The Perfect Names of Allah

3 NAMES OFTHE PERFECT

NAMES OF

ALLAH

PROF. ‘UMAR AL-ASHQAR

 The Perfect Names of Allah

PUBLISHER’S NOTE .............................................................................. 7

TRANSLATOR’S FOREWORD……………………………………….11
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 The Perfect Names of Allah

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 The Perfect Names of Allah

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Allah, Al- ‘Afuww..................................................................................... 8
Allah, Ar-Ra’ f........................................................................................ 11
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 The Perfect Names of Allah

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 The Perfect Names of Allah

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The Perfect Names of Allah
 The Perfect Names of Allah

Publisher’s Note

Praise be to Allah ( ), the Lord of the Worlds, and may the blessings and
peace of Him be upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad ( 4, his family,
his Companions, and all those who follow in his footsteps until the Day
of Resurrection.
Allah’s Apostle ( ) said, “Allah has ninety-nine names, i.e. one-hundred
minus one, and whoever knows (memorizes and understands) them will
go to Paradise.” [ ah al-Bukh : 3/894]
The significance of learning Allah5 in the above
mentioned hadith. Knowing The Perfect Names of Allah is a path which
leads to Paradise.
In the light of the Qur’an and Sunnah, Dr. Umar al-Ashqar addressed The
Perfect Names of Allah with a delicate excellence. He takes us on a
journey through The Perfect Names of Allah to discover who Allah is
through learning the meanings of His Names.
May Allah bless with His Acceptance the efforts of the author, the
translator, and all those associated with the publication of this work.
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
General Manager
An-Nafaes House for Publishing & Distribution.
Amman, Jordan
Tel: 009626-5353435
Fax:009626-5353434
E-Mail: alnafaes.lan@hotmail.com
 The Perfect Names of Allah

Allah, (82) Al- ‘Afuww:

the Oft-Pardoning

Among theBest Names of Allah by which He introduced Himself to His

slaves in the Qur’an is “Al- ‘Afuww” (the Oft-Pardoning):

That is so. And whoever has retaliated with the like of that which
he was made to suffer, and then has again been wronged, Allah
will surely help him. Verily! Allah indeed is Oft-Pardoning, Oft-
Forgiving. (Qur’an 22: 60)

Whether you [mankind] disclose [by good words of thanks] a

good deed [done to you in the form of a favor by someone], or
conceal it, or pardon an evil, verily, Allah is Ever Oft-Pardoning,
All-Powerful. (Qur’an 4: 149)
Al-‘Afuww means the One Who is Oft-Pardoning of His slaves’ sins.
[Ishtiq q Asm ’ All h, p. 90]
Al-Ghaz l stated that Al-‘Afuww means the One Who forgives sins and
overlooks offences. It is close to the meaning of the Oft-Forgiving which
implies concealing sins. However, Al-‘Afuww implies canceling all
sins.” [Al-Maq ad al-Asn , p. 117]
Allah pardons the sins and offences of His slaves. For example, Allah
ordered us to make ablution (wu ’ ) before we pray, but in case one
cannot find water to wash with or he cannot use water because of any
reason, he can make tayammum (dry ablution). This shows how Allah
pardons and forgives His slaves. Had Allah willed to make it hard for us,
He could have asked us to make ablution with water regardless of any
condition. Allah says,
 The Perfect Names of Allah

And if you are ill, or on a journey, or one of you comes after

answering the call of nature, or you have been in contact with
women [by sexual relations] and you find no water, perform
tayammum with clean earth and rub therewith your faces and hands
[tayammum]. Truly, Allah is Ever Oft-Pardoning, Oft-Forgiving.
(Qur’ an 4: 43)
Allah overlooks many sins and wrongdoings; otherwise, He would have
destroyed the world and annihilated all the people:

And if Allah were to seize mankind for their wrong-doing, He

would not leave on it [the earth] a single moving [living]
creature… (Qur’ an 16: 61)
A component of Allah’ s Pardoning of His slaves is that He conceals the
sins, of His slaves in this world and in the Hereafter. He, also, informs
people of their sins, forgives them, and then substitutes their sins with
good deeds. Indeed, the Pardoning and Forgiving of Allah are
tremendous. Slaves must know this fact about Allah and resort to Him for
His Pardoning and Forgiveness. Allah informed us that believers invoke
Allah and say:

… Pardon us and grant us Forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You

are our Mawl [Patron, Supporter and Protector, etc.] and give us
victory over the disbelieving people. (Qur’ an 2: )
‘ ’ ishah bint Ab Bakr asked the Messenger of Allah ( ) what to say
during in the Night of Decree (Laylat al-Qadr). He told her to say: “ O’
Allah! You are Oft-Pardoning and you love pardoning. Pardon me.”
[Sunan at-Tirmidh , hadith no. 3513]
When he woke up at night to pray, The Messenger of Allah ( ) used to
say: “ O’ Allah! I seek refuge in Your Pleasure from Your Anger and in
Your Pardoning from Your Punishment.” [Muslim, hadith no. 486]
 The Perfect Names of Allah

Allah asked people to forgive whoever did wrong against them if they are
able to retaliate, and He promised to forgive them if they did so:

Whether you [mankind] disclose [by good words of thanks] a

good deed [done to you in the form of a favour by someone], or
conceal it, or pardon an evil. Verily, Allah is Ever Oft-Pardoning,
All-Powerful. (Qur’ an 4: 149)

That is so. And whoever has retaliated with the like of that which
he was made to suffer, and then has again been wronged, Allah
will surely help him. Verily! Allah indeed is Oft-Pardoning, Oft-
Forgiving. (Qur’ an 22: 60)

