51. Jaami`un Naas (The Gatherer of Mankind)
The One Who will gather mankind on the Day about which there is no doubt. He will gather their actions and provisions and will not leave out a single thing, be it large or small, except that He will take it to account. He will gather together the disintegrated remains of those that have died, the early and later by His perfect Power and All-Encompassing Knowledge, (and resurrect them).
"Our Lord! Indeed it is you who will gather mankind together on the Day about which there is no doubt! Verily Allah never breaks His promise!" (3:9)
"I swear by the Day of Resurrection. And I swear by the self-reproaching soul. Does man think that We shall not assemble his bones? Yes, We are Able to put together in perfect order the tips of his fingers." (75:1-4)
52. Al-Hayy (The Living)
53. Al-Qayyum (The Sustainer)
The One Who has perfect life, existing in and of Himself and not dependant upon anyone else. The Sustainer of the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth, the One Who regulates their affairs and provisions. The Living includes all of the Attributes of His Self and The Sustainer includes all the Attributes of His Actions.
"Allah! There is no deity worthy of worship but Him, the Living, the Sustaining." (3:1)
"All faces shall be humbled before (Allah), the Living, the Sustaining. And the one who carried the burden of wrong-doing shall be in complete loss!" (20:111)
[See Tafseer of Ayaatul-Kursi]
54. An-Nur (The Light)
The Light of the heavens and the earth, the One Who illuminates the hearts of the gnostics with knowledge of Him, faith in Him and His guidance. He is the One Who has lighted the heavens and the earth with lights that He has placed therein. His veil is light and were He to uncover it then the Face of the Glorious would burn everything from the creation that His Sight fell upon.
"Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is as if there were a niche and within it a lamp, the lamp is in a glass, and the glass as if it were a brilliant star, lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the east or of the west, whose oil would almost glow forth (of itself) even though no fire touches it. Light upon light! Allah guides to His Light whom He Wills. Allah sets forth parables for mankind, and Allah Knows everything." (24:35)
55. Al-Qaabid (The Taker)
56. Al-Baasit (The Extender)
The One Who takes the provisions and souls, the One Who gives provisions freely and gives (life to) the hearts - all of this in compliance to His Wisdom and Mercy.
"Who will lend to Allah a goodly loan so that He may multiply it for him many times? And it is Allah Who takes and increases (your provisions) and unto Him you shall return." (2:245)
"And they made not a just estimate of Allah such as is due to Him. On the Day of Resurrection His Hand will grasp the whole of the earth and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand. Glorified be He, High is He above all that they associate as partners with Him!" (39:67)
57. Ash-Shaheed (The Witness)
The One Who is Aware of everything. The One Who hears every voice in existence - the loud and quiet. The One Who Sees everything in existence - the insignificant and significant, the small and large. The One Whose Knowledge encompasses everything. The One Who will testify for or against His servants for what they did.
"Say: What thing is the greatest witness? Say: Allah is Witness between you and I; this Qur'aan has been revealed to me that I may warn therewith - you and whomsoever it may reach." (6:19)
"It is He Who sent His Messenger with the guidance and the Religion of Truth that He makes it prevail over all religions. And sufficient is Allah as a Witness." (48:28)
58. Al-Mubdi` (The Starter)
59. Al-Mueed (The Recaller, The One Who Repeats Creation)
"He is the One Who started the creation and He will repeat it" (10:4)
He began their creation to test them as to which one was best in action then He will recall them to reward those who did good and punish those who did evil for their evil. Similarly, He is the one Who began by creating each individual thing and then continuously repeats it.
"Is not He (better than your false gods) Who originates creation and shall thereafter repeat it, and Who provides for you from the heaven and the earth?" (27:64)
"Allah originates the creation and then repeats it, then to Him you will be returned." (85:13)
"He is Allah, other than whom none has the right to be worshipped. The King, the Holy, The One free from defects, the Giver of Security, the Ever-Watcher, the All-Mighty, the Compeller, the Supreme. Glory be to Allah! (High is He) Above all that they associate as partners with Him." (59:23)
60. Al-Fa`aalul Limaa Yureed (The One Who does what He Wills)
This is from the perfection of His Power and the implementation of His Will, Desire and Decree that anything that He Wishes to do, He does and there is none to prevent Him or protest. He has no assistant or supporter in anything that He does, rather when He Wills a thing to be He merely says, "Be! And it is." Despite the fact that He does what He Wills, His Will is according to His Wisdom and Praise. He is described with Perfect Ability and Power, and can implement His Will and He is described with complete and all-encompassing Wisdom.
