comessafeontheDayofResurrection?Dowhatyouwant;indeedHeis theAllSeerofwhatyoudo.[SooratulFussilat,41:40] In addition, some types of Ilhaad are Kufr (Disbelief) depending on the textsoftheQuraanandtheSunnah.

CHAPTER4 TheTruthoftheMethodologyoftheSalafandtheFalsehoodofGiving PrecedencetotheMethodologyoftheKhalafinKnowledgeWisdom The explanation of the path of the Salaf has already proceeded as has the proofs of adhering to it. Here, would like to give the evidences that the methodology of the Salaf is indeed the correct methodology. This is based upon tworeasons: Firstly: The methodology of the Salaf has its proofs within the Quraan and the Sunnah. Therefore, whoever follows their way with knowledge and honesty will no doubt find that it is consistent with the Quraan and Sunnah, in general and in detail. For Allaah revealed the Quraan so that the people would reflect upon its Aayaat acting according to them if they were rulings, and believing in them, if they were information. Moreover, there is no doubt that the closest people to understanding them, believing in them, and acting in accordance with them are the Salaf. These Aayaat came in their own language and in their own timeperiod. Therefore, they are definitely the most knowledgeableofpeopleincomprehendingthemandthemostuprightinacting bythem. Secondly: It can be said that the truth in this matter (the way of dealing withAllaahsNamesandAttributes)iseitherinwhattheSalafhavesaidorwhat theKhalaf(thelatergenerations,specificallythosewhohavefollowedotherthan the way of the Salaf) have said, second option is certainly untrue because it would then mean that Allaah, His Messenger, the first and foremost from the Muhaajiroon and Ansaar all spoke untruthfully outwardly and publicly and didntoncespeakcorrectlyregardingtherequiredAqeedah.Thiswouldthereby make the existence of the Quraan and Sunnah nothing but an absolute harm to the foundation of the religion, and leaving the people without them would be betterforthemandmoreappropriate.Thisisclearlywrong. Some of the stupid ones have even said,The way of the Salaf is safer, yet thewayoftheKhalafismoreknowledgeableandwiser. 8 Thisstatementoriginatesfromtwosources:
This is the famous false principle, TareeqatusSalaf aslam, wa tareeqatulKhalaf alam wa ahkam!
8

 1. TheAqeedah of the speaker, from what he has of corrupted doubts, is thatAllaahhasnorealattributesthatareindicatedbythetexts. 2. The speakers belief that the way of the Salaf is to have Eemaan only in theactualwordsofthetextsabouttheattributeswithoutaffirminganymeanings to them. Therefore, the issue is an endless circle between believing solely in the useless, meaningless words and this is the way of the Salaf as they claim, and between affirming real meanings to the texts that may contradict their apparent meanings, yet do affirm the Attributes of Allaah and this is the way of the Khalaf. Undoubtedly, acknowledging the real meanings of the texts is better in knowledge and wisdom than merely affirming useless, meaningless words. As a result, this stupid person preferred the way of the Khalaf in knowledge and wisdomtothewayoftheSalaf, This fools statement contains within it truth and falsehood. As for the truth, it is his statement,The way of the Salaf is safer. And the falsehood is his saying, ...yet the way of the Khalaf is more knowledgeable and wiser. This is falseformanyreasons. Firstly: It contradicts his first statement, The way of the Salaf is safer. For if the way of the Salaf is in fact safer, then it must be more knowledgeable and wiser because there is no safety except with knowledge and wisdom knowledge of the means leading to this safety, and the wisdom to follow those means. Therefore, it is clear that the way of the Salaf is safer, more knowledgeable,andwiser.Thereisnowayforthisfooltodenythis. Secondly: The Aqeedah that Allaah has no real attributes that are indicated by the texts is a false Aqeedah because it is based upon corrupted doubts. 9 The Attributes of perfection are affirmed for Allaah based on the intellect,thesenses,theFitrah,andthelegislation(theShareeah). As for the intellect proving the affirmation of Allaahs perfect Attributes: Everything in existence has attributes and characteristics, either attributes of perfection or attributes of deficiency. The latter is not to be associated with the perfect Lord who deserves all worship. For this reason, Allaahhasproventhefallacyoftherightofidolstobeworshippedbydescribing them with attributes of imperfection and deficiency in that they do not hear, see,
9

SeePart2ofthe20thchapter(page114).

benefit, harm, nor create anything and they cannot grant any victory. Therefore, if the latter is not true, then the first one must be the affirmation of the AttributesofperfectiontoAllaah. In addition, the senses and what we witness indicate that even the creation possesses praiseworthy attributes. Allaah is the one who gave them to the creation so the one who gives these praiseworthy attributes is more deservingofbeingdescribedwiththem(intheirperfectform). As for the Fitrah proving the affirmation of Allaahs perfect Attributes: The sound, uncorrupted souls are naturally inclined to the love Allaah, the glorifying of Him, and His worship. So would you love, glorify, and worship anyone other than One you knew to be described with the attributes of perfection? As for the legislation (Shareeah) proving the affirmation of Allaahs perfect Attributes: These proofs are too numerous to be counted, such as Allaahsstatement:

He is Allaah, other than whom there is no god (worthy of worship), Knower of the unseen and the seen. He is the Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy. He is Allaah, other than whom there is no god (worthy of worship), the King, the Holy, the Perfect, the Reassurer, the Overseer, the Mighty, the Compeller, the Superior. Exalted is Allaah above whatever they associate with him. He is 34 Allaah, the Creator, the Originator, the Fashioner; to Him belong the best names. Everything in the heavens and earth exalt Him. And He is the Mighty, the Wise. 10 [SooratulHashr,59:2224]

10

InordertofullyunderstandthemeaningsoftheseNamesofAllaah,onecanrefertotheArabic cassettes of Shaykh ibn alUthaymeen entitled Sharh Aqeedah AhlusSunnah waljamaaah, cassette#2,sideB.Thisisalsoonlineat:http://www.binothaimeen.com/sound/snd/A0002/A0002 2B.rm.(T.N.)

 AndHisstatement,

And to Him belongs the highest description (Attribute) in the heavens andearth.[SooraturRoom,30:27] AndHis( )saying:

Allaah, there is no god (worthy of worship) but Him, the EverLiving, the SelfSustainer and Sustainer of all that exists. Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens or and on the earth. Who can intercede with Him except with His permission?Heknowswhatis(presently)beforethemandwhatisafter them,andtheydonotencompassanythingofHisknowledgeexceptfor what He wills. His Kursee extends over the heavens and earth, and preserving them does not tire Him. And He is the Most High, the Greatest.[SooratulBaqarah,2:255] AndthestatementoftheMessenger( ): Oh people, be easy on yourselves. For you are not calling upon one whoisdeaforabsent.Indeed,youarecallinguponOnewhoisHearing, Seeing, and Near. Indeed, the One you are calling upon is closer to one ofyouthantheneckofhisridinganimal. 11 Thirdly: 12 The belief that the way of the Salaf is nothing but having Eemaan in the words alone without affirming any meanings to them is a false

RecordedbyalBukhaaree(2992)andMuslim(2704). ShaykhIbnalUthaymeenisstillmentioningthereasonswhythesayingThewayoftheSalaf issafer,yet...isafalseprinciple.Referbacktopage32.(T.N.)

belief and a lie against the Salaf. The Salaf are the most knowledgeable of the Ummah of the texts about the Attributes, their words and meanings. Moreover, they are the best in affirming their meanings, which befit Allaah and are based upontheintendedmeaningofAllaahandHisMessenger. Fourthly: The Salaf are the inheritors of the Prophets and Messengers. They learned their knowledge directly from the spring of divine Messengership andtheactualitiesofEemaan. AsforthoseKhalaf,theyhavelearnedwhatiswiththemfromtheMajoos (FireWorshippers), the Mushrikoon, and the misguided ones from the Jews and Greeks. So how are the inheritors of the Majoos, Mushrikoon, the Jews and Greeks and those who have germinated from them more knowledgeable and wiser regarding the Names and Attributes of Allaah, than the inheritors of the ProphetsandMessengers? Fifthly:ThoseoftheKhalafwhomthisstupidone(theonewhosaysthis statement)preferstheirwayinknowledgeandwisdomoverthewayoftheSalaf were confused because of their abandoning what Allaah has sent Muhammad ( ) with of clear teachings and guidance. They (the Khalaf) have sought their knowledge of knowing Allaah from those who dont even know Him themselves based upon what they have put forth themselves as well as what the Ummah have witnessed against them. ArRaazee, one of their leaders, saidclarifyingwhatalltheirknowledgefinallyleadsto: The end result of giving precedence to the intellect is simply constraint and most of the effort of the workers is nothing but misguidance. The souls within our bodies are in emptiness and most of our Dunyaa is nothing but harmingandworry.Wehavenotbenefitedfromourlifelongresearchotherthan wegatheredtogetherstatementsofmeaninglesstalk. 13 I have pondered over the ways of the rhetorical speakers and the methodologiesofthephilosophersinwhatIthoughtwouldhealthesickness,yet did not even quench the thirst. I have discovered that the closest of paths is the wayoftheQuraan.ReadabouttheIthbaat(Affirmation)(oftheAttributes):

13

ArRaazeeactuallysaidthispartinpoetryform.(T.N.)

TheMostMercifulroseovertheThrone[SoorahTaaHaa,20:5] AndHissaying,

To Him ascends good speech, and righteous work raises it. [Sooratul Faatir,35:10] AndreadabouttheNafee(Negation),

ThereisnothinglikeHim.[SooratushShooraa,42:11] AndHissaying, And they will never encompass what He knows. [Soorah Taa Haa, 20:110] AndwhoeverexperienceswhatIdidwilllearnwhatIlearned. 14 So would the way of these confused people, who have even confessed against themselves of their misguidance and confusion, be more knowledgeable andwiserthanthewayoftheSalaf,whoaretheflagbearersofguidanceandthe lamps within darkness? Allaah bestowed upon them of knowledge and wisdom that surpassed even other followers of the Prophets. They comprehended the actualities of Eemaan and knowledge and all of that which others gathered would not even make them similar to those (the Salaf). So how would one concludethatthese(theothersamongtheKhalaf)aresuperiortothem? Withthis,itisclearthatthewayoftheSalafissafer,moreknowledgeable, andwiser.
14

AlMajmooalFataawaa,(5/11).

 CHAPTER5 SomeStatementsofModernAuthorsAgainsttheMethodologyoftheSalaf Some of the modern authors have said, The methodology of the Salaf regarding the Attributes is taking the texts as they come, yet believing that their apparentmeaningsarenotactuallyintended. Thisstatement,iftakenunconditionally,containsapointofscrutiny.The wording,theirapparentmeaningsissomewhatvagueandneedsclarification. Ifwhatisintendedbytheirapparentmeaningsiswhatisevidentfromthetexts of the attributes befitting Allaah without making Tashbeeh, then this is exactly what is intended. Whoever says that this is not the intended meaning then he is misguidedifhe actuallybelievesthat, and he is aliar or mistakenif heattributes thismeaningtotheSalaf. If what is intended by their apparent meanings is what is evident to some of the people in that the apparent meaning is to make Tashbeeh of Allaah with His creation, then this is definitely not true and it is not the apparent meaningofthetextsbecausethesimilarityofAllaahtoHiscreationissomething impossible. And, the apparent meaning of the Quraan and Sunnah would never be something impossible. Whoever thinks this is what is meant by their apparent meanings, then his mistake is to be clarified to him. It is to be clarified that the apparent meaning as well as the detailed meaning is to affirm the AttributesinamannerthatbefitsAllaahandisspecifictoHim. In this way, we would be giving the texts their rights in wording and meaning,andAllaahknowsbest.

CHAPTER6 ConcealingtheTruthwithFalsehoodbySomeoftheModernAuthors Some of the later authors have said, There is no difference between the methodology of the Salaf and the methodology of those who misinterpret regarding the texts of the Attributes. Both of them agree that the Aayaat and Ahaadeeth do not actually confirm the Attributes of Allaah. However, the misinterpreterssawabenefitbytheirinterpretationsandadireneedforthemso they specified a certain meaning for them. As for the Salaf, they withhold from specifying a certain meaning in order to leave the meaning open to other interpretations. ThisisaclearandplainlieagainsttheSalaf.Notoneofthemevernegated that the texts confirm the Attributes of Allaah as they befit Him. Rather, their statementspointouttheacceptanceofthoseveryAttributes.Theyevendisprove those who negate them or make Allaah similar to His creation by them. An example of one such statement is the statement of Naeem ibn Hammaad al Khuzaaee, 15theShaykhofalBukhaaree: Whoever makes Allaah similar to His creation has disbelieved. Whoever denies anything of what Allaah describes Himself with has disbelieved. And there is no Tashbeeh in what Allaah or His Messenger describes Himselfwith. Theirstatementsregardingthisarenumerous. Another point that proves that the Salaf affirmed the Attributes to Allaah and were not in agreement with those who misinterpret the texts is the fact that those very ones who misinterpret were in constant opposition and arguments with the Salaf. They used to accuse them of making Tashbeeh and Tajseem (affirming a body for Allaah) because they (the Salaf) have always affirmed the Attributes. If the Salaf were in agreement with them in that the Attributes of Allaah are not confirmed by the texts, then there would not have occurred between them such opposition and arguments and accusations as it is clear, and allpraiseandthanksaretoAllaah.
Reported byadhDhahabee in SiyarAlaamanNubalaa (10/610)and he said in(13/299) thatits chainofreportisSaheeh.
15

CHAPTER7 TheReportedStatementsoftheSalafRegardingtheAttributes The statements of the Salaf, some general and others more specific have become widespread regarding the Aayaat and Ahaadeeth of the Attributes. An example of the more general statements is the saying,Accept them as they have comewithoutaskingHow? 16ThishasbeenreportedfromMakhool,azZuhree, MaalikibnAnas,SufyaanathThawree,alLaythibnSad,andalAwzaaee. This expression contains a refutation of the Muattilah (those who make Tateel) and the Mushabbihah (those who make Tashbeeh). The statement, Accept them as they have come refutes the Muattilah and, without asking How?refutestheMushabbihah. Also, in this statement is the proof that the Salaf have always acknowledged that the texts of Attributes contained actual correct meanings that befitAllaah.Thisproofisfromtwoangles: 1.Theysaid,Acceptthemastheyhavecome...Itsmeaningistoleavethe texts as they have come upon the intended meanings they indicate. Undoubtedly, they have come confirming actual meanings that befit Allaah. Otherwise,ifthey(theSalaf)didnotbelievethetextsconfirmedactualmeanings, thenthey would havesaid,Accept their wordings anddo not acknowledge and lookintotheirmeanings,orsomethingsimilar. 2. They said, ...without asking How? It is obvious that there is an affirmation of meanings to the texts because if they did not believe in affirming them, then they would not have needed to forbid askingHow? they are. In that case,theforbiddingofseekingHow?wouldbefutile. It may then be asked: Then what is the response to the statement of Imaam Ahmad pertaining to the Hadeeth of Allaahs descending when he said, WebelieveinitandaffirmitwithoutseekingHowitisoritsmeaning? We say: The response to that is that the meaning that Imaam Ahmad was negating in his statement is the misinterpreted meaning that the Muattilah from

See Itiqaad AhlusSunnah by alLaalakaaee (3/537,930) and Fath alBaaree (3/407) and other references.
16

theJahmiyyahandothershadcommitted.Theydistortedtheapparentmeanings ofthetextsoftheQuraanandtheSunnahtomeansomethingcontradictory. Our response is indicated by the fact that he negated the (misinterpreted) meaning and the asking How? in order for his statement to actually be a refutation upon those two groups of innovators: the Muattilah and the Mushabbihah. This explanation is also indicated by what he (Imaam Ahmad) said in regards to the statement of Muhammad ibn alHasans statement, The scholars have unanimously agreed all of them from the east to the west upon having Eemaan in the Quraan and the authentic Ahaadeeth that have come from the ) pertaining to the Attributes of the Lord Messenger of Allaah ( without making an explanation (Tafseer) of them, without describing them, and withoutmakingthemsimilartoanythingelse(Tashbeeh). Imaam Ahmad said regarding this statement that the meaning of making an explanation of them or Tafseer, is the explanation of the Jahmiyyah who make Tateel. They innovated a distorted explanation of the Attributes in opposition to what the Companions and their followers held regarding them of affirmingthem. 17 Thisisalsoanindicationthatexplainingthe AayaatandAhaadeethofthe Attributesisoftwotypes: 1. An acceptable explanation: It is what is in accordance with what the Companions and their followers held of affirming their meanings in a manner befitting to Allaah and that agree with what is apparent from the Quraan and Sunnah. 2. A rejected explanations: It is whatever is in opposition to that mentionedabove. Therefore, there could be an acceptable meaning as well as a rejected one accordingtowhathaspreceded. Ifitisasked:IsthereasenseofHowtheAttributesofAllaahare?
17

AlMajmooalFataawaa,(5/50)andFathalBaaree(13/407)

The answer is yes, there is aHow to them but it is unknown to us. It is unknown to us because knowing How they are could only be known by actuallywitnessinghowtheyare,bywitnessingsomethingsimilartothem,orby way of some trustworthy information that has come about this. All of these means are nonexistent pertaining to Allahs Attributes. With this, it is understood that the statement of the Salaf, without asking How? means without making Takyeef (seeking to understand How). It does not mean the absolutenegationoftheHowofthem,andAllaahknowsbest.

CHAPTER8 TheHighness(Uluww)ofAllaah&itsProofs TheHighnessandExaltednessofAllaahaboveHiscreation,orUluww,is fromHisPersonalAttributes. Itisoftwotypes: 1.UluwwasSifaatTheHighnessofHisAttributes. 2.UluwwadhDhaatTheHighnessofHisSelf. As for the Highness of His Attributes, it means that there is no characteristic of perfection except that to Allaah belongs what is more perfect and more complete, whether it is an attribute such as that of honor or overpowering,orattributessuchasbeautyorcapability. As for the Highness of His Self, it means that Allaah is personally above all of His creations. This is proven by the Quraan, the Sunnah, consensus (of the scholars), the intellect, and the Fitrah, or natural disposition upon which Allaah createseveryhuman. As for the proof from the Quraan and Sunnah: They are both filled with detailed or apparent proofs of the affirmation of the Uluww of Allaahs Self aboveHiscreation. Therearemanytypesofproofsofthis: Sometimes, they mention the Uluww explicitly, His Highness, His rising overtheThrone,orbeingovertheheavens,suchasHisstatements:

AndHeistheMostHigh,theGreatest.[SooratulBaqarah,2:255]

ExaltthenameofyourLord,theMostHigh.[SooratulAalaa,87:1]


TheyfeartheirLordabovethem.[SooratunNahl,16:50]

TheMostMercifulroseovertheThrone.[SoorahTaaHaa,20:5]

Do you feel secure that He who is above the heaven would not cause theearthtoswallowyou?[SooratulMulk,67:16] AndthestatementsoftheProphet( ...andtheThroneisabovethat,andAllaahisabovetheThrone. 18 ):

Do you not trust me while I am trusted by the One above the heaven? 19 Sometimes, the proofs establish the Uluww by mentioning that things ascendorareraiseduptoHim,suchasHisstatements:

ToHimascendsgoodspeech.[SooratulFaatir,35:10]

See alLaalakaaee (3/395,659) and Mukhtasar alUluww (page 48) by alAlbaanee. Adh Dhahabee and Ibn alQayyim authenticated it, and alAlbaanee declared it to be acceptable. Its chainisMawqoof. 19RecordedbyalBukhaaree(4351)andMuslim(1064).
18

The angels and the Rooh Qibreel) ascend to Him. [SooratulMaaarij, 70:4]

Rather,Allaahraisedhim(Eesaa)toHimself.[SooratunNisaa,4:158] ): AndthestatementsoftheProphet(

AndnothingbutthepurethingsascendtoAllaah.

...thensome of thosewho spentthe night among you are raised to your Lord.

The deeds of the night are raised to Him before the deeds of the next day,andthedeedsofthedaybeforethedeedsofthatevening. Ahmadrecordedit. Sometimes, the proofs mention the descent of things from Him, such as Hisstatements:

A revelation sent down from the Lord of the worlds. [Sooratul Waaqiah,56:80]

Say: The pure Rooh Qibreel) has brought it down from your Lord. [SooratunNahl,16:102]

AndthestatementoftheProphet(

Our Lord descends to the heaven of the Dunyaa when the last third of thenightremains. 20 And there aremanyotherAayaat and Ahaadeeth that have beenreported with many chains from the Prophet ( ) pertaining to theUluww of Allaah over His creation. The chains of report are so numerous that they necessitatehavingcertainknowledgethatthe ) actually said them about His Lord and then the Prophet ( Ummahlearnedthemfromhim. As for the proof from the consensus: The Companions, those who followed them in righteousness, and the Imaams of AhulusSunnah were all unanimously united upon the belief that Allaah is above His heavens on His Throne. Their statements are filled with thisbelief either wordforword, or from the evident meaning. AlAwzaaee said,We used to while the followers of the Companions were many among us say that Allaah mentions Himself being above His Throne. And we believe also whatever has come in the Sunnah of the Attributes. AlAwzaaee said this after the appearance of the methodology of Jahm (ibn Safwaan) who used to deny the Attributes of Allaah and HisUluww. He (alAwzaaee) said this so that the people would know that the methodology oftheSalafisincompleteoppositiontothatofJahm. Moreover,notoneoftheSalafeversaidthatAllaahisnotovertheheaven, orthatHeiseverywhere.Nordidtheysay,Allplacesarethesameinregardsto Him, nor that He is not inside the world, nor outside of it, nor part of it, nor separatefromit...Moreover,theydidnot saythatitisimpermissibletoimagine and indicate where He is. Rather, the most knowledgeable of creation indicated where He is during his Farewell Hajj on the Day of Arafah among a great audience.Heraisedandpointedhisfingertotheskyandsaid:

OhAllaah,bearwitness.
20

RecordedbyalBukhaareeandMuslim.Thedetailswillbegiveninchapter13,Page82.

