Sifats Ma'ani (RT 6/1/08)

Risalah Tauhid 6 Jan 2008

10. Al-Hayat

Means God is alive. He is alive but does not breathe and is not in composition of the 4 elements (water, fire, earth and wind). He is in no need of eat or drink..

Al-Hayat is an attribute that had no beginning and has no ending. This sifat forms a basis for the other 6 sifats (some already discussed, some are not):

• Al-Qudrah
• Al-Iradah
• Al-‘Ilm
• As-Sama’
• Al-Basor
• Al-Kalam

Al-Hayat and the 6 attributes are collectively known as “Sifats Ma’ani”.

Said Ustaz Zakaria: God composed men from 4 elements: fire, water, earth, and wind.

11. As-Sama’

God hears without ears. This eternal sifat means God hears clearly whether an object has existed once, still exists, or will exist only in the future.

Nothing escapes His hearing:

• His hearing penetrates through walls and prevails over noise.
• He hears things that emanate sound or things that are silent.
• His hearing does not diminish due to distance or loudness.

When one is aware of “As-Sama’”, one becomes self-consious on what appropriate to say. Things to say should be in accordance with one’s belief. This is manifestation of true faith.

Said Ustaz Zakaria:

• Making “taqlid jazmi” means that one has faith in Allah, but the faith comes by following others (trend, fashion). This person never learned Allah’s sifats in detail. However, if those he followed waver from their faith, he still upholds his.
• Some ulama say “taqlid jazmi” is already valid, but some others don’t agree.
• Evident (zahir) aspect is a manifestation of the hidden (batin). From this we can deduce that someone who misbehaves means his faith is lacking.
• Jurispundence (syari’ah) is not separable from inner-truth (haqiqah). This is the rule in tasauf.

Wallahu a'lam