This verse has a relationship with the preceding verses in the sense that the people of Hell discussed above did not use their abilities in seeking the everlasting comforts of the Hereafter, and made themselves liable to eternal punishment. The present verse has provided with remedy of their disease. That is, seeking help from Allah by calling Him with His good names and often remembering Him through them.
The good names of Allah
The good names are the ones that denote the attributes having the highest degree of perfection. It goes without saying that the perfection of the highest degree is not possessed by anyone but Allah. In case of a 'perfect' human being there is always a possibility of someone being higher than him in some qualities. This is what the Qur'anic phrase has said: وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ "And above every man of knowledge there is someone more knowledgeable." (12:76)
The style of the verse has suggested that these 'beautiful names' are peculiarly meant for Allah. فَادْعُوهُ بِهَا "So, call Him by them", because there is none other than Allah who owns these attributes, therefore the only one worthy of being called in need is none but He. Calling is a rendering of the word which has two characteristics: Praising, purifying and remembering Allah, and calling Him for help in times of need or difficulty. It implies, that Allah alone is worthy of praise and glorification and He alone has to be called for help and relief. The verse has also suggested that the best method of calling Him is to call Him by His Beautiful Names.
Preconditions of Du` a (calling Allah)
The verse has provided us with two valuable information. Firstly, there is none other than Allah worthy of praise and worthy of being called for help. Secondly, Allah has provided us with specific words for calling him, proper to His glorious being, as we are not capable of choosing appropriate words for this purpose. That is, we are required to call Him by His attributes of perfections.
Bukhari and Muslim have reported on the authority of the Companion Abu Hurairah ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said:
"There are ninety nine names of Allah. Whoever learns them by heart shall enter paradise."
Tirmidhi and Hakim have enumerated these names in detail. Invocations made by reciting these names are generally granted. Allah has promised in the Holy Qur'an ادْعُونِي أَسْتَجِبْ لَكُمْ "Call me and I will answer you" (40:60). The most definite and certain method of seeking help in one's need and getting relief from one's distress is calling Allah and praying Him for His help. This is the only way that is certain to meet success. The immediate benefit of praying to Allah is that it is, in itself, a worship. The reward of this worship is included in the sheet of one's deeds.
The Holy Prophet وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيمٌ said in a Tradition: اَلدُّعَاُء مُخُ العِبَدَہِ "Invoking Allah is the quintessence of worship." The invocation is granted by Allah in many ways. Sometimes, the very thing for which the invocation has been made is granted by Allah, while some other times, when one asks for something untimely or unsuitable for him in the knowledge of Allah is exchanged with something more proper or beneficial for him.
Remembering Allah by glorifying and praising Him is the food for one's Faith in Allah ('Iman) which helps in magnifying the love, respect and awareness of Allah making the hardship of this world worthless in one's eyes.
Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi and Nasa'i have reported through authentic sources that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said that anyone who finds himself in some difficulty or is distressed with some grief should recite the following words:
لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا اللہُ الْعَظِيمِ اَلحَلِیمُ ، لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا اللہُ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمِ ، لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا اللہُ رَّبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالاَرضِ وَرَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْکريم
"There is no god but Allah, the Greatest, the Most forbearing, There is no god but Allah, the Lord of the great Throne. There is no god but Allah, the Lord of the Heavens, and the earth and the Lord of the Glorious Throne."
Hakim in his Mustadrak has reported on the authority of the Companion Anas ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said to his daughter Sayyidah Fatimah al-Zahra ؓ
"What is there to prevent you from hearing my advice of reciting the following invocation at morning and evening every day?"
یِا حَیُّ یَا قَیُّومُ بِرَحمَتِکَ اَستَغِیثُ اَصلِح لِی شَأنِی کُلَّہُ وَلَا تَکِلنِی اِلٰی نَفسِی طَرفَۃَ عَین
"0 The Alive, The All-Sustaining, I call for help by Your Mercy. Set right every situation that I am in, and do not leave me at the mercy of my inner-self for even a wink of an eye."
The above invocation is also an effective remedy of hardships and distress. In short, we have been given two instructions in this verse namely making invocation to Allah alone for seeking help or for pleasing the Creator, secondly, calling Allah by His attributes of perfection without changing them.
