In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
We named things that have value to us. We don't name particle of dust or insects. Things are elevated through their names and if something is given many names, it shows that this matter is extremely exalted and also it gives you different angles to look and understand this named being.
For example, the Qur'an has many names--Al-Qur'an, Al-Kitab, Al-Tanzil, Al-Furqan, Al-Dhikr. Something that is magnified and extremely elevated might have multiple names. This shows the multiple points of perfection within which you view the named.
Allah has many Names through which we know Him. He is not showing all His Names to everyone. Some He shows to a particular person. Some He keeps to Himself. This is not unique in the Shari'ah that Allah hides something of virtue so we might exhaust our effort in finding it. For example, Laylatul Qadr (the Night of Power in Ramadhan) is hidden from us so we might exhaust ourselves of finding it. The blessed hour on Friday when du'as (supplications) are answered are hidden so we might exhaust ourselves in finding it. All of the Names of Allah are not all listed so people might read, contemplate, know these Names and search for them. The hadith in the Tirmidhi version listed 99 Names of Allah. This is the common list of 99 Names of Allah that commentators comment on. But the hadith does not mean Allah has only 99 Names. But they are beautiful windows to know Allah in general.
The knowledge of Allah is why we are here. It is why Allah breathed the soul of life into each and everyone of us. Allah sent an angel to the wombs of our mothers when we were four months into our conception and it breathed into it a spirit of life. The spirit that was breathed into us is a secret of Allah.
وَيَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلرُّوحِ ۖ قُلِ ٱلرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّى وَمَآ أُوتِيتُم مِّنَ ٱلْعِلْمِ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا ﴿٨٥[Qur'an, Al-Isra' 17:85]
And they ask you, [O Muhammad], about the ruh (spirit/soul). Say, "The ruh is of the affair of my Lord. And mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little." (85)
The soul, which is a tremendous mystery of the mysteries of the universe, the soul which can be elevated to the ranks to be truly dear to Allah, this soul was only created to worship Allah.
Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both father and son) narrated: "Worshiping Allah means knowing Allah."
So the only spirit within our bodies, it is only here so that we might know Allah and we know Him through Allah's Names. Those who don't know Him and those who don't remember Him, have only miseries because they have turned away from that very reason they are walking on this earth.
Allah's beautiful Names are limitless perfection. If you learn something is perfect would you just be satisfied with knowing it? Allah is beyond our imaginations but Allah has described Himself with words which, in our limited way, we are able to emulate. In emulating the meanings we are drawing ourselves close to Allah.
Allah expects us to strive towards perfection and beauty and there is no perfection or beauty except in His Names. So our perfection and our beauty is to strive to emulate His Names, not merely just knowing the names and their meanings and that Allah has them because what this means your ears work and you know some Arabic. It is not simply a case of memorizing the Names either. Where is the rank? Children can do that. But we should really be deeply certain that Allah is characterized by these Names. We should look for deep veneration and feel in awe of these Names--how great is the Al-Ghafur, Al-Wahhab, Al-Rahman, Al-Rahim, Al-Wadud, and so on. This awe necessarily drives you to be like them and venerate them.
Anything opposite from Allah's Names is not perfection. Beauty is in these Names and anything opposite of these Names is not beauty. Excellence is in these Names and anything opposite of these Names is not excellence. Someone who knows this, how could he not want to have a share in this real perfection, excellence and beauty. Someone who doesn't want this is because he is ignorant or because his heart is filled with something else and this knowledge has not settled in him.
"The one looking at the Attributes of Allah must have a heart devoid of wanting other than Allah, for knowledge is the seed of longing." (Ghazali)
Knowledge is the seed of longing. When we learn about Allah's Names, this is the seed through which will grow the tree for longing of Allah and this longing will bring about action but if we plant this seed and there is no soil in the heart, the seed will get blown away and nothing will happen. So it is a very important that we look for deep certitude and veneration, followed by striving to acquire what is acquirable of Allah's Attributes.
"Verily Allah has ninety nine Names, one hundred except one; whoever encompasses them enters Paradise." (Bukhari)
"Verily, Allah Most High, has 99 Names; whoever encompasses them enters Paradise. He is Allah, the One who there is no god but He, Al-Rahman, Al-Rahim, Al-Malik, AlQuddus, Al-Salam, Al-Mu'min Al-Muhaymin, Al-'Aziz, Al-Jabbar, Al-Mutakabbir, Al-Khaliq, Al-Bari', Al-Musawwir, Al-Ghaffar, Al-Qahhar, Al-Wahhab, Al-Razzaq, Al-Fattah, Al-'Alim, Al-Qabid, Al-Basit, Al-Khafid, Al-Rafi', Al-Mu'izz, Al-Mudhill, As-Sami', Al-Basir, Al-Hakam, Al-'Adl, Al-Latif, Al-Khabir, Al-Halim, Al-'Azim, Al-Ghafur, Ash-Shakur, Al-'Ali, Al-Kabir, Al-Hafiz, Al-Muqit, Al-Hasib, Al-Jalil, Al-Karim, Al-Raqib, Al-Mujib, Al-Wasi', Al-Hakim, Al-Wadud, Al-Majíd, Al-Ba'ith, Ash-Shahid, Al-Haqq, Al-Wakil, Al-Qawiyy, Al-Matin, Al-Wáli, Al-Hamid, Al-Muhsi, Al-Mubdi, Al-Mu'id, Al-Muhyi, Al-Mumit, Al-Hayy, Al-Qayyum, Al-Wajid, Al-Májid, Al-Wahid, Al-Ahad, As-Samad, Al-Qadir, Al-Muqtadir, Al-Muqaddim, Al-Mu'akhkhir, Al-Awwal, Al-Akhir, Al-Zahir, Al-Batin, Al-Walí, Al-Muta'ali, Al-Barr, At-Tawwib, Al-Muntaqim, Al-Afu, Al-Ra'uf, Malik al-Mulk, Dhul-Jalali Wal-Ikram, Al-Muqsit, Al-Jami, Al-Ghani, Al-Mughni, Al-Mani', Ad-Darr, An-Nafi', An-Nur, Al-Hadi, Al-Badi, Al-Baqi, Al-Warith, Al-Rashid, As-Sabur" [Tirmidhi]
Teach them to your children and your loved ones.
Translation of the 99 Names
May Allah teach us the knowledge of Him and grant us beauty inwardly and outwardly. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. JazakAllahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
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