Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
The word “forgetting” in language and Islamic usage has two different meanings, and it is necessary to distinguish between them.
This means that something a person previously knew becomes absent from his mind, so he forgets it due to negligence or absent-mindedness.
Allah Almighty says:
﴿Our Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make a mistake﴾
[Al-Baqarah: 286].
And He says:
﴿And We had already taken a covenant from Adam before, but he forgot, and We found in him no determination﴾
[Taha: 115], according to one of the interpretations of the scholars of Tafsir.
The Prophet ﷺ also said:
“I am only a human being; I forget just as you forget, so when I forget, remind me.”
And he ﷺ said:
“Whoever sleeps through a prayer or forgets it, let him pray it when he remembers it.”
This type of forgetting is denied of Allah Almighty, because it is a deficiency that contradicts the perfection of His knowledge.
This is established by both textual and rational evidence.
As for the textual evidence: Allah Almighty says, quoting Moses, peace be upon him:
﴿He said: Its knowledge is with my Lord in a Record. My Lord neither errs nor forgets﴾
[Taha: 52].
Allah Almighty does not forget anything, and nothing is absent from His knowledge.
As for the rational evidence: forgetting in this sense is a deficiency. Allah Almighty possesses every attribute of perfection and is exalted above every deficiency. He says:
﴿And to Allah belongs the highest example, and He is the Almighty, the All-Wise﴾
[An-Nahl: 60].
Therefore, it is not permissible to describe Allah Almighty as forgetting in the sense of absent-mindedness or being unaware of something.
As for forgetting meaning abandoning or neglecting something intentionally, this is a different meaning, and it is used in the Qur’an and Sunnah.
Allah Almighty says:
﴿But when they forgot what they had been reminded of, We opened for them the doors of everything﴾
[Al-An‘am: 44].
That is: when they abandoned what they had been reminded of and turned away from it.
According to one interpretation of the scholars of Tafsir, this meaning is also included in Allah’s statement:
﴿And We had already taken a covenant from Adam before, but he forgot, and We found in him no determination﴾
[Taha: 115].
It is also reported from the Prophet ﷺ, when explaining the categories of those who keep horses:
“And a man who keeps it out of self-sufficiency and chastity, and does not forget Allah’s right concerning its neck and back, then it is a protection for him in this way.”
Thus, forgetting here means abandoning something while knowing it.
The Qur’an affirms “forgetting” to Allah Almighty, and what is meant is abandonment and requital in kind, not absent-mindedness or unawareness.
Allah Almighty says:
﴿So taste the punishment because you forgot the meeting of this Day of yours; indeed, We have forgotten you﴾
[As-Sajdah: 14].
And He says concerning the hypocrites:
﴿They forgot Allah, so He forgot them. Indeed, the hypocrites are the defiantly disobedient﴾
[At-Tawbah: 67].
Allah’s “forgetting” of the hypocrites here does not mean that He became unaware of them or lost knowledge of their affairs—exalted is Allah far above that. Rather, it means leaving them, abandoning them, and withholding His honor and care from them as a recompense for their forgetting and disobedience.
In Sahih Muslim, there is a hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, concerning the Companions’ question to the Prophet ﷺ about seeing Allah Almighty on the Day of Resurrection. In it, Allah says to the servant:
“Did you think that you would meet Me?”
He replies: No. Then He says:
“Then I shall forget you just as you forgot Me.”
That is: I shall abandon you and turn away from you just as you abandoned belief in meeting Me and turned away from it.
When “forgetting” means abandoning and turning away from something, it is one of Allah’s attributes of action, which He does according to His will and wisdom.
The Qur’an affirms abandonment to Allah Almighty. He says:
﴿And He left them in darknesses, unable to see﴾
[Al-Baqarah: 17].
And He says:
﴿And We left some of them that Day surging over others﴾
[Al-Kahf: 99].
And He says:
﴿And We left from it a clear sign﴾
[Al-‘Ankabut: 35].
These texts and others establish that Allah Almighty has actions connected to His will and wisdom, including abandonment and forgetting in the sense of abandonment.
It is necessary to distinguish between two meanings of forgetting:
Forgetting in the sense of absent-mindedness, unawareness, and failing to remember something: This is impossible for Allah Almighty and is denied of Him because it is a deficiency that contradicts the perfection of His knowledge.
Forgetting in the sense of abandoning and turning away from something while knowing it: This is established for Allah Almighty by textual evidence, and it is one of His attributes of action that He performs according to His wisdom and will.
The principle here is that Allah’s attributes do not resemble the attributes of His creation. A word may be shared between the Creator and the created in its basic meaning, but the reality and manner of the attribute differ in a way that befits Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He.
And Allah knows best.