Ask a Shia

[Muslimah]

Bismillah


Praise be to Allah, prayer and peace be upon our beloved Messenger and teacher Mohamed, and all other Messengers and Prophets.


Insh a Allah I will try to bridge this gap, come to think about it Karbala, there is no conflict between what we say and what u believe, although you didn’t actually state how you understand all those Ayahs. I m interested to know.


All the Ayahs Hadji brought forth contain the words, hands, and fingers, he didn’t even mention the Ayah saying:


“And to Allah belong the east and the west, so wherever you turn yourselves or your faces there is the Face of Allah (and He is High above, over His Throne). Surely! Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures' needs, All-Knowing. 2:115. (I have a point here but will not discuss it in order to stay on topic).


Leave alone the extremely controversial ayah saying:


And they (disbelievers) plotted [to kill Jesus alayhis-salaam], and Allah planned too. And Allah is the Best of the planners. 3:54


Note that the word in Arabic is not Allah planned, but rather it says makarallah which literally means Allah Was Cunning back, or plotted back. What would you say about this? Is it fit for Allah’s Glory to cun, plot, and be foxy?? Hold on. This point in particular is really controversial.


Is it appropriate to say that Allah Adopts such mannerism?


Well, a similar point was raised between me and a coworker, she told me I have some issues with a number of Names and Attributes such as Ajjabar. Which can best be translated as mighty, and simultaneously one Who Mends. It can also give a sense of compelling, forcing, tyranny. She said this is inappropriate to call Allah as such. I told her, in case you faced a situation when someone plotted against you, treated you cunningly or in tyranny, wont u need a superior power that can counter this tyranny and answer back this cunning attitude?? A superpower that you can rely upon and just go to sleep without having to occupy yourself of how to pay them back? For example, when a head of state practices oppression over the people, wont those people be in dire need for a Majestic Power to save them from these practices?? Yes they will and this couldn’t be anyone but Allah The Only Majestic Deity.


In another position Allah Say:


And Allah warns you against Himself (His Punishment), and to Allah is the final return. 3:28


And Allah warns you against Himself (His Punishment) and Allah is full of Kindness to the (His) slaves. 3:30


In both Ayahs, the part that says against Himself, in Arabic can be understood in both ways, that Allah Warns you against Himself and at the same time Allah Himself Is warning you, how would you feel about this, does Allah Has a self, an ego, a soul??? Certainly not like ours, I mean Allah Is Eternal. But Allah Said so, thus I have to take this in consideration and just busy myself on how to avoid being subject to this warning from Allah.


If you look at the previous Ayahs including those produced by Hajdi, you will see that neither Hadji, me or Ibn Taymiyah (although I have some reservations against him will talk about it later) nor you have a real difference of opinion. If Allah Say in Quran that the skies will be in his closed hand, then it will be, if Allah Say that skies will be wrapped in His right hand, then it will be, if Allah Say (in a hadeeth qudsi) that Allah Descends to the lower sky, then this happens. However, in all of this, how does it happen, we have no idea, and we shouldn’t even try to imagine, does Allah have hands like ours, certainly not may Allah Be Glorified above that, Sobhan Allah a`mayasefoun. Otherwise, if we follow this approach we can really fall into to serious Aqidah issues. To further establish this point, look at Allah’s Name Zaher and Batten. I recall reading in Tafseer Ibn Katheer Ibn Abbas may Allah Be Pleased with him much talking about an Ayah in Surat Al Hadeed, namely:


He is the First (nothing is before Him) and the Last (nothing is after Him), the Most High (nothing is above Him) and the Most Near (nothing is nearer than Him). And He is the All-Knower of every thing. 57:3


With all due respect to the translator, however, the Name Dhaher is not Most High and the Batten is not the Most near. But rather, the former is you can say apparent, openly expressed, proved in the sense of that Allah Is Quite apparent thru each and every aspect and part in Allah’s Creation, you can also say the Clear, the Obvious, as opposed to Batten which is although Allah Is Obvious and Manifest in each and every inch of this universe, yet it is impossible to be realized using our sight. Thus Allah Is at the same time is the Interior. This is the best I can translate Battern.


In this Ayah, Ibn Abbas said, because the word Batten gives the sense of inner, interior..etc. if I explain to you what does this mean, you might loose faith. But we can understand it now.


In a nutshell, both you and us karbala agree on a main ground, let me verify this with you, that Allah there is nothing Like Him, correct? Since there is nothing like Him, yet Allah In His True word the Quran Tells about himself few things that we are so concerned to establish them as they are lest we will fall into blasphemy, or shall not be paying due respect to Allah, you are correct in this, we too have the same concern and worry, but we do say those things are there in a manner that are unknown to us. That we cannt comprehend since simultaneously they form parts of the noble Ayahs. On the other hand, if one – I seek refuge to Allah – say that Allah istawa on the throne after creating the universe in 6 days, I mean like the Jews saying that Allah Rested on the 7th, this is what can be called open Anthropomorphism. Or that Allah Forgets..etc.


I have no idea where did you get this from,


Look at statements like:


QUOTE


Confirmation of Allah's possessing two Hands, right and left


but also to stress a point,


What further proves this fact, commenting on the hadeeth reported by Musnad Ahmed:


Narrated under the authority of Abdullah Ibn Amr Ibn Al A`s:


That the Mesenger salla Allah a`lyehee wa sallam said those who are just on the Day of Resurrection Allah Shall Seat them on pulpits made of light located to the right side of ArRahman may He be Glorified and both of His Hands are right, those who are being just in their judgment, with their household and those who are under their guardianship.


Note that the hadeeth stresses that both of Allah’s Hands are right. See, it is a stage that we all went through, which is to reach a point when we cannt grasp how Allah Is. Thus, as my brothers suggested here the best thing is to stop when the mind stops. Our minds shall never be able to reach the unreachable.


As for Ibn Taymeiah saying that Allah Descends to the lower sky just exactly as I descend off the pulpit, this is I think an exaggerating attitude. He shouldn’t say this, out of respect to Allah, he shouldn’t even exemplify, but rather explain as much as possible because he does not know how exactly does Allah Descend. Can anyone of us know how Allah Created Adam, yes we know that Allah Said be and he was, but I mean how Did Allah Say this? No we don’t. there are areas when we should stop in order not to turn as those who are Ashabel kalam who kept themselves and the Ummah busy with issues which had no benefit except to the enemies of the Ummah. Ibn Taymiah is not protected against making mistakes. But the above mentioned hadeeth shows exactly that even with Allah explaining in Quran how Allah grasps in His Right hand the skies, or how Allah contains in his handful, how about when Allah Say:


You are in our eyes??? Or you will be raised and protected according to what my eye accept?? Note that in one Ayah Allah Used plural and the other Allah Used singular.


Well, come to think about it, all these issues brother categorize under :


It is He Who has sent down to you (Muhammad) the Book (this Qur’an). In it are Verses that are entirely clear, they are the foundations of the Book [and those are the verses of commandments, obligatory duties and legal punishments]; and others not entirely clear. So as for those in whose hearts there is a deviation (from the truth) they follow that which is not entirely clear thereof, seeking Fitnah (polytheism and trials, etc.), and seeking for its hidden meanings, save Allah. And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say: "We believe in it; the whole of it (clear and unclear Verses) are from our Lord." And none receive admonition except men of understanding. 3:7.


Those issues fall under the points of hidden meanings, which people may differ regarding their understanding. However, we all must observe one point, that in all of those descriptions which Allah Gave to Himself, and established by Ayahs and not hadeeth, we must take them using the rule of nothing Like Allah.