The Thirteen Attributes of Allah
Every Accountable Person Must Know
Accountable: Pubescent,
Sane and Heard the call of Islam
{لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَىْءٌ
وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ البَصِيرُ}
Ayah means: Nothing is similar
to Allah and He is attributed with Hearing and Sight
Praise be to Allah,
and may Allah raise the rank of Prophet Muhammad and his Al and
Companions, and protect his nation from that which he fears for it. Thereafter:
Allah, the Exalted, said
{وَمَن لَّمْ يُؤْمِن
بِاللهِ وَرَسُولِهِ فَإِنَّا أَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَافِرِينَ سَعِيرًا}
which means: For those blasphemers who do
not believe in Allah and His Messenger, We have prepared Hellfire .
It is obligatory to believe in Allah
and to know what is permissible to attribute to Him, what is necessary to be of
His attributes, and what is impossible to be of His attributes. Also, it is
obligatory to believe in the Messenger and to know what is befitting for him,
what is permissible for him and the other prophets, what is necessary to be of
their attributes, and what is impossible to be among their attributes. It is
obligatory to declare these beliefs by the tongue by uttering The Testification of Faith (Two Shahadahs):
أشهدُ أنْ لا إلهَ إلاَّ
اللهُ وأشهدُ أنَّ محمّداً رسولُ الله
which means: I know, believe and profess no
one is God except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
The one who does not believe in Allah
and His Messenger is a blasphemer and shall enter Hell eternally. Before
proceeding with this treatise let it be known that the
judgments of the mind are three kinds:
·
The
intellectual necessity:
This refers to what the mind does not conceive its non-existence, i.e.,
non-existence does not apply to its self. Allah is the One Whose
Existence is necessary, because the mind does not accept His non-existence,
i.e., non-existence does not apply to the Self of Allah.
·
The
intellectual impossibility:
This refers to what the mind does not conceive its existence, i.e., that to
which existence does not apply. The existence of a partner with Allah is
an intellectual impossibility, because existence does not apply to it, i.e.,
the mind does not conceive its existence.
·
The
intellectual possibility:
This refers to what the mind conceives its existence at one time and its
non-existence at another time. This universe and its contents--among what we
can see and what we cannot see--is an intellectual possibility. It is so
because the mind conceives its existence after a state of non-existence. This
is the state of the entire universe. For example, Allah made the human
being exist after having been non-existent, and then this human being shall be
annihilated (Annihilation of humans is by complete death, which is defined as
the soul completely departing the body. The souls do not annihilate and some
bodies do not decay in the soil.) This is why the human being's existence is
among the intellectual possibilities.
Allah, ta^ala,
said
which means: Allah has attributes that
do not resemble the attributes of others .
It is obligatory to believe the attributes
of Allah are confirmed to Him. He who negates them is called an atheist.
Hence, the one who does not believe in the Existence of Allah, i.e., the
one who negates Allah's attribute of Existence is called an atheist.
The attributes of Allah that are
obligatory to believe in are confirmed to Him. They are not
the Self of Allah nor other than the Self of Allah.
Rather, we say they are attributes with which Allah is attributed and
they are religiously and intellectually obligatory for Him. Imam an-Nasafiyy said: "His attributes are not
Him nor other than Him."
The attributes of Allah that every
pubescent and sane Muslim is obliged to know are called the attributes of the
Self of Allah and Allah is not attributed with their opposites.
They are thirteen attributes; the scholars established by consensus he who is
ignorant of them is a committer of an enormous sin (fasiq).
These thirteen (13) attributes are:
Existence (al-Wujud), Oneness (al-Wahdaniyyah), Eternity (al-Qidam), Everlastingness (al-Baqa'),
Non-neediness of others (al-Qiyamu bin-Nafs), Non-resemblance to the creatures (al-mukhalafatu lil-hawadith),
Power (al-Qudrah), Will (al-Iradah),
Knowledge (al-^Ilm), Life (al-Hayah),
Hearing (as-Sam^), Sight (al-Basar), and
Speech (al-Kalam).
1- Existence (al-Wujud): It is obligatory to believe in the
Existence of Allah. Allah said:
which means: [There is no doubt in the
Existence of Allah.] Hence, it is obligatory to believe in the
Existence of Allah. It is an eternal and everlasting attribute. Allah
exists without a beginning, without an ending, and without a place.
2- Oneness (al-Wahdaniyyah): It is obligatory to believe Allah
is One without a partner. Allah said:
{فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لا
إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللهُ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنبِكَ}
which means: [Know that no one is God
except Allah.] Allah is One in
His Self, Attributes, and Doings--hence Allah has no equal. So we say,
for example: "Allah is the Creator and no one is a creator except
Allah". Allah is One but not as in numbers, because numbers
are created. Rather, He is One in that there is no
partner with Him.
3- Eternity (al-Qidam): It is obligatory to believe Allah
is Eternal, i.e., there is no beginning to His Existence. His attributes are
also eternal. Nothing is eternal except Allah and His attributes.
