We, a brother and I, are hoping the tulaabul 'ilm insha'Allaah will answer the following question. The excerpt below is from Sahih al-Bukhari 9.532b, Nar. Abu Sa'id al-Khudri:
quote:
"...Then the Almighty will come to them in a shape (soorah) other than the one which they saw the first time, and He will say, 'I am your Lord,' and they will say, 'You are not our Lord.' And none will speak to Him then but the Prophets, and then it will be said to them, 'Do you know any sign by which you can recognize Him?' They will say. 'The Shin,' and so Allah will then uncover His Shin whereupon every believer will prostrate before Him and there will remain those who used to prostrate before Him just for showing off and for gaining good reputation..."
Our question is:
- When the Prophet ('alayhi wa salaatu wa salaam) said: "Then the Almighty will come to them in a shape (soorah) other than the one which they saw the first time", how do we understand "in a shape other than the one which they saw the first time" i.e. what period is this referring to when they saw Him for that first time?
- How do we understand the word 'shape (soorah)' since it may be asked by the Mujassima:
"If Allaah can come in a certain shape to His creation then is it not possible for Him to come down in the form of a human, which is also a shape"? What would be the correct response to this interpretation in relation to what ahlul 'ilm have said concerning the word 'shape' in this hadith? - How do we understand the statement: "Do you know any sign by which you can recognize Him?" Is there an explanation of how they came to know of this sign being 'His Shin'?
Apologies for putting forth such a long-winded question but we would dearly like to know the most appropriate answer from ahlul 'ilm in order to firstly understand this correctly ourselves and then to have a sufficient answer ready for any impending doubts that may be forwarded by the Mushabihah and the Mujassima, such as the Christians.
wa barakallaahu feekum
Wa salaamu 'alaikum wa rahmathullaahi wa barakaathuhu
Subhaanakallaah humma wa bi Hamdika Ashadu allaa ilaha illa ant, astaghfiruka wa atooba ilayk
2. The "Soorah" (shape or form) of Allaah is established by the hadeeth: "Verily Allaah created Aadam upon His (Allaah's) Soorah" and others. So we say that which we say about all the descriptions of Allaah, that His Soorah is not like the Soorah of any created being, it is a Soorah that is befitting to his majesty:
We affirm it
We understand it upon its apparent meaning
We do not seek its specific details
We do not liken it to the Soorah of created beings.
In no way do the mujassimah, nor any of the stray groups, have a proof in this hadeeth for their deviation.
Moosaa Richardson
********************
سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك
أشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت
أستغفرك وأتوب إليك
Na'am jazakallaahu khairan akhi Moosa, mash'allaah, That explains a lot walhumdulillaah. May Allaah reward you for your help.
If a student of knowledge could also kindly answer, for further clarification and correctly understanding the hadeeth, the other two questions, i.e. 1 and 3, especially question 3.
A brother informed me that a brother he knows phoned Shaykh 'Abdullaah al-Ghudayaan hafithahullah who said that Shaykhul Islaam Ibnu Taymiyyah rahimahullah has written about 70 pages on this hadeeth. Unfortunately, no further details were given. Perhaps someone knows of this explanation and could answer the remaining questions above in order to benefit us all bi ithnillah.
Wa barakallaahu feekum
Wa salaam
Subhaanakallaah humma wa bi Hamdika Ashadu allaa ilaha illa ant, astaghfiruka wa atooba ilayk