Islamic Theology

Second Reason
The Essence of God is absolute existence that does not possess any sort of limit and defect, since it is not limited and imperfect it is not needy of others and has not obtained His existence from others; i.e. He is (a being or things) Whose existence is necessary (Wajib al-Wajood). Therefore, on this basis each characteristic that exists from perfection is permanent for God and His essence with respect to it, does not have any boundary and limit and would not be empty of it.
If the essence of God does not have perfection it would be limited and needy and would not be a being or thing Whose existence is absolutely essential and inevitably would not be self-sustaining. Therefore, from this reason and the previous one it could be said that the Essence of the God of Worlds from every dimension is perfect and is infinite and possesses all perfections of existence and provable characteristics.
Some Provable Characteristics
1. Power: God is Almighty and Powerful; i.e. every possible task that He wishes, He could materialize; is not helpless from any task, with respect to each task is not compelled and helpless, For His All-mightiness, there is no limit and boundary and His power is infinite.
2. Knowledge: God is wise and intelligent, i.e. He knows everything and encompasses over all creations and world phenomena and there is nothing hidden from Him.
3. Life: God has life and is alive; i.e. He is a being that does his work in accordance with Knowledge, power, and intentions. God is not like others live beings who are identified through the means of their movement, respiratory system, and eating food, but since He performs acts with knowledge, power, and intention, life is proved for Him.
4. Intention: God does His works through intentions and determinations and is not like fire that does not have any intention in burning; God’s existence is a perfect existence that does work with intention and unlike subjects without intention, He is not defective.
5. Seeing: God is a Seer and has sight i.e. sees all visible incidents and phenomena of the world and none of them are absent from his sight.
6. Hearing: God is a Hearer and hears, i.e. He hears all hearable things and is not negligent with respect to any sound.
7-8. Ancient and Eternal: God is ancient, i.e. He always had been, and He was never without existence i.e. non-existence is not possible for Him. He is eternal and would always be, and annihilation and destruction for Him is not possible. God is absolute existence and His existence is exactly like His essence. Due to this reason, He does not need others for His existence; He always had been and would remain forever. No one has bestowed upon Him existence that could be taken away. God is superior to time and timely creations, and does not have a past and future.
9. Speech: God is a Speaker, i.e. He could explain realities for others and could make them to understand His determinations.
These sorts of characteristics are called provable characteristics which are valid for God’s essence.
A Necessary Reminder
Since we are imperfect in our essence and characteristics, i.e. are unable to do works without mental intention and bodily parts. We have power but without the interference of our bodily parts are unable to perform any task. We have power of hearing but cannot hear without ears and hearing nerves. We have power of seeing but cannot see without eyes and nerves related to sight. Since God’s essence is at an infinite degree of perfection and the same is true to His characteristics, He sees without eyes, hears without ears, works without bodily parts, and understands without brain and nerves.
The path of seeing and hearing is not that it should only be materialized through the means of eyes and ears; in a manner that if seeing and hearing is done without paying attention to it, we say: it is not hearing and seeing. But the reality of seeing and hearing is not except that it should not remain hidden and covered from the seeing and hearing person even if they are materialized without means of his attention.
Our essence and academic credentials too, if were not limited and imperfect, we could have seen things without eyes, and without ears could have heard, certainly seeing and hearing would have been valid upon them. Like in the state of our sleeping we could see and hear without natural ears and eyes. Since the God of Worlds from the point of view of essence and characteristics exists at the infinite state of perfection, His deeds and acts too are different from the acts of human beings, and any sorts of need and defect do not have any entry into His works.
Characteristics of Essence and Deed
God’s provable characteristics overall could be classified into the following two categories:
Characteristics of Essence
The characteristics which are always permanent for God’s essence and their proofs do not require a pause upon anything else are called characteristics of His essence; like knowledge, power and life; these characteristics always have been permanent and their proof does not depend upon anything else, and instead are exactly like His essence.
God was knowledgeable and still is, even before he had created any creatures. He was powerful before His creating anything that was possible for him to create. God always had life. His position of essence is not without knowledge and power otherwise it would be limited, defected, and needy and would not be a being or thing Whose existence is necessary (W’ajib al-Wajood).
Characteristics of Deed
The characteristics that are taken from some of God’s acts are called characteristics of acts, like that of the Creator, Provider, Benevolent, and Forgiving. Since He creates the creatures, He is called the Creator, He provides them their sustenance and is called Provider, since He bestows upon His creatures, He is called Benevolent, and since he covers our sins and faults He is called Forgiver of sins. These types of characteristics in reality prove a sort of special communication which exists between God and His creatures.
A Narration
Husain ibn Khalid said: “I heard from Imam Al-Ridha’ (a.s.) who said: ‘God had always been knowledgeable, powerful, alive, ancient, a seer, and listener.’ I said: ‘O son of the Holy Prophet (S) a group says: ‘God had been knowledgeable but had more knowledge than His essence, had been Almighty but had more might than His essence, had been alive but with more life than His essence, had always been ancient but older than His essence, had been a listener but more hearing than His essence, had been a seer but could see more than His essence.’
Imam Al-Ridha’ (a.s.) replied: ‘Whoever considers God’s characteristics additional to His essence is a polytheist and would not be considered as my follower. God had always been knowledgeable, Almighty, alive, ancient, a listener, and a seer but these characteristics are exactly like his essence.’”8
Attributes that cannot apply to God
Characteristics that cannot apply to God are called the attributes that cannot apply to God. God’s essence is perfect and does not have any defect and fault; any attribute that could be considered a defect for God is not applicable to Him.
Some Attributes that cannot apply to God
A. God is not compounded
Everything which is created by two or more components is described as being compounded but God is not compounded and does not have any other part, because every compound requires another thing; without that thing it is impossible to be created. If God too is compounded, inevitably He would require another thing, and an essence that is needy and defected could not be (a being or thing) Whose existence is necessary (W’ajib al-Wajood).
In addition to that every compound requires a cause that could organize the components and with their mixing it could be materialized. If God too is compounded, He too inevitably is needy of a cause and an essence that is defective and needy could not be a being or thing whose existence is necessary.
B. God is not a Body
God is not a body because a body is a compound and earlier it has been proven that God is not compounded, therefore He would not have a body. In addition everybody needs a place and space in order to be created in it and would not have its existence without a place. While God is the creator of places and is not needy of them. An existence which has a body and requires a place could not be a being or thing whose existence is necessary.
C. God is Unseen
That is He cannot be seen through the means of eyes, because only bodies and properties possess the ability to be seen by eyes, while it has been earlier proved that God is not a body. Therefore He could not be seen.
D. God is not an Illiterate and Ignorant
Because in the discussion of negative attributes it was proved that God is knowledgeable about everything and there exists no limit or boundary for His knowledge. Therefore ignorance and illiteracy are faults and defects that do not have an entry into God’s perfect existence.