General Dought & clear, - * Could you give me the most accurate translation for these names of Allaah: [al alaa] [al akram] [al ilaah] [al awwal]

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Could you give me the most accurate translation for these names of Allaah: [al alaa] [al akram] [al ilaah] [al awwal]
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Praise be to Allah
al-A‘laa, al-Akram, al-Ilaah and al-Awwal are among the beautiful names of Allah.
Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most High [al-A‘laa]”
[al-A‘laa 87:1]
“Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous [al-Akram]”
[al-‘Alaq 96:3]
“For Allah is (the only) One Ilaah (God)”
[an-Nisa’ 4:171]
“He is the First [al-Awwal](nothing is before Him) and the Last (nothing is after Him), the Most High (nothing is above Him) and the Most Near (nothing is nearer than Him). And He is the All‑Knower of every thing”
[al-Hadeed 57:3].
Al-A‘laa (the Most High) is the One Who is the most exalted in all aspects: exalted in His Essence, exalted in His attributes, exalted in the sense of prevailing and controlling.
Being exalted in His Essence means that He, may He be glorified, is far above all of creation in His Essence; He is above His Throne, above all that He has created.
Being exalted in His attributes means that to Him belong all perfect attributes, and He is far above all shortcomings.
Being exalted in the sense of prevailing and controlling means that He has prevailed over and subdued all things, and everything has submitted to His control.
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The Muslims are unanimously agreed that Allah, may He be glorified, is Exalted, Most High, and the Quran speaks of that. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, is the only One Who is Most High in all aspects, because His Highness is an attribute of praise. So we affirm that Allah, may He be exalted, is Most High in His Essence, Most High in His attributes, and Most High in the sense of prevailing and controlling. End quote.
Ijtimaa‘ al-Juyoosh al-Islamiyyah(2/182)
As-Sa‘di (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Al-‘Aliy, al-A‘laa (the Exalted, the Most High) is the One Who is most sublime and exalted in all aspects, in Essence, in esteem and attributes, and in terms of prevailing over all others.
He is the One Who rose over the Throne and is the ultimate Sovereign; He is the One who possesses all attributes of greatness, pride, majesty, beauty and all other perfect attributes, and His attributes are the most perfect. End quote.
Tafseer as-Sa‘di(p. 946)
Al-Akram (the Most Generous) is the One Who is very generous and very kind to His creation.
Al-Khattaabi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
He is the most generous of the most generous and no generous one could ever match or equal His generosity. End quote.
Al-Asma’ wa’s-Sifaatby al-Bayhaqi (1/148)
Abu Hayyaan (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Al-Akram (the Most Generous) is a description that is indicative of emphatic generosity, for His generosity surpasses all generosity; He bestows innumerable blessings, shows forbearance to the sinner, accepts repentance and pardons bad deeds. End quote.
Al-Bahr al-Muheet(10/507)
Generosity is not just the matter of giving. Rather the word al-karam, translated here as generosity, means good; Allah is al-Akram (translated above as the Most Generous), which means that He is the best and most perfect in His attributes.
As-Sa‘di (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The name al-Akram may refer to one who has numerous attributes in the most perfect manner, whose generosity and kindness are abundant, and whose munificence encompasses all things. End quote.
Tafseer as-Sa‘di(p. 930)
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
With regard to the words (interpretation of the meaning),
“Read! In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists),
Has created man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood),
Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous [al-Akram]”
[al-‘Alaq 96:1-3],
Allah describes Himself as being generous after stating that He created man, so as to show that He is generous to His creation, and that He helps them to attain praiseworthy goals and aims.
The word al-karam is a comprehensive term that includes all good and praiseworthy characteristics. It does not mean only giving; rather giving is its ultimate meaning, because kindness to others is the ultimate good characteristic. Therefore al-karam is an abundance of goodness and availability thereof…
Anything good and praiseworthy may be described as karam. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Do they not observe the earth, how much of every good kind [min kulli zawjin kareem] We cause to grow therein?”
[ash-Shu‘ara’ 26:7].
Ibn Qutaybah said: This means: of every good type (of plants). Az-Zajjaaj said: Zawj (translated here as kind) means type, and kareem means praiseworthy (or good). Others said that “min kulli zawj” means of every type or kind, and “kareem” means good, of plants that are eaten by humans and livestock. It may be said in Arabic “nakhlah kareemah” to refer to a palm tree that bears good fruit, and “naaqah kareemah” to refer to a she-camel that produces a lot of milk.
