ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Al Kafi (part 3) Chapter 16 : Chapter On the Meanings of the Names of Allah and Their Derivatives H 309, Ch. 16, H 1 A group of our people has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid from al-Qasim ibn Yahya from his grandfather al-Hassan ibn Rashid from 'Abdallah ibn Sinan who has said the following.

"I asked abu 'Abdallah (a.s.) about the interpretation of the verse of the holy Quran, 'In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.' The Imam replied, "The first letter B in the Arabic version signifies Baha 'Ullah means beauty of Allah. The second letter S' signifies Sana 'Ullah means radiance of Allah. The third letter M signifies Majdullah means the Grandeur of Allah or according to some other narrators, Mujdullah means Kingdom of Allah. Allah means; Lord of all things.

And al-Rahman means the Beneficent to all of His creatures in general. Al-Rahim means the Most Merciful to the believers in particular." H 310, Ch. 16, h 2 Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father from an-Nadr ibn Suwayd from Hisham ibn al- Hakam who has said that he asked abu 'Abdallah (a.s.), about the names of Allah and their derivations and roots.

"What is the root from which the word Allah is derived?" The Imam replied, "O Hisham, the word Allah is derived from 'ilah, that is, the One Who is worshipped and the One who is worshipped is supposed to be worth worshipping. The name of Allah is different from His Own self. Whoever worships the name not the meaning has become a heathen and has, in fact, worshipped nothing. Whoever worships the name and its meaning jointly, he becomes a polytheist because of worshipping two gods.

Whoever worships the meaning of the word Allah only he, in reality, has worshipped the One Allah (God). O Hisham, did you grasp it?" Hisham requested, "Kindly enlighten me more." The Imam added, "Allah has ninety-nine names. If each name had a separate meaning then each meaning would have been a god. Allah is One only and all His names stand for just One reality and all these names are other than Allah Himself. O Hisham, bread is the name of something to eat.

Water is the name of something to drink. Dress is the name of something to wear on. Fire is the name of something that burns.