Importance Memorization of 99 Names of Allah

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ خَاتَمِ النَّبِيِّينَ وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ الأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ.

All Praise is due to Allah, we praise Him and we seek help from Him. We ask forgiveness from Him. We repent to Him; and we seek refuge in Him from our own evils and our own bad deeds. Anyone who is guided by Allah, he is indeed guided; and anyone who has been left astray, will find no one to guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the Only One without any partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad, peace and blessings on him, is His servant, and His messenger.

Dear Brothers and Sisters …

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

يَا أَيُّهَا الّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ – آل عمران:102

Al Imran 102 : O you who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam.

وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللهَ غَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ-البقرة:267

Al Baqarah (2) 267: And know that Allah is Free of need and Praiseworthy.

Indeed knowing Allah the Exalted and knowing His Most Beautiful Names and Great Attributes is an honourable door of knowledge.  It has a profound effect on those who nurture and understand it.

Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:

إنَّ لله تسعةً وتسعين اسماً, مائة إلا واحدا, مَن أحصاها دخل الجنة.

Indeed, Allah has ninety-nine Names, one hundred less one, whoever retains them shall enter Paradise. [Bukhari 2736, Muslim 2677b]

https://sunnah.com/bukhari:2736

The foundation, origin and basis of belief is the knowledge of Allah Mighty and Sublime through knowing His Names and Attributes.

What a great station, honourable standing and a high rank when the created knows His Creator, His Lord, His Master, His Protector. So he recognizes His greatness, majesty, beauty and pride. And he learns His most Beautiful Names and Lofty Attributes in light of the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger ﷺ.

And the Book of Allah the Exalted has numerous verses inviting to know Allah, His Beautiful Names and Lofty Attributes. And an explanation of the beneficial effects of this knowledge and the sound conclusion and the good results. Allah said:

وَلِلَّهِ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَى فَادْعُوهُ بِهَا وَذَرُوا الَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِي أَسْمَائِهِ سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ-الأعراف 180

Al Araf (7) 180: And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them. And leave [the company of] those who practice deviation concerning His names. They will be recompensed for what they have been doing.

Retaining the Names of Allah in the hadith does not mean to memorize their words only without knowing their meanings and implications and without fulfilling their requirements and obligations. Rather what is required in retaining is to learn the meanings of the Names of Allah with memorization, understanding and fulfilling their requirements.  Therefore, there are three ranks: memorizing, understanding the meanings and performing the act of servitude specific to each Name.

And that means that there is no Name from the Names of Allah the Exalted and Majestic except that it has a particular act of servitude. And it is from the requirements of the knowledge of that Name. Rather many names have multiple acts of servitude. So how great it is to strive in the knowledge of Allah and the knowledge of His Names and Attributes as mentioned in His Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet ﷺ.

Let us consider one example. Allah the Exalted says:

لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ-الشورى:11

As Shuraa (42) 11: There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.

In this great verse the Almighty informed about Himself that He is the Hearing, the Seeing. And these two great names came in many verses.  So if someone knows that the Hearing is one of the Most Beautiful Names of Allah the Exalted, then they should know the Great Attribute indicated by this Great Name. Namely, that Allah the Mighty is Hearing of all sounds and hears all sounds high and low. And there is no sound that is hidden from Him the Exalted.

Rather if all the people from the time of Adam to our current time to all future generations all stood in one place and asked Allah the Exalted at the same instant, each one making their own specific request, in different languages and different dialects, Allah the Exalted would hear all the distinct voices without one voice interfering with another voice, or one request interfering with another request or one language interfering with another language.

And this is indicated in the Hadith Qudsi, and Sa’id said that when Abu Idris Khaulini narrated this hadith he knelt upon his knees. In which Allah Said.

يَاعِبَادِي إِنِّي حَرَّمْتُ الظُّلْمَ عَلَى نَفْسِي وَجَعَلْتُهُ بَيْنَكُمْ مُحَرَّمًا فَلاَ تَظَالَمُوا

“O My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another.

  يَا عِبَادِي كُلُّكُمْ ضَالٌّ إِلاَّ مَنْ هَدَيْتُهُ فَاسْتَهْدُونِي أَهْدِكُمْ

O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you.

  يَا عِبَادِي كُلُّكُمْ جَائِعٌ إِلاَّ مَنْ أَطْعَمْتُهُ فَاسْتَطْعِمُونِي أُطْعِمْكُمْ

O My servants, all of you are hungry except for those I have fed, so seek food of Me and I shall feed you.

  يَا عِبَادِي كُلُّكُمْ عَارٍ إِلاَّ مَنْ كَسَوْتُهُ فَاسْتَكْسُونِي أَكْسُكُمْ

O My servants, all of you are naked except for those I have clothed, so seek clothing of Me and I shall clothe you.

  يَا عِبَادِي إِنَّكُمْ تُخْطِئُونَ بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَأَنَا أَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا فَاسْتَغْفِرُونِي أَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ

O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you.

  يَا عِبَادِي إِنَّكُمْ لَنْ تَبْلُغُوا ضَرِّي فَتَضُرُّونِي وَلَنْ تَبْلُغُوا نَفْعِي فَتَنْفَعُونِي

O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and will not attain benefitting Me so as to benefit Me.

  يَا عِبَادِي لَوْ أَنَّ أَوَّلَكُمْ وَآخِرَكُمْ وَإِنْسَكُمْ وَجِنَّكُمْ كَانُوا عَلَى أَتْقَى قَلْبِ رَجُلٍ وَاحِدٍ مِنْكُمْ مَا زَادَ ذَلِكَ فِي مُلْكِي شَيْئًا

O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that would not increase My dominion in anything.

يَا عِبَادِي لَوْ أَنَّ أَوَّلَكُمْ وَآخِرَكُمْ وَإِنْسَكُمْ وَجِنَّكُمْ كَانُوا عَلَى أَفْجَرِ قَلْبِ رَجُلٍ وَاحِدٍ مَا نَقَصَ ذَلِكَ مِنْ مُلْكِي شَيْئًا

O My servants were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man of you, that would not decrease My dominion in anything.

يَا عِبَادِي لَوْ أَنَّ أَوَّلَكُمْ وَآخِرَكُمْ وَإِنْسَكُمْ وَجِنَّكُمْ قَامُوا فِي صَعِيدٍ وَاحِدٍ فَسَأَلُونِي فَأَعْطَيْتُ كُلَّ إِنْسَانٍ مَسْأَلَتَهُ مَا نَقَصَ ذَلِكَ مِمَّا عِنْدِي إِلاَّ كَمَا يَنْقُصُ الْمِخْيَطُ إِذَا أُدْخِلَ الْبَحْرَ

O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to rise up in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what I have, any more that a needle decreases the sea if put into it.

يَا عِبَادِي إِنَّمَا هِيَ أَعْمَالُكُمْ أُحْصِيهَا لَكُمْ ثُمَّ أُوَفِّيكُمْ إِيَّاهَا فَمَنْ وَجَدَ خَيْرًا فَلْيَحْمَدِ اللَّهَ وَمَنْ وَجَدَ غَيْرَ ذَلِكَ فَلاَ يَلُومَنَّ إِلاَّ نَفْسَهُ ‏

O My servants, it is but your deeds that I record for you and then recompense you for. So let him who finds good, praise Allah, and let him who finds other than that blame no one but himself.”

Sahih Muslim 2577a. https://sunnah.com/muslim:2577a

We Ask Allah Almighty to enlighten us with the His Most Beautiful Names and Lofty Attributes and illuminate our hearts with Iman (faith) and fill our balances with righteous deeds. Indeed, Allah is All Hearing, Answering.

I conclude with this and send prayers of blessings and peace upon our Prophet as your Lord commanded:

Allahumma Sallai Al’a Muahmmad’n wa’aila Muhammad

Remember Allah, the Great – He will remember you. Thank Him for His favors – He will increase you therein.  And seek forgiveness from Him – He will forgive you. And be conscious of Him – He will provide you a way out of difficult matters. And, establish the prayer.

BY IMAM : MAHBOOB RASOOL