Salafi Aqeedah Exposed (Where is Allah ?)

Wahabi/Salafi said:
“Unfortunately you believe that Allah has no place and no direction therefore is nowhere. Thus you are in a way saying that he does not exist."
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The saying "Allah existed eternally without a place, and He is now as He ever was" is related - without chain - from 'Ali ibn Abi Talib -- Allah be well-pleased with him.
[As cited by 'Abd al-Qahir al-Baghdadi (d. 429) in his al-Farq Bayn al-Firaq (p. 256).]

Ibn 'Ata' Allah al-Sakandari (d. 709)
cites it as one of his Hikam (#34).
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) -- Allah bless and greet him -- said:
"Allah was when there was nothing else than Him, and His Throne was upon the water, and He wrote in the Reminder (al-dhikr) all things, and He created the heavens and the earth."
[ Narrated from 'Imran ibn Husayn by al-Bukhari, Sahih, book of the Beginning of Creation.]
Imam Abu Hanifa (d. 150)
said: "Had He been in a place and needing to sit and rest before creating the Throne, then the question 'Where was Allah?' would have applied to Him, which is impossible."
[Abu Hanifa, Wasiyya al-Imam al-A'zam Abu Hanifa, ed. Fu'ad 'Ali Rida (Beirut : Maktabat al-Jamahir, 1970) p. 10.]
The Ash'ari Imam Ibn 'Abd al-Salam
said in his statement of doctrine: He was before He brought place and time into existence, and He is now as He ever was.
[ Ibn 'Abd al-Salam, al-Mulha fi I`tiqad Ahl al-Haqq in his Rasa'il al-Tawhid (p. 11).]
The position of Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari is similarly summed up by Abu al-Qasim ibn 'Asakir: The Najjariyya said: 'The Creator is in every place without indwelling (hulû l) nor direction (jiha).
' The Hashwiyya and mushabbiha said:
'The Creator took His place (hâ llun) on the Throne, the Throne is His location (makâ n), and He is sitting on top of it."
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' Al-Ash'ari took a middle ground and said: 'Allah existed when there was no place; then He created the Throne and the Footstool (al-'arsh wa al-kursî ) without ever being in need of place, and He is, after creating place, exactly as He was before creating it.' [In Tabyin Kadhib al-Muftari (Saqqa ed. p. 150).]
This is the position of al-Ash'ari also as given by Ibn Jahbal al-Kilabi (d. 733):
"The words of the Shaykh [Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari] concerning direction are: 'Allah was when there was no place, then He created the Throne and the Footstool, without ever needing place, and He is, after creating place, exactly as He was before creating it.'" [In Tabaqat al-Shafi`iyya al-Kubra (9:79).]
Ibn Jahbal also says in his Refutation of Ibn Taymiyya:
We say: Our doctrine is that Allah is pre-eternal and pre-existent (qadî m azalî ). He does not resemble anything nor does anything resemble Him. He has no direction nor place. He is not subject to time nor duration. Neither "where" (ayn) nor "at" (hayth) applies to Him. He shall be seen, but not as part of an encounter, nor in the sense of an encounter (yurâ lâ 'an muqâ bala wa lâ 'alâ muqâ bala). He was when there was no place, He created place and time, and He is now as He ever was. This is the madhhab of Ahl al-Sunna and the doctrine of the shaykhs of the [Sufi] Path - may Allah be well-pleased with them.7
30. Muhammad ibn Mahbub, Abu 'Uthman al-Maghribi's servant, said: "Abu 'Uthman said to me one day: 'O Muhammad! If someone asked you: Where is the One you worship, what would you answer?' I said: 'I would answer: He is where He never ceased to be.' He said: 'What if he asked: Where was He in pre-eternity?' I said: 'I would answer: Where He is now. That is: He was when there was no place, and He is now as He ever was.' Abu 'Uthman was pleased with my answer. He took off his shirt and gave it to me."8
Al-Shaykh al-Akbar Muhyi al-Din ibn 'Arabi said in the chapter of Islamic doctrine in al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya: [144] He has no conceivable likeness whatsoever (laysa lahu mithlun ma'qul), nor can minds represent Him. Time does not confine Him, nor place lift nor transport Him. Rather, He was when there was no place, and He is now as He ever was. [145] He created fixity (al-mutamakkin) and place (al-makâ n),9
brought time into existence, and said: "I am the One, the Ever-Living."10
Preserving His creations in no way tires Him. Attributes which do not describe Him and are devised by creatures do not apply to Him.11
[146] Exalted is He far above being indwelt by originated matters, or indwelling them, or that they be after Him or that He be before them. Rather, we say: 'He was and there was nothing with him.'12
For the words 'before' and 'after' are among the locutions of Time, which He invented.13
Sulayman ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Mu-hammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1817CE), the Wahhabi founder's grandson, said: Whoever believes or says: Allah is in person (bi dhâ tihi) in every place, or in one place: he is a disbeliever. It is obligatory to declare that Allah is separate (bâ 'in) from His creation, established over His throne without modality or likeness or examplarity. Allah was and there was no place, then He created place and He is exalted as He was before He created place.14
The Imams strongly refuted those who suggested that the Throne existed together with Allah. Among these refutations is al-Bayhaqi's section entitled "The Beginning of Creation" in al-Asma' wa al-Sifat,15
and Ibn Hajar who wrote the following in his commentary on the twenty-second chapter of the Book of Tawhid in Sahih al-Bukhari: Al-Bukhari named the Chapter on the Throne: "Chapter entitled: {And His Throne was upon the water} (11:7) {And He is Lord of the tremendous Throne} (9:129)." In this way he mentioned parts from two Qur'anic verses, and it is good to state this second part after the first one, to respond to those who misunderstood the hadith: "There was Allah, and there was nothing before Him; and His throne was upon the water," mistakenly thinking that it meant that the Throne was always alongside Allah [i.e. existing without beginning]. This is an incorrect position, as is the belief of some thinkers that the Throne is the Creator and the Maker! Perhaps those who held this, such as Abu Ishaq al-Harawi, used for evidence the hadith of ibn Abbas from Mujahid narrated through Sufyan al-Thawri: "Allah was on His throne before He created anything; the first thing He created was the pen,"16
