Part 2

EXPLANATION TO THE BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT NAMES

which You have kept to Yourself in the knowledge of the unseen.

It is not possible to confine those Names that Allah has kept with Him in the knowledge of the unseen to a particular number or to encompass them. As for the hadith which mentions ninetynine Names, its meaning is that whosoever memorises,

understands and implements in his daily life, this number of Names will enter Paradise.

Some Descriptions of Allah that are mentioned in the Qur’an

the Most Just of Judges

the Entitled to forgive {al-Muddaththir (74): 56]

the Entitled to be feared [a-Muddaththir (74): 56]

the Knower of the Unseen and the Visible

the Knower of unseen things

the Most Merciful of the merciful

the Swiftest of reckoners

EXPLANATION TO THE BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT NAMES

the Possessor of the Throne

Shower of blessings [al-Bagarah (2): 243]

Shower of immense blessings

[Ali ‘Imran (3): 74]

the Exactor of Revenge [al-Ma’idah (5): 95]

Possessor of painful retribution [Fussilat (41): 43]

Lord of the ascending steps

the Possessor of forgiveness

the Possessor of strength [adh-Dhariyat (51): 58]

the Possessor of metcy

the Possessot of boundless mercy

the Possessor of abundance

SOMb DESCRIPTIONS OF ALLAH...

He Who splits the seed and kernel

Bringer into being of the heavens and the earth

the Forgiver of sin

the God of mankind

the Best of deciders

the Best of judges

the Best of forgivers

the Best of guardians

the Best of judges

the Best of plotters

EXPLANATION TO THE BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT NAMES

the Best bringer to land [al-Mu’'miniin (23): 29]

the Best of helpers

the Best of the merciful [al-Mu’miniin (23): 109]

the Best of providers

the Best of inheritors

the Master of the Kingdom

the King of mankind

Master of the Day of Recompense

[al-Fatibab (1): 4] the Lights of the heavens and the

SOME DESCRIPTIONS OF ALLAH...

the Acceptor of repentance

the Lord of the worlds {al-Bagarah (2): 173]

the Lord of the Throne [at-Tawbah (9): 129|

the Lord of daybreak

the Lord of this House

the Lord of everything

the Lord of the two Easts [ar-Rabman (55): 17]

the Lord of the two Wests {ar-Rabman (55): 17)

the Lord of the East and West [ash-Shu‘ara (26): 27}

the Lord of mankind

the Lord of might

EXPLANATION TO THE BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT NAMES

the Lord of the seven heavens (al:Mu'mimin (23): 86]

the Lord of the heavens and the earth

the Lord of Sirius

the Raiser of ranks

the Swift at reckoning

[Ali ‘Imran (3): 19)

the Severe in punishment

the Severe in retribution

the Swift at retribution

the Inexorable in power

the Hearer of prayer

SOME DESCRIPTIONS OF ALLAH...

the Vast in forgiveness

the One who brings the dead to life

A watning against figurative interpretation of the Names and Attributes

Imam ‘Ali bin al-Murtada al-Yamant! said,

“.The second matter is accusing the religion of deficiency by rejecting the texts and the outward expressions of the Attributes (dhawahir), and removing them from their real and literal meanings to metaphorical meanings without a clear and unequivocal proof which would indicate the establishment for the necessity of /a’wil (figurative interpretation). In this, those who do this merely blindly follow some of the AAsi--Kalam (people of theological rhetoric) in principles that they themselves have not agreed upon. The most vile of these is the madh-hab of the Qarimita, the Batiniyyah, in their /a’wi/ of the Beautiful Names of Allah and their negation of them under the pretext of absolving Allah of anthropomorphism and hence actualising /awhid [in their eves}, claiming that to apply them [to Allah} is sashbih (anthropomorphism). These went to the extent of saying that He is not present/ existing and neither is He absent/non-existing...

From the necessary matters [of this Religion] is to take the

A WARNING AGAINST FIGURATIVE INTERPRETATION

Beautiful Names of Allah mentioned in His Book by way of glorification and supreme praise of Him. Do you not see that arRahman and ar-Rahim, for example, are recited in every prayer and mentioned in every Muslim gathering, all of them being agreed that these two Names are from the best ways of praising Allah, the Exalted, and drawing close to Him through glorifying Him by them...?

So what is to prevent affirming the Attribute of Mercy (Rabma) and its likes that have been affirmed by Allah and His Messenger ($8) in the same way, coupled with negating the deficiencies that are associated with the attributes of the creation? What is there that would prevent doing the same with every Attribute that the Lord is described with and the creation is also described with? He, the Magnificent and Exalted, is described by them in the most perfect way, removed from all defects, whereas the servant is described by them as befits him with his defects and weaknesses. It is in this way that 4h/v-s-Sunnah understood the negation of fashbih, not by negating the Attributes as done by those who negate His Attributes (My‘attila).

