Asmā’ullahi waṣ-Ṣifātihi: A Discourse on Polemics of Sufi and Theologians

Abstract

Asmā’ullah waṣ-Ṣifātihi which denote Names and Attributes of God are important aspects of the science of Tawhīd which catches area of interest of researchers in the field of theology in Islam. Previous works have apparently established that the real Names and Attributes of God are known to the generality of Muslims because they are directly mentioned in the Glorious Qur'ān and Sunnah of the prophet. However, these works were confronted with the challenges of discovery of other Names and Attributes of God that are not directly mentioned in the Qur'an, which some schools of thought claim to exist in Islam especially the Sufi school of thought. This paper therefore discusses the opinion of Sūfi and theologians on the connotation of Allah as unique Name of God and His Essence and examines other names of God and His attributes which are not directly mentioned in the Qur'ān and Sunnah. The paper adopts qualitative methodology. The paper concludes that the names of God-Allah have no etymology and derivatives, and the names of Allah are more than the ones that are openly mentioned in the Qur'ān and the Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and Allah manifests His hidden names to those who are in close relationship with Him in terms of piety and worship. The paper recommends that the theologians should not stick to their own opinion alone but rather examine and agree to views of other schools of thought if they are appropriate and the Sufis should not present their arguments in abstruse expressions but in lucid manner that could be comprehended.