in the hadeeth qudsi?Does our Lord, may He be glorified and
exalted,hesitate? How can we answer those who say that it cannot be
true that Allaah hesitates?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Al-Bukhaari (6502) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased
with him) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) said: "Whosoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me, I
shall be at war with him. My slave draws not near to Me with anything
more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him,
and My slave continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works
sothat I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which
he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he
strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask[something] of
Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I
would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as
I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful slave: he hates
death and I hate hurting him."
The hesitation mentioned in the hadeeth is hesitation in taking the
soul of the believer, out of mercy and compassion towardshim, and out
of love for him, because he hates death and his Lord, may He be
exalted, hates hurting him.
This is not like the hesitation of created beings, which stems from
doubt about one's ability or the rightness of the action.
Hence we must clearly define the way in which Allaah hesitates, which
isthat He hesitates to take the soul of the believer, which is what is
mentioned in the text, but Allaah cannot be described as hesitating in
general terms, which would include all kinds of hesitation due to
inability and imperfection, which cannot be attributed to Allaah.
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: In the
hadeeth "Whosoevershows enmity to someone devoted to Me…", at the end
of the hadeeth Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted,says "I do not
hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul
of My faithful slave". Does this mean that Allaah may bedescribed as
hesitant? How can we understand this issue?
He replied: It is not permissible to describe Allaah as hesitant in
general terms, because Allaah has mentioned hesitation with regard to
this matter: "I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate
about [seizing] the soul of My faithful slave". Thishesitation is not
due to uncertainty as to whether this thing is right or not, or
uncertainty as to whether He is able to do this thing; rather it is
because of mercy and compassion towards thisbelieving slave. Hence
Hesays in the same hadeeth: "he hates death and I hate hurtinghim."
This does not mean that Allaah can be described as being hesitant
about His power or His knowledge, unlike the human being who hesitates
when he wantsto do something, either because he is uncertain about the
outcome or whether it is right, or because he is uncertain about his
ability to do it. But this does not apply to the Lord, may He be
glorified and exalted. End quote from Liqaa'aat al-Baab il-Maftooh
(59/12).
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked
about what is meant by Allaah hesitating in this hadeeth.
He replied: This hadeeth was narrated by al-Bukhaari from Abu
Hurayrah, and it is one of the noblest hadeeth that has been narrated
concerning the attributes of the awliya' (close friends of Allaah).
One group rejected this word and said that Allaah cannot be described
as hesitating, and it is only the one who does not know the
consequences who hesitates, and Allaah knows best about the
consequences. And someof them said: It probably means that His action
may be described as hesitant but He is not hesitant.
But in fact the words of His Messenger are true and no one knows
Allaah better than His Messenger or was more sincere towards his ummah
than him, or more eloquent or better at explaining things. Once this
is understood, we may say that those who try to be clever and who deny
it are among those who have gone farthest astray, and they among the
most ignorant of people and the most lacking in proper etiquette.
Indeed, they should be rebuked and punished, and the words of the
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) should
be protected from false interpretations and corrupt beliefs. But if
one of us hesitates because he does not know what the consequences
will be, then hesitation in the case of Allaah is differentto this
type of hesitation,because there is nothinglike unto Allaah, either in
His Essence or His attributes or His actions. Moreover, hesitation is
not only because one does not know what the consequences will be,
because one of us may hesitate because he is unsure of the
consequences or because of weighing thepros and cons when choosing one
of two options, so he may want to do something because of the
interests it serves, but he may not want to do it because of its
negative consequences, not because he is unaware of the pros and cons
of aparticular action.
This is like when a sick person wants to take his bitter medicine, and
when the believer wantsto do righteous deeds that one may dislike. In
al-Saheeh it says: "Hell has been surrounded with desirable things,
and Paradise has been surrounded with unpleasant things." And Allaah
says (interpretation of the meaning): "Jihaad (holy fighting in
Allaah's Cause) is ordained for you (Muslims) though you dislike it…"
[al-Baqarah 2:216].
Thus we may understandthe word hesitate that is mentioned in this
hadeeth qudsi. Allaah says "My slave continues to draw near to Me with
supererogatory works sothat I shall love him." Such a person becomes
beloved to Allaah and loves Him, and he draws closer to Him first of
all by doing obligatory deeds which Allaah loves, then he strives to
do naafil deeds that Allaah loves and loves those who do them, so he
does all that he can ofwhat Allaah loves, therefore Allaah loves him.
The Lord does not like toharm His slave and beloved one. … But Allaah,
may He be glorified and exalted, has decreed death, and everything
that He has decreed He wills and it must inevitably come to pass. So
the Lord wills that he should die because of His decree, yet He still
dislikes hurting His slave, which refers to the pain involved in
death. So death becomes something which Allaah wants for one reason
and dislikes for another reason, which is what is meant by hesitating,
when a thing is wanted for one reason and disliked for another. Oneof
the two will inevitablyprevail, just as the divinedecree that death
must occur will prevail, although Allaah dislikes hurting His slave,
and Hiswill that the believer whom He loves and dislikes hurting must
dieis not like His will that the kaafir whom He hates and wants to
hurt must die. End quote from Majmoo' al-Fataawa (18/129).
And Allaah knows best.
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