Nothing can thwart Him—glorified and exalted is He—and this is a refutation of the anthropomorphists, who maintain that Allah is like His creation and make no distinction between Creator and creature. Their doctrine is false.

Opposite them stand the negators, who went to extremes in declaring transcendence until they denied the very names and attributes Allah affirmed for Himself, claiming thereby to avoid resemblance.

Both factions exceeded the bounds: the negators in their excessive transcendence and denial of similarity, and the anthropomorphists in their excessive affirmation. Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah have taken the middle path: they affirm for Allah whatever He affirmed for Himself in a manner befitting His majesty, without likening Him to creation and without stripping Him of His attributes, in accordance with His statement, “There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing” (Q 42: 11). The clause “There is nothing like Him” negates anthropomorphism, while “and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing” negates denial. This is the creed of the people of Sunnah and the Community.

Hence the saying: “The one who negates the attributes worships nothingness; the one who likens Allah to creation worships an idol; the true monotheist worships a single God, unique and eternal.”

The passage also affirms the perfection of His power. Allah says, “He is capable of all things” (Q 5: 120); He says, “Allah has ever been All-Powerful over everything” (Q 18: 45); and He says, “Indeed, He has always been All-Knowing, All-Powerful” (Q 35: 44).

Al-Qadīr (the All-Powerful) denotes the One whose power is absolute; His power—glorified and exalted be He—