The Difference Between the Names and the Attributes

Q: What is the difference between the Names and the Attributes?

A: All of the Names of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, encompass His Attributes, Glorified and Exalted is He, which befit Him and correspond to His perfection, and nothing resembles Him in them. His Names, Glorified and Exalted is He, are designations for Him and descriptions of Him, Mighty and Majestic. Among them are: al-Rahman (The Most Merciful), al-Rahim (The Merciful), al-Aziz (The Almighty), al-Hakim (The Wise), al-Malik (The King), al-Quddus (The Holy), al-Salam (The Source of Peace), al-Mu’min (The Giver of Security), al-Muhaymin (The Guardian), and so on from His Names, Glorified and Exalted is He, that are mentioned in His Noble Book and in the Sunnah of His trustworthy Messenger. It is obligatory to affirm them for Him, Glorified and Exalted is He, in the manner befitting His Majesty, without distortion or denial of the divine attributes, and without asking how an attribute is or comparing Allah to creation. This is the meaning of the statement of the Imams of the Salaf, such as Malik, al-Thawri, al-Awza’i, and others: “Let them be as they came, without asking how.”
The meaning is that it is obligatory to affirm them for Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, in the manner befitting Him, Glorified and Exalted is He, as for their modality, only Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows it. When Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, was asked about the saying of Allah, the Exalted: [Ta-Ha:5], how did He rise above the Throne? He answered, may Allah have mercy on him, by saying: “The rising above the Throne is known, the modality is unknown, belief in it is obligatory, and asking about it is a religious innovation.” By this, may Allah have mercy on him, he meant: asking about the modality. This meaning was also narrated from his Shaykh, Rabi’ah ibn Abi al-Abd al-Rahman, and from Umm Salimah, may Allah be pleased with her. It is the statement of all the Imams of the Salaf, as transmitted from them by more than one person of knowledge, including Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, in “Al-Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah,” in “Al-Hamawiyyah,” and “Al-Tadmuriyyah,” and in other of his books, may Allah have mercy on him. Thus, the scholar Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, transmitted it from them in his famous books, and before him, Abu al-Hasan al-Ash’ari, may Allah have mercy on him, transmitted it from them.