Ar Razi’s Argument
Ar Razi’s argument in this section begins from a principle he had already accepted before approaching the verse and the reports. He says that hijab, in its real sense, is only understood in relation to bodies, because it means something standing in between 2 things.
On that basis, he holds that it cannot be affirmed for Allah in its apparent sense. He then argues that one should not say Allah is “veiled” from creation, nor that He is “screened” from them in any real sense, because, according to him, this would carry bodily implications.
So he turns the verse in al Mutaffifin, and the reports about hijab, away from their apparent meaning and says the intent is only that the effects of Allah’s favour and kindness do not reach those people. He then reads the hadith, “His hijab is light”, in the same way, meaning that created beings cannot bear the disclosure of that perfection. He also mentions the report about 70 veils of light, and the report that the veil is lifted and the believers look at their Lord.
Ibn Taymiyyah’s First Refutation
Ibn Taymiyyah begins by saying that Ar Razi has narrowed the evidence too much. He says the mention of hijab in the Book and the Sunnah is far more than Ar Razi admitted. He points not only to al Mutaffifin 15, but also to the verse, “وَمَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَنْ يُكَلِّمَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَّا وَحْيًا أَوْ مِنْ وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ — It is not for any human being that Allah should speak to him except by revelation, or from behind a veil” (al Shura: 51).
He also says that Allah’s tajalli to the mountain shows that there was concealment, then disclosure. So his first response is that the language of hijab is not isolated or accidental, rather it is established by several texts.
His Refutation of Ar Razi’s Use of Reports
Ibn Taymiyyah then turns to the reports one by one. He corrects Ar Razi’s handling of the Abu Musa hadith and says it is not in Bukhari and Muslim, as Ar Razi presented it, but in Muslim alone. He also notes the wording, “His hijab is light”, and in another wording, “fire”.
Then he adds other authentic reports that Ar Razi did not reckon with properly, such as the hadith that nothing stands between the people of Paradise and seeing their Lord except the cloak of majesty over His Face, and the hadith in Muslim that, after the people of Paradise enter Paradise, Allah uncovers the hijab and they look at Him. At the same time, Ibn Taymiyyah rejects the report of “70 veils of light” as not being found in the recognised hadith collections at all. So he is not merely piling up reports, he is also sorting them by strength.
His Refutation of the Main Interpretation
The sharpest part of Ibn Taymiyyah’s reply is against Ar Razi’s interpretation that hijab here only means being denied the effects of favour. He says this collapses as soon as one looks at al Shura 51.
If “behind a hijab” only meant withholding kindness, then Musa عليه السلام, whom Allah singled out with direct speech and honour, would have been someone from whom favour was withheld. Ibn Taymiyyah says this is plainly false, and that it turns honour into deprivation. He treats this as a very severe distortion of the wording, because the same word, hijab, occurs in both places, yet Ar Razi only empties it of meaning where it supports the vision of Allah and real concealment from the disbelievers.
His Refutation of the Bodily Objection
Ibn Taymiyyah also refutes him on the claim that affirming hijab requires saying Allah is a body, or that it requires a screen larger than what it conceals. He says this rests on a false physical comparison. In the case of Allah, the meaning is not that something blocks Him from seeing creation.
Rather, the meaning is that creation is blocked from seeing Him. He further says that it is not even true, in ordinary experience, that a veil must be larger than the thing veiled. A small thing close to the eye can hide something vastly greater and farther away.
He gives examples such as a cloud covering the sun from the viewer, or the roof of a house blocking one’s sight of the sky. So, for him, Ar Razi’s bodily argument fails both in language and in plain observation.
What Ibn Taymiyyah Thinks Ar Razi Is Really Doing
Ar Razi first set up a kalam definition of what hijab must mean, then forced the verses and hadiths to fit that definition.
Ibn Taymiyyah reverses that method. He says the texts affirm hijab, tajalli, and the believers’ seeing of their Lord, so these matters are affirmed as they came, without changing them into something else such as mere withholding of favour.
Ar Razi’s error is not only that he rejected the apparent wording, but that he did so selectively, accepted weak or unsupported material when it suited his line, and reinterpreted clear wording in a way that, in Ibn Taymiyyah’s judgement, breaks both the language and the meaning of the revelation.
Ar-Razi said: Chapter Seven On the veil (hijab). Allah the Exalted said: “No! Indeed, they will be veiled from their Lord that Day” (al-Mutaffifin: 15). They (those who affirm attributes) said: Veiling is only understood in the context of bodies. They also used many reports as proof.
