Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
Allah Almighty is capable of every possible thing, and nothing can render Him incapable. However, His power does not relate to intrinsically impossible things that involve contradiction or deficiency, because such things are not genuinely possible realities in the first place.
According to what this fatwa establishes, the incarnation of Allah in human form or His indwelling in a created being contradicts His perfection and His transcendence above resemblance to His creation. Therefore, it is not said that this is among the possible things to which divine power relates.
One of the fundamental principles of Islamic belief is that nothing is like Allah Almighty.
Allah says:
“There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”
[Ash-Shūrā: 11]
And He says:
“And there is none comparable to Him.”
[Al-Ikhlāṣ: 4]
And He says:
“Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, so worship Him and remain steadfast in His worship. Do you know of anyone comparable to Him?”
[Maryam: 65]
These texts indicate that Allah is exalted above resemblance and equivalence and that He is not like created beings.
Allah states in many places that He is capable of all things.
But what is meant by “thing” here is something whose existence is possible.
As for something that is self-contradictory, it is not even called a possible thing such that one would ask whether Allah is able to do it or not.
For example, a thing cannot at the same moment both exist and not exist in the same respect, because this is not a possible reality but a contradiction in expression.
For this reason, Ibn Taymiyyah said:
“As for what is intrinsically impossible, such as one and the same thing being both existent and nonexistent, it has no reality, its existence cannot be conceived, and it is not called a thing by agreement of rational people.”
And Ibn al-Qayyim said:
“Because the impossible is not a thing, power does not relate to it. Allah is capable of every thing, and no possible thing whatsoever lies outside His power.”
Thus, the fact that divine power does not relate to the impossible does not mean any deficiency in Allah’s power, because the impossible is not something that could possibly exist such that failing to bring it into existence would amount to inability.
According to the fatwa, saying that Allah becomes a human being or indwells in a human being involves attributing the characteristics of creation to the Creator.
A human being is a limited created being who is born, becomes hungry and thirsty, has needs, and may experience pain, illness, and death.
Allah Almighty, however, is the Creator, the Self-Sufficient, the Perfect.
Allah says:
“O mankind, you are those in need of Allah, while Allah is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy.”
[Fāṭir: 15]
It is not part of perfect power that the Perfect should become deficient, that the Creator should become a created being, or that contradictory attributes should be combined in a single reality in a manner in which their coexistence is impossible.
No.
There is a major difference between saying:
“Allah is incapable of doing something possible,”
and saying:
“This matter is not possible in the first place.”
Islam affirms absolute and perfect power for Allah, and nothing that can possibly exist is beyond His ability.
As for questions based on intrinsic contradiction, such as:
“Can Allah create another god like Himself?”
this is not a test of power, because a created god is not a god. Being created contradicts being an uncreated deity.
Likewise, the famous question:
“Can Allah create a rock that He cannot lift?”
combines two contradictions: absolute power and absolute inability at the same time.
The problem is therefore in the formulation of the question, not in Allah’s power.
It may be said:
Allah’s power is perfect and nothing can render Him incapable, but divine power relates to possible things, not to contradictions and intrinsic impossibilities. Islam affirms that nothing is like Allah and that He is the Creator, the Self-Sufficient, the Perfect. Therefore, He does not become a limited created being nor indwell in a human being. This is not inability; rather, it belongs to Allah’s perfection and His transcendence above deficiency.
It may further be clarified that saying, “Allah is capable of all things,” does not mean attributing deficiencies to Him. Allah is Powerful and is not described with inability; He is Living and is not described with death; He is Knowing and is not described with ignorance.
A distinction must be made between incarnation or indwelling in a human being and what is reported in the Sunnah concerning Allah’s descent.
According to the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah as presented in the fatwa, Allah’s descent as reported by the Prophet ﷺ is affirmed in a manner befitting Allah, without this meaning that Allah indwells in a created being or transforms into human form.
Therefore, the attribute of descent cannot be used as evidence for the doctrine of incarnation, because the two are different matters.
Islam does not deny the greatness of the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, peace be upon him. Rather, it believes that he is one of the Messengers of firm resolve and that his birth was a tremendous miracle.
However, he is a servant and Messenger of Allah, not Allah incarnate in human form.
Allah says:
“The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a Messenger of Allah, and His Word which He conveyed to Mary, and a spirit from Him.”
[An-Nisā’: 171]
Then Allah says in the same verse:
“Allah is only One God. Glory be to Him above having a son.”
[An-Nisā’: 171]
Allah Almighty’s power is complete and absolute, but it relates to every possible matter. As for something that is intrinsically impossible and self-contradictory, it is not a thing whose existence is possible such that power would relate to it.
According to what the fatwa establishes, saying that Allah becomes a human being or indwells in one of His creatures contradicts His perfection and His transcendence above resemblance to His creation.
Therefore, the answer is not: “Allah is incapable of incarnation.” Rather, incarnation in this sense is neither a perfection nor something possible with respect to Allah. Instead, it involves attributing the characteristics and deficiencies of created beings to the Creator, exalted is He.
And Allah knows best.