Part One
The creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah in summary
First Issue: The Words Ism and Ḥusnā in the Language
The grammarians of Baṣrah derived ism, name, from sumuww, elevation, because a name raises the thing named and makes it known; the grammarians of Kūfah derived it from wasm, a mark, because a name marks the thing named. Both meanings meet in the names of Allah: they make Him known, and they are the highest of names.
Ḥusnā is the feminine of aḥsan, the superlative: the names that have reached the utmost of beauty. Allah said: “And to Allah belong the most beautiful names, so call on Him by them, and leave those who deviate (yulḥidūnah) concerning His names.” Ilḥād in the language is to incline away from the straight, and the lāḥd of a grave is named from it because it inclines to one side. Deviating in His names is to deny them, to empty them of their meanings, to liken them to the names of creatures, to name Him with what He did not name Himself, or to derive from them names for idols, as the mushrikūn derived al-Lāt from al-Ilāh and al-ʿUzzā from al-ʿAzīz.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
And to Allah belong the most beautiful names, so call on Him by them, and leave those who deviate concerning His names; they will be recompensed for what they used to do.
Qurʾān 7:180 (al-Aʿrāf) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Part Two
The texts of the Qurʾān and the Sunnah
Second Issue: Al-Muʾmin
Allah named Himself al-Muʾmin in the closing verses of al-Ḥashr. The root a-m-n carries two meanings in the language: security (amn), the opposite of fear, and affirmation (taṣdīq). Al-Muʾmin is the One who grants security: He secures His creation from His wronging them, and secures His friends from His punishment. And al-Muʾmin is the One who affirms the truthfulness of His messengers with the signs He gives them, and affirms the truth of His promise to His servants.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
He is Allah, other than whom there is no god: the King, the Holy, the Peace, the Granter of Security (al-Muʾmin), the Guardian, the Mighty, the Compeller, the Supreme. Glorified is Allah above what they associate with Him.
Qurʾān 59:23 (al-Ḥashr) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
So when it is asked whether Allah is “a believer”, the answer is that the name al-Muʾmin is His, with the meanings that befit Him, and not the īmān of the servant, which is belief in the unseen, submission and deeds. The name is shared in its word and distinct in its reality, as al-Ḥayy and al-ʿAlīm are shared in word with the living and knowing creature, and distinct in what they are.
Third Issue: Al-Wārith
Allah said: “And it is We who give life and cause death, and We are the Inheritors.” He said: “It is We who will inherit the earth and whoever is upon it.” And Zakariyyā called on Him: “And You are the best of inheritors.” The wārith in the language is the one who remains after another and to whom what he left passes. Allah is al-Wārith because He remains after His creation perishes, and to Him returns everything He gave them to hold for a time.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
And indeed it is We who give life and cause death, and We are the Inheritors.
Qurʾān 15:23 (al-Ḥijr) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Allah, the Exalted, said:
Indeed it is We who will inherit the earth and whoever is upon it, and to Us they will be returned.
Qurʾān 19:40 (Maryam) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Allah, the Exalted, said:
And Zakariyyā, when he called to his Lord: My Lord, do not leave me alone, and You are the best of inheritors.
Qurʾān 21:89 (al-Anbiyāʾ) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Inheritance among creatures is the passing of property from the dead to the living, and it requires that the heir did not own the thing before. The inheritance of Allah is not this. He owned everything before and after; what returns to Him is what He had lent to His servants for a while. This is why the verse of al-Ḥadīd calls the servants trustees over what they spend: they hold for a time what remains His.
Fourth Issue: Makr: An Action of Allah, Not a Name
Makr in the language is to bring about a matter against someone by a hidden way, without his perceiving it. In itself it divides into what is praiseworthy and what is blameworthy: it is blameworthy when it is used to wrong someone who does not deserve it, and praiseworthy when it is used against the one who plots, as a just recompense for his plot.
Allah mentioned His makr only in recompense, set against the makr of His enemies: “they plan, and Allah plans, and Allah is the best of planners”; “they planned, and Allah planned”. He mentioned the deceiving of the hypocrites in the same way: “they seek to deceive Allah, and He is deceiving them.” In this restricted form it is perfection, because it is the overcoming of the deceiver by One who is more capable and more just than he.
