What is the meaning of the hadith: "I ask You by every name that is Yours... or that You have taught any of Your creation"?

The questioner : The hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) up to the end of the hadith, until it says in . Does this mean that it is not a problem with this phrase? And does this mean that there are some among the creation who know the names by which Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has distinguished some people?

The Shaykh : No, that is not the meaning of the hadith, because it came in what follows: "or that You have kept to Yourself in Your knowledge." It does not mean that He kept it to Himself so that no one knows it. However, there is the hadith that came in the two Sahihs in a concise form, and then came in detail in Sunan al-Tirmidhi and others. The detailed version is not authentic, but the concise one is authentic. It is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): But this does not mean that the names of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) are limited to ninety-nine names. We can say that the names of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) are divided into two categories: a category that He (Mighty and Majestic) has kept to Himself in His specific knowledge in which no one shares with Him, and a category of what He has taught to people. So Allah (Mighty and Majestic), this category that relates to the servants and the knowledge of the servants, is divided into two categories: a category in which the general Muslims, from their special ones, from their scholars, share, which are apparent in some texts of the authentic hadiths, let alone the Noble Qur'an. But there are other names in which not all people share in knowing them, except for one who is broad and expansive in knowledge. This is what is intended by , and it is not from what He (Blessed and Exalted is He) has kept to Himself. I have clarified, I think, the intended meaning completely now. For example, there is a hadith that says: So for this name, we should first know the hadith in which this name came, and then we should know whether this hadith is established and authentic, or not. Do all people share in knowing this answer? No. So if one comes upon this hadith and it becomes clear to him the authenticity of this hadith, he knows that among His names (Blessed and Exalted is He) are al-Hannan (the Most Merciful) and al-Mannan (the Bestower of Blessings). As for those who have no knowledge of it, they say it is al-Sami' (the All-Hearing) and al-Basir (the All-Seeing), because these names are scattered in many verses, so all people share in knowing them. But some of the names that came in some texts of the Sunnah, and perhaps some of that is also in the Qur'an, are specific in their knowledge to some of the special ones among the people of knowledge. This is what is meant in the hadith I mentioned earlier. Please proceed.