The first report: What the author of Sharh al-Sunnah narrated in the chapter “Response to the Jahmiyyah” from Abu Musa, he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood among us with five words and said: “Indeed, Allah does not sleep, and it is not appropriate for Him to sleep. He lowers the scale and raises it.
The deeds of the night are raised to Him before the deeds of the day, and the deeds of the day before the deeds of the night. His veil is light if He were to unveil it, the radiance of His Face would burn everything His sight reaches among His creation.” (This hadith was reported by Muslim, not both Bukhari and Muslim as claimed. Muslim narrated it from ‘Amr ibn Murrah, from Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, from Abu Musa.)
The author (ar-Razi) said: This hadith was narrated by the two Shaykhs. His statement “He lowers the scale and raises it” means He maintains justice in the deeds of the slaves, just as Allah said: “And We do not send it down except with a known measure” (al-Hijr: 21).
(Explanation: “He lowers the scale and raises it” was interpreted by some as referring to the balance (mizan), just as in “And We place the scales of justice” [al-Anbiya: 47]. The scale was named “qist” because justice in distribution happens through it. The statement means that Allah lowers and raises the balance based on the deeds of the slaves that are weighed, and on their provision that descends from Him — as in “We do not send it down except with a known measure” [al-Hijr: 21].
This is an example of how Allah runs the affairs of His creation and applies His judgement — raising some and lowering others for He is the Abaser, the Exalter, the Just Judge. Blessed be Allah, the Lord of the worlds. Another interpretation is that the scale refers to provision (rizq), which is the assigned share for each creature He lowers it sometimes by limiting it and raises it by expanding it. Meaning: He determines provision and divides it, as in “He expands provision for whom He wills and restricts it” [ar-Ra‘d: 26]. See Sharh al-Sunnah by al-Baghawi 1/174 and an-Nihayah by Ibn al-Athir 4/1060.)
The second report: It is narrated in well-known books from the Prophet ﷺ: “Allah has seventy veils of light if He were to unveil them, the radiance of His Face would burn everything His sight reaches.”
The third report: It is narrated in explanation of Allah’s saying: “For those who do good is the best reward and more” (Yunus: 26), that Allah lifts the veil and they look at His Face, Exalted is He. (The meaning of this narration was recorded by Ibn Khuzaymah in at-Tawhid, in the chapter “Mention of the clarification that seeing Allah is a specific honour for His friends on the Day of Resurrection…” — from Abdur-Rahman ibn Abi Layla. See 1/447, hadith no. 260–263. He also narrated other reports about seeing Allah’s Face from Hudhayfah and ‘Amir ibn Sa‘d — see 1/451–452, hadith no. 264–265. Al-Lalika’i also narrated them in Sharh Usul al-Sunnah, 3/455–462, hadith no. 778–783, 792. Al-Tabari also recorded it in his Tafsir 11/106.
The origin of this report is in Sahih Muslim: ‘Ubaydullah ibn ‘Umar ibn Maysarah narrated to us, he said: Abdur-Rahman ibn Mahdi narrated to us, Hammad ibn Salamah narrated to us from Thabit al-Bunani, from Abdur-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, from Suhayb, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: “When the people of Paradise enter Paradise, Allah — the Blessed and Exalted — says: ‘Do you want anything more that I can give you?’ They say: ‘Have You not brightened our faces, entered us into Paradise, and saved us from the Fire?’ Then He lifts the veil, and nothing they are given is more beloved to them than looking at their Lord, the Mighty and Majestic.”
Muslim said: Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to me, Yazid ibn Harun narrated to us, from Hammad ibn Salamah with this chain, and he added: Then he recited the verse: “For those who do good is the best reward — and more.” See Sahih Muslim, Book of Faith, chapter: “Affirming the believers’ vision of their Lord in the Hereafter” 1/63, hadith no. 298.)
Know that the discussion about this verse is that our scholars (meaning the Ash‘aris) said: It is permissible to say that Allah is veiled from the creation, but it is not permissible to say He is veiled from them because the word ihtijab (veiling oneself) implies power and control, while hijab (being veiled) implies weakness and humiliation.
It is said: “The king veiled himself from his servants.” And it is said: “So-and-so was veiled from entering upon the king.” In reality, the idea of a veil in relation to Allah is impossible, because it refers to a body positioned between two other bodies. Rather, what we hold is that Allah, the Exalted, does not prevent the arrival of His grace and bounty to the human being.
