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The Divine Attributes (Sifat)
By: Ayatullah Jafar Subhani
Given the fact that the Essence of God is an infinite reality, having thus no like or equal, man has no way of grasping the depth of this Essence; he can only come to know God by way of an appreciation of God's attributes of Beauty (jamal) and Majesty (jalal). The attributes of Beauty are those which display the perfection of God’s nature, such as Knowledge, Power, Life, Will, and the like. As for the attributes of Majesty, they refer, on the contrary, toHis being too exalted to be described by any attribute; they therefore refer [in the first instance] to a lack, an absence: or inability. Now God is absolutely self-sufficient, utterly transcending all imperfection or deficiency. Possessing a material body, occupying a particular space, being established in a particular time,being a composite entity, and so on-all of these qualities fall into this type of attribute. Sometimes these two types of attribute are referred to as thubuta (affirmative) and salbi (negative), while the object to Which both ultimately refer is one and the same.
In our discussion [in Chapter One] on the means of acquiring knowledge, we stated that the principal paths leading to the knawledge of objective truths are those opened up by the senses, the intellect and revelation. In order to acquire knowledge of the attributes of God, both of Beauty and Majesty, we can benefit from two of these paths: (a) the way of intellect, and (b) the way of Revelation.
The way of intellect
Careful study of the created universe-along with meditation upon its secrets and its mysteries, all of which are part of God's creation—leads us to a discovery of the perfections of God's Being. Can one conceive of the raising up of the magnificent edifice of creation without the active involvement of some transcendent Knowledge, Power and will? The Glorious Qur'an calls attention to this capacity of thc° intellect to arrive at the natural conclusion of such reflection, by inviting man to ponder deeply the signs of creation, both tile external signs outside himself and the internal ones within his own son]:
SaY: Behold what is in the heavens and the earth. (Sura Yunus, x: 101 )
In such reflection upon the natural world, intellectual discernment operates with the assistance of the senses: it is the senses t}rat first register the impressions of wonder arid marvel tarpon beholding a particular, tangible phenomenon, and then the intellect discerns the glory and beauty of the Creator through this runnel of His creation.
The Way of Revelation
Once prophecy and revelation have been clearly upheld by decisive evidence, so that it is, clear that both the Quran and the Hadith of the Prophet are inspired by God, it will naturally follow that the verses of the Scripture and the sayings of the Prophet will lead one to an understanding of the attributes of, God. Within these two.sotrrces, God has described Himselfwith the best of attributes; suffice to note here that the Qur'an meotions 135 names and attributes of' God. The following verses contain several of these names: He is God, other thann Whom there is no god, the sovereign Lord, the Holy One, Peace, the Keeper of faith, the Guardian, the Majestic, the Compeller, the superb. Glorified be God from all that they ascribe as partner (unto Him).
He is God, the creator, the shaper, the fashioner. His are the most beautiful names. All that is in the heavens and the erth glorifieth Him, and He is the Mighty, the wise. (Sura al-Hashr, Llx: 23-24)
Here, we should recall that those who subscribe to the mu`attila position-strippirrg God of' all qualities-would deprive man of the lofty, sacred sciences ntade possible by the intellect and revelation on the question of the attributes of God. We would reply to this by asserting that if discussion and investigation of these sciences pertaining to the divine Names and Qualities were to be forbidden, the mentioning of all these attributes in the Qur'an, along with the command to meditate upon them, would have been utterly redundant.
From another point of view, the attributes of God can be divided thus: (a) attributes oftheEssence (sifat al-dhat), and (b) attributes of Activity (sifat al-fi’l).
The attributes of the Essence are those which describe God in a mannrer that adequately enables us to form some kind of conception of His essential nature. These attributes are, so to speak, derived frorn the station of the Essence; attributes such as knowledge, Power and Life.
As for the attributes of Activity, these pertain to the various kinds of action that emanate from God, actions by which He becomes described, such as creating, sustaining, fokgiving, and the like. In other words, it is only in the measure that God actually, creates and sustains that He can be called Creator and Sustainer, however much His Essence may contain prin.cipially the power to create, sustain, forgive, and so on.
