Explanation of the Hadith: "Indeed, Allah has ninety-nine names..."

Question:
Our sister asks and says: What is meant by the word (ahsaha) in the noble Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) hadith regarding the beautiful names of Allah: ?

Answer:
Counting (ihsa') is achieved through memorization, and through reflection and understanding of their meanings, and acting in accordance with that. For this reason, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and in another wording: . So the meaning is: counting them by reflecting on the meanings, and looking into the meanings along with memorizing them; because of the great good and beneficial knowledge contained therein; and because that is among the causes of the rectification of the heart, and the perfection of its fear of Allah, and its fulfillment of His right . Yes.

The presenter: May Allah reward you with good. Your Eminence, the Shaykh, people may rely on some of these hadiths, believing that memorizing the beautiful names of Allah without action is sufficient for entering Paradise?

The Shaykh: This is a mistaken understanding. The hadiths of encouragement (targhib) are intended to urge the servants to act upon what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) legislated and called to, such as: regarding the beautiful names, such as: , fasting the day of 'Ashura, by which Allah expiates the year before it, and the like. All of this is from the category of encouragement and warning, from the category of encouraging obedience to Allah , and that this is among the causes of forgiveness, provided that the other causes are present which do not prevent forgiveness.
So if the believer engages in the causes of forgiveness, and there are no obstacles such as his persistence in major sins that have their effect, and if there are obstacles, that becomes among the causes of not being forgiven; due to his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: , and in another wording: .
For this reason, the majority of the scholars—meaning: most of the scholars—held that these hadiths which mention the virtue of such and such, the virtue of prayer and that it expiates sins, or wudu, or fasting on the day of 'Arafah, or fasting on the day of 'Ashura, or counting the beautiful names of Allah, or the like, all of that is conditioned by avoiding major sins, by being upright in performing what Allah has made obligatory and leaving what Allah has forbidden, and that these virtues and these deeds are among the causes of forgiveness, along with the other causes that Allah has legislated , and along with being free from the obstacles that prevent forgiveness, and that is persistence in major sins, as He said : [Al Imran: 135], so He conditioned this with not persisting, and persistence is: remaining in disobedience and not repenting from it, and it is among the causes of not being forgiven, and there is no power and no strength except by Allah.
And the summary is: that these virtues and this promise which Allah promised to whoever counts His beautiful names with entering Paradise, and He promised whoever fasts the day of 'Ashura that He will expiate the year before it, and so on with fasting on the day of 'Arafah, and so on with others, all of that is conditioned by not persisting in sins, and so is what came in the hadiths of tawhid, and that whoever testifies that there is no god but Allah sincerely from his heart will enter Paradise, all of that is conditioned by not remaining in sins, so if he remains in sins, he is under the will of Allah; He may forgive him, and He may put him into the Fire because of the sins he persisted in and did not repent from, until when he is purified and cleansed from them, he is taken out of the Fire into Paradise.
So it is obligatory upon every Muslim man and woman: that they should beware of relying on the hadiths of encouragement and promise, and that they should not turn away from the hadiths of warning and the verses of warning, rather it is obligatory that they take both this and that, it is obligatory that they beware of what Allah has forbidden of sins, and that the verses containing warning and the hadiths containing warning for those who transgress the limits of Allah and commit His prohibitions should be on their minds, and with that they should have good opinion of their Lord and hope for Him and remember His promise of forgiveness and mercy for those who do righteous deeds, so they combine this and that, hope and fear, so they do not despair and do not feel secure, and this is the path of the people of knowledge and faith, as He the Exalted and Majestic said about His prophets: [Al Anbiya: 90], meaning: hope and fear.
[Al Anbiya: 90]... He the Exalted said: [Al Isra: 57], thus the people of faith from the followers of the messengers are on this path, they affirm the oneness of Allah and fear Him, they perform His obligations and leave His prohibitions, they hope for Him and fear Him, Glorified and Exalted is He. Yes.

The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.