Belief in Allah
There is nothing similar to Allah
(Quran Ash-Shura:11) Meaning: “Naught is as His likeness”
It is forbidden for us to imagine Allah to have body parts e.g. having hands or to imagine Allah to do actions similar to His creations e.g. sitting. We can know Allah through His attributes. There are many attributes of Allah. Some of the attributes are listed below.
It is obligatory upon every legally responsible person to know what the mandatory, inconceivable and conceivable attributes of Allah.
The Mandatory Attributes (sifat) of Allah
Among the mandatory attributes of Allah are as below.
- Wujud ﻭﺟﻮﺩ
- Existence: It is obligatory to believe in the Existence of Allah
- (Surah Ibrahim verse 10)
- (Surah al-Zumar:62)
- Indeed Allah is the Creator of ever maker and his craft (Hadith)
- Qidam ﻗﺪﻡ
- Eternity: 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.
- (Surah Al-Hadid verse 3)
- O Allah! You are the First; there is nothing before You (Hadith)
- Baqa’ ﺑﻘﺎﺀ
- Everlastingness: 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 by 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 by themselves, but because of other than their selves. This is why they are among the intellectual possibilities, and they are part of this universe.
- هُوَ الْأَوَّلُ وَالْآخِرُ وَالظَّاهِرُ وَالْبَاطِنُ ۖ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ (Surah Al-Hadid verse 3)
- وَيَبْقَىٰ وَجْهُ رَبِّكَ ذُو الْجَلَالِ وَالْإِكْرَامِ (Surah al-Rahman verse 27)
- O Allah! You are the Last; there is nothing after You… (Hadith)
- Mukhalafatuhu lilhawadith ﻣﺨﺎﻟﻔﺘﻪ ﻟﻠﺤﻮﺍﺩﺙ
- Non-Resemblance to the Creation: Allah does not resemble any of His creations, either in His Self, His Attributes, or His Doings
- (Surah Ash-shura verse 11)
- Qiamuhu binafsih ﻗﻴﺎﻣﻪ ﺑﻨﻔﺴﻪ
- Non-neediness of Others
- اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ (Qurah 112:2)
- Wahdaniah ﻭﺣﺪﺍﻧﻴﺔ
- Oneness: It is obligatory to believe that Allah is One without a partner.
- (Quran 47:19)
- Indeed Allah is Single (Witr) and He loves that which is single (Hadith)
- Qudrah ﻗﺪﺭﺓ
- Power: It is obligatory to believe Allah is attributed with Power. It is defined as an eternal and everlasting Attribute of Allah, with which Allah gives existence to or annihilates what is intellectually possible.
- (Quran 2:20)
- Iradah ﺇﺭﺍﺩﺓ
- Will: It is obligatory to believe Allah is attributed with Will. It is defined as an eternal and everlasting Attribute, with which Allah specifies the creations (who are intellectual possibilities) with some of the attributes which are possible for them to have. An example is specifying eyes with green color instead of other possible colors. There is no difference in that regard between good and evil, belief and blasphemy, winning and losing, and other opposites among what is intellectually possible.
- (Quran 81:29)
- Ilm ﻋﻠﻢ
- Knowledge: It is obligatory to believe Allah is attributed with Knowledge. This is an eternal and everlasting Attribute of His Self. Allah knew eternally about His Self, Attributes, and His creations. Nothing is beyond His Knowledge.
- (Quran 2:282)
- Hayat ﺣﻴﺎﺓ
- Life: It is obligatory to believe Allah is attributed with Life
- (Quran 2:255)
- Sama’ ﺳﻤﻊ
- Hearing: It is obligatory to believe Allah is attributed with Hearing. This is an eternal and everlasting Attribute of Allah with which Allah hears all hearable things. He hears them whether they are near to us or 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 or change, because weakness and change are non-befitting to Allah.
- (Quran 42:11)
- Basar ﺑﺼﺮ
- Sight: 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.
- (Quran 40:20)
- Kalam ﻛﻼ ﻡ
- Speech: 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, a sound, or 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
- (Quran 4:164)
- Kaunuhu qaadiran ﻛﻮﻧﻪ ﻗﺎﺩﺭﺍ
- He the Most Exalted being Powerful
- Kaunuhu muriidan ﻛﻮﻧﻪ ﻣﺮﻳﺪﺍ
- He the Exalted being free chooser
- Kaunuhu ‘aliman ﻛﻮﻧﻪ ﻋﺎﻟﻤﺎ
- He the Most Exalted being all-knowing
- Kaunuhu hayyan ﻛﻮﻧﻪ ﺣﻴﺎ
- He the Most Exalted being alive
- Kaunuhu sami’an ﻛﻮﻧﻪ ﺳﻤﻴﻌﺎ
- He the Most Exalted being all-hearing
- Kaunuhu basiiran ﻛﻮﻧﻪ ﺑﺼﻴﺭﺍ
- He the Most Exalted being the all-seeing
- Kaunuhu mutakalliman ﻛﻮﻧﻪ ﻣﺘﻜﻠﻤﺎ
- He the Most Exalted being all-speaking
Attribute number 1 above is self-signifying attribute (sifat nafsiyyah).
Attributes 2 to 6 above are negating attributes (sifat salbiyyah).
Attributes 7 to 13 above are qualitative attributes (sifat ma’ani).
Attributes 14 to 20 above are predicative attributes (sifat ma’nawiyyah) of attributes 7 to 13. For example Allah has knowledge (Attribute 9), therefore Allah is knowledgeable (Attribute 16).
