Attributes of Allah Regarding Grip, Planning, Devising and Pardoning etc.

And He said, "And He is Mighty in strength and Severe in punishment" (Surah Ar-Ra'd, 13:13); and He said, "And they (disbelievers) plotted (to kill Jesus ((peace be upon him) etc. ), and Allah planned too. And Allah is the Best of the planners" (Surah Al-'lmran, 3:54); and He said, "So they plotted a plot, and We planned a plan, while they perceived not" (Surah An-Naml, 27:50); and He said, "Verily, they are but plotting a plot (against you O Muhammad (peace be upon him). And I (too) am planning a plan" (Surah At-Tariq, 86: 15-16); "Whether you (mankind) disclose (by good words of thanks) a good deed (done to you in the form of a favor by someone), or conceal it, or pardon an evil,.., verily, Allah is Ever Oft-Pardoning, All-Powerful" (Surah An-Nisa', 4:149); "And let them pardon and forgive. Do you not love that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful" (Surah An-Nur, 24:22); and He said, "But honor, power and glory belong to Allah, His Messenger (Muhammad (peace be upon him), and to the believers," (Surah Al-Munafiqun, 63:8); and He said, quoting Iblis (Satan), -- "By Your Might, then I will surely mislead them all." (Surah Sad, 38:82); and He said, "Blessed is the Name of your Lord (Allah), the Owner of Majesty and Honor" (Surah Ar-Rahman, 55:78); and He said, "So worship Him (Alone) and be constant and patient in His worship. Do you know of any who is similar to Him?"(Surah Maryam, 19:65); "And there is none coequal or comparable unto Him" (Surah Al-Ikhlas, 112:4); and He said, "Then do not set up rivals unto Allah (in worship) while you know (that He Alone has the right to be worshipped)" (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:22); "And of mankind are some who take (for worship) others besides Allah as rivals (to Allah). They love them as they love Allah" (Surah AI-Baqarah, 2:165); and He said, "And say: 'All the praises and thanks are to Allah, Who has not begotten a son (nor an offspring), and Who has no partner in (His) Dominion, nor He is low to have a Wall (helper, protector or supporter). And magnify Him with all the magnificence, ['Allahu-Akbar (Allah is the Most Great)]"' (Surah Al-lsra, 17:111); "Whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth glorifies Allah. His is the dominion, and to Him belong all the praises and thanks, and He is Able to do all things" (Surah At-Taghabun, 64:1); and He said, "Blessed is He Who sent down the criterion (of right and wrong, i.e. this Quran) to His slave (Muhammad (peace be upon him) that he may be a warner to the 'Aalamin (mankind and jinns.). He to Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and Who has begotten no son (children or offspring) and for Whom there is no partner in the dominion. He has created everything, and has measured it exactly according to its due measurements" (Surah Al-Furqan, 25:1,2); and He said, "No son (or offspring or children) did Allah beget, nor is there any ilah (god) along with Him; (if there had been many gods), behold, each god would have taken away what he had created, and some would have tried to overcome others! Glorified is Allah above all that they attribute to Him!" "All-Knower of the unseen and the seen! Exalted is He over all that they associate as partners to Him!" (Surah AI-Mu'minun, 23:91,92); "So put not forward similitudes for Allah (as there is nothing similar to Him, nor He resembles anything). Truly! Allah knows and you know not" (Surah An-Nahl, 16:74); "Say (O Muhammad (peace be upon him) cut : '(But) the things that my Lord has indeed forbidden are Al-Fawahish (great evil sins, every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse etc.) whether committed openly or secretly, sins (of all kinds), unrighteous oppression, joining partners (in worship) with Allah for which He has given no authority, and saying things about Allah of which you have no knowledge'. " (Surah Al-A 'raf; 7:33),


In the verses mentioned above Allah has proved His Attributes of having a grip, scheming, devising and pardoning etc. All these Attributes are active and voluntary. But by making a noun out of the adjectives of scheming and simulating it will not be proper to call Allah a schemer and a simulator. It is necessary to limit ourselves only up to the words mentioned in the Quran.


The meaning of "Mighty in strength" is that Allah puts a very strong grip for awarding punishment. He has stated at one place:


"Verily, the Grip of your Lord is severe."


And at another place He says:


"Verily! His seizure is painful, and severe."


The verse in which Allah has described Himself as the best in planning means that Allah has the power to enforce planning swiftly. Some Ulama of the Salaf have explained the meaning of Allah's planning with the slaves in the sense that He awards them favors despite sins. This is the way he gives them a long rope. When they commit a sin, He rewards them with a favor in return but they do not understand it. The Hadith mentions that:


"When Allah rewards a slave inspite of his sin then he must understand that Allah is giving him a long rope."


