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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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Are the names of Allah restricted to what is mentioned in the texts?

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The Shaykh : Are the names of Allah restricted to what is mentioned in the texts, or are they rational, such that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is named by what the intellect requires? The answer is: They are restricted to the texts. The names of Allah are restricted to the texts because we do not know the name that Allah deserves to be called; our intellects are incapable of that, so we rely on the texts. We do not name Allah with what He has not named Himself with. If it is not permissible to name a person from among the children of Adam with what he has not named himself with—meaning, with what you do not know is his name—how much more so is it not permissible to name the Lord (Mighty and Majestic) with a name you do not know He has named Himself with? That is, if it is not permissible to say to a person whose name you do not know, "O Abdullah," for example, or "O Ali," or "O Khalid," or "O Bakr," then the Lord (Mighty and Majestic) is even more deserving of not being named with a name you do not know He has named Himself with, because the aspect of Lordship is greater in respect than the aspect of humanity. Therefore, the names are restricted to the texts, and it is not permissible for us to name Allah with what He has not named Himself with. For this reason, the scholars have counted naming Allah with what He has not named Himself with as deviation in the names of Allah; they have counted it as deviation in His names to name Allah with what He has not named Himself with. Related to the names, as a comment on what we previously said that the names of Allah are the Most Beautiful, is that we apply what came in the authentic hadith of the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) in the Holy Hadith:
The son of Adam injures me by abusing time, whereas I am time. Authority is in my hand. I alternate the night and the day يؤذيني ابن آدم يسب الدهر، وأنا الدهر بيدي الأمر أقلب الليل والنهار
Sunan Abi Dawud 5274Sahih (Al-Albani)
Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: "I am al-Dahr (Time)." Is al-Dahr one of the names of Allah? We say that Allah said:
And to Allah belong the best names ولله الأسماء الحسنى
[Al-A'raf 7:180]
This is a comment on what came before, but we forgot to comment on it at the time. Al-Dahr is not one of the Most Beautiful Names of Allah. Also, Allah said that al-Dahr is cursed; the son of Adam hurts me by cursing al-Dahr. Those who curse al-Dahr are not cursing Allah; rather, they are cursing the time, they are cursing the duration, they are cursing the year; they are not cursing Allah, they are cursing the time. Therefore, the meaning of "I am al-Dahr" is "I am the Manager and I am the Disposer of al-Dahr," as evidenced by His saying:
Authority is in my hand. I alternate the night and the day بيدي الأمر أقلب الليل والنهار
Sunan Abi Dawud 5274Sahih (Al-Albani)
This is a clear matter that al-Dahr here means time, that al-Dahr here is time and not a name from the names of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), based on the rule indicated by His saying:
And to Allah belong the best names ولله الأسماء الحسنى
[Al-A'raf 7:180]
Source alathar.net

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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