Allah, the Exalted, said:
And when those who disbelieved plotted against you, to restrain you, or kill you, or expel you: they plan, and Allah plans, and Allah is the best of planners.
Qurʾān 8:30 (al-Anfāl) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Allah, the Exalted, said:
And they planned, and Allah planned, and Allah is the best of planners.
Qurʾān 3:54 (Āl ʿImrān) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Allah, the Exalted, said:
Do they then feel secure from the plan of Allah? None feels secure from the plan of Allah except the losing people.
Qurʾān 7:99 (al-Aʿrāf) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
Allah, the Exalted, said:
Indeed the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, and He is deceiving them. And when they stand for the prayer, they stand lazily, showing off to the people, and they do not remember Allah except a little.
Qurʾān 4:142 (al-Nisāʾ) Read the verse (opens in a new tab)
So the rule of Ibn al-Qayyim applies: an action mentioned in a restricted form does not produce an unrestricted name. Allah is not named al-Mākir or al-Khādiʿ. He is described as He described Himself: He plans against those who plan, and He is the best of planners. Ibn al-Qayyim named this error directly: some later scholars counted al-Muḍill, al-Fātin and al-Mākir among the most beautiful names, and he rejected it.
Part Three
Principles drawn from the evidence
Fifth Issue: The Rules of the Names, in the Words of Ibn al-Qayyim
Ibn al-Qayyim gathered the rules of this chapter in a passage of Badāʾiʿ al-Fawāʾid that every student of ʿaqīdah should know by heart. What is informed about Allah is wider than what He is named with. An attribute that divides into perfection and deficiency is not a name without qualification. An action mentioned in a restricted way does not produce a name. His names are proper names and descriptions at the same time. Each name points to the Essence and the attribute, to one of them, and to other attributes that it entails. They are one in the One they name and many in their meanings. The names and attributes are known only from revelation. A name with a transitive verb gives its verb and its verbal noun. And His actions come from His perfection, while creatures are perfected by their actions.
Ibn al-Qayyim said in Badāʾiʿ al-Fawāʾid:
أحدها: أن ما يدخل في باب الإخبار عنه تعالى أوسع مما يدخل في باب أسمائه وصفاته كالشيء والموجود والقائم بنفسه فإنه يخبر به عنه ولا يدخل في أسمائه الحسنى وصفاته العليا.
الثاني: أن الصفة إذا كانت منقسمة إلى كمال ونقص لم تدخل بمطلقها في أسمائه بل يطلق عليه منها كمالها وهذا كالمريد والفاعل والصانع فإن هذه الألفاظ لا تدخل في أسمائه ولهذا غلط من سماه بالصانع عند الإطلاق بل هو الفعال لما يريد فإن الإرادة والفعل والصنع منقسمة ولهذا إنما أطلق على نفسه من ذلك أكمله فعلا وخبرا.
الثالث: أنه لا يلزم من الإخبار عنه بالفعل مقيدا أن يشتق له منه اسم مطلق كما غلط فيه بعض المتأخرين فجعل من أسمائه الحسنى المضل الفاتن الماكر تعالى الله عن قوله فإن هذه الأسماء لم يطلق عليه سبحانه منها إلا أفعال مخصوصة معينة فلا يجوز أن يسمى بأسمائها المطلقة والله أعلم.
الرابع: أن أسماءه ﷿ الحسنى هي أعلام وأوصاف والوصف بها لا ينافي العلمية بخلاف أوصاف العباد فإنها تنافي علميتهم لأن أوصافهم مشتركة فنافتها العلمية المختصة بخلاف أوصافه تعالى.
الخامس: أن الاسم من أسمائه له دلالات دلالة على الذات والصفة بالمطابقة ودلالة على أحدهما بالتضمن ودلالة على الصفة الأخرى باللزوم.
السادس: أن أسماءه الحسنى لها اعتباران اعتبار من حيث الذات واعتبار من حيث الصفات فهي بالاعتبار الأول مترادفة وبالاعتبار الثاني متباينة.
السابع: أن ما يطلق عليه في باب الأسماء والصفات توقيفي وما يطلق عليه من الأخبار لا يجب أن يكون توقيفا كالقديم والشيء والموجود والقائم بنفسه فهذا فصل الخطاب في مسألة أسمائه هل هي توقيفية أو يجوز أن يطلق عليه منها بعض ما لم يرد به السمع.
