المعنى الاصطلاحي

Self-essential meaning

الشرح المختصر

"Wasf" (attribute) refers to the self-essential attributes that distinguish Allah, the Exalted, and demonstrate the perfection, majesty, and supreme power of Allah to the slaves and help them obtain more knowledge about Him. The rule governing the ascription of any attribute to Allah, the Exalted, is that the attribute should be self-essential to Allah, not dependent on something else. Allah's attributes are of two types: 1. Attributes of Essence: are self-essential attributes and meaning like life, might, hearing, etc. 2. Attributes of Acts: are acts He provides, like sustenance, creation, raising, and bringing down. Describing Him with an action entails that the action is an essential attribute, exactly like describing Him using the meaning. Since Allah, the Exalted, is described as being the All-Knowing, the Almighty, the Living, etc., this requires the existence of knowledge, might, and life in Him. Likewise, describing Him as the Creator, the Sustainer, the One Who puts something forward or cause something to delay requires the existence of those actions in Him, such as creation, sustaining, putting forward and causing to delay.

التعريف اللغوي المختصر

"Wasf" (pl. awsāf): attribute, adjective. Original meaning: adorning something. "Sifah": ornament. Other meanings: state, condition, sign, advantage, characteristic.