Who is Allah? — Powerful Speech

Allah knows what is in your heart, and when you are daydreaming in the salah, He is aware of all of it. He is the one who gave you the wife you are busy with, He gave you the job you are busy with, He gave you the children you are busy with.

And how Patient is Allah, that you do this day in and day out in your salah, and He still continues to give you chances to speak to him, and complain to Him, and beg Him.

Allah doesn’t need us.

We need Allah.

There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearer and All-Seer

Rather, they believe that Allaah, Glorious is He:

There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearer and All-Seer. (Ash-Shura 42:11)

Commentary:

His saying:  “Rather, they believe” – Meaning:  The People of the Sunnah and the Jama’ah acknowledge and testify Allaah is such, that there is nothing like Him, as He said about Himself.

There is nothing like unto Him.  (Ash-Shura 42:11)

So here He negated similarity; then He affirmed hearing and seeing.  He negated a defect, then He affirmed perfection. because the negation of a defect should come before the affirmation of perfection.  This is why it is said: “Evacuation comes before beautification.”  The negation of a defect should be started with first, after which the affirmation of perfection is mentioned.

The word “nothing”  is an indefinite pronoun, which is used to negate, and therefore is all inclusive.  Nothing is ever like Him, the Mighty and Sublime.  Meaning any creature however tremendous it is, it not like Allaah – the Mighty and Sublime – because to liken what is not perfect (to something else) shows that such is imperfect.  Even, it is comparison is made between an imperfect (object) and the perfect, it makes the perfect imperfect, as it is said:

Do you not see that it diminishes the importance of a spear

Once it is said that the spear was made from a stick

If we say here that Allaah, the Exalted, has a likeness, that will necessitate a defect in Allaah, the Mighty and Sublime.  So due to this, we say that Allaah negated any likeness to His creatures from Himself, because likeness to the creature is a kind of imperfection and defect.  This is because the creature is imperfect, and likening what is perfect to what is imperfect, makes the perfect imperfect.  Even, an ordinary comparison between them makes it imperfect, unless it is used as a challenge, as in the saying of the Exalted:

Is Allaah better, or (all) that you ascribe as partners (to Him)? (An-Naml 27:59)

And His saying:

Do you know better or does Allaah?  (Al-Baqarah 2:140)

There is in His saying:

There is nothing like Him;

a clear refutation against those who claim that Allaah, Glorious and Exalted is He, has a likeness.

Source:  Explanation of Al-Aqeedatul Wasitiyyah – Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih Al-Uthaymeen, Vol#1, pgs.146-147

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