 He was asking Allaah to bear witness to the acknowledgement of his UmmahthatheindeedconveyedthemessageofhisProphethood. As for theproof from the intellect: Every sound intellect bears witness to thefactthatAllaahishighaboveHiscreation.Thisisfromtwoperspectives: Firstly:Uluwwisacharacteristicofperfectionandperfectionisattributed toAllaahinallways.SoUluwwmustbeaffirmedtoAllaah. Secondly: Uluww is the opposite of being low and being low is a characteristic of deficiency. Allaah is far above being described with any characteristics of deficiency so He must be free from being low. The opposite is thenaffirmedtoHim,whichisUluww. As for the proof from the Fitrah: Allaah has made all of the creations, the Arab and nonArab, even the animals, upon the natural disposition of believing in Him and His Uluww. There is no servant that turns toward His Lord with supplication orworship except that hefinds withinhimself asense of requesting fromOnehighabove.Heturnswithhishearttowardsthesky,nottotherightor left. And no one deviates away from this reality except someone who has been corruptedbyShayateenanddesires. Aboo alMaaalee alJuwaynee used to say in his gatherings, 21First, there was Allaah and nothing else. And now He is upon what He is upon. He sarcastically means by this the denying of Allaahs rising over His Throne. So AbooJafaralHamdaaneesaid: Say we leave off mentioning of the Throne because it is established by the legislation anyway and inform us about this sense that we find within out hearts. No one with knowledge has ever called, saying, Oh Allaah! except that he finds in his heart a natural sense of seeking from One high above. He does not turn to the right or left. So how do we repel thisnaturalsenseinourhearts? So, Aboo alMaaalee cried out struck his head and said,AlHamdaanee hasconfusedme!AlHamdaaneehasconfusedme!
21

SeeSiyarAlaamanNubalaa(18/475)byImaamadhDhahabee.

Sothesearefiveproofs(theQuraan,Sunnah,consensus,intellect,andthe Fitrah),eachconfirmingthatAllaah,Himself,isindeedaboveHiscreation. AsforAllaahsstatements:

And He is Allaah in the heavens and in the earth. He knows your secretsandwhatyoumakepublic.[SooratulAnaam,6:3] AndHissaying,

ItisHewhois(theonly)Godintheheaven,andontheearth(theonly) God.[SooratuzZukhruf,43:84] The meaning of both of these Aayaat is not that Allaah is on the earth as Heisabovetheheavens.Andwhoeverimaginesthisorreportsthisfromoneof theSalaf,thenheismistakeninwhatheimaginesandlyinginwhathereports. The First Aayah affirms Allaahs right of being the only god that exists in the heavens and on earth. Everyone in them He is their only god and they worship Him. It is also said that it means that the first part is saying that Allaah is in (above) the heavens. The second part would then begin with And on the earth, He knows your secrets and what you make public. Meaning, that His UluwwabovetheheavensdoesnotpreventHimfromstillknowingyoursecrets andwhatyoumakeknownontheearth. The Second Aayah means that Allaah is the only god of the heavens and the only god of the earth. His right of being worshipped is a duty in both, even while He is above the heavens. Similar to this is the saying, So and so is the governor of Makkah as well as Madeenah. Meaning, that his leadership is in controloverbothcities,evenifhehappenstobeinonlyoneofthem. This way of speaking is correct, both linguistically as well as culturally (Arabic),andAllaahknowsbest.

CHAPTER9 TheSenseofPositionasitPertainstoAllaah We would like, with this chapter, to establish whether a sense of position shouldbeascribedtoAllaahornot. The correct stance is that it is incorrect to unconditionally ascribe a sense of position to Allaah, neither negating it nor affirming it. Rather, we must be specific. If what is intended is the position of lowliness, then this rejected and impossible to be associated with Allaah because He has described Himself with theUluwwofHimselfaswellasofHisAttributes. If what is intended is the position of being high and exalted while being encompassed and within (the heavens), then this is also rejected and impossible to be associated with Allaah. For He is greater and more honorable than to be encompassed by and within something of His creation. How could this be when HisKurseealoneextendsoverthewholeheavensandearth? 22

Theearthentirelywillbe(within)HisgripontheDayofResurrection, and the heavens will be folded in His right Hand. Exalted is He and highabovewhattheyassociatewithhim.[SooratuzZumar,39:67] If what is intended is the position ofUluww, or Highness, that befits His greatness and majesty without encompassing Him, then this is the truth and affirmed to Allaah. The Shaykh Aboo Muhammad AbdulQaadir alJeelaanee said in his book, alGhaniyyah, 23 And he is in the position of Uluww, having risenabovetheThrone,encompassingcompleteauthorityoverthekingdom. If it is asked: If you deny that something of Allaahs creation can encompassHim,thenwhatistheresponsetothefactthatAllaahisintheheaven

AsisprovenbytheAayah: HisKurseeextendsovertheheavensandearth.[SooratulBaqarah,2:2551(T.N.) 23SeealGhaniyyahliTaalibeeTareeqalHaqqfeeMarifahalAadaabashShareeah,page94.

as He has affirmed for Himself in His Book and upon the tongue of His Prophet ),andastheMuslimshaveagreedupon? ( The response is: The fact that Allaah is in the heaven does not necessitate that the heaven is encompassing and surrounding Him. Whoever says that is astray if he says that from himself; he is a liar or mistaken if he attributes that statement to someone else. Anyone who is aware of the greatness of Allaah and thatHeencompasseseverything,andthattheHewillgripthewholeearthonthe Day of Resurrection, and that He will roll up the heavens like the rolling of a scroll; whoever knows this, then it would not be imaginable to him that somethingofHiscreationcouldlikewiseencompassorsurroundHim. Thisbeing understood,thefactthatHeis inthe heavenistaken upontwo meanings: Firstly: That what is meant by the heavens is Uluww, meaning in the position of highness and exaltedness. Moreover, the fact that heaven (as Samaa)couldmeanUluwwisconfirmedintheQuraan.Allaahsays,

And He sent down upon you rain from the heaven (asSamaa). [SooratulAnfaal,8:11] Meaning from high above, not actually from the heaven itself because theraindescendsfromtheclouds. Secondly: That the meaning of in (fee) is taken to mean on or over (alaa) thereby making the meaning, Allaah is over the heaven. And in (fee) has come upon the meaning of on (alaa) in many places in the Quraan and othertexts.Allaahsays,

Sotravelon(fee)theearth.[SooratutTawbah,9:2] Meaningtravelontheearth,notinit.

CHAPTER10 {PART1} TheRisingofAllaah(Istiwaa)OverHisThrone(Arsh) The word Istiwaa linguistically is used to express different meanings, all ofthemhavingtodowithasenseofcompletionorconclusion. ItisusedintheQuraaninthreedifferentways: 1.Thewordusedalone:asintheAayah,

And when he attained his full strength and Istawaa... [SooratulQasas, 28:14] Meaning:tobecomecomplete,matured. 2.Thewordusedwithilaa(to):asinAllaahsstatement,

ThenHeIstawaailaa(to)theheaven.[SooratulBaqarah,2:29] Meaning:togivefullattentionto. 3.Thewordusedwithalaa(upon,over):asinthestatement,

...that you may Istawaa alaa (upon) their (riding animals) backs. [SooratuzZukhruf,43:13] Meaning:thenthemeaningistoriseuponorover,tosettle. So the meaning of the Istiwaa of Allaah upon His Throne: His rising over it and settling upon it in a way that befits His Greatness and Majesty. It is one of His Attributes of action that is proven by the Quraan, the Sunnah, and the consensus(ofthescholars).FromtheproofsoftheQuraanisAllaahsstatement,


The Most Merciful Istawaa (rose over) the Throne. [Soorah Taa Haa, 20:5] From the proofs of the Sunnah is what has been reported by alKhalaal in his book, asSunnah, with an authentic chain of narration according to al BukhaareethatQataadahibnanNumaansaid:IheardAllaahsMessengersay,

When Allaah finished with His creation, He Istawaa (rose over) His Throne. 24 Shaykh AbdulQaadir alJeelaanee said, It is mentioned in every book thatAllaaheverrevealeduponaProphet. 25 AhlusSunnah have all unanimously agreed upon the belief that Allaah is over His Throne, and not one of them ever said otherwise. It is impossible for anyonetoreportthatfromthem,neitherinwordingnorinapparentmeaning. AmanoncesaidtoImaamMaalik,OhAbooAbdullaah, The Most Merciful Istawaa (rose over) the Throne. [Soorah Taa Haa, 20:5] So how did He Istawaa (rise over)? So, Maalik bowed his head until he begantosweat,thensaid, The Istiwaa is not unknown, the How of it is not comprehendible, believing in it is required, and asking about it is an innovation, and I see youonlyasaninnovator.
Ibn alQayyim mentioned it in Ijtimaa alJuyoosh allslaamiyyah (page 34). AdhDhahabee said, Its narrators are trustworthy. And Shaykh alAlbaanee relied upon their statements in MukhtasaralUluww(page38). 25SeealGhaniyyah(page96).
24

 Hethenorderedthatthequestionerbekickedout. 26 Similar to this was reported from Rabeeah ibn Abi AbdurRahmaan, MaaliksShaykh. 27 His statement, The Istiwaa is not unknown means that the meaning is notunknowninthelanguage;itsmeaningisrisingover,settlingupon. His statement, The How of it is not comprehendible means that we cannot perceive how Allaahs Istiwaa over His Throne is with our intellects. The onlywayisbyrevelationandtherevelationhasnotreportedtheHowofit.Soif both, the intellect and the revelation do not indicate it, then it is required to refrainfromspeakingaboutit. His statement, Believing in it is required means that it is obligatory to have Eemaan that Allaah rose over His Throne in a befitting manner because Allaah has informed this about Himself, so believing it and having Eemaan in it isrequired. His statement,...and asking about it is an innovation means that asking about how the Istiwaa is an innovation because it was not known even in the timeoftheProphet( )andtheCompanions. This statement that Imaam Maalik mentioned regarding the Istiwaa is a conclusivemeasurementofalloftheAttributesthatAllaahaffirmsforHimselfin His Book, or upon the tongue of His Messenger. Their meanings are known to us, although how they are is unknown because Allaah informed us about them, yet did not inform us about how they are. 28 Additionally, speaking about the Attributes (of Allaah) is a form of speaking about Allaah Himself. So just as we affirm that Allaahs Self is without Takyeef (seeking How), we likewise affirm HisAttributeswithoutTakyeef. Some of the people of knowledge have said that if a Jahmee asks you, Allaah descends to the heaven of the Dunyaa, so how does He descend? then

See SiyarAlaam anNubalaa, (8/100101), alAsmaa wasSifaat by alBayhaqee (Page 515) and alHaafidh(IbnHajr)declaredittobeacceptableinFathalBaaree(13/407). 27SeealAsmaawasSifaat(page516). 28SeeforanexplanationofthewaysthattheHowcouldpossiblybeknown.
26

reply, Allaah informed us that He descends and did not inform us how He descends! Another said that if a Jahmee asks you about anyone of Allaahs Attributes, How is it? then reply, How is Allaah, Himself? For it is not possible to seek to understand how Allaah is. So tell him that if Takyeef is not possible regarding His Self, then likewise it is not possible regarding His Attributes,becauseattributesarepartoftheonedescribed! If someone says, If the Istiwaa of Allaah over His Throne means to rise over it, then that means He is either bigger than the Throne, smaller, or equal in size.This,therefore,suggeststhatHemusthaveabody,yetthatisimpossible!? The answer is that, no doubt, Allaah is greater than the Throne and greater than anything else is. However, this does not imply anything of the false implicationsofwhichAllaahisfarabove. As for saying that it is impossible for Allaah to have a body, then it must be known that speaking about a body and associating it with Allaah, either by negating it or affirming it, is an innovation that has not been reported in the Quraan, the Sunnah, or from the statements of the Salaf. It is a broad statement, whichrequiresmoredetails. If what is meant by a body is something that is composed, each part needing and supporting the other, then this is rejected from Allaah, the Ever Living,theSelfSustainerandSustainerofallthatexists. IfwhatismeantbyabodyisthatwhichHehastobeSelfsufficientandis describedwithwhatbefitsHim,thenthisisnotdeniedfromAllaah,forAllaahis SelfsufficientandisdescribedwithattributesofperfectionwhichbefitHim. However,sincethewordbodycanincludeatruemeaningaswellasafalse oneasitrelatestoAllaah,associatingittoAllaah,eitherbyabsolutelynegatingit oraffirmingit,isnotpermissible. `Thisisoneofthestatements(Ifthisisso,thenthatmustmeanthis!)that the people of innovation use to eventually come to the final conclusion of negating what Allaah has affirmed for Himself of the Attributes of complete perfection.Thistypeofreasoningisoftwotypes:

1. The correct reasoning is that which does not contradict the perfection, which is necessarily due to Allaah. This is true and it is a requirement to clarify thisandexplainthatit(thistypeofreasoning)isnotrejectedfromAllaah. 2. The corrupted reasoning is that which does contradict the perfection thatisduetoAllaah.Thisisfalseanditisrequiredtorejectitandclarifythatitis not a suitable reasoning of the Quraan and Sunnah, because the Quraan and Sunnah are true and so are their meanings. And it is never possible for the truth tobereasonedouttomeansomethingfalse. If it is said,If you explainAllaahs Istiwaa over His Throne as rising over it, then that gives the impression that He needs it to lift Himself or support Himself! The response is that anyone aware of the greatness of Allaah, the perfection of His Capability, His Strength, and His lack of needing anything, then it would not occur to him that Allaah needs the Throne to support Himself. HowisthiswhentheThroneitselfandeveryothercreatedthingisinneedofHis supportandsubjectedtoHim?ThereisnosupportorsustenanceexceptbyHim.

And of His signs is that the heaven and earth only exist by His command.[SooraturRoom,30:25] If it is asked, Is it permissible to explain the Istiwaa of Allaah over His Throne to mean that He conquered (Isteelaa) it, as the Muattilah explain as a resultoftryingtoavoidafalsetypeofreasoning? Theansweristhatitisnotpermissibleandthatisduetovariousreasons: Firstly: If these types of reasoning are true, then they do not prevent explaining the Istiwaa with its real, actual meaning (which is rising over). If they are false, then it is not possible that they be suitable types of reasoning derived from the Quraan and Sunnah. Whoever thinks they are necessary based upon somethingelseinthem(theQuraanorSunnah)thenheisastray. Secondly: Interpreting it as Isteelaa (conquering) is based upon false reasoning. It is not possible because it contradicts the consensus of the Salaf and

it would then be permissible to say such things asAllaah Istawaa on the earth (He conquered it), and other statements of which Allaah is far above. If He conquered the Throne, it would also mean that He was, before that, not in possessionofitwhenHecreatedtheheavensandearth. Thirdly: The interpretation of Istiwaa (rising over) as Isteelaa (conquering) is unknown linguistically. It is a lie against it (the Arabic language) and the Quraan was revealed in the language of the Arabs. Therefore, it is not possibleforustointerpret it with a meaning that the Arabs do not know in their ownlanguage. Fourthly: Those who interpreted it as Isteelaa (conquering) held the belief that it was a metaphorical meaning and a metaphorical meaning is not acceptableunlessanduntilitmeetsfourconditions: 1. An authentic evidence that calls for the statement to be taken metaphorically,notuponitsapparent,actualmeaning. 2.Thepossibilityofametaphoricalmeaningbaseduponthelanguage. 3. The possibility of a metaphorical meaning as it may pertain to that specificcontext.Apossibilityofanoverallmetaphoricalmeaningdoesnotmean that it is acceptable in every context. The context of different, specific wordings andcircumstancescouldpreventsomemeanings,whichthewordingsmaymean iftakengenerally. 4.Theproofwhichindicatesametaphoricalmeaningmustbegivenand explained. This is because it may also be that the meaning is actually not metaphorical, rather to be taken as the apparent, actual meaning. Therefore, it is incumbenttoprovidetheproofthatspecifiesoneortheother,andAllaahknows best.

CHAPTER10 {PARTTwo} TheThrone(Arsh) TheRisingofAllaah(Istiwaa)OverHisThrone(Arsh) The word Arsh linguistically means the throne of a king. Allaah said aboutYoosuf,

And he raised his parents upon the Arsh (throne). [Soorah Yoosuf, 12:100] AndHesaidabouttheQueenofSaba,

AndshehasagreatArsh(throne).[SooratunNaml,27:23] As for theArsh of the Most Merciful upon which He Istawaa (rose over), it is a great Throne which extends over all the creations. He is above it and greater than it as in the Hadeeth of Aboo Dharr () that the Prophet ( )said,

.
The seven heavens and seven earths compared to the Kursee are only like a ring that is thrown in a desert, and indeed theArsh compared to theKurseeislikethedesertcomparedtothatring. 29 The author, the Shaykh of Islaam, Ibn Taymiyyah, said in arRisaalah aI Arshi;y;yah,And the Hadeeth, has different chains of narration. Aboo Haatim
Recorded by Ibn Hibbaan (page 94 in alMawaarid) and by Aboo Naeem in alHilyah(1/167) and in alAthmah (2/569, 649). It is also recorded by Ibn Mardawayh as is in Tafseer ibn Katheer (1/310311). AlHaafidh (Ibn Hajr) said in Fath alBaaree, Ibn Hibaan declared it to be Saheeh andithasasupportingchainfromMujaahidSaeedibnMansoorrecordeditinatTafseerwitha Saheehchainfromhim.
29

narratedit,asdidIbnHibaaninhisSaheehcollection,AhmadinalMusnad,and others. ThewordKurseelinguisticallymeans,Achair,whateverissatupon. As for the Kursee that Allaah associates with Himself, it is the place of AllaahstwoFeet.IbnAbbaas() said, The Kursee is the place of the Two Feet, and the Arsh, no one can perceiveitsproportionexceptAllaah,theMightyandHonorable. AlHaakim recorded it in alMustadrak and said, It is according to the conditionsofthetwoShaykhs(alBukhaaree&Muslim).Ithasbeenrecordedas being Marfoo (raised to the Prophet), but it is actually Mawqoof (stopped at the leveloftheCompanion). ThismeaningthatIbnAbbaasmentionedabouttheKurseeiswellknown to AhlusSunnah. It has been preserved from him and memorized. As for what has been said that it means knowledge then this has not been preserved, nor memorized (from anyone of AhlusSunnah). Likewise, what has been reported from alHasan that he said it is the Arsh, this is weak and inauthentic as Ibn Katheermentioned. 30
30

InhisatTafseer(1/311).ComparebetweenthisandFathalBaaree(8/199).

CHAPTER11 TheMaiyyahofAllaah(BeingWithHisCreation) ( Allaah has affirmed in His Book, and upon the tongue of His Messenger )thatHeisma(with)Hiscreation. FromtheproofsoftheQuraanarethestatementsofAllaah( ):

AndHeisma(with)youwhereveryouare.[SooratulHadeed,57:4]

AndAllaahisma(with)thebelievers.[SooratulAnfaal,8:19]

Indeed I am ma(with) you both; I hear and see. [Soorah Taa Haa, 20:46] ( The best of Eemaan is that you know that Allaah is with you wherever youare. 31 In addition, he said to his companion, Aboo Bakr, when they were in the cave, From the proofs of the Sunnah are the statements of the Prophet ):

Donotgrieve;indeedAllaahisma(with)us.[SooratutTawbah,9:40]

Recorded by atTabaraanee in alKabeer and alAwsat as is in Mujamma azZawaaid (1/60), andbyalBayhaqeeinalAsmaawasSifaat(907),andbyAbooNaeeminalHilyah(6/124).

