What is meant by profaning the names of Allah and types of profanation

What is meant by profaning the names of Allah, may He be exalted?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The scholars have mentioned different types of profaning the names of
Allah, may He be exalted, all of which involve distorting the meaning
in a way other than the way it should be understood. There are several
types:
1.
Denying any of His names or the attribute to which aname refers. For
example: those who deny that the name ar-Rahmaan (the Most Gracious)
is one of the names of Allah, may He be exalted, as the people of the
Jaahiliyyah did.
Or they may affirm the name but deny the attribute to which it
refers,as some of the innovators said that Allah, may He be exalted,
is Merciful without mercy, All-Hearingwithout hearing.
2.
Calling Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, by a name by which He
did not call Himself.
The reason why this is profanation is that the names of Allah, may He
beglorified and exalted, are limited to what is mentioned in the texts
of the Qur'an and Sunnah, and it is not permissible for anyone to call
Allah, may He be exalted, by a name by which He did not call Himself.
This comes under the heading of speaking about Allah without
knowledge, and transgressing against the rights of Allah, may He be
glorified and exalted. This is what some of the philosophers did, when
they called God the primary cause, and as the Christians did when they
called Allah, may He be exalted, the Father, and soon.
3.
Believing that these names refer to attributes of created beings, and
hence thinking that this points to likening Allah to His creation.
The reason why this is profanation is that the onewho believes that
the names of Allah, may He beglorified and exalted, point to likening
Allah to His creation has misinterpreted them and distorted them from
the correct meaning. He has understood the words of Allah and the
words of His Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) as
pointing to kufr (disbelief), because likening Allah to His creation
is kufr, as it is a rejection of the words (interpretation of the
meaning): "There is nothing like unto Him, andHe is the All-Hearer,
the All-Seer" [ash-Shoora 42:11] and "Do you know of any who is
similar to Him?" [Maryam 19:65]. Na'eem ibn Hammaad al-Khuzaa'i, the
shaykh of al-Bukhaari (may Allah have mercy on them both)said: The one
who likens Allah to His creation has committed an act of kufr, and the
one who denies any attribute that Allah has ascribed to Himself has
committed an act of kufr; there is nothing in the attributes that
Allah has ascribed to himself that is similar to the attributes of His
creation.
4.
Deriving names of idols from the names of Allah, may He be exalted,
such asderiving the name al-Laat from al-Ilaah (the God), and al-'Uzza
from al-'Azeez (the Almighty) and Manaat from al-Mannaan (the
Benefactor).

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