The Difference Between a Name and an Attribute
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Q 2: Naming creation with the names of the Creator: what is the evidence for its prohibition?
And if it is permissible, are there specific restrictions? I am referring to names, not attributes, for it is well known that it is permissible to describe creation with the attributes of the Creator, and this has occurred frequently in the Book of Allah the Exalted. My question is about naming, not describing. Can you clarify the decisive rules on this matter?
A 2: First: The difference between a name and an attribute is that a name is that which indicates the essence and the attributes that subsist in it, whereas an attribute is that which subsists in the essence and distinguishes it from other intrinsic meanings, such as knowledge and power, or actual actions, such as creating, providing sustenance, giving life, and causing death. Second: A created being may be named with what Allah named Himself, just as it may be described with what He (Glorified and Exalted is He) described Himself, provided that each has characteristics befitting it and distinguishing it from the other. It is not necessary to liken creation to their Creator, nor to liken Him to them, even if there is a shared expression and a general meaning of the word; because the general meaning is merely mental and has no existence in the external world. From this, Allah named Himself the Living, saying:[Al-Baqarah 2:255] , and He named some of His servants the Living
saying:[Al-An'am 6:95] , and the Living is not like the Living, but each has in the external world what is specific to it. He named one of the sons of Ibrahim (peace be upon him) Halim (the Forbearing) and his other son 'Alim (the All-Knowing) (peace and blessings be upon them), just as He named Himself 'Alim and Halim, and this did not necessitate likening; because each one named with these has what is specific to it and distinguishes it in the external world, even if they share in the absolute naming and expression. He named Himself the All-Hearing and the All-Seeing, saying: [An-Nisa 4:58] , and He named some of His creation the Hearing and the Seeing, saying: [Al-Insan 76:2] , and this did not necessitate likening; because each one named has what is specific to it and distinguishes it from the other, as mentioned before, and so on. From this, Allah described Himself with knowledge, saying: [Al-Baqarah 2:255] , and He described some of His servants with knowledge, saying: [Al-Isra 17:85] ,
and He described Himself with power, saying:[Adh-Dhariyat 51:58] , and He described some of His servants with power, saying: [Ar-Rum 30:54] the verse. And power is not like power, even if they share in the expression and the general meaning, but each of the described has what is specific to it and befits it, and so on with other attributes.
And if it is permissible, are there specific restrictions? I am referring to names, not attributes, for it is well known that it is permissible to describe creation with the attributes of the Creator, and this has occurred frequently in the Book of Allah the Exalted. My question is about naming, not describing. Can you clarify the decisive rules on this matter?
A 2: First: The difference between a name and an attribute is that a name is that which indicates the essence and the attributes that subsist in it, whereas an attribute is that which subsists in the essence and distinguishes it from other intrinsic meanings, such as knowledge and power, or actual actions, such as creating, providing sustenance, giving life, and causing death. Second: A created being may be named with what Allah named Himself, just as it may be described with what He (Glorified and Exalted is He) described Himself, provided that each has characteristics befitting it and distinguishing it from the other. It is not necessary to liken creation to their Creator, nor to liken Him to them, even if there is a shared expression and a general meaning of the word; because the general meaning is merely mental and has no existence in the external world. From this, Allah named Himself the Living, saying:
Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence
اللَّهُ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُsaying:
He brings the living out of the dead
يُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِIndeed, Allah is ever Hearing and Seeing.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ سَمِيعًا بَصِيرًاand We made him hearing and seeing.
فَجَعَلْنَاهُ سَمِيعًا بَصِيرًاand they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills
وَلاَ يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلا بِمَا شَاءَAnd mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little."
وَمَا أُوتِيتُمْ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ إِلا قَلِيلاand He described Himself with power, saying:
Indeed, it is Allah who is the [continual] Provider, the firm possessor of strength.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الرَّزَّاقُ ذُو الْقُوَّةِ الْمَتِينُAllah is the one who created you from weakness, then made after weakness strength
اللَّهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ مِنْ ضَعْفٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِنْ بَعْدِ ضَعْفٍ قُوَّةً
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.