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In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Mere profession of faith in one god is not sufficient for one to be a believer. In fact, a number of religions claim to profess such a belief, and yet their conceptions of the One God are often strikingly different. The prophets, and in particular Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), were sent to eradicate idolatry, and describing Allah as having some resemblance to creatures is nothing but a manifestation of idolatry. Allah is transcendent, beyond our comprehension and senses, and can be recognized only through His attributes. “Look, then, at the traces of Allah’s mercy; how He revives the earth after its death.” [Qur’an, 30:50] An important principle, which follows from Allah’s transcendence, is that we may only describe Him by those names and attributes by which He describes Himself, or by which His Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) has described Him.

How many names?

Allah has every attribute of perfection which is fitting for Him. An example of an inappropriate attribute is humility, for it implies an acknowledgement of limits and inferiority, which clearly does not apply to Allah. Some people are under the misconception that Allah has only 99 names, based on the following hadith: Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “Allah has ninety-nine names - a hundred less one - whoever guards (or memorizes) them shall enter heaven.” [Bukhari and Muslim] Yet, this hadith does not restrict the names of Allah to only 99, for in fact there are more than 99 names to be found in the Qur’an and hadith. Another hadith clarifies that there are other names besides these. On the authority of Ibn Mas`ud : The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “There is not a single individual who is afflicted with worry, or grief, and then says, ‘O Allah! I am Your bondsman, the son of Your bondsman, the son of Your bondswoman; my forelock is in Your Hand. Your command is in effect upon me, Your judgement is just concerning me. I ask You by every name which You have, by which You have named yourself, or which You have revealed in Your book, or which You have taught to any of your creation, or which You have kept with Yourself in the knowledge of the unseen, to make the Great Qur’an the spring of my heart, the light of my breast, the elimination of my grief and the disappearance of my worry,’ except that Allah will eliminate his grief and replace it with happiness in its stead.” [Ahmad]

Benefits of knowing Allah’s names

Anyone who learns the important names and attributes of Allah, and understands them, will have recognized his Lord. If he implements this knowledge, and observes his duties with regard to his creator, he has assuredly attained great success.

Another benefit of knowing Allah’s names is that they may be used to call upon Him. Allah has said, (translated), “Allah’s are the Most Beautiful names, so invoke Him by them.” [Qur’an, 7:180] Thus, when asking Allah for mercy and forgiveness, we call to Him using names such as Al-Ghafoor (the Oft-Forgiving), Al- Rahmaan (the Merciful to all creatures in this world), Al-Raheem (the Merciful to believers only in the Hereafter). We will not use, in such cases, names such as Al-Jabbar (the Irresistable), Al-Qawiyy (the Powerful), Al-Qahhar (the Overcomer); instead these names may be used when asking Allah to punish oppressors.
Some important attributes of Allah

1. Oneness

On the authority of Ubayy ibn Ka`b : The pagans said to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), “O Muhammad! Describe your Lord to us.” Then, Allah revealed, (translated) “Say : He is Allah, the One. Allah, the eternally besought of all. He begets not, nor was He begotten, nor is there any comparable to Him.” [Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Tabari] Allah is One and indivisible. He has no partner, son, daughter, wife, father or mother. None share in His attributes and power.

2. Non-resemblance

This attribute is a major distinguishing factor between Islam and other religions. Everything we know or that we can imagine is confined to the realm of sensory experience, whereas Allah is beyond the confines of space and time. He is nothing like any notion or idea anyone may have of Him in his mind. Allah says, (translated), “There is none like unto Him.” [Qur’an, 42:11] “Do you know any comparable to Him?” [Qur’an, 19:65] “Therefore, do not put forward examples for Allah.” [Qur’an, 16:74]. He is free of all limitations and shortcomings. Bayhaqi has reported that Talhah ibn `Ubayd asked the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) about the explanation of “Subhaanallaah”, and he replied, “It is to declare Allah [exalted] above all evil.”

