هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ عَـٰلِمُ ٱلْغَيْبِ وَٱلشَّهَـٰدَةِ ۖ هُوَ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ ٢٢هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلْمَلِكُ ٱلْقُدُّوسُ ٱلسَّلَـٰمُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُ ٱلْمُهَيْمِنُ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْجَبَّارُ ٱلْمُتَكَبِّرُ ۚ سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ ٢٣هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْخَـٰلِقُ ٱلْبَارِئُ ٱلْمُصَوِّرُ ۖ لَهُ ٱلْأَسْمَآءُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ ٢٤

“He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed. He is the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. He is Allah , other than whom there is no deity, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Bestower of Faith, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior. Exalted is Allah above whatever they associate with Him. He is Allah , the Creator, the Inventor, the Fashioner; to Him belong the best names. Whatever is in the heavens and earth is exalting Him. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.” [Quran 59:22-24]

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Hiba: Bismillahir rahmaanir raheem! Assalamu Alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu, all my beloved friends! Welcome, welcome, welcome to our first episode of Ramadan Moon! The Names of Allah series!

Hiba: Over the next 9 episodes, we will be learning 14 Beautiful names of Allah and how to apply them in our own life. We will also practice essential sunnahs and duas, revise elements of the seerah and make many friends along the way. We’ll reflect on our own lives and write ideas on how we can improve our prayer. So much to learn! So much to think about! So let’s get started! 

SCENE:

Jester: Knock knock

Aunty Hiba: Who’s there

Jester: Snow

Aunty Hiba: Snow who

Jester: Snow use. I’ve forgotten what I was supposed to say again.

Aunty Hiba: It’s okay, Jester...I think I’ll do the talking for a bit. So! What exactly are the Beautiful Names of Allah? They are the Names that Allah Himself uses to tell us about Himself. They are words that describe Allah to us. In Arabic, they are called the Asmaa ul Husna.

Now you might be wondering, why do we need to know the Names of Allah anyway? Like isn’t it enough to just know the Name: Allah? He is Allah and we have to worship him. Well yes. But..can anyone think of a reason why we should know His Beautiful Names?

SCENE:

King Hasan: Me me me! <waving hand frantically>

Professor Hums: Me!

Dr. Fatima: Me!

Aunty Hiba: King Hasan! What reason can you think of to learn about Allah’s Beautiful Names? 

King Hasan: Well it is my kingly opinion that it's really important that we KNOW who Allah is and what better way to know Him than to know His Names and qualities and understand their meanings?

Aunty Hiba: I agree! And KNOWING Allah helps us to love Him, and be conscious or aware of Him, to increase our faith in Him and to worship Him. And aren’t we all in this life for this very purpose? It says in the Quran we have been created only and only to worship Allah. We are fulfilling our life’s destiny by learning His Names! Why else would we want to know Allah’s Names?

“Ta.Ha. We have not revealed the Quran to you (O Prophet) to cause you distress,but as a reminder to those in awe (of Allah). (It is) a revelation from the One Who created the earth and the high heavens—the Most Compassionate, (Who is) established on the Throne. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth and whatever is in between and whatever is underground. Whether you speak openly (or not), He certainly knows what is secret and what is even more hidden. Allah—there is no god (worthy of worship) except Him. He has the Most Beautiful Names.”

[Quran 20:1-8]

Dr. Fatima: Well I like using Allah’s names in my duas to ask Him for whatever I want! I use special Names to ask for special things. Like if I want protection I ask Allah The Protector for protection! It’s sort of like taking the right medicine for the right illness! As a doctor, I know how important that is.

Aunty Hiba: What a beautiful idea, Doctor Fatima. We can use the Name of Allah that is most relevant to our need at the time that we are making our duas! In fact, Allah encourages us to use His Names for dua the Quran:

وَلِلّهِ الأَسْمَاء الْحُسْنَى فَادْعُوهُ بِهَا 

"And to Allah belong the Most Beautiful Names, so call upon Him by them." [Al-A'raaf 7:180]

Professor Hums: I believe, in the academic journey, one cannot become a master of anything without learning from the masters. I try to learn the Names of Allah to become a better human being because the best human being ever created told me to.
 

Aunty Hiba: Who is this best human being Professor Hums? And what did he say?

Professor Hums: Our beloved Prophet (s)! He said, “Allah has 99 names and whoever preserves them will enter Paradise.”

Aunty Hiba: Oh of course! Everyone’s ideal, most beloved human! The Prophet (s)! 

Professor Hums: But of course, one must understand that to preserve the 99 Names of Allah does not simply mean that one can list all the 99 Names. I mean, that's fairly simple, especially for a professor like me. To preserve the Names of Allah as mentioned in the Hadith, means to memorize them, understand them and apply their meanings where relevant. 

Aunty Hiba: Yes! Understanding the Names of Allah should have an impact on our hearts and our behaviour and our worship. We hope that learning the Names will help us make ourselves better. 

For example, when we learn that Allah is Ar-Raheem, The All-Merciful, we remember to be merciful to the weak and the poor. Our heart overflows with mercy for others as we learn more and more about the vast mercy of Allah. 

