Fatwa ID: 08853
Answered by: Alimah Maryam Badshah
Question:
I would like to ask you a question about the right beliefs of Islam. I am a reverted Muslim and would like to know more about my religion. Quran says that there is no similarity between God and anything else. But some people are saying that a partial similarity exists between God and a human because God can be pleased with somebody or something and a human can be pleased with somebody or something. God can be kind to somebody and a human can be kind to somebody. So, they are saying that partial similarity exists. Is it a true view of Islam?
I think that no similarity exists at all but would like to know your opinion.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Answer:
Allah (swt) says in the Qur’an: “[He is] Creator of the heavens and the earth. He has made for you, from yourselves, spouses, and among the livestock, mates; He multiplies you thereby. There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.” Surah Ash-Shura (42:11)
“Say: “He is Allah, the One. Allah, the Eternal. He neither begets nor is He begotten. And there is no one equal to Him.”” Surah Al-Ikhlaas (112)
The Oneness of Allah (swt) has been directly mentioned in Surah Ash-Shura and Surah Al-Ikhlaas. When trying to get a clearer understanding of a verse in the Qur’an, one should first look at the verses surrounding it. When comparing these two Surahs, one can see that they mirror one another. As seen in the verse of Ash-Shura above, before Allah (swt) states there is nothing like Himself, He (swt) informs us of how His creation is fundamentally not like Him. He (swt) states how we are created beings that have parents and reproduce, thus reminding us that we are not a unique existence. This is in contrast to Allah’s (swt) description of Himself in Surah Al-Ikhlaas, where He (swt) tells us that He is One alone and that He neither has parents nor children.
Allah (swt) then punctuates both comparisons with how there is nothing equal to Him and nothing is comparable to Him. When exploring the technical aspects of Islam, one should keep in mind that our religion was revealed in the Arabic language, not English. As is the nature of translations, not all Arabic words have perfect counterparts in English, and oftentimes connotations can either be lost or added when translators select the words they believe most closely resemble what is being conveyed. This can be seen in Surah Al-Ikhlaas, where the word Allah (swt) uses is “kufuwan”, which translates closer to the word “equal”, rather than the word “comparable”.
At the end of the ayah in Surah Ash-Shura, Allah (swt) ends with describing two of His qualities: “As-Sami’” (All-Hearing) and “Al-Baseer” (All-Seeing). Hearing and seeing are two qualities which Allah has granted to many of His creations. And as you know, our ability to see and hear are limited in every capacity. We can only see and hear specified distances away, see a limited spectrum, and hear within a small range, and even then we can be mistaken and misinterpret what we sense. In contrast, Allah (swt) informs us that He is All-Hearing and All-Seeing. Allah (swt) tells us in the Qur’an that He is aware of all things, and how nothing can be hidden from Him. And it is in this sense of perfection in these attributes that Allah (swt) is incomparable to any of His creation.
When it comes to the known names of Allah (swt), these divine attributes fall into two types. The first are those that refer to qualities that only Allah (swt) possesses, such as “Al-Bāqi” (The Eternal). The second are attributes which only Allah (swt) possesses in its most perfect form, which is what your question is asking about.
Remember that the divine attributes of Allah (swt) are taught to us in Arabic, which has its own method of constructing words. The divine qualities of Allah (swt) are in the grammatical form of one who has the greatest of that quality, such as “Al-Rahman” (The Most Merciful) and “Al-’Aleem” (The All-Knowing), etc. The words themselves tell us that Allah (swt) has granted His creation the ability to have these traits in weaker degrees and with deficiencies in comparison to Allah (swt), who has these traits in their highest and most noblest form, free from imperfections. It would not be considered a “partial similarity” but rather a trait that Allah has granted us in order for us to develop our limited understanding of these attributes.
It has been narrated from Abu Hurairah (ra) that he heard Allah’s Messenger (saw) say: “Allah divided Mercy into one hundred parts. He kept ninety nine parts with Himself and sent down one part to the earth, and because of that part, His Creations show mercy to one another, to the point that the mare lifts up its hoofs away from its young, fearing it might harm it.” (Bukhari)
However, one should take care when using these descriptions to not refer to a being other than Allah (swt) as having the divine form of these attributes. To refer to the creation as having the divine level of these attributes would be considered Shirk, as it would be putting a created being equal to Allah (swt). A warning has been given to those trying to claim his divine attributes for themselves in the following hadeeth:
Allah’s Messenger (saw) said, “The most ruinous of names before Allah on the Day of Resurrection will be a man calling himself Malik Al-Amlak (The King of kings).” (Bukhari)
Language is a means by which information is transmitted and concepts are conveyed. We need to remember that language is not a perfect means of communication and sometimes subtleties in language are added and lost in translation. If there were qualities of Allah (swt) that He had called Himself, but there were no examples or indications of it in this world, we would not be able to understand what these terms mean. Take colours for example, with our limited human capacity we are unable to conceive of colours that are outside our visible spectrum. In the same way, the names of the attributes of Allah (swt) would have no meaning to us if we were unable to perceive similar qualities and concepts in our reality. Allah (swt) has taught us a limited number of His attributes that we can comprehend, so that we can appreciate the Majesty of Allah (swt) and therefore gain a greater understanding of our place in the world.
References:
﴿ فَاطِرُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۚ جَعَلَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا وَمِنَ الْأَنْعَامِ أَزْوَاجًا ۖ يَذْرَؤُكُمْ فِيهِ ۚ لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ ۖ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ ﴾
Qur’an (42:11)
﴿ قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ ﴾
Qur’an (112)
Ma’āriful-Qur’ān (Vol.1, pg.633-5 and Vol.8, pg.533-4 & 914-7, Maktaba-e-Darul-’Uloom, Karachi)
حَدَّثَنَا الْحَكَمُ بْنُ نَافِعٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا شُعَيْبٌ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، أَخْبَرَنَا سَعِيدُ بْنُ الْمُسَيَّبِ، أَنَّ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ “ جَعَلَ اللَّهُ الرَّحْمَةَ مِائَةَ جُزْءٍ، فَأَمْسَكَ عِنْدَهُ تِسْعَةً وَتِسْعِينَ جُزْءًا، وَأَنْزَلَ فِي الأَرْضِ جُزْءًا وَاحِدًا، فَمِنْ ذَلِكَ الْجُزْءِ يَتَرَاحَمُ الْخَلْقُ، حَتَّى تَرْفَعَ الْفَرَسُ حَافِرَهَا عَنْ وَلَدِهَا خَشْيَةَ أَنْ تُصِيبَهُ ”.
Sahih Al-Bukhāri 6000 (Bk.78, ch.19, sunnah.com), and similarly in 6469 (Bk.81, ch.19, sunnah.com) and Sahih Muslim 2753a (Bk.50, ch.4, sunnah.com)
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْيَمَانِ، أَخْبَرَنَا شُعَيْبٌ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الزِّنَادِ، عَنِ الأَعْرَجِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم “ أَخْنَى الأَسْمَاءِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ رَجُلٌ تَسَمَّى مَلِكَ الأَمْلاَكِ ”.
Sahih Al-Bukhāri 6205 (Bk.78, ch.114, sunnah.com) similarly in Sahih Muslim 2143b (Bk.38, ch.4, sunnah.com)
Only Allah (عز و جل) knows best.
Written by Alimah Maryam Badshah
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
