Category: Aqeedah at-Tahaawiyyah

Aqeedah Tahaawiyyah: Lesson 03 : Point [4]
Dawud Burbank [Audio|English]

4.  ولا شيء يعجزه‏
And nothing renders Him incapable; 

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This is an affirmation of the perfection of His Power and Ability. Allaah the Most High said,

And He (Allaah) has full power over everything
(Sooratul-Maa.idah (5), aayah 120)

And Allaah was and is fully capable of everything
(Sooratul-Kahf (18), aayah 45)

He (Allaah) always was and is All-Knowing, All-Powerful
(Soorah Faatir (35), aayah 44)

And القَدِير (Al-Qadeer) means: the One who is extremely powerful. So His Power, He the Perfect and Most High, is such that there is nothing that can cause Him to be unable. Whenever He wants something He just says to it, “Be” and it is.

So this contains affirmation of the qudrah (قدرة – power and ability) of Allaah, the Mighty and Majestic, and it contains affirmation that His Power includes and covers everything.

As for the term that some authors use (about Allaah):

“Allaah has full power over whatever he wants,” this wording is an error because Allaah did not restrict His Power to His Will. Rather, He said (about Himself),

“(Allaah) has full Power over everything.” So therefore you should say that which Allaah the Perfect and Most High said about Himself. This (a similar statement) only occurs in the saying of Allaah, the Most High,

And He (Allaah) has full Power to gather them (the people) together when He Wishes (Sooratush–Shooraa (42), aayah 29)

Because, the gathering of the creation has a certain time in the future and He is fully able to gather them at that time, meaning, the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth.

He, the Most High said,

And from His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and whatever creatures He has created and spread within them. And He (Allaah) has full Power to gather them together when He Wishes. (Sooratush–Shooraa (42), aayah 29)

End of explanation of point [4][1]

[1] Translator’s side point:

“And there is nothing which causes Allaah to be incapable”: This is a denial but what is meant by it is not a mere denial because denial on its own is not from the belief of the Ahlus-Sunnah; rather, it is the position of the innovators.

As for the people of the Sunnah then their way is the way of the Qur.aan which gives a general denial of certain things for Allaah and gives a detailed affirmation of Attributes for Him. And whenever there is a denial then the denial is there to affirm something which is its perfect opposite. So this denial is there because of affirmation of its perfect opposite i.e. nothing renders Him incapable because of the perfection of His Power and Ability.

Further side point: In his explanation, Ibn Abil-`Izz said regarding tashbeeh: Affirming attributes for Allaah when the creation have the like of those attributes, for example, affirming that Allaah is the All-Knowing when we affirm that the creation has knowledge and affirming that Allaah has Sight when the creation has sight and affirming that Allaah has a Hand when the creation has hands. This fact is what leads the mu`attilah into denying certain attributes because they say that if you affirm for Allaah a Hand then you are declaring Him like the creation and if we affirm for Allaah a Face then amongst the creation we have faces, so if we affirm a Face for Allaah then we will be making Him like the creation. So therefore they deny any Hand for Allaah and deny any Face for Allaah and so on with other attributes as well. They say that in that way they will stay clear of making the Creator like the creation.

At-Ta`leeqaat Al-Mukhtasarah `alaa Matn Al-`Aqeedah At–Tahaawiyyah. By Shaykh Saalih ibn Fawzaan al-Fawzaan hafizahullaah. Translated by Aboo Talhah Daawood Burbank, rahimahullaah, in 1426AH

Posted with kind permission from Dawud Burbank rahimahullaah

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