Names and Attributes of Allah

“So Allah has called Himself with certain Names and Attributes, and these Names and Attributes, when ascribed to Allah, have unique meanings which none share. And, He has called His servants with names (and attributes) that are peculiar to them…These names are the same when they are separated from their owners…but when they are ascribed to their owners, each one takes on specific characteristics that are unique to it, different from the other…

So, for example, Allah has called Himself al-Hayy (The Ever-Living), for He said,

اللَّهُ لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ

Allah! There is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living (al-Hayy), the Sustainer of all (2:255)

Likewise, He has also described some of His creation with ‘Life’ (hayy), for He said,

يُخْرِجُ الْحَيَّ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَيُخْرِجُ الْمَيِّتَ مِنَ الْحَيِّ

He brings out the living (hayy) from the dead, and brings out the dead from the living…(30:19)

And neither is this al-Hayy (i.e. Allah) like the other hayy (i.e. man), since al-Hayy is one of the Names of Allah, particular to Him, and the hayy in ‘He brings out the living (hayy) from the dead’ is the name of life that is particular to the created, specific to him…

And Allah has called Himself Samee’ (All-Hearing) and Baseer (All-Seeing), for He said,

إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ سَمِيعًا بَصِيرًا

…truly, Allah is Samee’ and Baseer (4:58)

and He has called some of His servants samee’ and baseer, for He said,

إِنَّا خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ أَمْشَاجٍ نَّبْتَلِيهِ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ سَمِيعًا بَصِيرًا

Verily, We have created man from drops of mixed semen…and made him samee’ and baseer (76:2)

But neither is the Samee’ like the samee’, nor is the Baseer like the baseer!

And Allah has called Himself Ra’oof (The One Full of Kindness) and Raheem (The Most Merciful), for He said,

إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِالنَّاسِ لَرَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ

Verily, Allah is, for mankind, the Ra’oof, the Raheem (22:65)

and He has called some of His creation ra’oof and raheem, for He said,

لَقَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُم بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ

Verily, there has come to you a Messenger from amongst yourselves…for the believers, he is ra’oof, raheem (9:128)

But neither is the Ra’oof like the ra’oof, nor is the Raheem like the raheem…!

And He has also described Himself with certain Attributes, and described His creation with these same attributes…(For example) He has attributed to Himself the Attribute of Speech (kalaam), for He said,

وَكَلَّمَ اللَّهُ مُوسَىٰ تَكْلِيمًا

And Allah spoke directly (kallama) to Musa (4:164)

…And He described some of His creation with the attribute of speech, for He said,

فَلَمَّا كَلَّمَهُ

…then, when (the king) spoke (kallama) to (Yusuf)…(12:54)

But neither is this Kalaam like the other kalaam…!

And He has described Himself as being istiwaa over the Throne, for He has mentioned this seven times in His Book. And He has also described some of His creation as being istiwaa over objects, for He said,

لِتَسْتَوُوا عَلَىٰ ظُهُورِهِ

So that you (mankind) may istiwaa over their backs (i.e. so that you may ride on the backs of your animals (43:13)

…and neither is the one istiwaa like the other istiwaa!

(Ibn Taymiyyah’s at-Tadmureeyah, pages 14-19)