المعنى الاصطلاحي

The attributes that Allah denied for Himself in His Book or through His Messenger, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him.

الشرح المختصر

"Sifāt manfiyyah" (negated attributes) refer to all the attributes that Allah denied and exalted Himself above in the Qur’an or that His Messenger, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, negated from Him, such as sleeping, ignorance, inability, oppression, having a partner, and the like. These are called "sifāt salbiyyah" (negative attributes) or "sifāt as-saloob" (attributes of negativity). "Sifāt manfiyyah" are of two categories: 1. "Sifāt" that imply imperfection and deficiency such as blindness, ignorance, dumbness, and sleep. 2. "Sifāt" that resemble those of the creation, like (divine) knowledge that resembles the knowledge of created beings. Among the rules of Ahl-us-Sunnah wa al-Jamā‘ah regarding this issue is that the negation associated with Allah's "sifāt" is not an absolute one; rather, it is a negation coupled with affirmation of the perfectness of the opposite of those "sifāt" that imply imperfection. That is, He is described with perfect praiseworthy "sifāt" and wise actions. For example, negating the "sifah" (attribute) of injustice implies affirmation of Allah's perfect justice. Also, the negation of tiredness implies affirmation of the perfect power and ability of Allah, the Exalted, and so on. Negation is not attached to Allah's "sifāt" except on a general basis, or on a specific basis on account of a given reason. That is because the "sifāt" of negation do not imply perfection unless they imply affirmation, because mere negation denotes non-existence, which means nothing. So, it involves neither praise nor commendation.