ATTRIBUTES:

Overview, Self-signifying Attribute, and Negating Attributes

‘Attribute’ (Sifa)—what is meant by sifa is ‘what is not the essence’ (ma laysa dhatan), which
applies to:
a) Nafsiyya (self-signifying attribute)
b) Salbiyya (negating attributes)
c) Ma’ani (qualitative attributes)
d) Ma’nawiyya (predicative attributes)

Nafsiyya—The Self-Signifying Attribute

It is called the self-signifying attribute because its description indicates the being itself and not a
quality that is superadded to the being. This is only one attribute: existence.

Salbiyya—The Negating Attributes

They are called negating attributes because they negate what does not befit Allah, the Exalted.
They are called the most important of fundamentals, for negating their opposites entail a
declaration of Allah’s Divine transcendence above imperfections. Knowing what Allah is NOT to know
by way of implication what He IS.

Ma’ani—Qualitative attributes
They are the attributes of being. A qualitative attribute is an attribute that exists in itself, is
established within the existent being, and necessarily predicates a certain judgment.

Ma’nawiyya—Predicative Attributes
These attributes are called predicative attributes because they are ascribed to predicated meanings
for the attributes. Him being Omnipotent is a necessary implication of omnipotence and Him
being Willing is a necessary implication of will that subsists within His Divine Entity, and so on.
The difference between the qualitative attributes and the predicative attributes is that the qualitative attributes are
existent and discerned via intellection both in the mind and externally to the mind, whereas the predicative attributes are
affirmed and discerned via intellection in the mind and not external to the mind.

PROOFS FOR THE TWENTY

Imam al-Dasuqi mentions in his Hashiya that for some of the twenty attributes, their proof is
rational, while others are textual, such as: Hearing, Seeing, Speech, and Him being described as
Hearing, Seeing, and Speaking. All other attributes besides these twenty are established textually
in the revelation.
WUJUD—EXISTENCE/BEING

Dasuqi says in the Hashiya that wujud is ‘Zahir’—obvious, apparent. Wujud is the most essential
attribute of all. You cannot qualify it by something more essential than it. It is not qualifiable—it
qualifies everything that ‘is’

Dasuqi and others note that in calling wujud a Sifa there is some linguistic convenience.
Wujud is explained as tahaqquq and thubut (actualization/to be real, established, firmness). This
is ONTOLOGICAL presence (in be-ing). It is ‘to be real’—extra mentally real.

Is Allah’s Wujud Dhihni or Khariji?

It is Khariji, but that means ONTOLOGICAL existence not COSMOLOGICAL. There is a

lot of confusion when people mix between these two levels of existence.

Ontological existence=wujud, be-ing

Cosmological existence=wujud in the cosmos, material world, space-time.

How is Wujud an Attribute?

It is counted as a Sifa but it is not strictly an attribute. Wujud is His Dhat and not a Sifa. But we
call it Sifa out of linguistic convenience, not that He has an Essence with the quality of Existence.
It is called the self-signifying attribute because its description indicates the being itself and not a
quality that is superadded to the being.

There is a difference of opinion over existence. Is it the same thing as the existent or is it an
additional quality? Imam al-Ash’ari took the former position.

NEGATING ATTRIBUTES
Qidam

Pre-eternality is a negation of non-existence prior to existence. This means that Allah’s existence
is not preceded by non-existence. Qidam is of three categories:

qidam of the entity (qidam dhat)

temporal qidam (qidam zamani)
and relative qidam (qidam idafi)

Qidam of the entity is the pre-eternality of Allah and His attributes. An example of temporal qidam
is like yesterday proceeding today. An example of relative qidam is fatherhood proceeding
childhood [i.e., the father is before the son]. Both temporal qidam and relative qidam are
impossible for Allah, the Exalted, for if you said that Allah is temporally qadim with a starting
point in time (zaman), you are forced to admit that He is qualified with contingent events, and
that time is eternal, and that infinite regress in the past is permissible – and all of this is false.

It is permissible to use al-Qadim as a divine name because:

1. It is narrated by Abu Dawud in the du’a of the Prophet s when entering the masjid
(sultanihi al-qadim)
2. In Ibn Majah’s narration of the 99 names al-Qadim is mentioned
3. Relating meaning is more expansive that coining names, so even if there were no
narrations, one can use Qadim as a descriptive.

Baqa’

Endlessness is a negation of non-existence occurring after the existence of the Entity and
Attributes. He is the First with no beginning and He is the Last with no end. Endlessness and
beginningless must be true of Wajib al-Wujud.

The permanence (baqa) of a contingent being is temporal (zamani), whereas the endlessness of the
pre-eternal is not based in time. This means that the permanence of a contingent being is through
continuation and elapsing through time, contrary to the endlessness of Allah, the Exalted, for
He is not subject to continually emerging states occurring one after another successively. Change
is not possible for Him.

