Basics of Religious Education — Page 28
B ASICS OF R ELIGIOUS E DUCATION - F IFTH E DITION 28 28 28 28 28 Attributes unique to Allah alone: These attributes are unique to Allah alone and not related in any way to His creatures. For example: Al-Hayy (The Living); Al-Qaadir (The Possessor of power and authority); Al-Maajid (The Glorious). Attributes concerning the creation of the Universe: These attributes are related to the creation of the Universe and indicate the relationship be- tween Allah and His creatures and His attitude towards them. For example: Al-Khaaliq (The Creator) and Al-Maalik (The Sovereign). Attributes concerning the actions of His creatures: These attributes come into operation as a result of the good or bad actions of those of Allah’s creatures who are endowed with a will of their own. For example: Ar- Raheem (The Merciful); Al-`Afuww (The Pardoner) and Ar-Ra’oof (The Compassionate). According to the Holy Qur’an (51:57), the main objective of our creation is to worship Allah, our Creator. The philosophy of Islamic worship is to es- tablish a loving relationship between Allah and His creatures, which is not possible unless we know and understand the attributes of Allah. Thus, by knowing the attributes of Allah, we will be able to derive abundant spiritual pleasure from our worship of Allah, the Exalted. Allah says in the Holy Qur’an; ‘And to Allah alone belong all perfect at- tributes. So call on Him by these attributes. ’ (7:181). There exists a won- derful relationship between the attributes of Allah and the acceptance of our prayers, as explained in the commentary of Surah Al-Fatihah given in the following pages. So it is necessary that while praying to Allah, we should invoke the appropriate attribute of Allah. For example, to seek forgiveness from Allah, we should invoke His attribute, Al-Ghaffaar , and to seek the protection of Allah we should invoke His attribute, Al-Hafeez , etc. In this way, Allah the Exalted would accept our prayers abundantly. The Holy Prophet saw has said, ‘‘Follow the attributes of Allah. ’’ There are some attributes of Allah (like Ar-Raheem , Al-Maalik, Al-`Afuww etc. ) which can be adopted by us in a limited fashion. By following these attributes in our daily lives, they will become operative in our favour. The following pages contain more than one hundred attributes of Allah, ob- tained from the Holy Qur’an and Ahadith, in a tabular form, with translitera- tion and translation for ready reference. As a note of caution, however, the complete meaning of these attributes cannot be presented in a single-phrase translation. Three Categories of Allah’s Attributes The Need to Know the Attributes of Allah A A A A A LLAH LLAH LLAH LLAH LLAH AND AND AND AND AND THE THE THE THE THE H H H H H OL OL OL OL OLY Y Y Y Y Q Q Q Q Q UR UR UR UR UR ’ ’ ’ ’ ’ AN AN AN AN AN — A — A — A — A — A LLAH LLAH LLAH LLAH LLAH & H & H & H & H & H IS IS IS IS IS A A A A A TTRIBUTES TTRIBUTES TTRIBUTES TTRIBUTES TTRIBUTES 2. 1 2. 1 2. 1 2. 1 2. 1