Blind in This World, Blind in the Hereafter

In fact, some people say that there is no metaphor in the Qur'an at all. But take, for example, where Allah says: wa man kāna fī hādhihi aʿmā fa-huwa fī al-ākhirati aʿmā wa aḍallu sabīlā, and translate that literally. It is in Sūrat al-Isrāʾ, Banī Isrāʾīl. Allah says: whoever is blind in this world, then he will be blind in the Hereafter. Aʿmā means blind. In fact, he will be even more deviated: aḍallu sabīlā.

Now, suppose that there is no metaphor in the Qur'an: then what happens to the poor blind person? It is not their fault that they are blind in this world. Blind in this world, and so blind in the Hereafter; in fact, even more deviated? This has to be taken metaphorically: that it means blindness of the heart from the truth, not blindness of the eyes, which is the literal meaning. That is the kind of extreme that some people go to.

In fact, there is the case of Shaykh ʿUthaymīn (may Allah have mercy on him; he has passed away, Allah have mercy on him), who was asked about the hadith about the Dajjāl, that he only has one eye: wa mā rabbuka bi-aʿwar. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said that your Lord is not one-eyed. So the normal meaning that the ʿulamāʾ would take from that is that our Lord does not need eyes and have eyes; and this individual is going to call himself God, and he has this one eye, and the other eye is covered, or it is not functioning.

So ʿUthaymīn says: well, this proves that Allah has two eyes. Not eyes: it says two ʿuyūn. It is easy to see where they take it, because of the meaning. This is a serious problem, even though sometimes they go to great lengths in saying: no, we do not mean a limb; laysa bi-jāriḥah, it is not jāriḥah. But then, because of the way it is said, it insinuates it, so that a lot of the common people begin to believe that; and that is where the problem is.

So where is Allah? He's where He's always been. It is not for us to determine that. We are not going to be asked about that. So to get away, if somebody is going to persecute you for this, just say: istawā ʿalā al-ʿArsh. Khalāṣ. Finish. Hopefully that has clarified a lot of this taʾwīl and tafwīḍ issue.