All praise is due to Allah, and may blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
Affirming the attributes with which Allah has described Himself, and with which His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, has described Him, does not entail any imperfection or constraint. His freedom from injustice is part of His perfection; it does not result from an external restriction imposed upon Him. As for the term “limit” (ḥadd), neither its affirmation nor its negation occurs in the Qur’an or Sunnah. Understanding scholars’ statements about it requires knowing the meaning they intended.
Allah’s attributes are affirmed as they appear in revelation
Allah possesses the most exalted attributes, such as life, knowledge, power, hearing, sight, speech, wisdom, mercy, love, and everything else with which He has described Himself or His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, has described Him.
It is not valid to reject these attributes on the assumption that every being possessing attributes must be limited. This assumption is not a valid basis for denying what revelation affirms. Likewise, the scholars reported to have denied a “limit” did not thereby intend to deny Allah’s attributes or claim that affirming them contradicts His perfection.
The fundamental principle in this matter is to affirm what the revealed texts state, without making mental constructs the authority by which those texts are judged.
What is meant by affirming or denying a “limit”?
According to the fatwa, the expression “Allah is not limited” does not occur in the Qur’an or Sunnah, nor has it been transmitted from the Companions or their Successors. Some leading scholars denied a “limit,” while others affirmed it, and reports conveying both positions have been transmitted from Imam Aḥmad.
Among those reported to have denied it are Abū Ḥātim and Al-Khaṭṭābī. Among those reported to have affirmed it are Ibn al-Mubārak, Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh, ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd al-Dārimī, and others.
The fatwa explains their intended meanings as follows:
These expressions should therefore not be understood apart from their speakers’ intended meanings. According to this explanation, all of them affirm Allah’s attributes and do not make discussion of a “limit” a reason to deny them.
Can a real being without attributes be conceived?
The fatwa maintains that every real being must possess attributes, foremost among them existence. Conceiving of a being with absolutely no attributes is merely a mental abstraction that does not correspond to anything actually existing outside the mind.
Accordingly, attempting to deny all attributes of Allah on the grounds of declaring Him free from limitation does not achieve the intended affirmation of His transcendence. Rather, according to the argument presented in the fatwa, it ultimately negates a real existence possessing perfection.
Affirming the attributes therefore does not contradict declaring Allah free from imperfections. What is required is to affirm the attributes of perfection established in the revealed texts.
Allah’s freedom from injustice does not mean that He is subject to a constraint
Allah does not commit injustice, and He has forbidden injustice for Himself. This is not because anyone has prevented or compelled Him. Rather, He does whatever He wills, and no one imposes a ruling upon Him.
This reveals the error in claiming that His freedom from injustice makes Him limited. Such a claim assumes that refraining from injustice can only result from inability or coercion, which is an incorrect assumption. Allah has informed His servants of what He has chosen for Himself, including forbidding injustice and willing ease for them rather than hardship, out of His grace and generosity.
Allah says:
“He is not questioned about what He does, but they will be questioned.” [Al-Anbiyāʾ 21:23]
The attributes must not be rejected on the basis of imagined implications
It is not valid to object to Allah’s established attributes by claiming that they entail imperfection or constraint without evidence that such an implication is valid.
In his biography of Sultan Maḥmūd ibn Sabuktakīn, Al-Dhahabī reports that the sultan responded to an objection concerning describing Allah as being above His creation by saying: “I am not the one who described Him that way, such that the objection should fall upon me; rather, He described Himself.” See Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (17/487).
The point is to give precedence to what Allah says about Himself over the mental conceptions used to oppose it. Allah says:
“Say: Do you know better, or does Allah?” [Al-Baqarah 2:140]
Conclusion
Allah’s established attributes are attributes of perfection. Neither affirming them nor declaring Him free from injustice entails that He is constrained or subject to an external restriction. The term “limit” must be understood according to the speaker’s intended meaning, and it must not be made a basis for denying the attributes stated in the Qur’an and Sunnah.
And Allah knows best.