The All-Beautiful Names of God.Part5

• Those who have maintained that the All-Beautiful Names are only those which we have been taught by the Qur’an and the Sunna do not deem it proper to attribute any other Names to God Al- mighty. Furthermore, they do not approve of mentioning God with any names that do not seem to be in keeping with the Qur’anic concept of Divinity when used singly.

• Therefore, they tend to mention such Names as the All-Requiting, the One Who gives harm, and the All-Constricting together with certain other Names, such as the All-Glorious with irresistible might and the All-Requiting, the One Who gives harm and benefit, the All-Constricting and the All-Expanding.

• Based on the fact that physical causes have been established as veils before the Divine Power’s involvement in insignificant-seeming affairs, it is possible to say that believers must always act in self-possession and with respect, care, and sensitivity with respect to how they approach the Divine Being.

God is the Creator of everything, and therefore believers must mention Him as the Creator and avoid making specifications, such as the Creator of snakes or the Creator of vermin. 

However, we must also avoid going to the opposite extreme while taking care that anything improper for God should not be attributed to Him, and must not claim, like the Mu‘talizis, that human beings are the creators of their deeds and God does not create evil or ugly things or events.

For it is He Who creates both good and evil, and a thing or event is evil not with respect to its creation but with respect to its doer and cause. 

This attitude is required by both the necessity of considering God’s Attributes correctly and observing the decrees and effects of Divine Essential Characteristics, Attributes, and All-Beautiful Names.

God is both the One of absolute grandeur and glory and the All-Merciful and All-Compassionate; He is both the All-Overwhelming and the All-Wise, both the One Severe in Punishment and the All-Patient (Whom no haste induces to rush into an action). He is both the All-Majestic and the All Gracious, and the All-Just and the All-Clement. We must always view Him in the light of the general meaning and content that is formed by the totality of His Attributes and Names.

The acts and designations attributed to God or mentioned in connection with Him must be considered from the perspective of His absolute Sacredness and Purity and His absolute exemption from any defect or resemblance to the created.

For example, concepts such as making schemes, plotting, mocking, disgracing, or the like must be viewed and used in a style proper for the truth of Divinity and the essential characteristic of Divine Lordship. This is because respect for the Names and observing a style that is in keeping with God’s absolute exemption from any defect or resemblance means being respectful for the All-Sacred One Who is called by these Names.

Not only should the All-Beautiful Names be considered with appreciation and without imputing any faults or defects to them, also the Divine acts and all works or creatures of the Lord, which are mirrors, results, and the arena of the manifestations of these Names, must be treated the same on account of their being indicators or witnesses of God Almighty.

Those who right fully approach the matter from this perspective remind us of an important point:

we must always be appreciative of Divine Acts, hold the Divine Names as being absolutely free from any defect, and exalt the All-Sacred Divine Being.