39- Do Ahl al-Sunnah Also Engage in Ta’wil of the Attributes?
The correct and established position of the people of knowledge regarding Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah is that they do not hold to ta’wil (figurative reinterpretation) concerning the attributes of Allah the Exalted in the Qur’anic verses and hadiths. That is the work of the Jahmiyyah, the Mu’tazilah and the Ash’ariyyah, who engage in ta’wil and denial regarding some of the attributes. The well-known creed of Ahl al-Sunnah is that they do not engage in tahrif (distortion), ta’til (negation), takyif (asking “how”) or tamthil (likening) in the verses and hadiths concerning the attributes. The attributes of Allah the Exalted: istiwa’ (rising above), the foot, the hand, the finger, laughing, being pleased and being angry; they accept all of these in their true meaning, and believe that these attributes of Allah the Exalted are established in the manner that befits His majesty.
And some people take the attribute “dahik” (laughing) of Allah the Exalted to mean Allah’s pleasure, and from love they take the intention of love. Ahl al-Sunnah do not accept these ta’wils; rather, they affirm these attributes as true. In their view, love is a real attribute of Allah the Exalted; Allah the Exalted loves His creation, but in the manner that befits His majesty, and it bears no resemblance to the love of creatures. Likewise with the other attributes, such as pleasure and anger and so on, which bear no resemblance to creation, as Allah the Exalted says:
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ
“There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”
Likewise, the attributes of Allah the Exalted, “dahik” (laughing) and rising above the Throne, are established just as befits His majesty. In summary, ta’wil is not correct according to Ahl al-Sunnah. They accept the verses and hadiths concerning the attributes just as Allah the Exalted revealed them, and they believe that these attributes are true; therefore tafwid (consigning the meaning to Allah) is not correct according to Ahl al-Sunnah.
Imam Ahmad said about the Mufawwidah:
“They are the worst of the Jahmiyyah sect.”
Tafwid is that a person holds the belief that “only Allah the Exalted knows the meaning and sense of this (verse or hadith)”; this is not correct, because the people of knowledge know the meanings of the names and attributes, as in the saying of Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him):
“The meaning of istiwa’ is known and clear, but its manner is not known.”
Similar sayings are narrated from Imam Rabi’ah ibn Abd al-Rahman and other people of knowledge. According to Ahl al-Sunnah, the meanings of all the attributes of Allah the Exalted are known, such as pleasure, anger, love, istiwa’ and dahik (laughing). The meaning of each attribute is distinct and separate from the other, but these attributes are not similar to those of creation. Allah the Exalted says:
فَلَا تَضْرِبُوا لِلَّهِ الْأَمْثَالَ
“So do not strike similitudes for Allah.”
In another place the Divine saying is:
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ
“There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”
Allah the Exalted says:
وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ
“And there is none comparable to Him.”
This is the truth that Ahl al-Sunnah, the Companions, the Tabi’in and the Tabi’ al-Tabi’in accept; therefore, whoever engages in ta’wil regarding one attribute or more is not among Ahl al-Sunnah.
