3. The Salaf approve of the Attributes of Allah without making any

similarity between Allah's Attributes and those of mankind. Allah is unique and has no match, equal, partner or rival. Making a similarity between the Attributes of Allah and those of His creatures is null and void, since such a claimed similarity should be based on full knowledge of the essence and nature of Allah's Attributes. As the knowledge of the essence of Allah's attributes fully relies on the understanding of His own intrinsic nature, which is solely known by Him, it seems utterly impossible to realize the essence of His Sublime Attributes. Consequently, both Allah's Attributes and Nature are not similar in any way to those of any of His creatures. In this regard, Allah says, (~ .. There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing and the Seeing:' (Quran: Ash-Shftra: 11), i.e. no one is similar to Him in His nature, attributes or acts. Therefore, we must believe in Allah's Attributes as portrayed by Him Alone, since there is no one more cognizant of Allah's Names and Traits than Him Alone. He says: "... Are ),ou more knowing or is Allah?" (Quran: Al-Baqarah: 140) Similarly, we must believe in Allah's Attributes as depicted by the Prophet, for he is second only to Allah in knowing Allah's Sublime Attributes. Talking about His Messenger, Almighty Allah provides: ('Nor does he speak from [his own1 inclination. It is not but a revelation revealed:' (Quran: An-Najm: 3-4) Every legally accountable Muslim is thus obliged to believe in Allah's Best Names and Sublime Attributes as depicted by Him and His Messenger. Every Muslim is also obliged to refrain from comparing Allah's Attributes to any ofthose of His creatures. Similarly, whosoever dares to disapprove of Allah's Sublime Attributes, which He and His Messenger have assigned, by claiming that such Attributes are not appropriate for Allah, though they are depicted by Him, is not regarded as a believer. Likewise, how should we regard as a believer the one who improperly misinterprets Allah's Attributes, falsely negates them or frequently refers to misconceived views ofphilosophers, as Jahmiyyah and Mutazilites do, instead of referring to the Quran or the Sunnah to understand their meanings!