(210) “Are they waiting for anything but that Allah should come to them in canopies of cloud, with the angels, and the matter be decided? To Allah all matters are returned.”
This contains so severe a warning and threat that hearts quake at it. Allah Most High says: What are those who strive to spread corruption on earth, follow Satan’s footsteps, and cast aside Allah’s command waiting for but the Day of recompense for deeds? That Day is so laden with horrors, hardships, and terrors that it will unsettle the hearts of the wrongdoers, and on it the corrupters will deservedly receive an evil recompense.
That is because Allah Most High will fold up the heavens and the earth, the stars will be scattered, the sun and moon will be folded up, and the noble angels will descend and surround all creation. The Creator—[Blessed] and Exalted is He—will descend “in canopies of cloud” to judge between His servants with justice.
The scales will then be set up, the records unrolled, the faces of the blessed whitened, and the faces of the wretched blackened. The people of good will be distinguished from the people of evil, and everyone will be recompensed according to their deeds. There, the wrongdoer will bite both hands when he realizes the true condition he is in.
This verse and others like it provide evidence for the doctrine of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘ah, who affirm the volitional attributes, such as rising over the Throne, descending, coming, and other attributes about which Allah Most High has informed us concerning Himself or His Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—has informed us concerning Him. They affirm them in a manner befitting Allah’s majesty and greatness, without likening Him to His creation or distorting their meanings. This is contrary to the various kinds of those who deny the attributes—the Jahmites, Mu‘tazilites, Ash‘arites, and others like them—who deny these attributes and consequently interpret the verses in ways for which Allah has sent down no authority. In reality, such interpretations impugn the clarity with which Allah and His Messenger have explained the matter and allege that it is their own discourse that provides guidance in this regard.
These people possess neither revealed nor rational evidence. As for revealed evidence, they themselves acknowledge that the apparent—and indeed explicit—meaning of the texts found in the Quran and Sunnah supports the doctrine of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘ah, and that, for those texts to indicate their false doctrine, they must be diverted from their apparent meaning, with something added to them or taken away. As you can see, no one with so much as an atom’s weight of faith in his heart could accept this.
As for reason, nothing in reason indicates that these attributes must be denied. Rather, reason indicates that one who acts is more perfect than one who is incapable ⦗95⦘ of acting, and that Allah Most High’s acts—whether they pertain to Himself or to His creation—are a perfection. If they claim that affirming these attributes entails likening Him to His creation, they are told: What is said of the attributes follows what is said of the Essence. Just as Allah possesses an Essence unlike any other essence, He possesses attributes unlike any other attributes. His attributes accord with His Essence, while the attributes of His creatures accord with their essences. Thus, affirming them in no way entails likeness.
It is also said to anyone who affirms some attributes while denying others, or who affirms the divine names without the attributes: Either affirm them all, just as Allah affirmed them for Himself and His Messenger affirmed them for Him, or deny them all and thereby become a denier of the Lord of the worlds. As for affirming some and denying others, that is a contradiction. Show the distinction between what you affirm and what you deny; you will find no way to do so. If you say, “What I affirm does not entail likeness,” Ahl al-Sunnah will tell you, “Nor does affirming what you deny entail likeness.” If you say, “I can conceive of what I deny only as involving likeness,” the negationists will tell you, “We too can conceive of what you affirm only as involving likeness.” Whatever answer you give the negationists is the very answer Ahl al-Sunnah will give you concerning what you deny.
In summary, anyone who denies some and affirms others among the matters whose affirmation is established by the Quran and Sunnah is self-contradictory. His position rests on neither revealed nor rational evidence; rather, he has contradicted both reason and revelation.