A Question About Allaah’s Names that Some Scholars Have Affirmed Using Texts that do not Have the “Al-” Prefix, Like “Al-Haleem”

In the Name of Allaah…

Regarding the book Exemplary Principles Concerning the Names and Attributes of Allaah, in the evidences section for Allaah’s Names, there may be names with ‘al’ before them, but in the evidence used for those names there is no ‘al’. For example, on page 246, Name #22,  it gives the name Al-Haleem but in the Aayah below that it says Haleemun (not al-Haleem). So is this something allowed, or is it that the name al-Haleem is established in another place in the Qur’aan or Sunnah ? Should I just trust the names of Allaah with ‘al’ at the beginning shown in the book, although the evidences used for those names dont always come with ‘al’? This is an important issue for me as I am worried about affirming a Name for Allaah that is not His Name.

Having “Al-” or not is not the only one consideration the scholars use for establishing a Name for Allaah. If it was only this then we would not be able to complete a list of 99 names, and our list would include other names like “At-Tabeeb” (the Doctor) and “Ad-Dahr” (The Time), which are unanimously (or almost unanimously) not considered to be from Allaah’s Beautiful Names.

So the scholars generally consider:

  • the meanings and general contexts of the textual evidence
  • idhaafah or lack of it (a kind of Arabic construction)
  • taqyeed or itlaaq (generality or limited restriction)
  • ishtiqaaq (derivitaves)
  • the “Al-” prefix

You can review these language issues with an Arabic teacher who has knowledge of the correct beliefs if you are not clear on them.

Specifically, with names like al-Haleem, al-Ilaah, and others are discussed, there is no Qur’aanic text referring to Allaah as Al-Haleem or Al-Ilaah, and I do not know of any hadeeth either.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen affirmed them both and others like them without relying on a text with “Al-“, since the context in both Qur’aanic passages was unrestricted, or “mutlaq”. So the Verse meaning “Your ilaah (object of worship) is one ilaah, there is no ilaah other than Him…” and Verses like it were used to establish the name “Al-Ilaah”, and the Verse you mentioned for al-Haleem, and so on.

This is known to the scholars, since if you were to stick to only Names that come with only clear explicit Alif-Laam “Al-” prefix, then you would only gather about 40/50 or so names from the texts. And since the Messenger (sallallaahu alayhe wa sallam) encouraged us to seek after the 99 Names, then there must be another way to compile them than just relying only on “Al-“.  And then the scholars differed in their specific methods of deriving Allaah’s Names from the texts.

And Allaah knows best.

Written by: Moosaa Richardson

10 thoughts on “A Question About Allaah’s Names that Some Scholars Have Affirmed Using Texts that do not Have the “Al-” Prefix, Like “Al-Haleem”

  1. “and our list would include other names like “At-Tabeeb” (the Doctor) and “Ad-Dahr” (The Time), which are unanimously (or almost unanimously) not considered to be from Allaah’s Beautiful Names.”

    what of the hadith “inna allah huwa at tabeeb” ” indeed allah is the doctor”?

    • While some scholars (like al-Bayhaqee, Ibn ‘Arabee, and al-Qurtubee) did in fact affirm this as one of Allaah’s Names, it seems more correct to understand the report which is found in Sunan Abee Daawood (#4207) to establish this as a khabr about Allaah, meaning information about Allaah, that He alone is the One who allows the tibb (medicine) to work and allows healing to occur, but not that it establishes a Name, as at-Tabeeb doesn’t seem to carry the complete and beautiful meanings that come in the Names of Allaah, and this is likely why most of the scholars avoided affirming it, and Allaah knows best.

      Benefit: Ibn ‘Uthaymeen alluded to Allaah being the Tabeeb in al-Qawaa’id al-Muthlaa, yet he refrained from affirming it amongst the 18 Names he collected from the Sunnah.

    • has it ever been known that a man was named abdu at tabeeb? and what is the correct position of the scholars on such a name?

    • You mentioned “..While some scholars (like al-Bayhaqee, Ibn ‘Arabee, and al-Qurtubee)..” shouldn’t it be Ibn AL-arabi the Maliki scholar and not ibn arabi who is the sufi heretic ?

    • The scholars throughout history have referred to the Maalikee scholar with and without the “AL-” prefix, Ibn ‘Arabee and Ibn al-‘Arabee. This contradicts some statements made by later scholars, and perhaps they intended in the specific usage of the later scholars only. Otherwise, the “AL-” prefix is superfluous and was not something used to distinguish between the Maalikee and the soofee by the scholars of the past. This is clear when one investigates the matter, and Allah knows best.

  2. Assalamu Alaikum. What is the ruling on someone defining Ridhaa bil Qadhaa saying: “Ridha bil Qadha is not merely to accept Allah’s decree but to be pleased with it and thank Him for taking the trouble to decree it for me.”

    • wa ‘alaykas-salaamu wa rahmatullaah. Muslims must avoid speaking about Allaah with phrases like “taking the trouble to (do something)” as it seems to indicate effort undertaken to overcome an amount of difficulty, which is something unbefitting to Allaah, the All-Powerful, Ever-Capable, Who simply says about something, “Kun (Be!)” and it is. He has mastefully and perfectly created the heavens and the earth and everything in them, without the slightest fatigue or difficulty. See: Quran [50:38]. And Allaah knows best.

  3. As-salaamu ‘alaykum moosaa,

    regarding the name al Hayyee is it correct to name someone as ‘Abd ul Hayyee ? and is it a name or an attribute of Allaah?

    May Allaah preserve you and reward you with good.

    • wa ‘alaykas-salaam wa rahmatullaah. al-Hayyee and al-Hayy are Names of Allaah, however I do not know of any of the Salaf who used them in names of ta’beed (‘like ‘Abdullaah, ‘Abdur-Rahmaan, ‘Abdul-Kareem, etc.) It is not a condition that the Salaf used it, however, it seems a bit strange. And Allaah knows best.

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