Let’s Learn Names of Allah — Series (Part 09)

بِسْمِ ّللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيم

وَلِلَّهِ ٱلْأَسْمَآءُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ فَٱدْعُوهُ بِهَا

Allah has the Most Beautiful Names. So call upon Him by them, (Al-Araf, 7:180)

This is the 9th part of my series of: 👇🏻

1st Part: Click to Read (Introduction of series+ First 3 Names — Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem, Al-Malik)

2nd Part: Click to Read (4 Names: Al-Quddus, Al-Mumin, As-Salam, Al-Muhaymin)

3rd Part: Click to Read (4 Names: Al-Aziz, Al-Jabbar, As-Mutakbir, Al-Khaliq)

4th Part: Click to Read (4 Names: Al-Bari, Al-Musawwir, As-Gaffar, Al-Qahhar)

5th Part: Click to Read (4 Names: Al-Wahhab, Al-Razzaq, As-Fattah, Al-Aleem)

6th Part: Click to Read (4 Names: Al-Qaabid, Al-Baasit, As-Khaafidh, Al-Raafi, Al-Mu’izz)

7th Part: Click to Read (4 Names: Al-Muzil, As-Samee, Al-Baseer, Al-Hakam)

8th Part: Click to Read (4 Names: Al-Adl, As-Lateef, Al-Khabir, Al-Haleem)

In this article, I’m gonna cover the next 4 Names In sha Allah! Let’s read for boosting our Iman & for knowing Allah Almighty.

→ Al-Azeem (The Magnificent One, The Greatest)

Allah is Al-Azeem. He is greatest with having a supreme Glory. His reality is too great to be fully understood under the capacity of the human mind. Human intellectuals can’t comprehend His attributes completely. He is infinitely greater than his creation because all of His actions are perfect, and only He deserves to be exalted by creation.

Azeem comes from the root (عظم), which points to four main meanings.

→ To be great, large, enormous, and also to be great in rank.

→ To be powerful, superior, and honored

→To be above any imperfection.

Al-‘Adheem is the owner of all power, might, and strength. The One who makes it possible for someone or something to be respected, cherished, and mighty.

To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, and He is the Most High, the Most Great (Ash-Shuraa, 42:4)

To which extent He is Greatest?

The word adheem is used to point out different concepts of greatness, for example, a punishment ‘adheem is a great punishment, or a man ‘adheem is a great man.
However, the magnificence of Allah Al-‘Adheem is beyond our imagination, even though we see part of His actions in the world we live in. Everything is lower than His greatness. For example, the knowledge of the most learned scholar cannot even be compared to the perfect knowledge of Al-‘Adheem, not in the slightest. And also our bowing down with saying “Subhaana Rabbiyal ‘Adheem’ in our prayer.” in Ruku, in every prayer is a big example to contemplate on His greatness and to tell Him how much inferior we are in comparison of Al-Adheem.

Our Duty?

1. Remembering

Ponder over His greatness by pondering over his creations. His remembrance will make you humble and save you from pride and arrogance. Allah says in Qur’an:

So exalt the name of your Lord, the Most Great. (Al-Waqi’ah, 56:96)

Also, our beloved Prophet(SAW) said:

There are two statements that are light for the tongue to remember, heavy in the Scales, and are dear to the Merciful: ‘Subhan-Allahi wa bihamdihi, Subhan-Allahil-Azim” [Glory be to Allah and His is the praise, (and) Allah, the Greatest is free from imperfection]. (Bukhari & Muslim)

So, make a habit to say this sentence and other Dhikar in your spare time as well as when you are working like cooking, playing, traveling, waiting, etc.

2. Ask Al-Adheem

Do you know, In this world, people have hope for help from which persons? Obviously Who has some kind of authrotiy. Who has some authority in terms of power or money? And what about that one who is Greatest over every being. He is the owner of all strength; each hardship, challenge, or problem you face. What will you say if I ask will He be able to solve all your problems? Obviously, Yes. So ask Al-‘Adheem to help you in all situations and call on Him whenever you feel you need strength to carry on in life.

3. Fear no one but Al-‘Adheem.
Allah says: “O believers! Be mindful of Allah in the way He deserves, and do not die except in ˹a state of full˺ submission ˹to Him˺.” [Quran, 3:102] Even the strongest man in this world is absolutely nothing compared to the greatness and strength of Al-‘Adheem, so fear no one and nothing except Him.

→ Al-Ghafoor(The Forgiving)

The One who completely forgives our sins and faults. The One who accepts repentance and pardons sins and faults. The One who veils or forgives our faults and sins such that they are not seen by anyone else, not even the angels.

Al-Ghafoor is the One Who forgives, regardless of how large the sin is, and He forgives over and over again!

Ghafoor comes from the root ghayn-faa-raa (غفر), which points to three main meanings.

→ To cover, veil, conceal, and hide.

→ To pardon, to forgive, and to set aright.

→ To cover a thing to protect it (from dirt).

And be mindful of Allah. Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.(Al-Anfal, 8:69)

The connection between Gaffoor & Gaffar:

Linguistically, both Ghafoor and Ghaffaar refer to the concept of maghfirah (forgiveness). Al-Ghaffaar refers to the fact that Allah forgives repeatedly (the quantity) whereas the name Al-Ghafoor points to the extent of His forgiveness (the quality). Al-Gafoor does not refer only to forgiveness but also to conceal and hide our sins.

Allah is Al-Ghafoor. His forgiveness is unlimited, and He is all compassionate.

A Beautiful Combination

Most of the time (almost 72 times), Al-Gafoor comes with the word Ar-Raheem in Qur’an. Ar-Raheem refers to the great mercy of Allah Almighty. In simple words, he covers and forgives our sins because of his ultimate mercy. Allah says in the most comforting ayat of Qur’an, giving hope to sinners:

Say, O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful. (Surah Zumar, 39:53)

Inform My servants ˹O Prophet˺ that I am truly the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful (Surah Al-Hijr, 15:49)

Our Duty?

1. Call Al-Ghafoor.
   Call & remember Al-Ghafoor whenever you do wrong to others or even to yourself, no matter how big or small the sin is. You can make dua’ with this beautiful name. Never give up. Never think of how big or little a sin is — think about the greatness of the One you are disobeying. According to Prophet(SAW) hadith, every son of adam is a sinner, but the best are those who do repent. So, Never give up and do a sincere commitment to not do that sin again.
2. Adopt Forgiveness.
   Think of the forgiveness of Al-Ghafoor and be inspired to adopt a habit of being forgiving in your daily life. Always try to go to sleep with a heart clean of grudges. A salaf said: “If a friend among your friends errs, make seventy excuses for them. If your hearts are unable to do this, then know that the shortcoming is in your own selves.” Always give others the benefit of the doubt, make excuses for them and forgive people if they do wrong with you. In return, you’ll be rewarded by Allah. Because according to a Hadith, Allah will cover the faults of those people on Qiyamah, who covers the faults and shortcomings of others in the world.
3. Don’t Eexpose.
   The Prophet (sallallaahu ’alayhi wa sallam) said: All the sins of my followers will be forgiven except those of the Mujahirin (those who commit a sin openly or disclose their sins to the people). An example of such disclosure is that a person commits a sin at night and though Allah screens it from the public, then he comes in the morning, and says, ‘O so-and-so, I did such-and-such (evil) deed yesterday,’ though he spent his night screened by his Lord (none knowing about his sin) and in the morning he removes Allah’s screen from himself.” (Al-Bukhari)
   You often see that people are even bragging about their sins, like having a friendship with the opposite gender, going out and dressing immodestly and gossiping about others, normalizing haram things, etc. Imagine you tell others about your bad deeds, and they feel inspired to do it too, and in this, it’s exactly like this. People think of themselves as awkward and backward if they don’t have a boy or girl's friend, cool circle, smoking, parties, etc. Never talk to others about your sins. Allah will ruin you without letting you know.

He said, “I will ask forgiveness for you from my Lord. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.” (Surah Yusuf, 12:98)

→ Ash-Shakoor(The Grateful)

Allah is Ash-Shakoor meaning the most grateful, the rewarder of good deeds and is most appreciative. Allah notices the smallest of our acts of righteousness and rewards us unlimited for them in this life or the next, like never ending happiness in paradise. He is the One who gives a lot in response to our little efforts.

Shakoor comes from the root sheen-kaaf-raa(شکر), which points to three main meanings.

→ To praise for a benefit or to acknowledge beneficence.

→ To be thankful and offer acknowledgment.

→ To produce and supply abundantly.

So that He will reward them in full and increase them out of His grace. He is truly All-Forgiving, Most Appreciative. (Surah Fatir, 35:30)

A Beautiful Combination

On many occasions in Qur’an on which Allah’s name Ash-Shakoor is mentioned in the Quran, it’s paired three times with Al-Ghafoor. Mean He is the All-Forgiving and the Most Appreciative; even if we commit sins we can return to Him for forgiveness and a reward for the good we do. Ash-Shakoor says:

Whoever earns a good deed, We will increase it in goodness for them. Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Appreciative. (Surah Ash-Shuraa, 42:23)

Also According to Ayah, Allah will replace the bad deeds and sins of a person into good deeds by forgiving him, if he did good deeds after sincere repentance.

