Is it permissible to translate the names of Allah into foreign languages, and is it possible to supplicate using foreign names that are not found in the Book and the Sunnah, or to call for aid by them?

The questioner : He says: May the Shaykh be respected, is it...

The Shaykh : May the Shaykh be respected, always use the accusative case for it.

The questioner : May the Shaykh be respected, is it permissible to translate the names of Allah into a language other than Arabic, meaning a foreign language, and is it possible to supplicate using foreign names that are not found in the Book or in the Sunnah, or to call for aid by them? May Allah reward you with good?

The Shaykh : Translating the names of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) for those who wish to understand them is not a problem; indeed, it may be obligatory, because one who does not know the Arabic language needs to understand the meaning. For this reason, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: meaning in their language So, translating them for the sake of making them understood is not a problem. However, translating them for the sake of establishment, meaning that we replace a language other than Arabic in place of Arabic, this is not permissible, because it is a obscuring of the Arabic language. On this occasion, I am critical of some of our people, of our own skin, who write on their commercial establishments in the English language, and you do not find anything of the Arabic language on the sign, as if we are in London or in Paris. Glory be to Allah, you are in an Arab country, write in the Arabic language. If you have many people who do not master the Arabic language, write in English, there is no harm, but as for writing the foreign language and forgetting the Arabic, this is disbelief in your language. Shame on yourself. How do you accept for yourself to erase your Arabic language? And most of those who pass by you are Arabs. And even if most of them are not Arabs, let them learn the Arabic language, because they need it. This is a problem, and more problematic and clearer is the weakness of personality in some people, who teach their young children a language other than Arabic, while he himself does not know the Arabic language, and his children do not know the Arabic language, I mean they do not know its rules, even if they know the colloquial Arabic language. You find him teaching his children a language other than Arabic. He says to the child, if he wants to part from him, instead of saying: Peace be upon you, what does he say? He says, bye bye, bye bye. Meaning he says, as if he is saying: Take this word and leave the word that came from the Sunnah, rather, that came from the Qur'an first, and came from the Sunnah, and came from your language. I am sorry, by Allah, for this. I am sorry for people who take pride in their Arabic language, which is the language of the Qur'an and the Sunnah, and it is reported in some narrations that it is the language of the people of Paradise, and these narrations are not far from being authentic, because two-thirds of the people of Paradise are the followers of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). O Allah, make us among his followers, O Lord of the worlds.