To conclude this discussion, let us recall that all the active attributes of 'God spring from His Essence, and, in particular, from the perfections of His Essence; that is to say, God is the possessor of absolute perfection, which is the sonrce of all the differentiated. activc perfections which He displays.
Attributes of the Divine Essence
Having noted the distinctions, within the realm of divine attributes, between the affirmative and the negative, and between the essential and active attributes, it is appropriate to elaborate somewhat upon the most important questions relating to these attributes.
Knowledge
The knowledge of God, since it partakes of His very Essence, is eternal and infinite. In addition to possessing absolute knowledge of His own Essence, God is aware of all that is other than Him whether universal or particular realities, before or after creation. The Qur'an lays much stress upon this truth; for example: Verily, God is aware of all things. (Sura al-`Ankabut, xxix:62)
And again: Should He not know what Ne created? And Fle is the .Subtle, the Aware. (sura al-Mulk, Lxvll: 14)
In the sayings of the Irnarns of the ahl al-bayt, there is also great emphasis on the eternity and totality of God's knowledge. Imam Sadiq says, for example: ‘His knowledge of a place before its creation iis llike the knowledge of it after its creation; and His knowledge is thus as regards all things.
Power
The power of god, like His Knowledge, is eternal; and insofar as it, too, partakes of his very Essence, it is infinite. The Qtzr'an emphasizes the coyorehensiveness of God's power thus: And God is eaerablWo do all things. (Sura al-Ahzab, xxxll: 27)
And again: God has Pozuer to do all things. (Sura al-Kahf, xvlll: 45)
Imam Sadiq statcot: 'All things are equal before Him in respect of [His] knowledge, power, authority, dominion and all-conzprehensiveness.'
Now, if the engendering of impossible things-those entities which cannot be-fall outside the domain of God's power and control, this is not due to the inadequacy of divine power: rather, it is due to the inadequacy inherent in the impossible: the impossible lacks receptivity tto being, that is, it lacks the capacity to actualize itself. When asked alxmn the engendering of impossible things, Imam Ali replied: ‘God has no connection with incapacity, so that about which you ask cannot be.
Life
A knowing and powerful God is obviously a living God, as the two former qualities are distinctive features of life; they furnish evidence, indeed, for the reality of His life. The divine attribute of life as with all the other attributes, is devoid of imperfection, and transcends the particular features of this attribute insofar as it pertains to man and other creatures-features such as being subject to the contingency of death. For, inasrnuch as He is living, by his essential nature, death cannot affect Him. In other words, since the being of God is absolute perfection, death, which is but a form of imperfection, cannot find away into His Essence. Thus it is said: And trust in the Living One, Who dieth not ... (Sura al-Furqan, xxv:58 )
Will
An agent who is conscious of his activities is more complete than one who is not. A free agent, endowed with a will to perform his acts--such that he can choose to accomplish or not accomplish a given act--is more complete than an agent constrained and compelled [by some other agent] to do or not to do something, being helpless and unable to choose for himself. Taking into account this point, and seeing that God is the most perfect agent in existence, it is altogether natural to assert that the Divine Essence is, by nature, an absolutely free agent, neither constrained from without nor imposed upon by anything other than Himself; and if it is said that God is `one who wills' (murid), the meaning is that He has perfect liberty to will whatever He desires.
Will in the conventional sense of a human faculty that is originated in time and is actualized gradually thereafter, does not figure in the Divine Essence. Hence we have the sayings from the ahl al-bayt, intended to prevent error and deviation, to the effect that the will of God [with regard to a given act] is identical to the accomplishment and realization of the act, as it is said: `Will, in regard to man, is an inner statc, which man strives to realize in outward action, but the will of God itself constitutes the cmsumrnation of the action, without this involving ternporal origination. This explanation makes it clear that will, in the sense of liberty, is one of the attribmos of the Essence, while in its aspect of existentiation, it is ()it(. of the attributes of Divine Activity.
