WHY THERE IS OPPOSITION TO THE WAY OF THE PIOUS
PREDECESSORS IN AFFIRMING THE NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES OF ALLAAH
Those who oppose the way of the Pious Predecessors in
affirming the Names and Attributes of Allaah do so under the pretext that they
are avoiding making any resemblance between the Attributes of the Creator and
those of the creation. They resort to interpreting the verses and hadeeth that
mention the Names and Attributes and accused those who affirm them on their
apparent meaning as being Mushabbihah (Anthropomorphists).
The futility of their claim is known from a number of
angles:
i. They automatically assume that because the Attributes
Hand, Face etc. have been affirmed for Allaah in the Qur’aan and Hadeeth
that this somehow constitutes a resemblance to the creation. Therefore, they
interpret away such words for no other reason than that their minds cannot
dispel making resemblance. In so doing they have forgotten the verse "There
is nothing like unto Him..." since in it is a denial of any resemblance and
a cure for the disease of anthropomorphism. The resemblance is only in the
wording and not in the reality of the Attributes of Allaah and those of the
creation.
ii. Allaah - the Most Perfect - describes both Himself
and the creation by means of the same word in many places in His Book, such as
His saying about Himself: "Indeed, Allaah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing"
(Soorah al-Mujaadilah 58:1) and He says in respect of the creation: "How
clearly will they see and hear..." (Soorah Maryam 19:38). So is there any
resemblance between the Seeing and Hearing of Allaah and that of the creation,
simply because they have both been described with the same words? No! Rather the
resemblance is only in the wording and not in the reality of the respective
attributes. And the same applies for the remainder of the Names and Attributes
of Allaah: there is no resemblance between them and anything else, and there is
no need to resort to the distortion and twisting of the words of the
Qur’aan and Sunnah to try to avoid resemblance since resemblance did not
exist to begin with.
iii. Allaah - the Most High - says: "The description
of Paradise which the pious have been promised is that in it are rivers of water
the taste and smell of which are not changed, rivers of milk of which the taste
never changes..." (Soorah Muhammad 47:15) Our Lord has informed us that in
Paradise there are rivers of water and milk, but are they the same as the water
and milk of this world? No! Because their taste and smell does not change
whereas the water and milk of this world alters in smell and taste after a time.
So there is no true resemblance between the two except for the names - they can
both be described as water and milk. In this is a further reply to the one who,
for example, claims that affirming the Attribute of Hand for Allaah is
resembling Him to the creation, since the likeness is only in the name, not in
the reality.
iv. They are forced to affirm some of the Attributes for
Allaah since affirming them is required by necessity. They affirm for Him the
Attributes of Life and Knowledge since denial of these would result in the
worship of one who was without life and knowledge. So they affirm such
attributes, unlike others, such as Hand, despite the fact that all of them have
been mentioned in the same Qur’aan. Therefore, it may be said to them: But
in the Qur’aan we also find that the creation has been described with the
attributes of life and knowledge, such as the verse: "And peace on him
(i.e. Yahya) the day he was born, the day he dies, and the day he will be raised
up to life" (Soorah Maryam 19:15) and the verse: "They said: Do not be
afraid! We give you glad tidings of a boy possessing much knowledge and
wisdom." (Soorah al-Hijr 15:53). So we say: You have resembled Allaah to
His creation since you have affirmed life and knowledge for both of them. Their
reply is: No, rather the Life and Knowledge of the Creator in no way resembles
that of the creation! So we say: Then why are you not able to affirm for Him a
Hand that likewise in no way resembles the hand of the creation? Why the
inconsistency?
Exposing Kabbani 19 : Why Oppose the Salaf?