13. CONVERSING WITH THE LAYPEOPLE
Speaking to lay people about matters too heavy for them to comprehend poses risks; this also includes opposing what is firmly established in their hearts (qulub).
Imagine someone who firmly believes in tashbilr, or that the physical essence (dhat) of Allah is adjacent to the Throne (‘arsh), is the same size as the Throne, or is four fingers away from the Throne— suppose he similarly heard from his teachers and believed that when He descends to the Lower Heaven, the upper six Heavens are absent of Him. If such a person is invited to deny such beliefs and is told, ‘Allah is not like anything that can come to your mind. You should pass the hadiths along as they come to you, without dwelling on your mental image of them’ this would become difficult for him for a couple of reasons:
Firstly: He is dominated by emotion, which is stronger among the laypeople.
Secondly: His trust in the teachers who are (likely) more ignorant than he is.
Therefore, whoever addresses such persons with these types of matters risks his life. It was conveyed to me that someone who strongly believed in tashbih heard a scholar speaking about tanzih and said, ‘By Allah, if I were given the opportunity, I would strike him dead.’
It is thus prudent to beware addressing a commoner about matters he cannot endure, except with subtlety and caution because you will be risking your life without having any impact on changing his belief.
(Source: al-Hafiz Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-jawzl [d. 597AH] “CAPTURED THOUGHTS being” a translation of his masterpiece ‘Sayd al-K hatir)
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