Absolute Dissimilarity from All Contingent Beings (mukhalafa li hawadith)

Mukhalafa—other than/different/dissimilar.

This is a negation of any similarity, sharing with anything. The category that encompasses
everything that exists is HAWADITH. Plural of hadith—emergent, contingent, all things that
have a beginning. He is categorically distinct from all things that have a beginning.

Absolute dissimilarity from all contingent beings is a negation of any likeness to His Entity, Attributes,
and Actions. Absolute means not a relative dissimilarity. He is categorically distinct—no species,
genus, or category shared between Him and ‘other’

[1] His Entity is not from the genus of light, darkness, accidents, or substances. Rather: “Whatever
appears to your mind, then know that Allah is different from that.”

[2] His attributes: He does not possess a direction or place, nor is He affected by the passage
time. His Attributes are pre-eternal and endless, and because He is the Creator, His Attributes
are absolutely dissimilar to those of creation.
[3] His Acts: The servants have no independent efficacy (ta’thir) whatsoever in their actions;
rather, their actions subsist within them by their acquisition thereof (kasb).

Self-Subsistence (qiyam bi al-nafs)

Self-subsistence is negation of having need for a locus (mahall) or a determiner (mukhasis). He is

not in need of a locus in which to subsist – as an attribute subsists within one described (al-sifa fi
al-mawsuf).

MAHAL

The proof that Allah is absolutely Self-Subsistent—meaning Independent and not an attribute of
something else or subsisting in something else—is that if He subsisted in something else, He would be a
quality of that thing. (Example of the former Christians who say “God is love.”) Negating mahal
negates that Allah could be a secondary quality of something else.

MUKHASSIS

What is meant by determiner is a doer and something that brings something else into existence;
something that characterizes Him with existence as opposed to non-existence. This is impossible
for Allah because the one who is in need of a determiner accepts the possibility of being non-existent,
which is not possible for Allah, the Exalted, in either His Entity or any of His Attributes. Negating
mukhassis negates that Allah could be a physical being with limits, limbs, dimensions, etc., for any
such being would require a mukhassis.

Oneness (Wahdaniyya)

Oneness is a negation of multiplicity in His Entity, Attributes, and actions.

WAHDAT AL-DHAT

The oneness of the Entity negates both continuous quantity (kam muttasil) and discrete quantity (kam
munfasil).

Negation of continuous quantity is a negation of His Entity being composed of indivisible elements
and accidents, or being composed of anything else. Compositeness is impossible for Allah, the
Exalted, for if He were composed, He would be contingent, because by necessity, every composite
thing is in need (incomplete without each other—only fully ‘it’ with parts).
NEGATION OF TARKIB (COMPOSITENESS)

Generally, compositeness means “the possibility of dividing an Essence, even if only conceptually.”
So even if there was no real division that took place, the mere conceptual possibility of it implies
by necessity that something is composite. [a pen is one, but composite, because it could be
taken apart]

Affirming the Divine Attributes does not imply compositeness, because the relationship between
the Divine Entity and the Attributes is not a relationship of quantification and direction. For
this reason Ahl al-Sunna say that the Attributes are neither the Entity nor other than the Entity.

DISCRETE QUANTITY

Negation of discrete quantity is a negation of another Entity being necessarily qualified with the
perfection that is necessary for Allah, or a being from whom it is negated and declared impossible
things that are impossible for Him. This is impossible because Allah has no partner or equal.
For example: one cannot say It is rationally necessary for X [other than Allah] to exist. Or, it is
rationally impossible for X to have a beginning, end, similarity to another, self-subsistence, etc.

WAHDAT AL-SIFAT

The oneness of the Attributes negates both continuous (muttasil) and discrete (munfasil) quantity.
Negation of continuous quantity is a negation of Him possessing “two powers,” “two wills,” and
so on for the remaining Attributes. Nay, His omnipotence is one, His will is one, and His
knowledge is one.

Negation of discrete quantity negates anything of the creation possessing attributes like those of
Allah, the Exalted, such as someone possessing an omnipotence that brings into existence, a will
that that specifies, and a comprehensive and all-encompassing knowledge, and other matters. This
is impossible because nothing resembles Allah.

WAHDAT AL-AF’AL

The oneness of actions negates only discrete (munfasil) quantity (The multiplicity of His actions is
affirmed. His actions are numerous and come from Him because He is the All-Powerful, the
Willing, and the All-Knowing, even though His Omnipotence, Knowledge, Will, and Entity are
one. Multiplicity coming from one is not rationally impossible).

Negation of discrete quantity is a negation of others performing actions like His actions; this is
impossible because Allah possesses no partner in His actions; rather, He is the One who is singular
in the power to bring into being and bring into non-being. Besides having acts established within
them through their acquisition thereof, creation has no efficacy in their acts: all of them belong to
Allah.