Attributes of Divine Activity
Now that we have dealt with the principal themes related to the attributes of the Essence, it is appropriate to turn our attention to some of the attributes of Divine Activity. Here we shall consider the following three attributes: speech (takallum), veracity (sidq) and wisdom (hikma).
Speech
The Qur'an has dc.sorilrcd God as one who `speaks': And God spoke directly with Moses. (Sura al-Nisa', lv: 164)
And again: And it was not vouchsafed to anY mortal that God should .speak to him unless [it be] by revelation or from behind a veil, or [that] He sendeth a Messenger...(Sura al-Shura, xLll: 51)
There is thus no doubt that speech is one of the attributes of God. There is, however, debate over the question of the ultimate nature of this attribute: is it an attribute of the Essence of God or off is Activity? It is clear, to begin with, that speech in the form in which it appears in man, cannot conceivably apply to God. Since the attribute of speech is given in the Qur'an, we ought to refer to the Scripture itself in order to understand the reality of this attribute.
As we have seen in the verse cited above, the Qur'an establishes the fact that God speaks to His slaves according to three modes of self-disclosure. It is impossible for the speech of God to reach ya by the following three modes: (a) unless [it be] by revelation'-in other words, by divine inspiration; (b) `or from behind a veil- in other words, that man can hear God's speech, but cannot see Him (God's speech to Moses took this form); (c) `or [that] He sendeth a Messenger'-in other words, an angel is sent by God to man to convey the inspiration.
In this verse, the speech of God has been explained as having been brought into being by God, either directly without intermediary, or indirectly through the intermediary of an angel. According to the first mode-divine inspiration-God sometimes casts His words directly into the heart of t}re Prophet., and sometimes He causes His words to enter the heart after having first been heard by the ear. In all three modes of speech, however, the words of God are brought into being. The speech of God is therefore to be considered as one of the attributes of Divine Activity.
This is, one explanation of the speech of God, derived frorn the guidance given by the Qur'an. Another explanation is as follows: God has called all existent entities of the universe His `words'. As the Quran says:
Say: were the, sea to he ink for the Words of nzy Lord, verily the sera would used up before the words of my Lord zuere exhausted, even if We were to bring the like threof to help. (Sura al-Kahf, xvlll: 109)
In this verse, what is meant by `words' is all of the creatures of God, which none but He can count. In the following verse, we find evidence of this [assimilation of all creatures as `words' of God] Jesus is explicitly referred to as the `Word of God' (kalimat-Allah)
The messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a Messenger of God, and His word which He cast unto Mary. (Sura al-Nisa', lv: 171 )
Imam Ali, in one of his discourses, interprets the speech of God in terms of His creative activity: `When God wishes to bring something into being, He says rrnto it Be!, and it is; but [He does so] not with a voice that is sounded, nor with a call that cans be heard. For the speech of God is one of His actions whereby a thing is endowed with existence.' 19
From the discussion above regarding the reality of God's speech it should have becorne evident that the speech of God is originated in time (hadith), and is not eternal (qadim). For His speech constitutes His act, and, as the act of God takes place in time, it follows naturally that His speech possesses, likewise, a temporal condition.
Nonetheless, in order to uphold correct spiritual courtesy (adab), and in order to forestall any misconceptions, we cannot call the speech of 'God `created', because of the many for whom the idea of 'being ore.rted connotes being artificial or constructed. But leaving aside t his point of view, we can regard all that is other than God as His creature.
Sulayman al,Jafari related thus: 'I asked the seventh Imam, Musa Ibn Ja`far-, is the Qur’an crceated? The Imam replied, `1 say that the Qur'an is the speech of God.
At this point the following should be noted: At the beginning of the 3rd/9th century, the question ot whether the Qur'an was created or uncreated was being hotly debated by the Muslims, and was a source of acute acrimony and divisiveness. Those who advocated the eternity of the Qur'an did not support their position with sound reasoning, with the result that some Muslims viewed the Qur'an as temporally originated, while others regarded it as eternal. If the purpose of the Qur'an and its words is that these words be read, and if they are words which the angel Gabriel was charged by God to reveal to the heart of the Prophet, it is obvious that all of these words are temporally originated. Also, if the purpose of the Qur'anic verses is to impart knowledge and meaning, and some of these verses relate the historical tales of the Prophets, and also relate the wars fought by the Prophet [of Islam], then these verses cannot be regarded as eternal.
