Below are the matters pertaining to God (Ilahiyyat). It is necessary for the legally responsible person (mukallaf) to know what is necessary for Allah. See: Legal and Moral Responsibility (Taklif).
Theological texts will explain what each attribute and then prove those explanations with rational evidence. This is the method and the job of an Islamic theologian. Keep this in mind.
The 13 attributes that are necessary for Allah are:
- Existence (Wujud) (وُجود)
- Pre-eternality/beginninglessness (qidam, قِدَم)
- Sempiternality/endlessness (baqā’, بَقاء)
- Otherness (mukhālafat lil-ḥawādith, مُخالَفَة لِلحَوادِث)
- Self-Subsistence (qiyām bi-l-nafs, قِيام بِالنَّفس)
- Oneness (waḥdāniyya, وَحْدانِيَّة)
- Life (ḥayāt, حَياة)
- Omniscience (ʿilm, عِلم)
- Will (irāda, إِرادة)
- Omnipotence (qudra, قُدْرَة)
- Hearing (samʿ, سَمْع)
- Sight (baṣar, بَصَر)
- Speech (kalām, كَلام)
Plus the following 7 attributes are necessary to know of His Being:
- Willing (murīd, مُرِيد)
- Omnipotent (qādir, قَادِر)
- All-Hearing (samīʿ, سَمِيع)
- All-Seeing (baṣīr, بَصِير)
- Speaking (mutakallim, مُتَكَلِّم)
These necessary attributes total 20, but knowing the first 13 is the more correct opinion. There is difference whether the necessary attributes are 20 or 13. See: The Necessary Attributes of Allah. Taking the 13 only now becomes 14 in the Maturidi school with the addition of the attribute of Takwin. See: Attribute of Takwin (To Bring Into Being).
The 20 attributes are categorized as following:
- The first is the essential attribute (al-ṣifa al-nafsiyya, الصِّفَةُ النَّفْسِيَّةُ)
- Existence (wujūd, وُجود)
- The five following it are the negating attributes (al-ṣifāt al-salbiyya, الصِّفَاتُ السَّلْبِيَّةُ)
- Pre-eternality, Beginninglessness (qidam, قِدَم)
- Sempiternality, Endlessness (baqā’, بَقاء)
- Otherness, Uniqueness (mukhālafat lil-ḥawādith, مُخالَفَة لِلحَوادِث)
- Self-Subsistence (qiyām bi-l-nafs, قِيام بِالنَّفس)
- Oneness (waḥdāniyya, وَحْدانِيَّة)
- The seven after that are the qualitative attributes (al-ṣifāt al-maʿānī, الصِّفَاتُ المَعَانِي)
- Life (ḥayāt, حَياة)
- Omniscience (ʿilm, عِلم)
- Will (irāda, إِرادة)
- Omnipotence (qudra, قُدْرَة)
- Hearing (samʿ, سَمْع)
- Sight (baṣar, بَصَر)
- Speech (kalām, كَلام)
- The ones after that are the predicative attributes (al-ṣifāt al-maʿnawiyya, الصِّفَاتُ المَعنَوِيَّةُ)
- Willing (murīd, مُرِيد)
- Omnipotent (qādir, قَادِر)
- All-Hearing (samīʿ, سَمِيع)
- All-Seeing (baṣīr, بَصِير)
- Speaking (mutakallim, مُتَكَلِّم)
Again these 4 categories are:
- The essential attribute (al-ṣifa al-nafsiyya, الصِّفَةُ النَّفْسِيَّةُ)
- The negating attributes (al-ṣifāt al-salbiyya, الصِّفَاتُ السَّلْبِيَّةُ)
- The qualitative attributes (al-ṣifāt al-maʿānī, الصِّفَاتُ المَعَانِي)
- The predicative attributes (al-ṣifāt al-maʿnawiyya, الصِّفَاتُ المَعنَوِيَّةُ)
And thus, He is: Necessarily existent, Pre-eternal, and Sempiternal, His Entity is dissimilar to all created beings and is therefore neither a body nor an accident. He is not characterised by place, time, being right, left, behind, or in front. He is Self-subsistent (qā’im bi-l-nafs, قائِم بِالنَّفس), One in His essence, attributes, and acts.
He is Living, Omniscient of all things past, that which will be, and that which will not come to pass. He wills everything that happens, that which manifests itself in the worlds, and that which has not manifested in them. He is Omnipotent over all possible things and their annihilation; no one shares with Him in that. He hears and sees all that exists. He speaks with an eternal speech that is free from sounds and letters.
Sources
- Imam al-Dardir’s Kharida al-Bahiyya.