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Divine transcendence (tanzih): God above offspring and likeness

تنزيه الله عن الولد والمماثلة

Tanzih, in Sha'rawi's account, is God's transcendence over likeness with His creatures in essence, attributes and acts. It includes denying that God has a son: a son is taken for the need to keep a kind alive, for help or for security of life, none of which applies to God, and everything in heaven and earth is subject to Him. He argues that a son is either a creature, and so not a god, or a god, and then there would be three gods 12.

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Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
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Creed

Summary

Sha'rawi holds that God is free of likeness to His creatures in essence, attributes and acts, and this includes freedom from offspring. 1

The argument from need

A son, Sha'rawi says, is taken to keep a kind alive, for help or for security of life. God is living from eternity and needs none of these, and the world did not change with the alleged son, so God gains no perfection from it. 1 2

A creature or a god

A son would be either a creature, and so not a god, or a god, and then there would be several gods. Since God owns all in the heavens and the earth, a son of the same kind cannot be His, for the maker does not produce something of his own kind. 1 2

Limits of this block

This section records Sha'rawi's view alone, from these pages. The classical replies of exegetes and theologians, the academic history of the claim among the People of the Book, and other views are not yet entered.

Opinions on the question

The question: How is God declared free of offspring and of likeness while His perfect attributes are affirmed?

First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference

A son is taken out of need, and God is free of need: His power and life are not increased by a son

Sha'rawi builds his case on the claim that a son is taken for keeping a kind alive, for help or for security of life, and that God is living from eternity and needs none of these; he adds that the world was not changed by the alleged son. A son would be either a creature or a god, and the argument follows from that {cite:tafsir-sharawi-khawatir-scan-pp-501-1000 p.547}{cite:tafsir-sharawi-khawatir-scan-pp-501-1000 p.548}.

Held by: Muhammad Mutawalli al-Sha'rawi

More opinions (1)

Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference

The classical exegetes' and theologians' replies on offspring are not yet entered from a source

The replies of classical exegetes and theologians to the claim of divine offspring are not yet entered, nor the academic history of that claim among the People of the Book, nor other views.

Connections

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Based on
Qur'an 2:116

People and things also explored

The people of the qibla and not declaring takfir for sin· The hereafter: the grave, resurrection and reckoning· Islamic eschatology· Reason and heart· The Throne (al-Arsh)· Al-din al-qayyim (the upright religion)· Absolute unseen (al-ghayb al-mutlaq)· «Be, and it is» (kun fa-yakun): creation by command, not by a mould

Sources

  1. Sha'rawi's Tafsir (al-Khawatir), scanned copy , p.547
  2. Sha'rawi's Tafsir (al-Khawatir), scanned copy , p.548
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Divine transcendence (tanzih): God above offspring and likeness”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/al-tanzih/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

The people of the qibla and not declaring takfir for sin

al-Tahawi's principle of calling the people of the qibla Muslims and believers so long as they accept what the Prophet brought, and of not declaring any of them an unbeliever for a sin unless he declares it lawful.