Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
When describing Allah’s hearing, it is preferable to restrict oneself to what is stated in the Qur’an and Sunnah. We affirm that Allah is the All-Hearing, that He hears all voices, and that His hearing is perfect and befitting His majesty and does not resemble the hearing of created beings.
There is no need to say: “with a sense organ” or “without a sense organ,” or “with an instrument” or “without an instrument,” because these expressions are not found in the revealed texts and may carry ambiguous meanings or sometimes be used to deny the true reality of the attributes.
Allah has affirmed hearing for Himself in many places. He says:
“Indeed, Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.”
[Al-Ḥajj: 75]
And Allah says:
“Allah has certainly heard the statement of the woman who disputes with you concerning her husband and complains to Allah. And Allah hears your conversation. Indeed, Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.”
[Al-Mujādilah: 1]
Allah truly hears, and His hearing is perfect. No sound is hidden from Him, however faint or distant it may be.
At the same time, His hearing does not resemble the hearing of created beings. Allah says:
“There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”
[Ash-Shūrā: 11]
This verse combines the denial of resemblance with the affirmation of the attributes of hearing and sight.
According to what the fatwa establishes, neither the Qur’an nor the Sunnah states that Allah hears with a sense organ or without one.
Therefore, it is preferable not to introduce this terminology into descriptions of Allah.
We should not say: “Allah’s hearing is a sense organ,” nor should we make the statement “Allah hears without a sense organ” a principle of creed.
Rather, we simply say:
Allah hears with real and perfect hearing that befits Him, and there is nothing like Him.
In this way, we affirm what revelation has affirmed and deny resemblance without entering into expressions that have not been transmitted.
The ruling is similar.
The term “instrument” is not among the expressions used by the Qur’an and Sunnah in describing Allah’s hearing.
Therefore, there is no need to say: “He hears with an instrument” or “He hears without an instrument.”
The correct meaning that a person may intend is that Allah does not need anything from His creation in order to hear, for He is the Self-Sufficient and Perfect.
But this meaning can be expressed more clearly, for example:
“Allah’s hearing is perfect, befitting His majesty, and does not resemble the hearing of created beings.”
According to the fatwa, there is no authentic text affirming an ear for Allah, nor is there a text denying it using this wording.
Therefore, the correct position is to refrain from affirming or denying it. No attribute is affirmed for Allah without evidence, and one should not go to unnecessary lengths to deny something that revelation has not explicitly denied.
The fatwa cites Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Barrak as saying:
“As for an ear in relation to Allah Almighty, this is a matter in which one must refrain from affirming or denying it, because we have no evidence establishing it.”
This differs from attributes that the texts explicitly affirm, such as hearing, sight, the eye, and the hand, according to what the fatwa establishes.
The approach of the fatwa is that a Muslim does not need, when affirming every attribute, to list a long series of things that must be denied about it, such as saying:
He hears without such-and-such, sees without such-and-such, His hand is not such-and-such, and His eye is not such-and-such.
Rather, the comprehensive Qur’anic principle is sufficient:
“There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”
[Ash-Shūrā: 11]
Thus, we affirm the attribute as Allah affirmed it, deny any resemblance to the attributes of created beings, and do not delve into its modality.
No. One should not judge a person merely on the basis of this expression without knowing what he intends.
He may intend a correct meaning: namely, that Allah’s hearing is not like the hearing of a created being that depends on created organs or instruments.
The issue lies in the wording itself, because it is not found in the revealed texts and may be used by some theologians with a meaning that entails denying the true reality of the attribute.
Therefore, it is preferable to avoid ambiguous expressions and use clear wording instead.
Instead of saying:
“Allah hears all existing things without a sense organ or instrument,”
one may say:
“Allah Almighty is the All-Hearing. He hears all voices with perfect hearing befitting His majesty. His hearing does not resemble the hearing of created beings, and we do not know the manner of His hearing.”
This wording affirms the attribute and denies resemblance without introducing terminology that is not found in revelation.
The attribute of hearing is established for Allah Almighty by the Qur’an and Sunnah. We therefore believe that Allah truly hears with perfect hearing befitting Him, without resemblance and without asking how.
As for expressions such as “with a sense organ or without a sense organ” and “with an instrument or without an instrument,” it is preferable to avoid them because they are not found in the revealed texts and may be ambiguous.
Likewise, according to the fatwa, the term “ear” is neither affirmed nor denied due to the absence of evidence concerning it. Rather, we stop at what Allah has informed us about Himself and say:
“There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”
And Allah knows best.