Anyone who thinks of his god as an old man, or as someone sitting up in the sky, with a son sitting on his right, has not recognized his Lord. Islam appeals to the human being to use his rationality to affirm the non-resemblance of the creator, and warns of the terrible consequences for those who refuse to do so. “And they shall say, ‘If only we had listened, or understood, we would not have been amidst the inmates of the blazing fire!’” [Qur’an, 67:10] “They say, while quarrelling in [Hell], ‘By Allah! Indeed, we were in manifest error, when we equated you with the Lord of the Worlds.’” [Qur’an, 26:96-98]

Some attributes and names of Allah are applied exclusively to Him; for example Allah and Al-Rahmaan. Others use words which can also be applied to creatures. For example, one of Allah’s names is “Al-Raheem”, meaning Merciful, and the Prophet is described as merciful using the same word (Raheem) in the Qur’an, [9:128]. However, it is essential to note that although, in cases such as this, the same word may be used to describe both Creator and creation, the meaning of the word is totally different when applied to Allah, the Flawless, the Exalted, for He has told us quite clearly that “there is nothing like unto Him.” [Qur’an, 42:11]

3. Eternality

“He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, and he knows all things.” [Qur’an, 57:3] Allah has no beginning and no end. Only He has always existed. `Imran ibn Husayn has narrated that some people from Yemen came to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and asked him about the universe. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) told them, “Allah was, and there was not anything besides Him.” [Bukhari] Doubtless, it is absurd to follow the temporal when one can abide by the Everlasting.

4. Power

“Say : He is the One Able to raise up over you punishment from above you, or from beneath your feet, or to engulf you with sectarian strife, making some of you taste the might of others.” [Qur’an, 6:65] “Does man think that We shall never gather his bones [and resurrect him] ? Nay, We are capable of restoring his [very] fingertips!” [Qur’an, 75:3-4] “Allah has power over all things.” [Qur’an, 2:284] He does not share His power with anyone. Satan is not in control of the evil.

5. Life

“Allah! There is no god but He, the Living, . . .” [Qur’an, 2:255] Allah is the Ever-Living Who never dies. He is not affected by fatigue, nor does He sleep. “Verily, We created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six days, and no weariness affected Us.” [Qur’an, 50:38] “Allah does not sleep, nor does it befit Him to sleep.” [Muslim] So, even in the darkness and solitude of the night, when people are asleep, Allah is still available for us to call upon for our needs, and this in fact is an opportune time for supplication and prayer.

6. Self-Sustenance

“Allah is the One Independent [of all wants], and it is you who are in need.” [Qur’an, 47:38] “Allah, the one needed by all.” [Qur’an, 112:2] Allah needs neither us, nor our worship. We must worship Him for our own good. This concept is beautifully conveyed in part of a long Hadith Qudsi narrated by way of Abu Dharr Ghifari: “[Allah says:] Oh My servants! If the first of you and the last of you, the humans of you and the jinns of you, were as pious as the most pious man among you, that would not add anything to My kingdom. And, if the first of you and the last of you, the humans of you and the jinns of you, were as wicked as the most wicked man among you, that would not decrease anything from My kingdom. And, if the first of you and the last of you, the humans of you and the jinns of you, were to stand [gathered] on a single plateau, and ask of Me [their needs], and I were to grant each one that which he asked, that would decrease, from that which I have, no more than the sea is decreased by a needle dipped into it.” [Muslim] We are perpetually dependent upon Allah for our very existence. There is no freedom from need of Allah for even the blinking of an eye, and whoever considers himself in no need of Allah for even the shortest instant has disbelieved.

7. Hearing and Sight

“And He is the Hearer, the Seer.” [Qur’an, 42:11] Allah hears all things, and His hearing is not limited by the intensity, distance or frequency of sound. This is movingly expressed in the following hadith of the disputing woman. Bear in mind, while reading this report, that the room of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was so small that during his night prayers which he performed there, he had to move the legs of his sleeping wife out of the way in order to perform prostration. A`ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said, “Praise be to Allah whose hearing encompasses all voices! Indeed, the disputing woman came to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to speak to him, and I was in the corner of the house and could not hear what she was saying, but Allah, the Mighty, the Majestic, revealed, (translated) “Verily, Allah has heard the one who disputes with you concerning her husband.’” [Nasa’i, Ibn Majah.] Similarly, Allah sees all things, irrespective of size or of the wavelength or intensity of light. Allah sees and hears without sensory organs. We should be careful of what we say and do, for Allah sees and hears everything.

8. Knowledge

“Allah knows all things.” [Qur’an, 49:16] Allah’s knowledge is perfect and does not change with time. He knows what has happened in the past, what is currently happening and what will happen in the future. In addition, He knows how certain things, which will not happen, would proceed if they were to happen. For example, although the disbelievers will never return to the world after death, Allah knows that “if they were returned [to the world] they would go back to that from which they were forbidden, and surely, they are liars.” [Qur’an, 6:28]

9. Speech

“Allah spoke directly to Moses.” [Qur’an, 4:164] Allah has the attribute of speech, but His speech is uncreated and does not resemble that of humans or any other creatures in any way at all. 

From Suheil Laher's Islam Page