The catastrophe of the Mujassimah and Mushabbihah
The catastrophe of the Mujassimah and Mushabbihah (Like the wahhabis), is that they attribute to Allah the body and form.
And this is because they take the “Mutashabih” verses, that have several meanings, literally and on their apparent meaning. For example the word “Wajhullah” they think it means literally “the face of Allah”, they think that “Yad” means hand, and that “Saq” means shin, and the “^Ayn” means eye when all applied to Allah, and that’s how they ended up becoming Mujassimah (blasphemers who attribute to Allah the body and form). And that’s how they delude that Allah is a body sitting on the throne, and claim that he puts two feet on a chair!!! This is what wahhabis teach now a days! We seek refuge with Allah from all of this blasphemy. God can not be as they thought or imagined. He has no body or form, He exists eternally without being in a place, and as Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal said: “Whatever you imagine in your minds, Allah is not like it”. Imam ash-Shafi^iy said “The Mujassim (One who attributes body to God) is blasphemer”.
If they understood faith properly, they would not have dared to say such blasphemy.
Where as us, Ahlus-Sunnah, our Aqeedah creed is as all scholars unanimously agreed upon such as the great Imam Shafi^iy scholar Imam as-Subki who said:
عقيدتنا ما قرره أهل السنة والجماعة مثل المجتهد الكبير الامام السبكي في طبقات الشافعية: “وها نحن نذكر عقيدة أهل السنة فنقول: عقيدتنا أن الله قديم أزليٌّ، لا يُشْبِهُ شيئا ولا يشبهه شىء، ليس له جهة ولا مكان، ولا يجري عليه وقتٌ ولا زمان، ولا يقال له أين ولا حيث، يُرَى لا عن مقابلة ولا على مقابلة، كان ولا مكان، كوَّن المكان، ودبَّرَ الزمان، وهو الآن على ما عليه كان، هذا مذهب أهل السنة، وعقيدة مشايخ الطريق رضي الله عنهم ” ا.هـ.
Which means:
“And now we mention the doctrine of Ahl al-Sunnah, we say: Our belief is that God is eternal, which means He has no beginning. He does not resemble any of the creations, and nothing is like him. He is not bound to a direction or a place. Time does not lapse on Him. And it cannot be said where is He, or how is he. He will be seen (in the hereafter by the believers) NOT in a place or direction. He existed when there was no place, He created the place, and He created time, and He is now on as He was eternally (He Exists without a Place) this is the doctrine of the Sunnis, and the doctrine of Mashaikh Scholars of the straight path, may God bless them”.
Also our belief is according to the great Imams of Ahlus-Sunnah such as the Egyptian Sheikh Salim al-Bishriy (1335AH) who was the Sheikh of Al-Azhar mosque who said in in the book of “Furqan al-Qur’an” (printed with al-‘Asma’ was-Sifat for al-Bayhaqi) in page / 74, he said:
وكذلك ما قاله الشيخ سليم البشري المصري (1335 هـ) شيخ الجامع الأزهر في فرقان القرءان (مطبوع مع كتاب الأسماء والصفات للبيهقي) وذلك صفحة/ 74 ما نصه: “إعلم أيدك الله بتوفيقه وسلك بنا وبك سواء طريقه، أن مذهب الفرقة الناجية وما عليه أجمع السنيون أن الله تعالى منزه عن مشابهة الحوادث مخالف لها في جميع سمات الحدوث، ومن ذلك تنزهه عن الجهة والمكان كما دلت على ذلك البراهين القطعية”ا.هـ
Which means:
“Know, may Allah support you with His guidance, and may Allah guide us and you the way to the straight path, that the doctrine of the saved people, and the belief of all Sunnis is that Allah the exalted is clear from resembling the creations. He is clear from the characteristics of the creations, that includes clearing Allah from being in a direction or a place as proved by the absolute Islamic evidence”.
Also all Muslims believe according to what al-Hafidh and al-Mujtahid Imam al-Bayhaqiy (may Allah have mercy upon him) Said in his book “al-I^tiqad wal-Hidayah” (Belief and Guidance):
وما يقوله الحافظ البيهقي رحمه الله: “وفي الجملة يجب أن يُعلم أن استواء الله سبحانه وتعالى ليس باستواء اعتدال عن اعوجاج، ولا استقرار في مكان، ولا مماسة لشيء من خلقه، لكنه مستو على عرشه كما أخبر بلا كيف بلا أين، وأن إتيانه ليس بإتيان من مكان إلى مكان، وأن مجيئه ليس بحركة، وأن نزوله ليس بنقلة، وأن نفسه ليس بجسم، وأن وجهه ليس بصورة، وأن يده ليست بجارحة، وأن عينه ليست بحدقة وإنما هذه أوصاف جاء بها التوقيف فقلنا بها ونفينا عنها التكييف، فقد قال تعالى: ليس كمثله شىء ، وقال: ولم يكن له كفواً أحد، وقال: هل تعلم له سمياً ، انتهى من كتابه الاعتقاد والهداية. والله أعلم
Which means:
“In general one must know that the Istiwa’ of Allah (subjugating the throne) is not sitting or standing, nor settlement or rest in a place, nor touching to something of His creations. Rather His istiwa’ on the throne is as he told, without a how (Kayf – manners of beings), and without a where (place). And that His “Itian” is not moving from one place to another, and that His “Maji’” is not a movement, and His “Nuzool” is not a movement, and that His self is not a body, and that His “Wajh” is not an image, and that his “Yad” is not an organ, and that His “^Ayn” is not a pupil. Rather these are attributes that are confirmed to be attributed to Allah, and so we affirm it and we clear these attributes from resemblance to the creations “Kayfiyah”. For, Allah the almighty said in al-Qur’an {Laysa Kamithlihi Shay’} which means [Absolutely Nothing Resembles Allah], and He said: {Wa Lam Yakul-Lahu Kufuwan Ahad} which means [Allah has no equal or similitude], and He said: {Hal Ta^lam Lahu Samiya} which means [Nothing is like Allah]”.
Likewise the the creed of Imam al-Ghazaliy who said in his book, Ihya’u ^Ulum ad-Din, said: “… places do not contain Him, nor do the directions, earth, or heavens. He is attributed with an istiwa’ over al-^arsh as He said in the Qur’an–with the meaning that He willed–and not as what people may delude. It is an istiwa’ which is clear of touching, resting, holding, moving and containment. Al-^arsh does not carry Him, but rather al-^arsh and those that carry al-^arsh are all carried by Allah with His Power and are subjugated to Him. He is above al-^arsh and above the heavens and above everything–in status– an aboveness that does not give Him proximity to al-^arsh or the heavens as it does not give Him farness from earth. He is higher in status than everything: higher in status than al-^arsh and the heavens, as He is higher in status than earth and the rest of the creation.”
This is the true belief of Ahlus-Sunnah, clearing Allah for being a body or image or being in a place or on a place or in a direction, because He existed eternally before the creations, and He is clear from resembling the creations.
And Allah knows best.