is that which can be pointed to or that which subsists in itself; in his terminology, “substance” means the indivisible atom. In ordinary Arabic, the term rendered “accident” means something that appears and passes away, as Allah Most High says:

“They take the fleeting gains of this lowly world.”

In the technical usage of speculative theology, however, “accident” may mean anything that subsists in something else, without qualification, or it may mean the attributes that subsist in a body. Outside this terminology, it has other meanings.

It is well known that the position of the early generations, the leading imams, and Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamā‘ah generally is to affirm Allah’s attributes: that He has knowledge, power, life, and speech. They call these attributes. Some of them say: “They are attributes, not accidents, because an accident does not persist for two successive moments, whereas these endure.” Others say: “Rather, they may be called accidents, because an accident may endure. The claim that no accident persists for two successive moments is weak. If enduring attributes are called accidents, then these may also be called accidents.” Still others say: “I do not use that designation,” holding that such usage must be grounded in revelation.

There are two well-known views on whether Allah may be called by a term whose meaning is sound according to language, reason, and revelation, even if neither a scriptural text nor consensus sanctions its use, or whether only terms sanctioned by a scriptural text or consensus may be used. Most speculative thinkers use terms for which there is neither a scriptural text nor consensus sanctioning their use, such as “eternal” and “essence”