and this "first" is interpreted as the creation of Heavens and Earth and their contents. 'Abd al-Razzaq mentioned in his commentary on Allah's saying: {And His Throne was upon the water} (11:7) that this (the Throne) was the beginning of His creation before He created the heaven, and that His Throne was made from a red emerald.
Thus al-Bukhari's mention of "The Lord of the tremendous Throne" alludes to the fact that the Throne is a servant and that it is lorded over. He ends his chapter with the hadith: "There, I saw Musa holding the leg of the Throne."17
By confirming that the Throne has legs, the author proves that it is an object that was put together, possessing constituent parts. Any such object must have been created. End of Ibn Hajar's words.18
Al-Munawi quotes the following conclusion on the verse of the Throne upon the water:
Al-Tunisi said that the verse {And His Throne was upon the water} (11:7) contains a clear proof that direction is impossible for Allah -- may He be exalted -- because the Throne settled (istaqarra) upon the water, therefore, since natural custom was broken by the settlement of that huge mass (jirm) - the largest of all masses - upon the water, contrary to the habitual fact that such a mass - or, rather, much less than it! - does not usually settle upon the water: it becomes known with certitude that istiwâ ' over it is not an istiwâ ' of settledness nor fixity.19
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NOTES
7 In TSK (9:41).
8 In TSK (9:43).
9 Or: "He created place and all that takes place."
10 I.e. I am in no need of either of you.
11 Lâ tarji'u ilayhi sifatun lam yakun 'alayhâ min sun'ati al-masnû 'â t.
12 The Prophet ( said: "Allah was when there was nothing else than Him, and His Throne was upon the water, and He wrote in the Reminder (al-dhikr) all things, and He created the heavens and the earth." Narrated from 'Imran ibn Husayn by al-Bukhari, Sahih, book of the Beginning of Creation. There are other wordings of this hadith such as the wordings: kâ na allâ hu wa lâ shay'a ma'ahu / ghayruhu / qablahu - "Allah was and there was nothing other than Him /together with Him /before Him." Narrated from Burayda by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak (2:341), who declared it sound (sahî h) - al-Dhahabi concurred - and from 'Imran ibn Husayn by Bukhari, Ibn Hibban with two sound chains in his Sahih (14:7 #6140, 14:11 #6142), and Ibn Abi Shayba in his Musannaf.
13 From 'Uthman Yahya's edition of al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya (1:164), Part Three of "The Meccan Conquest," chapter entitled "Attachment Comprising the Essential Creed of All, Which is the Doctrine of the People of Islam Agreed To Without Examining the Proof Nor the Presentation of Evidence."
14 In his al-Tawdih 'an Tawhid al-Khallaq fi Jawab Ahl al-'Iraq (1319/1901, p. 34, and new ed. al-Riyad: Dar Tibah, 1984).
15 Cf. Al-Bayhaqi, al-Asma' wa al-Sifat, chapter entitled "The Beginning of Creation": Allah ( said: (He it is Who produces creation then reproduces it( (30:27). 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As narrated that the Prophet ( said: "Allah foreordained (qaddara) all the destinies (al-maqâ dî r) before creating the heavens and the earth by fifty thousand years." [Narrated from 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As by al-Tirmidhi (hasan sahî h gharî b) and Ahmad; also by Muslim with the following wording: "Allah inscribed (kataba) the destinies of all created things before creating the heavens and the earth by fifty thousand years, while His Throne stood upon the water (wa 'arshuhu 'alâ al-mâ ')."] 'Imran ibn Husayn narrated ... that the Prophet said - Allah bless and greet him: "Allah was when there was nothing other than Him. His Throne stood upon the water...." His words "Allah was when nothing was other than Him" indicate that there was nothing else other than Him - neither water, nor the Throne, nor anything else, since all of that is "other than Him." His words: "His Throne stood upon the water" means that He then created water, and He created the Throne upon the water, after which He inscribed all things in the Remembrance, as we narrated in the hadith of 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As.
16 Narrated from Mujahid from Ibn 'Abbas by 'Abd ibn Humayd as mentioned by al-Suyuti in al-Durr al-Manthur for the verse {Lo! We have created every thing by measure} (54:49).
17 Part of a longer hadith narrated from Abu Hurayra by al-Bukhari, Tirmidhi (hasan sahî h), and Ibn Majah; and from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri by al-Bukhari, Muslim, and Ahmad.
18 Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari (1959 ed. 13:409f.). Ibn Hajar elsewhere (6:290 #3019) examines the different versions of the hadith "Allah was and there was nothing other than/ with/ before Him" to conclude that the evidence pointed to the creation of water first, then the Throne, then the Pen.
19 In al-Munawi, Fayd al-Qadir, under the entry for the hadith: "Allah inscribed the destinies of all created things before creating the heavens and the earth by fifty thousand years, while His Throne stood upon the water." Narrated from 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As by al-Tirmidhi (hasan sahî h gharî b) and Ahmad; also by Muslim with the following wording: "Allah inscribed (kataba) the destinies of all created things before creating the heavens and the earth by fifty thousand years, while His Throne stood upon the water (wa 'arshuhu 'alâ al-mâ ')." Blessings and peace on the Prophet, his Family, and all his Companions.
Imam Abu Hanifa (d. 150AH)
says in his Wasiyya:
"Had He been in a place and needing to sit and rest before creating the Throne, then the question 'Where was Allah?' would have applied to Him, which is impossible... We assert that Allah is established on the throne without His need (haja) nor settlement (istiqrar) upon it, for He it is Who preserves the Throne and other than it without needing any of them."

