The claim
Wahhābī said: We know from the Sunnah that Allāh will become so angry on the Day of Judgement, in a way He has never been this angry before, nor will have ever become this angry later. What is it all if not “change”?
Aļļaah does not change
“لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ” – “Absolutely nothing resembles Him.” (al-Shūrā 11)
To understand scriptures in this Wahhābī way is to say that Aļļaah is influenced by creation, and that creation causes events of anger, etc. in Him. Aļļaah is not affected by what we do, or anything else in the creation. He does not need creation in any way, shape or form. Aļļaah was perfect before the world existed and did not gain any additional perfection by its existence, nor lose any perfection because of it.
“فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ عَنِ ٱلْعَالَمِينَ” – “Verily Aļļaah has absolutely no need for the worlds.” (Āl ʿImrān 97)
Al-Haythamī narrated in Majmaʿ az-Zawāʾid that a Bedouin said in his duʿāʾ, among other things: “ولا تغيره الحوادث” – “(O the One that) is not changed by events.” After he finished, the Prophet ﷺ called him, gave him some gold, and asked: “Do you know why I gave you the gold?” He replied, “Because of family ties between us, O Messenger of Aļļaah?” The Prophet ﷺ said: “Family ties have rights attached to them, yes, but I gave you the gold for the beauty of your praise of Aļļaah.”
The meaning of “anger” when ascribed to Aļļaah
In Mufradāt al-Qurʾān, al-Rāghib al-Aṣfahānī said about ghaḍab (wrath/anger): “the excitement of the heart’s blood for wanting revenge,” then he said: “If ascribed to Aļļaah, then it means revenge, without other meanings.”
In Lisān al-ʿArab Ibn Manẓūr narrates from Ibn ʿArafah: “Ghaḍab in creation is something that enters their hearts, some of it good, some of it bad… As for Aļļaah’s ghaḍab, this is His disapproval of those who disobey Him so that He punishes them.”
Explaining Ṭā Hā 81, where “ghaḍabī” (My wrath) is mentioned, Ibn al-Jawzī says it means: “My punishment.”
Even in English, “wrath” does not necessarily mean a change in the one ascribed with anger. One definition is “retributory punishment for an offense or a crime: divine chastisement.”
Explanation of the ḥadīth
The ḥadīth states: “إِنَّ رَبِّي قَدْ غَضِبَ الْيَوْمَ غَضَبًا لَمْ يَغْضَبْ قَبْلَهُ مِثْلَهُ وَلَنْ يَغْضَبَ بَعْدَهُ مِثْلَهُ” – “Indeed my Lord has become wrathful today with a wrath that He has never had the like of before, nor will He have the like of after.”
al-Nawawī, in his commentary on Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, said that what is meant by Aļļaah’s wrath is what appears of His punishment of those who disobey Him and what they see of His painful torture, and the horrors that the people witness on that Day – things that have never occurred before and will never occur again. There is no doubt that this specific manifestation will not have happened before that day, and will not be repeated after. This is the meaning of “Allāh’s wrath” here, just as His riḍā (being pleased) is the appearance of His mercy and gentle treatment of those whom He wills good for. It is impossible that Aļļaah Himself changes in “being wrathful” or “being pleased.”
Statements of the Imams
Imām Abū Ḥanīfa said in al-Fiqh al-Akbar: “…change and alteration occur only in created beings.”
Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said: “والله تعالى لم يلحقه تغير ولا تبدل ولا يلحقه الحدود قبل خلق العرش ولا بعد خلق العرش” – “Aļļaah, exalted, is not reached by change or substitution, and He is not reached by limits before the creation of the ʿArsh nor after creating it.” In other words, Aļļaah is not in a place above the ʿArsh.
Why the scholars insisted that Allāh does not change
Change is, in reality, the beginning of a new state, and anything with a beginning needs to be brought into existence. Having been brought into existence is to have been created. To say that Aļļaah changes is to say that He has created attributes and is therefore partly created, like the Christians who claim Allāh has a son – part creator, part creation.
For this reason no scripture may be understood to mean that Aļļaah changes. Any text that seems on the surface to imply change must be interpreted in a way that fits the foundation: Aļļaah does not resemble His creation. At the most basic level, this means that neither He nor His attributes have a beginning, because anything with a beginning is a creation.
To say that Aļļaah changes is not only to liken Him to creation, but to claim He is partly created. This plainly contradicts “لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ” – “Absolutely nothing resembles Him.” It also undermines the proof for Aļļaah’s existence, which is based on the premise that everything with a beginning needs a creator. If one says that Aļļaah Himself has beginnings, they are effectively saying either that something can exist without a creator, or that Aļļaah is not the true Creator, or that He partially created Himself – all of which are false and destructive to sound belief.
For this reason, the people of Ahl al-Sunna firmly affirm: Aļļaah does not change, does not enter time, and is not affected by events. It is His creation that changes, comes into existence, and passes away according to His eternal, unchanging Will and Knowledge.