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admin on Mar 5th, 2008 in
Aqeedah (Creed) |
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When I read this fatwaa my heart moved. It is a beautiful explanation:
A senior spiritual aspirant wrote,‘Most of the time I am attentive (of Allah). However, a doubt pesters me all the time. That is, with this attention (towards Allah) spontaneouly my thoughts are directed (upwards) towards the sky. I understand that I am exempted for such an unintentional thought, but its presence bothers me. May be it is from a (hidden) sub-section of unbelief (kufr). Please, prescribe some treatment for it if necessary.’Hakim al-Umma Shaykh Mawlana Ashraf ‘Ali Thanawi (may Allah have mercy on him) replied,
“Peace and blessing be on you.
Allah, Most High is free from been given a direction.
However, His most selected effulgences (tajeliyat) have a special relationship with His Throne (‘arsh). It is for this reason thoughts of Him direct one’s attention insticntively upwards. This is based on a reality and there is nothing of unbelief (kufr) in it.”
Tarbiyet us Salik, volume 2, page 1126
Source: http://www.ashrafiya.com/2007/11/25/is-allah-in-sky/
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as salaamu alaykum,
the salaf like qatada rahimahullah believed that Istiwa was rising, towering above, etc.. Ofcourse this is made ‘tafweed’ of and thus it becomes ‘His rank Ascended over the throne’ but shall we leave the clear for the unclear? Our intellect points our faces to the sky. Our fingers point up. But instead of believing in the reality we follow phillosophy. im guilty of this too. Allaah save us all ameen
“His rank ascended over the throne?”
This is not tafwid. This is a type of ta’wil. Tafwid would be to say “Allah only knows the true meaning of this statement.”
1) You also prayer towards the ka’abah – does that mean Allah is “there” as well?
2) The lifting of the hands is the qiblah of supplicant. That is all. Mercy descends from the heavens, as well as barakah. Its that simple.
3) Philosophy? What are you talking about? How about Qur’anic! Allah says, “There is nothing like unto Him…”
From this verse it is clear that it is impossible, then, for Allah to be in a “direction” or “place”, upon which Ahlus Sunnah have stated.
Jazaakum Allahu Khairan
Mashallah Abu Layth, i learned more from that comment than the original post…good answer brother
Not necessarily sidi abul layth. Allah mentions that He has Hearing and Sight. His Hearing and Sight is not like ours. Just because we can say about ourselves that we have hearing and sight doesnt mean its the same thing. This does not cause us to reject that Allah has hearing and Sight.
We have statements from the Salaf saying that Allah ascended the throne and that it means really ‘ascension’, ‘rising’, ‘towering above’ however whatever comes to your mind then know this is not Allah. This is the same thing that ibn baz rahimahullah alluded to.
As far as rising of rank then this is what was in the footnotes to fiqh al akbar. This is just playing with the clear words and phrases.
Allah being above the heavens is not like one of us being over something. Allah is DISTINCT from creation. There is no tashbih there. Rather we are taking the quranic path.
If you say it would indicate tashbih then it would likewise be tashbih to say ‘Allah lives’ because we as humans and even animals and trees live. But is the living alike? Is the living even similar at all? The answer is NO ofcourse not.
Same with nuzool. Allah and His Prophet salalahu alayhi wa salam have such clear speech. Will i truely be sent to hell because I affirm that Allah created adam alayhi salam with his two hands? And like the debate with musa alayhi salam and adam alayhi salam (where musa said Allah created you with his hand) etc.. will this send me to hell?
Where is the logic habibi?
Assalamu alaykoum!
My Brother Abul Layth,i have a question:
i heard that Imam Ahmad(rahimahu llah) said,that Allah created everything inside his being.How do you think,is it his words and can it be true?
and one more question:what should i say to answer pseudo-salafis,when they ask where is Allah exactly?)
Can someone state if what is posted on the blog below is correct please?
http://umabdullah.wordpress.com/2007/11/12/ibn-hajar-alasqalani-refutes-the-claim-that-the-salaf-made-tafwid-al-mana-meaning/
as-salamu `alaikum
Isn’t Ibn Hajar quoting others here as he starts with ‘and others beside him say’.
وقال غيره قول من قال طريقة السلف أسلم وطريقة الخلف أحكم ليس بمستقيم، لأنه ظن أن طريقة السلف مجرد الإيمان بألفاظ القرآن والحديث من غير فقه في ذلك، وأن طريقة الخلف هي استخراج معاني النصوص المصروفة عن حقائقها بأنواع المجازات، فجمع هذا القائل بين الجهل بطريقة السلف والدعوى في طريقة الخلف، وليس الأمر كما ظن، بل السلف في غاية المعرفة بما يليق بالله تعالى، وفي غاية التعظيم له والخضوع لأمره والتسليم لمراده، وليس من سلك طريق الخلف واثقا بأن الذي يتأوله هو المراد ولا يمكنه القطع بصحة تأويله، وأما قولهم في العلم فزادوا في التعريف عن ضرورة أو استدلال وتعريف العلم، انتهى عند قوله عليه: فإن أبوا إلا الزيادة فليزدادوا عن تيسير الله له ذلك وخلقه ذلك المعتقد في قلبه، وإلا فالذي زادوه هو محل النزاع فلا دلالة فيه وبالله التوفيق.
Anyway, I don’t see how this passage is a refutation of tafwid at all.
To me it seems as though he is rather defending the way of the salaf (tafwid) – saying it is better than that of the khalaf as the khalaf are not sure if the meaning they ascribe is that which Allah intended whereas the salaf submit to His intended meaning knowing what befits their Lord and what does not without the need of ta’wil which the khalaf used.
“The Salaf had utmost knowledge of what befits Allah”
Indeed. They knew that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala did not have literal hands and feet and so on.
“and had the utmost glorification, obedience to His commands and submission to what He intendedwilled”
It says “taslim li muradih” – they surrendered to His intent.
This is how I believe Ibn Hajar’s statement should be understood.
Bear in mind that elsewhere he says:
وَالتَّفْوِيض إِلَى اللَّه فِي جَمِيعهَا وَالِاكْتِفَاء بِالْإِيمَانِ بِكُلِّ مَا أَوْجَبَ اللَّه فِي كِتَابه أَوْ عَلَى لِسَان نَبِيّه إِثْبَاته لَهُ أَوْ تَنْزِيهه عَنْهُ عَلَى طَرِيق الْإِجْمَال وَبِاَللَّهِ التَّوْفِيق , وَلَوْ لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي تَرْجِيح التَّفْوِيض عَلَى التَّأْوِيل إِلَّا أَنَّ صَاحِب التَّأْوِيل لَيْسَ جَازِمًا بِتَأْوِيلِهِ بِخِلَافِ صَاحِب التَّفْوِيض
The correct way is to refrain from the likes of such investigations and commit the meaning to Allah in its entirety and suffice with the belief in all that Allah has mentioned in His book or upon the tongue of His Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, affirming them while declaring transcendence: leaving its meaning ambiguous. Committal of the meaning is preferred to figurative interpretations because the one who interprets is shadowed by doubt as opposed to the one who commits their meanings to Allah.
see here for more useful quotes:
http://www.marifah.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=2475&hl=
I am opent to corrections from others, including Um Abdullah if I have made a mistake.
was-salam