From the matters that indicate the futility of /a’wi/ is that the Muttazila dislike the /a’nz/ that the Ash‘aris make of the All-Wise (al-Hlakim). The Ash‘aris dislike the fa’wi/ that some of the Mv’tazila make of the All-Hearing (as-Sami‘) and the All-Seeing (al-Basir). Ahlu-s-Sunnah dislike the ‘a’vi/ that both parties make of ar-Rahman, ar-Rabim and their likes. All these groups dislike the /a’ni/ made by the Qaramita. Hence it is obligatory to affirm what Allah affirmed for His noble Self without /a’ni/ and ta‘til.

The opinion that [affirming the] literal meaning of these Names is disbelief and misguidance, that the Companions and the right-

EXPLANATION TO THE BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT NAMES

eous Sa/af did not understand their meanings, or that they did understand them but did not carry out the obligation of advising mankind of their true meaning, is not permissible due to two

The necessary and unequivocal reasoning that the nature [of man] dictates that any matter of this kind would have had a warning against it arising from the Messenger of Allah (3) and his Companions, and it would have been more frequent and greater than theit watning from the Lying Dajjal. It is not possible due to their complete intellects and religion that they would leave their children, women, and their general masses listening to something related to Allah whose literal meaning is disbelief and remain silent about it. Were they to leave this warning then certainly they would have left warning against the Dajjal, for the nullification of His Lordship is greater and mote severe according to the intellect.

Do you not see that when the those given to theological rhetoric (mutakallimin) came to believe in the repugnance of the literal meanings of these texts, their warning against them became frequent as did their /a’wi/ of them? They wrote volumes concerning this, they aroused the negligent, they taught the ignorant, they declared the disbelief of those who opposed them and they made it widespread amongst the Muslims, indeed the whole world. However this would have more rightfully been the duty of the Master of the Messengers, the Precedent of the Predecessors and the Helpers of the Religion (3%), if their claim were indeed true.

It is established that any addition in the Religion is forbidden, so it is not correct that the Shari‘ah be silent about some-

A WARNING AGAINST FIGURATIVE INTERPRETATION

thing that is required from a text which is ftom the fundamentals of the Religion. Islam is to be followed, not invented, and this is why it declares anyone who rejects any of the pillars of the religion to be a disbeliever because they are known by necessity. So it is more deserving and proper that the Shari‘ah not come with something with which is repeatedly recited and [outwardly] false, yet not caution us about it, especially since what is heard is false and is well-known in all the Books of Allah. In conclusion there is nothing that occurs that would oppose [the literal meanings of the texts] by way of the Shariah or intellect and would necessitate /a’vil...

Al-Razi acknowledged in his book, a/Arba‘in - and he is from the greatest opponents of Ablv-s-Sunnah - that all of the Heavenly Books came with the mention of Allah’s Attributes - and Allah did not mention a single text that He is to be absolved of the Attribute of Mercy, Forbearance, Wisdom and their likes. So the matter is clear even though he may not accept it.’ '

" Tthir al: Hagg ‘alé-l-Kbalg (pp. 219+) of al-Yamani with summary, as quoted in Sharh Kitab at-Tawbid min Sabib al-Bukhari (1/86+) of Shaykh ‘Abdullah alGhunayman,

Biography of the Author

* He is Abi ‘Abdullah ‘Abdu-r-Rahman bin Nasir bin ‘Abdullah bin Nasir Ali Sa’di from the Tamimi tribe. He was born in the city of ‘Unayzah, Qasim on the 12" Muharram, 1307H. His mother passed away when he was but four years old and his father when he was seven. Hence he grew up as an orphan but despite this he had a goodly upbringing.

* He was extremely intelligent and had memorised the Qur’an by the age of eleven after which he devoted himself to studying under the scholars of his land. He strove in his studies until he excelled in all of the various Islamic sciences and by the age of twenty-three he was already teaching. He devoted himself entirely to learning and teaching until he became the leading religious authority in the land, with students of knowledge flocking to him from all regions.

* He studied under a host of the leading scholars of his time, from amongst whom was Shaykh Ibrahim bin Hamd bin Jasir, the author would praise him for his extensive memorisation of hadith, his piety and his love of the poor. Many times he would witness a poor person coming to Shaykh Ibrahim, and the shaykh removing an article of his clothing and giving it to him, despite he

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR

himself needing it and being quite poor. He also studied under Shaykh Muhammad bin ‘Abdu-l-Karim ash-Shibl, Shaykh Salih bin ‘Uthman fi the Judge of ‘Unayzah, Shaykh Sa’b al-Quwayjiti, Muhammad al-Amin ash-Shanqiti and others.