[Impossibility of the contradiction between the Quran and the intellect]

It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the Quran, by virtue of its issuance by God, does not contradict the intellect; because the intellect, too, has been issued by God, like the Quran, and there is no contradiction between the creations of God due to His Oneness; as He has said: ﴿مَا تَرَى فِي خَلْقِ الرَّحْمَنِ مِنْ تَفَاوُتٍ﴾[1]; “You do not see any discrepancy in the creation of the Most Gracious.” As God Himself is an Intellectual[2], and He has revealed His Book to an intellectual Prophet and addressed intellectuals in it, and therefore, the contradiction between His Book and the intellect is not possible. Based on this, understanding the Book of God is possible based on the intellect, and interpreting it in a way that contradicts the intellect is not permissible and leads to deviation from its intention; as some of the Ahl al-Hadith, due to their denying the authority of the intellect and their turning away from it, by citing the words of God about His establishment upon the throne, have thought that He is in the upward direction, and by citing His words about “hand” and “face”, have imagined that He has a real hand and face, whereas the existence of real direction and limbs for God is contrary to the necessity of the intellect; because the existence of real direction and limbs is one of the characteristics of the body that fills a space, empties a space, and is subject to decomposition and composition, whereas it is certain that God is not a body, nor does He fill a space or empty a space, nor is He subject to decomposition and composition. Therefore, most of the Ahl al-Hadith, under the influence of weak intellectual pressure from men such as Abu al-Hasan al-Ash‘ari (d. 324 AH), with their affirmation of the existence of real direction and limbs for God, have considered their quality unknown to themselves so that in this way, they may get out of the anthropomorphism abyss in their supposition; whereas they do not get out of the anthropomorphism abyss in this way; because considering direction and limbs to be real for God, intentionally or unintentionally, is in some way determining their quality, and therefore, saying “without knowing how or what”[3] after it is like saying “candy” after drinking poison, which does not sweeten the mouth! Rather, there is no doubt that this view is the very anthropomorphism that has been wrapped in deceptive and meaningless words;