[Wasiyyat al-imam al-a`zam Abu Hanifa, ed. Fu'ad `Ali Rida (Beirut : Maktabat al-Jamahir, 1970) p. 10.] 

Abu Ja`far al-Sadiq:
“Whoever claims that Allah is in something, or from something, or on something has associated a partner with Allah1, because if He was in something, then He would be confined; and if He was on something, then He would be carried; and if He was from something, then He would be something that has a beginning.”
It was said to Yahya ibn Mu’adh al-Razi:
“Tell us about Allah!”
He said: “One god.” Then someone said: “How is He?” He said: “An absolute ruler with absolute power.”
Then someone said: “Where is He?”
He answered: “Seeing and Hearing.”
The person who asked said: “I was not asking about that.”
He replied: “Other than that would be an attribute of a creation. As for the attribute of Allah; it is as I told you.”
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There are some people who used Quran and Hadiths to prove Allah only exists above the Throne in a particular space or area and even sits there or is established on the Throne. They misquote Quran and interpret methaphoric and allegorical verses literally.
Which leads to Anthropomorphism
Just like the Jews and the Christians...
Quoting from the Bible

The Bible says:
Quote:

“Revelation 4:2-11

And when the living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to Him Who sits on the throne, to Him Who lives forever and ever, (10) the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him Who sits on the throne, and will worship Him Who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, For Thou hast maintained my just cause; Thou dost sit on the throne judging righteously. [ Bible book of ’Psalms 9:4 ]”

