Learning from Ash’ari shaykhs
Question

                We are students who are seeking knowledge. We study ‘aqeedah with some teachers who are teaching us Ash’ari ‘aqeedah. They interpret the hand of Allaah as meaning His power or His blessing, and His being above His throne (istiwaa’) as meaning His sovereignty, and so on. What is the ruling on studying with these teachers?
Praise be to Allah. 
          These people who interpret the Qur’aan in this manner, 
          whether they are called Ash’aris or some other name, have gone astray 
          from the path of the righteous salaf. Not even one letter of what these 
          people say in their misinterpretations has been narrated from the righteous 
          salaf. Let them bring one word from the Messenger of Allaah 
          
          (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), or from Abu Bakr, or ‘Umar, 
          or ‘Uthmaan, or ‘Ali, to say that they interpreted Allaah’s hand as 
          meaning His power, or that they interpreted His being above the Throne 
          (istiwaa’) as referring to His Sovereignty, or that they interpreted 
          His Face as meaning reward, or that they interpreted His love as meaning 
          reward, etc. Let them produce one word from them to show that they interpreted 
          these aayahs and similar verses in the manner that these people interpret 
          them. If they cannot produce any such thing, let it be said that either 
          the righteous salaf, headed by the Messenger of Allaah 
          
          (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), the leader of the pious, 
          were unaware of the meaning of this tremendous ‘aqeedah (of Islam), 
          or they did know it but they concealed the truth. But neither of these 
          can be said of the Messenger of Allaah 
          
          (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or of any of the Rightly-Guided 
          Khaleefahs, or of his Companions (may Allaah be pleased with them). 
          If that is the case then we have to follow their path (the path of the 
          Prophet and the Rightly-Guided Khaleefahs).
 
          My advice to these people is to fear 
          Allaah and to abandon what So and so said, and to come back to the Book 
          of Allaah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah 
          
          (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and the way of the Rightly-Guided 
          Khaleefahs who came after him. They should know that there will come 
          a Day when they will return to Allaah, when they will not be able to 
          use the opinion of So and so as evidence. By Allaah, So and so will 
          not be able to help them on that Day.  Allaah says (interpretation 
          of the meaning): 
 
          “And (remember) the Day (Allaah) will 
          call to them, and say: ‘What answer gave you to the Messengers?’”
 
          [al-Qasas 28:65]
 
          He did not say, Remember the Day when 
          (Allaah) will call to them and say, ‘What answer gave you to So and 
          so…?’ 
 
          And Allaah says in His Book (interpretation 
          of the meaning): 
 
          “So believe in Allaah and His Messenger 
          (Muhammad), the Prophet who can neither read nor write (i.e. Muhammad), 
          who believes in Allaah and His Words, and follow him so that you may 
          be guided”
 
          [al-A’raaf 7:158]
 
          Allaah commanded us to believe in him and follow him. 
          If this is the case then how can a person believe in Allaah and His 
          Messenger in the true and complete sense, then turn away from the Sunnah 
          of His Messenger 
          
          (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the way in which he 
          believed in his Lord, and misinterpret the way in which Allaah has described 
          Himself in His Book or the way in which His Messenger 
          
          (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) has described Him, simply 
          because of illusions which they call rational thought? 
 
          I advise them to come back to Allaah and to abandon any 
          other opinion, and follow what Allaah and His Messenger say, for if 
          they die following that they will have died following the truth. But 
          if they go against that then they are in grave danger and those whose 
          opinions they are following will not protect them from Allaah. Allaah 
          says (interpretation of the meaning): 
 “(Remember) 
          the Day when every person will come up pleading for himself, and every 
          one will be paid in full for what he did (good or evil, belief or disbelief 
          in the life of this world) and they will not be dealt with unjustly”
 
          [al-Nahl 16:111]
 
           I repeat this advice to every believer, to come 
          back to the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allaah 
          
          (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) with regard to what he believes 
          about his Lord and God, following the path of the Prophet 
          
          (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), the rightly guided khaleefahs 
          who came after him, and the imams of the Muslims who led the people 
          in following the Sunnah of the Messenger 
          
          (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), without referring to rational 
          thought, which is no more than an illusion, concerning issue that have 
          to do with Allaah and His names and attributes. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn 
          Taymiyah spoke well when he described the ahl al-kalaam (“Islamic” philosophers) 
          as “having been given intelligence but not knowledge, and had having 
          been given smartness but not sincerity.” So one has to deepen one’s 
          knowledge on the basis of the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of His Messenger 
          
          (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). I ask Allaah to help us 
          all to have faith and to cause us to meet Him when He is pleased with 
          us, for He is Able to do all things. Praise be to Allaah, the Lord of 
          the Worlds, and may Allaah send blessings and peace upon our Prophet 
          Muhammad and his family and companions. 
 
          I call upon all seekers of knowledge to call their brothers 
          to that which they have heard, for by Allaah it is the truth. Whoever 
          claims to have truth other than this, we will accept it and adhere to 
          it (if it can be proven to be true).