ALLAH: AN EXPLANATION OF THE DIVINE NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES

The purpose of our creation, as Allah tells us in the Qur’an, is worship: “And I have not created jinn or mankind except to worship Me.” (51:56) The Companion ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Abbas , the preeminent exegete for whom the Prophet Muhammad s prayed “O Allah, teach him the interpretation of the Scripture,” said about this verse, “Except to worship me means: Except to know Me.” To endeavor to know Allah is to fulfill the very purpose of our existence, and to know Him is to know His beautiful names, attributes, and acts. In this work, taken from his large exegesis of Sura al-Fatiha, Ibn ¢Ajiba details the meanings of Allah’s Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names (al-Asma’ al-Husna) and shows readers how to come closer to Allah through the three-fold path of connection, inculcation, and realization: to connect to each of the divine names; to inculcate their meanings in ethics and character; and to attain realization of them, beyond repetition, rote memory, or theoretical discussion. In this commentary, readers can get a glimpse of the transformative power of knowing the Creator through His Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names, about which the Prophet Muhammad s has said, “To Allah belongs ninety-nine names; whosoever enumerates them fully shall enter the Garden.” (al-Bukhari)