Allah’s Names and Attributes
Allah’s Names and Attributes By His Eminence Shaykh Muhammad ibn Sālih Al-‘Uthaymīn May Allah forgive him, his parents, and all Muslims * In the Name of Allah, he Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful Praise be to Allah, we praise Him, seek His help and forgiveness, and repent to Him.We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our souls and from our bad deeds.Whoever Allah guides, none can lead astray, and whoever He leads astray none can guide.I bear witness that there is no true god but Allah alone who has no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and messenger,whom Allah has sent right before the Hour as a bearer of glad tidings, warner, caller to Allah by His permission and a luminous lantern. He conveyed the message, fulfilled the trust, communicated sincere advice to his Ummah, and strove as due in the cause of Allah by his tongue, hand, and wealth until he passed away.May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, his family, his Companions, and those who follow them with good conduct until the Day of Judgment.Dear Brothers, I remind myself and you of the blessing of Islam which Allah has bestowed upon this land in past and recent times.This land was the place where Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), the last of messengers, started his mission as he was sent to all the people; rather, to all humans and Jinn.This land from which Islam started and to which it shall return,as authentically reported from the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) as he said:“Indeed, faith retreats to Madīnah just as a serpent retreats to its hole.” This land, the like of which I have never seen - and Allah is my witness - among all other Muslim countries, in terms of its holding fast to Islam, not just by its people, rather, by both its people and those whom Allah entrusted to rule it. This great blessing may soon vanish if we fail to show gratitude for it as due. Unless we preserve this blessing by protecting and defending it, disbelief could replace faith and arrogance could replace submissiveness to Allah. Dear Brothers, This land, due to this great blessing of Islam, has been a central target for attacks that aimed at averting its people from their religion, not only in the field of ethics, but in matters of belief as well.Therefore, I address the youth, in particular; being the men of the future who have stronger resolve and determination than the elderly people, and being the main target of those attacks. I address them to protect their land from the schemes of their enemies, who direct their attacks at them successively, so as to eliminate Islam; that great favor that Allah has bestowed upon us. O Youth, Seek Allah’s help by knowledge of sharia that He taught you, then by the wisdom of the trustworthy and honest scholars who possess knowledge and clear proof. Seek help by all that to protect your land from the schemes of its enemies.You should know that the worldly life is subordinate to religion. You should know that the favor will not be complete,nor will the worldly life be perfect and good without faith and good deeds. Allah Almighty says,{Whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer - We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward according to the best of what they used to do.}[Surat an-Nahl: 97] Dear Brothers, Troubles in our age are indeed numerous, and I have chosen to speak about Allah’s Names and Attributes and Ahl-us-Sunnah’s stance on them. Perhaps many of you are wondering why I chose this topic in particular?Don’t we all, especially the people of this Peninsula, believe in Allah’s Names and Attributes as due to Him, without any distortion or denial of their meanings?!Don’t the elderly and the young, and the male and female among us all believe in Allah’s Names and Attributes without any distortion or deviation in their meanings?So why then did I choose to address this topic in particular? My answer to this is that I chose this topic for two important reasons: First: The importance of this topic. Actually, this is an important topic, contrary to what some people may think, and I do not refer here to common people, but even some students of knowledge believe that addressing this topic, i.e. Allah’s Names and Attributes, is of no significance.In fact, this is incorrect assumption, since knowing Allah’s Names and Attributes and celebrating His Oneness accordingly represent one of the three sections of Tawhīd (Allah’s Oneness). Scholars divided Tawhīd into three sections: First: Oneness of Lordship. Second: Oneness of Divinity. Third: Oneness of Allah’s Names and Attributes. Hence, the topic we address is a significant element in the subject of Tawhīd that we must have knowledge of. Moreover, knowledge of Allah’s Names and Attributes is one of the pillars of belief in Allah. Complete belief in Allah is not achieved unless four conditions are met: 1- Belief in Allah’s existence. 2- Belief in His lordship, comprehensive dominion, and all-powerful authority. 3- Belief in His divinity, that He alone is worthy of worship, and that worshiping anything else besides Him is false. As to the fourth condition without which belief in Allah cannot be complete, it is the topic of our lecture. It is belief in Allah’s Names and Attributes. I cannot imagine that anyone could worship a god whose Names and Attributes he does not know. How could this be when he stretches his hands as he implores Him saying: “O Lord, O Lord”?!If he does not know that his god has Attributes and Names by which he is called upon, how can he accept him as a competent god, a refuge, a shelter, and a helper?!That is the reason why Prophet Abraham said to his father,{O my father, why do you worship that which does not hear and does not see and will not benefit you at all?}[Maryam: 42]Therefore, knowledge of Allah’s Names and Attributes is a matter of great religious importance which one must acquire and act according to it. The second reason for choosing this topic is that there has recently been much false argument about it. During our journey for seeking knowledge, we used to regard misconceptions about this topic as something far from our time and place. However, we now see them in our publications and in the text books of some educational institutions. Hence, we have to know the stance of Ahl-us-Sunnah wa al-Jamā‘ah regarding Allah’s Names and Attributes so as to be alert and careful, knowing well how to judge what is published or assigned in curricula.Recently, the topic of Allah’s Names and Attributes has been subject to discussions that rarely involve the truth and mostly involve falsehood. Therefore, it is a must that we present a full and verified study of this topic in order to stay safe from personal inclinations or erroneous assumptions. I would sum up my speech in the following points: 1- The stance of Ahl-us-Sunnah wa al-Jamā‘ah regarding Allah’s Names and Attributes. 2- The texts dealing with Allah’s Names and Attributes. 3- Adopting a stance other than that of Ahl-us-Sunnah wa al-Jamā‘ah. 4- Going to extremes in exalting Allah Almighty above some implications of His Names and Attributes entails annulment of the religion entirely. 5- Some of those who adopt Tahrīf (distortion) and Ta‘tīl (negation of the function of Allah’s Names and Attributes) accused Ahl-us-Sunnah of committing Tashbīh (likening), Tamthīl (drawing resemblance) and Tajsīm (anthropomorphism). 6- Those who commit Tahrīf and Ta‘tīl falsely accused Ahl-us-Sunnah of applying allegorical interpretation of the texts so as to force them into doing this in the rest of the texts. They also accused them of duplicity. In refutation of these false claims, we stress the following points: |