Overview

In the opening of the Chapter on Generosity and Liberality of Kashf al-Mahjub, Hujwiri examines the terms جود (jud, generosity) and سخا (sakha, liberality) and the constraints on applying them to God. He begins with the Prophetic saying that the generous person is near to God, near to Paradise, and far from Hell, whereas the miserly person is far from God, far from Paradise, and near to Hell.

Jud and Sakha in Created Beings

Among the theologians, jud and sakha carry the same meaning when they describe the qualities of creatures, so both terms may be predicated of a generous human without distinction.

The Principle of Tawqif for Divine Names

God, by contrast, is called جواد (jawad, the Generous) but is not called سخی (sakhi). This is because divine names require tawqif, that is, scriptural sanction: God has not named Himself sakhi, and no report from the Prophet transmits that name. By the consensus of the people of the Sunna, no one may assign a name to God me...