And the Salaf of the Ummah have unanimously agreed upon that as well astheImaams. Maiyyah orWithness is linguistically used to meanaccompaniment or companionship. However, what it means and necessitates differs due to the differences in what it is attributed to, as well as the context and circumstances in whichisitused. Sometimes it could mean to bemixed with such as the saying,I put the waterma(with)themilk. Sometimes it could mean a threat or warning as in the saying of a disciplinertoacriminal(asisusedinArabic),Go,butIamma(with)you. Sometimesitmeansvictoryorassistancelikeonesayswhentoanother who seeks his help,I am ma (with) you. Similarly, its meanings differ due to thedifferencesinwhatitisattributedtoasthecontextinwhichisitused. It is not uncommon that a word may be in agreement as to its original meaning, yet differs in its ruling and what it necessitates based upon the differenceofwhatitisassociatedwithanditscontext. This being clear, it also becomes evident that the Maiyyah, when associated to Allaah, is taken upon the actual meaning, not a metaphorical one. Still,AllaahbeingwithHiscreationisinamannerthatbefitsHim.Itisinnoway likeoneofthecreationbeingwithanotherofthecreation.Rather,itishigherand more perfect and is not connected to any specific meanings of what the creation beingwiththecreationwouldnecessitate. Some of the Salaf have explained the Maiyyah Allaah being with His creation to mean His Knowledge of them. This is only an explanation of what the Maiyyah includes. Their purpose of this explanation was to refute the Jahmiyyah who said that Allaah is personally everywhere. They (the Jahmiyyah) then used as proof the texts of the Maiyyah (some of which are mentioned above) to support their misinterpretation. Therefore, those of the Salaf explained that what is meant by this Maiyyah is not that Allaah is personally with the creation Himself. This is impossible according to the intellect and the legislation because it contradicts HisUluww (being high above the creation) and it would necessitate that His creation encompasses and surrounds Him which is impossible.

 TheCategoriesofAllaahBeingWithHisCreation: The Maiyyah of Allaah with His creation is of two types, a general type andaspecific. As for the general Maiyyah, it is the encompassment of all the creation, the believer and disbeliever, the righteous and wicked, with Knowledge, Power, arranging of affairs, Authority, and other that that from the meanings of Ruboobiyyah(AllaahsLordship). This type of Maiyyah compels the one who believes in it to be always concernedandwatchfuloverhisrelationshipwithAllaah. )said, Forthis,theProphet(

.
The best of Eemaan is that you know that Allaah is with you wherever youare. 32 SomeexamplesofthistypeofgeneralMaiyyahareAllaahsstatements:

AndHeiswithyouwhereveryouare.[SooratulHadeed,57:4]

Thereisnoprivateconversation of threeexcept that He is the fourth of them, nor are there five but that He is the sixth of them and no less than that and no more except that He is with them wherever they are. [SooratulMujaadilah,58:7]

32

ThedetailsoftheHadeethhaveproceededinfootnoteno.31

As for the specific Maiyyah, it implies Allaah giving victory or assistance to whomever it is associated with. It is specific to those who deserve it from the Messengersandtheirfollowers. This type of Maiyyah compels the one who believes in it to maintain constantsteadfastnessandstrength. Some examples of this type of specific Maiyyah are the statements of Allaah:

AndAllaahiswiththebelievers.[SooratulAnfaal,8:19]

Indeed Allaah is with those who fear Him (have Taqwaa) and those whodogood.[SooratunNahl,16:128] AndHisstatementconcerningMoosaaandHaaroon,

IndeedIamwithyouboth;Ihearandsee.[SoorahTaaHaa,20:46] AndHisstatementconcerningHisProphetMuhammad( ),

Donotgrieve;indeedAllaahiswithus.[SooratutTawbah,9:40] Ifitisasked,IstheMaiyyahfromtheAttributesofAllaahsPersonalSelf orfromtheAttributesof(His)actions? The answer is that the general type of Maiyyah is from the Attributes of Allaahs Personal Self because it is a characteristic that is constantly and forever affirmed to Him. As for the specific type of Maiyyah, it is from the Attributes of actionbecauseitisaccordingto itsconditionsiftheyarefulfilled,itisaffirmed, andotherwiseitisnot.

CHAPTER12 CombiningBetweentheTextsoftheHighness(Uluww)ofAllaahAboveHis CreationandtheMaiyyahofAllaah(BeingWith,HisCreation) Beforewediscusshowtocombinebetweenthesetwo,Iwouldfirstliketo introduce a very valuable rule that the author, the Shaykh of Islaam, Ibn Taymiyyah,haspointedtoinhisbook,alAqlwalNaql(1/4344).Insummary,it states: If it is ever said that there is a contradiction between two evidences, then they are either both certain and convincing or both based upon assumption, or one is certain, and the other is based upon assumption. So these are the three categories: 1. Both evidences being certain: They are two evidences that the intellect can positively affirm what they prove. Any type of contradiction is, therefore, impossiblebecause tosay thiswouldmean that either: one of the proofs must be cancelledandthisisimpossiblebecauseanycertainproofmustbeaffirmed;or it means that we should affirm both of them while still believing the contradiction exists, and this is impossible aswell because that wouldbe a combination oftwo seeminglycontrastingthings. So the assumption that they are contradictory either means that they are not both certain and authentically established proofs, or that there is really no contradiction at all between them in that one of them is taken upon a certain perspective and the other upon a different perspective. And of course, if one of them has been abrogated, then it is not taken because a proof based upon an abrogatedevidenceisnotupheld,asthereisnocontradictionbetweenabrogated evidences. 2. Both evidences are based upon assumptions: Either the evidences are only assumed based upon the proofs themselves or based upon their authenticity. In that case, the more correct evidence is sought out and given precedence. 3.Oneevidenceiscertainandtheotherisonlyassumed:Inthiscase,the certainandpositively establishedevidenceisgivenprecedencebecausecertainty isnevercancelledoutbymereassumption.

If this is clear, then we say that, no doubt, the texts have already established and affirmed theUluww of Allaah, being personally high above His creation and the fact that He is also with them. All of these evidences are certain andpositivelyestablishedintheirproofsandauthenticity.Allaahevencombined betweentheminHisstatement:

It is He who created the heavens and earth in six days and then rose over the Throne. He knows what enters the earth and what emerges from it, and what descends from the heaven and what ascends therein; and He is with you wherever you are. And Allaah sees what you do. [SooratulHadeed,57:4] InthisAayah,AllaahaffirmsHisIstiwaa(risingover)theThronewhichis the highest of all creations. He also affirms that He is with us. There is no contradictionasitispossibletocombinebetweenthem. ReasonsforthePossibilityofCombiningbetweentheTwo Firstly: The texts themselves combine between them so combining between them is definitely not impossible because the texts would not prove something that is impossible. Whoever thinks this, then he is mistaken and must think again, seeking Allaahs help and asking Him for guidance and success, while striving his utmost to know the truth. If the truth then becomes clear to him, then praise and thanks are due to Allaah for that, otherwise he should entrust the matter to the One who knows it better and say,We believe. All of it is from our Lord. 33 Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You havetaughtus.Indeed,itisYouwhoistheKnowing,theWise. 34

AsintheAayah: But those firm in knowledge say, We believe. All of it is from our Lord.[Soorah AaliImraan, 3:7].(T.N.) 34AsintheAayah: Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You whoistheKnowing,theWise.[SooratulBaqarah,2:32].(T.N.)
33

Secondly: There is no contradiction between the meaning of theUluww (Allaah being high above His creation) and the Maiyyah (Allaah being with His creation). For the Maiyyah does not mean that He is mixed among them or within a place, as has previously been explained. It is possible for something to be itself high above, yet be described as being with something else like in the saying,Wecontinuedtotravelwhilethemoonwaswithus,althoughthemoon isin thesky.Thisis notconsideredacontradiction,notinwordingnormeaning, because the one being spoken to understands the meaning of Maiyyah in this sense; he knows it doesnt mean that the moon is actually on the earth. So if it is permissible to combine between Uluww and Maiyyah as it pertains to the creation, then it is even more so as it pertains to the Creator (as He is completely different). Thirdly: Even if there was a contradiction betweenUluww and Maiyyah as it pertains to the creation, then that does not necessarily mean that it is the same regarding the Creator. This is because there is nothing similar to Allaah in allofHisAttributes.Therefore,HisMaiyayhisnottobejudgedaccordingtothe Maiyyah of the creation. Moreover, His being with them does not give the impression that He is among them or within their same places because He is Personally high above. Nothing of His creation will ever encompass or surround HimwhileHeencompasseseverything. With these points in mind, it is possible to combine even between the examples that are confirmed of Allaah being high above yet being in front of the onepraying. 35Itissaidthatcombiningbetweenthemisfromvariousaspects: Firstly: The texts have combined between them and they would never includeanythingthatisimpossible. Secondly: There is no contradiction between the meaning of Uluww (being high above) and being in front of or facing. It is possible for something to be high above another thing while still being in front of it because this does not necessarily require being physically close or in the same vicinity. Is it not possible for a man to look at the sun while it is rising and say,Its right in front of my face, while it is actually in the sky? Again, this is not considered a

As is proven by the Hadeeth recorded by alBukhaaree (401): Whenever any one of you is praying, he should not spit in front of him because, in the prayer, Allaah is in front of him. (T.N.)
35

contradiction, not in wording nor meaning. Therefore, if this is permissible to as itpertainstothecreation,thenitisevenmoresoasitpertainstotheCreator. Thirdly: As previously mentioned, even if there was a contradiction between Uluww and something being in front of another with respect to the creation, then that does not mean that it is the same regarding the Creator becausenothingissimilartoAllaahoranyofHisAttributes.Hence,Hisbeingin frontoftheoneprayingdoesnotmeanHeisphysicallyinthesameplaceornext tothewallthatthepersonisprayingtowards.ThisisnotsobecauseofHisbeing high above and nothing of His creation will ever encompass or surround Him whileHeencompasseseverything.

CHAPTER13 {PARTONE} AllaahsDescendingtotheHeavenoftheDunyaa It is recordedinthetwo authentic collections(ofalBukhaaree &.Muslim) thatAbooHurayrah() narratedthattheProphet( )said:

:
OurLorddescendstotheheavenoftheDunyaawheneverthelastthird of the night remains and says, Who is calling upon Me so that I can answer him? Who is asking something from Me so I can give it to him? WhoisseekingMyforgivenesssothatIcanforgivehim? 36 AbouttwentyeightdifferentCompanionshavenarratedthis HadeethfromtheProphet( )andAhlusSunnahareunitedupon acceptingit. His descending to the heaven of the Dunyaa is one of His Attributes of action that occur according to His will and wisdom. It is an actual descending thatbefitsHisMajestyandGreatness. And it is not permissible to make Tahreef (distortion) of it to mean the descending of His command or the descending of His mercy or the descending of one of His angels or any other misinterpreted meaning. This is completelyfalseduetothefollowingreasons: Firstly: It is in opposition and contradicts the apparent meaning of the ) attributed this descending directly to Hadeeth. The Prophet ( Allaah and the basic principle is that something is only attributed to someone if he is the one who actually does the action or causes it to happen. Consequently, to attribute this to someone or something else would be Tahreef (distortion) and opposingthebasicprinciple. Secondly: This misinterpreted explanation would indicate that something is missing from the wording and the basic principle is that one would say what hemeanswithoutahidden,missingmeaning.
36

RecordedbyalBukhaaree(1145)andMuslim(758).

 Thirdly: The descending of His command or mercy is not specific only to thispartofthenight.Rather,Hiscommandandmercyareconstantlydescending allthetime. If it is then said that what is meant is aspecial command or aspecific mercyandthesedonotnecessarilydescendallthetime! Thereplytosuchastatementisthatifthispresumptionandinterpretation were correct, then that would mean that the final destination of these things descending is the heaven of the Dunyaa that they stop there! So what benefit does it do us if the mercy descends only to the sky that the Prophet )wouldinformusof!? ( Fourthly: The Hadeeth shows that whatever descends says, Who is calling upon me so that I can answer him? Who is asking something from me so I can give it to him? Who is seeking my forgiveness so that I can forgive him?AndnoonecouldpossiblysaythatexceptAllaah.

CHAPTER13 {PartTwo} CombiningBetweentheTextsoftheUluww(Highness)ofAllaah&His Descending AllaahsDescendingtotheHeavenoftheDunyaa TheUluww of Allaah is one of His Personal Attributes which cannot be separatedfromHim.Nevertheless,itdoesnotcontradictwhatthetextshavealso come with of His descending to the heaven of the Dunyaa. Combining between themisfromtwoaspects: Firstly: The texts have combined between them and they would never includeanythingthatisimpossible,ashasproceeded. Secondly: Nothing is similar to Allaah or any of His Attributes. Consequently,Hisdescendingisnothinglikethedescendingofthecreationforit to be said that it contradicts His being high above His creation, and Allaah knowsbest.

CHAPTER14 AffirmingtheAttributeofAllaahsFace The methodology of AhlusSunnah walJamaaah is that Allaah has an actualfacethatbefitsHimanditisdescribedwithmajestyandhonor. Both, the Quraan and the Sunnah have proven this. From the proofs of theQuraanisthestatementofAllaah:

And there will remain the Face of your Lord, having majesty and honor.[SuraturRahmaan,55:27] )saying AndfromtheproofsoftheSunnahistheProphets( inasupplicationthathasbeenreported:

I ask You for the pleasure of looking at Your Face and the desire of meetingYou. 37 The Face of Allaah is one of His Personal Attributes affirmed to Himself andactualinmeaninginamannerthatbefitsHim. Its not correct to distort and misinterpret it to mean (His) reward for manyreasons.Someofthemareasfollows: Firstly: It is different from the apparent meaning of the text and any interpreted meaning that is different from the apparent meaning requires a proof,andthereisnoprooftoindicatethis. Secondly: This Face has been reported in the texts and attributed directly to Allaah. Anything attributed to Allaah is either something completely separate in and of itself or not separate. If it is something separate, then it is a created thing and not one of His Attributes such as saying,the house of Allaah orthe camel of Allaah. It is attributed to Him in this way as a form of honoring (the
Recorded by anNisaaee in asSughraa (1305), Ibn Hibbaan declared it to be authentic (al Mawaarid509),andalAlbaaneedeclaredittobeSaheehinhischeckingofasSunnah(424).
37

createdthing)orasaformofassociatingthepropertyorcreationtoitsOwneror Creator.However,ifitisnotsomethingseparate,thenitisfromtheAttributesof Allaahandnotcreated,liketheKnowledgeofAllaah,HisPower,HisHonor,His Speech, His Hand, His Eye, etc. And the Face is definitely of this (second) type. Therefore, its association with Allaah is one of associating an attribute or characteristictotheOnebeingdescribed. Thirdly: The reward would be something created and separate from Allaah and the Face is an Attribute of Allaah, neither created nor separate from Him,sohowcanitbeexplainedtomeanthat? Fourthly: The Face has been described in the texts with majesty and honor, and that it is light from which refuge is sought, 38 if He were to reveal it, the splendor of His Face would consume His creation as far as His sight reaches (everything). All of these descriptions prevent the meaning from being the reward, andAllaahknowsbest.
This has come in a supplication of the Prophet ( ) when he returned from the cityofatTaaifaftertheyrefusedhismessage.ItisrecordedbyMuslim(179).
38

CHAPTER15 TheTwoHandsofAllaah The methodology of AhlusSunnah walJamaaah is that Allaah has Two Hands,bothwidespreadingingivingandblessings.TheyarefromHisPersonal Attributes and are to be taken upon their actual, real meaning in a manner that befitsHim. TheQuraanandSunnahhavebothprovenandaffirmedthem. FromtheproofsoftheQuraanisAllaahssaying,

OhIblees,whatpreventedyoufromprostratingtothatwhichIhave createdwithMyownTwoHands?[SooratusSaad,38:75] AndfromtheSunnah,

Allaahs Hand is full; spending throughout the day and night does not decrease it. Do you not see all He has spent since He created the heavens and earth? It has not even decreased what is in His Right Hand. 39 AhlusSunnah are unanimously agreed upon the belief that they are Two actual Hands, which in no way, resemble the hands of created beings. It is not correct to distort and misinterpret them to mean strength or blessings for manyreasons.Someofthemareasfollows: Firstly: It would mean that the apparent meaning of the wording is changedtomeanametaphoricalonewithnosupportingproof.

39

RecordedbyalBukhaaree(4684)andMuslim(993).

Secondly: It is a meaning that even the (Arabic) language rejects pertaining to the context in which it has come to associate them directly to Allaah.ForHesays:

...tothatwhichIhavecreatedwithMyownTwoHands?[Sooratus Saad,38:75] And it is incorrect to assume the meaning is, ...to that which I have createdwithMyBlessingsor...withMyStrength. Thirdly: They have been attributed directly to Allaah and have been reported in the dual form (Two Hands). It has never been reported in a single place of the Quraan or Sunnah where the blessing or strength has been associated with Allaah in a dual form, so how could they (the Two Hands of Allaah)beexplainedwiththismeaning? Fourthly: If the meaning were actuallystrength then it would be correct to say that Allaah created even Iblees and others with His own Hand. This is impossible and if it were the case, then Iblees could have used it as an argument againsthisLordwhenHesaid,

Oh Iblees, what prevented you from prostrating to that which I have createdwithMyownTwoHands?[SooratusSaad,38:75] (Iblees could have said, But You also created me with Your own Hand too!) Fifthly: The Hand that Allaah has affirmed for Himself has been reported in ways that prevent its meaning from being favor or strength. It has been reportedwiththewordingofHandaswellasPalm.Ithasevenbeenreported by affirming, Fingers, Gripping, and Shaking to Allaah, such as the Prophets( )saying,

Allaah will grip His heavens with one Hand, and the earth with the otherandshakethemsaying,IamtheKing! 40 Each of these reasons prevents the meaning from being favor or strength.
40

RecordedbyalBukhaaree(4812)andMuslim(2787).

CHAPTER16 TheTwoEyesofAllaah The methodology of AhlusSunnah walJamaaah is that Allaah has Two Eyes with which He sees, and they are real and actual in a manner that befits Him. They are from His Personal Attributes affirmed by the Quraan and Sunnah. FromtheproofsoftheQuraanisthestatementofAllaah,

Sailing under Our Eyes as a reward for he who had been denied. [SooratulQamar,54:14] AndfromtheSunnah,theProphet( )said,

IndeedyourLordisnotblind. 41 Andhesaid,

Heisconstantlywatchingyouasyouaredesperatelyinneed. 42 Andhis( )saying:

.
His covering is light. If He were to remove it, the splendor of His Face wouldburnHiscreationasfarasHissightreaches(everything). 43
RecordedbyalBukhaaree(3439)andMuslim(169). Recorded by Ahmad (4/11, 12) Ibn Maajah (181), and Ibn Abee Aasim in asSunnah (554). Al Boosayree said in Misbaah azZujaajah (1/26, 66),There are some statements (of criticism) about thischainofnarration. 43RecordedbyMuslim(179).
41 42

Thus, they are Two actual Eyes, which in no way resemble the eyes of created beings. So, it is incorrect to misinterpret them to mean knowledge or sightbecause: Firstly:Thiswouldbechangingtheapparentmeaningofthewordingtoa metaphoricalonewithnosupportingproof. Secondly: The texts themselves contain wordings and indications that preventthis,suchashis( )sayings: Heisconstantlywatchingyou ...thesplendorofHisFacewouldburnHiscreationasfarasHissight reaches(everything). IndeedyourLordisnotblind.

CHAPTER17 TheFormsinWhichtheAttributesofAllaahsTwoHands&TwoEyesHave BeenReported Both Attributes of Allaahs Two Hands and Two Eyes have been reported inthreedifferentforms:asingularform,dual,andapluralform. SomeexamplesoftheseAttributesinasingularformarethestatementsof Allaah( ):

BlessedisHeinwhoseHandisthedominion[SooratulMulk,67:1] AndHissaying,

And I bestowed upon you (Moosaa) love from Me that you would be broughtupunderMyEye.[SoorahTaaHaa,20:39] Andfromtheexamplesoftheminthepluralformare:

Do they not see that We have created for them from what Our Hands havemade?[SoorahYaaSeen,36:71] AndAllaahsstatement,

SailingunderOurEyes.[SooratulQamar,54:14] AndfromtheexamplesofthedualformisthestatementofAllaah,

Rather,bothHisHandsareextended.[SooratulMaaidah,5:64]

 AndthestatementoftheProphet(

),

Whenaservantstandsinprayer,hestandsbetweentheTwoEyesof theMostMerciful. This is recorded in Mukhtasar asSawaaiq 44 from Ataa narrating from Aboo Hurayrah, who narrated it from the Prophet ( ) yet it is not strong. As for the Attribute of Allaahs Two Eyes, they have not been explicitly reportedinthedualformintheQuraan. These are the three forms in which both Attributes, that of Allaahs Two HandsandTwoEyes,havebeenreported. CombiningbetweenTheseThreedifferentFormsisasFollows: First of all, the singular form does not necessarily negate or contradict the dual form or the plural form because a singular form, if associated with something is general and could includeall ofwhatis affirmed to Allaahwhether it be His Hand or Eye, and whether it be one or more (as is the grammar principleintheArabiclanguage). As for combining between the wordings that have come with the dual form or pluralform,thenifwe say that the fewestformofa plural could betwo, then there would not be any contradiction between the dual and plural form in thefirstplacebycombiningbetweenthem. And if we say that the fewest form of a plural is three, which is more common, then combining between them would be to say that what is meant by the plural form isnotthreeor more. What is intended,andAllaah knows best, is a sense of greatness and appropriatenessI mean by this the appropriateness of attaching something to another as it is used in the language. The attributes are being attached, in the examples (of the plural form above), to the word Our which is used to show a sense of greatness. Therefore, it is appropriate to attach
44

SeeasSawaaiq(1/256).

the plural form to it in, because the plural form gives more of an impression of greatness than the singular or dual forms do. Hence, if the words that are attached together both indicate this impression of greatness, then the result is a strongersenseofgreatness.