To conclude, if the aim is to acquire knowledge of God through the Qtrr'an, by means of both words and underlying meanings, the knowledge of God is, evidently, eternal, being one of the attributes of His Essence-but knowledge is one thing and speech, another.
Veracity
One of the attributes of Divine Activity is veracity (sidq), that is to say, whatever He says is true; the blemish of falsehood does not tarnish His speech. The reason for this is clear: lying is the way of the ignorant, those in need, the afflicted and the frightened-and God is utterly beyond all such conditions. In other words, lying is an abomination and God cannot be tainted by any evil.
Wisdom
Another of the divine attributes of perfection is wisdom (hikma), ‘the wise’( al-Hakim) being one of His names. The meaning of God being wise is, first, that His actions are brought to ultimate fruition in a perfect, complete and definitive consummation. Secondly, God is utterly beyond perforrning any actions that are deficient vain.
Evidence of the first fact is furnished by the marvellous order of the world of creation and by the beautiful way in which the awesome edifice of creation is raised up. As the Qur'an says: …the fashioning of God, Who perfeeteth all things. (Sura al-Naml,xxvll:88)
evidence of the second fact is provided by the following verse: And we created not the heaven and the earth, and all that is between them, in vain. (Sura Sad, xxxvlll: 27)
God is absolute perfection; therefore, His actions must also partake of perfection and be devoid of all defect and futility.
Negative (Salbi) Attributes
We recalled above that the attributes of God can be divided into two categories, those of Beauty (jamal) and those of Majesty (jalal). Those that pertain to perfection (kamal) are referred to as attributes oof Beauty or positive (thubuti) attributes; while those that refer indirectly to God [by negating what He is not] and which relate to imperfection or deficiencv, are referred to as attributes of Majesty or as negative (salbi) attributes.
The intention behind the formulation of negative attributes is to negate from the Divine Reality any possible susceptibility to imperfection, deticicmoy or inadequacy. Insofar as the Divine Essence is utterly self-sufficient and constitutes in Itself absolute perfection, It is neccessarily devoid of any attributes that derive from imperfection and dependency. From this point of view, Muslim theologians argrue that God does not have a body, nor is He material; He is not a locus for any other entity, nor is He incarnate in any other entity--such features presuppose the imperfection and dependency proper to contingent, existent entities.
Among the other attributes deriving from imperfection is the capacity of being seen; for, in order to be seen, an object must fulfil the conditions of visual sense-perception, such as: being in a particular place; being illuminated by some source (that is not being in darkness); and being separate, in essence, from the perceiving subject.
It is clear that such conditions are but the traces of an entirely corporeal and material franrr of existential reference; they are utterly inapplicable to God, exalted .is He is above all things. In addition, we can say that a `god' that can be seen cannot escape from the following two conditions: either the totality of its being would be visible or else a part of its being; in the first case, the allencompassing divine reality would be encompassed and delimited, and in the second, it would consist of parts-both of which conditions are far removed from the divine realitV, elevated in sublimitv as It is.
I Iw Imrycriug discussion has considered corporeal, sensible vision, but as regards the vision of the heart, that is, inward spiritual perception which sees hy the light of perfected faith, this is of an entirely different order; there is no doubt as regards its possibility, rather, of its reality, for the saints of 'God.
Imam `Ali was asked by one of his companions, Dhi'lib al-Yamani, ‘Have you seen your Lord?' The Imam replied. `I would not worship a lord whom I have not seen.' He was then asked, How did you see Hirn?' The Imam replied, 'The eyes cannot see Him according to outward vision; rather, it is the hearts that perceive Him, through the verities of faith.