الثامن: أن الاسم إذا أطلق عليه جاز أن يشتق منه المصدر والفعل فيخبر به عنه فعلا ومصدرا ونحو السميع البصير القدير يطلق عليه منه السمع والبصر والقدرة ويخبر عنه بالأفعال من ذلك نحو: ﴿قَدْ سَمِعَ اللَّهُ﴾ ﴿فَقَدَرْنَا فَنِعْمَ الْقَادِرُونَ﴾ هذا إن كان الفعل متعديا فإن كان لازما لم يخبر عنه به نحو الحي بل يطلق عليه الاسم والمصدر دون الفعل فلا يقال حي.
التاسع: أن أفعال الرب ﵎ صادرة عن أسمائه وصفاته وأسماء المخلوقين صادرة عن أفعالهم فالرب ﵎ فعاله عن كماله والمخلوق كماله عن فعاله فاشتقت له الأسماء بعد أن كمل بالفعل فالرب لم يزل كاملا فحصلت
أفعاله عن كماله لأنه كامل بذاته وصفاته فأفعاله صادرة عن كماله كمل ففعل والمخلوق فعل فكمل الكمال اللائق به
And here certain matters must be known. The first: what enters the category of informing about Him, Exalted is He, is wider than what enters the category of His names and attributes — such as “thing”, “existent” and “self-subsisting”: He is informed about with these, but they do not enter His most beautiful names and His highest attributes. The second: when an attribute is divided into perfection and deficiency, it does not enter His names in its unqualified form; rather only its perfection is applied to Him. This is like “the willer”, “the doer” and “the maker”: these words do not enter His names, and for this reason whoever named Him “the Maker” (al-Ṣāniʿ) without qualification erred; rather He is the Doer of whatever He wills. For willing, doing and making are divided, and so He applied to Himself only the most perfect of that, as an act and as a report. The third: informing about Him with an action in a restricted form does not require that an unrestricted name be derived from it for Him, as some of the later scholars erred and made among His most beautiful names al-Muḍill, al-Fātin and al-Mākir — exalted is Allah above what he said. For of these nothing was applied to Him, Glorified is He, except particular, specified actions, so it is not permissible that He be named with their unrestricted names; and Allah knows best. The fourth: His most beautiful names, Mighty and Majestic is He, are proper names and descriptions together, and the description in them does not negate their being proper names; unlike the descriptions of the servants, which negate their being proper names, because their descriptions are shared, and the specific proper name excludes them; unlike His descriptions, Exalted is He. The fifth: each of His names has indications: an indication of the Essence and the attribute together by correspondence, an indication of one of the two by inclusion, and an indication of another attribute by entailment. The sixth: His most beautiful names have two considerations, from the side of the Essence and from the side of the attributes. By the first they are synonymous, and by the second they are distinct. The seventh: what is applied to Him in the category of names and attributes is restricted to revelation, and what is applied to Him by way of reports need not be restricted to revelation — such as “the Eternal” (al-Qadīm), “thing”, “existent” and “self-subsisting”. This is the decisive word on whether His names are restricted to revelation, or whether something that revelation did not bring can be applied to Him. The eighth: when a name is applied to Him, it is permissible to derive from it the verbal noun and the verb and to inform about Him with them — such as al-Samīʿ, al-Baṣīr, al-Qadīr: hearing, sight and power are applied to Him from them, and He is informed about with their verbs, such as {Allah has indeed heard} and {So We determined, and excellent are We to determine}. This is if the verb is transitive; if it is intransitive, He is not informed about with the verb, such as al-Ḥayy: the name and the verbal noun are applied to Him, not the verb. The ninth: the actions of the Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, issue from His names and attributes, while the names of creatures issue from their actions. The Lord has His actions from His perfection, and the creature has his perfection from his actions, so names were derived for him after he was perfected by the action. The Lord never ceased to be perfect, so His actions issued from His perfection, because He is perfect in His Essence and His attributes: He was perfect, so He acted; and the creature acted, so he was perfected with the perfection that befits him.
