Does the inference from His Almighty's saying, "Indeed, Allah is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy," mean that Allah is self-sufficient from His attributes and does not need them?

The claim that there exists a divine essence devoid of attributes is a false illusion, for the divine essence is characterized by attributes of perfection that are inseparable from it. The word "other" is ambiguous; it may refer to something distinct and separate, or to something that is not the very essence of a thing. God's attributes are inherent to His essence and do not part from it, so they are not "other" in the first sense. However, in the second sense, it is permissible to know some attributes without others, and the essence can be known without the attribute; thus, it can be considered "other" in that respect.

The Salaf and the Imams refrained from applying the term "other" to attributes, whether in negation or affirmation, due to its ambiguity and potential for confusion. The essence that exists in reality necessitates attributes, and it cannot exist devoid of them. The statement "attributes are other than the essence" may be true if it means that attributes are in excess of the mental concept of the essence, but there is no essence in external reality devoid of attributes. The correct approach is not to say that attributes are in excess of the referent of God's name. A precise distinction is drawn between saying "attributes are other than the essence" and "God's attributes are other than God"; the former may have some validity, while the latter is false.