"As for those who are wretched, they will be in the Fire, moaning in a high and low tone. They will dwell therein for all the time that the heavens and the earth endured except as your Lord Will. Indeed your Lord does what He Wills." (11:106-107)
61. Al-Ghanee (The Self-Sufficient, The Rich)
62. Al-Mughnee (The Sufficient)
He is Self-Sufficient completely and unrestrictedly, honor is given to His perfection and the perfection of His Attributes. He has absolutely no deficiency of any kind, it is not possible that He be anything but Self-Sufficient, for self-sufficiency is from the necessary consequences of His Essence. Similarly it is not possible for Him to be anything but the Creator, The All-Powerful, the Provider and the Bestower of good. He is not in need of anything or anyone, He is the Self-Sufficient in Whose Hand lie the treasures of the heavens and the earth, and the treasures of this life and the Hereafter. He suffices for the whole of His creation generally, and is specifically sufficient for the believers in that He confers upon their hearts nurturing knowledge and the realities of faith.
"Kind words and forgiving faults are better than giving in charity. Allah is the Rich, the Forbearing." (2:263)
"And your Lord is Self-Sufficient, full of Mercy. If He Will He could destroy you and out in your place make who He Will to be successors, just as He raised you from the seed of another people." (6:133)
"And that it is He (Allah) who gives much or a little (of wealth and contentment). [An-Najm (53):48)]
"O Mankind! It is you who are in need of Allah, and Allah is Self-Sufficient (free of all needs), worthy of all praise. [Faatir (35):15]
Thus He, the Exalted, is the Most Self-Sufficient, the One unto Whom belongs the most absolute and perfect Sufficiency in every aspect. This is due to His perfection and the perfection of His attributes which are unaffected by any deficiencies from any aspect. It is impossible for Him not to be Self-Sufficient, for verily His wealth is from the necessities of His existence.
This is just as it is impossible for Him not to be Beneficent, Generous, Good, Merciful and giving. The entire creation is totally dependent upon Him in every situation. The creation is in need of Him for its coming into existence, its remaining in existence, and for all of its needs and necessities. From the beneficence of His wealth is that the treasures of the heavens, the earth and mercy are all in His Hand. Also, His generosity is perpetual at every moment and at all times. His Hand gives throughout the night and the day, and His goodness towards the creation continuously flows.
From the perfection of His wealth and generosity, He commands His slaves to call upon Him and He promises them that He will respond to their supplications and requests for help in everything that they desire. He gives them from His bounty whatever they ask for and also what they do not ask for. From the perfection of His wealth is that if the first of creation to the last of creation all gathered together at one elevated place and all asked Allah (for something), and then He gave every one of them what he requested, their wishes would not diminish His dominion in the least.
From the perfection of His Self-Sufficient and the capacity of His endowments, He distributes amongst the dwellers of Al-Jannah from pleasures, continuous delights and perpetual goodness that no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no human heart has ever conceived.
From the perfection of His Self-Sufficiency, He has not taken nor has any need of a mate, a child nor any partner in His sovereignty. He needs no protector or supporter due to submissive lowliness. He is the Most Wealthy who also enriches all of His creatures. [Al-Haqq ul-Waadhih ul-Mubeen, pg. 47-48, and Sharh ul-Qaseedah in Nooniyyah by Al-Harraas (2/78)].
In conclusion, Allah is He who possesses the complete and absolute Self-Sufficiency in every aspect. He is also the One who enriches all of His creation in wealth in general, and He enriches the chosen ones of His creation in that which He fills their hearts with of righteous knowledge and faithful realities. *[Tafseer-Ush-Sheikh Abdur-Rahman As-Sadee, 5/629]
63. Al-Mubeen (The Clear)
"On that Day Allah will pay them the recompense of their deeds in full, and they will know that Allah, He is the Manifest Truth. (Q. 24:25)
This is a verbal noun indicating making something clear or manifest either by action or word. Allah is the One who makes all things clear to His slaves by guiding them to the guided path and making clear to them the deeds by which they will deserve reward or punishment. He makes clear all which they bring forth. Allah has make clear the paths to guidance as well as those to misguidance. He sent the Messengers and scriptures to people for this reason.
"Verily those who would conceal the clear proofs, evidences and the guidance which We have sent down after we have made it clear to the people in the Book, they are the ones cursed by Allah and cursed by the cursers. [Q. 2:159]
This very harsh threat is made to those who would conceal that which the Messengers brought of clear proofs and its correct aims and guidance and benefit to the hearts.