Ibn al-Qayyim, Badāʾiʿ al-Fawāʾid 1/161–163
Source, chain and authenticity
Read the page in the source edition (opens in a new tab)
The whole page in Arabic
أحدها: أن ما يدخل في باب الإخبار عنه تعالى أوسع مما يدخل في باب أسمائه وصفاته كالشيء والموجود والقائم بنفسه فإنه يخبر به عنه ولا يدخل في أسمائه الحسنى وصفاته العليا.
الثاني: أن الصفة إذا كانت منقسمة إلى كمال ونقص لم تدخل بمطلقها في أسمائه بل يطلق عليه منها كمالها وهذا كالمريد والفاعل والصانع فإن هذه الألفاظ لا تدخل في أسمائه ولهذا غلط من سماه بالصانع عند الإطلاق بل هو الفعال لما يريد فإن الإرادة والفعل والصنع منقسمة ولهذا إنما أطلق على نفسه من ذلك أكمله فعلا وخبرا.
الثالث: أنه لا يلزم من الإخبار عنه بالفعل مقيدا أن يشتق له منه اسم مطلق كما غلط فيه بعض المتأخرين فجعل من أسمائه الحسنى المضل الفاتن الماكر تعالى الله عن قوله فإن هذه الأسماء لم يطلق عليه سبحانه منها إلا أفعال مخصوصة معينة فلا يجوز أن يسمى بأسمائها المطلقة والله أعلم.
الرابع: أن أسماءه ﷿ الحسنى هي أعلام وأوصاف والوصف بها لا ينافي العلمية بخلاف أوصاف العباد فإنها تنافي علميتهم لأن أوصافهم مشتركة فنافتها العلمية المختصة بخلاف أوصافه تعالى.
الخامس: أن الاسم من أسمائه له دلالات دلالة على الذات والصفة بالمطابقة ودلالة على أحدهما بالتضمن ودلالة على الصفة الأخرى باللزوم.
السادس: أن أسماءه الحسنى لها اعتباران اعتبار من حيث الذات واعتبار من حيث الصفات فهي بالاعتبار الأول مترادفة وبالاعتبار الثاني متباينة.
السابع: أن ما يطلق عليه في باب الأسماء والصفات توقيفي وما يطلق عليه من الأخبار لا يجب أن يكون توقيفا كالقديم والشيء والموجود والقائم بنفسه فهذا فصل الخطاب في مسألة أسمائه هل هي توقيفية أو يجوز أن يطلق عليه منها بعض ما لم يرد به السمع.
الثامن: أن الاسم إذا أطلق عليه جاز أن يشتق منه المصدر والفعل فيخبر به عنه فعلا ومصدرا ونحو السميع البصير القدير يطلق عليه منه السمع والبصر والقدرة ويخبر عنه بالأفعال من ذلك نحو: ﴿قَدْ سَمِعَ اللَّهُ﴾ ﴿فَقَدَرْنَا فَنِعْمَ الْقَادِرُونَ﴾ هذا إن كان الفعل متعديا فإن كان لازما لم يخبر عنه به نحو الحي بل يطلق عليه الاسم والمصدر دون الفعل فلا يقال حي.
