We are students who are seeking knowledge. We study ‘aqeedah with some teachers who are teaching us Ash’ari ‘aqeedah. They interpret the hand of Allaah as meaning His power or His blessing, and His being above His throne (istiwaa’) as meaning His sovereignty, and so on. What is the ruling on studying with these teachers?
Praise be to Allah.
These people who interpret the Qur’aan in this manner,
whether they are called Ash’aris or some other name, have gone astray
from the path of the righteous salaf. Not even one letter of what these
people say in their misinterpretations has been narrated from the righteous
salaf. Let them bring one word from the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), or from Abu Bakr, or ‘Umar,
or ‘Uthmaan, or ‘Ali, to say that they interpreted Allaah’s hand as
meaning His power, or that they interpreted His being above the Throne
(istiwaa’) as referring to His Sovereignty, or that they interpreted
His Face as meaning reward, or that they interpreted His love as meaning
reward, etc. Let them produce one word from them to show that they interpreted
these aayahs and similar verses in the manner that these people interpret
them. If they cannot produce any such thing, let it be said that either
the righteous salaf, headed by the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), the leader of the pious,
were unaware of the meaning of this tremendous ‘aqeedah (of Islam),
or they did know it but they concealed the truth. But neither of these
can be said of the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or of any of the Rightly-Guided
Khaleefahs, or of his Companions (may Allaah be pleased with them).
If that is the case then we have to follow their path (the path of the
Prophet and the Rightly-Guided Khaleefahs).
My advice to these people is to fear
Allaah and to abandon what So and so said, and to come back to the Book
of Allaah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and the way of the Rightly-Guided
Khaleefahs who came after him. They should know that there will come
a Day when they will return to Allaah, when they will not be able to
use the opinion of So and so as evidence. By Allaah, So and so will
not be able to help them on that Day. Allaah says (interpretation
of the meaning):
“And (remember) the Day (Allaah) will
call to them, and say: ‘What answer gave you to the Messengers?’”
[al-Qasas 28:65]
He did not say, Remember the Day when
(Allaah) will call to them and say, ‘What answer gave you to So and
so…?’
And Allaah says in His Book (interpretation
of the meaning):
“So believe in Allaah and His Messenger
(Muhammad), the Prophet who can neither read nor write (i.e. Muhammad),
who believes in Allaah and His Words, and follow him so that you may
be guided”
[al-A’raaf 7:158]
Allaah commanded us to believe in him and follow him.
If this is the case then how can a person believe in Allaah and His
Messenger in the true and complete sense, then turn away from the Sunnah
of His Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the way in which he
believed in his Lord, and misinterpret the way in which Allaah has described
Himself in His Book or the way in which His Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) has described Him, simply
because of illusions which they call rational thought?
I advise them to come back to Allaah and to abandon any
other opinion, and follow what Allaah and His Messenger say, for if
they die following that they will have died following the truth. But
if they go against that then they are in grave danger and those whose
opinions they are following will not protect them from Allaah. Allaah
says (interpretation of the meaning):
“(Remember)
the Day when every person will come up pleading for himself, and every
one will be paid in full for what he did (good or evil, belief or disbelief
in the life of this world) and they will not be dealt with unjustly”
[al-Nahl 16:111]
I repeat this advice to every believer, to come
back to the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) with regard to what he believes
about his Lord and God, following the path of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), the rightly guided khaleefahs
who came after him, and the imams of the Muslims who led the people
in following the Sunnah of the Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), without referring to rational
thought, which is no more than an illusion, concerning issue that have
to do with Allaah and His names and attributes. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn
Taymiyah spoke well when he described the ahl al-kalaam (“Islamic” philosophers)
as “having been given intelligence but not knowledge, and had having
been given smartness but not sincerity.” So one has to deepen one’s
knowledge on the basis of the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). I ask Allaah to help us
all to have faith and to cause us to meet Him when He is pleased with
us, for He is Able to do all things. Praise be to Allaah, the Lord of
the Worlds, and may Allaah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet
Muhammad and his family and companions.
I call upon all seekers of knowledge to call their brothers
to that which they have heard, for by Allaah it is the truth. Whoever
claims to have truth other than this, we will accept it and adhere to
it (if it can be proven to be true).