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
لِلْكَافِرِ&#1\
610;نَ 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

{وَللهِ
الْمَثَلُ
الأَعْلَىَ}

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:

{أَفِي اللهِ
شَكٌّ}

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
وَاسْتَغْفِ&#1\
585;ْ 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:

{هُوَ
الأَوَّلُ
وَالآخِرُ }

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:

{اللهُ
الصَّمَدُ}

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