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Name of Allah ‘Ash-Shaafi’ mentioned in Sunnah

Question

What are all the Names of Allaah? I know some, like Al-‘Adl, Al-‘Afuww, Al-Ahad, and so on, but I was surprised when Mufti Ismail Musa Mink said that Ash-Shaafi is one of His Names; I never heard that before. So what are the Names of Allaah? I know that they number 99.

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) is His slave and Messenger.

The Beautiful Names of Allah are those which He named Himself with in the Quran or which the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) named Him with in his Sunnah.

We mentioned them in fatwas 94453 and 44198.

The Names of Allah are not confined to the ninety-nine names; the evidence of this is that the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) said, “O Allah! I ask You by every Name belonging to You, which You named Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or You taught to any of Your Creation, or You have preserved in the knowledge of the Unseen with You, that You make the Quran the life of my heart and the light of my chest, and a departure for my sorrow and a release for my anxiety…” [Ahmad and others]

As regards the saying of the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention )Indeed, Allah has ninety-nine names, one hundred minus one; and whoever believes in their meanings and acts accordingly will enter Paradise.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] then this does not mean that Allah’s names are limited to them. It is as if you say, ‘I have ninety-nine dinars; whoever asks me for them, I will give them to him’; this does not mean that you do not have more money; rather, it means that you allocated only this amount for the poor.

A group of scholars mentioned that one of the Names of Allah is the name Ash-Shaafi because the Prophet  sallallaahu  `alayhi  wa  sallam ( may  Allaah exalt his mention ) when performing Ruqyah (healing through Quranic recitation and supplication), said, “O Allah, Lord of the people! Remove the trouble and heal him, for You are Ash-Shaafi (the Healer). No healing is of any avail but Yours; healing that will leave behind no ailment.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Allah knows best.

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