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The question

What does the saying "Nothing is more harmful to creatures than the Creator" mean, and is it correct?

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Source: FtawySummary from Ftawy's records · added here Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

The statement, "There is nothing more harmful to creation than the Creator," is attributed to Abu Talib al-Makki, and he was declared an innovator (mubtadi') because of it. Some have tried to defend him, but the phrase is ugly even if it was intended to mean that Allah alone possesses the power to harm and benefit. This is because Allah does not decree harm out of malice, but rather out of justice and wisdom. Furthermore, people wrong themselves, and trials for believers are a mercy. Moreover, praise of Allah involves describing Him with the ability to both benefit and harm together, not just mentioning harm alone, because perfection lies in the conjunction of His Beautiful Names with each other. Therefore, this phrase should be avoided due to its lack of proper respect for Allah and its failure to magnify Him appropriately.

Summary from Ftawy's records · added here

Reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.

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Where this answer came from
Source platform
Ftawy
Original fatwa ID
25077
Added here
. This is when the answer was added to El Fatwa, not the fatwa's date.
Text
Summary from Ftawy's records, reviewed by El Fatwa's sharia committee.
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Read the full answer on Ftawy