All praise is due to Allah, and may blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
Moses’s request to see his Lord differed from his people’s request. He asked his Lord without making his faith conditional upon seeing Him. They, however, said, “We will not believe you until we see Allah openly,” and were punished for this obstinate demand. The fatwa maintains that Moses’s request preceded their incident and that he sought to see Allah for himself, rather than to establish an argument against them.
Why did Moses, peace be upon him, ask to see his Lord?
Allah says:
“When Moses came at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said: My Lord, show Yourself to me so that I may look upon You.” [Al-Aʿrāf 7:143]
Moses asked to see Allah because seeing Him is possible in itself, rather than something inherently impossible with respect to Allah. Allah answered him:
“You will not see Me. But look at the mountain: if it remains in its place, then you will see Me.” [Al-Aʿrāf 7:143]
Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz al-Ḥanafī explains that Allah did not reject the request itself or tell Moses that seeing Him was impossible. Rather, He informed him that he would not see Him and showed him what happened to the mountain when He manifested Himself to it:
“When his Lord manifested Himself to the mountain, He reduced it to dust, and Moses fell unconscious.” [Al-Aʿrāf 7:143]
Despite its strength and solidity, the mountain could not withstand that manifestation. Human beings in this world are even less able to bear it. Furthermore, making the vision conditional upon the mountain remaining in place—something possible through Allah’s power—indicates, according to this argument, that seeing Allah is possible in itself. See Sharḥ al-Ṭaḥāwiyyah (1/212).
Thus, Moses’s request does not imply that he asked for something inappropriate concerning Allah. There is a distinction between seeing Allah being inherently impossible and human beings being unable to bear it in this life.
Does “You will not see Me” rule out seeing Allah in the Hereafter?
The Arabic particle lan (“will not”) does not, by itself, indicate an eternal negation. One example is Allah’s statement:
“I will not leave this land until my father gives me permission.” [Yūsuf 12:80]
Here, the negation expressed by lan is bounded by an endpoint.
Therefore, Allah’s words to Moses, “You will not see Me,” cannot validly be used as evidence that seeing Allah in the Hereafter is impossible.
The same applies to His statement:
“Vision does not encompass Him.” [Al-Anʿām 6:103]
Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz explains that idrāk here means encompassing, which is more specific than merely seeing. Allah can be seen without being encompassed by sight, just as He can be known without His creation encompassing Him in knowledge. This is the interpretation adopted by the fatwa.
Did Moses make his request after the thunderbolt struck his people?
The fatwa maintains that Moses asked to see Allah before the incident in which the thunderbolt struck his people. It draws on the sequence in Sūrat al-Aʿrāf and the accounts transmitted by Qur’anic commentators.
The surah mentions Moses’s request to see Allah, then his return to his people and his condemnation of their worship of the calf. It then says:
“Moses chose seventy men from his people for Our appointed meeting. When the earthquake seized them, he said: My Lord, had You willed, You could have destroyed them and me before this.” [Al-Aʿrāf 7:155]
A number of commentators held that this earthquake occurred because they demanded to see Allah openly. Ibn Kathīr reports from Al-Suddī that they went out to seek forgiveness for worshipping the calf, then told Moses that they would not believe him until they saw Allah, whereupon the thunderbolt struck them. See Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr (3/479).
On this chronology, the question does not arise of Moses requesting to see Allah after witnessing their punishment for making that request.
Why were the Children of Israel punished?
The fundamental difference is that they made seeing Allah a condition for believing Moses. Allah says:
“And when you said: O Moses, we will not believe you until we see Allah openly, the thunderbolt struck you while you were looking on. Then We raised you after your death so that you might be grateful.” [Al-Baqarah 2:55–56]
He also says:
“They said: Show us Allah openly. So the thunderbolt struck them for their wrongdoing.” [Al-Nisāʾ 4:153]
Ibn ʿĀshūr explains that their wrongdoing consisted in refusing to believe until they saw Allah, rather than merely asking to see Him. See Al-Taḥrīr wa-l-Tanwīr (4/301).
Moses, however, did not make seeing Allah a condition of his faith. His request therefore differed from theirs in both intention and substance.
Did Moses ask in order to establish an argument against his people?
The fatwa does not adopt this interpretation. As explained above, his request preceded theirs, and he was alone when he asked to see Allah. The fatwa also states that it did not find any scholar who advanced this interpretation.
Comparing this event to Abraham’s argument with his people is not sufficient to establish the same meaning here. The context of Moses’s story indicates that he asked his Lord to see Him for himself.
Conclusion
Moses asked to see his Lord without obstinacy or making his faith conditional upon it, and he was informed that he would not see Him in this world. His people, however, were punished for making such a vision a condition for belief. Allah’s statement, “You will not see Me,” does not establish that seeing Allah is inherently impossible or rule out seeing Him in the Hereafter.
And Allah knows best.