Part of Concepts of Ahl as-Sunnah (series completed)
· Lesson 84 of 1251
Summary of Sunni concepts | Concept (82) | Ash'ari distortion of the meaning of height and leveling
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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A summary of the concepts held by the Ahl al-Sunnah.
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The Ash'aris' distortion of the meaning of Highness (al-'uluw) and Establishment (al-istiwa').
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The Ash'aris may affirm for Allah the Almighty the latter two types of Highness.
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Namely, the Highness of Subjugation and Dominance, and the Highness of Status and Rank.
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However, they deny the first type.
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The Highness of Essence and the Establishment over the Throne.
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They deny it despite the abundance of textual evidence for it from the Qur'an and hadiths.
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Such as the aforementioned verse and others.
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In this denial, they claim
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that this matter belongs to the realm of rational arguments rather than transmitted texts.
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According to them, reason dictates the impossibility of affirming a direction for Allah, glory be to Him.
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Because, in their view, affirming a direction is a characteristic of physical bodies.
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And Allah is exalted above having a physical body.
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Because of this rationalist corruption,
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the Ash'aris interpret the 'Establishment' mentioned in six verses of the Book of Allah as 'Seizure' (al-istila').
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This is a distortion of the texts, not an interpretation.
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Furthermore, it leads to another grave and reprehensible error.
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For it implies a struggle and a contest for the Throne between Allah and His creation.
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As if Allah then struggles for it and seizes it.
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Exalted is Allah far above what they say.
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It is a strange contradiction of theirs that they affirm the vision of Allah the Almighty on the Day of Resurrection,
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basing their argument for it on reason rather than transmitted texts.
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Yet, despite this, they deny Highness.
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Even though reason deems it impossible for two separate entities
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to see one another without a direction or a facing position.
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By saying this, they have invited the mockery of the Mu'tazila upon themselves,
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for they said: "Whoever affirms the vision of Allah but denies direction
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has made people laugh at his intellect."
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Among the clear textual proofs for the Highness of Allah in His Essence
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is the saying of Allah the Almighty:
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“(And remember) when Allah said: O Jesus! Lo! I am gathering thee and causing thee to ascend unto Me, and am cleansing thee of those who disbelieve and am setting those who follow thee above those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then unto Me ye will (all) return, and I shall judge between you as to that wherein ye used to differ.” (3:55)
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It contains proof of the Highness of Allah the Almighty in the heaven,
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and that He is distinct from His creation, established over His Throne.
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Proof for Highness from the Sunnah is found in the mutawatir hadith:
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"Our Lord, blessed and exalted is He, descends every night
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when the last third of the night remains,
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and He says: 'Who is asking Me, that I may give him?
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Who is calling upon Me, that I may answer him?
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Who is seeking My forgiveness, that I may forgive him?'"
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It is agreed upon.
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This is a real descent that befits the majesty of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic.
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The Ahl al-Sunnah believe in it without asking how (takyeef) and without negation (ta'til),
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and without distortion (tahrif) or likening Him to creation (tashbih).