The Beautiful and Lofty Names of Allāh and Their Effects on Eemān Taught by Shaykh Abū Ḥakīm Bilāl ibn Aḥmad Davis

Bismillāh wa-Alḥamdulillāh wa al-Ṣalātu wa al-Salām ʿalá Rasūl Allāh ʿamma baʿd

Muwahhideen Publication is pleased to announce an exciting series of lessons explaining the beautiful and lofty Names of Allāh and Their Effects on Eemān taught by our Shaykh and elder Abū Ḥakīm Bilāl ibn Aḥmad Davis. The Shaykh has been compiling a book on the subject for many years and has given us the opportunity to benefit from this extremely important knowledge. We ask Allāh by all His beautiful Names to grant us the benefit of knowing Him, asking Him and worshiping Him by way of His beautiful and lofty Names.

This weekly video class will be via LIVE Video stream In Shāʾ Allāh.

So we invite our brothers and sisters to join us in this knowledge-based weekly class.

Tune in to the LIVE Video Stream via:

Tv Mpubs: Tv.Mpubs.org

In Shāʾ Allāh Taʿālá

Wa Billāhi Tawfīq

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[Lesson 1] – 13.04.2025

Introduction – Common Misconceptions Concerning Allāh’s Names, Conditions For A Name of Allāh & Categories of The Names of Allāh

The following are the points covered in this lesson:

• The names of Allāh (عز وجل) is from the greatest means that causes an increase in the īmān of the servant.
• It increases our kowledge of Allāh and it increases our closeness and our love for Him.
• Statements of the people of knowledge concerning Al-Asmāʾ Wa Aṣ-Ṣifāt:
• Ibn Al-Qayyim (رحمه الله):
  • The knowledge of these names is the foundation upon which all knowledge is built on.
  • Every knowledge is either something that Allāh created or something that He commanded, and it all returns to the names of Allāh (عز وجل).
• Imām Al-Asfahānī (رحمه الله):
  • The first obligation that Allāh has imposed upon His creation is to have knowledge of Him.
  • When the people truly know Allāh, then they will worship Him.
• Ibn Al-Qayyim (in another work):
  • An indication that Allāh wants good for an individual is by honouring him with knowledge of Him.
  • When the servant is guided to a knowledge of Allāh’s names, Allāh is introducing Himself to that servant.
  • There is no need of the soul greater than the need to know its Creator and to draw near to Him.
  • The more a servant knows the names of Allāh (عز وجل), the more he knows Him and draws close to Him.
  • The more he denies them, the more he is averse to Him and the further he becomes from Him.
  • Allāh places the servant in relation to himself precisely where the servant places himself in relation to Allāh.
• Shaykh Al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله):
• It is not permissible for us to name Allāh (عز وجل) by a name that He has not referred to Himself with.
• E.g. Al-Murīd (The One Who Intends) and Al-Mutakallim (The One Who Speaks) – correct descriptions of Allāh but not from His names.
• A common misconception is that Allāh’s names are limited to only 99 Names.
• The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Indeed Allāh has 99 names, 100 except one, whomsoever encompasses them will enter Jannah.”
• The Prophet (ﷺ) used to supplicate, “O Allāh I ask You by every Name that is Yours, with which You have named Yourself, or which You revealed in Your Book, or You taught to any one of Your creation, or You have kept with Yourself in the knowledge of the unseen…”
• These evidences show that the names of Allāh (عز وجل) are not restricted to 99.
• For a name to be referred to as being from the names of Allāh, it must fulfill a number of conditions:
  • The name must be established textually (Qurʾān or Sunnah).
  • The name must be established as a name linguistically.
  • The name must be mentioned in an absolute and unrestricted manner and not attributed to something else.
  • The name should incorporate and comprise an attribute.
  • The name must indicate complete perfection.
• Each name from the names of Allāh falls into one of two categories:
  • A title and an attribute – e.g. Al-Quddūs (title); purity and perfection (attributes).
  • A title, an attribute and an effect upon the creation – e.g. Ar-Raḥīm (title); mercy (attibute); Allāh’s mercy to His creation (effect).

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[Lesson 2] – 20.04.2025

The Greatest Name of Allah – Ar-Raḥmān And Ar-Raḥīm, Al-Ḥayy and Al-Qayyūm, Al-Aḥad and Aṣ-Ṣamad

The following are the points covered in this lesson:

• The scholars have not united upon what the greatest name of Allāh is.
• The greatest name of Allāh may differ in relation to a particular individual in a particular circumstance.
• For e.g., for the one in a state of need, the greatest name of Allāh could be Al-Muʿṭī (The Giver).
• For the one who is in a state of weakness, the greatest name of Allāh could be Al-Qadīr (The All-Powerful).
• Stories revealing the greatest name of Allāh:
  1. The story of Hārūt and Mārūt – false!
  2. The story of The Boy and the King – both authentic and fabricated versions!
  3. The Ḥadīth of Asmāʾ bint Yazīd – authentic!
  4. The Ḥadīth of Abū Umāmah – authentic!
• In the Ḥadīth of Asmāʾ bint Yazīd, the greatest names are: Ar-Raḥmān, Ar-Raḥīm, Al-Ḥayy and Al-Qayyū
• In the Ḥadīth of Abū Umāmah, the greatest names are: Al-Ḥayy and Al-Qayyū
• The verbal form Faʿlān denotes abundance e.g. Ar-Raḥmān is a reference to an abundance of mercy.
• Ar-Raḥmān emcompasses more mercy than Ar-Raḥīm.
• The greatness of the name Ar-Raḥmān is seen in how Allāh couples it with other great things e.g. Al-Arsh (The Throne).
• Just as Al-Arsh is the greatest creation of Allāh, Ar-Raḥmān is the great name of Allāh.
• Al-Ḥayy Al-Qayyūm encompass the greatest characteristics of Allāh e.g. power, knowledge, sovereignty.
• Al-Hayy is the essential attribute of Allāh by which all of the other names and attributes are completed.
• Everything within the creation returns back to Al-Qayyūm – He sustains it, gives it power, gives it ability etc.
• Another greatest names of Allāh combination – Al-Aḥad and Aṣ-Ṣamad.
• The Prophet (ﷺ) said about this combination, “…he has asked Allāh by His greatest name, for which He answers when called upon and He gives when asked.”
• The most popular position of what the greatest name of Allāh is, is the name Allāh.

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