CHAPTER18 TheSpeechofAllaah AhlusSunnah walJamaaah are united upon the belief that Allaah speaks and that His speech is a real, actual attribute affirmed to Him in a manner that befitsHim. He ( ) speaks with letters and sound how He wants and when He wants. So His speech is one of His Personal Attributes in itself, and it is also oneofHisAttributesofaction. Both the Quraan and Sunnah have proven this. Some proofs from the QuraanareAllaahsstatements:

And when Moosaa arrived at Our appointed time, His Lord spoke to him.[SooratulAaraaf,7:143]

When Allaah said,Oh Eesaa, indeed I will take you and raise you to Myself.[SoorahAaliImraan,3:55] AndHis( )saying,

AndWecalledhim(Moosaa)fromtherightsideofthemount,brought himnear,andspokeprivatelytohim.[SoorahMaryam,19:52] In the First Aayah, there is confirmation that the speech is connected to Hiswill,thatitoccurswhenHewants. In the Second Aayah, is a proof that it is with letters, because what is spokenconsistsofletters. In the Third Aayah, is a proof that it is with sound, because the calling andprivateconversationisonlywithsound.

 ( From the proofs of the Sunnah is the statement of the Prophet ):

: . : ! : .
Allaah will say, Oh Aadam! He will respond, At your service. Then Hewillcallout,IndeedAllaahordersyoutotake,fromyourprogeny,a grouptotheFire. 45 And His speech (Subhaanahu) consists of both word and meaning; it is not wording alone or meaning alone. This is the belief of AhlusSunnah wal Jamaaah regarding Allaahs speech. As for the beliefs of other than they (the misguided sects), then what follows is a summary taken from Mukhtasar as SawaaiqalMursalah: 1. The belief of the Karaamiyyah: It is similar to the belief of Ahlus Sunnah except they say,It happens when before, it was nothing. They say this tryingtoavoidaffirmingthatsomethingcouldoccurfromAllaahevenifitnever hadabeginning(likeHisspeech). 2. The belief of the Kalaablyyah: They say the speech of Allaah is, A separate meaning in and of itself. It is similar to the Attributes of His Life or His Knowledge in that they do not occur by His will (when He wants). As for the letters and sounds, Allaah created them to tell us about that separate meaning which exists by itself. This meaning consists of four individual meanings: commanding,prohibiting,informing,andasking. 3. The belief of the Ashariyyah: It is similar to that of the Kalaabiyyah exceptthattheydifferfromthemintwoaspects. First:RegardingthemeaningsofspeechtheKataabiyyahsay,Itconsists of four meanings... and the Ashariyyah say that there is only one meaning and thatthosefour:informing,asking,commanding,andprohibitingareeachexactly the same as the other. Moreover, (as they say) there are not different types of speech, only different characteristics of it. In fact, the Tawraah, Injeel, and the

45

RecordedbyalBukhaaree(4741)andMuslim(222).

Quraan are each the same as the other, they do not differ except in the expressionsused. Second: The Kalaabiyyah also say,The letters and sounds are only to tell aboutthespeechofAllaah.andtheAshariyyahsay,Theyaremereexpressions (notreal)tomeanthespeechofAllaah. 4. The belief of the Saalimiyyah: They also describe the speech as, A separate meaning in and of itself. It is similar to the Attributes of His Life or His Knowledge in that they do not occur by His will (when He wants). It consists of letters and sounds all connected; none of them precedes another. So the baa, seen, and meem in the Basmalah, for example, each one of them is connected to alltheothersatthesametime,yettheywerealwaysandalwayswillbepresent. 5. The belief of the Jahmiyyah and the Mutazilah: They say of Allaahs speech,Indeed,itiscreatedandnotfromtheAttributesofAllaah. And there are some of the Jahmiyyah who blatantly deny Allaahs speech whileothersfromthemaffirmit,yetclaimitiscreated. 6. The belief of the modern philosophers, the followers of Aristotle: They say the speech is,The abundance of intellect and generosity poured forth upon the honored, pure souls in the degree to which they are utilized and accepted. So they must imagine and have certainty to the extent of what they acceptfromit.Theseimagestheyimagineandcertaintiesarevisualizedsomuch sountiltheyaresopowerfultheybecomesomethingcomprehendedand luminouswhichspeakstothemwithaspeechthatisheardbytheears. 7. The belief of the Ittihaadiyyah: They say, as do those who believe in WahdatulWujood (pantheism that God is in everything, and everything is God)that,EveryspeechinessenceisthespeechofAllaah. All of these sayings are in direct opposition to what has been proven by the Quraan, the Sunnah, and the intellect. And anyone whom Allaah provides withknowledgeandwisdomwouldunderstandthis.

CHAPTER18 {PARTTwo} TheQuraanistheSpeechofAllaah TheSpeechofAllaah ThemethodologyofAhlusSunnahwalJamaaahisthattheQuraanisthe revealed speech of Allaah, not created. From Him it began, and to Him it will return.Heactuallyspokewithit,makingJibreelresponsiblefordescendingwith itandrevealingitupontheheartofMuhammad( ). BoththeQuraanandSunnahprovethisbelief. ), FromtheproofsoftheQuraanisthestatementofAllaah(

And if anyone of the Mushrikoon seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the speech of Allaah. [Sooratut Tawbah,9:6] The speech of Allaah here means the Quraan. Another proof is His statement,

A blessed book which We have revealed to you that they might reflect on its verses and that those of understanding would be reminded. [SooratusSaad,38:29] AndHissaying,

The trustworthy spirit (Jibreel) has brought it down upon your heart, thatyoumaybeoneofthewarnersinaclearArabiclanguage.

[SooratushShuaraa,26:193195] ( place: And from the proofs of the Sunnah, is the Prophets statement )whilehewasofferinghismessagetosomepeopleinaparticular

.
Is there no man who will take me to his people so that I may convey the speech of my Lord? For Quraysh has prevented me from conveying thespeechofmyLord( ). 46 Also,hisstatement( )toalBarraaibnAazib:

: .
Whenyougotobed,say,OhAllaah,IhavesubmittedmyselftoYou,I have turned my face to You, I have entrusted my affair to You, and I have entrusted my back to You, out of hope in You and fear of You. ThereisnoretreatnorrefugefromYouexceptwithYou.Ihavebelieved in Your Book which You have revealed and in Your Prophet which You havesent. 47 AamiribnDeenaarsaid: I have met the people during seventy years, all of them saying,Allaah is the Creator and everything other than Him is created, except the Quraan. ForitiscertainlythespeechofAllaah,notcreated.FromHimitbeganand toHimitwillreturn. 48

Recorded by Aboo Daawood (4734), atTirmidhee (2925), anNisaaee in alKubraa (7727), Ibn Maajah(201),Ahmad(3/390),andalHaakim(2/669)andhedeclaredittobeSaheeh. 47RecordedbyalBukhaaree(247)andMuslim(2710). 48 See asSunan alKubraa by alBayhaqee (10/43, 205) and atTamheed by Ibn AbdulBarr (24/186).
46

The meaning ofFrom Him it began is that Allaah originally spoke with it(theQuraan).ItisalsoarefutationoftheJahmiyyahwhosaythatHecreatedit insomeoneotherthanHimself. As for the statement, ...and to Him it will return, it could have two meanings: Firstly: The attribute of speaking with the Quraan returns to Himself, meaning that no one is described as speaking with it other than Allaah because He is the original One who spoke with it, and speech is an attribute of the speakerHimself. ) as it is Secondly:It(theQuraan)willberaiseduptoAllaah ( reported in some narrations that He will erase it from the books and hearts in one night. That will happen and Allaah knows best when the people totally and completely abandon acting according to the Quraan. So it will be raised up fromthemasaformofhonoringit.AllaahistheOneweseekhelpfrom.

CHAPTER18 {PARTTHREE} OurRecitationoftheQuraan TheSpeechofAllaah

Byreciting here in Part Three, we are referring to speaking and uttering the words of the Quraan. It has already been mentioned that the Quraan is the speech of Allaah, not created. However, as for our uttering the Quraan, is it correcttosaythatthisiscreated,notcreated,orisitrequiredtojustremainsilent onthisissue? The answer is that as for making a general, absolute statement either way isnotcorrect. As for making a specific, detailed statement, then if what is meant by speakingissimplyutteringthewords,whichistheactionoftheservant,thenit is created because the servant and his actions are both created. 49 However, if what is meant byspeaking is that which is spoken (the actual words), then it is none other than the speech ofAllaah, and not created.This is because the speech ofAllaahisoneofHisAttributesandnoneofHisAttributesarecreated. ThereisastatementofImaamAhmadthatindicatesthis.Hesaid, Whoever says, My speaking with the Quraan is created and he means bythattheactualQuraan,thenheisaJahmee. His statement,and he means by that the actual Quraan indicates that if what is meant is NOT the actual Quraan, but rather the mere uttering of the words which is an action of people, then he is not a Jahmee, and Allaah knows best.
49

AproofofthisistheAayah, AndAllaahhascreatedyouandwhateveryoudo.[SooratusSaaffaat,37:96],(T.N.)

CHAPTER19 TheEmergenceofTateelandItsOrigins 50 The statements of Tateel emerged after the (three) favored generations the Companions, their followers, and then their followers after them even though its origin began to appear during the end of the time of the followers of theCompanions. The first to speak of Tateel was alJad ibn Dirham. He said, Indeed, Allaah did not take Ibraheem as a Khaleel (close friend) nor did He speak directlytoMoosaa. 51SohewaskilledbyKhaalidibnAbdullaahalQasree,who wasthegovernorofIraqduringthetimeofHishaamibnAbdulMalik.He came out to the prayer ground on the day ofEed with alJad ibn Dirham chained up. Hethengavethesermonandsaid, Oh people, may Allaah accept your sacrifices. For I will kill (sacrifice) al Jad ibnDirham. He claims that Allaahdid not take Ibraheem asa Khaleel nordidHespeakdirectlytoMoosaa! Hethendescended(fromtheImaamsstand)andkilledhimontheEedof Sacrifice(EedalAdhhaa)in119Hijrah. Ibn alQayyim mentioned this action of Khaalid ibn Abdullaah al Qasreesinsomeversesofhisfamouspoem,anNooniyyah. After alJad spoke of Tateel, another man known as alJahm ibn Safwaan began speaking about it. It is to him that the methodology of the Jahmiyyah is attributed because he is the one who spread it. He was then killed by Salim ibn Ahwaz, the companion of Nasr ibn Sayyaar. That was in Khuraasaan in the year 128Hijrah. During the second century, the books of the Romans and Greeks were translated into Arabic and the matter of (Tateel) increased even more in harm andseverity.
Tateel is to denying some or all of the Names and Attributes of Allaah. Shaykh ibn al UthaymeengivesamoredetailedexplanationofTateel.(T.N.) 51BothofthesestatementsareindirectdenialoftheQuraan: AndAllaahtookIbraaheemasaKhaleel(closefriend).[SooratunNisaa 4:125];and,AndAllaahspokedirectlytoMoosaa.[SooratunNisaa,4:164].(T.N.)
50

Then in the third century, the teachings of the Jahmiyyah were widespread due to Bishr ibn Ghiyaath alMareesee and his group. The Imaams (of the Sunnah) have all criticized them, most declaring them to be disbelievers or misguided. Uthmaan ibn Saeed adDaarimee authored a book refuting al Mareeseeentitled:NaqdhUthmaanibnSaeedalaaalKaafiralAneedfeemaaIftaraa alaa Allaah min atTawheed (The Refutation of Uthmaan ibn Saeed against the Arrogant Disbeliever Regarding What He has Fabricated against Allaah from Tawheed). Whoever reads it with knowledge and fairness; then it will become clear to him the weakness, rather the falsehood, of the arguments of these Muattilah (those who make Tateel). One will also discover (after reading the book) that the distorted interpretations which are found in the statements of many of the modern speakers such as arRaazee, alGhazaalee, Ibn Aqeel, and othersarereallythesameexactdistortedinterpretationsofBishribnGhiyaathal Mareesee. AsfortheoriginsofTateel,thentheyarefromtheJews,Mushrikoon,and the misguided ones from the Sabians (those who worshipped the heavenly bodies) and philosophers. AlJad ibn Dirham took his teachings, it is said, from Abaan ibn Samaan who learned from Taaloot who learned from Labeed ibn al AsamtheJewwhoperformedmagicontheProphet( ). It is also said that alJad was from a place called Harraan which was a land full of Mushrikoon, Sabians, and philosophers. And undoubtedly, the environmenthasagreataffectontheAqeedahandbehaviorofaperson. There are from them those whose methodology is the belief that Allaah has no attributes that are affirmed to Him because, according to their claim, affirming attributes to Allaah means that Allaah is similar to His creation. However, they do affirm to Allaah Salbiyyah Attributes, or Idhaafiyyah Attributes, or a combinationofthetwo. As for Salbiyyah Attributes: They are those that negate anything from Allaah that does not befit Him ( ). And example is their saying,Allaah is One meaning that what is negated from Him is a sense of separation or parting,yetwhatitisreallynegatingisanypartnerwithHim. As for Idhaafiyyah Attributes: They are attributes that Allaah is not described with as being His confirmed attributes, rather He is described with themfromthepointofassociatingthemwithsomethingelse.Anexampleistheir saying about Allaah,He is the beginning and the causer. They mean He is the beginning and causer from the point that things happen because of Him, not

from the point of being a confirmed Attribute of Allaah, which is Beginning, Originatingthings,andCausingthingstohappen. As for a combination of the two: They are attributes which are Salbiyyah from one point and Idhaafiyyah from another. An example is their saying about Allaah,He is First. It is Salbiyyah in that it negates from Him any happenings oroccurrences,andIdhaafiyyahinthatitthingsareafterHim. So if this is what is derived from the way of those who negate Allaahs Attributes, then how would a believer or intelligent person take this path and abandon the path of those whom Allaah has blessed from the Prophets, the truthful,themartyrs,andtherighteous?

CHAPTER20 {PARTONE} TheMethodologyofThoseWhoDenyAllaahsAttributes Those who deny (some or all of) the Attributes are in agreement upon affirmingonlytoAllaahtheAttributeswhichtheirintellectsaccept,anddenying those which their intellects feel should be negated whether the Quraan and Sunnah agrees with this or not. So their way of affirming or negating Attributes toAllaahisbasedsolelyontheintellect. They then differ regarding the Attributes that the intellect cannot reason an affirmation or denial for them. So most of them simply negate them and explain whatever Attributes are reported as being metaphorical in meaning. Some of them, however, withhold from taking a stance and entrust their meaning to Allaah while, in fact, negating what the Attributes actually indicate ofcharacteristics. They claim that their methodology is the middle path between the proofs of the intellect and those that are reported (in the texts). However, they lie because the proofs of the intellect and those that are reported both agree upon affirming Attributes of perfection to Allaah. None of Allaahs Attributes that have come in the Quraan or Sunnah contradicts the intellect, although the intellectmaynotbeabletocomprehendandperceivetheexactdetailsofthem. ThewayofthesepeoplewhodenytheAttributesissimilartothewayofthose whomAllaahspokeofwhenHe( )said:

Have you not seen those who claim to have believed in what was revealed to you, and what was revealed before you? They wish to refer legislation to the Taaghoot (false judges, etc.) while they are commandedtodisbelieveinthem.ButShaytaanwishestoleadthemfar

astray. And when it is said to them,Come to what Allaah has revealed, andtotheMessenger,youseethehypocritesturningawayfromyouin aversion.Sohow(willitbe)whendisasterstrikesthembecauseofwhat their hands have put forth and they come to you swearing by Allaah, We intended nothing butgood and conciliation. [SooratunNisaa, 4:60 62] They are similar to those spoken of in this Aayah in many ways. Some of thesimilaritiesareasfollows: Firstly: Each of the two groups claim they are believers in what was ), yet neither accept all of what he came revealed to the Prophet ( with. Secondly: These people who deny the Attributes, if they are called to what the Quraan and Sunnah have come with of affirming Attributes of perfection to Allaah, they turn away and refuse just like those hypocrites did when it was said to them, Come to what Allaah has revealed, and to the Messenger.Theyalsoturnedawayandrefused. Thirdly:ThesepeoplewhodenytheAttributeshaveTaaghoot(thosewho arepleasedwiththepeopleworshippingthemorfollowingthem ratherthanthe legislation of Allaah) that they blindly follow, preferring them to what the Messengers have come with. They wish to refer judgment of disputes over to them, nottothe QuraanandSunnah.In thesame way,thehypocrites wanted to referjudgmenttotheTaaghootwhiletheywereorderedtodisbelieveinthem. Fourthly: Those who deny Allaahs Attributes claim they only intend good by their methodology and the conciliation between the intellect and the legislation just like the hypocrites swear they intended nothing but good and conciliation. Any liar and follower of falsehood that disguises himself and his falsehood while pretending to follow the truth, outwardly showing it; he will sooner or later come with deceptive calls that spread, yet expose, his falsehood. Although, whomever Allaah bestows knowledge, understanding, and wisdom on him while he has good intentions, then he will not be deceived by falsehood or the spread of these deceptive calls, and Allaah is the One from whom help is sought.

CHAPTER20 {PARTTwo} SomeoftheFalseAllegationsofThisMethodology TheMethodologyofThoseWhoDenyAllaahsAttributes The methodology of those who deny Allaahs Attributes indicate and necessitate many false allegations against the sources of Islaam and its people. Fromtheseallegationsarethefollowing: Firstly: This methodology alleges that the Quraan and Sunnah both have explicitlycomewithKufr(disbelief)andopenlycalltoit.Thisisbecausetheyare both full of affirmations and proof of Allaahs Attributes those very Attributes that these people claim that by affirming them, one is making Tashbeeh (declaringthatAllaahissimilartosomethingelse)andKufr. Secondly: Their methodology alleges that neither the Quraan nor the Sunnah clarified the truth because the truth, as they understand it, is the negation of the Attributes and there is no text or apparent meaning within the QuraanorSunnahthatnegatestheAttributesofperfectionfromAllaah. Most of those who pretend to have knowledge from these people derive andreasonouttheirclaim 52baseduponproofssuchasAllaahsStatement,

DoyouknowanysimilaritytoHim?[SoorahMaryam,19:65] AndHisStatement

AndthereisnothingequaltoHim.[SooratulIkhlaas,112:4] Anditiswellknowntoanyonewithanintellectthatwhatismeantbythe likes of these texts is the affirmation of the perfection of Allaah, and that there is nothingsimilartoHimregardingHisAttributes.Andthereisnowaytheycould indicate a negation of His Attributes. No doubt, that whoever tries to prove to
52

TheclaimofthenegationanddenialofAllaahsAttributes.

peoplethenegationofAllaahsAttributeswiththelikenessofthisspeech;thenit iseither,vague,deceitful,orincapableofclarifyingthetruemeaning.Allofthese are impossible regarding the speech of Allaah ( ) or the Messenger ( ). Both of their speech is comprised of the most eloquent of clarity and intention. There is no agenda within it to misguide the creation and confuse themwithobscurities. Thirdly: This methodology also alleges that the first and foremost predecessors from the Muhaajiroon, Ansaar, and those who followed them in righteousness allused to propagate falsehoodwhileconcealingthe truth, or they were all ignorant of the truth. This is because so many chains have reported the beliefofaffirmingtheAttributesofperfectiontoAllaahfromthem.Itisthisvery beliefthatthesedeniersclaimtobefalsehood.Noneofthem(theSalaf)haveever said a single statement in support of negating the Attributes the very belief these deniers claim to be the truth. This allegation is unthinkable regarding the bestgenerationandthebestofthisUmmah. Fourthly: Another false allegation of these deniers is that if Allaah is not described with attributes of perfection, then He must be described with those of deficiency, for everything present must have characteristics. Therefore, the matter is turned against these deniers as they fall into a greater evil than that whichtheyfleefrom.