Apart from the refutation of the possibility of corporeal perception of God by intellectual arguments, the possibility of this type of outward vision is also explicitly denied by the Qur'an. When the prophet Moses, at the insistence of the Children of Israel, asked to see God, he is given a negative reply: My lord, show me [Thy Self] that may gaze upon Thee. He said: thou wilt notsee Me. (Sura al-A'raf, vll: 143)
It might be asked: if seeing God is impossible, why does the Qur’an tell its that on the Day of 'Resurrection those of His slaves who are worthy will behold Him?
That day will faces be radiant, looking at their Lord. (Sura al-Qiyama,
Lxxv: 22-23)
The reply to this question is that the meaning of `looking' in this verse is the expectation of the mercy of God, the verses themselves providing evidence supporting this interpretation. First, the looking in question is connected to `faces', that is, to happy faces that are looking toward Him. If the meaning here were the actual vision of God, then it would have been necessary to connect this vision with the eyes and not with faces. Secondly, the discourse of the Sura in question refers to two groups: one with bright and radiant faces, whose [anticipated] reward is made clear by the verse 'looking al their Lord'; and the other group with grim and anguished faces, whose [anticipated] punishment is alluded to by the verse `knowing thal some gr-eat disaster is about to befall them' (verse 25). The meaning of the second phrase is clear: they know that some painful punishment will soon befall them, and they are , dreading its imminent advent.
As a parallel to the comparison between the two groups, we ', can make use of another aspect of the meaning of the first, verse. In regard to those with radiant faces, the phrase `looking at their' Lord' can be understood as a metaphor for their expectation of mercy. There are many examples of this metaphor in Arabic and Persian. To take one example from the Persian language, it is said that such-and-such is looking at another person's hand; this means that he is expecting help from him. Moreover, in commenting upon the meaning of Qur'anic verses, one must not in , principle confine oneself to one verse alone; rather, one must locate verses which shed light on the subject in question, and then derive the true meanings of a given verse from a whole series of verses of similar import. On the question of seeing God, if we gather together those verses and prophetic sayings pertaining to this question, it is clear that, from the Islamic perspective, there can be no possibility of seeing God [in terms of visual senseperception].
It also becomes clear from the above arguments that Moses's request for a vision of God was at the insistence of the Children of Israel who said: 'Just as you hear the voice of God and transmit that to us, so look upon God and describe Him to us.'
...and when ye said: O Moses, we will not believe in thee till we see God plainly. (Sura al-Baqara, ll: 55)
It is also said: And when Moses came to Our appointed tryst and His Lord had spoke unto him, he said: My Lord, show me [Thy Self], that l may look upon thee. He said: Thou wilt not see Me. (Sura al-A'raf, VII: 143)
Informative (khabari) Attributes
What has thus far been addressed in regard to the divine attribute (except for that of speech) pertains to the type of attribute that can be evaluated by means of intellectual affirmation or negation in regard to God. But there is another group of attributes mention in the Qur'an and Hadith that cannot be understood any other way than by means of traditional, transmitted knowledge (naql)22 For example:
1. The hand of God: Truly, those who swear allegiance unto thee [O Prophet], swear allegiance only unto God. The Hand of God is above their hands. (Sura al-fath, xlvlll: 10)
2. The face of God: Unto God belong the east and the west, and wherever ye turn, there is the Face of God. (Sura al-Baqara, ll: 115)
3. The eye of God: Built the ship under Our Eyes and by Our inspiration. (Sura Hud, xl: 37)
4. God being ‘established' (istiwa'} on the Throne: The Beneficent One, Who is established on the Throne. (Sura Ta Ha, xx: 5)
The reason for calling these attributes khabara (pertaining to information) is that it is only traditional, transmitted knowledge that can provide its with information regarding these attributes. It is important to remind ourselves that the intellect, or human wisdom, cannot interpret these attributes according to their conventional meanings, for this would lead to conceiving of God as ‘embodied’ (tajsim), and therefore similar to us (tashbih); intellectual and transmitted knowledge alike warn us against these misconceptions. Thus, we must keep firmly in mind all of the Qur’anic verses on this subject if we are to obtain a true explanation of these attributes. We must also remember that the Arabic language, like many others, is rich in metaphors and symbolic allusions, and the Holy Qur'an, which employs the language of the Arabs, makes ample use of this mode of discourse. This having been understood, we can proceed with an explanation of these attributes.