The Bible says:
* “God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne.” [Psalms 47:8 ]
* “...I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.” [ Isaiah 6:1]
* Isaiah Chapter 6, it is written : “1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple."
The Wahabi/Salafi Sheikh Ibn Uthmayeen said:^Uthmayeen Himself said, Allah throne Means Jaloos
Ibn Uthmayeen again said:
In his pseudo work: “Aqidat Ahlus Sunnah Wal-Jama’ah” he states after mentioning Yunus:3

واستواؤه على العرش: علوه عليه بذاته علوَّاً خاصاً يليق بجلاله وعظمته لا يعلم كيفيته إلا هو. 
[We believe that He "created the Heavens and the Earth in six days, then He settled Himself on the throne; He manages everything" (10:3).] His “settling on the throne” means that He [Allah] is sitting in person (bi-dhaatih) on His throne in a way that is becoming to His majesty and greatness. No one save He knows the kayfiyyah [of the sitting].
Do not follow the Jews and Christians in Aqeeda

The Holy Prophet [salehalawaalihi wasalam]
warned us:
“Oppose the People of Book
(Jews & Christians).”
[Musnad Ahmad 2234]
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Imam Ali (RA)

Ijma of Sahabas [ra] held the view that Allah has no makaan (place, station). ,

Imam ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (’alayhis salaam) is recorded to have said

كان- الله- ولا مكان، وهو الان على ما- عليه- كان

“Allah was without place, and He is now as He was [then].”

[(الفرق بين الفرق لأبي منصور البغدادي [ ص / 333 ]
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Imam Abi Mansur Al-Baghdadi
also quotes Imam ‘Ali (radhiya Allahu ‘anhu) as saying,

إن الله تعالى خلق العرش إظهارًا لقدرته لا مكانا لذاته

“Verily Allah , the exalted, created the throne to manifest His power, not as a place for his essence.”
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Imam Abu Mansur Al-Baghdadi said in his book
Usulud-Din, in summary:

“Our colleagues differed regarding this Ayah. Some said that it is among the Ayahs that are mutashabihat and its meaning is not known by other than Allah, and this is the saying of Malik. Others said that istawa is something that Allah did to the `arsh that He called istawa, and this is the saying of Abul Hasan Al-Ash`ari. Others again said that istawa means that He is attributed with aboveness over the `arsh in status, not physical aboveness. The correct saying in our view, is that al-`arsh in this Ayah means the Dominion and istawa is its action, meaning that the Dominion did not settle in equilibrium for anyone but Him.”

In case anyone is wondering who Abu Mansur is?
Al-Dhahabi described him in his book Siyar A`lam An-Nubala’ as:

“the great, outstanding, and encyclopedic scholar.... He used to teach 17 different subjects and his brilliance became the source for proverbs.” Al-Dhahabi said further that he would have liked to write a separate, more complete article about him, and quoted Abu `Uthman As-Sabuni saying:
“Abu Mansur is by scholarly consensus counted among the heads of the scholars of belief and the methodology of jurisprudence, as well as a front figure of Islam.”
--

Imam Zaynul-’Aabidin ’
Ali ibn Al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (radhiya Allahu ‘Anhu) stated,
أنت الله الذي لا يحويك مكان

“You are Allah , who does not occupy place!”

[It-haaf As-Saadat Al-Muttaqin 2/24 ]
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Beliefs of Classical Scholars

Imam An-Nasafi (701 or 710 AH) states in his Tafsir:
إنه تعالى كان ولا مكان فهو على ما كان قبل خلق المكان، لم يتغير عما كان.
“Verily He, the exalted, was without place, and He is as He was before creating (the entity of) ‘place’, not changing as He was [Tafsīr An-Nisfi Surah Taha Volume 2]

The Shaykh Abul Abbas shihad ud din Ahmad ibn Muhammad Al-Qastalānī Al-Masrī (d. 933 AH) said in his Sharh (gloss) of Sahīh Al-Bukhārī:

ذات الله منزه عن المكان والجهة
“Allah ’s essence is free from space (makān) and direction (jihah [Irshād As-Sārī 15/451]

He also stated when explaining the verse, “…Looking at their Lord” [Qur’an 75:23]:

بلاكيفية ولاجهة ولا ثبوت مسافة
“Without modality, without direction, without establishing distance.”
[Irshād As-Sārī 15/462]
The Maliki Qadhi Ibn Rushd the Elder (d. 520), said:

ليس- الله- في مكان، فقد كان قبل أن يخلق المكان
Allah ta’alaa is not in a space, for He was before ’space’ was created.”
[Quoted by Ibn Al-Haaj in Al-Madkhal]

He also stated,

فلا يقال أين ولا كيف ولا متى لأنه خالق الزمان والمكان
It is not to be asked ‘Where’, ‘How’, or ‘When’ for He created The time as well as space.”
[Ibid 3/181]

He also stated,
وإضافته- أي العرش- إلى الله تعالى إنما هو بمعنى التشريف له كما يقال: بيت الله وحرمه، لا أنه محل له وموضع لاستقراره

And the ascription of the ‘Arsh (throne) to Allah ta’alaa is with the meaning of honouring Him, just as it is said ‘The House of Allah and Its Sanctity”. It is not because it is His place or the abode for which he sits (istiqraar).”
[Al-Madkhal 2:149, Also Ibn Hajr in his Fat-hul Baari]
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Beliefs of Salafs and Classical Scholars

Shaykh Muhammad Al-Khatib al Bhagdadi stated (d 977 AH):

وقال الشيخ محمد الخطيب الشربيني المصري مانصه “ثبت بالدليل القطعي أنه- تعالى- ليس بمتحيز لئلا يلزم التجسيم

It is established by the absolute proofs that He, the exalted, is not localized in space (mutahayyiz) as that necessitates tajsīm (anthropomorphism).”


He (rahimahullah) also said quoting the exegete Imam Qurtubi

قال القرطبي- المفسّر-: ووصْفه- تعالى- بالعلوّ والعظمة لا بالأماكن والجهات والحدود لأنها صفات الأجسام، ولأنه تعالى خلَق الأمكنة وهو غير متحيز، وكان في أزله قبل خلق المكان والزمان ولا مكان له ولا زمان، وهو الآن على ما عليه كان ” ا.هـ. أي موجود بلا جهة ولا مكان.

“And Allah , the exalted, ascribed to himself ‘Uluww (highness) and ‘Athmah (greatness), and this is without spaces (Al-amākan), directions, and limits as these qualities are attributes of ajsam (bodies or created things). That is also due to the fact that He, the exalted, created space and He is not localized in space (mutahayyiz), and He was in sempiternity before He created space and time, while there was no space for Him nor time. He is now as He was (exalted be He).” Al-Khatīb then says, “Meaning existing without direction or place.”


Ibn Hajar Asqalani [rah] said

وإضافته- أي العرش- إلى الله تعالى إنما هو بمعنى التشريف له كما يقال: بيت الله وحرمه، لا أنه محل له وموضع لاستقراره

“And the ascription of the ‘Arsh (throne) to Allah ta’alaa is with the meaning of honouring Him, just as it is said ‘The House of Allah and Its Sanctity”. It is not because it is His place or the abode for which he sits (istiqraar).”
[Al-Madkhal 2:149, Also Ibn Hajr in his Fat-hul Baari]


Salaf us Saliheen

Imam Malik [rah] believed Istiwa[ throne of Allah] cannot be conceived or imagined or taken literally

كنّا عند مالك بن أنس, فجاء رجل, فقال: يا أبا عبد الله, الرحمن على العرش استوى, فكيف استوى؟ قال: فأطرق مالك رأسه حتى علاه الرحضاء على رأسه, ثمّ قال: الاستواء غير مجهول, والكيف غير معقول, والإيمان به واجب, السؤال عنه بدعة, وما أراك إلا مبتدعا. فأمر به أن يخرج.

“We were with Màlik ibn Anas when a man came and said: “O Abâ ‘Abd Allah, al-Raämàn made istiwà on the throne. How did he make istiwà?” Màlik bowed his head [in thought] and sweat appeared on him, then he said: “Istiwà is not unknown [that is, it is known to be a fact whatever it means because it was mentioned in the Qur’an], but howis not something we can conceive [since He is other than whatever we imagine Him to be ]. Moreover, it is obligatory for us to believe in it [whatever it might mean] and asking about its meaning is a deviant innovation (bid‘ah), and I think that you are a deviant innova-tor.”
Then he ordered him to be put out.

