Guidelines for Understanding Allah's Attributes
We emphasize that the only way to know Allah's attributes is by learning what He says about Himself and what His Messenger sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) says about Him. The Qur’aan and the authentic Sunnah are sufficient, and must be taken as the only sources for this knowledge. We should restrict ourselves to them, without trying to improve on them by referring to earlier scriptures or books of wisdom, or by relying on our limited power of reason.
Some of the reasons for this are as follows:
1.
Allah's attributes and qualities are part of the knowledge of the ghayb (that which is unseen and beyond human capability to perceive), which cannot be subjected to our human senses. Revelation is the only channel through which we can acquire true knowledge of the ghayb.
2.
Allah is the one who knows what we need to learn about Him in order to conduct our lives in a successful way. Had we needed more knowledge, He would definitely have provided us with it.
3.
A quality of the pious, for which they are praised in the Qur’aan, is that they believe in the ghayb without questioning or doubting it, as long as it comes from the Qur’aan or the authentic Sunnah.
4.
Allah the Creator cannot be subjected to the limited faculties of His creatures. No matter how intelligent a human being is, he can never be a match for Allah in knowledge, nor can he ever overstep the bounds that his Creator set for him.
We emphasize that the only way to know Allah's attributes is by learning what He says about Himself and what His Messenger sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam (sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) says about Him. The Qur’aan and the authentic Sunnah are sufficient, and must be taken as the only sources for this knowledge. We should restrict ourselves to them, without trying to improve on them by referring to earlier scriptures or books of wisdom, or by relying on our limited power of reason.
Some of the reasons for this are as follows:
1.
Allah's attributes and qualities are part of the knowledge of the ghayb (that which is unseen and beyond human capability to perceive), which cannot be subjected to our human senses. Revelation is the only channel through which we can acquire true knowledge of the ghayb.
2.
Allah is the one who knows what we need to learn about Him in order to conduct our lives in a successful way. Had we needed more knowledge, He would definitely have provided us with it.
3.
A quality of the pious, for which they are praised in the Qur’aan, is that they believe in the ghayb without questioning or doubting it, as long as it comes from the Qur’aan or the authentic Sunnah.
4.
Allah the Creator cannot be subjected to the limited faculties of His creatures. No matter how intelligent a human being is, he can never be a match for Allah in knowledge, nor can he ever overstep the bounds that his Creator set for him.