proper reverence. Do not ask, “How did Allah create Adam with His Hand?” Such a question is an innovation. The same applies to the rest of the Attributes. If someone were to ask, “What is Allah’s Eye like?” we would tell him, “This is an innovation.” If he were to ask, “What is Allah’s Hand like?” we would say, “This is an innovation. You must observe proper reverence and refrain from asking about the manner of Allah’s Attributes—Glorified and Exalted is He.”
When Allah says here in this noble verse, ﴿And your Lord comes,﴾ and someone asks, “How does He come?” we say, “This is an innovation.” Adhere to this principle. Anyone who asks about the manner of Allah’s Attributes is an innovator given to excess, asking about something that cannot be ascertained. Our position regarding a verse such as, ﴿And your Lord comes,﴾ is therefore to believe that Allah will come. As for how He will come, Allah knows best. The proof is His statement: ﴿There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.﴾ [al-Shūrā: 11]
Thus, we know the negation but do not know the affirmation. That is, we know that He cannot come in the manner that human beings come, but we do not assert any particular manner for His coming. This is what is incumbent upon us.
As for His words, ﴿the angels,﴾ the definite article al- (the) denotes generality here, meaning that all the angels will come down and surround creation. The angels of the lowest heaven will descend, followed by the angels of the second heaven, and so on, surrounding creation as a manifestation of majesty. Creation could not flee to the right or the left in any case, but this will manifest Allah’s majesty and intensify the terror of that tremendous Day. The angels will descend and surround creation. It will be a witnessed Day, attended by the angels, humankind, the jinn, insects, and every other creature: ﴿And when the wild beasts are gathered together.﴾ [al-Takwīr: 5] It will be a tremendous Day which we cannot now comprehend or imagine, for it is far greater than anything we can conceive.
The third matter through which warning is given concerning that Day—after the first, the coming of Allah, and then the ranks of the angels—is His statement: ﴿And Hell will be brought forth that Day.﴾ In the words, ﴿will be brought forth that Day,﴾ the one bringing it is not mentioned. The sunnah, however, indicates that the Fire will be brought forth, led by 70,000 reins, each rein being drawn by 70,000 angels (1),