CHAPTER20 {PARTTHREE} TheDoubts&FabricationsTheseDeniersRelyUponasProof TheMethodologyofThoseWhoDenyAllaahsAttributes The deniers of Allaahs Attributes rely upon doubts and fabrications as proof. Anyone with whom Allaah has provided correct knowledge and sound understandingcaneasilyknowthefalsehoodoftheirsocalledproofs. Mostofwhattheyrelyuponareissuessuchasthefollowing: 1. Their lies and false claims such as the scholars are in unanimous agreement about this point (of denying Allaahs Attributes), or that it is the beliefs of those who authenticate texts, or the statement of their enemies (Ahlus Sunnah)opposetheagreementofthescholarsandothersimilarstatements. 2. The assumption of making Tashbeeh based upon their own corrupted reasoning. An example is their saying that by affirming Allaahs Attributes, one is actually making Tashbeeh because attributes are outward and showing, and thereforemusthaveabody,andstatingthisisdeclaringthebodiestobesimilar. 3. They constantly use wording and expressions which could have both correct and incorrect meanings as they pertain to Allaah, such as Allaahs body, or Allaah occupying a certain space, or position. These wordings are vague and they begin by negating them all together, and ending up absolutely denying all ofHisAttributes. 54 They then phrase these doubts using long, strange, yet attractive expressions, which the ignorant person may believe to be the truth based upon the beauty of the statements. However, when one fully understands the issue, it becomescleartohimthattheyaremerefabricationsanddoubts.
53

SuchasthoseAayaatmentioned: Do you know any similarity to Him? [Soorah Maryam, 19:65] and, And there is nothing equaltoHim.[SooratulIkhlaas,112:4]. 54 See Chapter 9, The Sense ofPosition as it pertains to Allaah. Regarding the issue of having a body, see onwards from Chapter 10. As for occupying a space, then this requires more specifics. For if, what is meant is that something of the creation surrounds and contains Allaah then this is impossible.However,ifitismeantthatHepossessesthecreation,yetiscompletelyseparatefrom them,thenthisiscorrect.
53

 Thesepeoplearerefutedfrommanyaspects. Firstly:Their claims and their proofs are contradictory in that by claiming that affirming Allaahs Attributes necessitates Tashbeeh; in this they have already fallen into what they are fleeing from (Tashbeeh) in that they cannot imagine Allaah being completely different from the creation that He could possess attributes, yet still be unlike His creation so they initially make this Tashbeehintheirminds. Secondly: The contradiction and confusion of their statements are clear. You will find a group from them claiming that the intellect proves a certain matter while another group claims it disproves it. Rather, a single one of them may claim the intellect proves something and then contradict his own proof in another circumstance. The contradiction of statements is one of the strongest proofsindicatingtheircorruption. Thirdly: They are also refuted by the fact that their denying of the Attributes results in other corrupted meanings and the corruption of what somethingresultsinprovesthecorruptionoftheproofitself. Fourthly: The texts of the Attributes do not need any interpretation. Even if some of them did, there is nothing within them that would prevent understandingthembasedupontheirapparentmeanings. Fifthly: The common people not knowing much about these issues do ) know for certain from the religion of Islaam that the Prophet ( came with all of it. So misinterpreting them (the texts of the Attributes) is of the same status as misinterpreting prayer, fasting, Hajj, and other known issues of Islaam. Sixthly: The pure, unadulterated intellect, safe and sound from any doubts or desires; does not actually uphold anything from what the texts have come with of the Attributes to be impossible. Rather, it suggests the overall affirmation of perfect Attributes to Allaah, even if there are some detailed specifics of the Attributes that the intellect may be incapable of perceiving and fullyunderstanding. Even the more distinguished of these people (who deny Allaahs Attributes) admit that the intellect is not able to arrive at full certainty regarding

everything of the divinity that is sought. For this, it is incumbent that this be learned only from Prophethood as it has come with no distortion or misinterpretations,andAllaahknowsbest.

CHAPTER21 EachoftheTwoGroupsofTateelTamtheelActuallyCombineBetweenBoth Tateel&Tamtheel AMuattil(onewhomakesTateel)isonewhodeniesanythingofAllaahs NamesorAttributessuchastheJahmiyyah,theMutazilah,theAshariyyah,and otherslikethem. 55 AMumaththil(onewhomakesTamtheel)isonewhoaffirmsAttributesto Allaah that are equal or similar to His creation such as the earlier Raafidhah (extremeSheeahs)andthoselikethem. The reality of the issue is that every Muattil is a Mumaththil, and every MumaththilisaMuattil. AsfortheMuattil,hisTateelisobvious.AsforhismakingTamtheel,itis becauseheonlymakesTateelthedenyingAllaahsAttributesinthefirstplace due to his incorrect belief that affirming the Attributes would require making Tashbeeh declaring something to be similar to Allaah. Thus, he denies Allaahs Attributes to avoid declaring anything to be similar to Him. By that, he first makes Tamtheel (in his mind by believing that Allaah is like His creation so much so that if He has Attributes, then that must mean He is like His creation) and then he makes Tateel (by absolutely denying Allaahs Attributes to avoid Tamtheel). Asforthe Mumaththil,hisTamtheelisobvious.AsforhismakingTateel, itisfromthreeaspects: Firstly: He denies the text itself, which affirms the Attribute by changing what it means and proves. Yet, the text only proves the affirmation of an attributethatbefitsAllaah,notthatAllaahissimilartoHiscreation. Secondly: If he declares Allaah to be similar to His creation, then he has already denied every text that negates any resemblance of Allah to His creation, suchasHis( )statement,

Shaykh Ibn alUthaymeen gives detailed definitions of Tateel and Tamtheel in Chapter 3. (T.N.)
55

 ThereisnothinglikeHim.[SooratushShooraa,42:11] AndHissaying,

AndthereisnothingequaltoHim.[SooratulIkhlaas,112:4] Thirdly: If he believes Allaah to be similar to His creation, he denies the perfectionthatHedeservesinthatheconsiderstheLord,perfectineveryway,to besimilartothedeficientandflawedcreation.

CHAPTER22 TheSalafsWarningAgainstPhilosophicalSpeech(IlmalKalaam) Ilm alKalaam is that which some influential speakers have innovated in the foundations of the religion of introducing Aqeedah beliefs, thereby abandoning what the Quraan and Sunnah have come with. The statements of the Salaf are many warning against philosophical speech and its people due to what it leads to of erroneous beliefs and doubts to such a degree that Imaam Ahmadsaid, Theonewhoindulgesinphilosophicalspeechwillneverbesuccessful. AshShaafieesaid, My ruling on the people of philosophical speech is that they are to be beaten with canes and shoes, then paraded in front of the people while it is said, This is the reward of those who abandon the Book and Sunnah, insteadacceptingphilosophicalspeech. They indeed deserve what ashShaafiee said from the point of encouraging them to repent to Allaah, and to deter others from following their methodology.Ifwelookatthemfromthepointthatconfusionhasoverwhelmed them and Shaytaan has overcome them, we feel merciful and sorry for them. We thankAllaahwhohassavedusfromwhatHehasafflictedthemwith. So, we look at them from two points: from the point of the legislation in that we punish and prevent them from spreading their methodology, and from the point of what has been decreed for them. We feel sorry for them and ask Allaahtosavethem.WethankAllaahforsavingusfromtheirordeal. The ones we fear misguidance for the most are those who enter into this philosophical speech and never feel they have reached its depth and limits. This is because, although he who never enters into it is safe, the one who actually reaches the limit and final conclusion of this deep thinking; it becomes clear to him its hopelessness and corruption. He then returns to the Quraan and Sunnah as some of their scholars have experienced. 56 Thus, the danger remains for the onewholeavesthestraightpathpreferringphilosophicalspeech,whileitsreality anddepthneverbecomecleartohim.
56

SeearRaazeesstatementonthisissueinChapter4.

 The author, Ibn Taymiyyah, has reported many statements of these philosophicalspeakersthemselvesthatarerelevanttothisissue.Hesaid: Although, we have more than what suffices us from the Quraan and Sunnah and statements of the Salaf over all other speech, still, many people have become attached to some influential speakers. They give them the benefit of the doubt, yet not to others, while being deceived into imagining that these speakers have reached a depth of certainty in this matterthatothershavenot.SoiftheyarebroughteveryAayahandproof, they will not follow it unless they are given something of this philosophicalspeechtovalidateit. Hethensaid: Not everyone from those whom we may mention something of their speech we agree with all of what he says. However, the truth is accepted fromanyonewhospeaksit. 57 Thus, he explained that his purpose of reporting these statements is to clarify the truth even when spoken by any person, and to establish the proof against these speakers with statements from their own scholars, and Allaah knowsbest.
See alFatwaa alHamawiyyah alKubraa (The original book that Shaykh Ibn alUthaymeen is explaininghere)includedinMajmooalFataawaa(5/99).
57

CHAPTER23 {PARTONE} TheCategoriesofDeviantPeopleConcerningtheBeliefinAllaah&theLast Day The way of the Prophet ( ), his Companions, and those who followed them in righteousness is to remain on the straight path in knowledge and actions. Anyone who truthfully follows them with knowledge knows that they achieved and actualized the belief in Allaah and the Last Day. They accepted this (the meeting of Allaah on the Last Day) as certain truth. They were sincere, doing their actions solely for Allaah and following His legislation, not committingShirk,innovations,Tahreef,nordenyinganythingofthereligion. As for those who deviated from their way, they are three groups: the people of Takhyeel (those who believe religious concepts are only imaginary, with no real truth to them.), those of Taweel (misinterpretation), and the people ofTajheel 1.ThePeopleofTakhyeel:Theyarethephilosophersandthosewhohold there to be hidden, concealed meanings behind everything. Many speakers are also of this group. The reality of the methodology is that whatever the Prophets came with regarding the belief in Allaah and the Last Day are merely examples andimaginaryconcepts;theyarenotrealatall.Theseconceptsareonlymeantto takeadvantageofthecommonpeople,becauseifitissaidtothem, You have a Great, AllCapable, Merciful, Powerful Lord, and there is a severedaybefore youinwhichyouwill beresurrectedafter yourdeath and you will be recompensed for the actions you do now. If they are told this, then they will straighten themselves up and behave in the manner that is requested from them,eventhoughthereisreallynotruthtothisaccordingtotheirclaim. These people are divided further into two categories: the extremists, and thenonextremists. As for the extremists, they claim that the Prophets did not really know about such issues. Rather, the divine philosophers are the true ones who know therealityoftheseissues.Sotheyprofessthatsomeofthephilosophersaremore knowledgeable about Allaah and the Final Day than the Prophets are. The Prophets are certainly the most knowledgeable of all people regarding these matters.

As for the nonextremists, they admit the Prophets know the realities of these matters, yet at the same time, they mention things to people that are imaginary and meant to attract the beliefs of people, not consistent with what is really true. They (the Prophets) do this for the benefit and wellbeing of the people. So they allege that the wellbeing of the servants is only brought about throughsuchdeceptivemeanswhichincludedeclaringtheProphetstobeliarsin the greatest and most significant of all matters (the belief in Allaah and the Last Day). Therefore, the first group (the extremists) ruled that the Prophets are ignorantwhilethesecondgroupruledthattheyaredeceptiveliars. This is the belief of the people of Takhyeel concerning the belief in Allaah andtheLastDay. Pertainingtotheconceptofdoingdeeds,someofthemclaimthereistruth tothisconceptand thateverypersoniscommandedtoworkgooddeeds.Others hold the concept of working deeds to be merely a madeup, symbolic approach that only the common people are commanded with, and not the higher, special class. They misinterpret the meaning of prayer, considering it to really mean the knowledge of hidden secrets, fasting is the concealing of these secrets, and Hajj really means traveling to their scholars, and they similarly interpret other religious tenets. This group consists of such deviants as the Ismaaeelees, the Baatiniyyahs,andothers. The corruption and fraudulent beliefs of this group are known by the senses, the intellect, and the legislation. We witness uncountable signs that indicate the existence of Allaah and the perfection of His Characteristics. In everythingthereisasignshowingHeisindeedOne. Everything that happens and all of the events in perfect harmony and order are not possibly coming about without a Wise Organizer and Planner that isCapableofanything. All of the revelations comprising of the wisdom of Allaah prove the belief of a Final, Last Day. No one but a truly arrogant or insane person would deny this. Not much is needed to refute the people of Takhyeel as the aversion of most people and their reluctance to accept their beliefs are well known and obvious.

 2. The People of Taweel: They are the speakers from the Jahmiyyah, the Mutazilah,andthosewhofollowthem. ) came Their methodology is that whatever the Prophet ( with of texts about Allaahs Attributes are metaphorical; the apparent meanings is not what is intended by them. Rather, other meanings that contradict the apparentonesarereallytheintentbehindthem. The Prophet ( ) knew the hidden meanings yet he left them for the people to decipher and discover by their intellects. They then try to interpret and reason out the texts apparent meanings to be consistent with the )reasonbehindthiswastotestthe actualmeanings.TheProphets( peoplesminds. By this, theywouldgain many benefitsbythis experience, uncoveringthe hiddenmeaningsofthelanguageandstrangenessofitsspeech. These are the most confused and contradictory of all people because they have no real, constant foothold or rule by which they can determine which texts canpossiblybe interpreted ornot, nor any base rulesfor specifying the intended meaningbehindthesetexts. Another point against them is that most of what they claim to be the real, hiddenmeaningsitisknownbythecircumstancesandcontextthattheyarenot possibleaccordingthespecificstatements. They openly show that they are in support of the Sunnah, disguising themselvesasthosewhoupholdandhonorit.Nevertheless,Allaahexposestheir real identities by the refutation of their dubious beliefs and the falsification of their proofs. The Shaykh of Islaam (Ibn Taymiyyah) and many others have confronted them, refuting them more so than other groups because their deception of the people is more severe as they appear to be in support of the Sunnah. 58
58

ThethirdcategorywillbediscussedinPartThreeofthischapter.(T.N.)

CHAPTER23 {PARTTwo} TheMethodologyofthePeopleofTaweelRegardingtheAfterlife The Categories of Deviant People Concerning the Belief in Allaah & the Last Day The methodology of the people of Taweel (Misinterpretation) regarding the texts of the afterlife is to believe in them as real and actual without misinterpreting them. Yet, because their methodology pertaining to the Attributesistochangethemfromtheirapparentmeaningstometaphoricalones, the people of Takhyeel then criticized them, insisting they interpret the texts of the afterlife in the same way they do those of Allaahs Attributes. To this, the people of Taweel defend their position saying, We know for sure that the )hascomewithproofsconfirmingthenextlifeandwe Messenger( knowthefallacyoftheargumentagainstit.Therefore,believinginitisrequired. This is a correct answer and a decisive proof defending their position of not changing the meanings of the texts dealing with the next life! It also requires the people of Takhyeel to do likewise to believe in the hereafter and to accept the texts upon their real, apparent meanings. If a proof is established and anything opposing it is shown to be false, then it becomes necessary to affirm thatwhichisproven. AhlusSunnah uses this same argument against the people of Taweel for them to similarly believe in the texts of Allaahs Attributes and to accept them too upon their real, apparent meanings. They say to them,We also know with )camewithproofsaffirmingAllaahs certaintythattheMessenger( Attributes and we know the fallacy of the argument against it. Therefore, believing in it is required. This is also a correct, decisive, and inescapable proof against the people of Taweel. Accordingly, whoever refuses to change the meanings of the texts about the hereafter to other, metaphorical meanings, then they must also refuse to do so regarding the texts of the Attributes of Allaah whicharegreaterandevenmoreestablishedinthedivinebooksthanthetextsof the hereafter. If they choose not to, then their selfcontradictions and corrupted mindswillhavebecomeclear.

CHAPTER23 {PARTTHREE} ThePeopleofTajheel The Categories of Deviant People Concerning the Belief in Allaah & the Last Day 3. The people of Tajheel (the accusation of others as being Jahl or ignorant): Many of them try to associate themselves with the Sunnah and the followersoftheSalaf. The reality of the methodology is that whatever the Prophet ) has come with of the texts about Allaahs Attributes they are ( mere unknown, incomprehensive words. No one knows their meanings, not even the Prophet ( ) himself. He related many Ahaadeeth of the Attributesyethedidnotknowtheirmeanings! On top of this, they also say that there is no place for the intellect when dealing with the Attributes of Allaah. This statement of theirs means that the Prophet ( ), nor his Companions, nor the Imaams of the Salaf had any intellectual knowledge and no revealed knowledge regarding this matter. Thisisfromthemostridiculousofstatements. Their way in dealing with the Attributes is to accept only their wordings while believing their meanings are completely unknown. Some of them oppose one another saying that they are to be accepted upon their apparent meanings, yet along with a different interpretation that nooneknowsexceptAllaah. This is an obvious contradiction, for if what is really intended is some other interpretation known only to Allaah, different from the apparent meaning of the text,thenhowcouldoneacceptthemupontheirapparentmeanings? Regarding the way of these people, the Shaykh (Ibn Taymiyyah) said in hisbook,alAqlwalNaql,vol.1,page121: It is clear that the statement of those who believe the meanings are completely unknown those who claim they follow the Sunnah and the Salaf it is one of the most evil statements of all the people of innovation anddeviance.

The bogus proof these people (who say the meanings of the texts are unknown) use is the pause that most of the Salaf make after the statement exceptAllaah,whilerecitingtheAayah:

As for those in whose hearts is deviation, the follow that which is unspecific, seeking discord and seeking an interpretation (that suits them). And no one knows its interpretation except Allaah and those firm in knowledge say, We believe in it. All of it is from our Lord. 59 [SoorahAaliImraan,3:7] They make it clear themselves the erroneousness of this proof due to two reasons: Firstly: They assert that the Aayaat of the Attributes are from the unspecifictexts. Secondly: They also assert that the interpretationmentioned in theAayah is changing the words apparent meaning to a different meaning that contradicts it. The result is that all of the Aayaat dealing with the Attributes have meanings thatcontradicttheirapparentonesandnooneknowsthemexceptAllaah. Refutingthisgroupisbythefollowingpoints: First, we ask them what they mean byunspecific by which they refer to all of the Aayaat of the Attributes. Do they mean the meaning is unspecific and hidden or do they mean that the actuality of how the Attributes are is unspecified? If they mean the first meaning which is in fact what they meanthen the Aayaat of the Attributes are not from this type because their meanings are clear and apparent. If what they were to mean is the second meaning, then it is true
The point being made here is based on the fact that some of the Salaf explained that the Aayah could also be read as, And no one knows its interpretation except Allaah and those firm in knowledge. They say..., indicating that Allaah knows the interpretation as well as those firm in knowledge.
59

thattheAayaatareofthistype.Thisisbecausenooneknowstheactualityofthe ). This being said, it is not Attributes and how they are except Allaah ( correcttorefertotheAayaatoftheAttributesasbeingunspecificasmentioned in the Aayah above. Rather, the previously mentioned details must be kept in mind. Second, by them saying that the interpretation mentioned in the Aayah is changing the words apparent meaning toa differentmeaning that contradicts it; is not correct. This is a new definition to interpretation as mentioned in the Aayah. Neither the Arabs in general, nor the Companions among whom the Quraan was revealed in their language knew this to be the intended meaning. On the contrary, what was well known to them is that this interpretation could havetwomeanings: 1 What is meant is the explanation, and the interpretation in this way was known to those possessing strong knowledge, such as Ibn Abbaas ( )whosaid: Iamoneofthosefirminknowledgewhoknowitsinterpretation. 60 Upon this meaning, many of the Salaf paused reciting after, ...except AllaahandthosefirminknowledgefromthepreviousAayah. 2 What also could be meant is the actuality of something and its end result or outcome. Upon this meaning, the interpretation of what Allaah has informed usabout regarding Himself, andregarding the Last Day is not actually known to us. The interpretation in this way is the actuality and how (His Attributesand the Last Day) really are this is unknown to us, as Imaam Maalik and others have said regarding the Istiwaa and other such issues. Upon this meaning,mostoftheSalafholdthepauseintherecitationoftheaforementioned Aayahtobe,AndnooneknowsitsinterpretationexceptAllaah. The third point in refuting these people is that Allaah revealed the Quraan for it to be pondered over. He encouraged us to reflect upon it in entirety, making no exception with the Ayaat of the Attributes. The encouragementtoreflectuponitmeansthatitispossibletoarriveatitsintended meanings;otherwise,itwouldbemeaninglesstoreflectuponit.Ponderingupon something means to gain more than empty speech; the speech of Allaah and His
60

SeeTafseerIbnKatheer(1/348).

Messenger ( ) are far above this. The encouragement is to reflect upon allofitwithnoexceptions.ThisshowsthattheAayaatoftheAttributeshavereal meaningsanditispossible toreach them by reflecting upon them. The closest of people in understanding these meanings are the Prophet ( ) and his Companions.TheQuraanwasrevealedintheirlanguageandtheywerethefirst people to reflect upon it, especially upon the most important part of the religion (knowingAllaahandHisAttributes). Aboo AbdurRahmaan asSalamee said, Those who used to read the Quraan upon Uthmaan ibn Affaan, Abdullaah Ibn Masood, and others narratedtousthatwhenevertheyusedtolearntenAayaatfromtheProphet(ill), they would not move on past them until they learnt them and what they contained of knowledge and action. We learned the Quraan, knowledge, and actionatthesametime.Soknowingthis,howisitpracticaltoassumetheywere ignorant of the meanings of the Aayaat regarding Allaahs Attributes while this isthemostimportantpartofthereligion? Fourth, the statement of these people suggests that Allaah has revealed in HisBooktestswithclearwordings,yetemptyintruth. According to this, they are nothing more than mere alphabetical letters. This totally contradicts the wisdom of Allaah with which He has revealed the BookandsenttheMessengers. Note: It is now known from what has preceded that there could be three meaningsofinterpretation: 1 It could mean an explanation and clarification of the meaning. This is the meaning according to most of the Tafseer scholars. From this is the Prophets )statementtoIbnAbbaas, (

.
Oh Allaah, give him understanding in the religion and teach him the interpretation. 61 This meaning is well known to the scholars regarding the Aayaat of the Attributes.
61

RecordedbyalBukhaaree(143)andMuslim(2477).

