Allah’s declaring Himself free of evil.

A hadith reported directly from the Prophet by a Successor has also been transmitted to this effect. This entails declaring Him free of committing evil deeds, just as it entails declaring Him free of blameworthy attributes. Negating imperfections necessarily entails affirming the attributes of perfection, which include His greatness, as Maymūn ibn Mihrān said:

“An expression by which Allah is magnified and declared free of evil.”

‘Abd ibn Humayd narrated:

Abū Nu‘aym narrated to us from Sufyān, from ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mawhab, from Mūsā ibn Talha, who said:

“The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked about glorifying Allah. He replied: ‘Declaring Him free of evil.’”

He also said: Al-Dahhāk ibn Makhlad narrated to us from Shabīb, from ‘Ikrima, from Ibn ‘Abbās, who explained “Subhāna Allāh” (Glory be to Allah) as declaring Him free of imperfection.

Kathīr ibn Hishām narrated to us from Ja‘far ibn Burqān, who narrated to us from Yazīd ibn al-Asamm, who said:

A man came to Ibn ‘Abbās and said: “‘There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah’—we understand this to mean that there is no deity worthy of worship except Him. ‘Praise be to Allah’—we understand this to mean that all blessings come from Him and that He is praised for them. ‘Allah is the Greatest’—we understand this to mean that nothing is greater than Him. But what does ‘Glory be to Allah’ mean?”

Ibn ‘Abbās replied: “What is there to question about it? It is an expression that Allah has approved for Himself, commanded His angels to utter, and to which the righteous among His creation have turned for refuge.”