As for the first hadith, which says: “His veil is light,” know that everything imagined to have an effect upon another any perfection in the effect must have come from the one who caused it. And certainly, the one who gives perfection possesses it more fully than the one who receives it. There is no doubt that the One who grants all perfections is the True One, the Exalted. So, all perfection found in possible beings, compared to the perfection of Allah, is as nothing.
There is no doubt that all possible beings are only the world of bodies and the world of souls. And no doubt that all the perfection of the world of elements compared to the world of the heavens is like nothing.
Then the perfection of the world of souls compared to that of the elements is also like nothing. Then the perfection of a specific human compared to that of the world of souls is also like nothing. So it becomes clear that the perfection of a specific human being, compared to the perfection of Allah, the Exalted, is more deserving to be described as nonexistent.
There is no doubt that the human soul alone cannot bear the reception of that perfection nor gaze upon it. Rather, human souls dissolve even at the lowest level of those perfections. This is the meaning of the saying: “If He were to unveil it, the radiance of His Face would burn everything His sight reaches of His creation.”
As for discussing this issue, it should be said: The mention of the veil in the Quran and Sunnah is far more than what ar-Razi mentioned. He only mentioned the verse: “No! Indeed, they will be veiled from their Lord that Day” (al-Mutaffifin: 15), whereas Allah also said: “It is not for any human being that Allah should speak to him except by revelation, or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger who reveals by His permission what He wills” (ash-Shura: 51).
Also, the fact that He manifested Himself to the mountain shows that He had been veiled, then He revealed Himself.
As for the hadiths, among them is the hadith of Abu Musa that ar-Razi mentioned. It is not from what both Bukhari and Muslim narrated, as he claimed, but it is exclusive to Muslim, who narrated it from ‘Amr ibn Murrah, from Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, from Abu Musa, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood among us with five words and said: “Indeed, Allah does not sleep, and it is not fitting for Him to sleep.
He lowers the scale and raises it. The deeds of the night are raised to Him before the deeds of the day, and the deeds of the day before the deeds of the night. His veil is light and in another narration, fire if He were to unveil it, the radiance of His Face would burn everything His sight reaches of His creation.”
Ibn Khuzaymah also mentioned the narration of Abu Mu‘awiyah, from al-A‘mash, from ‘Amr, with the wording: “His veil is light.”
He also narrated it from the path of al-Thawri, from ‘Amr, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood among us with four words, and said: “His veil is fire if He were to unveil it, the radiance of His Face would burn everything His sight reaches.”
It was also narrated by al-Mas‘udi, from ‘Amr, with the same meaning, and added: Then Abu ‘Ubaydah recited: “Blessed is whoever is in the fire and whoever is around it. And glory be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds” (an-Naml: 8).
It was also narrated from the path of Jarir, from al-A‘mash, and it was mentioned that it matches the narration of al-Thawri. It was also narrated by ‘Uthman ibn Sa‘id from the path of Jarir, from al-A‘mash, with the wording: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood among us with four, and said: “His veil is light if He were to unveil it…”
It was also narrated from the path of al-Thawri, from Hakim ibn Daylam, from Abu Burdah, from Abu Musa with the same wording as that of al-Thawri from ‘Amr ibn Murrah.
In the two Sahihs, from Abu Bakr ibn Abi Musa, from his father Abu Musa, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “There are two gardens of silver their vessels and whatever they contain and two gardens of gold their vessels and whatever they contain.
And nothing stands between the people and looking at their Lord in the Garden of Eden except the veil of majesty upon His Face.” In another narration: “Nothing stands between them and looking at their Lord in the Garden of Eden except the veil of majesty upon His Face.” (Reported by Ibn Khuzaymah.)
And in Sahih Muslim, from Hammad ibn Salamah, from Thabit, from Abdur-Rahman ibn Abi Layla, from Suhayb, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “When the people of Paradise enter Paradise, a caller calls out: ‘O people of Paradise, you have a promise with Allah which He wishes to fulfil.’
They say: ‘What is it? Has He not brightened our faces, made our scales heavy, entered us into Paradise, and saved us from the Fire?’” He said: “Then He lifts the veil from His Face and they look at Him and nothing they were given will be more beloved to them than looking at their Lord and that is the ‘increase’.”
This was also narrated by Hammad ibn Zayd, Sulayman ibn al-Mughira, and Ma‘mar from Thabit, but the narration of Hammad ibn Salamah is the most complete in both chain and content. That is well known in his narrations from Thabit al-Bunani, because they had a special closeness between them that did not exist between Thabit and others.
Thabit used to say: “If they did not treat me the way they treated Abu Sa‘id meaning al-Hasan al-Basri I would have narrated reliable hadiths to them.” For this reason, he would abbreviate for some people, and Hammad ibn Salamah would also summarise some of what Thabit narrated to him due to their close connection.
