How to make Dua: Tip #16

Du’a with Allah’s Greatest Name

Allah has a name which is greater than all the others, there are various opinions as to which name it is, however some ahadith have narrowed it down.

Buraydah narrated that the Prophet [May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him] heard a person say: “O Allah! I ask you, by virtue of the fact that I testify that You are Allah, there is no deity except You, the One, whom all the Creation turns to for help, who does not beget and is not begotten, and there is none equivalent to Him!”

He said: “This person has asked Allah by His Greatest Name, which if He is asked with, He gives, and if He is petitioned with, He answers”. [Narrated by Abu Dawud in Sahih al-Sunan #1341, al-Tirmidhi in Sahih al-Sunan #2763]

Imam al-Tibi said, explaining this hadith: This hadith shows that Allah has a Great Name (al-Ism al-Azam), and if He is called by this name, He responds, as is mentioned in the hadith. Other ahadith have also mentioned examples of the Ism al-Azam, and in those narrations, there are names not mentioned in this hadith, except that the Name ‘Allah’ occurs in all of these narrations. By this, it can be inferred that this Name (i.e Allah) is the Ism al-Azam. [Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi 9/446]