Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
The attributes of Allah are not established by unaided reason. Rather, their affirmation and negation are referred back to the Qur’an and Sunnah. Whatever Allah has affirmed for Himself, or His Messenger ﷺ has affirmed for Him, must be affirmed in a manner befitting Him. Whatever Allah has negated concerning Himself, or His Messenger ﷺ has negated concerning Him, must be negated, while affirming the perfection of its opposite when the revealed text indicates that. It is not a condition for every established attribute that we must first identify through our reason a negated opposite before affirming it.
The attributes of Allah may be classified in several ways. One such classification is into affirmative attributes and negative attributes.
Affirmative attributes are those that Allah has affirmed for Himself in His Book or that His Messenger ﷺ has affirmed for Him. All of them are attributes of perfection containing no imperfection whatsoever, such as life, knowledge, power, rising over the Throne, descending, the Face, the two Hands, and the like.
Negative attributes are those that Allah has negated concerning Himself or that His Messenger ﷺ has negated concerning Him. They are matters incompatible with His perfection, such as death, sleep, ignorance, forgetfulness, inability, and fatigue.
Mere negation is not, in itself, perfection, because pure nonexistence cannot be described as perfection. Therefore, negations found in the Qur’an and Sunnah generally include an affirmation of the perfection of the opposite.
Allah says:
“And rely upon the Ever-Living who does not die.” [Al-Furqan 25:58]
Negating death from Allah entails the perfection of His life.
Allah also says:
“And your Lord wrongs no one.” [Al-Kahf 18:49]
Negating injustice from Him entails the perfection of His justice.
And Allah says:
“And Allah is not such that anything in the heavens or on the earth could escape Him.” [Fatir 35:44]
Negating inability entails the perfection of His knowledge and power. Therefore, Allah says immediately afterward:
“Indeed, He is ever All-Knowing, All-Powerful.” [Fatir 35:44]
This shows that a negative attribute may imply more than one aspect of perfection.
The principle concerning the attributes of Allah is:
To affirm whatever Allah has affirmed for Himself, or His Messenger ﷺ has affirmed for Him, without distortion or denial, and without asking how or likening Him to His creation.
Likewise, whatever Allah has negated concerning Himself, or His Messenger ﷺ has negated concerning Him, is negated, while believing in the perfection of its opposite when this is indicated by the revealed texts.
Allah knows Himself better than His creation does, and His Messenger ﷺ knew his Lord better than anyone else. Therefore, reason alone cannot be made the judge in affirming or negating the attributes of Allah.
It is not permissible to negate an attribute that Allah has affirmed for Himself or that His Messenger ﷺ has affirmed for Him, because doing so constitutes denial of the divine attributes and rejection of what revelation has brought.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, explained that affirming one of two opposites necessarily entails negating the other. Thus, affirming life entails negating death, affirming power entails negating inability, and affirming self-sufficiency entails negating need.
However, this does not mean that a Muslim should affirm an attribute only after being able to identify its opposite through reason. The fundamental basis for affirmation and negation is the revealed text, not what reason is able to infer from the implications of the attributes.
Therefore, restricting Allah’s attributes to those whose negation appears to entail an obvious imperfection is not a correct methodology. The subject of Allah’s attributes is broader than that, and whatever is established by revelation must be accepted.
The attribute of the eye is one of the revealed attributes established by the texts. Its affirmation does not depend on a Muslim first searching for what rationally constitutes its opposite.
Allah says:
“So that you might be brought up under My Eye.” [Ta-Ha 20:39]
And He says:
“Sailing under Our Eyes.” [Al-Qamar 54:14]
It is also authentically reported that the Prophet ﷺ said when describing the Dajjal:
“Allah is not hidden from you; indeed, Allah is not one-eyed.” Narrated by al-Bukhari (7407).
In another narration:
“He is one-eyed, whereas your Lord is not one-eyed.” Narrated by al-Bukhari (7408).
Ahl al-Sunnah have cited these texts as evidence for affirming two Eyes for Allah, while declaring Him exalted above any resemblance to the eyes of created beings.
Thus, it is not necessary to say: “We must affirm the eye because we were first able to identify the imperfection that opposes it.” Rather, we say:
The eye is established for Allah by the revealed texts, so it must be affirmed in a manner befitting Him.
Although affirming the eye does not depend on knowing its opposite, the text itself negates one-eyedness from Allah. One-eyedness is an imperfection, and its negation indicates the perfection of what stands opposite to it.
For this reason, scholars have stated that the Prophet’s ﷺ words, “Your Lord is not one-eyed,” imply the perfection of sight and the soundness of both Eyes.
As for the true nature and manner of Allah’s Eyes, we do not know them, nor is it permissible to liken them to the eyes of created beings.
If the Qur’an and Sunnah are silent regarding affirming or negating something concerning Allah, and there is no sound rational proof requiring its affirmation or negation, then the basic principle is to withhold judgment and neither affirm nor negate it on our own.
The correct methodology is therefore: affirm what has been established, negate what has been negated, and withhold judgment regarding that for which no evidence has been revealed.
This protects the Muslim from entering into terminology and discussions for which there is no evidence, while also preventing the rejection of established attributes merely because one cannot identify an obvious rational opposite to them.
It is not a condition for affirming one of Allah’s attributes that we must rationally identify the attribute that opposes it. Rather, the fundamental basis is the authenticity of the revealed text. Whatever Allah has affirmed for Himself, or His Messenger ﷺ has affirmed for Him, must be affirmed. Whatever Allah or His Messenger ﷺ has negated must be negated, while affirming the perfection of the opposite when indicated by the revealed text.
Accordingly, the attribute of the eye is established for Allah by the revealed texts, and its affirmation does not depend on reason deriving an opposing attribute of imperfection. Nevertheless, the Sunnah’s negation of one-eyedness entails the perfection of sight and the soundness of both Eyes. All of this is affirmed in a manner befitting Allah, without resemblance or asking how.
And Allah knows best.