[al-Baihaqá reported another account of this incident with a full chain of narration by way of Yàäyà ibn Yaäyà ibn Bakár al-Nisàbârá (142-227 = 759-840)]

Imam Malik [rah] believed Istiwa[ throne of Allah] cannot be conceived or imagined or taken literally

...continued:

“After reporting the above, al-Baihaqá added that a similar answer was reported from the distinguished teacher of Màlik, al-Rabá‘ah ibn Abá ‘Abd al-Raämàn (d. 136 h. / 753), Al-Baihaqá reported with a chain of narration reported:

سئل الربيعة عن قول الله تبارك وتعالى (الرمن على الأرش استوى) كيف استوى؟ قال الكيف مجهول والاستوى غير معقول ويجب علىّ وعليك الإيمان بذلك كله.

Al-Rabá‘ah was asked about His word, blessed and exalted is He, “The Merciful made istiwà,” how did he make istiwà? He said, “How He did is unknown, and the istiwà is in-conceivable, while belief in it is mandatory for me and you.
,
so even Imam Malik [rah] believed in Istiwa [rah] but never took it literally as you do or thought it can be conceived or imagined

Imam Qurtubi (rah) on Allegorical verses -
Called people like (Wahabis/Salafis) idol worshippers for anthropomorphism

I have been watching some people trying to spread that "all" attributes of Allah are to be taken on its literal meaning, some are even making fun of it like Nirvana did and tried to make a sketch of Allah (Naudhobillah)

The simple and explicit answer regarding not to delve into Mutashabihaat is given in Quran itself, I have already used that ayah as a proof but some people still delve into it so I considered it necessary to given classical commentary on the ayah from leading Mufasir of Quran i.e. Imam Qurtubi (Rahimuhullah)! He is amongst the top most Mufasireen and scholars, Muslims uphold the magnificence and usefulness of his marvelous Tafsir work called “Jami ul Ahkaam ul Quran”

In it he explains the beautiful ayah of Quran which talks about It having both Plain and allegorical verses.

Quran states: He it is Who has sent down to thee the Book: In it are verses basic or fundamental (of established meaning); they are the foundation of the Book: others are allegorical. But those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part thereof that is allegorical, seeking discord, and searching for its hidden meanings, but no one knows its hidden meanings except Allah. And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say:
"We believe in the Book; the whole of it is from our Lord:" and none will grasp the Message except men of understanding.(3:7)

The mainstream Ahlus Sunnah always battled against the literalists by simply attributing the meanings of Mutashabihaat onto Allah Ta’la alone, for example Hands of Allah, foot, shin, laughter, his descent, his establishment etc... The true and actual meaning of these are known by none but Allah, however while explaining to ultra-curious laymen the best opinion is to interpret them into what suits Allah’s Majesty.


The Original Arabic Reference!

Imam Qurtubi (rah) writes:

قوله تعالى: { فَيَتَّبِعُونَ مَا تَشَابَهَ مِنْهُ ٱبْتِغَاءَ ٱلْفِتْنَةِ وَٱبْتِغَاءَ تَأْوِيلِهِ } قال شيخنا أبو العباس رحمة الله عليه: متبِعو المتشابه لا يخلو أن يتبعوه ويجمعوه طلباً للتشكيك في القرآن وإضلالِ العوامّ، كما فعلته الزنادقة والقرامِطة الطاعنون في القرآن؛ أو طلباً لاعتقاد ظواهر المتشابه، كما فعلته المجسِّمة الذِين جمعوا ما في الكتاب والسنة مما ظاهره الجِسمية حتى ٱعتقدوا أن البارىء تعالى جسم مجسم وصورة مصوّرة ذات وجه وعين ويد وجنب ورجل وأصبع، تعالى الله عن ذلكٰ؛ أو يتبعوه على جهة إبداء تأويلاتها وإيضاح معانيها، أو كما فعل صبِيغ حين أكثر على عمر فيه السؤال. فهذه أربعة أقسام:

الأوّل: لا شك في كفرهم، وأن حكم الله فيهم القتل من غير ٱستتابة.

الثاني: الصحيح القول بتكفيرهم، إذ لا فرق بينهم وبين عباد الأصنام والصور، ويستتابون فإن تابوا وإلا قتلوا كما يفعل بمن ٱرتدّ.

الثالث: ٱختلفوا في جواز ذلك بناء على الخلاف في جواز تأويلها. وقد عرف أنّ مذهب السلف ترك التعرّض لتأويلها مع قطعهم بٱستحالة ظواهرها، فيقولون أمِرّوها كما جاءت. وذهب بعضهم إلى إبداء تأويلاتها وحملِها على ما يصح حمله في اللسان عليها من غير قطع بتعيين مجمل منها.

