Allah’s Names and Attributes
Praise be to Allah, we praise Him, seek His help and forgiveness, and repent to Him. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our souls and from our bad deeds. Whoever Allah guides, none can lead astray, and whoever He leads astray none can guide. I bear witness that there is no true god but Allah alone who has no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and messenger, whom Allah has sent right before the Hour as a bearer of glad tidings, warner, caller to Allah by His permission and a luminous lantern. He conveyed the message, fulfilled the trust, communicated sincere advice to his Ummah, and strove as due in the cause of Allah by his tongue, hand, and wealth until he passed away. May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, his family, his Companions, and those who follow them with good conduct until the Day of Judgment.
Dear Brothers, I remind myself and you of the blessing of Islam which Allah has bestowed upon this land in past and recent times. This land was the place where Muhammad (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), the last of messengers, started his mission as he was sent to all the people; rather, to all humans and Jinn.
This land from which Islam started and to which it shall return, as authentically reported from the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) as he said: “Indeed, faith retreats to Madīnah just as a serpent retreats to its hole.”
This land, the like of which I have never seen - and Allah is my witness - among all other Muslim countries, in terms of its holding fast to Islam, not just by its people, rather, by both its people and those whom Allah entrusted to rule it.
This great blessing may soon vanish if we fail to show gratitude for it as due. Unless we preserve this blessing by protecting and defending it, disbelief could replace faith and arrogance could replace submissiveness to Allah.
This land, due to this great blessing of Islam, has been a central target for attacks that aimed at averting its people from their religion, not only in the field of ethics, but in matters of belief as well. Therefore, I address the youth, in particular; being the men of the future who have stronger resolve and determination than the elderly people, and being the main target of those attacks.
I address them to protect their land from the schemes of their enemies, who direct their attacks at them successively, so as to eliminate Islam; that great favor that Allah has bestowed upon us.
Seek Allah’s help by knowledge of sharia that He taught you, then by the wisdom of the trustworthy and honest scholars who possess knowledge and clear proof. Seek help by all that to protect your land from the schemes of its enemies. You should know that the worldly life is subordinate to religion. You should know that the favor will not be complete, nor will the worldly life be perfect and good without faith and good deeds. Allah Almighty says, {Whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer - We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward according to the best of what they used to do.} [Surat an-Nahl: 97]
Troubles in our age are indeed numerous, and I have chosen to speak about Allah’s Names and Attributes and Ahl-us-Sunnah’s stance on them. Perhaps many of you are wondering why I chose this topic in particular?
Don’t we all, especially the people of this Peninsula, believe in Allah’s Names and Attributes as due to Him, without any distortion or denial of their meanings?!
Don’t the elderly and the young, and the male and female among us all believe in Allah’s Names and Attributes without any distortion or deviation in their meanings?
First: The importance of this topic. Actually, this is an important topic, contrary to what some people may think, and I do not refer here to common people, but even some students of knowledge believe that addressing this topic, i.e. Allah’s Names and Attributes, is of no significance.
In fact, this is incorrect assumption, since knowing Allah’s Names and Attributes and celebrating His Oneness accordingly represent one of the three sections of Tawhīd (Allah’s Oneness). Scholars divided Tawhīd into three sections: