the creed. One of their leading figures then brought out al-Bayhaqī’s Book of Names and Attributes—may Allah Most High have mercy on him—and said: “This contains an interpretation of ‘the Face’ transmitted from the early generations.”

I replied: “Perhaps you mean the words of Allah Most High:

‘And to Allah belong the east and the west. So wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah.’”

He said: “Yes. Mujāhid and al-Shāfi‘ī said that it means the direction of prayer prescribed by Allah.”

I replied: “Yes, this is authentically reported from Mujāhid, al-Shāfi‘ī and others, and it is correct. This verse is not one of the verses concerning the divine attributes. Anyone who counts it among those verses is mistaken, as some have done. The context indicates the intended meaning, for Allah says:

‘And to Allah belong the east and the west. So wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah.’

“The east and the west are directions, and here wajh means ‘direction.’ One says, ‘Which way do you mean?’—that is, which direction—and, ‘I mean this way’—that is, this direction. As Allah Most High says:

‘For each is a direction toward which he turns.’

“This is why He says:

‘So wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah.’

“That is, whichever direction you face and turn toward.”

And Allah knows best. May Allah bless Muhammad.