The Problem of Divine Attributes
The Quranic predicates: Allah is described in the Quran as: ‘Alim (All-Knowing), Qadir (All-Powerful), Hayy (Living), Sami’ (All-Hearing), Basir (All-Seeing), Mutakallim (Speaking), Murid (Willing). These are the “Seven Essential Attributes” in classical theology. Additionally, Allah has the Beautiful Names (al-Asma’ al-Husna): “To Allah belong the Most Beautiful Names, so invoke Him by them.” (7:180)
The Mu’tazilite solution: The Mu’tazilites denied the reality of distinct divine attributes — saying Allah’s knowledge is His essence, His power is His essence, etc. Attributes are not real additions to the divine essence; they are verbal descriptions of the one undivided Reality. This protects tawhid by preventing any multiplication of eternal realities alongside Allah.
The Ash’ari solution: Abu al-Hasan al-Ash’ari affirmed real, distinct attributes subsisting in the divine essence — but insisted they are unlike human attributes (laysat ka-sifat al-makhluqin). How they subsist, how they differ from the essence — this is affirmed without specification (bi-la kayf).
See also: Tawhid Divine Unity, Ilm Al Kalam, Aqida Islamic Creed
The Ismaili Apophatic Tradition
Radical tanzih (incomparability): The Ismaili theological tradition — drawing on Neoplatonic influence and the internal logic of tawhid — pushes to the most radical position: not only is Allah unlike creation in His attributes; ultimately, no positive predicate can be applied to Allah without qualification. Even “existence” (wujud) cannot be predicated of Allah in the way existence is predicated of created things — for “existence” as we know it is the existence of limited, contingent, composite things. Allah’s “existence” is so unlike the existence of anything else that to say “Allah exists” risks misleading more than illuminating.
The via negativa: The Ismaili philosopher Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani developed this via negativa (the negative way) systematically: we cannot say Allah is one (for oneness implies a relationship with the many); we cannot say Allah is knowing (for knowledge implies a known object distinct from the knower); we cannot say Allah is good (for goodness implies a standard external to Allah). Every positive statement about Allah imports limitations.
The Imam as locus of positive attributes: The resolution the Ismaili tradition offers: positive descriptions are appropriately applied not to the divine essence but to the Imam — the mazhar (locus of manifestation) of divine attributes in the world. The Imam is the one of whom we can say: “the Guide,” “the Witness,” “the Proof” — because these are his real functions in relation to the creation.
See also: Ismaili Philosophy, Tawil Esoteric Interpretation, Hamid Al Kirmani
The Ninety-Nine Names
The Beautiful Names (al-Asma’ al-Husna): The Quran declares: “To Allah belong the most beautiful names.” (7:180) — traditionally counted as 99 by the hadith: “Allah has 99 names — whoever memorizes them enters Paradise.” (Bukhari/Muslim)
The Ismaili ta’wil of the Names: In Ismaili thought, the divine Names are not descriptions of the hidden divine essence but of the divine’s action and effect in the world. Al-Rahman (the Merciful) describes the flowing of divine mercy to creation; al-Rahim (the Compassionate) describes its specific application to the believer. The Names are the divine’s self-disclosure in its relationship to creation — the tajalli (self-disclosure) through which the hidden divine enters into relationship with created beings.
See also: Imamah, Wali Al Asr, Fayd, Al Huda
See also: Tawhid Divine Unity, Ilm Al Kalam, Aqida Islamic Creed, Ismaili Philosophy, Tawil Esoteric Interpretation, Hamid Al Kirmani, Imamah, Wali Al Asr, Fayd, Al Huda