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ATTRIBUTES
OF ALLAH
(S.W.T.)
It is our
duty to know Allah. Love follows
knowledge. Although,
understanding or conceiving
Allah is not easy. In our
physical world, we comprehend
every thing by our five senses.
In fact, science’s area of
operations is restricted to
these five senses which are;
seeing, hearing, smelling,
touching, and tasting. But
religion’s domain spreads far
beyond the scientific world of
physical senses. A child’s
comprehension of the world
around him develops in
progressive steps; first when he
sees an object, he retains the
impressions in his mind and
remembers the name for it, next
time when he sees the same
thing, his mind compares new
impression with the original
impression and recognizes the
object. For example if he sees a
puppy and he is told that it is
called puppy. When he sees any
puppy, his mind retrieves the
image and name for it.
Similarly, we have cognizance of
objects, living things etc. with
the help of our original
information stored in our
memory.
Because Allah
does not have a body so we
cannot comprehend Allah. Once, a
man inquired from the Commander
of the Faithful, Imam Ali (A.S.)
as to whether he had seen Allah
to which the Imam (A.S.) replied
that he does not worship Allah
without seeing Him but with the
eyes of his heart.
There is a
tradition of the Holy Prophet
(S.A.W.S.), “Allah cannot be
recognized by any one except Ali
and myself, I cannot be
recognized by anyone except
Allah and Ali, and Ali cannot be
recognized by anyone except
Allah and me.”
By the
Blessings of Chaharda Masoomeen
and the Grace of Allah, we will
try slowly and step by step to
have some basic conception of
Allah (S.W.T.).
Allah’s
characteristics or attributes
may be broadly divided into two
groups; positive and negative.
The important attributes are
given below:
Positive
Attributesare called “Sifaat-e-Subutiyyah”which
is also “Asmaa-ul-Husna”
or one of the 99 “Beautiful
Names” of Allah which are
explained below:
All-Perceiving (Al-Mudrik):
Allah is
All-Seeing and All-Hearing; He
can see and hear every thing
without any need of eyes and
ears.
Living (Al-Hayy):
Allah is
always Alive and remains Alive
for ever. His creatures are born
and remain alive for designated
time and then die.
Eternal (Al-Qadeem):
Allah has
neither a beginning nor an end.
Every life on the earth is
destined to perish.
Will Power
(Al-Mureed):
Allah has His
own Will and Discretion in all
affairs. He does every thing
without interference. He is the
Master of His will.
Omnipotent
(Al-Qadir):
He has
absolute Power over every thing
and every affair. He has
complete control on every thing
in the universe.
Master of
Speech (Al-Mutakallim):
Allah can
create speech in any thing, as
He did in curtain of light for
Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.S.) and
in a tree in case of Prophet
Musa (A.S.).
Omniscient
(Al-Alim):
Allah knows
every thing. He knows what is in
our hearts. Nothing is hidden
from Him.
Truthful (As-Sadiq):
Allah is
always true in His words and His
promises.
Negative
Attributesare called “Sifaat-e-Salbiyyah”
These are the
attributes which can not be
found in Allah because they are
incompatible with His Divinity.
Partner (Sharik):
Allah has no
partner. He is the one only and
unique.
Place (Makaan):
Because Allah
has no body hence He does not
need a place as His creatures
need. He is every where by
virtue of His Knowledge and
Power which is apparent in the
universe.
Visible (Mar’i):
Allah is not
visible. He had not been seen in
the past, is not seen now, and
will never be seen in future.
Because human eyes can only
perceive a material body and
Allah does not have a body.
Compound (Murakkab):
Allah is
neither made of any parts nor
composed of any material. He
cannot be divided.
Needs (Ehtiyaaj):
Allah is free
from wants. He is not deficient
in any thing, so He does not
need anything.
Incarnation (Hulool):
Allah does
not enter into anything or any
person nor does anything enter
Him.
Change (Haadis):
Allah is not
subject to any change. Like
human being is first a baby,
then man and lastly becomes old.
Or human being is healthy then
he may become sick.
Acquired
Attributes (Sifaat-e-Za’id):
The
Attributes of Allah are not
separate from His person. Like
when we say Allah is
All-knowing,
we do not mean His Knowledge is
separate from Him. We do not
possess knowledge when we are
young. We go to school or
college to acquire it.
All the above Sifaat-e-Salbiyyah,
which cannot be found in Allah,
but are found in His creations.
We have partners, we need a
house to live, we are perceived
by five senses, we are made up
of flesh and bones, we need food
and clothes, we need attention,
and we are constantly changing.
Our characteristics are separate
from ourselves. |
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