The third kind is affirming His oneness—glorified and exalted be He—in His names and attributes. This kind of oneness rests on two principles:

The first is affirming that Allah, glorified and exalted be He, is free of any resemblance to created beings in their attributes, as He, the Exalted, says:

“There is nothing like unto Him” 1.

The second is believing in the attributes with which Allah has described Himself, or with which His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, has described Him, in a manner befitting His perfection and majesty. Thus, after saying, “There is nothing like unto Him,” He says:

“And He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing” 2.

This is coupled with relinquishing any hope of comprehending how He possesses these attributes. Allah, the Exalted, says:

“He knows what is before them and what is behind them, but they do not encompass Him in knowledge” 3.

We have already discussed this subject fully, explaining it through Quranic verses, in our discussion of Surah al-A‘rāf.

The glorious Quran frequently uses the disbelievers’ acknowledgment of His lordship—glorified and exalted be He—as proof against them that they must worship Him alone. Thus, when addressing them about His oneness in lordship, He poses questions intended to elicit their acknowledgment. Once they acknowledge His lordship, He uses this as proof against them that He alone deserves to be worshipped. He rebukes them, condemning their association of others with Him in worship despite their acknowledgment that He alone is the Lord; for whoever acknowledges that He alone is the Lord must also acknowledge that He alone deserves to be worshipped.

An example is His saying:

“Say, ‘Who provides for you from heaven and earth, or who controls hearing and sight?’” 4,

up to His words:

“They will say, ‘Allah.’”

Then, when they acknowledged His lordship,