In tile first verse quoted above, it is said that those who pledge allegiance to the prophet-by taking his ]land into theirs-are in fact making their pledge to God, since allegiance given to the one sent is ipso facto allegiance to the One who sent him, So it is said that the Hand of God is above their hands: this tneans tlrat the power of God is greater than their power-not that he possesses a bodily ‘Hand’ and that His ‘Hands' are literallv abovc their 'hands In support of this interpretation we might adduce the remainder of the verse: So whoever breaketh his oath, breaketh it only to his soul’s detriment; while whoever keepeth his covenant with God, on him will He bestow an immence reward. (Sura, al-fath, xLvlll: 10)
The content of this discourse—threatening those who breake their promise and giving glad tidings to those who keep their promise-clearly rreveals that the meaning of the `Hand' of God is His power and authority. Also, the word 'hand' appears in many dictionaries as a metaphor for powor, as it is said in persion: 'There are many whose “hands” are higher than yours' [meaning: there are many who are more powerful than you.]
(In the second verse quoted above] the meaning of the `Face' of God is His Essence; it is not to be compared with, the human face or any other creature's face. When the Qur'an speaks of the annihilation (fana') and non-existence of human beings, it says, Everone that is thereon will perish,' following this with an affirmation of the subsistence (baqa') and permanence of the Being of God, there being no possibility of annihilation in regard to Him: Everyone that is thereon will perish; and there subsists the Face of thy Lord, possessor of Might and Glory. (Sura al-Rahman, Lv: 26-27)
The meaning of the `Face' of God being everywhere is clarified by these verses. God is not to be located at a particular point; rather, His Being encompasses all things, such that wherever we look. we are facing Him. fttrther affirmation of this interpretation is given by reflecting upon the following two attributes [mentioned at the end of the verse partially cited above, al-Baqara, ll: 115]: the All-encompassing (al-Wasi ), the Being of 'God is infinite; and the knowing (al-alim), He knows all things.
In the third of the verses quoted above, the Prophet Noah is commanded to construct the ark. The building of such a vessel, led to Noah being mockcd by his ignorant folk. In such circumstances, it is as if God said to him: 'Build the ark, you are under Our supervision; We have inspired you to do this.'
The meaning here is that Noah was acting under divine guidance, hence he would be protected by God, and would not be disturbed by the mockery to which he was being subjected.
[In the fourth verse], the word `arsh in Arahic means `throne'; and istiwa, when used in conjunction with `ala, means `being established’ and ‘having ascendancv over'. Those in power normally dispose of the affairs of state when they are firmly established in the seat of state authority; hence, we call interpret this verse as a metaphor for the divine authority, which holds sway ovcr tile disposition of all things. Apart frorn the evidence given by the intellect and traditionally reccived sources, which alike affirm that God is not spatially rostricted, one can uphold the validity of our metaphorical interpretation of God 'being established on the Throne'
by considering the following two points: (a) in many verses preceding this one there are descriptions of the creation of the heavens the earth, and how God raised Ill) the edifice of the universe without recourse to visible pillars; (b) in many verses following this one mention is made of tit(.- governattce of the affairs of the world.
The significance of the phrase `established becomes clearer when we see that this verse comes between the theme of creation, on the one hand, and that of governance, on the other. The Qur’an wishes to remind its that the creation of 'the universe, depite its awesome dimensions, does not require us to exclude God from being in absolute control of its affairs. On the contrary, in addition to being responsible for the initial act of creation, God has a firm grip on the reins of supreme power over all the affairs of the universe. Suffice to cite the following as one of the many verses demonstrating this point: Verily, your Lord is God Who created the heaven and the earth in six days, then He established Himself upon, the Throne, directing all things. There is no intercessor [with Him] save after His permission... (Sura Yunus, x: 3) 13
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