Attributes of Allah SWT are His divine qualities and characteristics that describe His essence and encompass His relationship with creation. These attributes are not to be understood in a human sense, but rather as perfections unique to Allah's divine nature. All the attributes of Allah SWT have existed forever, having no timely order in their existence. Renowned Islamic scholastic theologian (mutakallim), Imam Abul Hasan Al-Ashari, classified the attributes of Allah SWT into the following two groups:

This classification is one way to classify the attributes of Allah SWT. Another renowned Islamic scholastic theologian, Imam Abu Mansoor Maaturidi, does not classify Allah’s SWT attributes in this way. He, however, mentions the eight fundamental attributes of Allah SWT. Seven out of these eight fundamental attributes are also included by Iman Abul Hasan Al-Ashari in the category of personal attributes, as explained in the following text. 

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES (Sifaat-i-Zaatia)

Personal attributes are those attributes whose opposites cannot possibly be present in Allah SWT. For example, Allah SWT has knowledge and therefore He cannot be ignorant. In the same way, Allah is All-Powerful and therefore he cannot be weak. Thus, personal attributes are the basic or fundamental attributes of Allah SWT. The following are considered the personal attributes of Allah SWT:

Pronounced as “Hiyaat”, this word means life. According to the Holy Quran, “Allah: There is no god but He, the Living, the All-Sustaining. …” (Surah Baqarah, Ayat 255)

Pronounced as “Ilm”, this word means knowledge. According to the Holy Quran, “… He (Allah) knows whatever goes into the earth and whatever comes out from it, and whatever descends from the sky, and whatever ascends thereto. …” (Surah Hadid, Ayat 4)

Pronounced as “Qudrat”, this word means that Allah SWT has the power to do everything. According to Holy Quran, “… Indeed, Allah is powerful over everything.” (Surah Nahl, Ayat 77)

Pronounced as “Iraada-o-Masheyat”, this term means that Allah SWT does whatever He intends to do. He has the power to do things that He intends. According to the Holy Quran, “He (Allah) is ever doer of what He intends.” (Surah Buruj, Ayat 16)

Pronounced as “Sama”, this word means that Allah SWT has the power to hear everything. According to the Holy Quran, “… He (Allah) is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.” (Surah Baqarah, Ayat 137)

This is pronounced as “Basar”. This is the ability to watch or see things. According to the Holy Quran, “… He (Allah) is with you wherever you are, and Allah is watchful of whatever you do.” (Surah Hadid, Ayat 4)

Pronounced as “Kalaam”, this word means someone’s word or speaking to something. According to the Holy Quran, “He (Allah) said, Musa (Moses), I have chosen you above all men for my messages and for My speaking (to you). So, take what I have given to you, and be among the grateful.” (Surah Araf, Ayat 144). Holy Quran is also the word of Allah SWT as mentioned in the following verse, “And if any one of the Mushriks seeks your protection, give him protection until he listens to the Word of Allah, …” (Surah Tauba, Ayat 6). 

It is pronounced as “Takween”. This fundamental attribute is not mentioned by Imam Abul Hasan Al-Ashari; however, Imam Abu Mansoor Maaturidi has mentioned this attribute in the list of fundamental attributes of Allah SWT. It means to bring into existence. According to Imam Abu Mansoor Maaturidi, this attribute is the basis of all the action or work-related attributes of Allah SWT. For example, Allah SWT is the Creator as He brings various things into existence. Allah SWT is also a Provider as He brings provisions into existence for His creation. According to the Holy Quran, “(Allah is the) Originator of the heavens and the earth. When He decides a matter, He simply says to it: Be, and it comes to be.” (Surah Baqarah, Ayat 117).

ACTION AND WORK-RELATED ATTRIBUTES (Sifaat-i-Failiya)

These attributes are attributes of Allah SWT, whose opposites can be present in Allah SWT. For example, Allah SWT is the giver of life and also the taker of life. He gives honor to people, and He also dishonors people. According to Imam Abul Hasan al-Ashari, the basis of these attributes of Allah SWT is the basic attribute of “Qudrat” (power to do everything) as mentioned before. Various action or work-related attributes of Allah are discussed later under the heading “Names of God”.

Before we proceed further, I think one clarification is required at this stage. We have studied certain attributes of Allah SWT that are also present in His creation like human beings. Such attributes are related to life, knowledge, hearing, seeing, etc. Therefore, one may think that these attributes are common to Allah SWT and His creation. Although partially true, there are some major differences between the two sets of attributes as explained in the following table: 

Take the example of an attribute related to sight. Allah SWT sees, and human beings also see. However, there is a vast difference between the two. Allah’s SWT power to see is His own, whereas our sight is bestowed by Allah SWT. Allah’s SWT power to see is absolute and infinite. He sees everything, whether it is high above the sky or deep inside the ocean. Whereas our sight has many limitations. We cannot see all the things, all the time. For example, our eyes cannot detect infrared or ultraviolet radiation. We cannot see, for example, the angels. We cannot see deep inside the universe. Allah’s SWT sight is independent of other factors, while our sight is dependent on many factors. For example, our eye requires light to see the things around us. In the absence of light, the human eye cannot see anything. Allah’s SWT sight is forever and eternal, whereas our eyesight was developed near the time of our birth and will not remain forever. Our eyesight also weakens with age.

INDESCRIBABLE ATTRIBUTES

According to the Holy Quran, “He is the One who has revealed to you the Book (the Qur‘an). Out of it there are verses that are Muhkamat (of established meaning), which are the principal verses of the Book, and some others are Mutashabihat (whose definite meanings are unknown). Now those who have perversity in their hearts go after such part of it as is mutashabih, seeking (to create) discord, and searching for its interpretation (that meets their desires), while no one knows its interpretation except Allah; and those well-grounded in knowledge say: We believe therein; all is from our Lord. Only the men of understanding observe the advice.” (Surah Aali Imran, Ayat 7)

In this verse of the Holy Quran, Allah SWT is informing that there are certain revealed verses in the Holy Quran whose exact meaning cannot be determined by anyone, as their knowledge is only with Allah SWT. Such things mentioned in the Holy Quran are termed “Mutashabihat”. Allah SWT further explained that those people who are well-grounded in knowledge just believe in such verses but do not try to find out their exact meaning. But people who have perversity in their hearts try to interpret such verses. 

Some examples of Mutashabihat are the verses that mention God’s hand, face, and shin. As per the advice of the Holy Quran, Muslims believe in these verses, but the majority of Muslims say that the exact meaning of these words for Allah SWT cannot be known by anyone. They assert that whatever is meant by Allah SWT by the use of these words is true. But we cannot know its meaning. These words used for Allah SWT cannot be compared to a human being’s hand, face, or shin, as according to the Holy Quran, “… Nothing is like Him (Allah). …” (Surah Shura, Ayat 11). Imam Abul Hasan al-Ashari has included these words in the list of attributes of Allah SWT. However, other people belonging to Ahl-Sunnah-wal-Jamat say that these cannot even be called attributes, as we do not have any knowledge of these words for Allah SWT. These should only be called Mutashabihat. 

(Ahl-Sunnah-wal-Jamat is the largest branch of Islam, adhering to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad through the Quran and Sunnah.)