No Comparison between the Creator and His Creation:
In describing the nature of Allah, the Qur’an uses certain attributes which are used to describe mankind as well. Examples of such words are: compassionate, knowing, hearing, and seeing. Some people have thus concluded that mankind, especially the Prophets, has a share in Allah’s characteristics.
Furthermore, they argue that the only difference between the Almighty and mankind is that whereas the characteristics found in Allah are permanent, the same characteristics found in human beings are only temporary. A Muslim should regard such arguments as nonsensical.There may be a linguistic similarity between the words used for the Creator and His creation, but no more. There is a whole world of difference, for example, between Allah’s Listening and the listening of human beings. Man listens with his ears, but we have no idea of the way in which Allah listens. Man can only listen to loud noises, while Allah can hear the heartbeat of a mouse as well as the scampering of an ant.
Man can only hear sounds that are within his range, while there is no limit to the range of sounds that Allah can hear. Man can only concentrate on one voice at a time, while Allah can listen and respond to the voices of His creatures, all in the same instance. Man can only hear the sounds of the present, while Allah hears the sounds of the present, past, and future. Man can listen while he is awake, but becomes deaf when sleeping or unconscious. The Almighty has no need for sleep or rest, and He listens to all of His creatures all the time. Man hears just as all other men hear, but Allah’s hearing is unique and complete. It cannot have and does not have any comparison.
**The same applies to all of Allah’s attributes that have been compared with the characteristics of mankind. Man can see, but his vision cannot be compared to that of Allah. Man has organs with which he looks, but we can have no conception of the way in which Allah looks. Man can only see things in front of him, while Allah sees everything. Man can only see the external, while Allah can see all that is internal or hidden. Man can only see appearances and forms, but Allah can see the thoughts of the mind as well as the feeling of the heart.
The Qur’an thus makes it clear that Allah’s attributes are complete, all-encompassing and incomparable.**