Allah, may He be glorified, tells us that He is al-Akram (the Most Generous), in the superlative form of the word, using the definite article, which indicates that He alone is the Most Generous. This is unlike if He had said “wa Rabbuka akram(and your Lord is most generous – without the definite articleal-), which would not be indicative of exclusivity.
The word al-Akram (with the definite article) is indicative of exclusivity. And He did not say “more generous than…”; rather He left it open, to highlight that He is the Most Generous of all, without any restriction. This indicates that His is the ultimate generosity, unsurpassed by anything else, and subject to no shortcomings.
Ibn ‘Atiyyah said: Then Allah, may He be exalted, says to him (interpretation of the meaning): “Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous [al-Akram]” [al-‘Alaq 96:1-3], by way of consoling and comforting the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). It is as if He is saying: Carry on with what you are commanded to do, for your Lord is not like other lords; rather He is the Most Generous, Whose generosity will never fall short, so He will support you and cause you to prevail.
I say: Some of the early generations said: No one should give a gift for the sake of Allah that he would feel embarrassed to give to someone who is dear to him, for Allah is the Most Generous of all those who are generous. That is, He is the One who deserves honour (ikraam) more than anyone else, for He is more generous and more honourable than anything. He, may He be glorified, is majestic and munificent (dhu’l-jalaali wa’l-ikraam), so He deserves to be venerated and honoured. Veneration implies glorifying and honouring implies praise and love. End quote.
Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa(16/293-296)
Al-Ilaah (God) means the One Who is loved and worshipped, Who alone deserves to be acknowledged as divine and worshipped. The idols are only calledaalihah(gods) because the mushrikeen worship them besides Allah and claim that they are deserving of that. The name of Allah is derived from the word al-ilaah (lit. “the God”). Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Al-Ilaah is the One Who possesses all attributes of perfection and majesty. This name includes all the divine names. Hence the correct view is that the root of the name Allah is al-Ilaah, as is the view of Seebawayh and the majority of his companions, except very few of them, and that the name of Allah, may He be exalted, encompasses all the meanings of the beautiful names and sublime attributes of Allah. End quote.
Badaa’i‘ al-Fawaa’id(2/249).
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The word “Allah” is a proper noun referring to the Lord, may He be glorified and exalted. Its root is the word al-Ilaah (“the God”), but the word is contracted to make it easier to pronounce, because it is repeated so frequently. The wordilaahrefers to the one who is loved, and the one who is loved is the one who is worshipped out of love and veneration. End quote.
Ash-Sharh al-Mumti‘(3/56)
Al-Awwal (the First) is the One before Whom there is nothing.
This is a name which indicates that Allah alone possesses absolute perfection, that He encompasses all time (and is above time), and that everything other than Him is something that came into being after not being.
Muslim narrated in hisSaheeh(2713) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) used to say:
“Allaahumma Rabb al-samawaati wa’l-ard wa Rabb al-‘arsh il-‘azeem, Rabbaanaa wa Rabba kulli shay’in, Faaliq al-habb wa’l-nawa wa munzil al-Tawraati wa’l-Injeeli wa’l-Furqaan, a’oodhu bika min sharri kulli shay’in anta aakhidhun bi naasiyatihi. Allaahumma anta al-awwal fa laysa qablaka shay’un, wa anta al-aakhir fa laysa ba’daka shay’un, wa anta al-zaahir fa laysa fawqaka shay’un wa anta al-baatin fa laysa doonaka shay’un. Iqdi ‘annaa al-dayna wa aghninaa min al-faqri(O Allaah, Lord of the seven heavens and the exalted Throne, our Lord and Lord of all things, splitter of the seed and the date-stone, Revealer of the Tawraat and the Injeel and the Furqaan [Qur’aan], I seek refuge in You from the evil of all things You shall seize by the forelock [have total mastery over]. O Allaah, You are the First so there is nothing before You, and You are the Last so there is nothing after You. You are al-Zaahir [the greatest and highest] so there is nothing above You, and You are al-Baatin [aware of the subtlest secrets] so there is nothing closer than You. Settle our debt for us and spare us from poverty).”
