Question:
What is the ruling on narrating ḥadīth that mention the Attributes of Allah?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
Answer:
It is permissible to narrate the aḥādīth that mention the Attributes of Allah. They must be affirmed upon their apparent wording without resorting to interpretation (taʾwīl), anthropomorphism (tashbīh), or representation (tamthīl).
Scholarly Statement:
❀ ʿAllāmah Ibn Hubayrah رحمه الله (560 AH):
إن الإجماع انعقد على جواز رواية هذه الأحاديث وإمرارها كما جاءت مع الإيمان بأن الله تعالى ليس كمثله شيء وهو السميع البصير، وأنه أحد صمد، لم يلد ولم يولد، ولم يكن له كفوا أحد، وينبغي لكل مؤمن أن يكون مثبتا لله سبحانه من الصفات ما أثبته له رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، ونافيا عنه من مشابهة الأجسام ما نفاه القرآن والسنة
“Consensus has been established that it is permissible to narrate these aḥādīth (concerning Allah’s Attributes) and to let them pass as they have come, while maintaining belief that there is nothing like Allah, He is All-Hearing and All-Seeing, and that He is One, Self-Sufficient, neither begetting nor begotten, and none is equal to Him. Every believer should affirm for Allah the Attributes which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ affirmed for Him, and negate from Him resemblance to created bodies, as negated by the Qur’an and Sunnah.”
(al-Ifṣāḥ ʿan Maʿānī al-Ṣiḥāḥ, 4/71)
Conclusion:- Aḥādīth mentioning Allah’s Attributes may be narrated as they are.
- Believers must affirm what the Prophet ﷺ affirmed for Allah without distortion, interpretation, or likening Allah to creation.
