What is the difference between the names of Allah and His attributes?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh. I would like to know the difference between the names of Allah and His attributes.
The Shaykh : The difference between a name and an attribute is clear.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : For example, if I say al-Sami' (the All-Hearing), then al-Sami' is the name and the attribute is hearing. If I say al-Basir (the All-Seeing), then al-Basir is the name and the attribute is sight. If I say al-'Ali (the Most High), then al-'Ali is the name and the attribute is being High. If I say al-Hakim (the Wise), then al-Hakim is the name and the attribute is wisdom, and so on. This is the difference: the name is what Allah is called by, and the attribute is what Allah is described by, which is the meaning that subsists in Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
There are attributes that are not attributes of meaning, such as the hand. Allah the Exalted has two hands, as Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Ma'idah 5:64] And the eye: Allah the Exalted has two eyes, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2245Sahih (Darussalam) and so on, of what has come in the Book and the Sunnah. These attributes and their like are not attributes of meaning, but they are attributes whose names are known to us; they are parts and components for us. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you. The listener Sabri, an Egyptian, says:
The Shaykh : The difference between a name and an attribute is clear.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : For example, if I say al-Sami' (the All-Hearing), then al-Sami' is the name and the attribute is hearing. If I say al-Basir (the All-Seeing), then al-Basir is the name and the attribute is sight. If I say al-'Ali (the Most High), then al-'Ali is the name and the attribute is being High. If I say al-Hakim (the Wise), then al-Hakim is the name and the attribute is wisdom, and so on. This is the difference: the name is what Allah is called by, and the attribute is what Allah is described by, which is the meaning that subsists in Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
There are attributes that are not attributes of meaning, such as the hand. Allah the Exalted has two hands, as Allah the Exalted said:
Rather, both His hands are extended; He spends however He wills.
بَلْ يَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ يُنفِقُ كَيْفَ يَشَاءُLo! He is blind in one eye, and your Lord is not blind in one eye.
إن الدجال أعور وإن ربكم ليس بأعورThe questioner : May Allah bless you. The listener Sabri, an Egyptian, says: