An Explanation of the Perfect Names and Attributes of Allah

It is not possible to perfectly translate the names and attributes of
Allah from their original Arabic into English. However, here are some
fairly close explanations.
1. Allah
He who has the Godhood which is the power to create the entities.
2. Ar-Rahman
The One who has plenty of mercy for the believersand the blasphemers
in this world and especially for the believers in the hereafter.
3. Ar-Rahim
The One who has plenty of mercy for the believers.
4. Al-Malik
The One with the complete Dominion, the One Whose Dominion is clear
from imperfection.
5. Al-Quddus
The One who is pure from any imperfection and clear from children and
adversaries.
6. As-Salam
The One who is free from every imperfection.
7. Al-Mu'min
The One who witnessed for Himself that no one is God but Him. And He
witnessed for His believers that they are truthful in their belief
that no one is God but Him.
8. Al-Muhaymin
The One who witnesses the saying and deeds of His creatures.
9. Al-'Aziz
The Defeater who is not defeated.
10. Al-Jabbar
The One that nothing happens in His Dominion except that which He willed.
11. Al-Mutakabbir
The One who is clear from the attributes of thecreatures and from
resembling them.
12. Al-Khaliq
The One who brings everything from non-existence to existence.
13. Al-Bari'
The Creator who has the Power to turn the entities.
14. Al-Musawwir
The One who forms His creatures in different pictures.
15. Al-Ghaffar
The One who forgives thesins of His slaves time andtime again.
16. Al-Qahhar
The Subduer who has theperfect Power and is not unable over anything.
17. Al-Wahhab
The One who is Generous in giving plenty without any return. e is
everything that benefits whether Halal or Haram.
19. Al-Fattah
The One who opens for His slaves the closed worldy and religiousmatters.
20. Al-'Alim
The Knowledgeable; The One nothing is absent from His knowledge.
21. Al-Qabid and 22. Al-Basit
The One who constricts the sustenance by His wisdomand expands and
widens it with His Generosity and Mercy.
23. Al-Khafid and 24. Ar-Rafi^
The One who lowers whoever He willed by His Destruction and raises
whoever He willed by His Endowment.
25. Al-Mu'iz and 26. Al-Muthil
He gives esteem to whoever He willed, hence there is no one to degrade
Him; And He degrades whoever He willed, hence there is no one to give
Him esteem.
27. As-Sami'
The One who Hears all things that are heard by His Eternal Hearing
without an ear, instrument or organ.
28. Al-Basir
The One who Sees all things that are seen by His Eternal Seeing
without a pupil or any other instrument.
29. Al-Hakam
He is the Ruler and His judgment is His Word.
30. Al-'Adl
The One who is entitled to do what He does.
31. Al-Latif
The One who is kind to His slaves and endows upon them.
32. Al-Khabir
The One who knows the truth of things.
33. Al-Halim
The One who delays the punishment for those who deserve it and then He
might forgive them.
34. Al-'Azim
The One deserving the attributes of Exaltment, Glory, Extolement,and
Purity from all imperfection.
35. Al-Ghafur
The One who forgives a lot.
36. Ash-Shakur
The One who gives a lot of reward for a little obedience.
37. Al-'Aliyy
The One who is clear from the attributes of thecreatures.
38. Al-Kabir
The One who is greater than everything in status.
39. Al-Hafiz
The One who protects whatever and whoever He willed to protect.
40. Al-Muqit
The One who has the Power.
41. Al-Hasib
The One who gives the satisfaction.
42. Aj-Jalil
The One who is attributed with greatnessof Power and Glory of status.
43. Al-Karim
The One who is clear from abjectness.
44. Ar-Raqib
The One that nothing is absent from Him. Hence it's meaning is related
to the attribute of Knowledge.
45. Al-Mujib
The One who answers theone in need if he asks Him and rescues the
yearner if he calls upon Him.
46. Al-Wasi^
The Knowledgeable.
47. Al-Hakim
The One who is correct inHis doings.
48. Al-Wadud
The One who loves His believing slaves and His believing slaves love
Him.His love to His slaves is HisWill to be merciful to them and
praise them:Hence it's meaning is related to the attributes of the
Will and Kalam (His attribute with which He orders and forbids and