 2 It could also mean the actuality of something. This meaning is known tobefromthemeaningsofinterpretationasusedintheQuraanandSunnahas intheAayah,

Dotheyawaitanythingbutitsinterpretation(theactuality)?[Sooratul Aaraaf,7:53] AndHisstatement,

That is the best way and best for a final determination. [Sooratun Nisaa,4:59] Therefore, the interpretation of the Aayaat of the Attributes upon this meaningisthetrueessenceandactualityofthem.ThisisknownonlytoAllaah. 3 The final meaning of interpretation is to change the apparent meaning of a word to another contradictory one. This is the meaning of modern speakers and others. This meaning is further broken down into two types: a correctandanincorrectmeaning. Asforthecorrecttype,itistochangethemeaningofawordbasedupona proof.AnexampleofthisischangingAllaahsstatement

So if you recite the Quraan, then seek refuge with Allaah from Shaytaan,therejected.[SooratunNahl,16:98] tomakethemeaning,ifyouwanttorecite... As for the incorrect meaning, it is to change the meaning of a word with no proof. An example of this type is to change the meaning of the Istiwaa of Allaah on His Throne to mean conquering or to change the meaning of His Handtostrengthorfavorandothersuchdistortions.

CHAPTER23 {PARTTOUR} TheTafseeroftheQuraan The Categories of Deviant People Concerning the Belief in Allaah & the Last Day IthasbeennarratedthatIbnAbbaas() said: The Tafseer (explanation) of the Quraan is by four means: the explanationknowntotheArabsbaseduponthelanguage,theexplanation which no one is excused for being ignorant of, the explanation known to the scholars, and the explanation that only Allaah knows; whoever claims toknowthisfinaltypeisaliar. 1TheexplanationknowntotheArabsbaseduponthelanguage: This is explaining the words of the language such as the meaning of Qur (menstruation),Namaariq(pillows),Kahf(cave),etc. 2Theexplanationwhichnooneisexcusedforbeingignorantof: This is the explanation of the Aayaat which everyone is responsible to knowthoseofAqeedah,oractions.ExamplesofthisaretoknowAllaahbyHis Names and Attributes, knowing about the Last Day, purification, praying, Zakaah,etc. 3Theexplanationknowntothescholars: This is the explanation, which may not be known to others. Examples are, knowing the reasons for the revelation of specific Aayaat, the abrogating and abrogatedAayaat,thegeneralandspecific,thepreciseandtheunclear,etc. 4TheexplanationthatonlyAllaahknows: This is the true essence and actuality of what Allaah has informed about HimselfandabouttheLastDay.Weunderstandthemeaningsofsuchthings,yet wecannotperceiveexactlyhowtheyareandwillhappen. An example of this is that we understand the meaning of Allaah rising over His Throne, but we cannot perceive and comprehend how this actually happens. Another example is that we understand the meaning of fruit, honey, water, milk, and other things that Allaah has informed us they will be in paradise.However,wecannotperceiveactuallyhowtheywillbe.Allaahsays,


And no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for the eyes (satisfaction) as a reward for what they used to do. [Sooratus Sajdah,32:17] Ibn Abbaas said, There is nothing in this life similar to what is in paradiseexceptbythenames. 62 Knowing this, it is clear that there are some things in the Quraan that are known only to Allaah, such as the actuality of His Names, His Attributes, and what Allaah has informed of regarding the Last Day. As for the meanings of these things, we know them, otherwise there would be no meaning for us to be informedaboutthem,andAllaahknowsbest.
62

SeeazZuhdbyHannaad(1/51/8)andTafseerIbnKatheer(1/64).

CHAPTER24 TheDivisionofthePeopleoftheQiblahRegardingtheAayaat&LAhaadeeth oftheAttributes Whatismeantbythe peopleoftheQiblah isanyone whopraystowards the Qiblah (the direction of the Kabah in Makkah) which is anyone who associatesthemselveswithIslaam. The people of the Qiblah have split up into six groups regarding the AayaatandAhaadeethdealingwithAllaahsAttributes: Twogroupswhosaytheyaretobetakenupontheirapparentmeanings Two groups who say they are to be taken upon other than their apparent meanings Andtwogroupswhowithholdfromacceptingeitherside Twogroupswhosaytheyaretobetakenupontheirapparentmeanings 1 A group who make Tashbeeh those who make Allaahs Attributes similartotheattributesofthecreation.Theirmethodologyiscompletefalsehood. TheSalafhaverefutedthem. 2 A group, the Salaf, who accept them by their apparent meanings in a way that befit Allaah ( ). Their methodology is correct, based solely upon the proofs of the Quraan and Sunnah, and the intellect proves it as has previouslybeenshowninChapter3and4. The difference between these two groups is that the first makes Tashbeeh, andtheseconddenythis. Thus when someone who makes Tashbeeh says of Allaahs Knowledge, His decent to the lowest heaven, or His Hand, for example, I cannot comprehend this Knowledge, descent, or a Hand except with what is similar to thoseofthecreation,thenthereplytothisisfromvariouspoints: Firstly, The intellect and that which has been revealed both prove the difference between the Creator and the creation in all of His Attributes. The AttributesoftheCreatorbefitHimandthoseofthecreationbefitthem.Fromthe revealedproofsindicatingthisdifferenceisthestatementofAllaah:


There is nothing like Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing. [SooratushShooraa,42:11] AndHisstatement,

Is He who creates similar to he who cannot create? Will you not remember?[SooratunNahl,16:17] From the intellectual proofs is that, how could the Creator, perfect in all aspects, Perfection being part of His Self, be similar to the deficient creation, deficiency being part of their very selves while they are in need of One who will completethem? Secondly, it is replied, Dont you comprehend that Allaahs very Self is not similar in any way to those of the creation? No doubt, there is no similarity; so likewise, one should understand that Allaah has Characteristics and Attributes that in no way resemble those of the creation. The belief in Allaahs Self is the same as in His Attributes; whoever makes a distinction between them isincontradiction. Thirdly, we witness ourselves that there are some attributes of the creation which have the same names, yet are different in how they actually are. The hand of a person is not the same as an animals hand. Hence, if it is possible for the attributes of the creation to be different amongst themselves while still havingthesamenames,thenthedifferencebetweentheattributesofthecreation andtheCreatorisevenmoreso.Itisincumbenttoacceptthisdifference. Two groups who say they are to be taken upon other than their apparent meanings They deny that Allaah has any Attributes affirmed to him or they deny some of them or they affirm certain situations, yet not actual Attributes controllingthem.

1 A group who make Taweel (misinterpretation) such as the Jahmiyyah and others who change interpret the texts of the Attributes to specific meanings they choose. An example is their changing the meaning of Allaahs Hand to mean His favor or His Istiwaa to mean conquering and other misinterpretations. 2 A group who make Tajheel (accusing others as being }ahl or ignorant) and who claim that only Allaah knows what is intended by the texts of His Attributes,yettheydoknow,astheyclaim, thatHe didnotintendbythesetexts other, outward Attributes. This statement of theirs is contradictory. Their saying that they know He did not intend outward Attributes directly contradicts their belief that only Allaah knows the meanings of the texts. The belief that only Allaah knows the meanings is one that causes the person to neither confirm nor denyanyAttributes. Thedifferencebetweenthesetwogroupsisthatthefirstaffirmsmeanings to the texts of Allaahs Attributes, yet they oppose their apparent meanings. As for the second group, they claim only Allaah knows their meanings without affirming them. They also say that Allaah did not intend by these texts actual AttributesofHimself. Twogroupswhowithholdfromacceptingeitherside: 1 A group that alleges the meanings of the texts may or may not affirm Attributes to Allaah that befit Him. Many Fiqh scholars and others are from this group. 2 A group who deny all of this with their hearts and tongues. They do notevenreadtheQuraanandAhaadeeth. The difference between these two is that the first group confirms that the texts of Allaahs Attributes could possibly mean actual attributes that befit Him or they may not. The second group makes no decision at all, and Allaah knows best.

CHAPTER25 TheEvilNameswithWhichthePeopleofInnovationRefertothePeopleof theSunnah From the wisdom of Allaah is that He made for every Prophet an enemy from the criminals, preventing the truth as much as they can with words and actions. They do this by various means of plots and plans, doubts and dubious beliefs, false calls. Allaah decreed this so for the truth to be made clear despite this, so that it manifests and rises above all falsehood. The Prophet ( ) and his Companions met much of such opposition as Allaah ( )said,

You will surely hear from those who were given the scripture before youandfromtheMushrikoonmuchabuse.[SoorahAaliImraan,3:186] ThoseoppressiveMushrikoonusedtorefertotheProphet( ) and his Companions with defamatory, slanderous, and sarcastic names such as magician,insane,fortuneteller,liar,etc. As the people of knowledge and Eemaan are the inheritors of the Prophets, they were subjected, by the people of innovation and influential speech, to the same of which the Prophet ( ) and his Companions were from the Mushrikoon. All of these sects refer to the people of the Sunnah with names of slander and sarcasm that Allaah has made them free from. They dothiseitheroutofignoranceofthetruth,assumingthecorrectnessofwhatthey themselves are upon and the falsehood the people of the Sunnah are upon; or they do this from evil intentions trying to alienate them and drive others away from them. They arrogantly adhere to their opinions knowing their own corruption. The Jahmiyyah and their followers who make Tateel (denying Allaahs Names and Attributes) call the people of the Sunnah, Mushabbihah, alleging thatbyaffirmingtheAttributes,theyaremakingAllaahsimilartoHiscreation. The extreme Sheeahs refer to them as Nawaasib (enemies) because they ally themselves with Aboo Bakr and Umar just as they (the Sheeahs) claim to ally themselves with the family of the Prophet ( ). They profess that anyonewhoallieswithAbooBakrorUmarthenheisanenemyoftheProphets

family. For this, they used to say,There is no alliance except by remaining free from. They mean that there is no allegiance to the family of the Prophet ( )exceptbyremainingfreeofAbooBakrandUmar! The people who do not believe in the Qadr (predecree) of Allaah refer to the people of the Sunnah asMujbarah those who believe people are forced to doactionsbyAllaahwithnochoiceoftheirown.Thisistheresultofbelievingin theQadV,asthesepeopleclaim. TheMurjiah.,thosewhoclaimnothingofactiondiminishesonesEemaan, call the people of the Sunnah Shakkaak (doubters) because the concept of Eemaan to them is nothing more than the professing it with the heart. To make exceptionsthatEemaancanbedecreasedisadoubttotheseMurjiah. The people of influential speech and logic refer to the people of the SunnahasHashwiyyahorthosewhoareuseless,withnobenefitinthem.They also call them Nawaabit which are weeds that grow with no benefit in them. They call them Ghuthaa or scum which flood carries of filth. These people of logic and reasoning use such names because they claim that anyone who does not encompass the knowledge of logic as they do, then he has no real certainty aboutanythingtheyareuselesswiththerebeingnothinggoodaboutthem. Thetruthisthatthistypeofknowledgewhichtheyboastaboutactuallyis nothing compared to the truth just as the Shaykh (Ibn Taymiyyah)said in his book, arRadd alaa alMantiqieen, I have always known that no intelligent personneedsGreeklogicnordoesitbenefitastupidperson. 63
63

SeeMajmooalFataawaa(3/52).

CHAPTER26 {PARTONE} Islaam&Eemaan Islaamlinguisticallymeansobedienceandsubmission. In Islaamic terminology, it is when the servant submits and surrenders entirely to Allaah outwardly and inwardly, obeying His commands, and avoidingwhatHehasforbidden.Itincludesallofthereligion.Allaah( )said,

AndIampleasedforyouIslaamasareligion.[SooratulMaaidah,5:3] AndHesaid,

Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allaah is Islaam. [Soorah Aali Imraan,3:19] AndHe( )said,

Whoever desires other than Islaam as a religion, never will accepted fromhim.[SoorahAaliImraan,3:85] As for Eemaan, it linguistically means to believe. In this meaning, Allaahsaid,

Butyouwouldnotbelieve(haveEemaanin)us.[SoorahYoosuf,12:17] Islaamically, Eemaan is acceptance of the heart, which necessitates acceptance in statement and action. It is a belief, a statement, and an action a beliefoftheheart,astatementofthetongue,andactionoftheheartandlimbs.

 The proof that all ofthisentersunder the term Eemaan is the statement of theProphet( ),

Eemaan is to believe in Allaah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers,theLastDay,andpredecreethegoodandbadofit. 64 Andhisstatement:

: .
Eemaanismadeupofseventysomethingparts,thehighestofwhichis the statement, Laa ilaaha ilia Allaah. The lowest part is to remove somethingharmfulfromthepath,andshynessisapartofEemaan 65 EemaaninAllaah,HisAngels,etc.isthebeliefoftheheart. Thestatement,LaailaahailiaAllaahisastatementofthetongue. Removingsomethingharmfulfromthepathisanactionofthelimbs. Shynessisanactionoftheheart. Withthis,itisknown thatEemaanincludestheentirereligion.So,thereis nodifferencebetweenitandIslaam.Inthisway,eachonemeansthesameasthe other when used separately. However, when they appear together, Islaam is explained as an outward submission of the tongue and actions of the limbs. It occurs from both, a believer with complete Eemaan, and a believer with weak Eemaan. )said: Allaah(
64 65

SeealBukhaaree(50)andMuslim(9). RecordedbyalBukhaaree(9)andMuslim(35).


The Bedouins say, We have believed (Eemaan). Say, You have not yet believed; but say (instead), We have submitted (Islaam), for faith (Eemaan)hasnotyetenteredyourhearts.[SooratulHujuraat,49:14] Based upon this, even a hypocrite would be called a Muslim outwardly, yetremainadisbelieverinwardly. Eemaan (when it comes together with Islaam) is explained as inward submission, which is the belief and acceptance of the heart and its action. This occursonlywithatruebeliever,asAllaah(Taalaa)said:

The believers are only those who, when Allaah is mentioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith (Eemaan), and upon their Lord they rely the oneswhoestablishprayer,andfromwhatWehaveprovidedthem,they spend.Thosearethetruebelievers.[SoorahalAnfaal,8:24] Withthismeaning,Eemaanisahigherlevel.Soeverybeliever(with Eemaan)isaMuslim(withIslaam),yettheoppositeisnotthecase.

CHAPTER26 {PARTTwo} TheIncreasingandDecreasingofEemaan Islaam&Eemaan From the base beliefs of AhlusSunnah walJamaaah is that Eemaan increasesanddecreases.Both,theQuraanandSunnahprovethis. FromtheQuraanisAllaahs( )statement,

...sotheywouldincreaseinEemaanalongwiththeir(present)Eemaan [SooratulFath,48:4] From the proofsoftheSunnah is the saying of the Prophet ( ),

.
I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion perhapsdeterringadetermined,wisemanthanoneofyou. 66 Within the Aayah is the proof of the increasing of Eemaan, and in the Hadeethistheproofofdecreasinginreligion. Every text proving the increase of Eemaan also includes a proof for its decrease and viceversa, because they are both connected. It is not logical that onecouldbepresentwithouttheother. It has been confirmed that the Companions used to say this; it is not knownthatoneofthemopposedthisbelief.TheSalafwereagreeduponthis.Ibn AbdulBarr said, As for Eemaan increasing and decreasing, the people of the narrations and the scholars of Fatawaa in all the lands held this belief. Two different narrations have been mentioned from Imaam Maalik regarding the decrease of Eemaan: one that he remained silent, and the second is agreement withthemajority.
66

RecordedbyalBukhaaree(304)andMuslim(80).

Therearetwosectswhoopposethisfundamentalbelief: First:TheabsoluteMurjiahwhosaythatEemaanisnothingbuttoprofess it with the heart. They claim this acceptance of the heart never wavers, so accordingtothem,thewickedandjustarebothatthesamelevelofEemaan. Second:Thosewhofollowonlythetextsofthreatsandwarningsfromthe Mutazilah and the Khawaarj. They expel Muslims who commit major sins entirely from any association with Eemaan. They say that Eemaan is either completely present or completely nonexistent, and they deny that one person couldbeatahigherlevelthananother. Both of these groups are refuted by legislative proofs and intellectual ones. As for the legislative proofs, some texts proving the increasing and decreasingofEemaanhavealreadypreceded. As for intellectual proofs, we say to the Murjiah, that their statement of Eemaan being merely acceptance of the heart, never wavering or changing, then this is disproved by what has already been mentioned. It is contrary to what the Quraan and Sunnah establish of statements and actions all entering into Eemaan. In addition, their statement that the acceptance of the heart never changes is contrary to the senses. It is known to everyone that conviction of the heart is only based upon knowledge, and no doubt, knowledge varies depending on its sources.Theinformationrelayedbyonepersonisnotastrustworthyasifitwere relayed by two and likewise. Furthermore, whatever knowledge people gain by hearing of any matter is in no way comparable to actually witnessing it. So certainty is of varying levels as is well known, even a single person may find himselfatsometimesandsituationsstrongerincertaintythanatothertimes. Thus, we wonder how it is correct to rationally assume two men could be exactly equal: one remaining constant upon obedience to Allaah, avoiding disobeying Him; when a notion to sin occurs to him, he immediately gives it up and repents to Allaah. And the other wasting all chances to carry out what Allaahhasmadeobligatoryonhim,committingwhatAllaahforbidshim,yetnot perpetrating deeds which take him into disbelief how could these two be equal inEemaan!

 To those who only focus on the texts of threats, warnings, and punishments, we say their statement that one who commits a major sin leaves Eemaantotally;this is incontradiction to what the Quraan and Sunnah prove. If this is clear, how could we conclude that two people are exactly equal when one fulfills his obligations, seeking Allaahs reward and avoids sins, the other oppresses himself by doing what Allaah forbids him to do, and he leaves his obligations,althoughnotcommittingactsthatcausehimtodisbelieve? Assuming we say that a Muslim who commits major sins does in fact leave Eemaan, yet how could we say two people are the same in Eemaan, one seeking the reward of Allaah, and the other from those foremost in doing righteousdeedsbyAllaahshelp?

CHAPTER26 {PARTTHREE} TheWaysofIncreasing&DecreasingEemaan Islam&Eemaan TherearemanywaystoincreaseonesEemaan(faithinAllaah,HisBooks, HisMessengers,etc.).Someofthemareasfollows: 1. Knowing Allaahs Names and Attributes: Indeed, each time the servantsknowledgeofthemincrease,knowingwhattheymeanandtheireffects, then his Eemaan in his Lord likewise increases as well as his love and honor for Him. 2. Reflecting upon Allaahs signs in the universe as well as His Aayaat: Whenever the servant reflects upon them, thinking deeply over what they include of Perfect Capability and Supreme Wisdom, then no doubt his Eemaan andcertaintywillincrease. 3.Performingactionsofobedience,seekingnearnesstoAllaah:Eemaan increases according to the quality, quantity, and type of deed. Whenever the deed is performed in the best way, the increase in Eemaan is greater because of it. And the quality of the action is increased in righteousness by sincerity and followingoftheSunnah. As for the type of action, those actions Allaah has ordered their performance are better than the optional ones. Some acts of obedience are better thanothersarethegreatertheaction,thegreatertheincreaseinEemaan.Asfor the quantity of actions, Eemaan also increases according to it because action is itselfapartofEemaansosurely,whenthequantityincreases,sodoesEemaan. 4.Abandoningsins,fearingAllaah:Whenevertheurgetocommitasinis stronger,theincreaseinEemaanbyabandoningitisevengreater.Thisisbecause suppressing a strong desire to sin is an indication of the strength of Eemaan present within the servant. He gives precedence to what Allaah and His Messengerlikeoverwhathisownsouldesires. TherearealsomanywaysforonesEemaantodecrease.Someofthemare asfollows:

1.RemainingignorantofAllaahandHisNamesandAttributes. 2. Negligence and turning away from reflecting upon the Aayaat of Allaah, His rules, and His signs throughout the universes: This results in a sickness of the heart or its death due to being overcome with desires and false beliefs. 3. Committing acts of disobedience to Allaah: Eemaan decreases accordingtothetypeofaction,itsdegreeofsin,consideringittobeinsignificant, andthestrengthorweaknessofonesurgetocommitit. As for the type of action and the degree of sin, then surely the decrease in Eemaan by committing major sins is greater than minor sins. It decreases, for example, more by the murder of an innocent person than stealing ones wealth. Aswell,itdecreasesmorebycommittingtwosinsthanonlyone,andsoon. As for considering a sin to be insignificant, this occurs from a heart that considers the One he is disobeying to be insignificant, having little or no fear of Him; this causes the decrease in Eemaan to be that much greater. Alternatively, the decrease in Eemaan is less when the notion to sin occurs to a heart that honorsAllaah,fearingHimyethejusthappenedtomakeamistakeandsin. ThestrengthoftheurgetosinalsohastodowiththedecreaseinEemaan. If a person commits a sin while having only a weak urge or desire to do it, then his Eemaan decreases significantly more than one whose urge is much stronger. For this reason, a poor person behaving arrogantly, and an elderly man committing adultery is a greater sin than the arrogance of a rich and powerful manorayoungmancommittingfornication,asintheHadeeth,

.
There are three people whom Allaah will not even speak to, He will not look at them on the Day of Resurrection, He will not purify them, andtheywillhaveapainfulpunishment... 67

Recorded by Muslim (107) and atTabaraanee. AlHaythamee and alMundhiree said the men in the chain of narrators are the quality of those in an authentic chain. AlAlbaanee declared it SaheehinSaheehatTargheeb(1788).
67

He then went on to mention the three types of people including a grey haired, elderly fornicator and a poor arrogant person due to the weakness of theirurgetocommitthesins. 4. Abandoning acts of obedience to Allaah: The decrease in Eemaan is accordingtothedegreeoftheactofobedience.Soifthelevelofobligationisofa higher degree, then the decrease in Eemaan higher. Perhaps one could lose Eemaantotallysuchasisabandoningprayer. The decrease in Eemaan for abandoning acts of obedience is of two types: the type that the person could be punished for, such as leaving an obligation withnoexcuse;andthetypethatonewillnotbepunishedfor,suchasleavingan obligation due to a legislative or legitimate excuse; or leaving an optional act of obedience. Examples of the second type would be a woman leaving prayer due to her menses or a person leaving the optional forenoon (Duhaa) prayer, and Allaahknowbest.

