We shall now give a concise account of our knowledge [ma'rifa] of the Creator [Sani'] (Almighty and Glorious is He), citing the relevant Qur'anic verses [ayat] and evidence from other sources.
The believer must acknowledge and be thoroughly convinced that He is Single [Wahid], Unique [Fard], Eternal [Samad].
Say: "He is Allah, the One! Allah, the Everlasting! He does not beget, nor was He begotten; and there is none comparable unto Him." (112:1-4)
There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. (42:11)
He has no match [shabih] and no counterpart [nazir], no assistant ['awn] and no partner [sharik], no aide [zahir] and no minister [wazir], no peer [nidd] and no adviser [mushir]. He is not a physical body [jism], for if He were, He could be touched. He is not a material substance [jawhar], for if He were, He would be accessible to sensory perception. He is not an accidental property ['arad], for if He were, His existence would be impermanent. He is not an entity with a composite structure [tarkib], nor is He an apparatus [ala] and a combination of elements [ta'lif], a constitution [mahiyya] and a formal definition [tahdid].
It is He, Allah, who is holding the sky aloft and keeping the earth in place, not some property of nature [tabi'a mina't-taba'i'], not some astronomical configuration [tali' mina't-tawali'], not a darkness that looms, and not a light that gleams. He is:
* Hadir. Present to all things through cognition [ 'ilm]
* Shahid. Witness to all things without physical contact
* 'Aziz. Almighty
* Qahir. Irresistible
* Hakim. Governing
* Qadir. Omnipotent
* Rahim. Merciful
* Ghafir. Forgiver of sins
* Satir. Veiler of faults
* Mu'izz. Ennobling
* Nasir. Supportive
* Ra'uf. Kind
* Khaliq. Creator
* Fatir. Maker
* Awwal. First
* Akhir. Last
* Zahir. Outwardly Manifest
* Batin. Inwardly Concealed
* Fard Ma'bud. Uniquely Worthy of Worship
* Hayyun la yamut. Living, never to die
* Azaliyyun la yafut. Existing from All Eternity, never to pass away
* Abadiyyu'l-Malakut. Eternal Ruler of the Kingdom
* Sarmadiyyu'l-Jabarut. Everlasting Lord of the Dominion
* Qayyumun la yanam. Self-Sustaining, without ever taking rest
* 'Azizun la yudam. Almighty, never to suffer any harm
* Mani'un la yuram. Impregnable, never to be overcome.
Thus to Him belong the Splendid Names [al-Asma' al-'Izam] and all the Noble Talents [al-Mawahib al-Kiram].
He has decreed that all human beings [anam] shall enjoy but a fleeting existence, for He has said:
Everyone who dwells upon the earth must pass away, yet the Face of your Lord still abides, in Majesty and Glory. (55:26,27)
On high is He established, upon the heavenly Throne ['Arsh], encompassing the kingdom [of heaven and earth], while His cognitive awareness ['ilm] embraces all things.
Unto Him good words ascend, and the righteous deed He does exalt. (35:10)
He directs the business [of His entire creation] from the heaven to the earth, then it goes up to Him in one day, the measure of which is a thousand years by your reckoning. (32:5)
He has created all creatures [khala'iq] and their doings [af 'al], and He has predetermined their means of sustenance [arzaq] and their spans of life [ajal]. No one can bring forward what He has postponed, and no one can postpone what He has brought forward.
He willed the whole universe ['alam] and what His creatures would be doing. If He had chosen to prevent them from sinning, they would never have offended against Him. If He had wished them to obey Him entirely, they would certainly have obeyed Him.
He knows the secret and [what is yet] more deeply hidden. (20:7)
He is Cognizant ['Alim] of what is in the breasts [of men]. How should He not know, He who created? And He is the Subtle One [Latif], the All-Aware [Khabir]. (67:14)
He is the One who sets things in motion [Muharrik] and the One who brings things to rest [Musakkin].
No concept of Him can be formed by any stretch of the imagination, nor can He be assessed by any effort of the mind. He cannot be judged by comparison with human beings. He is far above being likened to that which He has wrought, or being correlated with what He has invented and devised.
He is the Enumerator of breaths [Muhsi'l-anfas], the One 'who reckons with every soul [nafs] according to what it has earned.'
He has indeed counted them, and He has numbered them exactly. And every one of them shall come to Him on the Day of Resurrection, all alone. (19:94,95)
The Hour is surely coming, but I would rather keep it hidden, so that every soul may be recompensed for what it is striving to achieve. (20:15)
So He may reward those who do evil with what they have done, and so He may reward those who do good with goodness. (53:31)
He is Independent of His creation [Ghaniyyun 'an khalqihi], Provident to His creatures [Raziqun li-bariyyatihi]. He supplies food, but He does not need to be fed. He provides sustenance, but He does not need to be sustained. He offers protection, but He does not need to be protected. Every created being [khaliqa] is dependent on Him for all its needs. He created them not for the sake of obtaining some benefit, not to ward off some injury, not because of some motive that prompted Him to do it, and not because of some notion [khatir] that occurred to Him or some idea [fikr] that suggested itself, but by sheer Will [irada mujarrada]. As He Himself has said-and He is the Most Truthful of speakers [Asdaqu'l-qa'ilin]–He is:
Lord of the Throne, the All-Glorious, Doer of what He will. (85:15,16)
He is Uniquely Capable of inventing material substances, of doing away with damage and distress, of transforming substances and altering conditions.
