Why is true transcendence of Allah not the same as negating His Attributes?
2026-09-21
T42 · Ibn Taymiyyah
Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah
شيخ الإسلام أحمد بن تيمية
Selected explanation · Selected source passage(s) — fully translated
Selected continuous passage; light punctuation normalization has been applied for reading. The English translates every displayed Arabic paragraph; this selection is not the complete surrounding work. Square brackets identify translator-supplied clarification.
النص العربي
المقتطف
وَذَلِكَ أَنَّهُ مَا مِنْ نَافٍ يَنْفِي شَيْئًا مِنْ الْأَسْمَاءِ وَالصِّفَاتِ إلَّا وَهُوَ يَزْعُمُ: أَنَّهُ قَدْ قَامَ عِنْدَهُ دَلِيلُ الْعَقْلِ عَلَى أَنَّهُ يَدُلُّ عَلَى التَّجْسِيمِ فَيَكُونُ مُتَشَابِهًا فَيَلْزَمُ حِينَئِذٍ أَنْ تَكُونَ جَمِيعُ الْأَسْمَاءِ وَالصِّفَاتِ مُتَشَابِهَاتٍ وَحِينَئِذٍ فَيَلْزَمُ التَّعْطِيلُ الْمَحْضُ وَأَنْ لَا يُفْهَمَ مِنْ أَسْمَاءِ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى وَصَفَاتِهِ مَعْنًى وَلَا يُمَيَّزَ بَيْنَ مَعْنَى الْحَيِّ وَالْعَلِيمِ وَالْقَدِيرِ وَالرَّحِيمِ وَالْجَبَّارِ وَالسَّلَامِ وَلَا بَيْنَ مَعْنَى الْخَلْقِ وَالِاسْتِوَاءِ وَبَيْنَ الْإِمَاتَةِ وَالْإِحْيَاءِ وَلَا بَيْنَ الْمَجِيءِ وَالْإِتْيَانِ وَبَيْنَ الْعَفْوِ وَالْغُفْرَانِ.
English translation
English translation reviewed against the displayed Arabic by SalafAlSalih editorial preparation (AI-assisted); explanatory additions appear in square brackets or separate notes.
Selected explanation
For no one denies anything of the names and attributes without claiming that he has rational evidence that it implies corporeality and is therefore ambiguous. It would then follow that all the names and attributes are ambiguous; and this would entail complete negation, and that no meaning could be understood from Allah’s names and attributes. There would be no distinction between the meanings of the Ever-Living, the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful, the Merciful, the Compeller, and the One free of all imperfection; nor between the meanings of creating and rising over [the Throne] and those of causing death and giving life; nor between coming and approaching and pardoning and forgiving.
Source and editorial notes
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā 6/44
مجموع الفتاوى
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā
Arabic passage checked against the cited volume and printed page. English reviewed against every displayed Arabic paragraph on 14 October 2026.