The Most Beautiful Names (Attributes of Perfection)

                      “And to God belong the Most Beautiful

                      Names: so invoke Him by them, and

                      leave those who blaspheme His Names.

                      They will be requited for what they did”

                                        (Qur’an, 7:180).                         

The Qur’an describes God’s attributes as the Most Beautiful Names. Indeed, they are most beautiful and are the attributes of perfection: “He is God, besides Whom there is no god, the One who knows the unseen (= all that is beyond the reach of a created being’s perception), as well as all that can be witnessed by a creature’s senses or mind; He is the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace. He is God, besides Whom there is no other god, the Sovereign Supreme, the Holy, t he Peace (= the One with Whom all salvation rests), the Securer (= the Giver of Faith), the Guardian (of Faith), the Mighty, the Compeller (= the One Who subdues wrong and restores right), the One to Whom all greatness belongs. Utterly remote is God, in His limitless glory, from anything to which men may ascribe a share in His divinity! He is God the Creator, the Maker, who shapes all forms and appearances. His (alone) are the Most Beautiful Names (= Attributes of Perfection). All that is in the heavens and on earth extols His limitless glory, for He alone is Almighty, truly Wise” (59:22-24).

God’s Names are His attributes, in action and behaviour, because a name is a word or phrase that constitutes the distinctive designation of a person or a thing. And we can get these attributes only from Him, because He is the Creator, the Maker, the Shaper of all beings and the one Who gives them faculties of intelligence.

God is “the Living” because any other living being gets its life only from Him: He is the One “Who created death and life, that He may try you (to see) which of you is best in conduct, and He is the Mighty, the Forgiving” (67:2). He is “the Unique One”, “the Self Sufficient”, “the Eternal, the Uncaused Cause of all that exists”.

He is “the Sovereign Supreme” who governs all universe and all beings: “He directs the command (of all that exists), from the heaven to the earth; then it ascends to Him in a day whose measure is a thousand years by your reckoning” (32:5).

He is the One who is extremely subtle, so that He is intangible and unfathomable:  “No (human) vision can encompass Him, whereas He encompasses all vision: for He alone is al-lateef al-Khabeer (= Unfathomable, all-Aware)” (6:103).

“Al-Lateef” also means  “the One who is All-Gentle”: “God is All-Gentle to His servants, He provides sustenance for whomsoever He will – for He alone is Powerful, Almighty”

(42:19).

This Gentleness together with God’s Wisdom made human beings differ: in their intelligence, in their appearance, in their standpoints on everything. “Had your Lord willed He would have made mankind one community (= with one standpoint), but they continue to differ, except those on whom your Lord has mercy; and that is why He created them .. “ (11:118-119). “And it is He who has made you inherit the earth, and has raised some of you by degrees above others, so that He might try you by means of what He has bestowed upon you. Verily, your Lord is swift in retribution; yet, behold, He is indeed Much-Forgiving, a Dispenser of grace” (6:165).

Indeed, this diversity and multiplicity are in the interest of all mankind, to cover their needs. Consider if God were to make all humans similar in will, in desire, in capability, thus in their standpoint too; then what would happen? No mutual interactions, no mutual services and no exchange of livelihood: “.. We have apportioned among them their livelihood in the life of this world, and raised some of them above others by degrees, so that some of them may take others in service..” (43:32). “And if God were to grant (in this world) abundant sustenance to (all of) His servants, they would behave on earth with wanton insolence; but as it is, He bestows (His grace) from on high in due measure, as He wills; for, verily, He is fully Aware of (the needs of) His creatures, and sees them all” (42:27).

For that reason God has prepared for mankind all they need: “And the earth – We have spread it out wide, and placed on it mountains firm, and caused (life) of every kind to grow on it in a balanced manner. And We have given you power in the earth, and have appointed for you therein (means of) livelihood, and those for whom you do not provide” (15:19-20).

Deed & Motive

                            “Or has he not been informed of what

                             is in the scrolls of Moses, and Abraham

                             who fulfilled (his summons) that no

                             bearer of burdens shall be made to bear

                             another’s burden; and that man shall

                             have only what he (himself) strives for;

                             and that his endeavor will be seen, then

                             he will be rewarded for it with the fullest

                             reward; and that the ultimate end is

                             toward your Lord” (53: 36-42)

A deed is an action or performance done by a person and motive is the reason for a certain course of action.

In the Islamic faith, the very existence of mankind is with a certain purpose: to make all our deeds in accordance with our submission, obedience, love and devotion to God, the Creator. This is the overall purpose, however in details we have many purposes, which have the one and unique purpose mentioned above, and that is the motive of all our actions or deeds. For example: we have to eat, to drink, to wear clothes and to find shelter in order to meet our bodily needs. We have to take care of our family and the disabled and the needy. We have to interact with others in the society, because every individual needs the service of the other.

As we talk about deed, we come to the aspect of intention. Intention is something that you want and plan to do. Prophet Muhammad (God’s blessings upon him) said: “The value of deeds depends upon the intentions, and every person will get out of his deed only what he intended for” (Narrated by Umar bin Khattab, and recorded by Al-Bukhari and Muslim in their Collections of Hadith).

After that we come to sincerity. Sincerity is the freedom from deceit, hypocrisy or falseness.  

The Prophet (God’s blessings upon him) said: “True faith is sincerity, true faith is sincerity, true faith is sincerity!” Hearing that from the Prophet, and by repeating his saying three times, the audience asked him: to whom, o Messenger of God? He said: “To God, to His Book, to His Messenger, to any responsible person among you, and to everybody”. (Quoted by Muslim in his “Collection of Hadith” and by An-Nasaie in his “Sunan”).

