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The ruling on saying: adopting the character of the names and attributes of Allah
Original (Arabic): https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/16/حكم-قول-التخلق-باسماء-الله-وصفاته
Question: From Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah bin Baz to the honorable brother, may Allah keep him safe and take him under His care.
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. To proceed:
Your esteemed letter dated 23/3/1386 AH has arrived — may Allah guide you to His guidance — and what it contained by way of a question about what some preachers said in the Friday sermon, urging people to be characterized by the attributes of Allah and to adopt His character traits: whether this has an acceptable interpretation, and whether anyone has said such a thing before... etc. — this has been noted.
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. To proceed:
Your esteemed letter dated 23/3/1386 AH has arrived — may Allah guide you to His guidance — and what it contained by way of a question about what some preachers said in the Friday sermon, urging people to be characterized by the attributes of Allah and to adopt His character traits: whether this has an acceptable interpretation, and whether anyone has said such a thing before... etc. — this has been noted.
Answer: This expression is not appropriate, but it has a correct interpretation, which is the encouragement to take on character in accordance with the attributes and names of Allah and what they entail, by looking at the attributes which it is fitting for a created being to be characterized by according to their requirement, as distinct from the attributes that are specific to Allah, such as being the Creator, the Provider, the Deity, and the like. This is something a created being cannot possibly be characterized by, and it is not permissible for him to claim it, and likewise for whatever resembles these names. Rather, what is meant are the attributes that Allah loves for His servants to be characterized by according to their requirement, such as knowledge and strength in truth, mercy, forbearance, generosity, munificence, pardon, and the like. For He, glory be to Him, is All-Knowing and loves the scholars; Strong and loves the strong believer more than He loves the weak believer; Generous and loves the generous; Merciful and loves the merciful; Pardoning and loves those who pardon, and so on. However, what belongs to Allah, glory be to Him, of these and other attributes is more perfect and greater than what belongs to the created being; indeed, there is no comparison between the two, for there is nothing like Him, glory be to Him, in His attributes and His actions, just as there is nothing like Him in His Essence. It is sufficient for the created being to have a share of the meanings of these attributes, in a manner befitting and suitable for him within the bounds set by the Sharia. For if he exceeds the proper limit in generosity, he becomes wasteful; and if he exceeds the proper limit in mercy, he nullifies the legal punishments and disciplinary measures; and likewise, if he exceeds the Sharia limit in pardon, he places it in other than its proper place. These examples point to others like them. The eminent scholar Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, stated this meaning in his two books: ('Uddat al-Sabirin) and (al-Wabil al-Sayyib), and he may have stated it elsewhere as well, such as in (al-Madarij) and (Zad al-Ma'ad) and others. Here is the text of his statement in al-'Uddah and al-Wabil. He said in al-'Uddah, page 310:
Since He, glorified is He, is truly the All-Grateful (Ash-Shakur), the most beloved of His creation to Him is the one characterized by the attribute of gratitude, just as the most hateful of His creation to Him is the one who neglects it, or is characterized by its opposite. This is the case with all His beautiful names: the most beloved of His creation to Him is the one characterized by what they entail, and the most hateful of them to Him is the one characterized by their opposites. For this reason He hates the disbeliever, the wrongdoer, the ignorant one, the hard-hearted one, the miser, the coward, the one who is contemptible, and the base one. He, glorified is He, is Beautiful and loves beauty; All-Knowing and loves the scholars; Merciful and loves those who show mercy; Beneficent and loves those who do good; Concealing and loves those who conceal faults; All-Capable, and He reproaches incapacity — the strong believer is more beloved to Him than the weak believer. He is Ever-Pardoning and loves pardon; He is Odd (Witr) and loves what is odd in number. Whatever He loves is among the effects of His names and attributes and what they entail, and whatever He hates is among what opposes and contradicts them.
He said in (Al-Wabil al-Sayyib), page 43 of the hadith collection: "Generosity is among the attributes of the Lord, glorified be His majesty, for He gives and does not take, He feeds and is not fed, and He is the most generous of the generous and the most noble of the noble. The most beloved of creation to Him is the one who is characterized by the requirements of His attributes, for He is Generous and loves the generous among His servants, Knowing and loves the knowledgeable, Powerful and loves the courageous, and Beautiful and loves beauty." End of quote.
And I hope that what we have mentioned is sufficient and yields benefit, and I ask Allah, glory be to Him, to grant us all success in understanding His religion deeply and in fulfilling His right; indeed, He is All-Hearing, Ever-Near. Was-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.[1].
Since He, glorified is He, is truly the All-Grateful (Ash-Shakur), the most beloved of His creation to Him is the one characterized by the attribute of gratitude, just as the most hateful of His creation to Him is the one who neglects it, or is characterized by its opposite. This is the case with all His beautiful names: the most beloved of His creation to Him is the one characterized by what they entail, and the most hateful of them to Him is the one characterized by their opposites. For this reason He hates the disbeliever, the wrongdoer, the ignorant one, the hard-hearted one, the miser, the coward, the one who is contemptible, and the base one. He, glorified is He, is Beautiful and loves beauty; All-Knowing and loves the scholars; Merciful and loves those who show mercy; Beneficent and loves those who do good; Concealing and loves those who conceal faults; All-Capable, and He reproaches incapacity — the strong believer is more beloved to Him than the weak believer. He is Ever-Pardoning and loves pardon; He is Odd (Witr) and loves what is odd in number. Whatever He loves is among the effects of His names and attributes and what they entail, and whatever He hates is among what opposes and contradicts them.
He said in (Al-Wabil al-Sayyib), page 43 of the hadith collection: "Generosity is among the attributes of the Lord, glorified be His majesty, for He gives and does not take, He feeds and is not fed, and He is the most generous of the generous and the most noble of the noble. The most beloved of creation to Him is the one who is characterized by the requirements of His attributes, for He is Generous and loves the generous among His servants, Knowing and loves the knowledgeable, Powerful and loves the courageous, and Beautiful and loves beauty." End of quote.
And I hope that what we have mentioned is sufficient and yields benefit, and I ask Allah, glory be to Him, to grant us all success in understanding His religion deeply and in fulfilling His right; indeed, He is All-Hearing, Ever-Near. Was-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.[1].
- A letter he sent to one of the questioners in response to what he had asked, at a time when he was deputy of the Islamic University in Madinah al-Munawwarah, in the year 1386 AH. (Majmu' Fatawa wa Maqalat Mutanawwi'ah li al-Shaykh Ibn Baz, 1/133).