Scribd
Upload
39 views

35 Names and Attributes

This document discusses the third aspect of Tawheed, which is the Oneness of Allah's Names and Attributes. It explains that Muslims believe Allah has given us certain information about Himself through His Names and Attributes, as mentioned in the Quran and teachings of Muhammad (peace be upon him). This includes many of His Names like Ar-Rahman and Ar-Raheem. The document warns that misunderstanding Allah's Names and Attributes can have serious consequences, and stresses the importance of understanding this topic through authoritative Islamic texts. It aims to discuss this issue over subsequent emails in a methodical way using evidence from the Quran, Hadith and statements of early Islamic scholars.

Uploaded by

Khalid Haile
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
39 views

35 Names and Attributes

This document discusses the third aspect of Tawheed, which is the Oneness of Allah's Names and Attributes. It explains that Muslims believe Allah has given us certain information about Himself through His Names and Attributes, as mentioned in the Quran and teachings of Muhammad (peace be upon him). This includes many of His Names like Ar-Rahman and Ar-Raheem. The document warns that misunderstanding Allah's Names and Attributes can have serious consequences, and stresses the importance of understanding this topic through authoritative Islamic texts. It aims to discuss this issue over subsequent emails in a methodical way using evidence from the Quran, Hadith and statements of early Islamic scholars.

Uploaded by

Khalid Haile
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

35 Names and Attributes

QUESTION: Does Allah have Names and Attributes? How do we


understand these?

ANSWER: We have been discussing tawheed from two aspects so far.


The tawheed of Ruboobiyyah (Allah’s Oneness in His Lordship) and the tawheed of
uloohiyah (Allah’s Oneness in His Right to be worshipped).

We will now discuss the third aspect of Tawheed: the Tawheed of Allah’s Names (His
Asmaa) and Attributes (His Sifaat).

Muslims believe that Allah has given us certain restricted information about Himself.
It would be of course difficult to worship, love and fear someone or something which
we know nothing about.

Broadly speaking, this information which Allah has told us about Himself can be
divided into two categories: His Names and His Attributes.

We will discuss the Names first.


Allah has Names which He has named Himself with and with which Muhammad
(peace be upon him) has informed us of, after having this information revealed to
him.

Many of these may be known to you already, such as:

Ar Rahman (the Extremely Merciful)


Ar Raheem (the Bestower of Mercy)
Al Razzaaq (the Great Provider)
And others.

We will also discuss Allah’s attributes in forthcoming emails.


1
Muslims believe that all of Allah’s Names are beautiful and perfect.
The Quran states:

And to Allah belong the most beautiful Names.


Surah al A’raaf (the 7th chapter) verse 180

And the Quran also says:

1
Refer to ‘aqeedah ut tawheed p74 of Shaykh Saalih al Fawzaan for more information

Author: Nasser ibn Najam www.islamthebasics.com


Allah, none has the right to be worshipped except Him. To Him belong the
most Perfect and Beautiful Names.
Surah TaHa (the 20th chapter) verse 8

So what is the need to discuss this issue?

Unfortunately, we find that many, many people, both Muslims and non Muslims,
have made serious errors in this aspect of Tawheed, contradicting what the Quran
and the Sunnah and the Companions of Muhammad (peace be upon him) said.
Errors with regards to this issue can be found in hundreds of books from the past
and the present, and as we shall see, this has far reaching consequences on the
beliefs and practices of the Muslims.

The Quran warns the Muslims severely about this in the verse we quoted above
when it was stated:

And to Allah belong the most beautiful Names, so call on Him by them and
leave the company of those people who belie or deny His Names. They will
be recompensed for what they used to do.
Surah al A’raaf (7) aayah 180

This is clearly then an important matter - one which the Quran has specifically
warned us to pay attention to - and one that needs to be gone through methodically
using the texts from the Quran and the Sunnah and the statements of the
Companions and earliest scholars of Islam.

This is what we shall therefore proceed to do over the next few emails.

================================

NEXT TIME:
There is a very common belief amongst Muslims that Allah has only 99 Names – is
this correct?
What are some examples of the Attributes of Allah which have been mentioned in
the Quran or in the Sunnah?

Author: Nasser ibn Najam www.islamthebasics.com

You might also like