Attributes of God [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

ATTRIBUTES OF ALLAH

Now time has come to explain in
short what is our belief concerning God.. It should be apparent by now that
there are many attributes which are a MUST for God, while there are others which
are beneath His dignity and cannot be found in Him. Therefore, in our faith, the
attributes of Allah have been grouped as 'positive' and 'negative'.

Sifate Thubutiyyah

The positive attributes which are benefitting Allah are Sifate
Thubutiyyah. They are many in number, but only eight of them are usually
mentioned. They are:

1. QADEEM :It means that Allah is Eternal, i.e.,
He has neither beginning nor end. Nothing except Allah is eternal.

2.QAADIR:It means that Allah is Omnipotent, i.e., He has power over every
thing and every affair.

3. AALIM: It means that Allah is Omniscient,
i.e., He knows every thing. Even our unspoken intentions and desires are not
hidden from Him.

4.HAI :It means that Allah was always alive and will
remain alive for ever.

5.MUREED :It means that Allah has His own will
and discretion in all affairs. He does not do anything under compulsion.

6. MUDRIK :It means that He is All-Perceiving, as 'Samii' (All-Hearing),
'Basser' (All-Seeing). Allah sees and hears every thing without any need of eyes
or ears.

7. MUTAKALLIM :It means that Allah is the master of the
word, i.e., He can create speech in anything, as He did in a tree for Hadhrat
Musa (A. S) and in the "Curtain of Light" for our Holy Prophet (S.A.W.)

8. SADIQ :It means that Allah is true in his words and promises. It is
impossible to fix any limit to His attributes. This list is not exhaustive but
is essential to understand the Glory of Allah. These attributes are not acquired
but are inherent in the conception of Divinity.

Sifate Salbiyyah

The negative attributes which cannot be found in Allah because they are
below His dignity are called "Sifate Salbiyyah." They are many, but like "Sifate
Thubutiya" only eight are listed here. They are:

1. SHAREEK :The word
"Shareek" means a colleague or partner. Allah has neither a colleague nor a
partner in His Divinity.

2. MURAKKAB :This word means "Compound" or
"Mixed". Allah is neither made, nor composed, of any material. He cannot be
divided even in imagination.

3. MAKKAN :It means "Place". Allah is
not in a place because He has no body, and He is everywhere because His power
and knowledge is magnificently apparent everywhere.

4. HULOOL :It
Means "Entering". Nothing enters into Allah nor does He enter into anything or
anybody. Therefore, the belief of Incarnation in any form is abhorrent to the
conception of Divinity.

5. MAHALLE HAWADIS : This means "Subject to
changes". Allah cannot change.

6. MAR-I : It means "Visible". Allah
is not visible. He has not been seen, is not seen and will never be seen.

7. IHTIYAJ : It means "Dependence" or "Need". Allah is not deficient in
any virtue, so he does not need anything. He is All-Perfect.

8.
SIFATE ZAlD : This means "Added Qualifications." The attribtates of Allah are
not separate from His Being. when we say that God is Omnipotent and Mercifil, we
do not mean that His Power and Mercy are something different from His Person. We
see that a child is born without any power; and then he acquires strength day by
day. It is so because power is not his person. God is not like this. He is Power
Himself; Mercy Himself; Knowledge Himself; Justice Himself; Virtue Himself;
Truth Himself; and so on.

It will thus be seen that according to
Islam ALLAH is the name of God as preceived in the light of the above Positive
and Negative Attributes. In other words, ALLAH is the Creator of the Universe,
Self-Existent, the source of all perfection and free from all defects.

NAMES OF
ALLAH

The proper name which Islam uses for God is "ALLAH". "ALLAH" means "One
'Who deserves to be loved" and "Into Whom everyone seeks refuge." This word,
grammatically speaking, is unique. It has no plural and no feminine. So this
name itself reflects light upon the fact that Allah is one and only one; He has
neither any partner nor any equal. The name cannot properly be translated by the
word "God" because God can be transformed in 'gods' and goddess".

Two
more frequently used names are Rahman and Rahim. Rahman signifies that Allah is
Merciful and that His Mercy encompasses each and everything in the universe
without any distinction on account of faith or belief He makes, creates and
sustains everything and every man whether he be a Muslim or Kafir.

Rahim signifies that the Mercy of Allah on the Day of Judgement will
surround the true believers only, and that unbelievers and hypocrites will be
left out.

It is apparent that both of these names signify a distinct
aspect of God's Mercy. His Mercy in this world, as signified by 'Rahman' is
general; and the one in the life-hereafter, as signified by 'Rahim' is special.
It will be of interest to note that the word 'Rahman' cannot be used except for
Allah, while 'Rahim' can be used for others also.

That is why it has
been told by Imam that 'Rahman is a reserved name which denotes unreserved
Mercy, and Rahim is an unreserved name which denotes Reserved Mercy."

ATRIBUTES OF
PERSON AND ACTION

Question: One of the names of Allah is 'Khaliq'
i.e Creator As Allah was Creator from ever, does it not follow that the 'created
things, i.e., the universe is from ever?

Answer: Allah was not creating from
ever. If you study carefully you will find that the attributes of God, as
mentioned in the above chapter, may easily be divided into two groups:

First, there are those attributes which can never be separated from the
conception of divinity. For example we say that God is Qaadir (Omnipotent) Aalim
(Omniscient) and Hai (Everliving). These are such attributes which can never be
separated from the conception of God, because there never was a time when God
was not Omnipotent, Omniscient or Living. He was Qaadir, Aalim and Hai for ever,
and will remain Qaadir, Aalim and Hai for ever. Such attributes refer to the
person of Allah, and are, therefore, called 'Sifaat-e-Dhat' (Attributes of
person of Allah).

Second, there are the attributes which describe the actions of Allah. For
example, we say that Allah is 'Khaaliq' (Creator), 'Raaziq' (Sustainer) etc.
These are the Attributes which describe the actions of Allah, and are,
therefore, called 'Sifaat-el Afaal' (Attributes of Actions of Allah).

These actions were not from ever, and therefore these attributes were not
used for Allah, from ever. You know that Allah is 'Mureed'. He acts according to
His own plan and His own Will. He is not like fire which burns without any
intention or will of its own. Nor is He like the sun which goes on giving light
and warmth without intention and will of its own. Allah works according to His
own plan. He created when He wished, and not before that.

It does not
mean that God had no power to create. The power to create was there for ever;
because the 'Power' is not separate from His person. But the appearance of that
power, and bringing it into effect, was not from ever. In short, Allah had power
to create from ever, but He did not create from ever, And when He created, He
was called Khaaliq; but not before that.

Likewise, when he
sustained, He was called 'Raaziq'; when He forgave, He was called 'Ghaffaar';
when He avenged, He was called 'Qahhaar'; when He gave life, He was called
'Muhyi', when He gave death, He was called 'Mumeet'

Source:

God: An Islamic Perspective

By: Allamah Sayyed Saeed Akhtar Rizvi