Knowledge Didn't Come In the Door

How, then, can some understanding of the attributes be reached? Of course, when speaking about the attributes of Allah (swt), it is very difficult for us to understand the reality of it, because it is something that is beyond us. But based on some of the things that Allah (swt) has mentioned, some things can be understood.

For example, we know that Allah has attributes. Why do we know that? Because He Himself has called Himself ʿAlīm, the All-Knowing One. One cannot be ʿAlīm without having knowledge. He has called Himself Samīʿ: one cannot be the listening one without having the ability to listen, without having the attribute of listening, of hearing. He has called Himself Baṣīr, the seer, the All-Seeing: one cannot have that without the attribute of seeing. What does that prove? That proves that Allah (swt) has attributes.

He does not say that He has ʿilm, that He has knowledge, or that He has sight. Most of it, whether in His own voice or not, is that He is seeing; He is all-knowledgeable. That became confusing to the Muʿtazilah. The Muʿtazilah said that Allah does not say that He has attributes; He is just saying that He is seeing, He is knowledgeable and all-knowing, He is powerful. That means He is powerful, knowing, seeing, hearing, through His essence. There are no attributes; it is just His essence. He is all of these things through His essence. That is what the Muʿtazilah say. So basically, what they are doing is rejecting the attributes.

Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah say that no, He has attributes, which are separate from His essence, because an attribute is separate from the essence. For example — again, this is a very weak example, but it might give some understanding of this relationship between an attribute and an essence — somebody comes in the door. A shaykh comes in the door, some doctor comes in the door: nobody is going to say knowledge came in. If someone said that, it would be said metaphorically, because what has come in is that particular doctor, or the ʿālim. He has the quality of knowledge. He cannot be called knowledgeable without having the quality of knowledge. Something cannot be called white if there was no whiteness in it. It cannot be called black if there is no blackness in it.

The Muʿtazilah, for some reason, despite the rationalism that they had, just could not get that. They said that He does not have any separate attributes; it is all in the self. Again, these examples are very weak examples, only to give some understanding of this relationship between the attributes, and Allah (swt), and His essence.