spoke to Muhammad and Mu sa -peace be upon them- . It is not a sound
nor a language nor a letter.).
49. Al-Majid
The One who is with perfect Power, High Status, Compassion, Generosity
and Kindness.
50. Al-Ba'ith
The One who resurrects His slaves after death for reward and/or punishment.
51. Ash-Shahid
The One who nothing is absent from Him.
52. Al-Haqq
The One who truly exists.
53. Al-Wakil
The One who gives the satisfaction and is relied upon.
54. Al-Qawiyy
The One with the complete Power.
55. Al-Matin
The One with extreme Power which is un-interrupted and He does not get tired.
56. Al-Waliyy
The Supporter.
57. Al-Hamid
The praised One who deserves to be praised.
58. Al-Muhsi
The One who the count of things are known to him.
59. Al-Mubdi'
The One who started the human being. That is, He created him.
60. Al-Mu'id
The One who brings backthe creatures after death.
61. Al-Muhyi
The One who took out a living human from sementhat does not have a
soul.He gives life by giving thesouls back to the worn out bodies on
the resurrection day and He makes the hearts alive bythe light of
knowledge.
62. Al-Mumit
The One who renders the living dead.
63. Al-Hayy
The One attributed with alife that is unlike our life and is not that
of a combination of soul, flesh or blood.
64. Al-Qayyum
The One who remains and does not end.
65. Al-Wajid
The Rich who is never poor. Al-Wajd is Richness.
66. Al-Majid
The One who is Majid.
67. Al-Wahid
The One without a partner.
68. As-Samad
The Master who is relied upon in matters and reverted to in ones needs.
69. Al-Qadir
The One attributed with Power.
70. Al-Muqtadir
The One with the perfect Power that nothing is withheld rom Him.
71. Al-Muqaddim and 72. Al-Mu'akhkhir
The One who puts things in their right places. He makes ahead what He
wills and delays what He wills.
73. Al-'Awwal
The One whose Existence is without a beginning.
74. Al-'Akhir
The One whose Existence is without an end.
75. Az-Zahir 76. Al-Batin
The One that nothing is above Him and nothing isunderneath Him, hence
He exists without a place.He,
The Exalted, His Existence is obvious by proofs and He is clear from
the delusions of attributes of bodies.
77. Al-Wali
The One who owns things and manages them.
78. Al-Muta'ali
The One who is clear from the attributes of thecreation.
79. Al-Barr
The One who is kind to His creatures, who covered them with His
sustenance and specified whoever He willed among them by His support,
protection, and special mercy.
80. At-Tawwab
The One who grants repentance to whoever He willed among His creatures
and accepts his repentance.
81. Al-Muntaqim
The One who victoriously prevails over His enemies and punishes them
for their sins. It may mean the One who destroys them.
82. Al-'Afuww
The One with wide forgiveness.
83. Ar-Ra'uf
The One with extreme Mercy. The Mercy of Allah is His will to endow
upon whoever He willed among His creatures.
84. Malik Al-Mulk
The One who controls theDominion and gives dominion to whoever He willed.
85. Thul-Jalal wal-Ikram
The One who deserves to be Exalted and not denied.
86. Al-Muqsit
The One who is Just in Hisjudgment.
87. Aj-Jami^
The One who gathers the creatures on a day that there is no doubt
about, that is the Day of Judgment.
88. Al-Ghaniyy
The One who does not need the creation.
89. Al-Mughni
The One who satisfies thenecessities of the creatures.
90. Al-Mani^
The Supporter who protects and gives victoryto His pious believers. Al-Mu'tiy
The Withholder
91. Ad-Darr and 92. An-Nafi'
The One who makes harm reach to whoever He willed and benefit to
whoever He willed.
93. An-Nur
The One who guides.
94. Al-Hadi
The One whom with His Guidance His belivers were guided, and with His
Guidance the living beings have been guidedto what is beneficial for
them and protected fromwhat is harmful to them.
95. Al-Badi'
The One who created the creation and formed it without any preceding example.
96. Al-Baqi
The One that the state of non-existence is impossible for Him.
97. Al-Warith
The One whose Existence remains.
98. Ar-Rashid
The One who guides.
99. As-Sabur
The One who does not quickly punish the sinners.
"...Naught is as His likeness; and He is the Hearer, the Seer..." Qur'an[42:11]

Effects of Tawhid on Human Life

Now let us study the effects which the belief in La ilaha illallah has
on the life of a man and see why he should always make a success of
life andwhy one who denies it becomes a failure in life, both here and
in the hereafter.
1. A believer in this Kalimah can never be narrow in outlook. He
believes in a God Who is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the
Master of the East and the West and Sustainer of the entire universe.
After this belief he does not regard anything in the world as a
stranger to himself. He looks on everything in the universe as
belonging to the same Lord he himself belongs to. His sympathy, love
and service are not confined to any particular sphere or group. His
vision is enlarged, his intellectual horizon widens, and his
outlookbecomes as liberal and as boundless as is the Kingdom of God.
How can this width of vision and breadth of mind beachieved by an
atheist, a polytheist or one whobelieves in a deity supposed to
possess limited and defective powers like a man?
2. This belief produces in man the highest degreeof self-respect and
self esteem. The believer knows that Allah alone is the Possessor of
all power, and that none besides Him can benefitor harm a person, or
provide for his needs, or give and take away life or wield authority
or influence. This conviction makes him indifferent to, and
independent and fearless of, all powers other than those of God. He
never bows his head in homage to any of God's creatures, nor does he
stretch out his hand before anyone else. He is not overawed by
anybody'sgreatness. This attitude of mind cannot be produced by any
other belief. For it is necessary that those who associate other
beings with God, or who deny God, should bow in homage to some
creatures, regard them able to benefit or harm them, fear them and
place their hopes in them.
3. Along with self-respect this belief also generates in man a sense
of modesty and humbleness. It makes him unostentatious
andunpretending. A believer never becomesproud, haughty or arrogant.
The boisterous pride of power, wealth and worth can have no room in
his heart, because he knows that whatever he possesses has been given
to him by God, and that God can take away just as He can give. In
contrast to this, an unbeliever, when he achieves someworldly merit,
becomes proud and conceited because he believes that his merit is due
to his own worth. In the same way pride and self-conceit are a
necessary outcome and concomitant of shirk (association of others with
God in His divinity), because a mushrik believes that he has a
particular relation with the deities which does not exist between them
and other people.
4. This belief makes man virtuous and upright. He has the conviction
that there is no other means of success and salvation for him except
purity of soul and righteousness of behavior. He has perfect faith in
God Who is above all need, is related to none and is absolutely just.
This belief creates in him the consciousness that, unless he lives
rightly and acts justly, he cannot succeed. No influence or
underhandactivity can save him from ruin. As against this, the kafirs
and the mushriks always live on false hopes. Some of them believe that
God'sson has atoned for their sins; some think that they are God's
favourites, and will not be punished; others believe that their
saintswill intercede with God on their behalf; while others make
offerings to their deities and believe that by so bribing the deities
theyacquire a licence to do whatever they like. Such false beliefs
keep them enmeshed in sin and evil deeds; depending on their deities,
they do not bother about their souls and living pure and good lives.
As to atheists, they do not believe that there is any Being having
power over them, to Whom they should be responsible for their good or
bad actions; therefore they considerthemselves independent to act in
whatever way they like.Their own fancies become their gods and they
live like slaves of their wishes and desires.
5. The believer never becomes despondent. He has a firm faith in God
Who is Master of allthe treasures of the earth and the heavens, Whose
grace and bounty have no limit and Whose powers are infinite. This
faith imparts to his heart extraordinary consolation, fills it with
satisfaction and keeps it filled with hope. Although he may meet with
rejection from all sides in this world, faithin and dependence on God
never leave him, and on their strength he goes on struggling. Such
profound confidence can result from no other belief than belief in one
God. Mushriks , kafirs and atheists have small hearts; they depend on
limited powers; therefore in times of trouble they are soon
overwhelmed by despair and, frequently,they commit suicide.
6. This belief produces in man a very strong degree of determination,
patient perseverance and trust in God. When he makes up his mind and
devotes his resources tofulfilling the Divine Commands in order to
secure God's pleasure, he is sure that he has the support and backing
of the Lord of the universe. This certainty makes him firm and strong
like a mountain, and no amount of difficulties, impediments and
opposition can make him give up his resolution. Shirk , kufr and
atheism have no such effect.

