ATTRIBUTES OF ALLAH (S.W.T.)

It is our duty to know Allah. Love follows knowledge. Although, understanding or conceiving Allah is not easy. In our physical world, we comprehend every thing by our five senses. In fact, science’s area of operations is restricted to these five senses which are; seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and tasting. But religion’s domain spreads far beyond the scientific world of physical senses. A child’s comprehension of the world around him develops in progressive steps; first when he sees an object, he retains the impressions in his mind and remembers the name for it, next time when he sees the same thing, his mind compares new impression with the original impression and recognizes the object. For example if he sees a puppy and he is told that it is called puppy. When he sees any puppy, his mind retrieves the image and name for it. Similarly, we have cognizance of objects, living things etc. with the help of our original information stored in our memory.

Because Allah does not have a body so we cannot comprehend Allah. Once, a man inquired from the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (A.S.) as to whether he had seen Allah to which the Imam (A.S.) replied that he does not worship Allah without seeing Him but with the eyes of his heart.

There is a tradition of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.S.), “Allah cannot be recognized by any one except Ali and myself, I cannot be recognized by anyone except Allah and Ali, and Ali cannot be recognized by anyone except Allah and me.”

By the Blessings of Chaharda Masoomeen and the Grace of Allah, we will try slowly and step by step to have some basic conception of Allah (S.W.T.).

Allah’s characteristics or attributes may be broadly divided into two groups; positive and negative. The important attributes are given below:

Positive Attributes are called “Sifaat-e-Subutiyyah” which is also “Asmaa-ul-Husna” or one of the 99 “Beautiful Names” of Allah which are explained below:

All-Perceiving (Al-Mudrik):

Allah is All-Seeing and All-Hearing; He can see and hear every thing without any need of eyes and ears.

Living (Al-Hayy):

Allah is always Alive and remains Alive for ever. His creatures are born and remain alive for designated time and then die.

Eternal (Al-Qadeem):

Allah has neither a beginning nor an end. Every life on the earth is destined to perish.

Will Power (Al-Mureed):

Allah has His own Will and Discretion in all affairs. He does every thing without interference. He is the Master of His will.

Omnipotent (Al-Qadir):

He has absolute Power over every thing and every affair. He has complete control on every thing in the universe.

Master of Speech (Al-Mutakallim):

Allah can create speech in any thing, as He did in curtain of light for Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.S.) and in a tree in case of Prophet Musa (A.S.).

Omniscient (Al-Alim):

Allah knows every thing. He knows what is in our hearts. Nothing is hidden from Him.

Truthful (As-Sadiq):

Allah is always true in His words and His promises. 

Negative Attributes are called “Sifaat-e-Salbiyyah”

These are the attributes which can not be found in Allah because they are incompatible with His Divinity.

Partner (Sharik):

Allah has no partner. He is the one only and unique.

Place (Makaan):

Because Allah has no body hence He does not need a place as His creatures need. He is every where by virtue of His Knowledge and Power which is apparent in the universe.

Visible (Mar’i):

Allah is not visible. He had not been seen in the past, is not seen now, and will never be seen in future. Because human eyes can only perceive a material body and Allah does not have a body.

Compound (Murakkab):

Allah is neither made of any parts nor composed of any material. He cannot be divided.

Needs (Ehtiyaaj):

Allah is free from wants. He is not deficient in any thing, so He does not need anything.

Incarnation (Hulool):

Allah does not enter into anything or any person nor does anything enter Him.

Change (Haadis):

Allah is not subject to any change. Like human being is first a baby, then man and lastly becomes old. Or human being is healthy then he may become sick.

Acquired Attributes (Sifaat-e-Za’id):

The Attributes of Allah are not separate from His person. Like when we say Allah is

All-knowing, we do not mean His Knowledge is separate from Him. We do not possess knowledge when we are young. We go to school or college to acquire it.

All the above Sifaat-e-Salbiyyah, which cannot be found in Allah, but are found in His creations. We have partners, we need a house to live, we are perceived by five senses, we are made up of flesh and bones, we need food and clothes, we need attention, and we are constantly changing. Our characteristics are separate from ourselves.