Chapter 16: Affirming Direction (Al-Jihāt) for Allāh, the Mighty and Majestic: By Abu Isma’īl Al-Harawī(d. 481H)

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BISMILLAH

The following are chapters from Shaikhul-Islām Abu Ismā`īl Al-Harawī’s: “The Book Of Forty Narrations In The Evidences Of Tawhīd”Screenshot 2015-12-08 10.27.51

(Born 396H and died 481H -rahimahullāh)

This compilation is an amazing series of narrations in the establishment of the Tawhīd of Allāh, the Mighty and Majestic, especially in the arena of the Names and Attributes that has left the Jahmiyyah and their offspring such as the Ashā`irah and Māturīdīs dumbstruck just as Allāh has said:

وَقُلْ جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلُ ۚ إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا

“And say: ‘The Truth has come and falsehood has been vanquished. Surely! Falsehood is ever bound to be wiped out.’” (Al-Israa 17:81)

Chapter 16: Affirming Direction (Al-Jihāt) for Allāh, the Mighty and Majestic:

Abu Ismā`īl Al-Harawī (481H) with his chain of narration to `Abdullāh Ibn `Amr (رضي الله عنه) that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

إِنَّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ عَلَى مَنَابِرَ مِنْ نُورٍ عَنْ يَمِينِ الرَّحْمَنِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَكِلْتَا يَدَيْهِ يَمِينٌ

“Those who were just will be seated upon pulpits of light on the right side of the Most Merciful, the Mighty and Majestic – and both of His Hands are right Hands.”

Reported by Muslim (18) with the added wording:

((الَّذِينَ يَعْدِلُونَ فِي حُكْمِهِمْ وَأَهْلِيهِمْ وَمَا وَلُوا ))

“Those who do justice in their rulings and with their families and over that which they have authority.” Ahmad (2/160), An-Nasā’ee (8/195).

Notes:

قال الشيخ ابن عثيمين رحمه الله :
” جاء في بعض كتب أهل الكلام يقولون: لا يجوز أن يوصف الله بأنه في جهة مطلقا، وينكرون العلو ظنا منهم أن إثبات الجهة يستلزم الحصر.
وليس كذلك، لأننا نعلم أن ما فوق العرش عدم لا مخلوقات فيه، ما ثم إلا الله، ولا يحيط به شيء من مخلوقاته أبدا
فالجهة إثباتها لله فيه تفصيل، أما إطلاق لفظها نفيا وإثباتا فلا نقول به؛ لأنه لم يرد أن الله في جهة، ولا أنه ليس في جهة، ولكن نفصل، فنقول: إن الله في جهة العلو؛ لأن الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم قال للجارية: (أين الله؟) وأين يستفهم بها عن المكان؛ فقالت: في السماء. فأثبتت ذلك، فأقرها النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، وقال: (أعتقها، فإنها مؤمنة) .
فالجهة لله ليست جهة سفل، وذلك لوجوب العلو له فطرة وعقلا وسمعا، وليست جهة علو تحيط به؛ لأنه تعالى وسع كرسيه السماوات والأرض، وهو موضع قدميه؛ فكيف يحيط به تعالى شيء من مخلوقاته؟! .
فهو في جهة علو لا تحيط به، ولا يمكن أن يقال: إن شيئا يحيط به، لأننا نقول: إن ما فوق العرش عدم ليس ثم إلا الله – سبحانه -” .
انتهى من “مجموع فتاوى ورسائل العثيمين” (10/ 1131)

Allāmah Ibn ‘Uthaimeen said: “There appears in some books of the people of theological rhetoric (ahlul-kalām) where they say: ‘It is not allowed to describe Allah with being in particular direction at all.’ They reject the highness of Allah and that He is above, thinking that affirming this direction for Allah necessitates placing limits upon upon Him. But this is not the case because we know that above the Throne there is nothing from the creation, there is none over it except Allah, and there is absolutely nothing of His creation that encompasses or confines Him. 

It is correct to point upwards into the sky when referring to Allah, as He is above His creation. The Prophet (ﷺ) would point upwards as did the slave-girl.

So we say: Allah is in the direction of above because Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said to the slave-girl: ‘Where is Allah?’  The term ‘where’ is seeking to know the place. So she said: ‘Above the sky.’ So she affirmed that Allah is above, and the Prophet (ﷺ) confirmed that and said: ‘Free her, for she is a believer.’ So the direction affirmed for Allah is not lowly – and the highness of Allah is affirmed for Him by way of the fitrah (innate nature), sound intellect and the revealed text. The affirmation of direction for Allah is not encompassment of Him because of the fact that His Footstool (al-Kursee) extends over the Heavens and Earth, and it is the place of His two feet, so how can He be confined by anything from His creations!? So He is in the direction of above without any confinement, and it is not permitted to say: ‘There is something that confines Him or encompasses Him.’ We say: There is over the ‘Arsh (the Throne) nothing besides Allah, the Most Perfect, free of all imperfections.”

[See Majmoo’ Fatāwā war-Rasā’il Al-‘Uthaimeen 10/1131]


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