Exalted is He:

“The work of Allah, who has perfected all things”;

and His words, Exalted is He:

“And We have certainly written in the Psalms”;

“And We wrote for him on the Tablets concerning all things.”

Would any Muslim deem it permissible to attribute to his Lord the distinctive characteristics of a human builder, maker, writer, or worker? Or would he deem it permissible to deny Him the reality of working and building in a manner unique to Him and befitting His majesty? Or would he deem it permissible to say, “These expressions do not bear their apparent meanings”? Or must he instead say, “Each one’s work accords with his nature. Just as His essence is unlike the essences of His creatures, His working, making, and building are unlike their working, making, and building”?

When we say, “So-and-so built,” or “So-and-so wrote,” we understand the exertion involved in his work and the effects it has upon him only through our knowledge of the builder’s condition—not from the expression alone, namely, the verb and what it signifies through its particular attribution to a specific agent. This will clarify much that many people find difficult and show you where confusion arises in many matters of this kind.

May Allah guide us and our fellow Muslims to the words and deeds He loves and is pleased with. May He unite our hearts upon His religion, which He has chosen for Himself and with which He sent His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all worlds, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgment. May Allah bestow blessings and abundant peace upon Muhammad, the possessor of the Basin to which people will come, and upon his family and Companions.