disbelieved, denied the Quran, and rejected the command of Allah, Most High. He is to be called upon to repent; if he repents, well and good; otherwise, he is to be put to death.’”
Hanbal said:
“I asked Abū ‘Abd Allāh about the hadiths concerning the vision, and he replied: ‘These are authentic. We believe in them and affirm them. We affirm everything narrated from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, through a sound chain of transmission.’”
Abū ‘Abd Allāh said:
“If we do not affirm what has come from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, but reject it, we have rejected Allah’s command. Allah says:
‘Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it; and whatever he forbids you, refrain from it.’”
Likewise, Abū ‘Abd Allāh al-Mājishūn—one of Mālik’s contemporaries—said in a passage of his:
“By the Lord of heaven and earth, Allah will surely make seeing Him on the Day of Resurrection a reward for those sincerely devoted to Him. Through it their faces, unlike those of the evildoers, will become radiant, and their argument will prevail over the deniers: Jahm and his followers. That Day, they will be veiled from their Lord. They will not see Him, just as they claimed that He cannot be seen. He will neither speak to them nor look upon them, and theirs will be a painful punishment. How could they fail to take heed? Allah, Most High, says:
‘No! Indeed, they will be veiled from their Lord that Day.’
“Can it be thought that Allah would banish them, afflict them, and punish them through something in which the sinner claims that he and Allah’s allies are alike?”
Statements like this occur frequently in the words of various early authorities, such as Wakī‘ ibn al-Jarrāh and others.
Judge Abū Ya‘lā and others said:
“The Muslim community held ‘two positions’ concerning seeing Allah with the eyes. Some deemed it impossible to see Him: these were the Mu‘tazilah, the Najjāriyyah, and others who agreed with them on this. ‘The other group’ comprised those who uphold the truth and the early authorities of this