CHAPTER26 {PARTFOUR} IstithnaaRegardingEemaan Islaam&Eemaan Istithnaa (making an exception) regarding Eemaan means to say, I am a believerinshaaAllaah(ifAllaahwills). The people have differed over whether one should add...if Allaah wills. Theyareofthreedifferentbeliefs. 1. Saying it is not to be done: This is the belief of the Murjiah and the Jahmiyyah and those like them. The basis of this statement is the belief that Eemaan is itself only one thing that a person knows within himself; it is only an acceptance of the heart. If a person says,...if Allaah wills, then this would be a proof of doubting this acceptance, as they claim. For this reason, they refer to peoplewhodomakethisexceptionasDoubters. 2.Sayingitmustbedone:Thisstatementisbasedupontwobeliefs. First: The belief that Eemaan is something that a person dies upon; either a person is a believer or a disbeliever based upon what he dies upon. This is something within every persons future and unknown to them so no one could possibly be resolved upon and certain of. Many modern speakers hold this opinion.However,itisnotknownthatanyoftheSalafusedtoholdthisopinion. Theyusedtobeofthesecondbelief: Second: The belief that complete Eemaan includes performing all commandments, avoiding all sins. This is something that no person can be certainabouthimself.Ifheclaimsthis,thenheispurifyinghimselfandtestifying that he is among the righteous. This would mean that he is testifying that he is fromthepeopleofparadise,whichisnotpermissible. 3. Details must be explained: If adding,...if Allaah wills, results from a doubtthatnoteven thefoundationofEemaanexistswithin onesheart;thenthis is not permissible. Rather, it is disbelief because Eemaan is a conviction and doubt contradicts this conviction. If saying this results from a fear of purifying oneself and a fear of testifying that one has fulfilled complete Eemaan in statement, action, and beliefs; then this is a required fear. If saying ...if Allaah

wills, is for the purpose of seeking blessings by mentioning Allaahs complete controlandwill,andthatwhateverofEemaanispresentinonesheartisonlyby thewillofAllaah;thenthispermissible. Adding the Istithnaa for this reason does not contradict the actualization of Eemaan. Making such an addition has been made upon such matters that are certainsuchasAllaahsstatement,

You will surely enter alMasjid alHaraam (the Masjid of the Kabah), if Allaah wills, in safety, with your heads shaved and (hair) shortened, notfearing(anybody).[SooratulFath,48:27] With this explained it is clear that making an absolute judgment for or against Istithnaa regarding Eemaan is not correct. Rather, the previous details mustbeexplained,andAllaahknowsbest. May Allaah bestow peace and prayers upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family,andhisCompanions. WrittenontheseventhofthemonthThulQidahintheyear1380Hijrah. All praise and thanks to the One by whose favor righteous deeds are completed. TheAuthor (MuhammadibnSaalihalUthaymeen)

 AppendixforExplanationofaSummary ofAqeedatulHamawiyyah: IbnTaymiyyahonTrial

IbnTaymiyyahonTrial: [ACompleteUndoingofRecycledJahmeePolemic] 68 With the name of Allaah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy: A mentioning of what occurred concerning this blessed Aqeedah 69 from studies whichweremadeevidentbyitscompilertotheopponents. The Shaykh, AlamudDeen mentioned that the Shaykh (i.e. Ibn Taymiyyah)mayhissecretbesanctifiedspokeinthegatheringoftheruler,al Afram, when he was asked about his creed. So, the Shaykh presented his AqeedatulWaasitiyyah. He said: I wrote this approximately seven years ago, beforethearrivaloftheTatarstoShaam.SoIreaditinthegathering. Then, AlamudDeen mentioned from the Shaykh, that he said: The reason for writing it was that one of the judges of Waasit, from the people of goodness and Religion, complained to me about the condition of the people in his land, within the state of the Tatars. He complained about the overwhelming condition of ignoranceandoppressionandtheobliterationoftheReligionandknowledge.So heaskedmetowriteforhimanAqeedah.SoIsaidtohim,Indeed,peoplefrom amongst the Imaams of the Sunnah have already written works ofAqeedah. So he persisted in the request and said,I would not like, except anAqeedah that you have written. So I wrote this Aqeedah for him whilst I was sitting after Asr. Therefore, the leader pointed to the author, so he read it to those who were present, word for word. So some of them objected to my statement in it, And from Eemaan in Allaah is to have Eemaan in whatever Allaah has ) has described Himself with and in whatever His Messenger ( described Him with; without Tahreef (distortion), nor Tateel (denial), nor Takyeef (asking how), nor Tamtheel (likening). So the intended meaning of this was to negate Taweel, which is to direct the word away from its apparent meaning,eitherbyobligatingthat,orbymerelymakingitpermissible.

TakenfromMajmooaturRasaaililKubraa(1/413421). Referring to the book, alAqeedatulWaasitiyyah and the subsequent debate which took place concerning it, when Ibn Taymiyyahs adversaries took him to court for what they perceived as graveerrorsinAqeedah.
68 69

So I said: Indeed, I amended the term, Taweel to the term, Tahreef because Tahreef is a term that has been rebuked in the Quraan. Hence, I strove to follow the Book and the Sunnah with this confinement. Thus, I negated what Allaah rebuked from Tahreef. I did not mention within it the word Taweel, because the term has a number of meanings, as I have explained in its proper placefromalQawaaid.SothemeaningofthetermTaweelintheBookofAllaah is not the same meaning of Taweel employed in conventional usage by the latecomers from amongst the people of Usool (basic principles) and Fiqh. Moreover, this is not the meaning of the term Taweel employed in conventional usagebymanyofthepeopleofTafseerandtheSalaf. And I said to them:I mentioned the negation of Tamtheel, but I did not mention Tashbeeh (resemblance), because Tamtheel has been negated by Allaah inthetextofHisBook,whereHesaid,

ThereisnothinglikeuntoHim.[SooratushShooraa,42:11] So they took to mentioning the negation of Tashbeeh and Tajseem (attributing a body to Allaah), and they exaggerated greatly concerning this. So they raised objections with what some of the people have attributed to us from that. 70 So I said, My statement, without Takyeef, nor Tamtheel, negates all falsehood. I only chose these two terms, because the negation of Takyeef has been narrated from the Salaf, as was stated by Rabeeah (d.136H), Maalik (d.179H), IbnUyaynah (d.197H) and other than them. This is the statement that the scholars have received by acceptance, Istiwaa (ascension of Allaah above the Throne) is known, and the Kayf (modality) is unknown. It is obligatory to haveEemaaninit,andtoaskaboutitisaninnovation. 71SotheseScholarsofthe
RefertoIbnTaymiyyahalMuftareealayhi(p.5068). Rabeeah arRaee (d.136H) said, AlIstiwaa is not unknown, and how it occurs is not comprehendible, and from Allaah is the Message, upon the Messenger is to convey and upon us is to affirm. Related by alBayhaqee in alAsmaa wasSifaat (no. 516) and alLaalikaaee in Sfuzrh UsoolulItiqaad (no. 665), Ibn Taymiyyah said in MajmooulFataawaa (5/365), It is established from Rabeeah. He also said in alHamawiyyah (p. 80),AlKhallaal narrated it with an Isnaad, all of whom are Thiqaat. Imaam Maalik (d.179H) said, AlIstiwaa is known, and how is unknown, and to have Eemaan (faith) in it is obligatory, and to question it is an
70 71

Salaf agreed that the Kayf (modality) was not known to us. Therefore, I negated that in following the Salaf of the Ummah. Additionally, this is negated by the text. So performing Taweel upon the Aayaat pertaining to the Attributes enters into the reality of the One being described, but the reality of His Attributes are not known. So this is from the Taweel that is not known, except to Allaah, as I affirmed in the sole principle I mentioned concerning Taweel, its meaning and the difference between our knowledge of the meaning of speech and between ourknowledgeofitsTaweel. 72 Likewise, Tamtheel hasbeen negated in thetextandin ancient consensus, inadditiontothesoundintellectualproofforitsnegationandforthenegationof Takyeef.Therefore,Allaahmadeitunknowntomankind. So whilst speaking about that, I mentioned the speech of alKhattaabee, where he mentioned that this was the Madhhab of the Salaf. It is to pass along theAayaat pertaining to the Attributesandtheir Ahaadeeth upon their apparent meaning, along with negating the Kayfiyyah (modality) and Tashbeeh from them. 73 So the speech concerning the Attributes is a branch of speech concerning the Dhaat (Essence). 74 I mentioned this in following his (alKhattaabee) example
innovation. Then he said to the questioner,I do not think, except that you are an evil man. So he ordered him to be expelled. Related by alBayhaqee in al Asmaa wasSifaat (p. 516) with the wording,AlIstawaa is not unknown and how is unknown, to have Eemaan in it is obligatory and to question it is an innovation. AlBayhaqee also relates (p.516), as does adDaarimee in ar Radd alalJabmiyyah (p. 55) with a good Isnaad, as Ibn Hajr says in FathulBaaree (13/406) thatImaamMaaliksaid,TheMostMercifulascendedasHeHimselfdescribed,anditisnottobe askedHow? Since how is unknown. A complete study of the various statements of the people of knowledge concerning this is found in Muhadhdhab IjtimaaulJuyooshilIslaamiyyah (p. 83 84). 72 The author discusses this in detail in his book allkkel filMutashaabih watTaweel, and it is published. 73 Stated alKhattaabee (d.388H), The Madhhab of the Salaf with regards to the Attributes of Allaah is to affirm them as they are alaa dhaahir (with their apparent meaning), negating any Tashbeeh (resemblance) to them, nor Takyeef (asking how they are). Refer to Mukhtasirul Uluww(no.137). 74 AlKhateeb alBaghdaadee (d.463H) said,So the basic principle (Asl) is that speech about the Attributes is speech about the Essence (Dhaat) of Allaah, so it follows it in that and takes it as a modelofexample.SowhenitisknownthattheaffirmationoftheLordoftheWorlds,theMighty and Majestic, is affirmation of existence, then likewise, affirmation of His Attributes is only an affirmation of existence, not an affirmation of limitation (Tahdeed) and modality (Takyeef). So whenwesay,AllaahhasaHand,HearingandSeeing,thentheseareonlyAttributesthatAllaah has affirmed for Himself. And we do not say that the meaning of Hand is power, nor do we say that the meaning of Hearing and Seeing is knowledge. And we do not say that these are bodily limbsandtoolstoperformactions.Rather,wesaythatitisobligatorytoaffirmthem,buttomake

and in conforming to his precedence. So since affirmation of the Dhaat (Essence) is affirmation of Wujood (existence), not affirmation of Takyeef, then likewise, affirmation of the Attributes is affirmation of existence, not affirmation of Takyeef. So one of the elder opponents said, So at that point it becomes permissible to say that He is a Jism (body), who is not like the Ajsaam (bodies of thecreation). So some of the nobles and I said to him:It can only be said that Allaah is tobedescribedwithwhateverHedescribedHimselfwithandwithwhateverHis Messenger ( ) has described Him with. And there does not exist in theBookandtheSunnahanythingtoindicatethatAllaahisaJism,suchthatthis could become obligated. And the first one to say that Allaah is a Jism was Hishaam IbnulHakam arRaafidee. And as for our statement, then it is the moderate path amongst the sects of the Ummah, just as the Ummah is the moderate path amongst the rest of the nations. So they are the moderate path in theissueoftheAttributesofAllaahamongstthepeopleofTateel:theJahmiyyah andthepeopleofTamtheel:theMushabbihah 75 So it was said to me, You have written the belief of Imaam Ahmad (d.241H). And they wished to end the dispute with the excuse that this was a Madhhabthatwasfollowed.

Tawqeef (stopping at the texts of the Book and the Sunnah) of what is mentioned concerning them. Refer to DhammutTaweel (no. 15) of Ibn Qudaamah and alUluww (p. 185) of adh Dhahabee. 75BENEFITANADMISSIONOFGUILT:Whatyouhavewitnessedhere,dearreader,isan indispensableproofthatShaykhulIslaamdidnotenterintoTajseem,Tashbeeh,norTamtheel. Andhowcouldthisbedoubted,sinceeventheprincipalcallerstoinnovationinourtimeshave beenforcedtoadmitthis.ReadthestatementofDr.SaeedRamadaanalBooteeanavowed enemyoftheSalafeecreed,AndweareamazedwhenweseetheextremistsdeclaringIbn Taymiyyah,mayAllaahhavemercyuponhim,ofbeingadisbeliever.Andalsoattheirsaying thathewasonewhoheldAllaahtobeabody(Jism).Ihavestudiedhardandlonginordertoto seewhereIcouldfindastatementorawordfromIbnTaymiyyahthathewroteorsaidwhich wouldindicatethatheheldAllaahtobeabody,ashasbeenquotedfromhimbyasSubkeeand others,andIhavenotfoundanythingfromhimlikethis.AllIfoundwashisstatementsinhis Fataaivaa,Indeed,AllaahhasaHandasHesaidandhasarisenovertheThroneasHesaid,and HehasanEyeasHesaid.Andhe(alBootee)said,IreferredtothefinalworkwrittenbyAbul HasanalAsharee,allbaanahandIfoundhimsayingexactlywhatIbnTaymiyyahsaid.Referto NadwahIttihaahaatulFikrillslaamee(p.264265).

So I said, I have not related anything, except the Aqeedah of all the SalafusSaalih,notjustImaamAhmadspecifically. And I said: Indeed, I granted respite to those who opposed me in anythingfromitforthreeyears.Soeveniftheyweretocomewithasingleword from the three early generations in opposition to what I had mentioned, then I would repent from that. And it was upon me to bring thestatements of all of the groups from amongst the three early generations in agreement with whatever I had mentioned, from the Hanafiyyah, the Maalikiyyah, the Shaafiiyyah, the Hanbaliyyah,theAshariyyah,theAhlulHadeethandotherthanthem. Then,thedisputantsoughtspeechconcerningalHarf(lettersinthe Quraan) 76andasSawt(voice). 77
From IbnAbbaas who said,When Jibreel was sitting with the Prophet ( ) he heard a strange sound from above, so he raised his head and said,This is a door from the sky that has been opened today, it has never been opened, except upon this day. So an angel descended from it, so he said. This is an angel that has descended to the earth; it has never descendedexcepttoday.Sohegreetedthemandsaid,1giveyougladtidingsoftwolightsthatI have come to give you, they have not been given to anyone before you, alFaatihah and the last Aayah of alBaqarah. You will not recite a letter from them, except that it will be given to you. Related by Muslim (no. 806), anNisaaee (2/138), alHaakim (1/558559) and Ibn Hibbaan (no. 766). Abdullaah Ibn Masood said,Learn the Quraan. Verily every letter from it that is written, ten rewardsareobtained,andtensinsareexpiated.IdonotsaythatAlifLaamMeem,isten,rather, I say that Alif is ten and Laam is ten, and Meem is ten. Related by Ibn Abee Shaybah (10/461). Shuayb Ibn Habhaab said,Whenever a man used to recite with AbulAaliyah (d.90H), and he did not recite as he recited, rather, he said,As for me, then I shallrecite it as such and such. He said,So I mentioned that to Ibraaheem anNakhaee, so he said,I see that your Companion has heard that whoever disbelieves in a single letter from it, then indeed he disbelieves in all of it. RelatedbyIbnAbeeShaybah(10/513514)andbyIbnJareerinhisTafseer(no.56). 77 The Imaams of the Salaf used to affirm asSawt (Voice) for Allaah. Stated Abdullaah Ibn Ahmad Ibn Hanbal,I asked my father rahimahullaah about a people who say,When Allaah spoke to Moosaa (alayhissalaam), He did not speak with a voice. So my father said,Of course! Indeed, your Lord the Mighty and Majestic spoke with a voice. We relate these Ahaadeeth as they have come. Related by Abdullaah in asSunnah (no. 533). Imaam Aboo Bakr al Marroodhee, the companion of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, said, I heard Abaa Abdullaah meaning AhmadanditwassaidtohimthatAbdulWahhaabwasspeakingandhehadsaid,Whosoever claimsthatAllaahspoketoMoosaawithoutavoice,thenheisaJahmee,andanenemyofAllaah, and an enemy of Islaam. So Aboo Abdullaah said, How beautiful is what he has said, may Allaah pardon him. Related by alKhallaal from alMarroodhee, refer to DarutTaaamd (2/37 39) of Ibn Taymiyyah. Abdullaah Ibn Ahmad said, I said to my father, Verily there are those who say that Allaah did not speak to Moosaa with a voice. So he said,These are the heretical Jahmiyyah,theyonlyuseTateel(denial),andhementionedthenarrationsinoppositiontotheir statement.(12/368).RefertoMajmooulFataawaa
76

 So I said:That which has mentioned about Ahmad and his companions thattheyheldthevoicesoftherecitersandthelettersinsidethewrittencopiesto beancientandeternal(qadeemunazlee)isafabricatedlie.Thiswasnotstatedby Ahmad, or by any of the Muslim Scholars. So I brought out notebooks, and in them was what Aboo Bakr alKhallaal (d.311H) mentioned in his book, as Sunnah from Imaam Ahmad. And there was included in them what was collected by his companion, Aboo Bakr alMarwazee (d.294H), from the speech of Ahmad and the speech of the Imaams of his time. It was mentioned that whosoever stated,My recitation of the Quraan is created, then he is a Jahmee. Andwhosoeversaid,Myrecitationisnotcreated,thenheisaninnovator. Isaid:Sowhatabouttheonewhosays,Myrecitationiseternal?Andwhat abouttheonewhosays,Myrecitationisancient?! Sothedisputantsaid,Indeed,heattributestoAhmadpeoplefromthe Hashawiyyah,theMushabbihahandtheirlikewhospokewithsuch. So I said:The Mushabbihah and the Mujassimah outside thecompanions of Imaam Ahmad are greater in number than those amongst his companions. So all of these Kurdish groups are Shaafiiyyah, and they have within them Tashbeeh and Tajseem the likes of which is not found amongst the other groups. And the people of Jeelaan are Shaafiiyyah and Hanbaliyyah. So as for the pure Hanbaliyyah, then they do no possess that which other than them possess. And theKarraamiyyatulMujassimahareallHanafiyyah. AndIsaid tohim:WhofromamongstmycompanionsisHashaweewith the meaning that you desire, alAthram? Aboo Daawood alMarwazee.7 Aboo Bakr alKhallaal (d.311H)? Aboo Bakr Ibn AbdulAzeez? AbulHasan at Tameemee? Ibn Haamid (d.403H)? AlQaadee Aboo Yalaa (d.458H)? Abul Khattaab? Ibn Aqeel? And I raised my voice and said: Name them! Reply to me,whoarethey?! Is it with that lie and fabrication of IbnulKhateeb 78 upon the people with regards to their Madhaahib that you nullify the Shareeah and obliterate the signposts of the Religion; just as he and other than him quoted from them that theywouldsay:TheancientQuraanisthevoicesoftherecitersandthelettersin thewrittencopies,andthatthevoiceandthelettersareancientandeternal.
78

Here,theauthorisreferringtoalFakhrarRaazee.

