Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
Allah, Most High, has always been described by attributes of perfection, including mercy. He did not acquire an attribute after having been without it. He, Glorified and Exalted, does whatever He wills and has never been incapable of acting. We worship Allah through His sacred Essence, which is characterized by His Beautiful Names and Lofty Attributes. His Essence and His Attributes should not be treated as two separate alternatives, one of which is chosen for worship.
Pre-eternity means existence without a beginning. The eternity of Allah’s attributes means that He has always been characterized by perfection and that He did not attain perfection after deficiency, nor acquire an attribute after previously being without it.
Imam al-Tahawi said:
“He has always been, with His attributes, eternal before creating them. Their existence did not add anything to His attributes that was not already present before them. And just as He has always been eternal with His attributes, He will remain everlasting with them.”
See: Sharh al-‘Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah, p. 124.
The existence of creation did not give Allah a new attribute, nor did it complete something that had been deficient. Rather, He was perfect before creating them and independent of them. His mercy is among the attributes of His perfection with which He has always been characterized.
This fatwa establishes that Allah has always possessed both attributes of Essence and attributes related to His actions, and that He does whatever He wills eternally and forever. Allah says:
“Indeed, your Lord does whatever He wills.” [Hud: 107]
Speech is an example. Allah has always been One who speaks when He wills; He did not acquire the ability to speak after previously lacking it. The same applies to creation: He did not acquire the attribute of creating after having been incapable of it.
What is meant is the continuity of His perfection and action, not that every particular action or every individual created thing is eternal. Actions connected to His will occur as He wills, while He has always been capable of acting and characterized by perfection.
Therefore, it is incorrect to imagine that He was incapable of acting and then began to possess the attribute of action, or that He needed the existence of this world in order to be a perfect Creator.
Ibn al-Qayyim explained that the Names and Attributes of Allah have effects that appear in His creation. Creation, provision, kindness, forgiveness, reward, and punishment all contain indications of His knowledge, wisdom, mercy, justice, and other attributes of perfection.
The universe, with everything in it, is therefore a field in which the effects of these attributes become manifest and a sign that calls people to know their Lord and reflect upon His wisdom and kindness.
Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned that the creation of a servant, the occurrence of sin, followed by repentance and forgiveness, demonstrates the effects of Allah’s forbearance, pardon, and generosity. He cited the saying of the Prophet ﷺ:
“If you did not sin, Allah would replace you with people who would sin and then seek forgiveness, and He would forgive them.”
See: Madarij al-Salikin, 3/369–370.
The appearance of the effects of Allah’s attributes does not mean that Allah needs His creation. Rather, He created them according to His perfection and wisdom, not to acquire through them a perfection that He previously lacked.
Allah says:
“And Allah is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy.” [Fatir: 15]
Ibn ‘Uthaymin explained that Allah does not act out of need or compulsion, unlike human beings, who may work to obtain a benefit they need or to prevent harm from themselves.
Creation is in need of His provision, mercy, and management, whereas He is perfect in every circumstance. The creature’s need for Allah’s actions does not mean that Allah needs the creature.
Ibn ‘Uthaymin summarized this meaning by explaining that reason itself indicates the perfection of the Creator, and the perfect does not need something to complete Him. See: Sharh as-Saffariniyyah, pp. 321–322.
The fatwa connects this issue to the continuity of Allah’s actions and quotes Salih Al ash-Shaykh as explaining that Allah’s creation is not limited to the world we observe; there may be other kinds of creation and other worlds besides it.
The point is that the beginning of this particular world does not mean that Allah’s attributes of creating and acting began at that time. He is the First with His attributes; whatever He wills comes to be, and whatever He does not will does not come to be.
See: Sharh at-Tahawiyyah by Salih Al ash-Shaykh, p. 61.
This does not require us to determine details about worlds that the revealed texts have not explained. Rather, it clarifies that Allah’s perfection and actions do not depend on the created things that we observe.
This question assumes a separation between Allah’s Essence and His Attributes, whereas His attributes are inseparable from His Essence.
There is no true essence that is completely devoid of every attribute. The mind may distinguish between discussing the Essence and discussing His attributes for the purpose of understanding and explanation, without this implying that they are actually separate.
Accordingly, we worship Allah, Glorified and Exalted, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate, the Sovereign, the Most Holy, who possesses all attributes of perfection. We do not worship attributes that are separate from Him, nor do we worship an imagined essence stripped of attributes.
Allah has always been characterized by perfection. His mercy and all His other attributes are not forms of perfection that He acquired after deficiency. His actions occur according to His will, without any need for creation. The One worshipped is Allah in His sacred Essence, characterized by His Beautiful Names and Lofty Attributes. There is therefore no contradiction between worshipping Him and believing in His attributes.
And Allah knows best.