Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
The term tafwid in the context of Allah’s Names and Attributes is used with two different meanings: one is correct and the other is incorrect.
Tafwid of the how means affirming Allah’s Names and Attributes and affirming their meanings, while entrusting knowledge of how these Attributes are to Allah سبحانه وتعالى.
We believe that Allah has the Most Beautiful Names and the Most Perfect Attributes. We know their meanings and affirm them as they have been revealed, but we do not know how Allah’s Attributes are. The manner in which Allah possesses His Attributes is among the matters whose knowledge Allah has kept exclusively to Himself.
For example, Allah says:
﴿The Most Merciful rose over the Throne﴾ [Ta-Ha: 5].
We affirm that Allah rose over the Throne in a real manner befitting His majesty, while believing that His rising is not like the rising of created beings. As for how He rose, we do not know.
When Imam Malik رحمه الله was asked about istiwa' (rising over the Throne), he said:
“The istiwa' is known, its manner is unknown, belief in it is obligatory, and asking about it is an innovation.”
This is the methodology of Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah: affirming what Allah has affirmed for Himself regarding His Names and Attributes, without likening them to creation or asking how they are.
Allah says:
﴿There is nothing whatsoever like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing﴾ [Ash-Shura: 11].
Ibn Abd al-Barr رحمه الله transmitted that Ahl as-Sunnah agreed upon affirming the Attributes mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah and understanding them in a manner befitting Allah, without specifying their manner.
Therefore, when Ahl as-Sunnah say, “We do not know how Allah’s Attributes are,” this does not mean that they do not know the meanings of the Attributes. Rather, it means that they affirm the meaning while remaining ignorant of the manner in which the Attribute exists.
Tafwid of the meaning means affirming the wording of the revealed texts concerning the Attributes and then saying: “We do not know their meaning, and we do not know what Allah intended by them.”
For example, a person reads:
﴿The Most Merciful rose over the Throne﴾
and says: We affirm the word “rose”, but we do not know its meaning at all and do not know what Allah intended by it.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله rejected this position, explaining that Allah commanded His servants to contemplate, understand, and reflect upon the Qur’an. Allah says:
﴿A blessed Book We have sent down to you so that they may contemplate its verses﴾ [Sad: 29].
Therefore, it is not correct to understand the Qur’anic texts as merely words that are recited without understanding their meanings, nor that the texts Allah revealed to guide His servants contain words whose meanings cannot be known.
Thus, the methodology of Ahl as-Sunnah is not to consign the meanings to Allah, but rather to affirm the meanings indicated by the texts while entrusting knowledge of the manner of the Attributes to Allah.
Some people may think that the statement of the early scholars:
“Pass them on as they came, without asking how”
means that they did not know the meanings of the texts concerning the Attributes.
According to the explanation attributed to the early scholars, this understanding is incorrect. Their meaning was that they affirmed the meaning befitting Allah while denying knowledge of how the Attribute is.
Rabi'ah and Malik رحمهما الله said regarding istiwa':
“The istiwa' is not unknown, the how is inconceivable, and belief in it is obligatory.”
This agrees with their statement:
“Pass them on as they came, without asking how.”
They did not deny the reality of the Attribute; rather, they denied knowledge of its manner.
Several matters indicate that the meaning intended by the early scholars in saying “Pass them on as they came, without asking how” was not tafwid of meaning:
This indicates preserving the texts with the meanings and indications with which they came, not eliminating their meanings.
If they had intended that their meaning was unknown, it would have been more appropriate to say: “Pass on their wording and do not concern yourselves with their meanings.”
Negating the manner indicates that they affirmed the basic Attribute and its meaning, because something that has no meaning or reality cannot properly be described as “without a how.”
They affirm the Attribute but do not claim knowledge of its manner.
Someone who denies the very existence of an Attribute does not need to say: “Without asking how.”
For example, someone who says that Allah is not over the Throne at all has no need to deny the manner of istiwa', because he has already denied the Attribute itself.
Ahl as-Sunnah, however, affirm the Attribute and then say: “Without asking how.”
Affirming the meaning of istiwa', hearing, seeing, love, pleasure, anger, and other Attributes of Allah does not mean that these Attributes resemble those of created beings.
The obligation is to combine both matters:
Affirming what Allah has affirmed for Himself.
Denying that His Attributes resemble those of His creation.
Allah says:
﴿There is nothing whatsoever like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing﴾.
When we say that Allah is All-Hearing, we know the meaning of hearing and affirm the Attribute of hearing for Allah, but we do not say that His hearing is like the hearing of created beings.
Likewise, when we say that Allah is All-Seeing, we know the meaning of seeing, but we do not know how Allah sees.
The same applies to the Attributes of pleasure, anger, love, istiwa', laughter, and other Attributes established in the revealed texts. We affirm their meanings in a manner befitting Allah, believe that they do not resemble the attributes of created beings, and do not know how Allah possesses these Attributes.
Shaykh Ibn Baz رحمه الله explained that the meanings of these Attributes are known to Ahl as-Sunnah and are not interchangeable meanings. Laughter is different from pleasure, pleasure is different from anger, anger is different from love, and hearing is different from seeing, while believing that none of these Attributes resembles those of created beings.
It is clear from the above that the term tafwid requires clarification.
If by tafwid one means entrusting the how—that is, affirming the Attribute and its meaning while not knowing how Allah possesses it—then this is correct and is part of the methodology of Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah.
But if tafwid means consigning the meaning to Allah, such that one says: We affirm the wording of the Qur’an and Sunnah but do not know what meanings they indicate, then this is not the methodology established by the leading scholars of the early generations in this matter.
The principle is:
“The meaning is known, while the manner is unknown.”
Therefore, Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymin رحمه الله said:
“Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jama'ah consign the manner, not the meaning. Rather, they affirm it, establish it, and explain it.”
Accordingly, the obligation concerning the Names and Attributes of Allah is to affirm what has come in the Qur’an and Sunnah in a manner befitting Allah, without distortion or denial, and without asking how or likening them to creation.
And Allah knows best.