His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "They have hearts with which they do not understand, and they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like the cattle; rather, they are more astray. Those are the heedless." [Al-A'raf: 179] "And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them and leave those who deviate in His names. They will be recompensed for what they used to do."

This type of disbelieving people who turn away from contemplating the signs of Allah is described as having hearts that do not understand, and eyes that do not see, and ears that do not hear. The aim of this is not to negate these perceptions from their senses altogether, but rather to negate them in a certain regard, as you say: So-and-so is deaf to the noise, and from this is the saying of the poet Miskin al-Darimi:

"Blind when my neighbor goes out... until my neighbor is concealed by the curtain.

And deaf to what is between them... intentionally and not due to any heaviness in hearing."

And from this is the saying of another:

"And I have been deaf to the awkward speech... even though I could hear it if I wished.

And I have distanced myself from the impulse... and yet the ribs remain from the anger."

And from this is the saying of another in the advice of one who enters the house of a king:

"And enter when you enter blind... and exit when you exit mute."

It is as if these people, when their hearts did not benefit them in understanding, nor their eyes in seeing, nor what they heard from the signs and admonitions, they deserved the description that they do not understand, nor see, nor hear. Mujahid explained this by saying: "They have hearts with which they do not understand anything of the matter of the Hereafter, and eyes with which they do not see guidance, and ears with which they do not hear the truth." And "Those" refers to those mentioned earlier among the disbelievers, and they are likened to cattle in that the hearts of cattle do not understand things, nor do they comprehend measures, and likewise what they see does not benefit them as it should. So likewise, what these people see and hear does not yield them knowledge of what it is when they see and hear. Then they were judged to be more astray, because that cattle is its nature and creation, it does not fall short in anything, nor does it have a way to be other than that. And these are prepared for understanding, and they have been created with faculties that they can utilize, and they have been given paths in contemplation. Yet, due to their heedlessness and turning away, they liken themselves to cattle, thus they are more astray in this. Then He clarified with His saying, exalted is He: "Those are the heedless." [Al-A'raf: 179] This is the path by which they became more astray than cattle, which is heedlessness and negligence.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And to Allah belong the best names," the reason for this verse is as it has been narrated that "Abu Jahl heard some of the companions of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, reciting and mentioning Allah in their recitation, and at another time he heard them mention the Most Merciful. And so he said: Muhammad claims that the deity is one, while he only worships many gods. Thus this verse was revealed."

And "the names" here means: the appellations, by consensus of the interpreters, there is no other meaning. And "the most beautiful": is a source by which it is described. It is permissible to consider "the most beautiful" as the feminine form of "the best" so that the description of all that does not have intellect is singular, as He said: ﴿other needs﴾ [Taha: 18], and as He said: ﴿O mountains, respond with him﴾ [Saba: 10]. This is abundant, and the beauty of the names is directed by the improvement of the Sharia for their application and the text (p-96) upon them. Additionally, it is also included that they contain noble and beautiful meanings.

People have differed regarding the name that necessitates pure praise and does not have any suspicion or sharing related to it, except that it has not been seen as explicitly stated - can Allah be called by it? Ibn al-Baqillani stated the permissibility of that, and Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari stated its prohibition. The jurists and the majority are against it, and it is correct that Allah, the Exalted, should not be called except by a name that the Sharia has explicitly stated and confirmed. For this condition regarding the permissibility of its application to be pure praise without any suspicion or sharing is something that only a few of the people of knowledge can handle. If this is permitted, it would be assumed by those who think well of themselves while they do not truly do well, thus introducing into the names of Allah what is not permissible by consensus.

There is also a disagreement regarding the actions mentioned in the Qur'an, such as His saying: ﴿Allah mocks them﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 15] and ﴿the plot of Allah﴾ [Al-A'raf: 99], and similar to that - can the name of the doer be applied to them? One group said: it cannot be applied in any way. Another group permitted that it could be said in a restricted manner, so it would be said: "Allah is mocking the disbelievers" and "and is plotting against those who plot against the religion." As for applying that without restriction, it is unanimously prohibited. The first statement is stronger, and there is no necessity that pushes towards the second statement because the form of the verb mentioned in the Book of Allah suffices. Among the names of Allah, the Exalted, are those that have been mentioned in the Qur'an, and some of them have been mentioned in the hadith and are transmitted. This is what should be relied upon. It has been reported in Al-Tirmidhi a hadith from Abu Huraira, and it states therein ninety-nine names, and in some of them, there is an anomaly. And that hadith (p-97) is not mutawatir, rather the mutawatir part of it is the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: "Indeed, Allah has ninety-nine names, one hundred except one, whoever counts them will enter Paradise." The meaning of counting them is: to enumerate them and memorize them, and that includes faith in them, glorification of them, desire for them, and reflection on their meanings. This is a hadith from Al-Bukhari. What is concluded from it is that for Allah, Blessed and Exalted, these names are permissible to be applied. It has been mentioned in some of the supplications of the Prophet ﷺ: "O Compassionate, O Gracious," and these two names did not occur in the naming of Al-Tirmidhi.

And His saying, exalted is He: "So call upon Him by it" is an allowance in its generality. And His saying, exalted is He: "And leave those who" Ibn Zayd said: Its meaning is: Leave them and do not argue with them and do not engage with them. So this verse, according to this, is abrogated by fighting. It is said: Its meaning is: The warning, as His saying, blessed and exalted is He: "Leave Me and the one I created alone" [Al-Muddathir: 11]. And His saying: "Let them eat and enjoy themselves" [Al-Hijr: 3]. It is said that 'al-had' and 'lahad' mean to incline, lean, and deviate. And 'al-had' is more famous. From it is the saying of the poet:

........................ ∗∗∗ ∗∗∗ The imam is not the stingy, the deviant.

Abu Ali said: And it is seldom heard from anyone. And in the Qur'an: "And whoever intends therein deviation" [Al-Hajj: 25]. And from it is the 'lahd' of the grave that is inclined to one of its sides.

(p-98) Abu Amr, Ibn Kathir, Nafi, Asim, and Ibn Amer read: "They incline" with a dammah on the ya and a kasrah on the ha. Likewise in An-Nahl and As-Sajdah. Hamzah read the three letters: "They incline" with a fatha on the ya and ha. Likewise Ibn Wathab, Talhah, Isa, and Al-Amash.

And the meaning of deviation in the names of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, is that they name Al-Lat as a counterpart to the name of Allah, exalted is He, as said by Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them. And Al-Uzza as a counterpart to Al-Aziz, as said by Mujahid. They name Allah as Lord and they name their idols as lords, and similar to this.

And His saying, exalted is He: "They will be recompensed for what they used to do" is a pure warning of the punishment of the Hereafter. Al-Kisai went to the distinction between 'al-had' and 'lahad', claiming that 'al-had' means to lean and deviate, while 'lahad' means to incline and gather. Al-Tabari said: Al-Kisai used to read all that is in the Qur'an with a dammah on the ya and a kasrah on the ha except for that which is in An-Nahl, for he would read it with a fatha on the ya and ha, claiming that it means to lean. Likewise, Abu Ali mentioned about him.