Wahhabi 'Aqidah: Allah (s.w.t.) has a Shadow

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following is from the words of ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Baz himself, in response to a question on the hadits of the Seven Granted Shade on the Day of Judgement.  ibn Baz was the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia from 1993 until his death in 1999.  His opinion on a matter is, therefore, the Wahhabi position, and this highlights the vast difference in the ‘aqidah of the Wahhabi sect, and Sunni Islam. 

The following was taken from Issue Relating to the Attributes of Allah (s.w.t.) - The Shadow of Allah (s.w.t.).

A rough translation of the text above, begins with a question posed: “Regarding the narration of the seven in the shadow of Allah on the Day where there is no shadow save His Shadow, does this mean Allah Ta’ala has a shadow?” 

ibn Baz answered, “Yes, as is reported in this narration and in some transmissions, ‘in the shadow of His Throne’.  However, in the Swahihayn, it is, ‘in His shadow’ for He has a shadow that is befitting His Glory, and we do not know its form, just like the rest of His Attributes.” 

The fact of the matter is that there is no discrepancy here.  The matn of the hadits in the Shaykhayn and al-Muwathha’ has “in His Shadow”.  The matn of the same hadits in Sunan at-Tirmidzi, Musnad ibn Hanbal, and elsewhere is more explicit, saying, “in the shadow of His Throne”.  No authority in Islam has ever said that Allah (s.w.t.) has a shadow.  For Allah (s.w.t.) to give off a literal shadow, He must have a definitive form.  And if Allah (s.w.t.) has a form, then He must be limited to a place, and that place must be larger than His form to contain Him, and that means Allah (s.w.t.) is no longer Omnipresent.  This is clear shirk.  In Islam, we understand these terms metaphorically, never literally.