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Fatwa CenterElaboration required if one says Allaah's Attributes are 'other than' Him
Question
As-salaamu 3laikum, Are the names of Allah part of Allah or separate? Jazaakum Allahu khair
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
Ahlus-Sunnah do not make the generalization that the Names and Attributes of Allaah are separate or other than Him, nor do they make the generalization that they are not separate or not other than Him, because the terms "separate" or "other than" in this context are newly invented and do not occur in the revealed texts pertaining to the Divine Names and Attributes. The meaning is ambiguous and may be correct or false (depending on the intended meaning). Ahlus-Sunnah hold that such invented terms with general/ambiguous indications should be investigated first (before accepting their usage in relation to Allaah); they should neither be rejected nor affirmed except after the investigation of their meaning. The correct meaning is affirmed and the erroneous meaning is negated.
Ibn Taymiyyah 
wrote, "This is why the early Muslim generations and all the Imaams did not declare that the Quran and all the Attributes of Allaah to be 'other than' Him, nor did they declare that they are not other than Him. That is because the indication of the terms 'other than' is general/ambiguous; it could indicate the meaning 'detached' or 'separate', and accordingly, it would mean that all or part of the attribute belonging to the object of qualification are not included in the "other". (On the other hand) it could mean something conceivable, without conceiving something apart from the other. This is why the adherents of philosophical speculation (Ahl An-Nathar) disagreed about the use of the term 'other than' in this context. The difference in opinion revolved around the linguistic indication of the terms; however, this difference of opinion gave rise to a number of misconceptions with relation to the Divine Attributes that cannot be eliminated except with careful investigation of the linguistic indication of the terms in order to clear all potential ambiguities, as explained in detail in other works.
This is why a differentiation is made between saying: 'the Attributes are other than the Essence,' and saying 'the Attributes of Allaah are other than Allaah.' The latter is false because the name ‘Allaah’ includes His Attributes, unlike the ‘Essence', which does not include His Attributes. This is why it cannot be said that the Attributes of Allaah are additional to Allaah, even though it is said that the Attributes are additional to the Essence, because the intended meaning is that the Attributes are additional to the affirmed Divine Essence which exists without the Attributes. On the contrary, the Divine Essence is qualified with those Attributes which are inseparable from it. Neither the Attributes are without the Essence, nor is the Essence without the Attributes."
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Amaan 
said: "The question: Are the Attributes additional to the Essence or are they other than the Essence or not? This is another example of the invented discourse introduced by the adherents of Kalaam (scholastic theology). Early Muslim scholars never used such discourse. Rather, they disliked using ambiguous/general language such as this, because of their desire to adhere to the revealed texts and not to go beyond them for such important purposes related to Allaah. However, late scholars started to engage in such discourse with the scholars of Kalaam to defend and preserve the correct Islamic creed. They said that if the intended meaning of saying that the Attribute is other than or additional to the Essence is that the Essence exists separately from the Attribute, this is false. But if the intended meaning is that the Attributes are additional to the Essence in the sense that the Essence has a different meaning than the meaning of the Attribute and that the concept of the Attributes is additional to the concept of the Essence but they are inseparable from the Essence, this is correct. However, it should not be used except in case of necessity and it should be elaborated and clearly explained; otherwise, it is useless vain discourse." [As-Sifaat Al-Ilaahiyyah]
Allaah Knows best.
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