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
“He is the First [al-Awwal](nothing is before Him) and the Last (nothing is after Him), the Most High (nothing is above Him) and the Most Near (nothing is nearer than Him)”
[al-Hadeed 57:3].
Al-Awwal (the First) means that there is nothing before Him, because if there were anything before Him, Allah would be something created, but He, may He be glorified and exalted, is the Creator. Hence the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) explained the name al-Awwal as meaning the One before Whom there was nothing; all that exists came after Allah, may He be glorified and exalted; there is nothing with Allah and nothing before Allah.
Liqa’ al-Baab al-Maftooh(208/4)
And Allah knows best.








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Islamic Articles, - * Bigots Disrespect Women by Saying that They Inhibit a Faithful Life

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Almighty God places great importance in the protection and loving of women. In the Holy Quran, He compares them to flowers and commands everyone to prioritize, respect, protect and love women. He makes it very clear that genders are equal and any discrimination will not be accepted.
However, as in every other aspect of life, bigots attempted to discredit women with respect to a faithful life and claimed through fabricated hadiths that women could inhibit one’s practice of religion.
Were there no women, God would be worshiped properly. (Suyuti, Sahih Bukhari, Ibn-i Adiyy, Abu Khatim, Ibn-i Jawzi, Muhammed Nasuriddin and Ibn-i Hibban all accept this hadith.) (Silsilat al-Ahadisuzzaif: 74, Tenzihusharia: 1/62, Al-Leali: 2/59)
Were it not for women, all men would go to paradise. (Ibn-i Arrak and As-Saqafi do not accept the hadith. [Jamiussaghir: 2/113])
Let us first of all recall one very important point; the misogynistic mindset described in the false hadiths appears absolutely nowhere in the Qur’an.
Moving on to the content of the fabricated hadiths above, it is not women or other blessings of this world that prevent people who are weak in, or devoid of faith, from living by religious moral values, but their own weakness of conscience, mind and will. God has created this world as a test. In the same way that people are tested throughout their lives with troubles, difficulties, diseases and weaknesses, so they are also tested by blessings and good things. Women are one of the blessings and jewels of this world. Like every blessing, however, how that blessing is evaluated depends on the moral values of the person possessing that blessing. God reveals in the Qur’an that the blessings of this world are created as a test:
To mankind the love of worldly appetites is painted in glowing colors: women and children, and heaped-up mounds of gold and silver, and horses with fine markings, and livestock and fertile farmland. All that is merely the enjoyment of the life of this world. The best homecoming is in the Presence of God. (Surah Al ‘Imran, 14)
Like women, children, gold, silver, splendid animals, farmland and wealth are all blessings of this world and provided for people to enjoy. However, a person who has faith will also be aware that all these blessings really belong to God, that all the blessings found in this world are transitory, and that the most and finest forms of all blessings are to be found in paradise. None of these blessings therefore turn such people away from God or prevent them striving on His path. If a person falls into heedlessness on account of any of these blessings and no longer seeks God’s approval in all things, then this is something stemming from his own weakness of faith; it is not the fault of the blessings, but of the person himself. It is therefore the person himself who will have to face the consequences, so long as he does not correct himself. It will do no good to a person trying to blame someone else in the hereafter.
