[عقيل الهندي]

Imaam Abu Ja’far at-Tahaawi, may Allaah have mercy upon him, states in his ‘aqeedah:
3 – And nothing renders Him incapable.
4 – There is no deity [worthy of worship in truth] except He.
5 – [He is] Old without beginning, eternal without an end.
The Shaykh Muhammad bin Abdil Azeez bin Maani comments,
He, may He be glorified, can be described with oldness, meaning that He can be described in such a way, as Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned in al-Badaa’i [(1/179 – Maktabatul Mu’ayyid)].
And the branch of describing[1] is more comprehensive than the text-reliant branch of the attributes of Allaah[2].
And the people of knowledge mention al-Qadeem from the Beautiful Names, but they are simply describing Allaah with it. In al-nooniyyah [(no. 3068)],

He is al-Qadeem, as He does not cease to be with His attributes

Specific, rather [He has] eternal beneficence.

The Shaykh Abdullah bin Humayd comments,
Had the author phrased this with al-Awwal, as the Quraanic text has in the saying of Allaah, {He is the First [al-Awwal] and Last} [al-Hadeed: 3] and the prophet sall Allaahu ‘alahi wa sallam has stated with his saying, ‘O Allaah, you are the First [al-awwal], as nothing has preceded You…’[3] it would have been more fitting.
The Shaykh ‘Abdul Azeez bin Baaz comments,
This phrase has not been reported in the beautiful names of Allaah, as the explainer and others have noted[4]. Many of the scholars of rhetoric[5] [Ulamaa al-Kalaam] have mentioned it to affirm His existence before all else.
And the names of Allaah are based solely on the texts – it is not permissible to affirm any of them except with a text from the Great Book or authentic Sunnah. It is not permissible to affirm any of them with intellect, as the a’imma of the Salaf us Salih have stated.
And the word al-Qadeem does not mean what the people of kalaam intend by it, as the intent behind it, in the Arabic language is something that precedes other than it, even it is nothingness, as in the saying of Allaah, { till it returns like the old dried curved date stalk} [Ya-sin: 39].
Rather it points to the true meaning when coupled with the addition the author mentioned, his saying ‘Old, without beginning’ however, it should not be counted from the beautiful names, as it has not been textually established.
His name, may He be exalted, al-Awwal, suffices Him this name [al-Qadeem], as He said, {He is the First [al-Awwal] and Last} [al-Hadeed: 3].
And Allaah is the guardian of success.
The Shaykh al-Albaani comments:
Know, that al-qadeem [the old] is not a name from the names of Allaah, but is only used by the mutakalimeen. The old in the Arabic language, in which the Qur’aan was revealed, is that which is advanced over other than it. It is said, ‘This is old’ for the ancient and ‘This is new’ for the innovation. So this noun is not used except for that which predates something other than it, not for that which nothing has preceded, as Allaah said, { till it returns like the old dried curved date stalk} [Ya-sin: 39] and the old dried date stalk is that which remains when the new ones have arrived – so when a new one arrives, the first is called old, even if it has been preceded by other than it – as Shaykh al-Islaam has established in Majmoo al-fataawa (1/245) and the explainer in his explanation [(p. 112)].


[1] i.e. describing Allaah [Shaykh ‘Ali al-Halabi]

[2] Shaykh al-Albaani comments, ‘And I feel this is the way in which Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah uses this description from time-to-time, as will occur when I comment on point 45.

[3] Reported by Muslim (2713) on the authority of Abu Hurairah.

[4] In his saying, ‘And the mutakilimeen have introduced within the name of Allaah al-Qadeem, which is not from the beautiful names.’

[5] Whereas some of the a’imma of hadeeth have used it to describe Him, may He be exalted.