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li-lladhīna lā yuʾminūna bi-l-ʾākhirati mathalu s-sawʾi wa-li-llāhi l-mathalu l-ʾaʿlā wa-huwa l-ʿazīzu l-ḥakīmu
There is an evil description for those who do not believe in the Hereafter, and the loftiest description belongs to Allah, and He is the All-mighty, the All-wise.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah An-Nahl – Verse 60
60. “For those who do not believe in the hereafter, is an evil attribute, and Allah’s is the sublime attributes, and He is the Mighty, the Wise.”
Those who do not believe in the Hereafter and consider Allah as having children possess an evil and nasty attribute, which consist of shamefulness and being sorrowful. But, there are outstanding qualities for Allah such as domination and might. Some commentators suggest that this means that they are having defective traits, like: ignorance, blasphemy, being misled, contingency, weakness, powerlessness, needing sons and murdering of daughters; and there are certain qualifications of Lordship for Allah (s.w.t.) such as: having no need for companionship, spouse, children, and having the attributes of Lordship, authenticity and monotheistic nature.
Question: In this holy verse, He declares:
“…Allah’s is the sublime attributes,”
Elsewhere He says:
“…do not coin any similitude for Allah”. 9
How are contradictions among them made possible? Answer: The aim in declaring /’am al/ is using ‘similes’. That is, do not exemplify Allah for something else; and the purpose of /maal-ul-’A‘la/ is the qualification of /’A‘la/ ‘the highest’ or the ‘most elevated’ and which signifies being essential in essence and not accidental; being Eternal, All-powerful, Omniscient, Alive, Unique etc. Some commentators claim that the objective of /maal-ul-’A‘la/ is examples which are used correctly; and the objective of the latter phrase is ‘those examples which are incorrectly employed.’
The verse says:
“For those who do not believe in the hereafter, is an evil attribute, and Allah’s is the sublime attributes…”
And, the last sentence of the verse means that Omnipotent Allah is He out of Whose domain, nothing exists, and He is the Wise One Who places everything in its proper place according to His Wisdom. The verse says:
“…and He is the Mighty, the Wise.”
One can infer from this verse that one must not attribute low traits to Allah, for He has criticized of the pagans who attributed to Him what they did not like for themselves. Once man abhors being attributed an evil thing, how is it that he seeks to attribute that hideous thing or the like of it to Allah?
Footnotes