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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

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Nigeria accused of abuses in Boko Haram fight

Nigeria is illegally holding hundreds of people suspected of
participating in violence perpetrated by the armed group Boko Haram
and is denying them access to lawyers, an international rights group
has said.
Amnesty International alleged in a report released on Thursday that
most of those imprisoned around the country are held without criminal
charges.
Some of the suspects in detention have been summarily executed by
security forces before facing trial, the London-based Amnesty said.
The group also said some of those detained told its researchers they
were shackled for days, forced to sit in their own excrement in
overcrowded cells while watching other prisoners get beaten and
coercedinto confessions.
Amnesty blamed both the Nigerian government and Boko Haram in the
report for likely committing crimes against humanity as the guerrilla
conflict engulfing the nation's Muslim north continues to kills
civilians.
"You cannot protect people by abusing human rights and you cannot
achieve security by creating insecurity," Salil Shetty,
secretary-general of the group, said at the launch of the report
inNigeria's capital, Abuja.
"There is a vicious cycle of violence currently taking place in
Nigeria," the report stated. "The Nigerian people are trapped in the
middle."
"We spoke to scores of family members of eyewitnesses, of victims
themselves. People who had been attacked by Boko Haram, but also
people whose loved ones had been killed by security forces.
Eyewitnesses whodescribed they were made to lie down next to someone
who was then shot while they were lying down on the ground by a member
of the security forces," Lucy Freeman, one of the authorsof the
report, told Al Jazeera.
Abuse denied
Security forces routinely deny committing abuses, though the country
has a long history of abuses and so-called extrajudicialkillings being
carried out by police officers and soldiers.
Colonel Mohammed Yerima, a Nigerian military spokesman, saidsoldiers
do hold prisoners, but only to do a "thorough job" investigating their
backgrounds.
He said some people had falsely reported neighbors as Boko Haram
members out of petty disputes.
"We don't torture people. We interrogate them and find out if they are
members of the Boko Haram," Yerima told The Associated Press. "We
don't have any concentration camp that theyare talking about. All we
have is offices where we work."
Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, a military spokesperson in Maiduguri,
also denied the allegations, but said that "lesser human rights
infractions and abuses by [Nigerian] troops that do not involve
killing are being addressed".
The Amnesty report comes as both Nigeria's government and Boko Haram
face increasing international condemnation. Violence blamed on Boko
Haram has killed more than 720 people this year, according to an
Associated Press count, making 2012 the deadliest year since the group
began its attacks in 2009.
A Human Rights Watch report in October also accused Nigerian security
forces and Boko Haram of likely committing crimes against humanity in
their fighting.
Detainees 'held in slaughterhouse'
The Amnesty report includes claims of killings, house burningsand
rapes carried out by security forces, allegations that have trailed
the government's response to Boko Haram for months. Amnesty estimates
that more than 200 suspected Boko Haram members are being held at a
barracks in Maiduguri, while more than 100 others are being held at a
police station in Abuja.
Dozens of others probably are being held at the headquarters ofthe
State Security Service, Nigeria's secret police, and otherselsewhere,
Amnesty said.
Those held largely do not know where they are detained, cannot contact
their families or speak to lawyers, in contravention of Nigerian law,
Amnesty said.
Many are shackled together for nearly the entire day, the report said.
Those held at the police station in Abuja are kept in a former
slaughterhouse where chains stillhang from the ceiling, the rights
group said.
"There were shots in the night. I was hearing the shot of guns butI
didn't know what they are doing," said one former detainee at the
police station quoted in the Amnesty report. "When [the police] were
collecting statements, some of us cannot speak English, and some of
the officers cannot speak our language, so those that have difficulty,
they have been beaten... Our lives were - we were not alive. We had no
food, no water and no bath."
Others told Amnesty that soldiersbeat at least one prisoner with an
electrical cable, while others were denied access to medicine and
care. In the report, Amnesty said it requested to see prisons, police
stations, military detentioncenters and holding cells of the Nigeria's
secret police, but did not get access to the facilities.
Those arrested by police in Nigeria routinely face years of
imprisonment before even being brought to court, due to the country's
overburdened judicial system. That has only been exacerbated by the
influx of new suspected Boko Haram members,many of whom remain held by
a military that does not hand themover to civilian authorities,
Amnesty said.
"The failure to prosecute Boko Haram suspects has meant that justice
is not being seen to be done, and confidence in the security forces to
address the crimes and human rights abuses committed by Boko Haram is
being eroded," the report reads.
PHOTO CAPTION
Men suspected to be members of the group Boko Haram sit blindfolded at
a barrack after a shootout between the group andthe military in
Nigeria's northern city of Kano March 20, 2012.
Source: Aljazeera.com

