Allah’s Names Attribute Tawheed
By Dr
Muhammad Anowar Zahid
3rd
November 2020
“And to Allah belong the Most Beautiful Names,
so invoke Him by them” (Qur’an, 7:180).
In my previous article, we mentioned that there are three
components of Tawheed, namely:
Tawheed of
Lordship (Tawheed ar-Ruboobeeyah)
Tawheed of
Names and Attributes (Tawheed al-Asmaa was-Sifaat)
Tawheed
of Worship (Tawheed al-‘Ibaadah)
With the
last article, we specifically discussed the first component. The second
component has two parts, namely the Names of Allah and His Attributes. We
should have complete and unshaken belief in those Names and Attributes of Allah
that are confirmed by the Holy Qur’an and the authentic (Saheeh) Traditions
(Ahadith) of the Prophet (peace be upon him-PBUH). One may believe in the
Lordship of Allah, but they may still harbour doubt about His Names and
Attributes (Jahangir, 2002; Jahangir, 2017).
For
example, when the disbelievers of Makkah were called upon to prostrate to Allah
– the Most Gracious (Al-Rahman), they used to question thus – “And what is
the Most Gracious? Should we prostrate to that which you order us?”
(Qur’an, 25:60). This amounts to rebelliousness against Allah. Therefore, we
have to believe in Allah’s Names and Attributes as they are. We cannot increase
or decrease in them nor can we compare them with anything else. For example, we
cannot compare Allah’s anger with human anger because the anger of human beings
is their weakness while Allah is above any weaknesses. To quote Allah’s words, “There
is nothing like unto Him” (Qur’an, 42:11).
Today, we
shall reflect upon the Names of Allah, the first portion of the second
component. The Holy Qur’an and the Prophetic Ahadith (plural of Hadith) mention
a good number of Allah’s Names. For example, Al-Rahman (The Most Gracious),
Al-Raheem (The Most Merciful), Al-Malik (The King), Al-Quddus (The One Free
from Deficiencies), Al-Salam (The Granter of Safety), Al-Mu’min (the Granter of
Security), and Al-Muhaimin (The Watcher). In order to correctly believe in
those Names, we need to maintain certain principles as enunciated by Sheikh
Al-‘Uthaimeen (2010), which are presented below in brief:
Allah’s
Names are beautiful. As says Allah, “And to Allah belong the Most Beautiful
Names, so invoke Him by them” (Qur’an, 7:180). “Most beautiful” is used in
the sense that His names are of perfect qualities. There is no shortcoming or
flaw in them. For example, Allah is “Ever-Living” (Al-Hayyu). This means that
Allah is always in existence. There is no pre or post-life time for Allah.
Allah’s
Names are both proper names and attributes. For example, “And He is the
Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful” (Qur’an, 10:107). Here both Oft-Forgiving
(al-Ghafur) and the Most Merciful (al-Raheem) refer to Allah in the first place
and then to His qualities of forgiving and mercifulness.
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Also
Read: Components of Tawheed: Allah Is Maintaining And
Controlling Everything In The Universe
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When any of
Allah’s Names goes beyond Himself to impact His creations, then that Name
indicates three principles:
That Name
refers to Allah (as a proper name);
That Name
is an Attribute of Allah; and
The
implication of that Attribute is affirmed.
Thus, for
example, Allah lays down severe punishment for highway robbery at verse 33 of
Surah (5) Al-Ma’idah of the Holy Qur’an. Allah makes an exception at verse 34
of the same Surah for those who repent (Tawbah) before being overpowered
(arrested)/punished, because “Allah is Oft-Forgiving and Most Merciful.” Here, these two Names of Allah imply, in
addition to confirming the first two principles, that the criminals who have
repented are forgiven by Allah from the regular punishment of the crime and the
court of law may award them some lesser punishment.
However,
where a Name of Allah does not extend beyond Himself, there is no such
implication on the creation. For example, Allah is “Ever-Living” (Al-Hayyu) and
“Ever-Lasting” (Al-Qayyum).
There are
certain necessary and logical consequences of the Names of Allah. For example,
Allah is the Creator- “Al-Khaliq“. This Name indicates that Allah has both
knowledge and ability to create. Thus, we can see Allah’s Attributes of
knowledge and ability in the following verse indicating His power of
creation:
“Allah
is He Who Created seven Firmaments and a similar number of the earth. Through
the midst of them (all) descends His Command so that you may know that Allah
has power over all things, and that Allah comprehends all things in (His)
knowledge” (Qur’an,
65:12).
We must
limit ourselves to the Names that Allah Himself and His Prophet (peace be upon
him- PBUH) have mentioned. We must not apply our intellect in this matter and
add something to or deduct something from them because “(t)he human mind cannot
grasp or understand what Allah – with His Might, Majesty and Magnificence –
deserves in terms of names” (Al-‘Uthaimeen, 2010, p. 27). Allah’s
command for us in this respect is that we (humans) must not follow (by way of
saying, doing or otherwise) anything of which we do not have any knowledge
because the hearing, the sight and the heart will be questioned (by Allah on
the Day of Judgment) (Qur’an, 17:36). Thus, for example, Allah gets angry as
said in this verse, ” Allah is angry with them, curses them and has prepared
for them an evil end” (Qur’an, 48:6).
