It is obligatory to affirm the Attributes for Allāh just as He has affirmed them for Himself, whether they are as-Sifāt adh-Dhātiyyah (also known as al-Lāzimah)1 or as-Sifāt al-Fiʿliyyah (also known as al-Ikhtiyāriyyah)2. So, when we investigate the texts of the Book and Sunnah, we find that the Affirmed Attributes are not outside of the following two categories:3
FIRSTLY: As-Sifāt adh-Dhātiyyah: These are the Eternal Attributes that Allāh never ceases to be described with eternally, constantly, unceasingly, and forever. For example: Life, Ability, Knowledge, Highness, His Face, His Two Hands, and so on.
SECOND: As-Sifāt al-Fiʿliyyah: These are the Discretionary Attributes that are connected to the Will of Allāh (al-Mashīʾah) and His Intent (al-Irādah), such as His Creating, Providing, Coming, Ascending, and so on. So, it is said, for example, “Allāh created the Pen fifty thousand years before the creation of the Heavens and the Earth,” and, “He created the Heavens and the earth in six days, then He Ascended over the Throne,” and, “He Descends to the nearest Heaven in the last third of the night.” So, these are from the Chosen Actions of Allāh according to His Will (i.e., as-Sifāt al-Fiʿliyyah).
Additionally, each Attribute, whether Dhātiyyah or Fiʿliyyah, can be divided into Khabariyyah (textual affirmation) and ʿAqliyyah (intellectual affirmation).
So, there are as-Sifāt adh-Dhātiyyah4 that can only be affirmed by the textual proofs, such as the Face, the Two Hands and His Feet. And there are as-Sifāt adh-Dhātiyyahthat can be affirmed through both the textual proofs and by the intellect, such as Knowledge (al-ʿIlm), Intent (al-Irādah), Life (al-Ḥayāt) and Highness (al-ʿUluww).
Likewise, there are as-Sifāt al-Fiʿliyyah (or al-Ikhtiyāriyyah)5 that are affirmed only by the textual proofs, such as the Attribute of Ascending over the Throne (al-Istiwāʾ), Coming (al-Majīʾ) on the Day of Judgement, and Descending (an-Nuzūl) in the last third of the night. Then there are as-Sifāt al-Fiʿliyyah that are affirmed both through the textual proofs and by the intellect, such as Creating, Providing, giving life and death.
Then there are some Attributes that are both adh-Dhātiyyah (Eternal) and al-Fiʿliyyah (Discretionary), such as the Attribute of Speech (al-Kalām).6 So the Speech of Allāh is an Attribute of Allāh that is both Dhātiyyah and Fiʿliyyah; meaning: He never ceases to speak, and He has always spoken [Eternally]; and He speaks when He Wills to whom He Wills [at His discretion].
Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid.
1. These are the Eternal Attributes; Allāh does not cease to be described with them.
2. These are the Discretionary Attributes or the Chosen Actions of Allāh as explained previously.
3. See al-Fatawā al-Ḥamawiyyah al-Kubrā of Shaikh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah; edited, verified, and annotated by Shaikh Ḥamad Ibn ʿAbdul-Muḥsin at-Tuwayjirī, (p. 155).
4. i.e., the Eternal Unceasing Attributes.
5. i.e., the Discretionary Attributes (or Allāh’s Chosen Actions).
6. See al-Fatāwā al-Ḥamawiyyah al-Kubrā of Shaikh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, edited, verified and annotated by Shaikh Hamad ibn ʿAbdul-Muhsin at-Tuwayjirī (p. 156) where the verifier cited: al-Fatāwā of Ibn Taymiyyah (6/219), Sharh at-Taḥāwiyyah (1/96-97), at-Tamhīd of al-Bāqillānī (pp. 298-299), al-Iʿtiqād of al-Bayhaqī (pp. 21-22), al-Asmāʾ was-Sifāt of al-Bayhaqī (1/188-189), al-Milal wan-Niḥal of ash-Shaharastānī (1/104), Sharh al-Fiqh al-Akbar of Mullā ʿAlī Qārī (pp. 25-36); the annotations of ʿAbdullāh Abā Butayn on Lawāmiʿ al-Anwār (1/112), and Sharh al-Wasitiyyah of al-Harrās (pp. 105-106).