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Fatwa CenterAnd the Face of your Lord, Holder of Majesty and Honor, will remain
Question
How can we refute the claim from someone who says that the verse where Allaah the Almighty Says (what means): {And the Face of your Lord, Holder of Majesty and Honor, will remain.} [Quran 55:27] is a rebuttal of the Salaf’s (first three generations of Muslims) methodology in their creed regarding the attributes of Allaah?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
The followers of the Sunnah interpret “Face” as “Being” in the verse where Allaah the Almighty Says (what means): {And the Face of your Lord, Holder of Majesty and Honor, will remain.} [Quran 55:27] By doing this they do not contradict the principle of preventing figurative interpretation, which is giving a meaning other than the apparent meaning of the word. In fact, the word "Being" is the apparent meaning of "Face," since it first comes to mind once a person hears the verse. This is because there is no way that the Face can exist without the Being, and having a Face remain means the remaining of the Being. Thus, when Allaah the Almighty added the Face to His Being and added to the Face its description, His Saying (which means): {Holder of Majesty and Honor} acts as a description of the Face, which in turn is a description of His Being, as held by Al-Bayhaqi who reported it from Al-Khattaabi
.
Therefore, Allaah uses the Face to refer to His Being.
The truth is that the followers of the Sunnah object to figurative interpretation when there is no evidence. There is not enough space to discuss this issue here. However it might be enough to mention the saying of Ibn Taymiyyah
where he quoted from Imaam Al-Qaasimi. He stated that he may utilize figurative interpretation if there is evidence for it, and the interpretation comes from correct means followed by the Salaf. None of them (he said) had uttered a word implying their total rejection of metaphors or figurative interpretation. However, they rejected the ones that are not true or correct, which open the door for the destruction of the Book (Quran) and the Sunnah, and walk in the footsteps of the people of the Book who have distorted their scriptures.
Allaah Knows best.
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