(Continuing from part 2)

Combinations with Al-Ghafūr

As we mentioned earlier, the Name Al-Ghafūr occurs paired with Ar-Rahīm 72 times. It occurs with Al-Halīm 6 times, with Al-’Afūww 4 times, with Al-’Azīz twice and with Al-Wadūd once. Each of those pairings has a meaning worth pondering over. Here, we look at the last one. The Arabic language has about 10 verbs to describe love and ‘wadd’ means compassionate, caring and nurturing love (not sensual). Wadūd is the fa’ūl form again, describing one to does this to a perfect level. So when Allah says in Surah Al-Burūj that he is Ghafūr-ul-Wadūd, He is telling us that He covers our sins and protects us from their consequences out of His love for us. There is a tradition that says Allah is more loving to us than a mother who lost her baby in the heat of battle and then found her child crying in the battlefield.

Al-Afūww

The Name Al-Afūww (الْعَفُوّ) comes from the root word ‘afa in Arabic which means to erase or wipe out. It is also in the al-fa’ūl form: Al-Afūww is the One who perfects erasing or One who blots out completely. The word ‘afa is stronger in this meaning than gha-fa-ra. Allah SWT blots out sins completely; by His nature He continually accepts repentance and wipes out our sins.

Occurrences in Qur’an and Sunnah:

This name occurs just 5 times in the Qur’an, 4 times paired with Al-Ghafūr and once with Al-Qadīr.

Allah says in the Qur’an in Surah Ash-Shura concerning this Attribute of His:

وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَقْبَلُ التَّوْبَةَ عَنْ عِبَادِهِ وَيَعْفُو عَنِ السَّيِّئَاتِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تَفْعَلُونَ
And He it is Who accepts repentance from His servants and pardons the evil deeds and He knows what you do (42:25)

وَمَا أَصَابَكُم مِّن مُّصِيبَةٍ فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَيَعْفُو عَن كَثِيرٍ
And whatever affliction befalls you, it is on account of what your hands have wrought, and (yet) He pardons most (of your faults).(42:30)

And finally, we have with us a concise and short dua’ meant specifically for the last ten days of Ramadan and especially for Layl-at-ul-Qadr. ‘Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: “I asked the Messenger of Allah (saws)  O Messenger of Allah, if I knew which night is Layl-at-al-Qadr, what should I say during it?” And he instructed her to say ¹:

اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفُوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي

Allahuma innaka ‘afuwwun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa ‘afu ‘anni
O Allah You are the Most Forgiving; You love to forgive so forgive us.

Through this dua’ we are seeking tawassul through both a Name and an Attribute.

This (probably) forms the conclusion of this series. Ijtema.net will be back after ‘Eid inshaAllah.
We ask Allah to cleanse us and purify us of our sins in this blessed part of the blessed month of Ramadan and we ask Him to admit us into Jannat-ul-Firdaus out of His Mercy. Ameen.

Update: MuslimMatters has another excellent post on this Name and dua’.

(Links to Part 1 and Part 2)

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Footnotes:
1. This is related by Ahmed, Ibn Majah, and Tirmidhi, who called it saḥīḥ.
A variant of this dua goes  اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ عَفُوّ كَرِيمٌ تُحِبُّ الْعَفُوَ فَاعْفُ عَنِّي Allahuma innaka ‘afuwwun karimun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa ‘afu ‘anni

References:
1. Aqeedah 102: Light upon Light. Shaykh Yasir Qadhi, AlMaghrib Institute. Chicago 2008.
2. Zekr

An Editor feature entry written for Ijtema readers (if you’re using a feed reader and the Arabic/Unicode text doesn’t display properly please click on the entry link to continue reading on the Ijtema website)

Continuing with the (sorry, much delayed) Part 2 of the Ramadan Names of Allah series here on Ijtema (Part 1 here), we take a look at Names pertaining to forgiveness. We focus on Al-Ghafūr and Al-’Afūww, and briefly point out related Names. Jumping right in ..

Al-Ghafūr

This name is derived from the root word gha-fa-ra (غـفـر) which can be roughly translated in the verb form as covering or concealing for protection. It would be a disservice to simply translate this as “forgive.” In this context, Allah SWT is the one who covers our sins and protects us from their consequences.  The Name Al-Ghafūr is of the al-fa’ūl structure; a verb in this form means one who does the act to a perfect level. It describes the quality of the act.

A related name Al-Ghaffar is derived from the same root word but whose morphology refers to quantity: one who continually and infinitely does the verb. Allah, Al-Ghafūr and Al-Ghaffar, continually covers and conceals our evil deeds. At the opposite end, Allah SWT is also Ash-Shakūr: He gives us more than we deserve when we do good deeds.

This word is different from another word in Arabic which means to cover: sa-ta-ra (سـتـر), and which forms the root of another of Allah’s Names: As-Sittīr. Allah loves to cover and hide our faults and sins from those around us, and doesn’t like us to publicize our sins to the world ¹.

Combination of Names

The name Al-Ghafūr occurs a whopping 91 times in the Qur’an, and appears paired with the name Ar-Rahīm 72 times (غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ – Ghafūr-ur-Rahīm). This combination of names is something most of us (including myself until quite recently) unfortunately pay little attention to.

Each Name has a unique meaning of majesty and perfection but the combination of two (or more!) names gives rise to yet another unique meaning. Allah SWT has chosen to place these Names together for a reason, and we should ponder over it. For example, from the combination Ghafūr-ur-Rahīm we learn Allah covers our sins because He is Merciful and Compassionate. And one of the things that makes Him Merciful and Compassionate is that He protects us from the consequences of our sins! (Look over Part 1 for all the other rich meanings this phrase may take)

The classical scholar Imam Ibn-ul-Qayyim wrote on the concept of combining Names (the translation of which is):

“And when two Names or Attributes occur together, yet another characteristic is formed, and this would not be present were the Names separate. Examples of this are الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيد (Al-Ghani-ul-Hamīd) and الْعَفُوًّا قَدِير (Al-Afūww-ul-Qadīr) and الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيم (Al-’Azīz-ul-Hakīm). So His self-sufficiency (ghinā) is an attribute of perfection, as is His ḥamd, and the combination of ghinā and ḥamd is yet another perfection … “

Let’s take a brief look at each of the three examples Imam Ibn-ul-Qayyim gave: Al-Ghani-ul-Hamīd combines self-sufficiency and being one worthy of praise. So Allah SWT is driving home the point that He is self-sufficient even without our praise! Al-Afūww-ul-Qadīr combines Power and Forgiveness: Allah SWT is all-Powerful and can do as He pleases, yet He chooses to forgive us. The last one Al-’Azīz-ul-Hakīm combines Power and Strength with Justness, Wisdom and Power to Legislate. With human beings, power has the ability (and usually does) corrupt. but Allah SWT is beyond that: despite His Power He is Just and Wise.

(Continued in part 3)
(Part 1 here)

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Footnotes:
1. Ya’lā ibn Umayyah (ra) narrated that the Prophet (saws) said that Allah is verily Al-Hayyiy (which implies bashfulness) and As-Sittīr (which implies concealing the sins). He loves modesty and the concealment of faults. [Ahmad, Abu Dāwūd and An-Nasa’i.]References:
1. Aqeedah 102: Light upon Light. Shaykh Yasir Qadhi, AlMaghrib Institute. Chicago 2008.