How do the attributes of knowledge, will and power appear in creation?

Dear Brother / Sister,

5.3.2-The Attributes of Knowledge, Will and Power in Creation

Muhyiddin Şeyhzade, who wrote explanations for Baydawi, states the following about the command “be”:

“It expresses Allah’s giving existence to beings with knowledge, will and power.”¹

The divine power that gives things existence out of nothing is unknown in terms of His nature but known in terms of His works. That is, we do not know what kind of power He has, but we always see the works of that power both in our own soul and in the outside world.

Allah breathed into man from His own spirit;² that is to say, He gave man some of His attributes. The reason why we were given those attributes is to recognize Him with those attributes. Knowledge, will and power given are some of those attributes. We act by using those attributes when we produce something. For example, we need those attributes to write the letter A. We cannot write if we do not know; if we do not have power, we cannot write even if we know. When we have power, we do not write unless we want it with our will. So to speak, the existence of every being is realized by the manifestation of those three divine attributes. Therefore, the question “Does Allah know how to create out of nothing, or does He have the power to create?” is meaningless. If He had not known, wished, or had the power, such a creation would not have been in question; everything would have remained in the darkness of non-existence; or, more precisely, “there would have been nothing.”

The divine power that gives things existence out of nothing is unknown in terms of His nature but known in terms of His works. That is, we do not know what kind of power He has, but we always see the works of that power both in our own soul and in the outside world.While interpreting the verses “So I do call to witness what ye see, what ye see not”^3, Ata, one of the imams of Tabiun period, states the following:

“What is seen is the works of power and what is unseen is the secrets of power.”⁴

In other words, everything we see is the work of Allah’s power. However, we do not know what that power is like and how it is. The so-called “laws of nature” are nothing but manifestations of Allah’s power. He acts with those laws in the universe.

1.Muhyiddin Şeyhzade, Haşiyetü Şeyhzade, V, 105
2.Seeal-Hijr, 29.
3.al-Haaqqa, 38-39
4.Abul- Fadl Shihabuddin Alusi, Ruhul-Maani, XXIX, 52

Questions on Islam