AQEEDA. PART 3

 BismiLlahir-Rahmaanir-Raheem. All prasie is due to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the
Messenger, peace be upon him, his household and all those who followed him until the last day.
Assalaamu alaikum warahmatuLlahi wabarakaatuh. As to what follows…
We thank Allah for blessing us to witness these beautiful days. We pray that these don’t pass except
that He has forgiven our sins and gifted us high stations in Jannah. This is a continuation of our series on
Aqeedat-ut-Tawheed, the Muslim creed, and thus far we have discussed the sub categories of Tawheed.
InshaAllah, we will continue today with the meanings of Allah’s names and attributes. The Prophet,
peace be upon him was reported to have said in an authentic narration that, “Allah has 99 names,
hundred less one. Whoever encompasses them shall enter paradise.”
“…Whoever encompasses them shall enter Jannah.” What then entails encompassing the names of
Allah? This is on several levels. 1. That one strives to know the names of Allah. Is al-Jabbaar a name of
Allah? What about as-Samad? 2. One learns the meanings of the names of Allah. What does Raheem
mean? What does as-Samad mean? 3. One memorizes the names of Allah; and then lives his/her life
according to these names.
Anyone who does this will by the will of Allah attain Jannah. Allah سبحانه وتعالى says what is translated to
mean; “And to Allah belongs the most beautiful names, so then call Him by them…” This verse
establishes another fundamental principle in our faith, that He has names and beyond. That we call
upon Him in our supplications to Him with those beautiful names. So to the one who has a retricted
privision should call upon Ar-Razzaaq; the one who feels she has been oppressed should call upon Al-
Azeez; the one who needs mercy in their life should call upon the Bestower of mercy, Ar-Raheem; the
one feels let down and doesn’t know who or what to turn to should call upon the one Who doen’t have
the need of anything, but everything needs Him, As-Samad.
This branch of knowledge of the names and attributes of Allah is one of the basic fundamentals of of
creed that encopasses all of the other aspects of our faith, yet has been given very little attention. It is
due to our misunderstanding of Grandeur of Allah that any deviation from the true path of monotheism
will occur. To the one who engages her/himself in grave or ‘saint’ worship, it is due to their lack of
understanding that Allah is As-Samee’, the all hearing; He hears our most silent calls and that we don’t
need any intermediaries between us. To the faithful Muslim who has refused to go to the magician or
soothsayer, it is due to our understanding that Allah is Al-Hakeem; that anything that happens to us is
for a greater good, given that “His infinite mercy encompasses all things”.
Oftentimes due to our personal human flaws, we are unable to fully grasp Who Allah is. We are for
instance not able to reconcile between Allah’s infinite mercy and His severe punishment. How can an All
Merciful God punish someone eternally in hell?
Allah on the Day of Judgement will show us more mercy than our own mothers, if they were given the
oppportunity to judge us. With Allah, these attributes are not mutually exclusive of each other. In our
human terms, a merciful person is seen to be weak; a person with might and strength becomes a tyrant;
one forgives because he has no chance of revenge…
With Allah, He is merciful, despite His might; even in His punishment, He is the most merciful. His might
is executed with absolute perfection in knowledge and wisdom. He forgives, although He has the might

and power to punish. He is As-Samad, the one whose perfection is not based on anyone or anything.
Even if Allah had created nothing, these attributes would perfectly fit Him.
May Allah grant us perfect understanding of Who He is. Insha Allah w7question “Why does God need us
to worship Him?” as posed by atheists. Eid Mubaarak. Wassalaamu alaikum warahmatuLlahi
wabarakaatuhu.