All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
Allah Almighty is perfect in power, and nothing among possible things is beyond His ability. His power does not relate to what is intrinsically impossible, because a rational impossibility is not an existing thing for power to relate to. As for what is ordinarily impossible but intrinsically possible, Allah Almighty is able to do it, and He has made whatever He willed of such things into miracles, extraordinary favors, and signs.
Whoever reflects upon the creation of the heavens and the earth, the greatness of the creatures within them, and the precision of their order will know that Allah Almighty has power over all things.
Allah says:
“I did not make them witness the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor the creation of themselves.”
[Al-Kahf 18:51]
And He informs us of His power:
“Indeed, Allah has power over all things.”
Allah’s power is not limited by inability, is not affected by deficiency, and does not resemble the power of created beings.
Allah Almighty says:
“His command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.”
[Ya-Sin 36:82]
This demonstrates the perfection of His power and the immediate effectiveness of His command. It does not mean that Allah Almighty needs a means or cause in order to be capable of creating. Allah is free of need from His creation and does not need anything from among His creatures.
As for details that have not been mentioned in revelation—such as asking about the precise manner in which every individual thing is created, or whether Allah creates something without saying “Be”—one should not go to excess in investigating them. We did not witness the creation of the heavens and the earth, and Allah has not informed us of every detail concerning how creation takes place.
A distinction should be made between what is ordinarily impossible and what is intrinsically impossible.
What is ordinarily impossible is something that does not normally occur but is possible in itself, such as a human being flying through the air without a means, a person remaining in a fire without being burned, the sea splitting apart, or Allah bringing the dead back to life.
These things are not intrinsically impossible. Rather, they are extraordinary events that go beyond the usual course of nature. Allah Almighty is capable of them, and He has caused whatever He willed of such events to occur as signs and miracles at the hands of His Prophets.
Allah says concerning Ibrahim (Abraham), peace be upon him:
“We said, ‘O fire, be coolness and safety upon Abraham.’”
[Al-Anbiya’ 21:69]
As for what is intrinsically impossible, it is something whose existence is impossible in itself and which contains an inherent contradiction.
Two opposites are two things that cannot coexist in the same subject, at the same time, and in the same respect, such as whiteness and blackness in one and the same thing from the same perspective.
If it is asked: Can Allah make something white and black at the same time and in the same respect?
The question itself involves combining two contradictory descriptions in one and the same respect. It is not referring to a real thing that can exist and then asking whether Allah’s power extends to it.
Likewise, if someone asks whether Allah can make one person inside and outside the house at the same time and in the same respect, this is not an existing thing to which power could relate. Rather, it is a mental conception of something whose external existence is impossible.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, explained that what is intrinsically impossible is not a thing at all. Therefore, it does not fall under Allah’s statement:
“And He has power over all things.”
Power relates to possible things, whereas that which is intrinsically impossible is not a thing that can exist for power to relate to.
No.
Saying that divine power does not relate to what is intrinsically impossible does not imply any inability in Allah’s power. Rather, it means that the question itself is based on an invalid assumption.
For example, “creating another god identical to Allah” is not something possible that Allah is then unable to do. Rather, it is intrinsically impossible because the true God cannot, by definition, be created.
Likewise, “creating a circular square in the same respect and with the same meaning” is not a possible thing about which it could be said that Allah is unable to do it.
One is not described as incapable of nothingness or a non-thing.
Questions like these can turn into an endless cycle of hypothetical intellectual puzzles, whereas it is more appropriate for the believer to reflect upon the observable signs of Allah’s power within himself and throughout the universe.
Allah says:
“And in yourselves. Will you not then see?”
[Adh-Dhariyat 51:21]
The creation of human beings, the heavens and the earth, the alternation of night and day, and the precision of the universe’s order are all clear signs of the greatness of Allah’s power.
When troubling thoughts arise, a person should not continue following them endlessly. Rather, he should return to the Qur’an and Sunnah, learn the sound foundations of belief, and distinguish between what is possible in itself and what is intrinsically impossible.
Allah Almighty has power over all things, and His power is perfect, without any inability or deficiency.
And Allah knows best.