The Excellent Names and Attributes of Allah Almighty from the Qur'an and the Sunnah
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Allah Almighty is the Close Companions of His Beloved Servants The Excellent Names and Attributes of Allah Almighty from the Qur'an and the Sunnah ‘Abdullāh ibn Mushabbib ibn Musfir al-Qahtāni Copyrighted by the author The Second Edition 1441 A.H. - 2020 A.D. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful Dedicated to my parents! This is only some what you used to supplicate Allah Almighty for me. I would not be able to return even a small portion of your abundant giving and kindness to me! It is then dedicated to every person who loves the Almighty Lord and seeks to draw close to Him! To you, I dedicate the fruit of my effort, which I implore Allah Almighty to accept! Introduction of the Second Edition All endless praise is due to Allah Almighty, and may Allah's peace and blessings be upon His Prophet Muhammad! I here present this second edition to the dear readers after the first edition, with its 6000 copies, has sold out over a short period of time, praise be to Allah, and after the material of the book has been revised and subjected to some additions and omissions. I hope the book is worthy of its readers and that it adequately tackles the topic at hand and achieves its desired objective. Through it, I intend to spread useful knowledge in pursuit of reward from my Lord. I permit printing of the book with conditions: There should be no omission or addition; and it should be printed in a fine manner that befits its content. Moreover, correspondence should take place via the mobile number 00966564570117 or the e-mail [email protected] so as to make sure the book has not experienced any modification or addition. Indeed, no book whatsoever is perfect save the Book of the Almighty Lord. I would also like to give thanks to Dar Ibn Al-Jawzi and Al-Mutanabbi Bookshop for their past efforts. I ask Allah Almighty for guidance, success, and acceptance! And praise be to Allah, Lord of all the worlds. Author Introduction Praise be to Allah, and may Allah's peace and blessings be upon Prophet Muhammad and his family and Companions! One of the best means for increasing faith is to know Allah Almighty through His names, attributes, and actions. Each name of Allah is like a door through which we can approach Him. {And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them} [Sūrat Al-A‘rāf: 180]. Then what about those who memorize them all!The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) is authentically reported to have said:"Verily, Allah has ninety-nine names, one-hundred minus one. Whoever memorizes them all will enter Paradise."[Al-Bukhāri and Muslim] I used to implore Allah Almighty to grant me the honor of memorizing them. In 1430 A.H., I began to recite them in a brief form. Thereupon, I perceived the eagerness of the listeners to know the names and attributes of Allah Almighty. How would any believer not be eager to know them, while his love for Him and longing to meet Him grows upon knowing each name! How would a believer not long to know the names and attributes of his Lord, he knows that they are the lifeline for those who are distressed, wronged, imprisoned, confused, or in debt? How would a believer not long to know the names and attributes of his Lord, he knows that they are the keys to relief, happiness, and opulence? Indeed, those who know them well will always be in happiness. Hence, I implored Allah Almighty to enable me to write down a book that will be a legacy for me and a spring from which good things are taken. So, I embarked upon my endeavor, adopting the approach of compiling and phrasing only, as I know that I am not a good author and my skills in this area are modest. I compiled all what I laid my eyes on and recorded everything I felt comfortable about, hoping that I made the right choices, in which I was keen to stick to the beliefs of the righteous predecessors with regard to the names and attributes of Allah. Then, I put it in beautiful and eloquent phrases, taking into consideration the different levels and types of learners and learned people and keeping away from purely academic style. I only cited authentic and sound Hadīths and did not explore traditions and biographies. My intent is to make the reading easy and interesting and let the reader get the message through the easiest and shortest way. I hope my book will bring happiness, relieve distress, comfort hearts, boost faith, increase knowledge, fill hearts with faith, and feed minds with knowledge! In this, all grace and praise are due to Allah Almighty alone, and then the credit goes to the virtuous scholars from whom I collected this good fruits. Whatever I did right belongs to Allah and to Him I give thanks for it; and whatever I did wrong is from myself and from Satan. I intended nothing but good, and I ask for Allah's forgiveness and repent to Him. Finally, I am humbled to offer to you the product of my modest effort and skills, praising Allah Almighty for helping my accomplish it and imploring Him to accept it. I hereby declare to Allah Almighty that I love and trust Him! I implore Allah Almighty to give abundant rewards to me, to those from whom I collected the material, and to those who took part in revising, correcting, arranging, copying, and printing this book or shared his advice or opinion regarding it. I also ask Allah Almighty to render the content of this book right and to accept it as purely done for His sake; and I implore Him to make it a means for winning His love and drawing closer to Him and to forgive me, my parents, my Sheikhs, my family, and all Muslims; indeed, He is All-Hearing, Responsive! Yours, ‘Abdullāh ibn Mushabbib ibn Musfir al-Qahtāni [email protected] Mobile phone (for WhatsApp correspondence): 966564570117 My Lord! How grave, serious, and weighty the situation will be! Words cannot describe it, the heart shivers, the tongue stutters, and the mind gets perplexed. Your servant stands before You, weak and humble, wanting to praise You and reveal to You what lies hidden within himself, and You are the Knower of all things. No matter how much we praise You, Your greatness is far bigger! O Lord! We know that our praise and glorification of You, our extolment of Your majesty, and our remembrance of You are but a blessing and a favor from You upon all of us. You are the One Who has guided us to this! And We know that You, O Lord, are beyond the laudation and praise pf anyone. So, accept, O Allah, that favor You have bestowed upon me and those who read these words and pardon our shortcomings. To Allah I extend my praise and good words that are pleasing to Him! Allah, Exalted be He We begin with the greatest and best name humanity has ever known. It is the best name and the most beautiful letters to be uttered by the tongue. It is close to our hearts and souls and gives us a feeling of comfort and tranquility. This is the name 'Allah'!{Do you know of any that is given His namesake?}[Sūrat Mariyam: 65] The name 'Allah' exclusively belongs to Him, apart from all else. No one else is called as such or claims to have this name. It is as Allah Almighty prevented people's minds and tongues from using this name for anyone else. Indeed, Allah Almighty is the Owner of majesty, beauty, grandeur, awe, and might. No matter what we say to describe Your greatness, You are still far greater! All Your attributes are holy, and we chant them in glorification of Your majesty. When the name 'Allah' is mentioned, what is little increases, fear goes away, distress and anguish are relieved, need turns into opulence, the weak become strong, the humiliated become honorable, the poor get rich, and the defeated become victorious. It is the name by which distress is removed, blessings are brought, supplications are answered, good things occur, evils are averted, and crises are overcome. Nothing is greater than the Almighty Lord! The name 'Allah' comes from the word 'ilāh', which means deity. Allah Almighty says:{O people of the book, do not exceed the limits in your religion, and attribute to Allah nothing except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was only a Messenger of Allah, and His command that He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So, believe in Allah and in His Messengers, and do not say: '(Allah is a) trinity.' Give up this assertion; it would be better for you. Allah is indeed just one God. Far be it from His glory that He should have a son. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth. Allah is sufficient as a guardian.}[Sūrat Al-Nisā': 171]Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) said:"Allah is the God and Lord of all His servants."Allah, Blessed be He, is the Loved and Extolled One for Whom people's souls yearn and they find tranquility and intimacy by mentioning Him.{And among the people are those who take other than Allah as equals [to Him].