The verse concerning planning was revealed in connection with Jesus. When the Jews intended to kill him; he went into a house which had a window. Allah got him lifted to the heaven by Gabriel through that window. A man named Juda entered that house to lead the killers to Jesus so that they could kill him. At that time Allah turned the cheat Juda into a likeness of Jesus. When he came out of the house and told the people that there was no one in the house they killed this man in the belief that they had killed Jesus himself. While making an indication towards this event Allah says:


"And they (the disbelievers) plotted [to kill 'Iesa (Jesus) (peace be upon him)] and Allah planned too..."


And Allah's Statement: "They plotted and Allah planned" etc. relates to the nine persons of the community of Prophet Saleh who took an oath in the Name of Allah that:


"We will kill Saleh and the members of his household tonight and will tell his protector that we have no information about the murder at all."


The consequence of their intrigue was that Allah played an intrigue with them and destroyed their community root and branch.


Allah says: "Whether you (mankind) disclose..." this verse proves that Allah has the attributes of forgiveness, power, pardon, mercy, reverence, blessing, grace and generosity.


Al-'Afu (The Forgiver) is the Name of Allah which means that Self Who avoids giving punishment to the slaves after they have repented. Allah says:


"And He it is Who accepts repentance from His slaves, and forgives sins, and He knows what you do" (Surah Ash-Shura, 42:25).


Perfect 'Afu (forgiveness) is that which is accompanied by possessing a lasting power of revenge. That is why the names of Al-'Afu and Al-Qadeer have occurred together in this verse and in other verses.


Ability is that attribute which relates to the existence and nonexistence of the probables. Whatever has come into existence in the universe is because of His Will and Ability, as a Hadith says:


"Whatever Allah willed took place, and whatever He did not will did not take place."


And Allah says "Let them pardon and forgive." This was revealed about Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) when he had taken an oath that he would not spend anything on Mistah bin Athaatha. This man was one of those who had taken part in the Ifk (lie) regarding 'Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her). The mother of Mistah was the daughter of the aunt of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). When this verse descended Abu Bakr said:


"I wish that Allah pardon me and I reconcile myself."


And Allah says: "But honor, power and glory belong to Allah." This verse descended about the chief of the hypocrites Abdullah bin Ubaiy bin Salul who had sworn on the occasion of a battle that he would drive out the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his Companions from Al-Madinah. Allah sent down this verse on this occasion:

"They (hypocrites) say: "If we return to Al-Madinah, indeed the more honorable ('Abdullah bin Ubaiy bin Salul, the chief of hypocrites at Al-Madinah) will expel therefrom the meaner (i.e. Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) etc." But honor, power and glory belong to Allah, His Messenger (Muhammad (peace be upon him), and to the believers, but the hypocrites know not". (Surah Al-Munafiqun, 63:8).


This cursed man considers that 'more honorable' means himself and his companions. It was to refute this statement that Allah sent down this verse.


Might is an attribute which Allah has proved for Himself. Allah says:


"He is the Mighty and the Wise," and said:


"Allah is Strong and Mighty."


Allah has sworn with this name as has been mentioned in the Hadith for intercession:


"I swear by My Might, My Glory, and My Magnificence that whoever says Lli ilaha illa Allah I will certainly take him out."


He stated about Satan that he said:


"By Your Might, then I will surely mislead them all, --except Your chosen slaves amongst them (faithful, obedient, true believers of Islamic Monotheism)." (Surah Sad, 38: 82,83)


It is reported in Sahih Al-Bukhari etc., that Abu Hurairah narrates:

"Prophet Ayub (Job) was bathing naked, gold locusts descended upon him. He began to collect them in his clothes. His Lord called him, 'O Ayub (Job)! did I not make you independent of it?' He said, 'Yes, I swear by Your Might, this is correct; but I am not independent of Your Blessing.' "


It has been reported in a Hadith of Invocation which the Prophet (peace be upon him) taught a man who felt ache in his body. The invocation is:

"I seek refuge through Your Might and Power from that mischief with which I am interacting and of which I am afraid."


Might is also used in the sense of domination, and wrath. It is said, 'Al-Zahu, that is, he became dominant over him. It will carry this sense when the verb is used in a particular form of the Arabic grammar, i.e. Ya'uzzu. It is also the same when it is spelt as Ya'azzu, it is said, Ardun Ezazun (extremely hard earth). It is also used to mean the height of respect and victory. This happens when the nominative verb is pronounced as Ya 'izzu. All these meanings are proved for the Revered and Magnificent Allah.


And Allah says: "Blessed is the Name of your Lord." This has been derived from Barakah (blessing) which means eternality of goodness and its abundance. And the meaning of Dhul-Jalal is One of magnificence and greatness and this is the Only Allah Whom no one is greater than. And Ikraam means the One Who is so revered as He deserves. It has also been stated that it means the One Who gives all forms of honor to His virtuous slaves in this world and the Hereafter. Allah knows better.


And Allah says, "So worship Him and be constant...." This noble verse consists of a number of negative attributes such as the negation of there being an equivalent, a son, a companion to help in lowliness and want, etc. But it has positive attributes too, such as lordship, praise, control, greatness and blessedness.