الرابع: الحكم فيه الأدب البليغ، كما فعله عمر بصبيغ


Verdicts which shake the foundation of Literalists

Translation:

The Exalted said: {But those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part thereof that is allegorical, seeking discord, and searching for its hidden meanings} Our Shaykh, Abul Abbas (Rahimuhullah) said: Furthermore, the followers of the allegorical verses (mutashabih) are not free from: Following it and collecting it, seeking to raise doubts in the Qur’an and (seeking to) misguide the laymen as done by the Zanadiqah (deviants), the Qaramitah, and the refuters of the Quran. Or seeking to believe in the "Outward (Zawahir)" meanings of the mutashabih as done by the Mujasmiya (deluded ones who give physical traits to Allah), those who collected from the Quran and Sunnah whatever gave a physical meaning when taken literally (dhahir). To the extent that they believed that the Creator is a physical body and a fashioned form, possessing a face and other things: hand, eye, side and finger. Exalted is Allah from that, with the most Supreme Exaltation. Or they sought out these (mutashabih) with a view to manifest its interpretations and clarify its meanings. Or (they did) like Subaygh when he asked ‘Umar about them (the mutashabih) excessively.

So there are four categorical (verdicts) on them:

The First: There is no doubt about their disbelief (kufr) and that the judgment of Allah concerning them is execution without even asking them to repent.

The Second: The most sound (opinion) is to make takfīr on them (to consider them to be kafirs), since there is no difference between them and worshipers of idols and images. And they should be asked to repent. Thereafter, either they’ll repent, or if not, they should be executed as is done to an apostate (murtad).

It is impossible to take them literally

The Third: There is a difference of opinion concerning that (action) based upon the difference of opinion in the permissibility of (various) interpretations. And it is known that the madhhab of the Salaf (pious predecessors) was to leave the undertaking of interpreting them while being certain that the literal meaning (Zawahir) was impossible. So they would say, “Let it pass as it came!” And some of them (the Salaf) took the madhhab of manifesting its interpretations by interpreting it with meanings consistent with the (Arabic) tongue without definitively confirming a specific possible meaning.

The Fourth: The judgment for him is to be taught a profound lesson as Amir ul Momineen Umar ibn al Khattab did to Subaygh [Tafsir ul Qurtubi i.e. Jami ul Ahkaam ul Quran under 3:7]

‏حدثنا ‏ ‏عبد الله بن مسلمة ‏ ‏حدثنا ‏ ‏يزيد بن إبراهيم التستري ‏ ‏عن ‏ ‏ابن أبي مليكة ‏ ‏عن ‏ ‏القاسم بن محمد ‏ ‏عن ‏ ‏عائشة ‏ ‏رضي الله عنها ‏ ‏قالت

‏تلا رسول الله ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏هذه الآية

‏هو الذي أنزل عليك الكتاب منه آيات محكمات هن أم الكتاب وأخر متشابهات فأما الذين في قلوبهم زيغ فيتبعون ما تشابه منه ابتغاء الفتنة وابتغاء تأويله وما يعلم تأويله إلا الله والراسخون في العلم يقولون آمنا به كل من عند ربنا وما يذكر إلا أولو الألباب ‏

‏قالت قال رسول الله ‏ ‏صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ ‏فإذا رأيت الذين يتبعون ما تشابه منه فأولئك الذين سمى الله فاحذروهم

Translation:

Narrated Aisha: Allah's Apostle recited the Verse: "It is He Who sent down upon you the Book, in which some verses have clear meaning, they are the substance of the Book, and others are those, in the meaning of which there is doubt. Those in whose hearts there is perversity pursue doubtful one desiring deviation and searching their own viewpoint of it, and its right interpretation is known to Allah alone. And those of firm knowledge say, 'We believed in it, all is from our Lord and none accept admonition save men of understanding". (3.7) Then Allah's Apostle said, "If you see those who follow thereof that is not entirely clear, then they are those whom Allah has named [as having deviation (from the Truth)] 'SO BEWARE OF THEM'. [Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60, Number 70]


From Imam Shafi [rah] quoted by Imam Suyuti [rah] in Al-Ashbah wa An-Nadha'ir

Al-Hafidh As-Suyutiyy copies the statement of Imam Ash-Shafi‘iyy that Al-Mujassimah (those who believe that Allah has bodily attributes i.e. present-day wahhabis) are blasphemers.
From Classical book Tabsirah Al-Adillah Imam Abu Muain


Maymun Ibn Muhammad An-Nasafiyya has stated in his book Tabsirah Al-Adillah that: the one who affirms a place to Allah has blasphemed.


