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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Names and Attributes of Allaah |
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| Yousef |
| 06/12/03 at 04:18:59 |
| Praise be to Allaah. [color=Green]Allaah has many names, all of which are indicative of His Greatness, Perfection and Majesty, may He be glorified and exalted. He has told us some of these Names in His Book and through the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him); He also has other Names which are known only to Him, as is indicated in the hadeeth of 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ood (may Allaah be pleased with him), who said: "The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: 'There is nobody who is afflicted with distress or grief and who says: "Allaahumma inni 'abduka wa ibn 'abdika wa ibn amatika, naasiyati bi yadika maadin fiyya hukmuka 'adlun fiyya qadaa'uka, as'aluka bi kulli ismin huwa laka sammayta bihi nafsaka aw 'allamtahu ahadan min khalqika aw anzaltahu fi kitaabika aw asta'tharta bihi fi 'ilmi al-ghaybi 'indaka an taj'al al-Qur'aana rabee'a qalbi wa noor sadri wa jilaa'a huzni wa dhihaaba hammi (O Allaah, I am Your slave, son of Your slave, son of Your maidservant, my forelock is in Your hand, Your command over me is ever executed and Your decree over me is just. I ask You by every name belonging to You which You have named Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or You taught to any of Your creation, or You have preserved in the knowledge of the Unseen with You, that You make the Qur'aan the life of my heart and the light of my breast, and a departure for my sorrow and a release for my anxiety," - but Allaah will take away his distress and grief, and replace it with ease.' He was asked, 'O Messenger of Allaah, should we not learn it?' He said, 'Of course, whoever hears it should learn it.'" (Reported by Imaam Ahmad; this is a saheeh hadeeth). The Names of Allaah mentioned in the Qur'aan and Sunnah number over one hundred, as several scholars have agreed (see Al-Qawaa'id al-Muthlaa fi Sifaat Allaahi wa Asmaa'ihi by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih ibn 'Uthaymeen). Among these are ninety-nine names which, if one learns them and acts in accordance with them, will bring a great reward, as is indicated in the hadeeth narrated by Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him), in which the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Allaah has ninety-nine names, one hundred less one; whoever learns them will enter Paradise." (Reported by al-Bukhaari, al-Fath, no. 2736)[/color] Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid (www.islam-qa.com) [color=Green]A well known hadith concerning the names of Allah is the following: Abu Huraira reported that the Messenger of Allah, said, "Allah has ninety-nite names. He who 'ahsaha' [enumerates them, believes in them, ponders their meanings, worships Allah by them and supplicates with them, and acts by them according to one's belief in them] will enter Paradise. He is God other than whom there is no god, the Compassionate, the Merciful, the King, the Holy, the Source of Peace, the Preserver of Security..." The hadith continues to list ninety-nine names of Allah. This hadith was recorded by at-Tirmidhi and others. Ibn Majah also has recorded something similar to it. In English, it may be found in a number of works, including Mishkat al-Masabih. This hadith is well-known among the scholars of hadith to be a weak hadith. Most of them consider the actual listing of the names as a later addition by one of the narrators of the hadith and some narrators mistakenly included it as part of the hadith. Among those scholars who reject this hadith as weak are at-Tirmidhi, al-Baihaqi, ibn Hazm, al-Dawudi, ibn Taymiya, ibn Katheer, ibn Hajr, al-Juwaini, ibn Baz, al-Albani, ibn Uthaimin and Abdul Qadir al-Arnaut. However, it must be noted that there is an authentic hadith with the following wording, that does not include the listing of the names of Allah: Abu Huraira reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "Allah has ninety-nine names, one hundred less one. Whoever ahsaha will enter Paradise. (Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim) SOME ADDITIONAL POINTS A problem that results from the above hadith -- which seems to be the basis for the posters that are made of the ninety-nine names of Allah -- is that it contains some names which are not considered names of Allah. That is, ignoring this weak hadith, there is no authentic hadith or Quranic verse that offers evidence that those names are from the names of Allah. Since the names of Allah must be based on revelation from Allah (the Quran and Sunnah), if there is no authentic proof for specific names, they cannot be called one of the names of Allah. An example from the above hadith is the name al-Rasheed. There is no Quranic verse or authentic hadith that states this name. Hence, one cannot claim it as a name of Allah. Other commonly heard names that apparently are not from the names of Allah are al-Baqi, al-Sitaar and al-Naasir. It should be noted that the hadith