Grave Errors

Tawheed of names and attributes is damaged by various mistakes which should be avoided by Muslims especially and all other people in general. They are as follows:

• Comparison or Likening (Tashbeeh and Tamtheel)
• Distortion (Tahreef)
• Negation (Ta'teel)
• Asking How (Takyeef)

Comparison or Likening (Tashbeeh and Tamtheel)

Comparing or likening the attributes of the creator to the attributes of the created such as the Christians who believe Christ the son of Mary to be Allah the Exalted and possess His abilities, the Jews who compared Uzair to Allah, the polytheists who likened their idols to Allah. Some sects compared the face of Allah with the human face, Allah's hand to the human hand, His hearing to human hearing, and so on.

When we say that Allah has life, it must be understood that:

There is no metaphor here, i.e., that His life is real
That this is an attribute of perfection as opposed to death
That His life is not in any way like our living
Likewise, we believe that He has two hands because He mentioned this in the Qur’aan. But we believe that there is absolutely no resemblance between His hands and His creatures' hands.

The Messenger (peace be upon him) said:

Our Lord descends every night to the lowest heaven and He calls: "Is there anyone asking for forgiveness? I will forgive him. Is there anyone asking for anything? I will give him. Is there anyone repenting? I will accept his repentance." And He continues to say this until dawn. (Muslim)

We therefore believe that He descends every night to the lowest heaven, but that His descending is unlike that of His creatures and that it does not involve moving from one place to another. Even as He descends, He continues to be above heavens and above the throne (al-‘arsh). To believe otherwise would be implying that Allah could in some way be contained within the creation which He has stated is not possible and it would be likening it to the descent of His creation. Allah has many other attributes mentioned in the Qur’aan or the hadeeth such as highness, that He is above the heavens, that He laughs, that He becomes wrathful, etc.



Distortion (Tahreef)

Namely, to distort the intended or apparent meaning through false interpretation, change or alteration. An example is the alteration of the wordings of the names and attributes, by adding to them, subtracting from them or changing the grammatical constructions. For example, the verse:

"And Allah spoke directly to Moses" [Soorah An-Nisaa (4): Aayah 163].

The Arabic word Allah was changed to the accusative case making Allah the object in the sentence according to the deviants to indicate that Moses spoke to Allah, thereby negating Allah’s attribute of talking.

The safest method to use in order to avoid distortion is the method of the early generations of Muslims (as-salaf). They confirmed the attributes which Allah had confirmed for Himself and which His Prophet (peace be upon him) had confirmed for Him, without distorting interpretation nor making comparisons that are unbefitting of the Majesty and Oneness of Allah. We affirm the attributes mentioned in the Qur'aan and the Sunnah, such as the face, the two hands, the occupation of the Throne, the descent to the lower heaven, anger, pleasure, and so on, without comparing them to human attributes or interpreting them in a way that leads to their being negated. We reiterate what Imam Ash-Shaafi’i (May Allah have mercy upon him) said:

"I believe in Allah and in what revelation tells about Him, in the manner He intended, and I believe in the Messenger of Allah, and in what was related about the Messenger of Allah, in the manner that He intended." (Ar-Rawdah An-Niddiyyah, pg. 25)


Negation (Ta'teel)

Negating divine attributes, and denying their existence in Allah. One example of this is negating the perfection of Allah by denying His names and attributes, or negating the proper conduct towards Allah by abandoning His worship, or preventing people from knowing or worshipping their Creator. This would be like those who deny the fact that Allah created the universe and claim that it developed and evolved of its own accord.

A grave mistake that many people make when trying to understand Allah's attributes is to say that He cannot have sight because this implies eyes and eyes are created by Him; that He cannot have a throne because this implies that He needs some of His creation (i.e. a throne to rest on); that He cannot be above the heavens and cannot ascend or descend because He created heavens, places and distances. They conjecture that His sight is His knowledge, His hands are His capability, His ascending the Throne symbolizes conquering it, and so on.

This type of thinking is what we usually refer to as suspending or neutralizing Allah's attributes. It involves altering the meanings of those attributes that one cannot fully comprehend. This is a danger that should be carefully avoided in order to keep our knowledge of the faith clear and uncontaminated, following the examples set to us by the sahaabah (companions of the Prophet, May Allah be pleased with them) and their true followers.



Asking How (Takyeef)

Attempting to ascertain the manner in which Allah’s attributes take form, and also determining their essence. Taking the names and attributes mentioned in the Qur'aan and the Sunnah at face value, without any comparison, alteration, negation, nor takyeef is the method of the companions of the Prophet (May Allah be pleased with them), their followers and those who followed their followers.

One may ask:

Suppose that the Qur’aan and the Sunnah do not give a clear description of one or more of Allah's qualities, may we not seek more enlightenment by applying our reason or by asking people of higher standing in science, philosophy or logic to explain to us 'how' a certain quality can be understood, 'why' it is so, or other similar questions?

The answer is: Absolutely, no!

Such an answer is not given out of narrow-mindedness and rigidity. Rather, it derives from a true understanding of our capacity and ability as humans. There is a consensus about this among the Muslim scholars, as demonstrated in the following authentic narration.

A man came to Malik bin Anas (May Allah have mercy upon him), one of the four famous imaams to whom the four famous schools of thought are attributed, and one of the most prominent scholars of all time, and asked him, "O Malik! The Qur’aan says that Ar-Rahman (the Bestower of Mercy) ascended the Throne; how did He do that?" Malik was extremely disturbed by this question, and replied:

The istiwaa, (ascendance) is known [in meaning]; but 'how' it took place is not known to people. Believing in its occurrence is compulsory; and questioning its mode of occurrence is a bid'ah (a rejected innovation in the Faith). And I believe indeed that you are committing a bid’ah [by asking this question]." Judging that the man was one of the first people to try to contaminate the purity of the faith with their deformed understanding, Malik then banished that man from his presence. [Ad-Daarimi & Al-Bayhaqi]

In this reaction of this great scholar was made in a time when true belief was known and widespread and he therefore harshly admonished the questioner as a lesson for all and to prevent further evil or deviation.

The great scholar, Ash-Shawkaani (May Allah have mercy upon him) said:

The method adopted by the companions (May Allah be pleased with them), their followers and those who followed them is to take the proofs of Allah’s attributes at face value, without any false interpretation, comparison nor negation. Whenever they were asked about any of Allah's attributes, they would recite the evidence concerning it from the Qur'aan and the Sunnah and avoid any other references. They said: "Allah said so, and this is the only thing that concerns us. We do not talk about that which we know not, nor were we permitted to do so by Allah.” If the inquirer attempted to obtain any more out of them, they would chastise him for delving into what does not concern him. They forbade him from seeking what could never be attained without falling into heresy, which is not their path, nor is it what they had learned from the Prophet (peace be upon him), and from the companions and their followers. In that noble era, there was consensus about Allah's attributes, and the path was one. Their only concern was with what Allah had commanded them to do, and the obligations He had instructed them to fulfill. Those included: belief in Allah, establishing regular prayers, paying Zakat, fasting, pilgrimage, jihad, charity, seeking beneficial knowledge, guiding the people to all types of good, seeking the reward of Paradise and avoiding the punishment of the Hell-Fire, enjoining good and forbidding evil, and rectifying transgressors as much as possible. They never occupied themselves with any other matter that Allah had not instructed them to engage in, nor had they tarnished their worship with the innovation of inquiring after His nature and essence. In those days religion was pure and devoid of all heresy. (At-Tuhaf Fee Madhaahib As-Salaf, pg. 7)