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He says: “That is, as assistance against Pharaoh.”1
Once the evidence was established against the Jahmite for claiming that Allah is with His creation, he declared, “He is in every thing, yet He neither touches anything nor is He separate from it.”
We replied, “If He is not separate, is He not therefore in contact?”2
…its outward sense suggests a contradiction with His words: {ar-Rahmanu ‘ala al-‘arshi istawa} (the All-Merciful rose over the Throne), {thumma istawa ‘ala al-‘arsh} (then He rose over the Throne), and the other verses that affirm that the Lord, exalted be He, is established over His Throne and separate from His creation. Shaykh al-Shanqiti (may Allah have mercy on him) resolved this difficulty in his book Daf‘ Iham al-Idtirab ‘an Ayat al-Kitab, p. 191, where he writes:
‘The verse {thumma istawa ‘ala al-‘arsh} (then He rose over the Throne) [al-Hadid: 4] shows that He is established over His Throne, high above all creation, whereas the verse {wa huwa ma‘akum ayna ma kuntum} (and He is with you wherever you are) [al-Hadid: 4] seems to imply the opposite.
The answer is that He is established over His Throne exactly as He has stated—without asking how and without likening Him to creation—an establishment befitting His perfection and majesty. All created beings in His hand are smaller than a mustard seed; thus He is with them all by His perfect encompassing, complete knowledge, and all-penetrating power, while remaining supremely exalted. There is therefore no contradiction between His exaltation above the Throne and His being with all creatures.
Consider—unto Allah belongs the highest example—that if one of us were to hold a mustard seed in his hand, he would not be inside any part of that seed, yet he would surround it completely and be “with” all its parts. The heavens, the earth, and all they contain are in His hand and are smaller than a mustard seed in one of our hands. To Him belongs the highest example; He is supremely exalted. He is nearer to each of us than the neck of his mount, indeed than his jugular vein, while still being established over His Throne, and nothing of His creatures’ deeds is hidden from Him, exalted be He.’
(1) In Dr. ‘Amirah’s copy the reading is “Quraysh”. The emended reading follows the copy of Shaykh al-Ansari, Dar’ Ta‘arud al-‘Aql wa-l-Naql 3/178, Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyyah 2/551, and Ijtima‘ al-Juyush al-Islamiyyah, p. 205.
(2) Ibn Taymiyyah, Bayan Talbis al-Jahmiyyah 2/553.
And Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) pointed out what the intellect necessarily knows: that if He were within the creation and not separate from it, then it would inevitably…
يقول:
في العون على فرعون١.
فلما ظهرت الحجة على الجهمي بما ادعى على الله أنه مع خلقه قال:
هو في كل شيء غير مماس لشيء ولا مباين منه.
فقلنا:
إذا كان غير مباين أليس هو مماسًّا٢؟
= ظاهرها أن هناك اضطرابًا مع قوله سبحانه: {الرَّحْمَنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَى} وقوله: {ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ} وغيرهما من الآيات التي تثبت أن الرب سبحانه وتعالى مستوٍ على عرشه بائن من خلقه، وأجاب على هذا الإشكال فضيلة الشيخ الشنقيطي -رحمه الله- في كتاب "دفع إيهام الاضطراب عن آيات الكتاب" "ص: ١٩١" فقال:
قوله تعالى: {ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ} [الحديد: ٤] يدل على أنه تعالى مستوٍ على عرشه عالٍ على جميع خلقه، وقوله تعالى: {وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنْتُمْ} [الحديد: ٤] يوهم خلاف ذلك.
والجواب: أنه تعالى مستوٍ على عرشه كما قال بلا كيف ولا تشبيه، استواء لائقًا بكماله وجلاله، وجميع الخلائق في يده أصغر من حبة خردل فهو مع جميعهم بالإحاطة الكاملة والعلم التام ونفوذ القدرة سبحانه وتعالى علوًّا كبيرًا، فلا منافاة بين علوه على عرشه ومعيته لجميع الخلائق.
ألا ترى -ولله المثل الأعلى- أن أحدنا لو جعل في يده حبة من خردل أنه ليس داخلاً في شيء من أجزاء تلك الحبة، مع أنه محيط بجميع أجزائها ومع جميع أجزائها، والسموات والأرض ومن فيهما في يده أصغر من حبة خردل في يد أحدنا، وله المثل الأعلى سبحانه وتعالى علوًّا كبيرًا، فهو أقرب إلى الواحد منا من عنق راحلته، بل من حبل وريده، مع أنه مستوٍ على عرشه، لا يخفى عليه شيء من عمل خلقه جل وعلا.
١ في نسخة د. عميرة: قريش. والتصويب من نسخة الشيخ الأنصاري ودرء تعارض العقل والنقل "١٧٨/٣" وبيان تلبيس الجهمية "٥٥١/٢" واجتماع الجيوش الإسلامية "ص: ٢٠٥".
٢ قال ابن تيمية -رحمه الله- في بيان تلبيس الجهمية "٥٥٣/٢".
وأحمد -رحمه الله- ذكر ما يعلم بضرورة العقل من أنه إذا كان فيه وليس بمباين لأنه لابد =