Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 2 of 2

468 'Ali's attitude towards the Khurijites and Shia
For example, they fabricated a report saying that Abu
Ahdullah Ja'far as-S2diq was asked about Allah (s): ''Will He be
seen in the hereafter?" and he replied: "Glorified and exalted be He
far above that; vision can only grasp that which has colour and shape,
and Allah is the Creator of colours and shapes."741 Their shaykh and
'Ayatollah' Ja'far an-Najafi, the author of Kashf al-Ghaca', said: "If
someone ascribes some attributes to Allah, such as saying that He
could he seen, he is to be regarded as an apostate."742 Al-Hnrr d-
'kili regarded denying that the believers will see Allah as one of
the fundamentals of the Imams; he wrote a chapter entitled "No eye
can see Allah, and no vision can encompass Him in this world or in
the hereafter."743
Their denial that the believers will see their Lord in the
hereafter is contrary to what is stated in the Sharia text and is also
contrary to the madh-hah of Ah1 d-Bayt, as some of their reports
admit. Ibn B2bawayh al-Qummi narrated from Abu Busayr that he
said to Abu Ahdullah: "Tell me about Allah, may He be glorified and
exalted: will the believers see Him on the Day of Resurrection?" He
said: "Yes, seeing [Allah] is the right of the people of paradise, who
will see Him without encompassing Him and without knowing how,
as it says in the Book of our Lord, such as the verses in which Allah
(&) says: &Some faces that Day shall be Nidirah [shining and
radiant]. Looking at their Lord [Allahlb (Qur'an 75: 22-23) and
(There they will have all that they desire - and We have more [for
them, i.e. a glance at the All-Mighty, All-Majestic]) (Qur'an 50: 35).
Anas ibn M%ik (&) . said: 'This means looking upon the
.
countenance of Allah
Allah (%) also says: (For those who have done good is the
best reward and even more [i.e. having the honour of glancing at the
countenance of mah]b (Qur'an 10: 26). The 'best reward' is paradise,
and 'even more' is gazing upon His noble countenance. It was