Our Duty?

1. Don’t expect
   We often yearn for recognition and appreciation from others, and when we do good in secret we might wish they find out it was we who helped them. Sometimes you might wish people knew your good intentions even if you fail to do the action. But what’s about Allah? He knows, rewards, and appreciates what other people might not even know about.

Help others, do good deeds but not for having intentions of getting people praising and higher rank in their sight. It will destroy your good deeds. Do it for sake of Allah Almighty. The concept of intentions is a proper topic with a number of branches and concepts. I’ll cover it in some other separate article in sha Allah. May Allah help me to do so.

2. Do good deeds no matter how small.
Never be hesitant in doing a good deed. The Prophet( salallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said:

Do not belittle any good deed, even meeting your brother with a cheerful face. [Muslim].

Nothing can be compared with the rewards of As-Shakoor.

3. Help others
The Prophet (salallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said:

If anyone relieves a Muslim believer from one of the hardships of this worldly life, Allah will relieve him of one of the hardships of the Day of Resurrection.

Whether you relieve, help out, or just conceal the fault of another Muslim, Ash-Shakoor will help you, and in such ways, you would never imagened.

4. Be grateful
Ash-Shakoor bestows us with such blessings, we didn't think about them ever. Our body, Rizq, Ilm, Health, Education, Abilities, and a lot more.
Always Show your shukr for all He has given you and He will give you even more. Allah says “If you are grateful, I will certainly give you more. But if you are ungrateful, surely My punishment is severe.”

Now How can you show your gratitude to Ash-Shakoor? Al-Ghazali said:

The best way of manifesting thankfulness for the blessings of Allah Most High is to make use of these blessings in obeying, and not disobeying Him.

5. Appreciate people.
A beautiful social skill is to always show interest in the lives of others. Compliment others and when they do something good, recognize their efforts and encourage them to keep going and keep growing. Your appreciation will boost their morale and confidence to another level.

→ Al-Aliyy (The Exalted, The Highest)

The One Who is above and exceeds all others. Above whom there is nothing higher. The One who is above and surpasses all that has ever been, all that there now is, and all that shall ever be.

He’s the One Whose grandness is both in His essence and in His attributes. He’s free from all and any types of imperfections and faults. Our minds aren't capable enough to understand his grandness and majesty.

Aliy comes from the root ayn-laam-waaw (علو), which points to three main meanings.

→ To be high, lofty, and exalted.

→ To overcome and overwhelm

→ To advance and exceed.

To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, and He is the Most High, the Most Great. (Surah Ash-Shura, 42:4)

Our Duty?

1. Be humble.
   Being humble in front of Allah is one of the characteristics of a Believer. Train yourself to submit to Him, and place no one or nothing above Him in your daily life. Fight with your desires and internal wars and counter Fitnah with remembering him. Train yourself to show patience and gratitude in all situations to please Al-‘Aliy. The Prophet (salallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said:

Whoever humbles himself before Allah, Allah will elevate him. [Muslim]

2. Increase your sujood.
When are we closest to the highest? Obviously in Sujood. My mentor once told me that “Sujood is the most defenseless position for a person. He’s not seeing anything around or above him. Anybody can harm him in that position. And Ask Allah in sujood that I’m in a most defenseless position in front of you, so have mercy on me.” And this lesson literally inspired me.

The Prophet (salallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) taught us: Prostrate much because there is no Muslim that prostrates to Allah except that Allah raises him one degree in Paradise by it and forgives for him a sin. [Ahmad]

The more you prostrate, the more you raise your ranks in sha Allah.
Make sure you don’t just prostrate with your body, but also with a heart full of humility.

3. Good Deeds
Say a lot of subhanAllah, alhamdulillah, Allahu akbar, and la ilaha illAllah combined with your obligatory deeds. Also, try your best to wake up in the third part of the night for sake of admiring his glorification, when all are sleeping. Try to achieve as much higher rank as you can by striving.

That is because Allah is the True Reality and that what they call upon other than Him is falsehood, and because Allah is the Most High, the Grand.( Surah Luqman, 31:30)

To be Continued ………………….

Jazak Allah for reading!

Keep remember me in your prayers & stay tuned for the next part of this amazing journey of learning the Names of Allah. Also, share it with your friends for earning blessings of Allah Exalted & virtues. Allah Hafiz!