Introduction to the Study of The Holy Quran — Page 303
303 99. al-Kafi i. e. , The Sufficient. 100. al-Ahad i. e. , The Unique; The Lord of Unity. 101. al-Wahid i. e. , The One. 102. as-Samad i. e. , The Besought of all; The Independent; The Everlasting. 103. Dhul-Jalali Wal-Ikram i. e. , The Lord of Majesty and Bounty. Three Categories of Divine Attributes These attributes are either expressly mentioned in the Quran or are deducible from Quranic verses. A consideration of these attributes helps to visualize the plan of the spiritual universe which the Quran puts forward. They may be roughly divided into three categories: First, those that are peculiar to God and are not related in any way to His creatures e. g. al-Hayy––The Living; al-Qadir––The Possessor of power and authority; al-Majid––The Glorious. Secondly, those that are related to the creation of the universe and indicate the relationship between God and His creatures and His attitude towards them e. g. al- Khaliq––The Creator; al-Malik––The Sovereign, etc. Thirdly, those that come into operation in consequence of the good or bad actions of such of God’s creatures as are endowed with will e. g. ar-Rahim–He rewards the voluntary good actions of man abundantly and repeatedly; Maliki Yaum-id- Din—The Master of the Day of Judgement; al-‘Afuww—He overlooks faults; ar- Ra’uf—He is Compassionate etc. Some of these attributes appear to be repetitions but on consideration one finds fine distinctions between them. For instance, several of these attributes relate to creation as Khaliqu Kulli Shay’in, al-Badi’, al-Fatir, al-Khaliq, al-Mu‘id, al-Musawwir, ar-Rabb. At first sight they appear to overlap but in fact they signify different aspects. Khaliqu Kulli Shay’in means that God has created all things and signifies that He is also the Creator of matter and of souls. Some people believe that God fashions but does not create. They do not, for instance, regard Him as the Creator of matter or of souls; they believe that matter and souls are self-existing and eternal like God Himself. If God had been described in the Quran merely as the Creator, these people could have claimed that they too believe in God as the Creator in the sense that He brings about the union of the body and the soul and thus fashions and in a sense creates man. This interpretation would have left the real meaning of the Quran in this respect in doubt. By describing God as the Creator of all things, the Quran has enlarged the scope of the attribute of creation, so as to include the creation of matter and souls. Badi‘ signifies that God has planned and designed the system of the universe and this system is not, therefore, accidental or copied from somewhere else.