Is it permissible to describe Allah as "the Absolute" and to say "Allah is the Absolute"? And what is the relationship between the absolute and the relative? And when does the absolute become relative and vice versa? And is it permissible to say that everything is relative?
In summary: Absolute and relative are philosophical terms. What philosophers mean by the absolute is: "The perfect, complete, devoid of any restriction or limitation, existing in and of itself, the necessarily existent, transcending time and space." This meaning cannot be applied to Allah Almighty. Allah is described with attributes of perfection and has a real existence distinct from His creation; neither time nor space contains Him. This absolute exists only in the mind.
As for the relative: "That which is attributed to something else, and whose existence depends on it; it is the opposite of the absolute." The absolute cannot be relative and vice versa, due to the difference in their realities. It is not correct to say that everything is relative, for there are fixed truths such as religion, its teachings, and ethics, whose source is the unchanging revelation from the Quran and Sunnah, and their texts are absolute and do not accept change.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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