The next sentence said:
وَذَرُوا الَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِي أَسْمَائِهِ ۚ سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
"And leave those who deviate in (the matter of) His names. They shall be recompensed for what they had been doing."
The Arabic word اِلحَاد 'Ilhad' signifies to decline from the centre. In Qur'anic terminology the word 'Ilhad' is used for deviating from the correct interpretation of the Qur'anic words or distorting the meanings of the Qur'anic message.
The Holy Prophet ﷺ has been asked to keep away from the people who distort or decline from the prescribed names of Allah.
The Deviation from the good names
There are many forms of deviating from the prescribed names of Allah. Firstly, calling Allah by such names as are not specified in the Holy Qur'an or in the Sunnah. The ` Ulama' (Scholars) of the ummah are unanimous on the point that it is not permissible to call Allah by any names or attributes of one's own choice or to praise Him by the names which have not been specified by the Qur'an and the Sunnah. For example, Allah may be called by the word: نُور Nur (light) but not by the word 'white'. Similarly Allah may be called 'Karim' (generous) but not by the word 'Sakhi': سَخِی having the same meaning. He can be called Shafi شَافِی (The one who provides cure from disease) but not طَبِیب 'Tabib' (The doctor). Though the matching words carry the same meanings they are not allowed simply because they have not been reported by the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
The second way of deviating from these names of Allah is to abandon certain name or names only because one thinks them to be inappropriate in certain situations. It, obviously, amounts to lack of respect to the glorious names of Allah.
Calling the people with the names of Allah
The third way of deviation from these names is to use any of the good names of Allah for other people. This however, has some exceptions as explained in the following lines:
There are certain names in the list of the glorious names of Allah which have been used by the Qur'an and the Sunnah for human beings. Such names can be used for beings other than Allah. For example, Rahim, Rashid, ` Ali, Karim and ` Aziz etc., while there are other names which denote to exclusive attributes of Allah. Their use for anyone other than Allah is an act of deviation from these names. For example, Rahman, Razzaq, Subhan, Khaliq, Quddus and Ghaffar etc. Using such names for anyone other than Allah is prohibited in the Islamic Shari` ah.
Now, if someone calls anyone other than Allah by these names because of his false belief, that he has the attributes denoted by these names it would be an act of infidelity. However, if someone used any of these names for anyone other than Allah just heedlessly and for the lack of knowledge, it would not be an act of infidelity, but having similarities with it would be called a major sin.
It is a pity that Muslims in general are having a number of wrong practices with regard to naming their children and, calling them by improper names.
There is a group of people who have abandoned the practice of naming their children with Islamic names. Their modern names having, non Islamic character, mark it difficult to identify them as Muslims by their names. Specially so, when their general appearance and manners are already devoid of Islamic character. The Islamic female names like Khadijah, ` A'ishah, and Fatimah have been replaced with Najma, Pervin, Nasim, Shamim and Shahnaz etc.
More doleful practice among Muslims is to heedlessly curtail the Islamic names like ` Abd al-Khaliq, ` Abd al-Rahman ` Abd al-Razzaq or ` Abd al-Quddus etc. to Khaliq, Rahman, Razzaq and Quddus when calling people of these names. The attributes Khaliq خَالِق (The Creator) Rahman رَحمَٰن (The Merciful) Razzaq رَزَّاق (The Sustainer) and Quddus قُدُّوس (The Pure) are all exclusive attributes of Allah and using these attributes for anyone other than Allah is a major sin (گُنَاہِ کَبِیرَہ). The number of times one calls any one by these attributes only commits a major sin every time and becomes liable of great punishment.
This sinful practice has become quite common among Muslims for no gain. They have been committing this sinful act simply for being thoughtless to the gravity of this error. The present verse has warned against it by saying سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ "They shall soon be recompensed for what they have been doing".
Many evils are committed for certain worldly gains or benefits. Any one committing such evil deed may pretend to offer an excuse that being constrained by some necessity he had committed the sin, while a great number of evil deeds are simply of no avail, and produce no worldly benefit at all. It is a sad situation that people are seen committing such evil deeds just for being careless of the commandments of Allah and being indifferent to what is prohibited or permitted by Allah. May Allah save us from such ignorance.
