Al-Azhar Grand Imam, Prof. Ahmad At-Tayyeb, said that the name of Allah Al-Quddūs (the Holy) is one of the names mentioned in the Qur’an and in Abu Hurayrah’s hadith that enumerated these names, to which all Muslims are agreed. His Eminence indicated that the meaning of “the Holy” is derived from taqdīs (sanctification) in the sense of purification and exaltation, so the verb yuqaddis (to sanctify something) means to say it is sanctified and exalted above anything that is not befitting. As for Al-Quddūs as one of the names of Allah, it means that His Self, attributes and actions are purified from and exalted above any similarity to His creatures and their attributes and actions. Whatever image the human mind may conceive of Allah Almighty, He is exalted above it, and it cannot apply possibly to Him, Exalted be He, in any way.

During the seventh episode of his Ramadan program, Grand Imam At-Tayyeb Talk, His Eminence explained, that Allah is different from whatever comes to mind, for Allah will never be as we imagine Him, and the evidence for this is “Nothing is like Him; and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.” The All-Hearing and All-Seeing do not mean that Allah hears with an ear or sees with an eye, for these are the attributes of human senses. Allah Almighty has proven that He hears His servants and sees them, but He does not hear them in the same way we hear one another, and He does not see them in the same manner we see each other, because Allah Almighty is Quddūs, and this word means transcendence, purification, and elevation above the attributes of all creatures.

Al-Azhar Grand Imam stated that Quddūs means Holy, in the sense that Allah sanctifies Himself, Glory be to Him, whether creation exists or not. It means that He is never characterized by a defect, and He, Glory be to Him, has absolute might and absolute transcendence over the attributes of creation. It means that Allah sanctifies Himself; it does not mean that at some time he was not Holy before the creation existed and then He became Holy when they came into being and sanctified Him, Exalted be He. Allah, Glory be to Him, is Holy before, with and after creation. The same applies to the word Subbūḩ. The Prophet (pbuh) would often say, “[O My Lord,] You are Subbūḩ (the Most Glorious), Quddūs (the Most Holy), and the Lord of the angels and of the Spirit.” Subbūḩ means that Allah glorified Himself before there were creatures to glorify Him. We know that glorifying Allah is not exclusive to people; the whole universe glorifies Allah including birds, animals, beasts, plants and inanimate objects. Many verses refer to this in the Qur’an. Nothing in this universe does not praise Allah. This means that the universe is living. 

His Eminence confirmed this idea in the “Climate Change” conference held by Al-Azhar University and pointed out that those who think that they act in this universe as if they were its owners are mistaken, and that there must be good relationship between man and the things of the universe because they are also alive, glorifying Allah. Their praise may be more intensive than ours and it may be less, but we do not recognize it, and even if we hear it, we still would not understand it. 

As for a person’s share of the name of Allah, Al-Quddūs, scholars say that man has no share of it because only Allah Almighty glorifies Himself. However, man should purify himself by refraining from lust, purify his money by making sure it comes from lawful sources, and purify his actions by refraining from harming people. Man should purify his soul, his heart and his mind by warding off any polluted thoughts, which cannot be of any benefit to his religion and his hereafter. Man has to draw on the meaning of that name by continuously purifying his senses and body parts.

The Grand Imam emphasized that if we acted upon the meanings drawn from the Most Beautiful Names, our life would completely change because they are mines filled with moral treasures. Those who behave according to them will be happy in this world and in the Hereafter.

To conclude, Al-Azhar Grand Imam said that taqdīs in the sense of purification is ascribed to Prophets in a sense, as it is ascribed to Allah Almighty. However, the Prophets are allowed to have specific characteristics, while they are denied others. They are free from all the shortcomings that do not befit them such as the shortcomings non-infallible humans have. Taqdīs means purification and elimination of what is not befitting, so this specific meaning applies to Allah Almighty as well as to His Prophets.   

This is found in our heritage and is intended by many scholars, so we must first understand the connotations of the words because there has been confusion among our hardline brothers and they are confused about extreme respect, veneration and worship. My respect and veneration for the members of the Prophet’s family does not mean to worship them, and thus does not fall within polytheism, because worship has one meaning, veneration has another meaning, and sanctification still  a third meaning.