Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
Yes. Whatever Allah تعالى affirms for Himself of attributes of perfection entails affirming that attribute for Him سبحانه وتعالى and negating whatever contradicts it among the attributes of deficiency. However, this means negating whatever contradicts the perfection of the attribute; it does not mean that every affirmation requires mentioning all of its opposing attributes one by one.
When Allah تعالى negates an attribute of deficiency from Himself, the purpose is not merely negation. Rather, this entails affirming the perfection of its opposite.
Allah تعالى says:
“And your Lord does not wrong anyone.” [Al-Kahf 18:49]
This verse negates injustice from Allah تعالى and entails affirming the perfection of His justice.
He تعالى also says:
“Allah—there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of all. Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him.” [Al-Baqarah 2:255]
Negating drowsiness and sleep entails the perfection of His life and His being the Sustainer of all.
Likewise, His saying:
“And preserving them does not tire Him.” [Al-Baqarah 2:255]
entails the perfection of His power and strength, and that preserving the heavens and the earth causes Him neither fatigue nor difficulty.
This is because mere negation is not, in itself, necessarily an attribute of perfection. Something incapable of acting, or something that cannot possess the attribute in the first place, could also be described by negation.
As for Allah تعالى affirming an attribute of perfection for Himself, affirming it entails negating whatever contradicts it among the attributes of deficiency.
When He سبحانه says:
“And He is Knowing of all things.” [Al-Hadid 57:3]
affirming the perfection of His knowledge entails negating ignorance from Him.
When hearing and sight are established for Him, this entails negating whatever contradicts the perfection of hearing and sight, such as deafness and blindness, and the like.
When perfect power is established for Him, this entails negating incapacity from Him.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله said:
“The servant must affirm for Allah what must be affirmed for Him of the attributes of perfection, and negate from Him what must be negated from Him that contradicts this state.”
He also stated that affirming something entails negating its opposite and whatever its opposite entails.
For this reason, scholars have explained that texts affirming Allah’s attributes do not merely establish the attribute; they also entail declaring Allah تعالى free from what is incompatible with His perfection.
When Allah تعالى says:
“And He is Knowing of all things.” [Al-Hadid 57:3]
the verse establishes the perfection of Allah’s knowledge, entails negating ignorance from Him, and also declares Him free from resembling His creation in knowledge.
And when He سبحانه says:
“Indeed, Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.” [An-Nisa' 4:58]
the verse establishes hearing and sight for Allah تعالى and entails negating whatever contradicts their perfection, while believing that Allah’s hearing and sight are not like the hearing and sight of created beings.
Allah تعالى says:
“There is nothing whatsoever like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.” [Ash-Shura 42:11]
Thus, the verse combines affirmation and transcendence: it affirms hearing and sight while negating any likeness between Allah تعالى and His creation.
An important point should be noted here: affirming an attribute does not mean that a Muslim must mention every opposing attribute of deficiency every time he mentions it.
If we say, “Allah تعالى knows everything,” then the perfection of His knowledge has been established, and ignorance and whatever contradicts perfect knowledge have been negated. There is no need to add every time: “He does not forget, He does not become heedless, He is not ignorant, nothing is hidden from Him,” and so on.
The principle is that affirmation entails declaring Allah free from the opposite of the attribute and whatever contradicts its perfection, according to what the context requires.
The established attributes of Allah تعالى entail two things: affirming the perfection of the attribute for Him سبحانه وتعالى and negating whatever contradicts that perfection among the attributes of deficiency.
If we affirm knowledge for Allah, we negate ignorance from Him; if we affirm power for Him, we negate incapacity; and if we affirm perfect life for Him, we negate whatever contradicts it, such as death and sleep.
Likewise, whatever Allah تعالى negates from Himself of attributes of deficiency entails affirming the perfection of their opposites. Negating injustice entails perfect justice, and negating sleep entails the perfection of life and divine sustaining.
Thus, the proper approach to believing in Allah’s Names and Attributes is based on affirming what Allah has affirmed for Himself and declaring Him free from everything incompatible with His perfection, without likening Him to His creation or making comparisons between them.
And Allah knows best.