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2021-02-18/ 2009


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Allah's 'shade' : An 'attribute' whose kayf is unknown


Q:

Hadith:

There are seven people for whom Allah will provide His shade on the day when there will be no shade except His shade:

1. A just ruler
2. A youth who grew up in the worship of Allah
3. A man whose heart is attached to the mosque
4. Two men who love each other for Allah's sake; they meet for the sake of Allah and part company for His sake
5. A man who is invited by a woman of beauty and position [to sin], but he refuses saying: `I fear Allah.'
6. A man who gives in charity secretly such that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives
7. A man whose eyes shed tears as he remembers Allah in private.'
[Sahih al-Bukhari, Muslim]

Salafi preacher Rabi' Ibn Hadi al-Madkhalee says that shade is the shade of the throne:
www.ajurry.com

The late Salafi scholar of hadith, al-Albani agrees and says in at- Targhib wat Tarhib (1/1440):

The attribution of the shade of Allaah is an attribution of ownership. Every shade is His shade, His property, His creation and authority [i.e., Allaah owns this shade. The point being stressed here is that it is not an attribution of a characteristic to Allaah.
Rather, this type of attribution is similar to "slave of Allaah" or "house of Allaah" etc. So the shade is not an attribute of Allaah
but it has been annexed to Him for purposes of distinction and nobility, which therefore sets it apart from all other shades].
What is meant here is the shade of the Throne as it has been clearly mentioned in another hadeeth. The day referred to is the Day of Resurrection, when the people stand in front of the Lord of the Worlds, and the sun draws close to them, and they feel the intense heat and begin to perspire. There will not be any shade (on that day) except the shade of the Throne. -

http://calgaryislam.com/
xL =broken link 2021-02-18

BUT!! the late Mufti of Saudi Arabia Bin Baz didn't think so:

SEE:
http://www.binbaz.org.sa/mat/4234
= binbaz.org.sa/fatwas

Sh. Bin Baz says that Allah is attributed with shade,
na'udhubillahi min dhalik.

Anyway, my question is, could someone please provide any commentary from our scholars specifically explaining the meaning of the attribution of 'shade' to Allah in this hadith. I'm pretty sure we don't agree with Bin Baz here but I'd like to know if what has been quoted above from al-Albani and Madkhali is accurate.

A:
Even in the compilations usually adduced by the anthropomorphists - let alone the commentaries of the impeccable Ahl al-Sunna - the hadiths mentioning the words "in His shade" (al-Bukhari, Muslim, Muwatta') are understood in the context of the hadiths mentioning "in the shade of His Throne" (al-Tirmidhi, Ahmad and others). No one to my knowledge has claimed such a Divine attribute as "the shade" even among those who did their best to gather all the attributes from a literalist perspective such as Ibn Khuzayma, al-Harawi al-Ansari, and Abu Ya`la.

Thus Ibn Mandah in al-Tawhid has a chapter entitled "Another exposition showing that the shade of the Throne is used to shade whomever Allah wishes among His servants" which he begins by mentioning the hadith "in the shade of His Throne" then he follows it up with the hadith "in His shade."

Similarly Ibn Hibban in his Sahih has a section-title mentioning "the shade of His Throne" but the only hadith in that section has the wording "His shade."

Similarly, Qadi `Iyad in Sharh Sahih Muslim explains "His shade" as a possessive adjective of possession (milk) and that what is meant here is the shade of the Throne, to which Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Bari adds: "and honor (tashrif)," adding that he considers its explanation as "the shade of His Throne" preponderant in light of the narration mentioning it explicitly.

Ibn Rajab in his own Fath al-Bari also said "What is meant by 'His shade' is the shade of His Throne" in light of the hadiths mentioning the latter explicitly.

It is true, as Ibn Baz said, that the hadiths mentioning "His shade" are in the two Sahihs, contrary to the hadiths mentioning "the shade of His Throne." What he missed, however, is that the latter as a whole are even more authentic since, as al-Dhahabi said in al-`Uluw, they are mass-transmitted.

GF Haddad
2009-01-02