4- Everlastingness (al-Baqa'): It is obligatory to believe Allah
is everlasting i.e., His Existence does not end. His Existence is everlasting
and His attributes are everlasting. There is nothing everlasting in itself
except Allah, because annihilation does not apply to His Self. However,
Paradise and Hell are everlasting because Allah willed their
everlastingness. Hence, they are everlasting--not in their selves--but because
of other than their selves. This is why they are among the intellectual
possibilities, and they are part of this universe. Allah said:
which means: [Allah is the
Eternal, without a beginning, and the Everlasting, without an ending.]
5- Non-neediness of others (al-Qiyamu bin-Nafs): Allah said:
which means: [Allah is the Master
Who is resorted to in one's needs.] Allah does not need anything.
He does not need one to give Him existence because He exists without a
beginning. Also, He does not need one to specify Him with Knowledge, instead of
ignorance, or other than that among His Attributes, because His attributes
exist without a beginning.
6- Non-Resemblance to the Creation (al-Mukhalafatu lil-hawadith): Allah does not resemble any of His
creatures--neither in His Self nor in His Attributes nor in His Doings. Allah
said:
{لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَىْءٌ
وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ البَصِيرُ}
which means: [Absolutely there is nothing
like Him.] Imam Abu Hanifah said: "The
Creator does not resemble His creatures."
7- Power (al-Qudrah): It is obligatory to believe Allah
is attributed with Power, which is defined as an eternal and everlasting
attribute of Allah related to giving existence to and annihilating what
is intellectually possible. Allah said:
{إِنَّ اللهَ عَلَى كُلِّ
شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ}
which means: [Allah has the Power
over everything.] That is, Allah's Power relates to all things
that are intellectually possible. Hence, the Power of Allah is not
related to the intellectually necessary neither in creating nor annihilating,
because annihilation does not apply to it in the first place. The power of Allah
is not related to the intellectually impossible neither in creating nor
annihilating because existence in the first place does not apply to that which
is intellectually impossible. The fact that the power of Allah is not
related to the intellectually necessary and the intellectually impossible is
not powerlessness, but rather indicates the perfection of Allah. Also,
this fact conforms to the judgment of the mind: the intellectually impossible
does not turn into an intellectual possibility, and the intellectually necessary
does not turn into an intellectual possibility. The Power of Allah is
related to the normal impossibilities. For example, although the existence of a
sea of mercury is an intellectual possibility, it does not occur, and the Power
of Allah is related to it.
8- Will (al-‘Iradah):
It is obligatory to
believe Allah is attributed with Will. It is defined as an eternal and
everlasting attribute by which Allah specifies the creatures who are intellectual possibilities with some attributes
among what is possible for them. An example is specifying a green colored board
with green instead of other possible colors. There is no difference in that
regard between good and evil, blasphemy and belief, winning and losing, and
other opposites among what is intellectually possible.
9- Knowledge (al-^Ilm): It is obligatory to believe Allah
is attributed with Knowledge. This is an eternal and everlasting attribute of
His Self. Allah knows eternally about His Self, attributes, and what He
creates. Nothing is absent from His Knowledge.
10- Life (al-Hayah):
It is obligatory to
believe Allah is attributed with Life. Allah said:
{اللهُ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ
هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ}
which means: [There is no God but Allah,
and He is attributed with Life, and His existence does not end.] Life
is an eternal and everlasting attribute of Allah. The Life of Allah
is not like our life, because our life needs a combination of body and soul;
however, the Life of Allah is His attribute.
11- Hearing (as-Sam^): It is obligatory to believe Allah
is attributed with Hearing. This is an eternal and everlasting attribute of Allah
with which Allah hears all things that are hearable. There is no
difference between what is near to us and what is far from us because Allah
is not in a place. He hears without an ear, without means, and without
instruments. His hearing is not subject to weakening nor
change because weakness and change are non-befitting to Allah. Allah
said:
{وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ البَصِير}
which means: [He is the One attributed with
Hearing and Sight.]
12- Sight (al-Basar): It is obligatory to believe Allah
is attributed with Sight. This is an eternal and everlasting attribute of Allah
with which He sees all things that are seeable, without an instrument and without
means. He sees the things that are far away from us and those that are near to
us without any difference because Allah is not in a place. His attribute
of Sight does not change or develop, because the One whose Self is eternal does
not develop or change. Allah's attributes are eternal and do not develop
or change.
13- Speech (al-Kalam) : It
is obligatory to believe Allah is attributed with Speech (Kalam). This is an eternal and everlasting attribute
with which Allah orders, forbids, and informs. It is not a letter nor a
sound nor a language. The Qur'an and the other revealed Books are
expressions of the eternal Kalam of the Self
of Allah. When we write the word "Allah" it is an
expression of the Self of Allah. Likewise, the words and sentences of the
revealed Books are expressions of the Kalam of
Allah. The Qur'an is called the Kalam
of Allah because it is not authored by Prophet Muhammad or Angel Jibril. The Qur'an is also used to mean the
eternal Kalam of the Self of Allah. Allah
said:
{وَكَلَّمَ اللهُ مُوسَى
تَكْلِيمًا}
which means: [Allah spoke to Musa
with His eternal Kalam] i.e., Allah
created in Prophet Musa the ability to hear the Kalam of the Self of Allah, which is not a
letter nor a sound.
and Allah knows best
| Back
|
| Main Page |