Shaykh Hasan Ali begins a series on the 99 Names of Allah through a book scribed by the famous Imam Al Qurtubi who is one of the greatest scholars of his time. In the book, Imam Al Qurtubi begins by thanking Allah for helping us recognize the Names of Allah. We would not know Allah without these names. There is great benefit in these names.

Allah SWT has said in Surah Al A’raf, verse 180-

“Allah has many beautiful names. So now ask Allah through these Names.”

Some of the Ulema have taken a stance of calling only a few Names of Allah as opposed to all which is also absolutely fine and agreed upon.

In the Asma ul Husna, a number of Ulema have used certain Names of Allah and have found that the Dua or whatever they wished for has been accepted. If somebody has experienced that, they are allowed to go to other people and tell them about it. As long as a portion of the Ummah or a large portion of it does not make it or think of this as the Sunnah which the Prophet ﷺ advocated, it is acceptable. Some other Ulema are completely against it and also say that a number should not be fixated on the number of times a particular Name of Allah is called upon.

The point that is made by Imam Al Qurtubi is that if we are calling Allah by His Name and we want to get His Mercy, then it is always beneficial to know the meanings of these Names. Who is the One we are calling? We should have the knowledge of this and also we should give due recognition to the Name of Allah that we are calling out. We should cultivate a deeper understanding of the Names of Allah so that we can come closer to Allah by asking Him various things through these Magnificent Names.

Narrated Abu Hurairah RA: Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, “Allah has ninety-nine names, i.e. one-hundred minus one, and whoever knows them will go to Paradise.”

The next concept discussed is that of the meaning of the Arabic word - Ahsaaha - in the above Hadith. What does this word mean? Imam Al Qurtubi in his book, goes into the details of this name and says that the predominant meaning is that whosoever has willed will commit to these names themselves.

Imam Al Qurtubi elaborates on the meaning of Ahsaaha saying that it means teaching the names of Allah to their fullest meaning . according to the majority of the Ulema, the word Ahsaaha is to look and search for the meanings of these names. 

A form of searching or investigating for these names is to look for occasions that the person is in and then look for that name of Allah among the 99 names to use on those occasions. This is particularly useful on occasions of distress or when people need a solution for their problems. For example, if somebody wants a Dua to be answered, he can most often use the name - Al Mujeeb and may find that Allah is more likely to answer his Dua. Hence, it can also be deduced that if people want to use the experience and expertise of the Ulema and also employ the benefits of the techniques used by them to give Shafaa’, then it is completely permissible.

Imam Al Qurtubi also gives another meaning of the word Ahsaaha which is to do Hifz of these names of Allah. It also means to bring in oneself, those qualities of the Names of Allah in our lives so as to better it and come closer to Allah. Ahsaaha also means to understand these names well, to place these names in its right place and to use these names to revere Allah sincerely.

The Shaykh now discusses the first name of Allah which is the greatest name of Allah. The first name that appears in the Qur'an is Allah. One of the qualities of Allah is to know Him as the Rabb - The Provider.

In Surah Al Furqan, verse 60 - “And when it is said to them, "Prostrate to the Most Merciful," they say, "And what is the Most Merciful? Should we prostrate to that which you order us?"

This verse in particular shows us the ignorance of the people of Makkah regarding the names of Allah. They only knew the name - Allah and did not know who Ar Rahman was.