Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamā’ah affirm for Allāh the Names and Attributes He has affirmed for Himself and the Messenger (peace and blessing be upon him) affirmed for Him.

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Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamā’ah affirm for Allāh the Names and Attributes He has affirmed for Himself and the Messenger (peace and blessing be upon him) affirmed for Him.

Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid

All praise is due to Allāh, Lord of the worlds. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon his Messenger, his family, his Companions and all who truly follow him.

The People of Sunnah and the Jamā’ah affirm for Allāh His Names and Attributes as He has affirmed them for Himself and as the Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) affirmed has for Him, without negating them or denying them, and without explaining them away with metaphorical meanings. Furthermore, the People of Sunnah do not liken Allāh’s Attributes to His creation. Instead, we narrate them as they have been revealed in the Book and Sunnah, and we affirm their truthfulness.

From the earliest sects who rejected and refused to affirm the Attributes of Allāh were the Jahmiyyah, founded by Jahm Ibn Safwān (executed 128AH).  The scholars of the Qur’ān and Sunnah have refuted them throughout the centuries. Then from the Jahmiyyah arose other sects who explained the Attributes of Allāh to mean other than what is apparent from the wording of the Qur’ān and Sunnah claiming they were fleeing from resembling Allāh with the creation! So they spoke about Allāh upon conjecture and without knowledge.

So the People of Sunnah refuted these negators on two grounds. Firstly, for rejecting the actual Attribute of Allāh which is stated explicitly in the Quranic wording (such as the Face of Allāh, Hand of Allāh, the Ascending of Allāh, etc). Secondly, for inventing metaphors that they know are based on innovated opinions and conjecture such as claiming the Hand of Allāh means His power.

Imām At-Tirmidhī (d. 279H), the compiler of the Sunan, stated:

“It has been said by more than one scholar from the People of Knowledge about this narration and similar reports regarding the Attributes of Allāh – and that our Lord (the Most High) descends to the nearest heaven every night. So the scholars said: ‘Affirm these narrations, have faith in them, do not imagine them, nor ask how.’

The likes of this have been narrated from Mālik Ibn Anas (d. 179H), Sufyān Ath-Thawrī (d. 161H), Sufyān Ibn ‘Uyainah (d. 198H) and Abdullāh Ibn Al-Mubārak (d. 181H).

All whom stated about such narrations, ‘Leave them as they are, without asking how.’ Such is the saying of the People of Knowledge from Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamā’ah.

However, the Jahmiyyah oppose these narrations and say, ‘This is resemblance (tashbīh)!’ However, Allāh the Most High, has mentioned in various places in His Book, His Attribute of Hand, Hearing and Seeing but the Jahmiyyah falsely interpret these verses, explaining them in a way other than how they are explained by the People of Knowledge.

They say, ‘Allāh did not create Adam with His own Hand.’ They say that Hand means power.

Ishāq Ibn Ibrāhīm Ar-Rāhūyah (d. 238H) said, ‘Resemblance is when it is said: ‘Hand like my hand, or similar to my hand.’ Or it is said, ‘Hearing like my hearing, or similar to my hearing.’ Then this would be a resemblance. But if what is being said is what Allāh Himself has said, ‘Hand, Hearing and Seeing’ and it is not asked how, nor is it said, ‘Like my hearing or similar to my hearing.’ Then it is not a resemblance. Allāh, the Most Blessed and Most High, said in His Book, ‘There is none like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing.’” (See As-Sunan of At-Tirmidhī  no. 662)

Abu Hafs Ibn Shāhīn (d. 385H) said: Abdullāh Ibn Sulaimān Ibn Ash’ath As-Sijistānī narrated to us saying: My father related to me from Sulaimān Ibn Harb, who said: Hammād ibn Zaid (died 179H) said:

“The example of the Jahmiyyah is like a man to whom it is said: ‘Do you have a date palm tree in your gardens?’ So he says: ‘Yes.’ Then it is said to him: ‘Does it have fresh green branches?’ He responds: ‘No.’ Then it is said to him: ‘Does it have dried up branches?’ He responds: ‘No.’ Then it is said to him: ‘Does it have low or fallen branches on the ground?’ He responds: ‘No.’ Then it is said to him: ‘Does it have a trunk?’ He responds: ‘No.’ Then it is said to him: ‘Does it have roots?’ He responds: ‘No.’ So it is said to him: ‘Then you have no date palm tree in your grounds!’