التاسع: أن أفعال الرب ﵎ صادرة عن أسمائه وصفاته وأسماء المخلوقين صادرة عن أفعالهم فالرب ﵎ فعاله عن كماله والمخلوق كماله عن فعاله فاشتقت له الأسماء بعد أن كمل بالفعل فالرب لم يزل كاملا فحصلت
أفعاله عن كماله لأنه كامل بذاته وصفاته فأفعاله صادرة عن كماله كمل ففعل والمخلوق فعل فكمل الكمال اللائق به العاشر: إحصاء الأسماء الحسنى والعلم بها أصل للعلم بكل معلوم فإن المعلومات سواه إما أن تكون خلقا له تعالى أو أمرا إما علم بما كونه أو علم بما شرعه ومصدر الخلق والأمر عن أسمائه الحسنى وهما مرتبطان بها ارتباط المقتضى بمقتضيه فالأمر كله مصدره عن أسمائه الحسنى وهذا كله حسن لا يخرج عن مصالح العباد والرأفة والرحمة بهم والإحسان إليهم بتكميلهم بما أمرهم به ونهاهم عنه فأمره كله مصلحة وحكمة ولطف وإحسان إذ مصدره أسماؤه الحسنى وفعله كله لا يخرج عن العدل والحكمة والمصلحة والرحمة إذ مصدره أسماؤه الحسنى فلا تفاوت في خلقه ولا عبث ولم يخلق خلقه باطلا ولا سدى ولا عبثا وكما أن كل موجود سواه فبإيجاده فوجود من سواه تابع لوجوده تبع المفعول المخلوق لخالقه فكذلك العلم بها أصل للعلم بكل ما سواه فالعلم بأسمائه وإحصاؤها أصل لسائر العلوم فمن أحصى أسماءه كما ينبغي للمخلوق أحصى جميع العلوم إذ إحصاء أسمائه أصل لإحصاء كل معلوم لأن المعلومات هي من مقتضاها ومرتبطة بها وتأمل صدور الخلق والأمر عن علمه وحكمته تعالى ولهذا لا تجد فيها خللا ولا تفاوتا لأن الخلل الواقع فيما يأمر به العبد أو يفعله إما أن يكون لجهله به أو لعدم حكمته وأما الرب تعالى فهو العليم الحكيم فلا يلحق فعله ولا أمره خلل ولا تفاوت ولا تناقض
الحادي عشر: أن أسماءه كلها حسنى ليس فيها اسم غير ذلك أصلا وقد تقدم أن من أسمائه ما يطلق عليه باعتبار الفعل نحو الخالق والرازق والمحيي والمميت وهذا يدل على أن أفعاله كلها خيرات محض لا شر فيها لأنه لو فعل الشر لاشتق له منه اسم ولم تكن أسماؤه كلها حسنى وهذا باطل فالشر ليس إليه فكما لا يدخل في صفاته ولا يلحق ذاته لا يدخل في أفعاله فالشر ليس إليه لا يضاف إليه فعلا ولا وصفا وإنما يدخل في مفعولاته وفرق بين الفعل والمفعول فالشر قائم بمفعوله المباين
The fourth rule is the answer to the Muʿtazilah, who said that Allah is al-ʿAlīm without knowledge and al-Qadīr without power, making the names bare labels. Ibn al-Qayyim answered that the names of Allah are descriptions and proper names together. Al-ʿAlīm names Allah and describes Him with knowledge. If the description were removed, the names would be synonyms with one meaning, and al-Raḥīm and al-Shadīd al-ʿIqāb would mean the same thing, which no Arab would accept.
Part Four
The claims of the opponents and their refutation
“If Allah plans, His name is al-Mākir”
The claim
The Qurʾān says that Allah plans and deceives, so al-Mākir and al-Khādiʿ are among His names, or else the verses are figurative and Allah does not plan at all.
The response
The two halves of this claim are both errors. The first makes a name from an action that came only in a restricted form, and so describes Allah with plotting in general, including the blameworthy kind. The second denies the action altogether and makes the verses a figure of speech, so that Allah is said to “punish them for their plotting” and nothing more.
The Qurʾān answers both. It affirms the action, with the subject Allah and a real verb: “and Allah plans”. And it restricts it to the context of recompense against those who plot. Ahl al-Sunnah say what the verse says: Allah plans against those who plan against Him and His friends, and His plan is just and wise, and He is not named by it absolutely.
“Any good meaning can be made a name of Allah”
The claim
Whatever is a perfection can be made a name of Allah, so He can be called al-Ṣāniʿ, al-Qadīm, al-Wājib al-Wujūd, or any good word, without a text.
The response
The names of Allah are known only by revelation, because no one knows Allah as He knows Himself. Naming Him with a name He did not name Himself is speaking about Allah without knowledge, which Allah joined with shirk in His prohibitions.
Ibn al-Qayyim distinguished between naming and informing. He is informed about as “a thing”, “existent” and “self-subsisting”, and these words can be used about Him in speech, but they are not His names, and He is not called on with them. The philosophers' “Necessary Existent” and the mutakallimūn's “the Eternal” are at most reports about Him, and whoever made them the central names of Allah, in place of al-Raḥmān, al-Raḥīm and al-ʿAzīz, has turned away from the names Allah taught to the names men invented.
Sources
- Ibn al-Qayyim, Badāʾiʿ al-Fawāʾid
- Qurʾān