Who has said this? And in which books is this found stated by them? Speaktome!Andlikewise,fromwhichofthemhasitbeenquotedthattheysaid Allaah will not be seen in the Hereafter, despite conforming to what he claims andtheintroductionthathasbeenquotedfromthem? And then the issue of the Quraan came up, and that was the issue that it is the speech of Allaah, which is not created. It began from Him and to Him it shall return. Some of them had a contention concerningfrom Him it began and toHimitshallreturn.Andtheysoughtanexplanationforthat. So I said:As for this statement, then it has been narrated and confirmed fromtheSalaf,suchaswhathasbeenrecordedfromAmrIbnDeenaar(d.126H). He said, I have met people for seventy years, and they all said, Allaah is the Creator,andeverythingelsebesidesHimiscreated,exceptfortheQuraan.Soit is the speech of Allaah, it is not created, from Him it began and to Him shall it return. 79 Sothemeaningof,fromHimitbegan,isthatHespokeit,andHewasthe One who revealed it from Himself. It is not as the Jahmiyyah 80 say, that it was createdinthewindorotherthanit,andthatitbeganfromotherthanHim.
Saheeh Related by adDaarimee in arRadd alalJahmiyyah (no. 344) and anNaqd alal Mareesee (p. 116), alBayhaqee in asSunan (10/205) and alAsmaa wasSifaat (p. 245) and IkhtisaasulQuraan(no.50)ofDiyaaudDeenalMaqdisee. 80 Jahmiyyah: They ascribe themselves to Jahm Ibn Safwaan asSamarqandee. And he is the one who manifested negation of the Attributes, Tateel(denial)and other than that from the Abaateel (false understandings). Indeed, he took that from alJad Ibn Dirham, and he was the one who tookthatchainofunderstandingfromafilthyJew. Indeed, Jad Ibn Dirham was killed by Khaalid alQasree in the year 124H, in Waasit. So Jahm succeeded him in Khuraasaan. So he manifested his statements there, and the people followed him upon that. After that, he abandoned the prayer for forty days because he doubted in his Lord. Indeed, Jahm was killed in Khuraasaan. He was killed by Salm Ibn Ahwaz alMaazinee, during the end of the rule of Banee Umayyah. However, his statements had flourished amongst the people. So these statements did not cease to remain strong amongst the people and multiply, not to mention during the time of alMamoon. And from the fabrications of Jahm and his followers are that Paradise and the Fire shall pass away, that Eemaan is Marifah (knowledge) only, that Kufr is ]ahl (ignorance) only, that no one performs an action in truth besides Allaah alone, that the actions of the people can only be attributed to them metaphorically, that the knowledge that Allaah possesses has newly come about and other than that from the Abaateel (false views) whose misguidance and heresy is not hidden. And along with his misguidance that we have mentioned, Jahm used to carry a weapon and fight the ruler. Indeed, how beautiful is thestatementofthepoet, I am amazed at a Shaytaan who calls the people openly; to the Fire. And his name as been derivedfromJahannam.
79

 Andasfor,andtoHimshallitreturn,thenitmeansthattheQuraanwill be hidden with Allaah during the end of time, it will be absent from the written copiesandthechests.Sotherewillnotremainasinglewordfromitinthechests, and there will not remain a word from it in the written copies. And the majority ofthosepresentagreedtothis. SoIsaid:Likewise,theProphet( )said,Theservantsdonot draw closer to Allaah with anything like that which has come from Him, 81 meaningtheQuraan. And Khabbaab IbnulAratt said, O Hantaah! Draw close to Allaah with whatever you are able. So Allaah is not drawn closer to with anything more belovedtoHimthanthatwhichcamefromHim, 82 AndIsaid:Indeed,Allaahspokewithitinreality(Haqeeqatan).Andthis Quraan that Allaah revealed upon Muhammad ( ) is the real (Haqeeqah) speech of Allaah. It is not the speech of anyone other than Him, and it is not permissible to say unrestrictedly that it is a mentioning from the speech of Allaah, nor an expression of His speech. Rather, when the people recite the Quraan, or write it within the books, then that is not excluded from being the speechofAllaah.Sothespeechisonlyconnectedinrealitytotheonewhostated itinconveyanceandmeaning. So some of them became agitated by the affirmation of it being the speech of Allaah in reality after he concurred that Allaah spoke it in reality. Then, he concurred that since it had been clarified to him that it was correct to negate the metaphorical, then it was not correct to negate this. And he mentioned the statements of the early Scholars that were narrated from them and the poetry of the poets, which were all connected to them. These were their statements in
Refer to SharhulAqeedatitTahaawiyyah (p. 522524), alMilal wanNihal (1/8688) of ash ShahrastaaneeandalFarqbaynalFiraq(p.128)ofalBaghdaadee. 81 Daeef: Related by atTirmidhee (no. 2911), Ahmad (5/268), Ibn Nasr in QiyaamulLayl (p. 41 42, 122), alBukhaaree in Khalq AfaalulIbaad (no. 509), alBayhaqee in alAsmaa. wasSifaat (p. 305) and alKhateeb in Taareekh Baghdaad (7/88, 12/220). It was declared Daeef by alAlbaanee inSilslatudDaeefah(no.1958). 82 Saheeh: Related byalAajurree inashShareeah (p. 77) and alBayhaqeeinalAsmaa wasSifaat (p. 310311), by way of Mansoor IbnulMutamir, from Hilaal Ibn Sayyaaf, from Farwah Ibn Nawfal.ItwasauthenticatedbyalBayhaqee.

reality.Sowhenhementionedthereinthatthespeechisonlyconnectedinreality to the one who originally said it, not to those who said it in conveyance afterwards,theyheldthisspeechasbeinggoodandglorifiedit. And I mentioned what the Salaf of the Ummah had agreed upon from Allaah the Glorified being above the Throne, with a true meaning upon its real sense (Alaa haqeeqatihi). There was no need for Tahreef, except to protect againstfalsesuspicions.Andthemeaningof,

AndHeiswithyouwhereveryouare,[SooratulHadeed,57:4] is not that He is mixed in with His creation. Since, this is not obligated in the Arabic language. And it is in opposition to what the Salaf of the Ummah were agreed upon, and it opposes what Allaah has made the creation naturally inclined to. Rather, the moon is a sign from the signs of Allaah, it is from the smallestofHiscreations.Soitiscomplacentinthesky,yetitiswiththetraveller whereverhemaybe. 83 So when I mentioned that all of the Names of Allaah, which the creation were namedwith, suchastheterm,alWujood (Existence), which is a statement of reality upon alWaajib 84 and alMumkin, 85 two elders disputed, Is it a statementofIshtiraak(sharingsimilarqualities)orTawaatu(theverysameinall senses)? So one of them said,It is Mutawaatu (the very same in all senses). And another said, It is Mushtarik (sharing similar qualities), in order to avoid Tarkeeb(composition).

ShaykhulIslaam Ibn Taymiyyah (d.728H) said, They (AhlusSunnah) do not make resemblance between His Attributes and the attributes of the creation, because for Allaah the Glorified, there is no comparison, nor equal, nor partner, and there is no analogy for Him with His creation. Refer to SharhulAqeedatilWaasitiyyah (1/127) of IbnulUthaymeen. And Imaam Muhammad Ibn Saalih alUthaymeen (d.H21H) commented, AhlusSunnah are free from resemblingAllaah,theMightyandMajestic,toHiscreation,bothinrespectofHisDhaatandHis Attributes... AhlusSunnah walJamaaah affirm the Attributes for Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, without resemblance. And he added, Our belief is that there is nothing which resemblesAllaah.RefertoSharhulAqeedatilWaasitiyyah(1/102,108). 84Meaning:Allaah,theOnewhoseexistenceisobligatory. 85Meaning:thecreation,whoseexistenceismerelypossible,astheywerecreatedbyAllaah.
83

 And this one said:Indeed, FakhrudDeen mentioned that this dispute is built upon the question,Is His Existence the source of His Essence (Maahiyah), or not? So whoever says,Indeed, the existence of everything is the source of its essence, then this is a statement of Ishtiraak (sharing similar qualities). And whosoever says, His Existence is an extension of His Essence, then this is a statementofTawaatu(theverysameinallsenses). So he held the first view to be stronger than the second, which was that theexistenceisanextensionoftheessence,inordertoaidthepositionthatthisis a statement of Tawaatu. So the second one said, The Madhhab of alAsharee and AhlusSunnah is that His Existence is the source of His Essence. So the first oneobjectedtothat. So I said: As for the theologians of AhlusSunnah, then according to them, the existence of everything is the source of its essence. As for the other statement, then it is a statement of the Mutazilah: that the existence of everythingisanextensionofitsessence.Soeachofthesepositionsiscorrectfrom an angle. So the correct view is that these names are stated with Tawaatu, as I have already affirmed in other than this place. As for this issue being built upon theexistenceofsomethingbeingthesourceofitsessence,orotherthanthat,then this is from the errors that have been connected to IbnulKhateeb. So if we were to say that the existence of something is the source of its essence, then it is not obligatory for the name to be stated for it and for something else similar to it with an Ishtiraak in wording only, as occurs in all collective nouns. So the name oftheshapeisastatementaboutthisshapeandthatshapewithTawaatu. So the source of this shape is not the source of that shape. Therefore, the name demonstrates the extent of similarity between them, and it is universally absolute. However, it is not found to be absolute with the condition of non restriction, except in the mind. And it does not become binding from that to negate the extent of similarity between the existent sources outside, since that would negate the names that are Mutawaatiah (the very same). That is the case with the majority of existing names in the languages. These are collective nouns inthelanguage.Soitisanamethatisconnectedtosomethingandwhateverelse resembles it, whether it be a concrete noun, or a descriptive noun, whether it is an inanimate object or a derivative, and whether it is a type of logic or knowledge or none of that. Rather, in the language, the collective noun enters into categories, groups, types and the like. All of these names are Mutawaatiah andthesourcesoftheirappellationsareoutwardlydistinguished.

 ThiswasthelastofwhatwasconnectedtotheShaykhwithregardstothe debate, which was conducted in the presence of the ruler, the judges, the jurists andotherthanthem. AlHaafidh adhDhahabee said,Then there was agreement that this was agoodSalafeecreed.

Glossary Arafah: The mount Arafah upon which those who make the major pilgrimage standandsupplicatetoAllaah. Aayaat:VersesoftheQuraan. AhlusSunnah:ThepeoplewhofollowtheSunnah. AhlusSunnah walJamaaah: The people who follow the Sunnah and stick to theJamaaahorgroupofMuslims,unitedupontheSunnah. alaa:AnArabicprepositionmeaningupon,on,orover. alAzeez:OneofthenamesofAllaahmeaning:theMighty. alIlaah:Meaning:TheGod. Ansaar:TheCompanionsoftheProphet( )wholivedinMadeenah and supported him and those who emigrated to Madeenah with him from Makkah. Aqeedah:Thecreedandbeliefsofaperson. Arsh:Throne,usuallyreferringtotheThroneofAllaah. Ashariyyah: A misguided sect that denies the attributes of Allaah. They follow the teachings of AbulHasan alAsharee before he repented and returned to the Sunnah, eventually dying upon the creed of the Salaf. See the authors explanationoftheirbeliefsinchapter18,Part1. asSamaa:Theheavens. adhDhaat:TheSelf,usuallyreferringtotheAllaahsSelf. AzzawaJall:Honorableandglorified.

Baatiniyyah: A misguided sect that claims there are internal, hidden aspects to things. They claim to, alone, have knowledge beyond the outward manifestations,perceivingtheseinternalhiddenmatters. Dawah:Acallorpropagationtosomething. Duhaa:Forenoon,usuallyreferringtotheoptionalprayerspecifictothistime. Dunyaa: The current, passing life of this world. Bed: One of the two major celebrationsinIslaam. Eemaan: Faith consisting of beliefs, statements, and actions; specifically to hold the correct belief in believe in Allaah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Last Day when all people shall be accountable before Allaah, and to believeinAllaahspredecreeofeverything,thegoodandbadofit. Fee:AnArabicprepositionmeaningin,orregarding.Itcanalsomeanonor overastheauthorhasexplainedandproveninchapter9. Fiqh: The Islaamic science of jurisprudence, or the deduction of rulings and legislationsfromthesourcesofIslaam. Fitrah: The natural disposition upon which all people are created the ease of understanding of Tawheed, and the unnaturalness of associating partners with Allaah. Ghuthaa: Literally meaning: scum or filth that a flood carries. This is one of the many derogatory names with which the misguided sects refer to the people of theSunnah. Hadeeth:AstatementoftheProphet( ).Hajj:Themajorpilgrimage toMakkah. Hashwiyyah: Literallymeaning: useless, possessing nogoodat all.Thisisoneof the many derogatory names with which the misguided sects refer to the people oftheSunnah. Hijrah: The migration of the Prophet ( ) from Madeenah to Makkah. When associated with a date, it refers to the number of years after this

migration. It could also refer to a migration of any Muslim from one place to another,seekingthepleasureofAllaah. Ilm alKalaam: The knowledge of philosophical or seemingly intellectual speech. Iblees: The proper name of Satan, the one personally and directly outcast by Allaahfromthehonorablepositionwhichheoncehad. Idhaafiyyah Attributes: See the authors explanation in chapter 19: The EmergenceofTateelandItsOrigins Ilaa:AnArabicprepositionmeaningto. Ilhaad: Deviation from the correct beliefs or actions, usually referring to devianceregardingAllaahsnamesandattributes. Imaam:ALeaderorscholar. Injeel:TherevealedbookgiventotheProphetEesaa,thesonofMaryam. Ismaaeelee: A misguided sect, stemming from the Raafidees, or extreme Sheeahs.AgaKhanistheirsupremeleaderand,intheirview,hascharacteristics andattributessimilartothoseofAllaah. Istawaa: The Arabic verb meaning to rise over or above. Isteelaa: The Arabic nounmeaningtoconquer. Istithnaa:Makinganexception.IstithnaaregardingEemaanmeanstosay,Iama believer (have Eemaan) while adding the phrase, inshaa Allaah (if Allaah wills.) Istiwaa:TheArabicnounmeaningtoriseoverorabove.Ithbaat:Affirmation. Ittihaadiyyah: A misguided sect. See the authors explanation of their belief in chapter18,PartOne. Jahl:Ignorance. Jahmee: (Sing.) A follower of Safwan ibn Jahm, a major propagator of deviated andmisinterpretedbeliefsregardingAllaahsNamesandAttributes.

 Jahmiyyah: A misguided sect following Safwan ibn Jahm, a major propagator of deviatedandmisinterpretedbeliefsregardingAllaarisNamesandAttributes. Jibreel: The angel responsible for bringing the revelation of Allaah down to the ProphetsandMessengers. Kabah: The sacred, black structure in the middle of the grand mosque in Makkah. Kahf:Cave Kalaabiyyah: A misguided sect. See the authors explanation of their beliefs in chapter18,PartOne. Karaamiyyah: A misguided sect. See the authors explanation of their beliefs in chapter18,PartOne. Khalaf: The modern people who came after the time of the Salaf, usually referringtoanyoneinoppositiontothewayoftheSalaf. Khaleel:Aclosefriend. Khawaarj:The very first misguidedsect tosplit away from the main body of the Muslims. They believe one becomes a disbeliever by committing major sins, amongotherfalseideologies. Kufr:Disbelief. Kursee: Literally: chair or footstool usually referring to the footstool of Allaah, as Ibn Abbaas said, The Kursee is the place of the Two Feet (of Allaah)...Seechapterl0,Part2. Ma:AnArabicprepositionmeaningwith. Maiyyah: A concept of withness, usually referring to the concept of Allaah beingwithHiscreation. Majoos:Fireworshipper.

Marfoo: A status of Hadeeth sometimes referring to a statement of a Companion, yet being raised up to having the same ruling of a statement from theProphet( ) Masjid:Mosque. Mutazilah: A misguided sect. See the authors explanation of their beliefs in chapter18,PartOne. Muattilah:AmisguidedsectthatmakesTateel. Muattil:(Sing.)ApersonwhomakesTateel. Muhaajiroon: Those Companions of the Prophet (H) who migrated from MakkahtoMadeenah. Mujbarah: A derogatory term used by those who do not believe in the Qadr of Allaah. They refer to the people of the Sunnah with this name falsely assuming that the required belief in the Qadr means believing people are forced to do actionsbyAllaahwithnochoiceoftheirown. Mumaththil:(Sing.)ApersonwhomakesTamtheel. Murjiah: A misguided sect. They falsely claim that actions are not included in thedefinitionofEemaanandthatsinsdonotaffectapersonsfaith. Mushabbihah:AmisguidedsectthatmakesTashbeeh. Mushrikoon:ThepeoplewhomakeShirk. Nafee:Negation. Namaariq:(Pl.)Pillows. Nawaabit: Literally meaning: weeds that grow with no benefit in them. This is one of the many derogatory names with which the misguided sects refer to the peopleoftheSunnah. Nawaasib: Literally meaning: enemies. This is one of the many derogatory names with which the Sheeahs refer to the people of the Sunnah, claiming they

are the enemies of the Prophets ( ) relatives by showing loyalty to, andspeakinggoodofAbooBakrandUmar. Qadr:ThepredestinationorpredecreeofAllaah. Qiblah:ThedirectioninwhicheveryMuslimfacesinprayer,towardstheKabah inMakkah. Qur:Anotherwordformenstruation. Quraan: The last, revealed book of Allaah, revealed by Jibreel to His Prophet, Muhammad( ).Itistheactual,uncreatedspeechofAllaah. Raafidhee: The extremists of the misguided sect, the Sheeahs, who degrade the ), considering them to be traitors to Companions of the Prophet ( theProphetandIslaam,amongmanyotherfalsebeliefs. RabeealAwwal:ThethirdmonthoftheIslaamiccalendar. RadhiAllaahuanhum:MayAllaahbepleasedwiththem. RadhiAllaahu anhumaa: May Allaah be pleased with both of them. When mentionedafteraCompanionsname,itreferstohimandhisfather. Rahimahullaah:MayAllaahhavemercyonhim. Ruboobiyyah: One of the third categories of Tawheed, referring to Allaahs lordship,thatHeisthesolecreator,owner,provider,etc. Saalimiyyah: A misguided sect. See the authors explanation of their beliefs in chapter18,PartOne. Salaf: The righteous predecessors those who followed the Prophet, his Companionsinreligion. Salbiyyah Attributes:Seetheauthorsexplanationin chapter19:TheEmergence ofTateelandItsOrigins

SallAllaahu alayhi wa Sallam:May Allaah send peace and prayers upon him. It could also indicate Allaah praising him (the Prophet ( )) among theangels. Shakkaak: Literally:Doubters, a derogatory name by which the Murjiah refer tothepeopleoftheSunnah. Shareeah:Thelegislation,orcompletesystemofthereligiousrulingsofIslaam. Shaykh:AtermoftenusedtorefertoascholarofIslaam. Shaytaan:AdevilfrommenorJinn,another,unseen,creationofAllaah. Sheeah:Afamousmisguidedsectmisguidedsectwhodegradethe Companions of the Prophet ( ), considering them to be traitors to theProphetandIslaam,amongmanyotherfalsebeliefs. Shirk: Associating partners with Allaah in anything that is exclusive to only Him,suchasworship. Sifaat:Attributesorcharacteristics,usuallyreferringtotheAttributesofAllaah. SubhaanahuwaTaaalaa:GlorifiedandhighisHeaboveallimperfections. Sunnah: The statements, beliefs, actions, approvals, or descriptions of the Prophet( ). Tateel: Denying the Names and Attributes of Allaah, or denying some of them. Seetheauthorsexplanationinchapter3. Taaghoot: False judges, or those who are pleased with the people worshipping themorfollowingthemratherthanthelegislationofAllaah. Tafseer: Explanation, usually referring to the explanation of Aayaat of the Quraan. Tahreef: Changing a text in wording or meaning. See the authors explanation in chapter3. Tajheel:Declaringorbelievingthatothersareignorant.

 Tajseem:TheaffirmationornotionthatAllaahhasabody. Takhyeel: The belief that religious concepts are only imaginary, with no real truthtothem. Takyeef:ThebeliefofnotionofhowAllaahsAttributesare. Tamtheel:Thebeliefornotionthatsomethingisequaltosomethingelse,usually referringtotheideathatsomethingisequaltoAllaah. Tashbeeh: The belief or notion that something is similar to something else, usuallyreferringtotheideathatsomethingisequaltoAllaah. Tawheed: Pure monotheism, or the belief that Allaah is One and alone in Worship,Lordship,andcompletelyuniqueinHisNamesandAttributes. Tawraah:TherevealedbookgiventotheProphetMoosaaa. ThualQidah:TheeleventhmonthoftheIslaamiccalendar. Uluww:TheconceptofAllaahbeinghighabovehiscreation. Ummah:TheIslaamicnation. WahdatulWujood: Pantheism, the belief that God is in everything and everythingisGod. Zakaah:TheobligatedcharityimposedbyIslaamuponthewealthoftherich.