It is said to the Jahmiyyah: ‘Do you have a Lord?’ They say: ‘Yes.’ Then it is said to them: ‘Does He speak?’ They respond: ‘No.’ Then it is said to them: ‘Does He have a Hand?’ They respond: ‘No.’ Then it is said to them: ‘Does He have a foot?’ They respond: ‘No.’ Then it is said to them: ‘Does He have a finger?’ They respond: ‘No.’ Then it is said to them: ‘Does He become pleased and does He get angry?’ They respond: ‘No.’ So it is said to them: ‘You have no Lord!’” (Al-Kitāb Al-Latīf li-Sharh Madhāhib Ahlus-Sunnah, no. 35. The narration is authentic, reported by Abdullāh Ibn Ahmad in As-Sunnah, no. 9-10)

Abdullāh Ibn Mas’ūd (Allah be pleased with him) said: “A Jewish Rabbi came to Allāh’s Messenger and said, ‘O Muhammad, we learn that Allāh will place all the Heavens on a Finger, the earths on a finger, the trees on a Finger, the water on a Finger, the soil on a Finger and the rest of the creation on a Finger. Then He will say, ‘I am the King.’ So the Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) laughed till his pre-molar teeth became visible in affirmation of the truthfulness of the speech of the Rabbi. Then the Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) recited, 

وَمَا قَدَرُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِ وَالْأَرْضُ جَمِيعًا قَبْضَتُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَالسَّمَاوَاتُ مَطْوِيَّاتٌ بِيَمِينِهِ ۚ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ

‘They made not a just estimate of Allāh as is due to Him. And on the Day of Resurrection, the whole of the earth will be grasped by His Hand, and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand. Exalted is He, free of all imperfections, High above all that they associate as partners with Him.’ Surah Az-Zumar:67.” (Reported by Al-Bukhārī no. 4711, Muslim no. 2786).

In a wording, he (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, “Allāh will roll up the heavens on the Day of Resurrection and take them in His Right Hand and say, ‘I am the King! Where are the tyrants and where are the haughty ones?’” (Muslim no. 2788)

So our Lord is as He has described Himself and as the Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) has described Him without any resemblance to the creation, “There is none like unto Him, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.” (Ash-Shūrā 42:11) This is the saying of the early Muslim scholars.

BENEFITS:

1. Look how the Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) confirmed the statement of the Jewish Rabbi regarding the Attribute of Fingers for Allāh. Furthermore, the Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) recited from the Book of Allāh regarding the Attribute of Hands for Allāh, and that He, the Perfect and Most High, will grasp the earth by His Hand and the heavens will be rolled up in His right Hand.

2. This tremendous narration exposes the falsehood of the Ash’arī and Māturīdī sects who claim that whenever the Attributes of Allāh such as these are mentioned, it is obligatory to explain them away with metaphorical explanations such that the Fingers and Hands of Allāh are not taken upon their apparent meanings because these Attributes (as they claim) cannot be affirmed for Allāh because “they resemble” the attributes of the creation. If this doctrine of the Ash’arīs were correct, then it would necessitate that the Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) would be obligated to explain to the Jewish Rabbi that these Attributes are to be understood metaphorically, so that the Rabbi does not walk away thinking that indeed Allāh has REAL fingers or REAL hands. Instead, the Messenger (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) smiled at the saying of the Rabbi, and agreed with it, such that the Prophet’s “molar teeth were visible” as occurs in the narration of Sahīh Muslim. After that, the Prophet (salallāhu ‘alaihi wasallam) himself recited from the Book of Allāh a verse that further confirmed what would take place on the Day of Resurrection, “The whole of the earth will be grasped by His Hand, and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand.”

Abu Hanīfah (d. 150H) stated in Al-Fiqhul-Akbar, “Allāh has a Hand, a Face and a Self just as Allāh, the Most High, has said in the Qur’ān when He mentioned the Hand, Face and Self. He has attributes without saying ‘how’. It is not to be said: ‘His Hand means His power and His bounty’ because by doing so, entails rejection of the Attribute.” (See Sharh ‘Aqīdah At-Tahāwiyyah of Ibn Abil-‘Izz Al-Hanafī (d. 792H), p. 137)

3. This narration shows the understanding of the narrator Ibn Mas’ūd (Allah be pleased with him) and the Companions in general that they took the narrations that mention the Attributes of Allāh upon their apparent meanings while freeing Him (the Most High) from any resemblance to the creation, due to their reciting and understanding the statement of Allāh,

  لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ ۖ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ 

“There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.” (Ash-Shūrā 42:11) So they would affirm Fingers and Hands for Allāh upon their true and apparent meanings without making a resemblance or likeness to the creation. And that is the madhhab and belief of Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamā’ah and the early Salaf of this Ummah, the great imāms of the first three centuries, and those who followed their path precisely without deviating to the sects of denial and distortion such as the Ash’arīs.