interpreted (الأَوَّل)
العقيدة
التعريف :
A term used by Khalīl, a well-known Mālikī scholar, in his al-Mukhtaṣar, to refer to the fact that the scholars who commented on al-Mudawwanah differed in their understanding of some parts of it.
المعنى الاصطلاحي :
The First, Who was not preceded by anything and was not accompanied by anything, and there was no non-existence prior to Him.
الشرح المختصر :
"Al-Awwal" (the First) is one of the Perfect and Beautiful Names of Allah that are clearly established in the Qur’an and the Sunnah. It means the first of all things, whose existence had no beginning and was not preceded by non-existence. This is a special attribute of Allah Almighty that no one shares with Him in terms of Time and Attributes; i.e. He is the first in time (He preceded everyone and everything in time), and He is the foremost in the perfectness of His attributes. None of His creation can ever approach or equal Him in any of His attributes as He alone possesses all glory and perfection.
التعريف اللغوي المختصر :
"Al-Awwal": the first and foremost. Opposite: "Al-Aakhir" (the last). Other meaning: the start of something.