المعنى الاصطلاحي

Allah, the Exalted, being the sole Creator, Inventor, and Producer of things; He alone causes them to exist, after they were non-existent, by His Will and Capability.

الشرح المختصر

"At-Ta’theer" (influence) is not mentioned in the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah"s peace and blessings be upon him. It is a general term and a common name. It may refer to being the exclusive Creator and the sole Inventor. It refers to the influence attributed to the Exalted Lord and is to be used in the context of giving information about Allah, the Exalted. It means the creation of something, producing it, and causing it to be existent. It is used in this sense strictly to inform about Allah, the Exalted. Hence, it is not valid to derive a name or attribute of Allah therefrom, since it was not reported in the Qur’an or the Sunnah. Referring to Allah"s influence in His creation as action, work, creation, initiation, fashioning, and bringing into being is something that was recurrently reported from the Prophets, peace be upon them, and is agreed upon by a multitude of men of reason. However, it is invalid to use it in this sense to describe the ability of humans. The "Mu‘tazilah" argue that man creates the action of himself; thereby, they affirm the influence in this sense to man"s ability, which is an invalid claim. Philosophers adopted an invalid interpretation of the term "ta’theer," that led them to adopt the view that the world is eternal. This is one of the invalid interpretations that should not be used in defining the term under discussion. The term could also mean that the action"s coming out from nonexistence to existence was caused by the mediation of the originated power. That is, the created power acts as a cause and means for Allah, the Exalted, to create actions with such a power, like His creation of plants from water, and His creation of all causes and created beings through means and causes; and this is true. Thus, it becomes clear that the term in the sense of creation and invention is a concept that is exclusive to Allah, the Exalted. The stance of Ahl-us-Sunnah in regards to it is to neither affirm nor deny it, given the fact that it is not reported in the Qur’an or the Sunnah. They make extensive research on its meaning, and if they find that it agrees with the true meaning, they affirm it, otherwise, they negate it.

التعريف اللغوي المختصر

"Ta’theer": leaving an effect on something. "Athar": a mark on something, which proves the existence of what left the mark, e.g. the mark of a sword is its strike.

التعريف

To create and bring into existence. In this sense, it is a sign of God, the exalted, but neither noun nor adjective is derived from the same root, as neither occurs in the Qur'an or the sunnah.