How do we benefit from the effects of faith in the attributes of Allah?

The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may prayers and peace be upon the intimate friend and beloved of Allah, Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows, we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to reward our Shaykh with the best reward and to make his knowledge beneficial. The questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah pardon you, faith in the effects of the attributes of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and applying them to oneself has a great impact on the soul of the believer. So will you guide us, O Professor?

The Shaykh : And the correct application of them.

The questioner : Faith in the effects of the attributes of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and applying them to oneself has a great impact on the soul of the believer. So will you guide us, O Honorable Shaykh, on how to learn these effects so that the required outcome of faith in the attributes of Allah is achieved?

The Shaykh : Yes, this is an important question. This is because all the names of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) indicate a meaning; that is, there is no name that does not indicate a meaning at all, even the Glorious Name (al-Lafdh al-Jalalah), which some scholars held to be a static name. The correct view is that it is derived and indicates the meaning it contains, as the scholars said. And faith in the names...
...is divided into two categories according to these names. If the name is transitive, faith in it is not complete unless one believes in it as a name of Allah and believes in the attribute it contains. Pay attention: if the name is transitive, faith in it is not complete until one believes in it as a name of Allah and believes in the attribute it contains. What? The attribute. Good. And if it is transitive, faith in it is not complete until one believes in it as a name of Allah, believes in the attribute it contains, and believes in the effect or ruling that follows from it. So the transitive name adds a third thing, which is believing in the effect or, if you wish, the ruling that follows from it. This is the rule for faith in the names. We give an example: Al-Ali (The Most High) is one of the names of Allah, and it is derived from what? From al-'Uluw (being high). Faith in Al-Ali is not complete unless you believe that it is a name of Allah; that is one. And you believe in the attribute it contains, which is being high. So if I say, "I believe that Al-Ali is a name of Allah, but I do not believe that it indicates being high," as the Mu'tazilah did—they believed in the names but denied the attributes—I believe that Allah is named Al-Ali, but I do not believe that He is described as being high. We say: this person has not believed in the name. It is necessary to believe in the name and the attribute it indicates. Is this name transitive or intransitive? I think many of you do not know the difference between transitive and intransitive. The transitive is that which extends to something else. The intransitive is that which does not extend to something else. Being high is one of the attributes of Allah. Does it extend to something else?
Being high is one of His attributes. Good. Al-Sami' (The All-Hearing): faith in it is not complete until you believe that Al-Sami' is a name of Allah; that is one. And you believe in the attribute it indicates, which is hearing; that is, Allah hears with hearing. And you believe in a third thing, which is that He hears sounds. So if I say, "I believe that Al-Sami' is a name of Allah, and that He has the attribute of hearing, but I do not believe that He hears," we say: your faith in the name is not valid now. It is necessary to believe that He hears. Good. Among the names of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is Al-Basir (The All-Seeing). So you believe in what? In Al-Basir as a name of Allah, and you believe that Allah has sight, this attribute, and you believe that He sees all things that are seen. This is the effect or the ruling. The effect or ruling came about because Al-Basir is transitive, so you say that Allah sees everything. You do not say that Allah hears everything. So these are the conditions of faith in the names of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Can one name contain more than one attribute? Can one name contain more than one attribute? Yes, it is possible. It can contain more than one attribute by the indication of necessity (dalalat al-iltizam). An example of that is Al-Khaliq (The Creator). Al-Khaliq is a name of Allah. Where is it mentioned in the Qur'an? What? In Surat al-Hashr. Is it Allah? Good.
Where is the proof? Al-Khaliq. Well done. And among the names of Allah is Al-Khalaq . We believe that Al-Khaliq is what? A name of Allah, and that Allah is described with creation. Good. Creation is not complete without knowledge and power. Is that not so? Can one who does not know create? Absolutely not. And how can He create if He does not know how to create? Can one who has no power create? The incapable cannot create. And we give an example with humans: can a human make this recorder if he does not know the craft? No, it is not possible. Good. A person who has knowledge of the craft but whose hands are paralyzed—can he move? Can he make it? Why? He has no power. So Al-Khaliq now contains three attributes: creation, knowledge, and power. Its containment of creation is by the indication of inclusion (dalalat al-tadammun). Its containment of knowledge and power is by the indication of necessity (dalalat al-iltizam). So who can distinguish for me between the indication of inclusion and the indication of necessity? No, I do not want it in the case of Al-Khaliq in general, because there are three types of indications. Good. In any case, you have understood this from what we have established now, but you did not have knowledge of it before, I think, is that not so?

Another questioner : The indication of inclusion is the indication of a word to part of what it was established for, whereas the indication of necessity is the indication of a word to something outside what it was established for,

The Shaykh : to a matter.

Another questioner : Outside.

The Shaykh : Outside its place of establishment. May Allah bless you. Fine, this is good. And you have known the apparent (al-Zahir) before. Did you study the principles of jurisprudence? Good. My brothers, if I said to you, "I bought a house," the word "house" includes the entire dwelling, including the men's sitting room, the women's sitting room, the bedrooms, the reception areas, and the like, is that not so? Yes. Good. The word "house" indicates the single room or the single sitting room by the indication of inclusion, because the house includes these things, each one individually. The indication of the word "house" to the man or group of men who built the house is an indication of what? You did not know the indications of the apparent? The indication of the word "house" to the fact that this house has a builder who built it is an indication of what? An indication of necessity, because it is necessary for the existence of a house that it has a builder. A house cannot build itself, nor can it be built by chance. So Al-Khaliq is a name of Allah that includes the attribute of creation and necessitates the attribute of knowledge and the attribute of power. Therefore, the indication of necessity, my brothers, the indication of necessity differs greatly in people's understanding, to the extent that some people say that this word necessitates such and such for meanings it does not necessitate, and they go astray. An example of that: the people of denial (ahl al-ta'til)—and by the people of denial I mean those who deny the attributes of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), either all of them or some of them—said: If we establish an attribute, it necessarily follows that it is similar to the created. If we establish a real face for Allah, it necessarily follows that it is similar to the created beings. What is your opinion of this? Is this necessary consequence correct or incorrect? This necessary consequence is false. This necessary consequence is false by transmission and by reason. As for by transmission, Allah the Exalted said: . And as for by reason, it is because the Creator cannot be similar to the created. The result, my brothers, is that faith in the names, if the names are intransitive, requires two conditions for its validity: faith in the name and faith in the attribute. And if it is transitive, it is necessary to believe in the name, the attribute, and the effect that follows from that. What?
An example of the effects (athar) is if one of the names of Allah is al-Sami' (the All-Hearing), and I believe that Allah is All-Hearing and that Allah has hearing. The effect of this belief is that I fear Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) and do not speak of what He does not approve of. If I believe that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is Basir (the All-Seeing) and sees what the servants do, then the effect of that in my heart is that I do not do an action that Allah the Exalted sees from me, which is one that angers Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and so on. Yes, if we know that the Exalted , that necessitates, or the effect of believing in this attribute is that I perform repentance and that I perform purification, and so on. For this reason, many people of knowledge, I mean students of knowledge, neglect the effect of believing in this attribute, the attributes of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). You find that the utmost they have is to believe in the name and the attribute, but they do not notice what effects follow from believing in that regarding their conduct and methodology.