and declared free of evil.”

Abū Ubayda Ma‘mar ibn al-Muthannā said: “Subhān Allah means declaring Allah transcendent and free of all imperfection.”

Muhammad ibn Ā’isha said: “When the Arabs disapprove of something and deem it grave, they say, ‘Subhān Allah,’ as though declaring Allah, Mighty and Majestic, free of every evil. He must not be described by anything other than His true attributes.”

Many reports conveying this meaning have been related from the early Muslims.

In his book Tahdhīb al-Lugha, al-Azharī cited more than one leading linguist who explained tasbīh in the foregoing sense. He then said: “The sum of its meaning is that He, Exalted is He, is far above having any likeness, partner, opposite, or rival.”1.

These earlier reports clarify the meaning of tasbīh and what is intended by it: declaring Allah, Mighty and Majestic, free of every deficiency and fault. Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyya—may Allah have mercy on him—said: “The command to glorify Him entails declaring Him free of every fault and evil, as well as affirming the praiseworthy qualities for which He is praised. It therefore entails declaring Him transcendent, praising Him, proclaiming His greatness, and affirming His oneness.”2. Here end his words—may Allah have mercy on him.

It thus becomes clear that glorifying Allah consists in declaring Him innocent and free of every evil and fault, while affirming for Him all praiseworthy qualities and attributes of perfection in a manner befitting Him. As for what the negators among the people of religious innovation—such as the Mu‘tazila and others—do by denying the attributes, refusing to affirm them, and rejecting their realities and meanings on the pretext that they