Aqida Tahawiyya, Lesson 3: The Attributes of Allah Before Creation
Section 10 of 30 · Aqeedah · Mufti Abdul Rahman Mangera
Sovereignty With or Without Fief
Laysa mundhu khalaqa al-khalqa istafāda isma al-Khāliq, wa lā bi-iḥdāthihi al-bariyyata istafāda isma al-Bārī. It isn't after creating the universe that He merits the name the Creator, nor through originating His creatures that He merits the name the Originator.
A number of points follow that further emphasize this, although it is when we begin to recognize Him as such… because we were not there before that. But He, in Himself, that is how He has always been. It is not after creating the universe that He merits the name of the Creator, nor through originating His creatures that He merits the name the Originator.
Lahu maʿnā al-rubūbiyyati wa lā marbūb, wa maʿnā al-khāliqi wa lā makhlūq. He possesses the quality of sovereignty with or without fief, and the quality of creativity with or without creation.
It may be translated this way: He possesses the quality of sovereignty — rubūbiyyah, being the Rabb, the sovereign, the one who looks after everybody else — wa lā marbūb: without there being anyone to have sovereignty over. Marbūb is the passive participle: the one who is supported and taken care of by the sovereign. Likewise, He possessed the quality of creativity, wa lā makhlūq: whereas there was not a creation yet.
Wa kamā annahu muḥyī al-mawtā baʿda mā aḥyāhum, istaḥaqqa hādhā al-isma qabla iḥyāʾihim, kadhālika istaḥaqqa isma al-Khāliqi qabla inshāʾihim. And while He is the Resurrector of the dead after He resurrects them, He merits the same name before their actual resurrection. Likewise, He merits the name of the Creator before their actual creation.
So, after reiterating this quite a few times, he says:
فَاطِرُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَٰجًا وَمِنَ ٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِ أَزْوَٰجًا ۖ يَذْرَؤُكُمْ فِيهِ ۚ لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِۦ شَىْءٌ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْبَصِيرُ
“He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs from the cattle. He makes you expand in this way. Nothing is like Him. And He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.” (42:11)
Dhālika bi-annahu ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr, wa kullu shayʾin ilayhi faqīr, wa kullu amrin ʿalayhi yasīr, lā yaḥtāju ilā shayʾ, laysa ka-mithlihi shayʾun wa huwa al-samīʿu al-baṣīr. This is because He is omnipotent, meaning He has power over all. Everything is dependent upon Him, and every affair is effortless for Him. He needs nothing — nothing — and there is nothing like Him, yet He is the Hearing and All-Seeing.