Every day He is about some awesome business [kulla yawmin Huwa fi sha'n]. (55:29)
In other words, He is about the business of steering that which He has predestined [qaddara] toward that which He has scheduled in time [waqqata].
[The believer must also acknowledge and be thoroughly convinced] that He (Exalted is He) is Living in the sense of having life [Hayyun bi-hayat], Knowing in the sense of having knowledge ['Alimun bi-'ilm], Powerful in the sense of having power [Qadirun bi-qudra], Willing in the sense of having will [Muridun bi-irada], Hearing in the sense of having a faculty of hearing [Sami'un bi-sam'], Seeing in the sense of having a faculty of sight [Basirun bi-basar], Consciously Aware in the sense of having conscious awareness [Mudrikun bi-idrak], Articulate in the sense of having a faculty of speech [Mutakallimun bi-kalam], Commanding in the sense of giving orders [Amirun bi-amr], Forbidding in the sense of issuing prohibitions [Nahiyun bi-nahy], and Communicative in the sense of imparting information [Mukhbirun bi-khabar].
[The believer must be convinced] that He (Exalted is He) is Equitable ['Adil] in His ruling and His judgment, and Graciously Beneficent [Muhsin Mutafaddil] in His gifts and His favors; that He is an Originator [Mubdi'] and a Restorer [Mu'id], a Giver of Life [Muhyin] and a Causer of Death [Mumit], a Producer [Muhdith] and an Inventor [Mujid], a Rewarder [Muthib] and a Punisher [Mu'aqib], One who is so Generous [Jawad] that He is never stingy, so Long-suffering [Halim] that He is never in a hurry, so Heedful [Hafiz] that He is never forgetful, so Vigilant [Yaqzan] that He is never inattentive, so Wakeful [Ariq] that He is never negligent.
He causes feelings of constriction [yaqbid] and He causes feelings of expansion [yabsut]. He makes us laugh and He makes us happy. He loves and He hates. He disapproves and He approves. He displays anger and He manifests displeasure. He shows compassion and He forgives. He gives and He withholds. He has two hands [yadan], and each of His two hands is a right hand [yamin].
As He has said (Glorified and Exalted is He):
And the heavens are rolled up in His right hand. (39:67)
According to a report transmitted on the authority of Nafi', Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be well pleased with him and with his father) once said: "Allah's Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) was in the pulpit [minbar] when he recited the words of the Qur'an: 'And the heavens are rolled up in His right hand,' then added: 'There they are in His right hand, so He tosses them about, just as a young boy might toss a ball. Then He says: "I am the Almighty! [Ana'l-'Aziz]."'"
Ibn 'Umar went on to say: "I noticed that Allah's Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace) was quaking up there in the pulpit; so much so that he was on the verge of falling down."
Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be well pleased with him and with his father) once said: "He clutches all the earths and all the heavens together, yet not even the very edges of them can be seen to protrude from His grasp."
We have it on the authority of Anas ibn Malik, who heard the report from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be well pleased with them), that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) once said:
Those who act justly and fairly [muqsitun] will be mounted, on the Day of Resurrection, in pulpits of light upon the right hand of the All-Merciful [ar-Rahman]–and each of His two hands is a right hand.
He created Adam (peace be upon him) in the form proper to him ['ala suratih]. He planted the Garden of Eden [jannat 'Adn] with His own hand, and the Tree of Bliss [shajarat Tuba] with His own hand. He wrote the Torah with His own hand, and He delivered it to Moses from His hand to his hand. He also spoke to Moses by addressing him directly, with no intermediary channel and without an interpreter.
The hearts [qulub] of His servants are between two fingers of the All-Merciful [ar-Rahman], so He spins them around [yuqallibuha] as He wills, and He instills in them whatever He wishes.
On the Day of Resurrection, the heavens and the earth will be in the palm of His hand, as we know from the tradition [hadith], and He will set His foot in Hell [Jahannam], one part of which will shrink away toward another, while it cries: "Enough! No more!" A group of human beings will issue forth thereafter.
The people of the Garden [of Paradise] will actually see His face, and they will behold it without suffering any injury or harm in the process of beholding it.
As we have learned from the tradition:
He will reveal Himself [yatajalla] to them, and He will give them what they most desire.
He has told us (how Glorious is He as One who tells!):
To those who do good belongs the finest-and an extra reward! [li'lladhina ahsanu'l-husna wa ziyada]. (10:26)
There are those who maintain that 'the finest' refers to the Garden [of Paradise], and that the 'extra reward' is the contemplation of His noble countenance. He has also said (Exalted is He):
That day will faces be resplendent, looking toward their Lord. (75:22,23)
His servants will all be paraded before Him on the Day of Judgment and Doom [yawm al-fasl wa'd-din]. He will take it upon Himself to settle their accounts, and He will not make anyone other than Himself responsible for carrying out this task.
Allah (Exalted is He) created seven heavens, one above another, and seven earths, one below another. [The time it takes to travel] from the highest earth to the lowest heaven is five hundred years, and the distance between each heaven and the next is also a journey of five hundred years. There is water above the seventh heaven, and the Throne of the All-Merciful One ['Arsh ar-Rahman] is above the water. Allah (Exalted is He) is upon the Throne, and beneath Him there are seventy thousand veils of light, of darkness, and of what else He knows best.