… But if you pardon [them] and overlook, and forgive [their

faults], then verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
(Qur’ an 64: 14)

… Let them pardon and forgive. Do you not love that Allah should
forgive you? And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
(Qur’ an 24: 22)
The following Prophetic saying also corroborates Allah’ s Call for His
slaves to pardon each other: “ Charity does not reduce one’ s own wealth;
pardoning others increases one’ s own power and dignity; and whoever
humbles himself before Allah will be elevated instead.” [Muslim, hadith
no. 2588]
 The Perfect Names of Allah

Allah, (83) Ar-Ra’ f:

the Compassionate, the Most Kind

Allah identified Himself in the Qur’ an by His Name “ Ar-Ra’ f” (the

Compassionate). Allah says,

… Truly, Allah is Full of Kindness, the Most Merciful towards

mankind. (Qur’ an 2: 143)

… And Allah is full of Kindness to [His] slaves. (Qur’ an 2: 207)

Ibn al-Ath r defined “ Ar-Ra’ f” as “ The Compassionate to His slaves and
the Most Kind to them.” [An-Nih yah, 2/176]
Allah’ s Kindness and Compassion with His slaves is partly manifest in
the fact that Allah does not cancel what they did before the abrogation of
certain practices or provisions. For example, some Companions asked
about the status of their prayers when they used to face Bayt al-Maqdis
(Jerusalem) in their prayers. In response to that question, Allah said,

… And Allah would never make your faith [prayers] to be lost

[i.e. your prayers offered towards Jerusalem]. Truly, Allah is Full
of Kindness, the Most Merciful towards mankind. (Qur’ an 2: 143)
Part of His Kindness with His slaves is that He informed them of what
they will be asked about on the Day of Resurrection. Everyone will be
confronted with whatever he did during his first life. In fact, this is
genuine consideration from Allah, because people could then prepare
themselves while still alive for what they will be confronted with:
 The Perfect Names of Allah

On the Day when every person will be confronted with all the
good he has done, and all the evil he has done, he will wish that
there were a great distance between him and his evil. And Allah
warns you against Himself [His Punishment] and Allah is Full of
Kindness to the [His] slaves. (Qur’ an 3: 30)
Furthermore, Allah was Kind with His slaves, because He sent down His
Book to His Prophet in order to bring us out of the darkness of blasphemy
and disbelief and into the light of truth represented by the religion of
Islam:

It is He Who sends down manifest y t [proofs, evidences,

verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.] to His slave [Muhammad
( )] that He may bring you out from darkness into light. And
verily, Allah is to you Full of Kindness, Most Merciful.
(Qur’ an 57: 9)
Allah’ s Kindness to us, also, encompasses the fact that He made available
to us the means of transportation in the past such as camels, horses, mules
and donkeys as well as the modern ones such as cars and airplanes:

And they carry your loads to a land that you could not reach
except with great trouble to yourselves. Truly, your Lord is Full of
Kindness, Most Merciful. (Qur’ an 16: 7)
The true believer who really knows that Allah is the Most Kind and
Merciful to His slaves resorts to Allah, invokes Him by His Name “ Ar-
Ra’ f,” and asks Him for His Mercy and Kindness:
 The Perfect Names of Allah

And those who came after them say: ‘Our Lord! Forgive us and
our brethren who have preceded us in faith, and put not in our
hearts any hatred against those who have believed. Our Lord! You
are indeed Full of Kindness, Most Merciful.’ (Qur’ an 59: 10)
 The Perfect Names of Allah

Allah, (88) An-N :

the Helper

An-Na# r (the Helper) is one of Allah’ s Perfect Names mentioned in the Qur’ an:

And if they turn away, then know that Allah is your Mawl [Patron, Lord, Protector
and Supporter, etc.], [what] an Excellent Mawl , and [what] an Excellent Helper!
(Qur’ an 8: 40)

… And hold fast to Allah [i.e. have confidence in Allah, and depend upon Him in all
your affairs] He is your Mawl [Patron, Lord, etc.], what an Excellent Mawl [Patron,
Lord, etc.] and what an Excellent Helper! (Qur’ an 22: 78)
An-Na# r means the Helper, and Allah helps the believers and grants them victory over their
enemies. Allah said:

And Allah has already made you victorious at Badr, when you were a weak little
force… (Qur’ an 3: 123)

Truly Allah has given you victory on many battle fields, and on the Day of $unayn
[battle] when you rejoiced at your great number but it availed you naught…
(Qur’ an 9: 25)

If you help him [Muhammad ( )] not [it does not matter], for Allah did indeed help
him when the disbelievers drove him out, the second of two, when they [Muhammad
( )] and Ab Bakr [ ] were in the cave, and he [ ] said to his companion [Ab Bakr
( )]: ‘Be not sad [or afraid], surely Allah is with us.’ …
(Qur’ an 9: 40)
Allah informed us that He Alone grants victory to His slaves. If Allah helps us, no one will
overcome us; and if He fails us, no one will help us:

… …

… And there is no victory except from Allah… (Qur’ an 3:126)

...

If Allah helps you, none can overcome you; and if He forsakes you, who is there after
Him that can help you?... (Qur’ an 3: 160)
Allah asked His slaves to seek victory over their enemies from Him:
 The Perfect Names of Allah

… You are our Mawl [Patron, Supporter and Protector, etc.] and give us victory over
the disbelieving people. (Qur’ an 2: 286)

… Our Lord! Pour forth on us patience and make us victorious over the disbelieving
people. (Qur’ an 2: 250)

An-Nafaes House for Publishing & Distribution.

Amman, Jordan
Tel: 009626-5353435
Fax:009626-5353434
E-Mail: alnafaes.lan@hotmail.com
The Perfect Names of Allah