[meaning: al-Ashʿarī] and his followers—they have not known the reality of the Monotheism (Tawhid) with which God sent His Messenger. For the polytheists of the Arabs used to acknowledge that God alone is the Creator of everything, yet despite this, they were polytheists... For this reason, among the followers of these people are those who prostrate to the sun, the moon, and the stars, supplicating to them just as they supplicate to God Almighty, fasting for them, offering sacrifices to them, and drawing near to them, and then saying: 'This is not polytheism; rather, polytheism is only if I believe that they are the ones managing my affairs. But if I make them a cause and an intermediary, I am not a polytheist.'
It is necessarily known from the religion of Islam that this is polytheism. This and its like are part of the Monotheism (Tawhid) with which God sent His messengers, yet they do not include it in the designation of Monotheism (Tawhid) they coined, while they included in it the negation of His attributes." End quote.
Sheikh Muḥammad b. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, may Allah have mercy on him, said, as found in al-Durar al-Saniyya (1/112), while speaking about the meaning of 'the worshipped' according to the Ashʿarite scholastic theologians:
"The scholastic theologians are among those who claim Islam, but God led them astray from knowing the Deity. It is mentioned from al-Ashʿarī and those who followed him that He is the Capable, and that divinity is capability.
So if we acknowledge that, it is the meaning of His statement: (There is no deity but God). Then Satan overcame them, so they supposed that Monotheism (Tawhid) cannot be achieved except by negating the attributes, so they negated them, and they called anyone who affirmed them an 'anthropomorphist' (mujassim)!!
The people of the Sunna refuted them with many evidences, among them: that Monotheism (Tawhid) is not complete except by affirming the attributes; and that the meaning of the Deity is the worshipped one. So if He, Transcendent is He, is uniquely singled out with this from all creations, and this is a correct description by which the one describing Him does not lie, then this indicates the attributes. It indicates immense knowledge and immense capability, and these two attributes are the root of all attributes, as the Exalted said: {It is God who has created seven heavens and of the earth, the like of them. The command descends among them so you may know that God is over all things competent and that God has encompassed all things in knowledge} [al-Ṭalāq: 12].
So if God has condemned the worship of one who possesses neither benefit nor harm for his worshippers, it is known that this necessitates knowledge of the needs of the worshippers, both speaking and beastly; and it necessitates the capability to fulfill
[يعني: الأشعري] وأتباعه، لم يعرفوا حقيقة التوحيد الذي بعث الله به رسوله، فإن مشركي العرب كانوا مُقِرِّين بأن الله وحده خالق كل شيء، وكانوا مع هذا مُشركين .. ولهذا كان من أتباع هؤلاء من يسجد للشمس والقمر والكواكب، ويدعوها كما يدعو الله تعالى، ويصوم لها، وينسك لها، ويتقرّب إليها، ثم يقول: إن هذا ليس بشركٍ، وإنما الشرك إذا اعتقدت أنها هي المدبّرة لي، فإذا جعلتها سببًا وواسطة لم أكن مُشركًا.
ومن المعلوم بالاضطرار من دين الإسلام أن هذا شِركٌ، فهذا ونحوه من التوحيد الذي بعث الله به رسله، وهم لا يُدخلونه في مسمى التوحيد الذي اصطلحوا عليه، وأدخلوا في ذلك نفي صفاته. اهـ
وقال الشيخ محمد بن عبد الوهاب رحمه الله كما في «الدُّرر السَّنيَّة» (١١٢/١) وهو يتكلم عن معنى المعبود عند المتكلمين الأشاعرة:
والمتكلمون ممن يدعي الإسلام؛ لكن أضلهم الله عن معرفة الإله، فذُكِرَ عن الأشعري، ومن تبعه: أنه القادرُ، وأن الألوهية هي القدرة.
فإذا أقررنا بذلك، فهي معنى قوله: (لا إله إلا الله)، ثم استحوذ عليهم الشَّيطان؛ فظنوا أن التوحيد لا يتأتى إلَّا بنفي الصِّفات، فنفوها، وسموا من أثبتها: (مُجسِّمًا)!!
ورد عليهم أهل السُّنة بأدلة كثيرة، منها: أنَّ التوحيد لا يتم إلَّا بإثبات الصِّفات؛ وأن معنى الإله: هو المعبود؛ فإذا كان هو سبحانه متفردًا به عن جميع المخلوقات، وكان هذا وصفًا صحيحًا، لم يكذب الواصف به، فهذا يدلّ على الصفات، فيدلّ على العلم العظيم، والقدرة العظيمة؛ وهاتان الصِّفتان: أصل جميع الصفات، كما قال تعالى: ﴿ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِی خَلَقَ سَبۡعَ سَمَـٰوَ ٰتࣲ وَمِنَ ٱلۡأَرۡضِ مِثۡلَهُنَّۖ یَتَنَزَّلُ ٱلۡأَمۡرُ بَیۡنَهُنَّ لِتَعۡلَمُوۤا۟ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَیۡءࣲ قَدِیرࣱ وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ قَدۡ أَحَاطَ بِكُلِّ شَیۡءٍ عِلۡمَۢا﴾ [الطلاق:١٢].
فإذا كان الله قد أنكر عبادة مَن لا يملك لعباده نفعًا ولا ضرًّا، فمعلوم: أن هذا يستلزم العلم بحاجة العباد ناطقها وبهيمها؛ ويستلزم: القدرة على قضاء =
