Sentence Two

March 20, 2006 at 3:59 am (Ayatul Kursi)

[SECOND]

In His saying: لا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلا نَوْمٌ)) Neither slumber, nor sleep overtakes Him,

• Allah did not say: “He does not sleep” instead He said: (لا تأخذه) “does not overtake Him” in order to clarify that sleep does not overcome Him.
  • “Does not sleep,” might imply that He does not sleep by choice, but Allaah never NEEDS sleep.
  • Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, does not sleep neither by ghalabah (overcoming) nor by choice,
  • Sleep is an imperfect attribute which contradicts both the perfection of the Self and the perfection in relation to others. For eg:
    • Imperfection to Others
      • Person who sleeps misses a lot of his work because of His sleeping.
      • If a person has many people working for him. He won’t be able to manage business or other related matters during his sleep.
    • Imperfection to Self
      • Sleep indicates that the person’s body got tried and he needed sleep to rest from what has passed,
      • It also means sleep was needed to renew his activity to engage in what will come ahead.
      • (Note: This is why people of Jannah won’t sleep because of perfection of their lives and bodies. No illness or the like touches them.)
      • Someone might not be ABLE to sleep due to some sickness or defect and that will lead to them being sicker or tired, etc. Even this is not possible to be associated to Allaah swt as He states He doesn’t get tired to begin with.
      • If Allah would sleep, and far is He above such imperfection, then this would necessitate that He needs to rest. In addition, the creation will be ruined because they are in need of Him; even the sleeping person is in need of Allah. Infact the Prophet ( صلي الله عليه وسلم ) use to invoke Allah at night when he was about to sleep.
      • “If You take my soul, bestow mercy on it [and forgive it, as in other narration], and if You release it then protect it as You protect your righteous slaves. ²⁰
    • In short, it is impossible that Allah, the one free of all imperfections and the Most High, sleeps. The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم ) says: "إن الله لا ينام ولا ينبغي له أن ينام " مسلم

“Verily Allah does not sleep and it does not befit Him to sleep” ^21. The word ( لا ينبغي) [does not benefit when used in the Qur’aan and sunnah means “ the thing which is absolutely impossible to be,” as Allah said . )وَمَا يَنْبَغِي لِلرَّحْمَنِ أَنْ يَتَّخِذَ وَلَداً) (مريم:92) But it is not befitting for (the Majesty of) الرحمن [ar-Rahman ( Allah that He should beget a son ( or offspring of children ). [Soorat Maryam (19:92)].

· [It should be noted] that Allah saying: ) لا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلا نَوْمٌ)(البقرة: من الآية255)Neither slumber, nor sleep overtakes Him

o Signifies a-sifaat as-salbiyyah (attributes of negation: negating any imperfection and implying perfection).

o The rule with respect to the Names and Attributes of Allah, the Most High, is that there is no such thing as a pure attribute of negation.

o Indeed, when as-sifaat as-salbiyyah are mentioned, it is because they imply the perfection of the attributes which are in contradiction to those of negation.²³

o So, because of the Perfection of Allah’s is

1. General, The meaning of generality in negation is that Allah, Most High, negates all imperfections implicitly denoting that all Perfection is His. For example: Allah, the Exalted, says: (ليس كمثله شيء ) [which means ] There is nothing like unto Him.” So, there is nothing unto Him in His Knowledge, Ability, and Hearing. Seeing, Might, Wisdom, Mercy, and so forth. In this general negation, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى ) did not specify the negation. Accordingly all imperfections are denied and all perfection denoted, and it is stated that there is nothing like him unto Him in all of His Perfection.

2. Specific. The specificity in negation is to negate specific allegations of imperfection. For example to deny that defects and drawbacks like forgetfulness, sleep, ignorance, having son or partner, etc. is associated with Allah, the Exalted. Again, the Perfection is implied as against the negation. [See Shaykh ibn ‘Uthaymeen’s Sharhul Waasitiyah ], vol.1, pp.145-146. Life and qayyoumiyyah, then neither slumber nor sleep overtake Him.²⁴

Reference

1. Saheeh Al-Bukahaari ( Arabic/English ), vol.8, no.332.
2. Saheeh Muslim (English Translition), vol. 1, no. 343 .
3. This is because mere negation does not denote any attribute, and therefore it is not considered praise. In addition, the attributes of negation are of two kinds.
4. For example, the negation of ignorance stands for affirmation of Allah’ unlimited knowledge. The negation of death, which is in contradiction of life, implies the perfection of Allah’s attribute of Life.
5. The perfection of His Life negates that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) needs to sleep and the same is also due to the Perfection of His qayyoumiyyah, as sleep is needed by the created living creatures due to their imperfection. Although sleeping and eating as attributes of perfection with respect to man, as a person who does not sleep or eat is considered ill, they are perfection from one angle and defects for another. They are perfection in the sense that they indicate that the body is sound and healthy, and are defects because the body needs them to function. In reality therefore, they are defects. Accordingly, not every relative perfection in the creature is perfection for the Creator and not every Perfection associated with the Creator is a perfection in the created. Eating , drinking and sleeping are relative “perfection” with respect to Allah .(سبحانه وتعالى) That is why Allah, the Most High, said about Himself: ) وَهُوَ يُطْعِمُ وَلا يُطْعَمُ)(الأنعام: من الآية14) And it is He ( Allah ) Who feeds and is not fed. [Qur’aan , Soorat Al-An’aam (6:14)]