31- The Position of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah Regarding the Attributes of Allah
Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah (may Allah make us also among them) revere Allah more than anyone else in the world, and they respect the evidences of the Book and the Sunnah more than anyone else in the whole universe. They do not go beyond the names and attributes established from the Quran and Hadith, and they affirm those attributes which Allah has established for Himself, even if the intellect does not accept it. Likewise, whatever Allah has negated concerning Himself, they negate, even if the intellect would require that it be established. One example of this is that Allah has been above everything since eternity without beginning and without end. That is, Allah is established (mustawi) above His Throne. He is above the heavens and above all creation. The Prophet ﷺ said:
« إِنَّهُ يَنْزِلُ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ الدُّنْيَا حِيْنَ يَبْقٰى ثُلُثُ اللَّيْلِ الْآخِرِ »
“In the last third of the night, Allah comes to the lowest heaven and descends.”
Satan casts a whisper into the heart of a person that being high is a necessary attribute of Allah, so how does He come down? Our answer to this is that although the intellect considers it impossible, our responsibility is to accept it and to leave its manner to Allah. We accept it because the Noble Prophet ﷺ has said it, and also because no creature resembles Allah in attributes.
For this very reason, someone has said:
“There are things in the Book and the Sunnah that leave the intellect bewildered, but there is nothing which the intellect cannot accept at all.”
Therefore it is our duty to accept the names and attributes of Allah. The way of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jama’ah is that every name and attribute of Allah that is established in the Quran or Hadith, it is obligatory to accept it, to affirm it and to believe in it. Allah says:
وَجَاءَ رَبُّكَ وَالْمَلَكُ صَفًّا صَفًّا
“And your Lord will come, and the angels in rows upon rows.”
Satan casts a whisper into the heart of a person: what will be the manner of Allah’s coming? The answer to this is that Allah will come just as befits Him. We do not have knowledge of the manner, but we believe in the coming. We have been commanded to accept in every case, whether the intellect accepts it or not. Those nations went astray who made their intellects the judge in the matter of the names and attributes of Allah. The result was that they denied the established names and attributes and resorted to distortion (tahrif) in the evidences of the Quran and Hadith. They took the meaning of the statement of Allah: اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ
to be “He overpowered the Throne”, whereas Allah is free of all imperfection. Allah says:
إِنَّ رَبَّكُمُ اللَّهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ
“Indeed your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and the earth in six days, then He rose above the Throne.”
Can we say that before this He did not have dominance? This is a statement that even an ordinary person does not accept, let alone that someone with an understanding of the religion should say such a thing. Yes, this happens when a person accepts his intellect as the judge in those matters that relate to revelation, as a result of which misguidance and destruction are his lot. Therefore we advise those who think that the meaning of “istawa” is “dominance”: let them seek forgiveness from Allah and adopt the belief that the meaning of “istawa” is to be established above the Throne, as befits Him, and let them know that on the Day of Resurrection Allah will ask them: was the basis of your belief about Me the Book and the Sunnah, or your intellects? Therefore this is our advice: let them keep their faith in the evidences of the Book and the Sunnah in accordance with the will of Allah.
Likewise, let those people also repent who hold the view that Allah, in respect of His essence, is not above the creation, whereas their condition is that when they supplicate to Allah their hearts turn upward and their hands are also raised upward. So abandon the misleading delusions. And if you deny Allah’s being above, and say that Allah is present everywhere in respect of His essence, then is this possible? Is it reasonable that Allah should be in some narrow place? Beware! Let such people fear Allah, abandon this wrong belief of theirs and seek forgiveness from Allah. We fear that their death may come upon this wrong belief and that they will suffer loss on the Day of Resurrection.
