Philosophy and Logic

The idea of a purpose has no meaning for God, who knows the beginning and end of all things, and for whom the unseen and the seen are one and the same. Purpose applies to beings endowed with free will, whose duties lead them toward an end. For such creatures, purpose is realised through God’s prescriptions; these prescriptions are God’s way of bringing about what He wills in the realm of human choice. Humankind and the jinn were created to worship the Almighty, and fulfilling this purpose of servitude defines the aim of their creation.

To compare God with His creatures—in His existence, attributes, the way a name applies to Him, or His nature—is to associate partners with Him. Likewise, denying God’s power or attributing to Him things He has forbidden is considered disbelief. These hadiths emphasise the necessity of affirming God’s oneness and avoiding both anthropomorphism and denial of His power.

Divine power extends to impossibilities and is not limited by human ability. Bringing the universe into existence from nothing, placing the world inside an egg without changing their dimensions, and transcending time and space are examples of what God can accomplish. It is mistaken to compare divine power with human power; understanding it requires looking beyond time and space.

God’s power is unlimited, is identical with His essence, and is free from every defect and imperfection. God is capable of doing all things; yet, because His essence is absolute beauty and perfection, He never does anything that entails evil or ugliness, or is futile and purposeless. Divine power operates within the bounds of wisdom, what is in the best interests of creation, justice, and benevolence.

The narration “Indeed, God, Blessed and Exalted, is beyond His creation, and His creation is beyond Him” means that there is no likeness between the Creator and the created. God is not like any created being, nor is any created being like God. Everything other than God is created, and God is the Creator of all things. We use the word “name” in speaking of God because created beings have no other way to relate to Him; it does not mean that God needs the attributes of created beings.