Shaykh Muhammad al-Amin ash-Shanqiti in Adwa al-Bayan, 2/319 on the Tafsir of the Ayah in al-A’raf: “Indeed your Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in Six Days, and then He istawa (rose over) the Throne...” [7:54]
Know that, in regard to the issue in question, countless people from recent centuries have erred, claiming that what first comes to mind from Ayaat that describe such attributes as “rising over the Throne” and with regards to the hand of Allah is comparison between Allah and created beings.
Based on that assumption, they say that we all must turn away from that apparent meaning. However, anyone with the least bit of sense will understand that their claim involves a dangerous assumption. That being, whenever Allah describes Himself in His Book, the meaning that first comes to mind from that description, involves Kuffr in Allah and statements that are not appropriate for Him, the possessor of Might and Majesty. Yet, contrary to the implications of their claim, Allah said in the Prophet (saws), “And We have revealed to you the reminder, that you may make it clear for the people as to what is down to them.” [16:44]
Based on their claim, the Prophet (saws) did not explain the meanings of Ayaat which deal with the attributes of Allah. However, there is a consensus among the scholars of Islam that is was neither possible, nor permissible for the Prophet (saws) to have delayed explaining an issue that the people needed to understand. More than anything else, people needed to understand that Islamic ‘Aqeedah, especially when, as per their claim, the apparent meaning that first comes to mind from certain Ayaat involves Kuffr and misguidance; such that, we need to have explained the “true” meaning of such Ayaat by the ignorant people of recent centuries. They claim that Allah spoke words wherein the apparent meaning that first comes to mind involves Kuffr, and so we must turn away from that meaning.
All these notions were concocted by those who spread these ideas and they have not relied in the least upon the Book or the Sunnah. How perfect indeed You are, O Allah. This is indeed a great lie that they propagate. Without a doubt, their claim involves one of the greatest forms of misguidance and one of the most heinous lies against Allah, the possessor of Might and Majesty, and His messenger (saws)…
The truth of the matter, and no one with the least bit of sense will doubt this, is that, whenever Allah Himself or His messenger (saws) described Him, then the first thing that comes to mind, for anyone who has the least degree of Imaan in his heart, is a meaning that is free from any comparison whatsoever between the attributes of Allah and the attributes of created beings. Does a person with common sense deny that the first thought that comes to him is a negation of any comparison between the Creator and the created, regarding both Him as a being and to all of His attributes? By Allah, no one denies this, except one who is arrogant and narrow-minded…
When an ignorant person makes the false claim that the apparent meanings of the Ayaat are not appropriate to Allah, since they involve Kuffr and a comparison to created beings, he does so because his sick heart accepts the false premise that the apparent meanings of the words of Allah involve a comparison between the Creator and the created. The false suspicion of such a comparison then compels him to then deny the attributes of Allah, the possessor of Might and Majesty, and to not have Imaan in them. This is despite the fact that Allah, the possessor of Might and Majesty, is the One who described Himself with those attributes.
So that ignorant person first sees a comparison and then diverts the attributes of Allah from their true meanings. In the beginning and in the end, he makes false claims that are not appropriate for Allah. Had he truly known Allah as he should know Him, had he glorified Allah as He deserves to be glorified, and had his heart been pure from the evils of making comparisons between the Creator and the created, the first thing that would have come to his mind when he reads Ayaat that deal with the attributes of Allah is that the description of Allah of Himself is perfect and negates any false notions of there being a comparison between His attributes and the attributes of created beings.
The heart of such person, had he been guided, would have been ready to believe in the complete, perfect, and majestic attributes that are established for Allah in the noble Qur’an and in the authentic Sunnah, with meanings that are completely free of any comparison between the attributes of the Creator and the attributes of the creation. His belief would have been in harmony with the saying of Allah, “There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.” [42:11]
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