64. Ash-Shaakir (The Recognizer and Rewarder of good)
65. Ash-Shakoor (The Appreciative)
The One Who recognizes and rewards the small quantity of action, Who forgives the large quantity of sins. He is the One Who multiplies the rewards of His sincere servants manifold without any measure. He is the One Who recognizes and rewards those who give thanks to Him and remembers the one who remembers Him. Whosoever seeks to get close to Him by doing any righteous action, Allah draws close to Him by a greater degree.
""Indeed Safa and Marwa are two of the symbols of Allah. So it is not a sin on him who performs Hajj or Umrah to perform saiy (the going between them). And whoever does good voluntarily, then Allah is the Recognizer, the All-Knowing." (2:158)
"Indeed those who recite the Book of Allah, and establish the prayers and spend out of that which we have provided them, secretly and openly, hope for a sure trade-gain that will never perish. That He may pay them in full and give them even more out of His Grace. He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Appreciative." (35:29-30)
66. Al-Qareeb (The Close)
67. Al-Mujeeb (The Answerer)
He, Exalted is He, is close to everybody, this closeness being of two types:
- The general closeness which means His being close to everyone with respect to His Knowledge, Awareness, Seeing, Witnessing and Encompassing.
- The specific closeness which is specific to His worshippers, those who ask of Him, and those who love Him. The reality of this type of closeness cannot be comprehended, all we can see is its resultant effects - His kindness to His servants, His care of them and His making them to be firm upon the Straight Path.
From the consequences of this closeness is His answering those who supplicate to Him and His granting them the ability to be penitent. He is the One Who answers, in a general sense, those who supplicate to Him whomsoever they may be and wherever they may be and whatever condition they may be in, as He has promised them. He is the One Who answers, in a specific sense, those who love Him, those who imitate and follow His Sharee`ah. He is also the One Who answers the one in dire need and those who have given up all hope of being answered by the creation and therefore their connection to Him has been strengthened in terms of love, hope and fear.
"And when My slaves ask you concerning Me, I am indeed near to them. I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when He calls upon Me. So let them obey Me and believe in Me so that they may be led aright." (2:186)
"And to the Thamood We sent their brother Saalih saying: O my people! Worship Allah besides whom there is no other deity. He brought you forth from the earth and settled you therein, then ask forgiveness of Him, and turn to Him in repentance. Certainly My Lord is Near, Responsive." (11:61)
68. Al-Kaafee (The Sufficient)
The One Who suffices His servants in everything that they are in need of. The One Who suffices, in a specific sense, those who believe in Him, put their trust in Him and seek their worldly and religious needs from Him.
"Allah drove back those who disbelieved in their rage and they gained no advantage. Allah sufficed for the believers in the fighting. Allah is the Strong, the Mighty." (33:25)
"Is not Allah sufficient for His servant? Yet they try to frighten you with those who they worship besides Him! And whomsoever Allah sends astray, for him there will be no guide." (39:36)
69. Al-Awwal (The First)
70. Al-Aakhir (The Last)
71. Adh-Dhaahir (The Manifest)
72. Al-Baatin (The Inward)
"He is the First, the Last, the Manifest and the Inward. He is the All-Knower of everything." (57:3)
The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) explained this verse in a succinct and clear way while addressing his Lord, You are the Al-Awwal, there was none before You. You are the Al-Aakhir, there will be none after You. Your are the Ath-Thaahir, there is nothing above You. You are the Al-Baatin, there is nothing closer than You. (Muslim 4/2084)
Thus the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) explained every name with its magnificent meaning, and he negated from what opposes and contradicts them. Pay attention to these splendid meanings which indicate the uniqueness of the magnificent Lord (Allah) with absolute perfection and comprehensiveness, He is the First and the Last, He is the Most High and Most Near.
His name, the First (Al-Awwal), proves that everything besides Him occurs and exists after its non-existence. The servant (of Allah) is obligated to observe the bounty of his Lord for every blessing, whether religious or worldly. This is because the cause and effect are from Him, The Exalted. His name, the Last, proves that He is the final goal, and the Eternal, who is turned to by (all) of creation with their deification, hope, fear and all of their requests His name, the Most High, alludes to the greatness of His attributes. It also implies insignificance of everything when compared to His greatness.
The essence and attributes of everything fades when compared to His loftiness. His name, the Most Near, alludes to His awareness of the secret and hidden matters. He is cognizant of the concealed, and fine intricacies of things. Likewise this name alludes to His perfect nearness, and closeness to His creatures.
However, His being the Most High and the Most Near is not contradictory because there is nothing like Allah in any of (His) characteristics. (1)[Al-Haqq ul-Waadih ul-Mubeen pg. 25, and Sharhun-Nooniyyah by Al-Harraas, 2/67].
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99 Names of Allah