Asceticism is the Way to be Loved

The Righteous Follow the Way of the Prophets
The righteous follow the way of the Prophet as he was the model
example. 'Ali said, "All goodness is for those who are ascetic in this
worldly life and those who incline to the Hereafter. They are those
who took the land as their rug, its dust as their mattress, its water
as their perfume, the Quran as their slogan, and supplication as their
garment. They completely renounced the worldly life."
Abu Ad-Dardaa' wrote a letterto some of his friends, saying, "I advise
you to fear Allaah, to be ascetic in this worldly life, and to desire
what is with Allaah. If you do so, Allaah will love you for your
desire for what is with Him, and people will love you for leaving
their worldly lives for them. As-Salaamu Alaykum."
'Urwah ibn Az-Zubayr reported that the Mother of the Believers,
'Aa'ishah once received eighty thousand Dirhams from Mu'aawiyah and by
that evening she did not have even a single Dirham left. Her maid said
to her, "Should you not have bought a Dirham's worth of meatfor us?"
She replied, "If you had reminded me, I would have done."
Ibn Mas'ood said, "The worldly life is the home of those who have no
home and the wealth of those who have no wealth. The one who has no
knowledge accumulates in it."
When 'Umar reached Ash-Shaam (greater Syria), his soldiers met him
while he was wearing a lower garment, a pair of leather socks and a
turban. He was pulling along his riding animal and walking in puddles.
The soldiers said to him, "O commander of the believers, Will the
soldiers and patriarchs of Ash-Shaam meet you while you are in this
state?" He replied, "Weare people whom Allaah has honored by Islam, so
we will not seek honor in anything else."
A man visited Abu Tharr and looked around at his house and said, "O
Abu Tharr, I do not see any belongings or furniture in your house!" He
replied, "We haveanother house [i.e., his house in Paradise] to which
we send our good belongings." He added, "The owner of the house [i.e.,
Allaah] will not leave us in this house."
'Amr ibn Al-'Aas said in a sermon that he delivered in Egypt, "What a
huge difference there is between your way and the guidance of your
Prophet ! He was the most ascetic of people in this worldly life while
you are the most inclining of people towards it."
'Ali said, "I married Faatimah while we had no bedding but theskin of
a ram that we would sleep on at night and place the fodder for the
camel on it during the day. I had no one to serve mebut her, and she
would get so exhausted that her forelock would fall on the edge of the
bowl when she kneaded."
When Mu'aath ibn Jabal was about to die, he said, "O Allaah, You know
that I did not love this worldly life and longevity in it for the sake
of digging rivers or planting trees [i.e., the sustenance in this
worldly life]. Rather, [I wanted it] for the sake of fasting during
the day, performing voluntary prayers at night, and attending the
assemblies of remembering Allaah, despite them being crowded."
Imaam Ahmad ibn Hanbal mentioned that the best person from the
generation that succeeded that of the Companions of the Prophet
interms of knowledge was Sa'eed ibn Al-Musayyib but the finest in
general was 'Uways Al-Qarni .'Uways would say, "Take death asa pillow