Realizing that a deed or a performance, good or bad, is not necessarily an easy thing to do, however most things can be recognized as good or bad by everybody. Sadly, we have seen through human history and even now, in many corners of the world, men and institutions with great power spreading corruption and creating disorder, with the slogans of reformation. God has described them in the Qur’an as follows: “And when it is said to them: do not spread disorder on the earth; they say: we are but reformers. Truly, they are the makers of corruption, but they perceive not”  (2:11-12).

For a person who has faith in God, there is a reference that helps evaluate the quality of a deed or a performance, and that is God’s ordinances. Human beings should evaluate with knowledge, which is a gift from God. But many people do evaluate things without knowledge, as God says: “They do not have any knowledge thereof. They follow nothing but conjecture, and indeed conjecture can never substitute for the truth” (53:28).

And because God gives to mankind a little of this knowledge, and gradually, it cannot contain everything totally. God said in the Qur’an: “.. and you have not given of the knowledge only a little” (17:85). Thus, the right and complete guidance can come only from God who has the complete and true knowledge of everything.

 We are ordered by God to be sincere in our deeds and speech and we are told that each person will take the responsibility of what he does in this worldly life:

 “And every human being’s destiny have We tied to his neck; and on the Day of Resurrection We shall bring forth for him a record which he will find wide open; (and he will be told:) Read this your record! Sufficient is your own self today to make out your account!” (17:13-14).

It means that the destiny of each person depends upon his conduct during his life time: “Whoever follows the guidance, he is guided only for the good of his own self; and whoever goes astray, goes astray only to its detriment; and no bearer of burdens shall be made to bear another’s burden..” (17: 15).

To conclude, I would say: only God’s guidance may define the good deed, because good deed is a way of “worshiping” God. And God says: “So, anyone who looks forward (with hope and awe) to meeting his Lord (on Judgment Day), let him do righteous deed and let him not associate anyone in this worship due to his Lord” (18:110).

God’s Mightiness & Wisdom

“Whatever Mercy God unfolds (to anyone), none can

withhold it from Him; and whatever He withholds (from

anyone), none can release it after Him. And He is

the Mighty, the Wise” (35:2).

Through his biography, we understand that Muhammad (God’s blessings upon him) was a pure and natural person, known by his people as the best in behavior, although he had neither wealth nor any position of eminence in his native city. Then, when God bestowed upon him the Prophecy and assigned him as His messenger to guide people to the Straight Path in life, some of the disbelievers thought that such a task should have been given to a “great” personality of one of the two cities: Makkah and Taif.

God narrated this in the Qur’an as follows: “And they said: Why was not this Qur’an bestowed to some great man of the two cities? (But) is it they who distribute the mercy of your Lord? (Nay, it is) We who apportion among them their livelihood in the life of this world, and raised some of them above others by degrees, so that some of them may take others in service, and the mercy of your Lord is better than what they amass” (43:31-32).

God, n His  mightiness and wisdom had chosen Muhammad as His last messenger to mankind: “..God knows best upon whom to bestow His message ..” (6:124), but the shortsightedness of those disbelievers in Makkah could not grasp this.

There is a twofold of God’s mercy for mankind: material things which we need for our life, and another kind of mercy which is more important and which guides us to the blessed life, in this world and in the hereafter, and that is God’s revelation to His messenger.

Both kinds of mercy can be obtained with God’s grace, which He distributes according to His mightiness and wisdom. God says: “God extends provision for whomever He will of His servants and He straitens it (for whom He wills). Truly God has knowledge of all things” (29:62).

Now let us talk about God’s mercy in the material things. God distributes it in a way that there must be mutual dealings among people, and at the same time it is a test from God:

“And He it is who has made you successors in the earth and has raised some of you above others in degrees, so that He may try you in what He has given you. Surely your Lord is swift in punishment, and surely He is Forgiving, Merciful” (6:165).

The mightiness and the wisdom of God (the Creator) made every individual of mankind unique, almost in everything: character, capability, knowledge, health and wealth. They are all different in all things, so that each of them needs and provides a different service. Thus mutual dealings are necessary.

To those who have attained to faith, God addresses as follows:

“O you who have attained to faith! When you are told: make room for one another in your assemblies (= collective life), do make rooms; (and in return) God will make room for you. And whenever you are told: Rise up (for a good deed), do rise up, (and) God will exalt by (many) degrees those of you who have attained to faith and, such as have been given (true) knowledge: for God is fully Aware of all that you do”(58:11).

The material things in this life are worth little in God’s eternal scheme. God may provide abundant wealth to a pious or a wicked person, as both are under trial in this life.

Those who wish for mere earthly good sometimes get it and misuse it. And those whose eyes are fixed on the Hereafter, may also get material wealth and use it for the cause of God, or they may get very little even when they work hard, while always staying steadfast in their faith:

 “Whoever desires (only) this fleeting life We hasten for him therein whatever We will, for whom We please; then We assign for him Hell, to which he will be exposed, condemned, and rejected. And whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it with the necessary effort will find favour. Each We supply (to) these and (to) those from your Lord’s bounty. And your Lord’s bounty is not confined” (17:18-20).

God’s mightiness and wisdom in testing people with expansion and diminution of provision is clear: to give them the possibility of making a choice to either be grateful or ungrateful to His Lord. God says: “Verily We have shown him the way: (and it rests with him to prove himself) either grateful or ungrateful” (76:3).

And because God’s mercy is greater than his punishment, he gives time to everyone to make their choice: “If God were to take mankind to task for what they did, He would have not left a living creature on its surface. But He reprieves them to an appointed term. And when their term comes – then truly (they will know that) God is ever Seer of His servants” (35:45).