Imam Bayhaqi [rah]

Imam Bayhaiqyy in al-Asma' wa as-Sifat
:



Abu Hanifa [rah] and Mullah Ali Qari [rah] Opinion of Abu Hanifa from Mullah Ali Qari in Minah ar-Rawd al-Azhar fi Sharh al-Fiqh al-Akbar said:

He said in his explanation of the book al-Fiqh al-Akbar, pages 333 - 334:

“To answer this [i.e. the false assumptions], we can cite the Shaykh, Imam Ibn Abdus-Salaam, who in his book al-Hal Ramuz, said that Abu Hanifah, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "Whoever says:" I do not know if God is in heaven or on earth has committed kufr, because it has assigned a place to God (al-Haqq), and one who thinks that God is in a place is an anthropomorphic (mushabbih)." There is no doubt that Ibn Abdus-Salam is one of the scholars most reliable and secure, therefore it is obligatory to believe in what he reported."

al-Hafidh Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqiyy said: "Some of our companions used as evidence to deny a place for Allah, the saying of the Prophet:"O Allah You are adh-Dhahir so there is nothing above You, O Allah, You are al-Batin so there is nothing beneath You". So if there is nothing above Him and nothing below him is that He is not in a place."
Abu Hanifa [rah] and Mullah Ali Qari [rah] In the same book as above, p.355, he says:

"Those who were unjust, who are among those who LIED concerning Allah, or claimed things that included the confirmation of a PLACE to Allah, a DIRECTION in front of [Him] and confirmation of distance [between Him and His creatures] and everything like that is a kafir"
Classical Scholars

Imam Abu Mansur al-Baghdadiyy[rah] In his book Usul ad-Din, pages 337-338, Imam Abu Mansur al-Baghdadiyy refutes Mujassimah (those who attribute a body (jism) to Allah). On page 337, he said:

"As for Jismiyyah (those who attribute to God a body) of Khurasan among Karramiyyah, declaring them unbelievers is mandatory, because they affirm that Allah HAS A LIMIT , and an end to the bottom, and that He would connect with the throne,and also their saying that there are created things that occur in Allah."

He continues to say:

"By allowing [the belief] that Allah has created things that occur in Him, they ruin for themselves the evidence of the Oneness of God. That means, that bodies are created because they have created things in them . Thus, according to their own reasoning, they can not prove that the world has a beginning, and therefore they have no way of knowing the Creator of the world. Consequently, they do not know... Everyone who disagreed with them, have agreed on the fact that they (al-Mujassimah) are people of hell, so in that respect, they are the worst of all deviant sects."



Imam Abul-Barakat Abdullah Ibn Ahmad Nasafiyy [rah] in his magnificent Tafsir
wrote on page 164, volume 2 of his Tafsir of Qur'an:
"About the ayah:

وَلِلّهِ الأَسْمَاء الْحُسْنَى فَادْعُوهُ بِهَا وَذَرُواْ الَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِي أَسْمَآئِ

"And Allah has the Perfect Names, so invoke Him by these Names, and stay away from those who demonstrate ilhaad [atheism] to these names." Surah al-'Araf verse 180."It is atheism (ilhaad) then to call Allah "body" (jism) or 'atom/smallest particle' (jawhar) or "reason" ( 'aql) or "cause" ('illah) ."


Imam Qurtubi [rah]

Imam al-Qurtubiyy said in his Tafsir, in the first verse of Istiwa in Qur'an, volume 1 pages 254, Surah Al-Baqarah verse:

"This verse is part of the problematic verses and people concerning this verse and similar verses are divided into three groups. Some have said, "we read, and we believe without doing explaining, and this is the opinion of many of the imams. It is as has been reported from Imam Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, that a man was asked about the verse "ar-Rahmanu 'alal-arshi-stawa and he said "The istawa is not unknown, and how (kayf) is inconceivable, and belief in it (istiwa) is obligatory and questioning on this subject is a [bad] innovation, and I see you're a bad person! So he ordered the man to be thrown out. Some others have said, "we read and we explain by what is apparent in the language. And this is the saying of anthropomorphists (mushabbihah). And others said: "We read and we interpret them and we prohibit the act of taking them as the apparent meaning.