What is meant by learning by heart the beautiful names of Allah,may He be exalted

What is meant by the phrase "whoever learns them by heart will enter Paradise"?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Al-Bukhaari (2736) and Muslim (2677) narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may
Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said: "Allah has ninety-nine names, one hundred
lessone. Whoever learns them by heart will enter Paradise."
"Leaning by heart", which is mentioned in the hadeeth, implies the following:
1. Memorising them
2. Understanding theirmeaning
3. Acting in accordance with the meanings. So if a person knows
that He is One, he does not associate anything else with Him. If he
knows that He is the Provider (ar-Razzaaq), he does not seek provision
from anyone other than Him. If he knows that He is Most Merciful
(ar-Raheem), then he does acts of obedience and worship that are
themeans of attaining this mercy… and so on.
4. Calling upon Him by these names, as He, may He be glorified and
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): "And (all) the Most
Beautiful Names belong to Allah, so call on Him by them' [al-A'raaf
7:180]. So he might say: O Most Merciful (Ya Rahmaan), have mercy on
me; O Oft-forgiving (Ya Ghafoor), forgive me; O Accepter of repentance
(Ya Tawwaab), accept my repentance, and so on.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-'Uthaymeen said: Learning them by heart
does not mean writing them down on a piece of paper then repeating
them until one has memorised them. Rather what it means is:
Firstly: learning how to pronounce the names
Secondly: understandingtheir meanings.
Thirdly: worshipping Allah in accordance with what they signify,
whichinvolves two things:
(i) Calling upon Allah by them, because He, may He be
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): "… so call on Him by
them" [al-A'raaf 7:180], to that they may become a means of attaining
whatyou seek, so choose a name that is appropriateto what you seek.
When asking for forgiveness, say: O Oft-forgiving (Ya Ghafoor),
forgive me. It is not appropriate to say:O You Who are stern in
punishment (Ya Shadeedal-'Iqaab), forgive me; rather that is more akin
to mockery. What you should say (if you call upon Allah by this
name)is: Save me from Your punishment.
(ii) In your acts ofworship you should do iswhat is
implied by these names. What is implied by the name ar-Raheem (Most
Merciful) is mercy, so do righteous deeds that will bring the mercyof
Allah. This is what is meant by learning them by heart; if it is done
likethis, then it deserves to be the price of admission to Paradise.
End quote.
Majmoo' Fataawa wa Rasaa'il Ibn 'Uthaymeen, 1/74
And Allah knows best.

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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

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