What is the meaning of the statement of Imam Ibn al-Qayyim: “The names of Allah and His attributes are proper names and descriptions”?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
The Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, says: What is the meaning of the statement of Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) that the names of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) and His attributes are proper names and descriptions?
The Shaykh:
Yes, they are proper names by which He (Glorified and Exalted is He) is known, and descriptions that are derived from the names. The meaning is clear: every name among the names of Allah indicates an attribute; they are not merely proper names. They are not merely proper names, but rather proper names that indicate attributes. Therefore, He (Exalted and Majestic is He) said:[Al-A'raf 7:180] and described them as good, because every name indicates one of the attributes of Allah. Thus, Al-‘Alim (The All-Knowing) indicates knowledge, Al-Sami‘ (The All-Hearing) indicates hearing, Al-Basir (The All-Seeing) indicates sight, Al-Qadir (The All-Powerful) indicates power, and so on. Yes.
The questioner:
We say: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, how do we study this?
The Shaykh:
If you name a man Zayd, you name a man Zayd. This is a proper name, and what does it indicate? It has no attribute; it has no attribute. It was only established to distinguish this person from others. And what is the meaning of Zayd? It has no meaning; it has no meaning. It does not indicate an attribute; the only purpose of it is to distinguish the person from others. This is a proper name that does not indicate a meaning. Yes.
The Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, says: What is the meaning of the statement of Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) that the names of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) and His attributes are proper names and descriptions?
The Shaykh:
Yes, they are proper names by which He (Glorified and Exalted is He) is known, and descriptions that are derived from the names. The meaning is clear: every name among the names of Allah indicates an attribute; they are not merely proper names. They are not merely proper names, but rather proper names that indicate attributes. Therefore, He (Exalted and Majestic is He) said:
And to Allah belong the best names
وَلِلَّهِ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَىٰThe questioner:
We say: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, how do we study this?
The Shaykh:
If you name a man Zayd, you name a man Zayd. This is a proper name, and what does it indicate? It has no attribute; it has no attribute. It was only established to distinguish this person from others. And what is the meaning of Zayd? It has no meaning; it has no meaning. It does not indicate an attribute; the only purpose of it is to distinguish the person from others. This is a proper name that does not indicate a meaning. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [298 -1024] ما معنى قول الإمام ابن القيم: إن أسماء الله وصفاته أعلام وأوصاف؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.