Therefore, a man who seeks to hold women responsible, on the basis of these false hadiths, for all his own errors, sins and evil deeds, is merely deceiving himself. According to the Qur’an, faith means that a person must serve God properly, no matter what the conditions or circumstances. Nobody will be able to use the idea that, “I was unable to worship properly because of women” as an excuse in the hereafter. As we are told in a verse, “... man will be clear proof against himself in spite of any excuses he might offer” (Surat al-Qiyama, 14-15)
In other words, no matter what excuses a person may come up with, he is still perfectly aware of the truth. Some people who blame women for their own lapses on the basis of these false hadiths are of course perfectly well aware that they are being hypocritical and making up the whole idea up. Ignoring the fact in this world will change nothing in the Presence of God, where “… Every self will be paid in full for what it earned. They will not be wronged. ” (Surah Al ’Imran, 25)








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Islamic Articles, - * Bigots’ Despicable Description of Women

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As the bigots know no boundaries in their misogyny, they even dared call women ‘crooked’. One of the fabricated hadiths they use for this purpose is as follows:
Woman has been created from a rib and will in no way be straightened for you; so if you wish to benefit by her, benefit by her while crookedness remains in her. And if you attempt to straighten her, you will break her, and breaking her is divorcing her. (Sahih Muslim, Book 8, Hadith 3467; an-Nasai)
The creation of human beings is described in detail in the Qur’an:
We created man from the purest kind of clay ; then made him a drop in a secure receptacle; then formed the drop into a clot and formed the clot into a lump and formed the lump into bones and clothed the bones in flesh; and then brought him into being as another creature . Blessed be God, the Best of Creators! (Surat al-Muminun, 12-14)
No verse of the Qur’an says anything about woman being created from a rib bone and being crooked. In contrast to these terms employed by fanatics, our Almighty Lord reveals that men and women were created “in the best of forms:”
It is God Who made the earth a stable home for you and the sky a dome, and formed you, giving you the best of forms , and provided you with good and wholesome things. That is God, your Lord. Blessed be God, the Lord of all the worlds. (Surah Ghafir, 64)
The words “ if you attempt to straighten her, you will break her ” in the false hadith in question implies that she is crooked in both body and mind and can never be put right; however, no such words appear in the Qur’an. This shows the basis of the fanatics’ anger-filled attitude toward women.
The lesson we receive from the Qur’an is this; everyone, man or woman, has flaws and can make mistakes. According to the Qur’an, these flaws should be corrected by pointing them out in kindly language, showing the person what is right and wrong, and addressing the conscience of the person in question. Nobody has the right to cast anyone aside and say, “This person can never be put right.” Someone who does that and regards himself as superior may see that the person he regarded as “incorrigible” is actually in a better position than him in the hereafter. Only God knows who is on the true path.
The fanatics’ superstitious belief that women are flawed and deficient right from the outset has been strengthened by the idea that it is also impossible for them to change subsequently. Many false hadiths therefore contain false information to the effect that good women are very few in number and that most women are not worthy of paradise.
Hadiths and Claims Fabricated to Debase Women
A pious woman among other women is like unto a raven marked with a white leg. (Nahj al-Fasahah, p.20)
One out of 99 women is in paradise, the rest are in hell. (Sahih Bukhari)
O womenfolk, you should give charity and ask much forgiveness for I saw you in bulk amongst the dwellers of hell. ... (Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 142)
The false hadiths in question make it clear how women are belittled and regarded as second-class citizens in societies made up of fanatics. Following the fabrication of these hadiths, some Islamic communities turned into societies of fear and fanaticism that despised and belittled women and shut them up indoors. Women being regarded as second-class citizens led to communities developing a terrible lack of civilization, cultural deformities, lack of taste and emptiness; the representatives of that fanatic mentality never grew or developed. Many countries in the Middle East today are in the middle of that cultural deformity and lack of quality produced by that terrifying perspective. Yet the religion in the Qur’an is lovely, plain, high-quality and peaceable.
The fanatics in question have completely failed to grasp that God attaches great value to women, the jewels of paradise, in both this world and the hereafter. Most important of all, they never sought guidance from the Qur’an.
None of the terms in the false hadiths in question appear anywhere in the Qur’an. God described people with impaired morals, who do evil and commit unlawful deeds in detail in the Qur’an, and none of these descriptions say anything about them referring particularly to women.
For example, God reveals in the Qur’an that a great many people will not believe, and that a great many of those who do will ascribe equals to Him:
Alif Lam Mim Ra. Those are the signs of the Book. And what has been sent down to you from your Lord is the Truth. But most people have no faith . (Surat ar-Ra’d, 1)
Most of them do not have faith in God without associating others with Him . (Surah Yusuf, 106)
In another verse, God reveals that despite His creating all possible means for people to learn from, the majority of people still do not learn, but continue with the same moral degeneration:
We have variegated it for them so they might pay heed but most people spurn anything else but disbelief . (Surat al-Furqan, 50)
As we have seen, neither these nor any other verses of the Qur’an say anything about people with poor morals and behavior being women, in the way that fanatics allege. People who behave immorally are not classified on the basis of their gender in any verse. There is nothing in any verse saying that women are more immoral or less women will enter paradise. The information in false hadiths is all fraudulent and fabricated in order to spread hostility toward women. The Qur’an absolutely and definitively refutes the false hadiths in question.








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