Bismillah, praise be to Allah the creator that has no beginning and no end, and does not resemble the creations and does not need any of the creations, we ask Allah to raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad and his kind Aal and companions, Thereafter

Know that all the Muslims of Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jama^ah unite on the same creed, believing in the oneness of Allah, and clearing Allah from resembling the creations or needing any of his creations. And based on that, the belief of Ahlus-Sunnah was clearing Allah from being in a place or having a body or form, Subhanahu wa Ta^ala.

Although Ash^aris (Such as Nawawiy, Ibn Hajar, Baqillaniy, Qurtubiy) were well known to have refuted the sects such as the Karamiah, Mu^tazilah, Jahmiyah, and Mushabbihah (Those who liken Allah to his creations), let it be clear that the creed of the Asharis is the creed of the Salaf and Khalaf scholars. Because Ash^aris deduced and summarized the creed of the Prophet and the companions with the textual and mental proofs.

Islam and the mind do not accept the claim that Allah is a body or has a place or position or direction. Because the one that has a body, or is in a place, or in a direction, is created, and Allah is the creator of the places, bodies and directions, and He does not need nor resemble any of his creations in anyway. So all the Sifat (attributes) of Allah which are numerous, are confirmed to Allah Subhanahu without resembling them to the creations in any way.

And based on that, the scholars reported that the Imams of the Four Schools of Ahlus-Sunnah have agreed to declare the one who attributes to Allah the body as a kafir.

– Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal said: “Whoever says that Allah is a body unlike the bodies have blasphemed (committed kufur)”. This is because Allah is not a body, and is not like the creations in anyway.

– Also the great Mufassir Ibn al-Jawziy al-Hanbaliy said in his book “Daf^ Shubah at-Tashbih” page 58: “The obligation upon us is to believe that the self of Allah ta^ala is not contained in a place, and He is not attributed with change nor movement”.

– And Ibn al-Jawziy also said: “Some people lied when they heard about the Sifat (attributes of Allah) and interpreted them according to the physical meanings, such as those who claimed that Allah literally descends from the sky and moves from one place to another. This is an ill understanding, because the one who moves would be from a place to a place, and that necessitates that the place is bigger than him and that requires movement, and all of that is impossible to be attributed to Allah the Exalted”.

As known, Imam Ibn al-Jawziy is the great interpreter of al-Qur’an, and one of the great heads of the Hanbalis. In his book “Daf^ Shubah at-Tashbih” he refuted the Mushabbiha and Mujassimah that attributed themselves falsely to the Hanbali School. He also cleared Imam Ahmad and the Salaf from the beliefs of Tajsim (attributing a body to Allah) and Tashbih (likening Allah to his creations), and cleared Allah from the place, space, size, shape, limit, body, sitting, standing, settling, and other attributes of the creations.

– Ibn Hajar al-Haitamiy also confirmed in his book “al-Fatawa al-Hadithiyah” page 144 that Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal clears Allah from being a body, or having a limit, size, shape, place or direction. He said: “The creed of the Imam of Alsunna Ahmad Bin Hanbal (Radiallahu ^Anhu) complies with the creed of Ahlus-Sunnah Wal-Jama^ah in exceptionally clearing Allah completely from what the ungrateful wrongdoers did by attributing to Allah non befitting attributes such the direction and body and other attributes of imperfection, in fact any attribute that does not have complete perfection. And what became popular between the ignorant people who falsely claim to follow this great Imam (Ahmad bin Hanbal) al-Mujtahid, that he attributed the direction to Allah or such, this is a lie and a false accusation to him”.

وقال الشيخ شهاب الدين أحمد بن محمد المعروف بابن حجر الهيتمي الأشعري (974 )ها ما نصه (الفتاوى الحديثية (ص/ 144): “عقيدة إمام السُّنة أحمد بن حنبل رضي الله عنه موافقة لعقيدة أهل السنة والجماعة من المبالغة التامّة في تنزيه الله تعالى عما يقول الظالمون والجاحدون علوّا كبيرا من الجهة والجسمية وغيرهما من سائر سمات النقص، بل وعن كل وصف ليس فيه كمال مطلق، وما اشتهر بين جهلة المنسوبين إلى هذا الإمام الأعظم المجتهد من أنه قائل بشىء من الجهة أو نحوها فكذب وبهتان وافتراء عليه”ا.هـ

But the Mushabbihah (such as the Wahhabis or so-called Salafis) twist and fabricate lies and accuse the Salaf with beliefs that no Muslim says or accepts, such as the place or bodily parts to Allah. The creed of Salaf complies with the creed of Asharis.

