Allah and His Attributes

The definition of the shirk on which damnation and eternality in Hellfire is consequential upon is what is found in Hashiyat al-Khayali, quoting from Sharh al-Maqasid: “If the disbeliever (kafir) feigns faith he is a hypocrite (munafiq), and if his disbelief occurred after faith he is an apostate (murtadd), and if he believes in a partner in divinity (sharik fi l-uluhiyyah), he is a polytheist (mushrik).” (p. 124) Thus, it should now be understood that there is a distinction between the Arabian polytheists who would...
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‘Allamah Muhammad Sarfaraz Khan Safdar (d. 1430 AH) writes that the word mu‘jizah is linguistically derived from ‘ajz (inability), which is an antonym of qudrah (power). He adds that the ‘ta’ at the end is either for intensiveness (exaggeration) or that the word mu‘jizah is an adjective of words like ayah (sign), etc. It is Allah Most High alone who creates ‘ajz (inability) in mu‘jizat and in reality He incapacitates the rejecters. A mu‘jizah is from Allah alone, but appears at the hands...
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Shirk is to affirm the special attributes of Allah (Exalted is He) for besides Him, like: (1) affirming absolute disposal (al-tasarruf al-mutlaq) in the cosmos (kawn) by an absolute will (al-iradah al-mutlaqah), which is expressed as "kun fayakun" (Be! And it is); (2) or affirming intrinsic knowledge (al-'ilm al-dhati) which has not been obtained through acquisition (iktisab) by means of the senses, rational proof, dreams (manam), inspiration (ilham) and their likes from material and spiritual means; (3) or affirming existentialising...
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The most basic principle of piety and the mainstay of its various aspects is the doctrine of the Unity of God. This is because humility before Lord of the worlds, which is the greatest of the virtues in acquiring ultimate felicity, depends on this. This is the basis of intellectual regulation of which is the more useful of the two regulations. Through this man is able to help himself address completely to learning from the Unseen, and prepare his soul to become...
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His statement "two fingers of the fingers of the Most Merciful": al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "This is from the hadiths of attributes and there are two views in regards to them which have just preceded: "One of them is to believe in them without venturing into ta'wil (interpretation), or trying to understand its meaning. Rather, one believes it is the truth and that its outward purport is not intended. Allah Most High said 'Naught is as His likeness' (42:11). "And the second...
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The following six step argument has been formulated with the modern skeptic and atheist in mind. Drawing from the works of Imam al-Ghazali (may Allah have mercy on him) and others, each premise is accompanied with an explanation of the exact 'manner of deduction' (kayfiyyat al-wazn), so the reader may appreciate exactly what is being done. Using only intuitively deductive modes of argument which have their origin in the Qur'an and which no sane human being can reject, the argument seeks to establish an...
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When stating the necessary fundamentals of Islamic belief, scholars of the ummah usually mention a few examples in their books. A misunderstanding that occurs in the minds of some readers is that they think the necessary fundamentals are limited to just these examples and there is nothing more. This is even though the intent of those scholars is to merely present a few examples, not to shorten, restrict or limit . To remove this misunderstanding, we have compiled some...
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In regard to making things halal (permitted) and haram (prohibited), it is the well-established belief of the Ahl al-Sunnah wa 'l-Jama'ah that Allah alone has authority over it. To make something halal or haram is exclusively the work of Allah Most High and He is unique in this. This is purely His right; no one else is involved in this process in any manner. Neither does anyone have this power in essence nor has Allah relegated this power to anyone.
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"He (Allah Most High) then firmly established (istawa) Himself over the Throne" (Qur'an 7:54) means He firmly established Himself over the Kingly Throne and began decreeing orders (ahkams) in the heavens and the earth. In the tafsir (exegesis) of "He then firmly established Himself over the Throne", it is safer to adopt silence in agreement with the methodology of the salaf (pious predecessors) and that is also my view although the muta'akhirin (scholars of the later generations) have opened the doors for...
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