Understanding Allah’s Names and Attributes - Rule #2
July 20, 2006 — ibnabeeomarAll of Allah’s Names and Attributes are taken from the Sacred Texts, unlike descriptions (khabr).
Allah has Names (Asmaa), Attributes (Sifaat), Actions (Af’al), and Descriptions (Khabr). Names are most specific. Every Name is an Attribute, every Attribute is an Action, and every Action is a Description. The reverse is not true, so for example, not every Attribute is a Name, but every Name is an Attribute.
Names and Attributes must come from the Quran and Sunnah. An important principle to keep in mind also is that we should not speak about Allah without knowledge.
A khabr is a description of Allah without any negative meaning. So for example in the Quran it says,
Say, “What thing is greatest in testimony?” Say, ” Allah is witness between me and you. [6:19]
This is an example of a khabr that occurs in the Quran, i.e. “shay (thing)”, and this is neither a name nor an attribute.
An example of a Name would be al-Rahmaan, and an Attribute would be Allah’s Speech.
July 20, 2006 at 2:36 pm
please give an example of
“Every Name is an Attribute, every Attribute is an Action, and every Action is a Description. The reverse is not true, so for example, not every Attribute is a Name, but every Name is an Attribute.”
Take a name and derive it all the way down to a description if possible.
jazzakallahu khair
July 20, 2006 at 2:49 pm
Name - Ar Rahman is a name - The Most Merciful
Attribute - Rahma is the attribute/characteristic - Allah posses the attribute of mercy\
Action - May Allah have mercy upon us!
Description - Allah can be described as being merciful - My Lord is merciful
Wa’Allahu Alim
July 20, 2006 at 2:55 pm
Name: ar-Rahman
Attribute - mercy
an Attribue is Speech, however, this doesn’t make Allah “al-Mutakallim (the speaker)” because it is not a name of perfection. speech can be good or bad, so Allah(swt) has the Attribute of speech, but not the name.
ibn al-Qayyim said, “If an Attribute has some positive and negative meanings, then it cannot unconditionally be entered into Allah’s Names. Rather, Allah can only be described with the positive meaning of it, such as al-murid, al-faa’il, and al-saani’, for these are not of Allah’s Names. Hence, those who called Him such are mistaken; rather, He is “fa’aalu limaa yureed”, since ‘intending’ and ‘doing’ and ‘acting’ can be divided (into good and bad). Therefore Allah only affirmed for Himself that which was praiseworthy and most perfect.”
faa’il (doer) has no inherent positive meaning, so it is not a Name.
July 20, 2006 at 2:56 pm
also the example of “shay” from the Qur’an, its just a khabr, but its not an action, or an attribute, or a name.
July 8, 2007 at 11:24 am
Asalamu Alaikum,
We know Every Name is an Attribute, So what would be the Attribute and so on for the Name ALLAH?
JazakAllahu Kair.