states that Allah has ninety-nine names, one hundred less one, is not meant to be all inclusive. That is, it does not mean that Allah has ninety-nine and only ninety-nine names. Indeed, in going through the Quran and authentic hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) many scholars have been able to discover more than ninety-nine names of Allah. Furthermore, many scholars have concluded that Allah has an infinite number of names. This opinion is based on the following hadith. The Prophet (peace be upon him) made the following supplication, "[O Allah], I ask you of you by every name that You have named yourself or that You have revealed in Your book or that You have taught any of Your creation or that You have kept hidden( in the unseen knowledge, with Yourself." (Recorded by Ahmad, According to al-Albani, it is sahih.) [/color] Jamaal al-Din Zarabozo, al-Basheer, 8/2, July-August 1994 [color=Green]The famous of hadeeth of Abu Hurairah (radhiAllaahu 'anhu):- Narrated Abu Hurairah (radhiAllaahu 'anhu) Allaah's Messenger (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said : "Allaah The Most High has ninety-nine names. He who retains them in his memory will enter Paradise. He is Allaah, other than whom there is none worthy of worship, the Compassionate, the Merciful, the King, the Holy, the Source of Peace, the Preserver of Security, the Protector, the Mighty, the Overpowering, the Great in Majesty, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner, the Forgiver, the Dominant, the Bestower, the Provider, the Decider, the Knower, the Withholder, the Plentiful Giver, the Abaser, the Exalted, the Honourer, the Humiliator, the Hearer, the Seer, the Judge, the Just, the Gracious, the Informed, the Clement, the Incomparably Great, the Forgiving, the Rewarder, the Most High, the Most Great, the Preserver, the Sustainer, the Reckoner, the Majestic, the Generous, the Watcher, the Answerer, the Liberal, the Wise, the Loving, the Glorious, the Raiser, the Witness, the Real, the Trustee, the Strong, the Firm, the Patron, the Praiseworthy, the All-Knowing, the Originator, the Restorer to Life, the Giver of Life, the Giver of Death, the Living, the Eternal, the Self-sufficient, the Grand, the One, the Single, He to Whom men repair, the Powerful, the Prevailing, the Advancer, the Delayer, the First, the Last, the Outward, the Inward, the Governor, the Sublime, the Amply Beneficent, the Acceptor of Repentance, the Avenger, the Pardoner, the Kindly, the Ruler of the Kingdom, the Lord of Majesty and Splendor, the Equitable, the Gatherer, the Independent, the Enricher, the Depriver, the Harmer, the Benefactor, the Light, the Guide, the First Cause, the Enduring, the Inheritor, the Director, the Patient." [At-Tirmidhee : 5/530, hadeeth no.3507. Hadeeth Saheeh without the listing of names, refer to Al-Baihaqi`s "Al-Asmaa wal Sifaat" vol. 1, p22. (See Saheeh Muslim Eng. vol.4 : 1409)] Some Of The Reasons For Its Weakness :- At-Tirmidhee says : This hadeeth is Ghareeb. It has been narrated by other than one person from Sufyaan Bin Saaleh, and we do not know the hadeeth except from Sufyaan Bin Saaleh, and he is (only) trustworthy amongst the scholars of hadeeth. [At Tirmidhee : 5/530, hadeeth no.3507] Ibn Atee says : The hadeeth in At-Tirmidhee is not Mutawaatir. In it are names that deviate from the rules, and (there are names) found in the du`a of the Prophet eg., Ya Hannaan, Ya Mannaan; and not one of them is in the hadeeth of At-Tirmidhee. [Talkheesil-Baheer" : 4/172. ] Al-Qaadi Abu Bakr Ibn al-'Araabi says : We do not know if the explanation of these names (i.e. 99 names) are in the hadeeth or from the saying of the narrator. Al-Mahfuz says from Abu Ayyub and Hisham, "(regarding this hadeeth) it is without the listing (of the names)." Al-Hakim says : And 'Abdul 'Azeez is reliable (in the chain). Those who agree about it`s weakness are Bukhaaree, Muslim, and Ibn Ma'een. Al-Baihaqi (says) it is weak among the traditionalists. And Al-Baihaqi says : It is conceivable that it`s tafseer is dropped from some of the narrator, and because of this probability the two sheikhs (Bukhaaree and Muslim) moved to the hadeeth of Al-Waleed in the Saheeh. Haafidh Ibn Hajr explains the reason for it`s being Da'eef in "Fathul-Bari" 11/215 Ibn Katheer says : The listing of this hadeeth is Mujarrad (which is an addition by a reporter to the text of the saying by the narrator.) Ibn Taimiyyah also says : Verily the ninety-nine names have not been specified in any saheeh hadeeth from the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam). [Majmu'al-Fataawa" Shaikh-ul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah: 22/482.] The evidence why it is not authentic (also) lies in that it falls short of many of the names from the text of the Qur`aan and the Sunnah. For e.g. :- Ar-Rabb, Al-Khaalik, Al-Qadeer, Al-Qareeb, and similarly, many of the names are found in it that not specified in the Qur`aan and the Sunnah for e.g :- As-Saboor, Al-Mahsee, Ar-Rasheed, Al-Baqi. [/color] Dr. `Umar Al-Ashqar, from the book "Asmaa was-Sifaat fee Mu'taaqidi Ahl Sunnati wal Jam'aat" |
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