sweat. Then he said:

“Rising over the Throne is known; its manner is unknown. Belief in it is obligatory, and asking about its manner is an innovation. I consider you nothing but an innovator.” He then ordered that the man be removed, and he was taken out.

The statements of all the leading imams of religion—such as Ibn al-Mājishūn, al-Awzā‘ī, al-Layth ibn Sa‘d, Hammād ibn Zayd, al-Shāfi‘ī, Ahmad ibn Hanbal and others—convey the same meaning as Mālik’s statement: we do not possess knowledge of the manner of the divine attributes. Knowing the manner of an attribute depends on knowing the manner of the one who possesses it. If the manner of the One possessing the attribute is unknown, the manner of His attribute cannot be known.

When the believer is kept clear of the path of distortion and denial of the divine attributes, and the path of likening Allah to His creation, he follows the straight path. For the Book, the Sunnah and consensus establish what is also known through reason: that Allah Most High—

“There is nothing like unto Him”

—has no likeness in His essence, His attributes or His actions. It is therefore impermissible to describe Him with anything peculiar to created beings, for He possesses the utmost perfection and is free from every deficiency. He, glorified be He, has no need of anything besides Himself, whereas everything besides Him stands in need of Him. Whoever claims that the Quran indicates such creaturely characteristics has made a false claim about the Quran. Nothing in the words of Allah, glorified be He, entails describing Him in this way.

Rather, a person may be led astray by his own faulty understanding, reading into the words of Allah and His Messenger meanings from which Allah, glorified be He, must be declared free. Yet the way one who upholds falsehood treats the words of Allah and His Messenger is as it has been said:

Many a critic finds fault with sound words,
Yet the fault lies in his own unsound understanding.