Saying that Allaah is a thing

4-12-2011 | IslamWeb

Question:

Can we said that Allah is a THING?

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

It is correct to say that Allaah is a thing but He is not named with this name, because informing about something is more inclusive than its names as stated by the scholars  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  them.

Al-Bayhaqi  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him said in "Shu’ab Al-‘Eemaan": “…To proceed, a thing is a characteristic of every existing entity, and Allaah has called himself a thing, as Allaah Says (what means): {Say, “What thing is greatest in testimony?” Say, “Allaah is witness between me and you.}[Quran 6:19] But Allaah has not called Himself a body and the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) did not call Him so, neither did the Muslims agree on this; so we cannot name Allaah with a name that He Himself did not name Himself with, and neither did the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) name Him with it, nor did the Muslims agree on it [such a name]." Allaah Says (what means): {And to Allaah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them. And leave [the company of] those who practice deviation concerning His names. They will be recompensed for what they have been doing.}[Quran 7:180]

What is meant by the statement of Al-Bayhaqi “Allaah has called himself a thing, is that He informed us about Himself (that He is a thing) but that does not mean that the word ‘thing’ is one of the Beautiful Names of Allaah, because it is correct to call any existing entity a thing.

Moreover, Ibn Taymiyyah  may  Allaah  have  mercy  upon  him said in his book “Dar’a Ta’aarudh Al-‘Aql Wan-Naql”: “The difference between the context of addressing someone and the context of informing about someone is a confirmed difference by the Sharee’ah and reason, and hence the difference appears between naming Allaah with the Beautiful Names and informing about Him with the characteristics that are a confirmed truth in order to confirm what Allaah deserves of the perfect characteristics, and deny the deficiencies and imperfections that Allaah is free from, as Allaah is the Al-Malik (i.e. The One with the complete Dominion), Al-Quddoos (i.e. The Holy), and As-Salaam (i.e. The One Who is free from every imperfection.), High Exalted is He above whatever the wrongdoers associate with Him." Allaah Says (what means): {And to Allaah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them. And leave [the company of] those who practice deviation concerning His names.}[Quran 7:180] Allaah also Says (what means): {Say, “What thing is greatest in testimony?” Say, “Allaah is witness between me and you.}[Quran 6:19] And we do not say when supplicating Allaah: “O Thing”

Allaah Knows best.

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