Abu Qurrah, a scholar and narrator of Hadith in the era of Imam al-Ridha (peace be upon him), was among the Sunni scholars. Safwan ibn Yahya, a student of Imam al-Ridha (peace be upon him), recounts:
“Abu Qurrah asked me to take him to the presence of Imam al-Ridha (peace be upon him). I sought permission from the Imam, and upon receiving it, Abu Qurrah had the honor of meeting Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha (peace be upon him). He posed several questions about religious laws, halal, and haram until his inquiry led to the matter of monotheism. At that point, he asked:
‘It has been narrated to us that God divided His “vision” and “speech” between two Prophets. He granted speech to Musa (peace be upon him) and vision to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family). Therefore, God must be visible.’
Imam al-Ridha (peace be upon him) replied:
‘Who was it that conveyed to humankind and jinn that “Eyes cannot perceive Him [1], knowledge does not encompass Him, and nothing is like Him [2]”? Was it not Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family)?'[3]
Abu Qurrah admitted: ‘Yes.’
The Imam continued:
‘Then how can a man sent by God to all creation, inviting them to God with His command, declare that “Eyes cannot perceive Him, knowledge does not encompass Him, and nothing is like Him,” and then claim he saw God with his own eyes, comprehended Him, or that He has a human form? Aren’t you ashamed to attribute this to him? Even the disbelievers and enemies of religion could not accuse him of such a contradiction—bringing one message from God and then acting contrary to it.’
In response, Abu Qurrah argued:
‘But God Himself says in the Quran, “And he (the Prophet) saw Him another time [4].”’
The Imam explained:
‘Following that verse, there is another which clarifies what the Prophet saw. God states: “The heart did not lie about what it saw [5],” meaning the heart of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) did not deny what his eyes perceived. Then, He clarifies in another verse, “He certainly saw some of the greatest signs of his Lord [6].” Therefore, what Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) saw were the signs of God, not God Himself. Furthermore, God explicitly says, “Knowledge does not encompass Him [7],” which confirms that if He could be seen, He would be encompassed by sight, contradicting the Quran.’
The Imam concluded:
‘What the Muslims unanimously agree upon is that God cannot be encompassed by knowledge or seen by eyes, and nothing is like Him.’
(Adapted from Kitab al-Kafi, Volume 1, Chapter on Refuting the Vision of God, Hadith 2)
Footnotes:
[1] Surah al-An’am, 6:103
[2] Surah al-Shura, 42:11
[3] Surah Taha, 20:110
[4] Surah al-Najm, 53:13
[5] Surah al-Najm, 53:11
[6] Surah al-Najm, 53:18
[7] Surah Taha, 20:110