Question ...

[HiBz EsSenSe ©]

Asalamu Alaikum waRahmatullahi waBarakatu

I'm sure these following questions were Answered in last during the 1st weekend but i seem to have missed it ...

"that these names in the notebook are the Ijtihad of sheikh ibn Uthaimeen, in regards to the 99 names not to ALL the names. That is why you may not find EVERY NAME we discussed in class. Assitteer would still be a name but according to ibn Uthaimeen's list it wouldn't be one of the 99 "special" names mentioned in the hadeeth.

So my questions are:


Did Shaykh Ibn Uthaimeen Rahimahullah mentioned 99 names in his book?
Another thing Im not understanding quite well, How can we say that Allah has a "special" name and another that isn't "special"?
Most Important, Who is classifying them as special and what conditions did they put to make them special??
Jazakum Allahu Khairun

[Agamea]

Asalamu Alaikum waRahmatullahi waBarakatu

I'm sure these following questions were Answered in last during the 1st weekend but i seem to have missed it ...



So my questions are:

Did Shaykh Ibn Uthaimeen Rahimahullah mentioned 99 names in his book?
Another thing Im not understanding quite well, How can we say that Allah has a "special" name and another that isn't "special"?
Most Important, Who is classifying them as special and what conditions did they put to make them special??
Jazakum Allahu KhairunWa alaikum alsalamu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
Bismillah,

1. Ibn Uthaimeen Rahimahullah did compile out of his ijtihad what he believed to be THE 99 names and they are believed by many to be a very strong compilation. The list is found in the back of the Light upon light booklet. I don't know the name of the book itself, perhaps someone else can help out with that. Sheikh yasir suggested that we follow this list of compilation. Let me know if that answers your question insha'Allah or if I misunderstood.

2. We say about Allah only which is good and never attribute anything negative to Him. Negative meaning, negative towards him not towards the creation, i.e. nothing degrading, evil, etc... In regards to the 99 names, there is a hadeeth as I am sure you already know, where the messenger of Allah alaihil salatu wal salam said: “To Allah belongs 100-1 whoever (Ahsaha) memorizes/understands/acts upon them will enter jannah” We know that Allah has more than 99 names, because there are more than that found in the Qur'an and sunnah. We know that Allah has infinite names and attributes because He subhanahu wa ta3ala is infinite. So all the scholars with the exception of Ibn Hazm Rahimahullah have interpreted this hadeeth to mean that Allah has 99 EXTRA special names out of the inifinite amount He has, and whoever does what the hadeeth says will enter paradise. We say EXTRA special because EVERYTHING about Allah is special, "laysa kamithlihy shay2" "nothing is similar to Him", but these 99 names are EXTRA special in that they have extra benefits when acted upon them specifically. It is kind of like wallilahil mathalul a3la, when we say praying at certain places is extra special because you gain extra benefits in reward etc... this doesn't mean that praying normally is not special, because the religion of Allah as a whole is special in and of itself. Also Important: this catogarization was specified by the prophet of Islam alaihil salatu walsalam himself when in one hadeeth a man was praying to Allah and he mentioned some of Allah's names, the prophet said this man has prayed with ismullahil a3tham (Allah's Grandest name), and who ever prays with it his dua will be accepted. Some scholars have said this name is Allah others have said it is Al 7ayul Qayyum, and others have said other choices. But this doesn't mean that the other names of Allah are not Grand, only that this specific name out of the rest is Extra grand or Extra special. Wallahu a3lam

3. After the scholars derive whether it is a name of Allah or not, they then go on to see if it is one of the 99 names of Allah or not. The scholars have differed about these names but 80% of the names are agreed upon by the scholars to be from Allah's 99 names. The person making this categorization or research must have knowledge of Rhetoric and Arabic Language, knowledge of the Qur'an, knowledge of the ahadeeth, and knowledge of Allah. Some names out of liguistic understanding are ruled out to be from Allah's 99 names, such as the name Al Musa3ir, (the price giver), this name was mentioned when some people wanted the prophet Alaihil salatu wal salam to make the prices of their goods to sell, so He said Allah is Al Musa3ir. This name of Allah would not compare in meaning to the name of Al rahman, Al ghafoor, Al Quduus, Al Haiyul Qayuum, Al Samad Etc... for example. From what I remeber wallahu a3lam is that we weren't given exact conditions which the scholars have when classifying a name to be from the 99 or not. Wallahu a3lam

I hope that answered your questions, perhaps someone else can fill in the gaps insha'Allah, and if I misunderstood something let me know insha'Allah.

Wa iyakum khair

[nybrother]

wa 'alaikumassalam warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Another thing Im not understanding quite well, How can we say that Allah has a "special" name and another that isn't "special"?
Shaykh Yasir discussed the proofs that show that Allah has an infinite number of Names and Attributes, and that is the stronger opinion and Allah knows best.

So from that conclusion, we know that 99 can't be all of them. But the Sahih hadith tells us that there are 99, so the scholars have understood it in that way (as brother Agamea mentioned) and it reconciles between the proofs that Allah has an infinite number of Names and Attributes and the hadith of the 99 Names.

Shaykh Yasir also pointed out that if the Names of Allah in the Qur'an (as they come in 'proper name' format, such as Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Raheem [Allah, Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem]) reached 99 in number, then someone could've said that these are the 99 referred to in the hadith.

And if the Names + Attributes totaled 99 then someone could have similarly said so. ([i.e. yuhyee wa yumeet = Al-Muhyee, Al-Mumeet] Add these to the 'proper name format' Names found in the Qur'an and you will get more than 99.)

So the conclusion is that Allah 'azza wa jall has an infinite number of Names and Attributes and we know of many of them (more than 99), but some are included in the 99 mentioned in the hadith and others are not. Although each and every Name and Attribute of Allah is beautiful and not negative in any way, and is befitting of His Majesty, subhaanahu wa ta'aala.

Most Important, Who is classifying them as special and what conditions did they put to make them special??
As the Shaykh mentioned, this is the ijtihad of scholars. We will find different compilations including different Names and Attributes. Shaykh Yasir said (as brother Agamea mentioned) that Shaykh ibn al-'Uthaymeen compiled a list and he [shaykh Yasir] is doing taqleed of that list.

The conditions differ - I would assume, Allah knows best - depending on who's compiling the list. It does not hurt to memorize all of Allah's Names and Attributes (as much as one can) and make du'a to Him by Them and contemplate Them [to the extent that one should, not getting carried away].

And Allah knows best,
brothers and sisters please correct my mistakes as you see them, do not worry that there is no private message available, as I do not mind being corrected publicly.

[HiBz EsSenSe ©]

Asalamu Alaikum waRahmatullahi waBarakatu

Jazaakuma Allahu Jennat AlFirdaws

[Agamea]

Ameen Wa iyakum