Denying the Likeness of Allah’s Names and Attributes to His Creation and the Response to Those Who Attribute Likeness to Him
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The Shaykh : Second: If someone asks in the chapter of attributes, does what Allah has affirmed for Himself indicate that He is similar to His creation in what He has affirmed?
Answer: Yes and no? No, it is not necessary that what Allah has affirmed for Himself be similar to the creation, neither by way of textual evidence nor by way of rational evidence. As for the textual evidence, listen: Allah the Exalted said:[Ash-Shuraa 42:11] And Allah the Exalted said: [Maryam 19:65] What is the meaning of "samiyya"? It means a counterpart and a similar one. And He the Exalted said: [Al-Ikhlas 112:3-4] And Allah the Exalted said: [An-Nahl 16:74] And He the Exalted said: [Al-Baqarah 2:22] The verses in this regard are numerous, and the texts from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in this meaning are also numerous, even if they are not in this exact wording, but in its meaning. For example, his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): Sunan Abi Dawud 4726Da'if (Al-Albani) And his saying: .
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Let the people pray the rawatib...
The questioner : The evening dhikr, before Maghrib or after Maghrib...?
The Shaykh : I say that the evening begins from the end of the day, except for what is specified for the night, which is in the night. For example, one who recites the Verse of the Throne at night, this is in the night.
The questioner : May Allah welcome you. A person says, "O Allah, help me to remember You, give thanks to You, and worship You well," before the prayer or after the prayer?
The Shaykh : No, before the taslim. "O Allah, help me to remember You," this is before the taslim. But I do not want to speak while the people are praying the rawatib. The people are praying the rawatib.
The questioner : If the one in authority ordered his young brother to buy him tobacco, what is the ruling on this? Is it forbidden for him, and does he disobey him in this order?
The Shaykh : Is tobacco forbidden? Is tobacco forbidden?
The questioner : I am asking, does he disobey him in this order?
The Shaykh : I ask you, is tobacco forbidden or not? Answer?
The questioner : Does he disobey him in this order?
The Shaykh : I say, I ask you first, is it forbidden or lawful?
The questioner : Of course, it is forbidden.
The Shaykh : So there is no obedience to a created being...
The questioner : ...in disobedience to the Creator.
The Shaykh : ...Alright, we spoke previously about the topic of whether we understand what Allah described Himself with in the same way we understand our own attributes? And we said: No, we do not understand that by the textual and rational evidence. And we brought evidence from the Book of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) regarding... We brought evidence from the Book of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) regarding the denial of likeness, both in commands and reports. So who will bring us the verses containing the report of the absence of likeness? Yes.
The student:[Ash-Shuraa 42:11].
The Shaykh :[Maryam 19:65] Alright, the command, yes.
The student: ... .
The Shaykh : Here, what is it?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh :[An-Nahl 16:74] [Al-Baqarah 2:22] .
The rational evidence is that we say to the one who understood, or tried to understand, or confused the people by thinking that the attributes of Allah are similar to the attributes of the created beings: Do you conceive a self for Allah? He will say, what? I do not conceive a self for Allah. Then he will be a disbeliever. He will conceive a self for Allah. Do you conceive that this self is similar to the selves of the created beings? He says no. We say to him: If you conceive a self that is not similar to the selves of the created beings, then conceive attributes that are not similar to the attributes of the created beings, because the attributes follow the self. Just as the self of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is not similar to the selves of the created beings, so His attributes are not similar to the attributes of the created beings. This is one aspect.
Another aspect is that we say: We all understand that the ant has a leg, is that not so? And the elephant has a leg, and the camel has a leg. Is it possible for anyone to understand that the leg of the ant is like the leg of the elephant, and the leg of the elephant is like the leg of the camel? Absolutely not. So if you do not conceive this in the created beings, it is even more so in the Creator, because the difference between the Creator and the created is clearer and more evident than the difference between the created beings among themselves. For this reason, do you know why the people of ta'til (denial of the divine attributes) who denied the attributes of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) did so? Do you know why? Because they first understood that affirming these attributes necessitates likening Allah to creation. When they understood this understanding, they denied them. They understood that if we affirm a face for Allah, it necessarily follows that His face is similar to the faces of the created beings. They said, "Then we must deny this face," because Allah says:[Ash-Shuraa 42:11] If He says: [Ash-Shuraa 42:11] and they understand that the face is similar to the faces of the created beings, then the face must be denied. For this reason, we say: Every one who denies attributes is one who attributes likeness to Allah. Every one who denies attributes is one who attributes likeness to Allah. How do they deny and we say he is one who attributes likeness? We say yes, because he denied based on his understanding of likeness. So he first attributed likeness and then denied. Alright, we also say to this one who attributes likeness, for example: You affirm knowledge for Allah, and you affirm power for Him, and you affirm life for Him, and you affirm hearing and sight and will and speech. How many are these? We say you affirm life, knowledge, power, will, hearing, sight, and speech for Allah. How many are these? Seven attributes. Is your affirmation of these attributes on a basis similar to the attributes of the created beings or not? If he says yes, it is similar, we say you must deny them, is that not so? And if he says no, I affirm them on a basis that does not resemble the attributes of the created beings, we say then affirm the remaining attributes on a basis that does not resemble the attributes of the created beings. If he is stubborn and says the meaning of the hand is power, for example, alright, I say if he says the meaning of the hand is power — pay attention, my brother — or capability, we say if he affirms power, does the created being have power? Does the created being have power? Yes. [Ar-Rum 30:54] [Fussilat 41:15] We say if you affirm power or capability as you wish, the created being has power and capability, so you have now fallen into what you fled from, which is? Likeness. Rather, into something worse than that, because you took the text away from its apparent meaning, and this is a crime against the texts. Then you fell into a meaning that necessitates for you what necessitates for you if you affirmed the apparent meaning of the texts.
