Allah ‘Manifested His Glory’ to the Mountain

Some literalists have also asserted that Allāh ﷻ literally descended to a mountain. They derive this notion from the part of the verse, ‘…when the Lord manifested His glory to the mountain, He turned it into dust and Mūsā fell down upon his face, senseless…’ (Qur’ān 7:143). However, early scholars such as Imām Yaḥyā al-Hādī ﷺ made it clear that the words ‘manifested His glory’ (تَجَلَّى رَبُّهُ) is an idiomatic indication that Allāh ﷻ manifested ‘His signs’ (آيَاتِهِ) and ‘ability’ (قُدْرَتِهِ).⁶⁷

The verse does not mean that Allāh literally descended, or travelled from a place He previously occupied, to the mountain. Moreover, al-Qurṭubī cites a similar opinion as the position of Abū ‘Alī Muḥammad b. al-Mustanīr (d. 206 AH), who said that the phrase in question refers to His ‘command’ (أَمْرِهِ) and ‘ability’ (قُدْرَتِهِ).⁶⁸

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اللهم صلِّ على محمّدٍ وعلى آلِ محمّد

Footnotes

⁶⁷ Imām al-Hādī, Tafsīr, 1:211.
⁶⁸ Al-Qurṭubī, al-Jāmi‘ li-Aḥkām al-Kalām, 9:324.