If it [the mountain] remains in place surely you will see Me (7:143)
While teaching the classical theological text written by Naṣīr al-dīn al-Ṭūsī and commented upon by ʿAllamah al-Ḥillī, Kashf al-murād fī sharḥ tajrīd al-iʿtiqād we came across a disturbing rebuttal of the Ashʿarī argument for how this verse shows that God can be beholden by the physical eye.
The ʿAshʿarī argument is that since it is possible for the mountain to have remained in place, therefore it is also possible to see God. ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī rebuts this assertion by saying that what is meant by this verse is that if the mountain remains in place while it is moving, then you will see Him. So in fact God stipulated something impossible showing that seeing Him is also impossible. This would mean that there was something not in the apparent phrase narrated in the Qurʾān which is the condition of remaining while moving. Whilst omissions are usual in the language of the Qurʾān, an omission like this is very hard to justify, and therefore, this argument is a disturbing interpretation of this verse.
What this shows us is that scholars, no matter how great their contributions are, also slip up at times and why it is important to evaluate the arguments even in texts that are considered seminal. It should also give us pause for thought when we find mistakes in the writings of scholars from other sects before we rush to expose them, thereby arguing for the weakness of that sect for polemical purposes.
In the footnotes to the version I was teaching from, the weakness of this argument was pointed out by Ay. Jaʿfar Subḥānī. He then offers a much simpler rebuttal by saying that the impossibility of seeing God is illustrated by the impossibility of the mountain remaining when God manifested as the apparent meaning of the verse itself is illustrating the impossibility rather than the possibility. So both the interpretation of the ʿAshʿarīs and ʿAllāmah al-Ḥillī are unfaithful to the apparent meaning of the text.
May Allah protect us from erroneous interpretation of our sacred texts 
