Explanation of the author's statement: And He, Glorified and Exalted is He, has combined in what He described and named Himself with, between negation and affirmation
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The Shaykh : The new lesson "And He, Glorified and Exalted is He, has combined in what He described and named Himself with, between negation and affirmation"
His statement: "in what He described and named Himself with, between negation and affirmation" means that the attributes of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, are of two types: affirmed attributes and negated attributes. Based on this, we benefit from the author's words that the attributes are of two types:
Affirmed attributes: They are called by them the affirmative attributes.
And negated attributes: They call them the negative attributes, from negation, which is denial. There is no harm in calling them negative, even though some people hesitated and said, "We do not call them negative, but rather we say: negated."
So we say: As long as negation in language means denial, the difference is in the wording and it does not harm.
So the attributes of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, are of two types: affirmative and negative, or if you wish, say: affirmed and negated, and the meaning is the same.
As for the affirmed ones: All attributes of perfection, or everything that Allah affirmed for Himself, are attributes of perfection in which there is no deficiency, whether the attributes are conceptual, informational, or practical, as we have mentioned previously. So everything that Allah affirmed for Himself is an attribute of perfection in which there is no deficiency in any way. From this, it is impossible for it to indicate likening, because similarity to the created is a deficiency. And when we understand this rule, we know the misguidance of the people of distortion who claimed that the affirmed attributes necessitate likening, and then they took to negating them to escape likening.
Their example: They said, "If we affirm a Face for Allah, it would necessarily be similar to the faces of the created, and at that time we would deny it," meaning we would distort its meaning to another meaning, not to the true Face.
So we say to them: Everything that Allah affirmed for Himself of attributes is an attribute of perfection, and it is absolutely impossible that there be any deficiency in what Allah affirmed for Himself of attributes; it is impossible.
His statement: "in what He described and named Himself with, between negation and affirmation" means that the attributes of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, are of two types: affirmed attributes and negated attributes. Based on this, we benefit from the author's words that the attributes are of two types:
Affirmed attributes: They are called by them the affirmative attributes.
And negated attributes: They call them the negative attributes, from negation, which is denial. There is no harm in calling them negative, even though some people hesitated and said, "We do not call them negative, but rather we say: negated."
So we say: As long as negation in language means denial, the difference is in the wording and it does not harm.
So the attributes of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, are of two types: affirmative and negative, or if you wish, say: affirmed and negated, and the meaning is the same.
As for the affirmed ones: All attributes of perfection, or everything that Allah affirmed for Himself, are attributes of perfection in which there is no deficiency, whether the attributes are conceptual, informational, or practical, as we have mentioned previously. So everything that Allah affirmed for Himself is an attribute of perfection in which there is no deficiency in any way. From this, it is impossible for it to indicate likening, because similarity to the created is a deficiency. And when we understand this rule, we know the misguidance of the people of distortion who claimed that the affirmed attributes necessitate likening, and then they took to negating them to escape likening.
Their example: They said, "If we affirm a Face for Allah, it would necessarily be similar to the faces of the created, and at that time we would deny it," meaning we would distort its meaning to another meaning, not to the true Face.
So we say to them: Everything that Allah affirmed for Himself of attributes is an attribute of perfection, and it is absolutely impossible that there be any deficiency in what Allah affirmed for Himself of attributes; it is impossible.