when you go to sleep and put it before your eyes when you are awake."
Maalik ibn Dinaar said, "A person intends to marry the most beautiful
woman in the district, so she says to him. 'I want garments made of
wool', then she takes away his religion."
Many of the righteous predecessors would refuse to take lawful money
that was offered to them and would say, "We will not take it lest it
ruins our religion."
Hammaad ibn Salamah would open his shop, and if he earned just two
Dirhams, he would closeit.
Sa'eed ibn Al-Musayyib would trade in oil, and after his death he left
four hundred Dinaars, saying, "I left them to protect myhonor and
religion."
Sufyaan Ath-Thawri said, "Asceticism in this worldly life is to not
have the hope of a long life, rather it is to eat rough food or wear
rough clothes."
Ash-Shaafi'i also dispraised this worldly life and being attached toit.
Abu Sulaymaan Ad-Daaraani would say, "All that distracts you from
Allaah The Almighty, whether family, wealth or children, is a
misfortune."
People Far Better than Us were Deprived of the Pleasures of this Worldly Life
It is enough to know that being ascetic is a part of taking the
Prophet and his companions as examples. This act is perfect reliance
upon Allaah The Almighty and instills contentment in the heart, which
in turn leads to the comfort of this worldly life and the happiness of
the Hereafter. The ascetic person is loved by Allaah The Almighty and
by other people. Therefore, if you have possessions, praise Allaah The
Almighty and do not let your heart be attached to the worldly life.
Likewise, if you are poor, be patient, for people who were better than
you were deprived of the pleasures of this worldly life. Our Prophet
would sleep on amat such that its marks appearedon his body, and he
died while there was no provision on the shelf of 'Aa'ishah except a
handful of barley that she would eat from. If one were to enter
therooms of his wives, his head would touch the ceiling. 'Umar ibn
Al-Khattaab the caliph of the Muslims, once delivered a sermon wearing
a garment that had twelve patches.
These people were not deprived of the pleasures of this worldly life
because of their abasement inthe sight of Allaah The Almighty, rather
because of the abasement of the worldly life in His sight, which does
not even equal the weight of a wing of a mosquito; and the two
voluntary units of prayer before Fajr prayer are better than this
worldly life and what it contains. In order for onenot to despair over
what has eluded him, he should not exult in pride over what Allaah The
Almighty has given him. The believer does not become disappointed over
being disgraced in it nor compete with others over its glory, as he
has his own concern and they have other concerns.
Be the slave of Allaah The Almighty at times of hardship and ease, and
at times of activity and suffering. Whether the worldly life
approaches you or turns away from you, its approaching is refraining
and its turning away is approaching. Thebasic rule is that it
approaches you with what you dislike, and when it approaches you with
what you like, this is an exception.

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And Allah Knows the Best!

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Published by :->
M NajimudeeN Bsc- INDIA

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