But we cannot describe him with a name of al-Ghaadib (the Angry one),
because Allah or the Prophet (PBUH) did not give Him this name (Philips, n.d.).
Allah’s
names are not limited to any particular number. In addition to the Names
mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah, there are those which are in the knowledge
of Allah alone. To quote the Prophet (PBUH),
“I ask You
by all of Your Names that You have named Yourself with, have revealed in Your
book, have taught to one of Your creation, or have kept exclusively with Your
knowledge from the matters of the unseen” (cited in Al-‘Uthaimeen, 2010, p. 29).
Of course,
there is one Hadith according to which Allah has ninety-nine Names, whoever enumerates
them (memorises, understands, and worships Allah based on the belief therein)
will enter Paradise (Bukhari 7392). However, this Hadith is a weak one while
the above one is authentic. Hence, the above Hadith should take precedence over
this one. Of course, there is no contradiction between these two Hadiths. The
Hadith of 99 Names does not mean that Allah has only those (99) Names. Rather
it means that whoever memorises and acts upon those 99 Names among from all the
Names of Allah will be rewarded with Paradise (Al-‘Uthaimeen, 2010, p. 30).
We must
give the rights the Names of Allah do deserve. We must use the Names specified
for Him to denote His Proper Name and Attributes without giving any share of
them to anybody else. And then, we must worship Him based on the belief in
them. Otherwise, this will result in injustice to them. The injustice may be of
the following forms:
Outright
rejection of Allah’s names;
Equating
Allah’s Attributes with those of the created beings;
Giving Him
a name that Allah Himself or His Prophet did not give, such as the Christians
give Him the name, “the Father”;
Taking a
derivative from His Names and ascribing it to a false idol, such as the
Polytheists of Makkah named an idol as Al-‘Uzza taking it from “Al-‘Azeez” (The
Almighty), a Name of Allah.
In the same
way, it is an injustice to give Allah’s Names in the definite form (adding AL
before a Name) to any of His creations unless preceded by the prefix, Abd which means servant of (Philips, n.d.). Thus,
we may name a person as Abd Al-Raheem. We cannot name him Al-Rahim. Again, many
of Allah’s Names may be used for men in the indefinite (without using AL before
a Name) like Ra’oof and Raheem because Allah has used some Names in the
indefinite form for the Prophet (PBUH). To quote the following verse,
“A
messenger has come to you from among yourselves to whom anything that burdens
you is grievous. He is full of concern for you and is full of pity (Ra’oof) and
full of mercy (Raheem)” (Qur’an, 9:128).
It should
be added in this connection that the word, Abd (servant/slave) or Amat (female
servant/slave) cannot be used to name anyone to mean that he/she is
servant/slave of that person because human beings are servants/slaves of Allah
alone. Thus, for example, it is prohibited (haram) to name someone as Abd
al-Nabi (servant/slave of the Prophet) or Abdee (my servant/slave) or Amatee
(my servant/slave girl) (Philips, n.d.).
To
conclude, Allah’s Names are perfect and specified in the Qur’an and Sunnah.
Nobody can add anything to or reject anything from them. Nor can one compare
any of the Names or Attributes with those of any of the creations. The basic
principle here is that there is nothing like Allah.
References:
Primary
Sources:
The Holy
Qur’an
Sunnah
Secondary
Sources:
Ibn
Kathir, Imaduddin (2019), Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Bengali translation by Hafez Munir
Uddin Ahnad), 7th vol. London: Qur’an Academy.
Jahangir,
Khondokar Abdullah (2017), Qur’an-Sunnaher Aloke Islami Aqida (in Bangla)
(Islamic Creed in the Qur’an and Sunnah. Jhenidah: As-Sunnah Publications.
Jahangir,
Khondokar Abdullah (2002), Imam Abu Haneefah’s Al-Fiqh Al-Akbar: The (Bengali)
Translation and Explanation. Jhenidah: As-Sunnah Publications.
Philips,
Abu Ameenah Bilal (n.d.), The Fundamentals of Tawheed (Islamic Monotheism) at
https://www.cia.gov/library/abbottabad-compound/84/84575EAC059788C5E8DFA51FEF117E4A_The%20Fundamentals%20of%20Tawheed.pdf
retrieved on 11 September 2020.
Al-‘Uthaimeen,
Muhammad bin Salih (2010), The Beautiful Names and Attributes of Allah: Important
Principles to Remember (trans. in
English by Faisal Shafeeq), (Riyadh and some other places: Darussalaam).
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An
acclaimed scholar of international business and Islamic law, Dr Md (Muhammad)
Anowar Zahid is a Professor and the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Eastern
University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. With the degrees of PhD (Manchester, England),
LLM (Dalhousie, Canada) and LLB (Honours) & LLM (Dhaka University), he has
extensive teaching and research experiences both at home and abroad (Canada,
Malaysia and UK). Immediately before joining the Eastern University, Professor
Zahid was the Director of the Centre for International Law and Siyar (CILAS)
and an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, National University of
Malaysia (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia-UKM).
Original
Headline: Understanding Tawheed in the Names of Allah
Source: The
Muslim Vibe
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-spiritualism/allah’s-names-attribute-tawheed/d/124523
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