So we have to learn the names and really really LIVE by these names, friends! May Allah help us all to achieve this goal! Aameen! 

Jester: Well...I have a question. Why did the chicken cross the road? Oops sorry. I can’t help myself sometimes. I meant to ask...How do we know what the Names of Allah are? Like did anyone tell us...and who is this anyone...who told us the Names of Allah? 

Aunty Hiba: This is a very good and important question. To answer this, let's think about the answer to the question: Where do Muslims get answers to all their important questions?

Jester: Alexa, where do Muslims get answers to all their important questions?

Dr. Fatima: Oh jester. Not sure if Alexa knows this one!

Aunty Hiba: Let’s think guys...What are the two sources of information that we must look at in order to learn about anything in Islam? Think! Allah gave us two reliable sources of information that deal with all important topics we need to know about, including Himself. They are:

King Hasan: The Quran! The Quran is the Word of Allah and, in it, Allah calls Himself with certain Names.

Professor Hums: And the Sunnah! By Sunnah we mean all the hadith of our Prophet Muhammad (s). The Prophet explained to the Muslims many things about Allah, describing Him in certain ways that Allah revealed to him.

Dr. Fatima: Oh good, so the Quran and Sunnah has told us the exact list of 99 Names of Allah. 

Aunty Hiba: Weeellll...its not so simple as that Doc. Our respected scholars have looked through the Quran and Sunnah for the Names, but each of them has come up with a slightly different list. So we can't really say that this is definitely the list.

Jester: I have another question. Maybe it's silly.  But...Are the Names of Allah real? Like are they totally real or are they kind of an imagination in our brains or maybe have like secret, hidden meanings? 

Aunty Hiba: Jester, that's not a silly question at all. People have wondered about these exact questions in the past. But here’s what we believe: The Names are totally real! The words that Allah used to talk about Himself must be understood with their normal meaning. They are not a metaphor (something that stands for something else) nor do they have a secret, hidden meaning, as far as we know.

King Hasan: Does this mean that Allah is like us in some way? 

Professor Hums: Fiddlesticks! Allah is the Creator and He does not resemble the things He created in any way. He is Allah and there is nothing like Him.

Jester: But, but, but...then how...

Aunty Hiba: All of this is a lot to think about! Let’s work through all of it together okay? Wow...Now I really can't wait to dive into the Names of Allah, the Asmaa al Husnaa, with our friends on set and at home! I just know we’re all going to learn so much! Until next time...

Dr. Fatima: Don’t forget to tell everyone about the Names of Allah at the end of Surah Hashr!

Aunty Hiba: Aah, thank you for the reminder Doc. Ok so everyone, do you remember at the beginning of this video we heard some verses of the Quran being recited? Those were the last 3 ayaat of Surah Hashr being recited by Sh Noreen Mohammad Sadiq Rahimahullah May Allah have Mercy on Him. Let’s listen to those ayaat one more time.

هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۖ عَـٰلِمُ ٱلْغَيْبِ وَٱلشَّهَـٰدَةِ ۖ هُوَ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ ٢٢هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلْمَلِكُ ٱلْقُدُّوسُ ٱلسَّلَـٰمُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُ ٱلْمُهَيْمِنُ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْجَبَّارُ ٱلْمُتَكَبِّرُ ۚ سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ ٢٣هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْخَـٰلِقُ ٱلْبَارِئُ ٱلْمُصَوِّرُ ۖ لَهُ ٱلْأَسْمَآءُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ ٢٤

“He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed. He is the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. He is Allah , other than whom there is no deity, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Bestower of Faith, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior. Exalted is Allah above whatever they associate with Him. He is Allah , the Creator, the Inventor, the Fashioner; to Him belong the best names. Whatever is in the heavens and earth is exalting Him. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.” [Quran 59:22-24]

Aunty Hiba: Isn’t it such a beautiful recitation?

Everyone: <nods>

Dr. Fatima <sniffling>: I don’t exactly know why I am crying.

Professor Hums: Oh doc. If hearing the words of the Quran and the Names of Allah made you cry that’s a good thing! It means your heart is soft.

Aunty Hiba: Precisely Professor. We’ll be talking about the soft heart in later episodes too. You’ll understand better then.

So the last 3 ayaat of Surah Hashr contain 14 Beautiful Names of Allah (15 including the Name Allah). These are the Names that we will learn in this series. 

We’ll be listening to these aayaat at the beginning and end of every episode and I want to see if we can all memorize these aayaat...along with understanding the Names mentioned in these aayaat. What do you think? Do you think we can memorize these ayaat? I think so too. So then...are we all ready to laugh and learn together? Are we all set for Ramadan Moon? What do you guys say?

King Hasan: I say that it is my royal hope that you’ll all be joining us in my kingdom!

Professor Hums: I say it is a rather delightful academic journey we’ll be partaking in. I would quite specifically advise you not to miss it!

Dr. Fatima: I’ll be drawing out the names of Allah and have got lots of science to share too. How does it rain? What are superfoods? Why do we need black seeds?

Jester: And obviously, I’ll be the star of the show.

Professor Hums: Oh Jester.

Aunty Hiba: See you guys soon inshaAllah. Allahumma ballighna Ramadan! Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!