– Imam al-Baqillaniy (one of the great Asharis) said in his book al-‘Insaf page 65: “And we do not say that the ^arsh (throne) is a place of settlement or rest for Allah, because Allah existed and there was no place, and when He created the place, He did not change”. He also said: “Allah is clear from being in directions, or resembling the creations, and also He is not attributed with transformation or movement, nor with standing or sitting, because such attributes are of the creations, and Allah (the creator) is clear from that”.

That’s the creed of al-Baqillaniy who reported the creed of the Salaf and Khalaf, which is the creed of the Prophet and the companions.

* When al-Bulqiniy died, Abul Fadl at-Tamimi came to his funeral with bare feet, along with his brothers and friends and ordered to call out during his Janazah: “This is the Imam of Alsunna and the Religion, He is the Imam of the Muslims, He is the one that used to defend the Shari^a and refute those who oppose, He is the one who compiled seventy thousand letters refuting the atheists”. And he remained in his mourning ^azza’ for three days, and he used to visit his grave every Saturday”.

– Al-Hafidh Ibn ^asakr reported from ad-Damghaniy that Imam Abul Hassan at-Tamimi al-Hanbaliy said to his companions “Stick with this man (al-Baqillaniy), for he is indispensable”.

– Imam al-Hafidh al-^Iraqiy, and Imam al-Qurafiy, and Ibn Hajar al-Haitamiy, and Mulla ^Ali al-Qari, and Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthariy and others reported that the Imams of the Four Schools whom are the guide of the Ummah (Imam ash-Shafi^iy, Malik, Ahmad and Abu Hanfiah Radiallahu ^anhum) all declared those who attribute to Allah the direction or the body with kufur”.

نقل الإمام الحافظ العراقي والإمام القرافي والشيخ ابن حجر الهيتمي وملا علي القاري ومحمد زاهد الكوثري وغيرهم عن الأئمة الأربعة هداة الأمة الشافعي ومالك وأحمد وأبي حنيفة رضي الله عنهم القول بتكفير القائلين بالجهة والتجسيم “.   

This is the belief of all the Muslims. This is the belief of the Salaf, which is the belief of the Ash^aris despite the lies of the liars like the Mushabbihah. So in reality the Salaf were Ash^aries, and below is the proof that the Mushabbihah today such as the Wahhabis or falsely called salafis oppose the beliefs of the true Salaf.

– Imam Ahmad Ibn Salamah, Abu Ja^far at­Tahawiyy, who was born in the year 237 after Hijrah, and was one of the Heads of Great Salaf wrote a book called Al-^Aqidah at­Tahawiyyah. He mentioned that the content of his book is an elucidation of the creed of Ahlus­-Sunnah wal Jama^ah, which is the creed of Imam Abu Hanifah, who died in the year 150 after al­Hijrah, and his two companions, Imam Abu Yusuf al-Qadi and Imam Muhammad Ibn al­Hasan ash-Shaybaniyy and others.

At-Tahawiy said in his book at-Tahawiyah: “Allah is supremely clear of all boundaries, extremes, sides, organs and instruments. The six directions do NOT contain Him–these are attributed to all created things.”

Such is the saying of Imam Abu Ja^far who is among the heads of as-Salaf. He explicitly stated that Allah is clear of being contained by the six directions, that is he is confirming that Allah exists without a place. The six directions are above, below, in front of, behind, right, and left. So this is clear evidence that the Salaf cleared Allah from organs, bodily parts, place, direction, limits and al-Kayf (manners of beings).

– Imam at-Tahawiy also said: “And whoever attributes to Allah any of the manners of beings is considered a blasphemer”. This is the creed of the true Salafis and not the wahhabis.

– In his book, Ihya’u ^Ulum ad-Din, Imam al-Ghazaliyy said:

“… places do not contain Allah, 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.”

– Imam al-Ghazaliyy said: ” Allah, the Exalted, existed eternally and there was no place. He is not a body, jawhar (atom), or property, and He is not on a place or in a place.”

– Shaykh ^Abdul-Ghaniyy an-Nabulsiyy said:

“He who believes that Allah filled the heavens and earth or that He is a body sitting above al-^arsh, is a kafir.”

– Ibn Hajar al-^Asqalaniy (who is also an Ash^ari hafidh) said in his explanation of Sahih al-Bukhary (Fath al-Bari): “Attributing aboveness (Fawqiyah) to Allah is a matter of status, and the impossibility lies in it being physical.” This means Allah exists without a place and is clear from being in a direction or place. And the “Fawqiyah” or aboveness when attributed to Allah it refers to abovness of status and greatness of Allah, the exalted. He is the creator Subhanahu Wa Ta^ala that does not need any of the creations in any way.

This is the creed of Ahlus-Sunnah, the Salaf, Khalaf, Ash^aris and Maturidis, which is the creed of the majority of the Muslim nation.

Allah exists without being in a place or a direction, and He knows best.