Ibn Khuzaymah and others also narrated from Hammad ibn Zayd, from Thabit, from Abdur-Rahman ibn Abi Layla that he recited the verse: “For those who do good is the best reward and more” (Yunus: 26). He said: “They are given whatever they want and ask for. Then it is said to them: ‘There is still something from your rights that you have not yet received.’” He said: “So Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, manifests Himself to them.” Then he recited: “For those who do good is the best reward and more.” Paradise is the best reward, and the ‘more’ is looking at their Lord. No gloom or humiliation shall touch their faces after seeing their Lord.
The wording of Sulayman from Thabit from Ibn Abi Layla is that he was asked about Allah’s saying: “For those who do good is the best reward and more.” He said: “When the people of Paradise enter Paradise and are granted blessings and honour, they are called: ‘O people of Paradise! Allah has promised you something more.’”
He said: “Then the veil is lifted, and Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, manifests Himself to them. So what do you think of them when their scales have become heavy, their scrolls have flown into their right hands, they have crossed the Bridge, and entered Paradise and received blessings and honour then all of that becomes as if it was nothing in comparison to what they are given.” (seeing Allah.)
The narration of Ma‘mar from Thabit from Ibn Abi Layla says: “The increase is looking at the noble Face of Allah.”
And from Hisham ibn Sa‘d, from Zayd ibn Aslam, from his father, from Umar ibn al-Khattab, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Musa, peace be upon him, said: ‘O Lord, show me Adam who removed us and himself from Paradise.’ So Allah showed him Adam.
He said: ‘Are you our father?’ Adam said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘You are the one into whom Allah breathed from His spirit, taught all the names, and commanded the angels to prostrate to you?’ He said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘Then what caused you to bring us out from Paradise?’ Adam said to him: ‘Who are you?’
He said: ‘I am Musa.’ Adam said: ‘You are the Prophet of the Children of Israel, whom Allah spoke to from behind a veil, and did not place between you and Him any messenger from His creation?’ He said: ‘Yes.’ Adam said: ‘Did you not find that this was written in the Book of Allah before I was created?’ He said: ‘Yes.’ Adam said: ‘Then why do you blame me for something that was decreed by Allah?’
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘So Adam defeated Musa in argument.’” (This was narrated by Abu Dawud in his Sunan, and by Ibn Khuzaymah in his Kitab al-Tawhid, which he conditioned to be authentic, and by Abu Abdillah Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahid al-Maqdisi in his Sahih, and others. It is authentic on the condition of Bukhari and Muslim from this chain, and it is also in the two Sahihs from Abu Hurayrah with a similar meaning.)
In the two Sahihs from Adi ibn Hatim, he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “There is none among you except that his Lord will speak to him there will be no interpreter between him and Allah. He will look to his right and see only what he sent ahead of deeds. He will look to his left and see only what he sent ahead.
He will look in front of him and see nothing but the Fire facing him. So whoever among you is able to protect himself from the Fire, even with half a date, let him do so. If he cannot find that, then with a good word.”
In the narration of Abu Usamah: “There is no veil between him and Allah, and no interpreter.” (This was reported by al-Bukhari in various places of his Sahih, in the Book of Tawhid, under the chapter: “The saying of Allah: Faces on that Day will be radiant, looking at their Lord” [al-Qiyamah: 22–23], with his chain from Adi ibn Hatim in similar wording. See 1/2709–2710, hadith no. 7005. Also, hadiths 3399, 3400, 6174, 7074, 6195. Al-Tirmidhi also reported it in his Sunan, in the Book of the Description of the Day of Judgement, chapter on the Resurrection, 4/611, hadith no. 2415, and he said: “This is a good and authentic hadith.”
Muslim also reported it in his Sahih, in the Book of Zakat, chapter on encouraging charity even with half a date or a good word, from Adi ibn Hatim with similar wording — see 1/703–704, hadith no. 67. Ibn Majah reported it in his Sunan in the Introduction, under the chapter “What the Jahmiyyah denied,” 1/66, hadith no. 185, and also in the Book of Zakat, 1/590, hadith no. 1843. Imam Ahmad reported it in his Musnad, 4/256, 377. Ibn Khuzaymah reported it in Kitab al-Tawhid, in the chapter: “That Allah, Glorified and Exalted, will speak to His slaves on the Day of Judgement without any interpreter” — see 1/359–360, hadith no. 215–216.)
Bayan Talbis Al Jahmiyyah (8/76-96)
