Surely...

Surely, even the Sunni scholars cannot say that only the ‘Face of Allah’ will remain, while all His so-called limbs will perish! Similarly, Allah has used the word “hand” in several places in the Qur’an. But it means His Power and His Mercy, as in the verse: “But His hands are wide open” (5) IS ALLAH VISIBLE? As a direct result of the above-mentioned belief, the Sunnis are of the view that Allah can be seen.

For instance, Ahmad bn Hanbal, categorically mentioned that Allah can be seen in this world, as well as in the Hereafter. Whereas some other Sunni scholars say that He can only be seen in the Hereafter. On the other hand, the Shia Muslims are of the view that Allah cannot be seen neither in this world nor in the Hereafter, as He has no body and form.

In the glorious Qur’an, Allah says: “The sights do not apprehend Him, yet He apprehends the sights… “(6) In order to establish the possibility of seeing Allah with naked eyes, the Sunni scholars based their argument on some Hadith and Qur’anic verses such as: “Some faces will be fresh on that day, looking to their Lord” (7). However, in Arabic language the word نَاظِرَةٌ “Nadhr” does not imply ‘seeing’. Often it is said: “I looked towards the new moon but I did not see it”.

Therefore, the verse cannot imply that they will see Allah. According to the Shia interpretation, it means that they will be looking forward for the blessings of Almighty Allah. ATTRIBUTES OF ALLAH According to the Shia beliefs, attributes of Allah can be put in two distinct groups: Attributes which denote His Essence from which we can abstract Knowledge and Knowledgeability, Power and Powerfulness.

And attributes which denote His actions from which, too, one can abstract the concepts of Knowledge and, Knowledgeability, Power and Powerfulness. While explaining the Shia belief, Shaykh Sadooq wrote: “Know that our belief concerning Unity of God (i.e.Tawheed) is that Allah (exalted is He) is One; and Absolutely unique. There is naught like unto Him.

… But the Hearing and the Seeing One; the Omniscient; the Wise; the Living; the Everlasting; the Mighty; the Holy; the Knowing One; The Powerful; the Self Sufficient “(8) The Shia Muslim believe that Allah’s positive attributes such as Omniscience, Omnipotence, Self-Sufficiency, Divine Will, Everlasting Life, are identical with His Being and are not in addition to Him, and that His attributes are not different from His Being.