Answer: Yes and no? No, it is not necessary that what Allah has affirmed for Himself be similar to the creation, neither by way of textual evidence nor by way of rational evidence. As for the textual evidence, listen: Allah the Exalted said:
There is nothing like unto Him
ليس كمثله شيءDo you know of any similarity to Him?"
هل تعلم له سميا(3) He neither begets nor is born, (4) Nor is there to Him any equivalent."
لم يلد ولم يولد ولم يكن له كفوا أحدSo do not assert similarities to Allah. Indeed, Allah knows and you do not know.
فلا تضربوا لله الأمثال إن الله يعلم وأنتم لا تعلمونSo do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him].
فلا تجعلوا لله أندادا وأنتم تعلمونAllah’s state is greater than that.
إن شأن الله أعظم من ذلكHave you made me equal to Allah?
أجعلتني لله نداThe student: ... .
The Shaykh : Let the people pray the rawatib...
The questioner : The evening dhikr, before Maghrib or after Maghrib...?
The Shaykh : I say that the evening begins from the end of the day, except for what is specified for the night, which is in the night. For example, one who recites the Verse of the Throne at night, this is in the night.
The questioner : May Allah welcome you. A person says, "O Allah, help me to remember You, give thanks to You, and worship You well," before the prayer or after the prayer?
The Shaykh : No, before the taslim. "O Allah, help me to remember You," this is before the taslim. But I do not want to speak while the people are praying the rawatib. The people are praying the rawatib.
The questioner : If the one in authority ordered his young brother to buy him tobacco, what is the ruling on this? Is it forbidden for him, and does he disobey him in this order?
The Shaykh : Is tobacco forbidden? Is tobacco forbidden?
The questioner : I am asking, does he disobey him in this order?
The Shaykh : I ask you, is tobacco forbidden or not? Answer?
The questioner : Does he disobey him in this order?
The Shaykh : I say, I ask you first, is it forbidden or lawful?
The questioner : Of course, it is forbidden.
The Shaykh : So there is no obedience to a created being...
The questioner : ...in disobedience to the Creator.
The Shaykh : ...Alright, we spoke previously about the topic of whether we understand what Allah described Himself with in the same way we understand our own attributes? And we said: No, we do not understand that by the textual and rational evidence. And we brought evidence from the Book of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) regarding... We brought evidence from the Book of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) regarding the denial of likeness, both in commands and reports. So who will bring us the verses containing the report of the absence of likeness? Yes.
The student:
There is nothing like unto Him
ليس كمثله شيءThe Shaykh :
Do you know of any similarity to Him?"
هل تعلم له سمياThe student: ... .
The Shaykh : Here, what is it?
The student: ... .
The Shaykh :
So do not assert similarities to Allah
فلا تضربوا لله الأمثالSo do not attribute to Allah equals
فلا تجعلوا لله أنداداThe rational evidence is that we say to the one who understood, or tried to understand, or confused the people by thinking that the attributes of Allah are similar to the attributes of the created beings: Do you conceive a self for Allah? He will say, what? I do not conceive a self for Allah. Then he will be a disbeliever. He will conceive a self for Allah. Do you conceive that this self is similar to the selves of the created beings? He says no. We say to him: If you conceive a self that is not similar to the selves of the created beings, then conceive attributes that are not similar to the attributes of the created beings, because the attributes follow the self. Just as the self of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is not similar to the selves of the created beings, so His attributes are not similar to the attributes of the created beings. This is one aspect.
Another aspect is that we say: We all understand that the ant has a leg, is that not so? And the elephant has a leg, and the camel has a leg. Is it possible for anyone to understand that the leg of the ant is like the leg of the elephant, and the leg of the elephant is like the leg of the camel? Absolutely not. So if you do not conceive this in the created beings, it is even more so in the Creator, because the difference between the Creator and the created is clearer and more evident than the difference between the created beings among themselves. For this reason, do you know why the people of ta'til (denial of the divine attributes) who denied the attributes of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) did so? Do you know why? Because they first understood that affirming these attributes necessitates likening Allah to creation. When they understood this understanding, they denied them. They understood that if we affirm a face for Allah, it necessarily follows that His face is similar to the faces of the created beings. They said, "Then we must deny this face," because Allah says: