Praise be to Allaah.
Al-Bukhaari (2736) and Muslim (2677) narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may
Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Allaah has ninety-nine names,
one hundred less one. Whoever learns them will enter Paradise."
Some of the scholars (such as Ibn Hazm – may Allaah have mercy on him)
understood this hadeeth as meaning thatthe names of Allaah are limited
to this number. See al-Muhalla, 1/51
But what Ibn Hazm said is not supported by the majority of scholars.
Rather some of them (such as al-Nawawi) narrated that the scholars are
agreed that the names of Allaah are not limited to this number. It
seems that they regarded the view of Ibn Hazm as odd and as something
that should not be paid any attention.
In support of the view that the beautiful namesof Allaah are not
limited to this number, they quoted the report narrated by Ahmad
(3704) from 'Abd-Allaah ibn Mas'ood who said: The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "There is no-one who
is afflicted by distress and grief, and says: 'Allaahumma inni 'abduka
ibn 'abdika ibn amatija naasyati bi yadika, maada fiyya hukmuka,
'adlun fiyya qadaa'uka. As'aluka bi kulli ismin huwa laka sammayta
bihi nafsaka aw anzaltahu fi kitaabika aw 'allamtahu ahadan min
khalqika awista'tharta bihi fi 'ilm il-ghayb 'indaka an
taj'alal-Qur'aana rabee' qalbi wa noor sadri wa jalaa' huzni wa
dhihaab hammi (O Allaah, I am Your slave, son of Your slave, son of
Your maidservant; my forelock is in Your hand, Your command over me is
forever executed and Your decree over me is just. I ask You by every
name belonging to You which You have named Yourself with, or revealed
in Your Book, or You taught to any of Your creation, or You have
preserved in the knowledge of the Unseen with You, that You make the
Qur'aan the life of my heart and the light of my breast, and a
departure for my sorrow and a release for my anxiety),' but Allaah
will take away his distress and grief, and replace it with joy." He
was asked: "O Messengerof Allaah, should we learn this?" He said: "Of
course; everyone who hears it should learn it."
Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah, 199.
The phrase "or You have preserved in the knowledge of the Unseen with
You" indicates that there are beautiful names of Allaah that He has
kept with Him in the knowledge of the Unseen, and which noneof His
creation has come to know. This indicates that there are more
thanninety-nine Names.
Shaykh al-Islam [Ibn Taymiyah] said concerning this hadeeth in Majmoo'
al-Fataawa (6/374):
This indicates that Allaahhas more than ninety-nine names.
And he said (22/482):
Al-Khattaabi said: This indicates that He has names that He has
preserved with Him, and that indicates that the words "Allaah has
ninety-nine names, whoever learns them will enter Paradise" mean that
there are ninety-nine of His nameswhich whoever learns them will enter
Paradise.This is like saying, "I have one thousand dirhams which I
have prepared to give in charity," even if his wealth is greater than
that. In the Qur'aan Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allaah, so call on Him by them"
[al-A'raaf 7:180]
Allaah has commanded us to call upon Him by His names in general
terms, He did not say that He has only ninety-nine names.
Al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) stated in Sharh Saheeh Muslim
that the scholars were unanimously agreed on that, and he said:
The scholars are unanimously agreed that this hadeeth does not mean
that Allaah hasonly ninety-nine names, or that He does not have any
other names apart from these ninety-nine. Rather what the hadeethmeans
is that whoever learns these ninety-nine will enter Paradise. The
point is that one may enter Paradise by learning them, not that the
number is limited to these names.
And Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen was asked about that and replied:
The names of Allaah are not limited to a certain number. The evidence
for that is the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) in the saheeh hadeeth: "O Allaah, I am Your slave, son of
Your slave… I ask You by everyname belonging to You which You have
named Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or You taught to any of
Your creation, or You have preserved in the knowledge of the Unseen
with You."
What Allaah has preserved in the knowledge of the unseen with Him
cannot be known and what is not known is unlimited.
With regard to the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him), "Allaah has ninety-nine names, one hundred lessone.
Whoever learns them will enter Paradise," this does not mean that He
does not have any names apart from these, rather it means that whoever
learns these ninety-nine of His names will enter Paradise. This is
like when the Arabs say: "I have one hundred horses which I have
prepared for jihad for the sake of Allaah," which does not mean that
the speaker has only these hundred horses, rather these hundred are
prepared for this purpose.
Majmoo' Fataawa Ibn 'Uthaymeen, 1/122.
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