Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names: Al Mugheeth
There’s a confusion in people’s mind about the beautiful names of Allah Almighty. To cut a long story short, in Tirmidhi and others:
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said,
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ “ إِنَّ لِلَّهِ تِسْعَةً وَتِسْعِينَ اسْمًا مِائَةً إِلاَّ وَاحِدًا، مَنْ أَحْصَاهَا دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ ”. {أَحْصَيْنَاهُ} حَفِظْنَاهُ.
“Allah has ninety-nine Names, one-hundred less one; and he who memorised them all by heart will enter Paradise.” To count something means to know it by heart. [Tirmidhi]
This means that whoever enumerates these names and acts upon these names will be admitted to Jannah. This is the original hadith, which is an authentic, good hadith. However the 99 names themselves have not been mentioned in the hadith. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not select them, the selection is from one of the narrators of the hadith. There are also different selection’s in the books of ibn Hibban, ibn Hajar for instance. These are due to the technicalities of hadith. Therefore we have variation in the collections of the Beautiful Names of Allah Almighty as Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did not mention the 99 names, just the number.
Scholars tried to collect these names from across the Quran and from the Sunnah. There are many disagreements on that due to the differing opinions of the scholars. The name Al Mugheeth is on that is not agreed upon by all scholars. Thirty years ago, I worked on special chapter by ibn Hajar al Asqalani, the great muhaddith, who collected these names himself from the hadith and the Quran and found over two to two hundred and fifty. I have done this journey myself and went through the verses of the Quran and selected the names of Allah Almighty from the Quran and found more than ninety nine. So the ninety nine names are the major ones.
There is a digital encyclopaedia on the beautiful names of Allah Almighty which is in Arabic which is over 3 volumes.
Though it is not agreed upon, but many giant scholars such as Al Bayhaqi, ibn Hajar, Tirmidhi agreed that this is one of the names of Allah Almighty. Also Ibn Taymiyyah and ibn al Qayyim, ibn Hibban and Haakim and many others as well.
The name Al-Mugheeth was in Abu Hurayrah’s (may Allah have mercy on him) selection and it has different translations. Al-Ghiyaath or Al-Ghayyaath or Al-Mugheeth are from the beautiful names of Allah Almighty and Al-Mugheeth means the Helper, or the One who provides assistance.
The attribute is mentioned in the Quran in Surat al-Anfal
إِذۡ تَسۡتَغِيثُونَ رَبَّكُمۡ فَٱسۡتَجَابَ لَكُمۡ أَنِّي مُمِدُّكُم بِأَلۡفٖ مِّنَ ٱلۡمَلَـٰٓئِكَةِ مُرۡدِفِينَ
[Remember] when you asked help of your Lord, and He answered you, “Indeed, I will reinforce you with a thousand from the angels, following one another.” (8:9)
The word tastaghythoona, comes from the verb ghauth, meaning help. Allah Almighty is saying when you appeal to your Lord for help, so He is Al-Mugheeth, the One who gives the help. He is the One whom you refer to seek help, and He answers you.
In this verse, Allah Almighty is talking about seeking help during battle, during calamities, during distress, during pain because that is when they ask Allah Almighty for ghauth – support, help and assistance. Allah Almighty answered their call by saying “I am reinforcing you with 1000 angels in formation”. His troops from the angels helped, protected and supported them.
In the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), he mentioned this name in different narrations, for instance, as “ya gheeyathal mustagheetheen”. In the hadith which is narrated in Bukhari and Muslim and others, the people were suffering from drought came to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and said Ya Rasool Allah (peace be upon him) our crops and our cattle are perished because we don’t have rain, so call upon Allah Almighty to give us rain. So he (peace be upon him) prayed and raised his hands and he started calling upon Allah Almighty, ‘Allahumma aghithna, Allahumma aghithna, Allahumma aghithna’. “O Allah help us, O Allah assist us, O Allah help us”.
اللّهُمَّ اسْقِـنا غَيْـثاً مُغيـثاً مَريئاً مُريـعاً، نافِعـاً غَيْـرَ ضار، عاجِـلاً غَـيْرَ آجِل
Allahummas-qina ghaythan mugheethan maree-an mureeAAan, nafiAAan, ghayra dar, AAajilan ghayra ajil.
“O Allah, send upon us helpful, wholesome and healthy rain, beneficial not harmful rain, now, not later.”
اللّهُمَّ أغِثْنـا، اللّهُمَّ أغِثْنـا، اللّهُمَّ أغِثْنـا
Allahumma aghithna, allahumma aghithna, allahumma aghithna
“O Allah, relieve us, O Allah, relieve us, O Allah, relieve us.”
Many charities call themselves Al Ghauth, which is help. Allah Almighty did respond to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and sent abundant rain for a few days consecutively. Indeed so much rain fell, that a man came back to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and said ‘Ya Rasoolallah it’s too much, it’s flooding now, ask Allah Almighty to make it stop’. Then Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) raised his hands and asked Allah Almighty to ‘Make it rain around us and not on us’ so the rain changed course and fell outside.
When you seek help from Allah Almighty calling Him ‘Ya gheeyathal mustaghitheen, allahumma aghithna, allahumma aghithna’, as Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to say, it has a special flavour, a special sweetness. You can also say Ya Mugheeth which many scholars of hadith and fiqh agree on and consequently we find it used frequently in supplications. And as Allah said in verse from Surat Al-Anfal quoted earlier, He responds: ‘Remember when you were seeking the help of your Lord and He responded to you’.
In another narration from the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) ‘Ya Hayyu Ya Qayyoom’, which we are recommended to recite on a daily basis, as Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to say this in the morning
Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to Fatimah:
“What could prevent you from listening to the advice I give you? You should say when morning comes and when evening comes:
Ya Hayyu ya Qayyum, bi rahmatika astaghith, aslih li shani kullahu, wa la takilni ila nafsi tarfat ‘ayn
O Ever-Living, O Self-Sustaining and All-Sustaining, by Your mercy I seek help; rectify all my affairs and do not leave me in charge of my affairs even for the blink of an eye.” (an-Nasai, al-Hakim, al-Bayhaqi)
This is a sound narration and the dua Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to repeat on a daily basis.
In another narration we have just the first part, Ya Hayyu Ya Qayyoom bi rahmattika astagheeth. Anas was the servant of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who served him for ten years, and he said that whenever a matter would upset Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) or distress him, he would say these words. He would call upon Allah Almighty for ghauth and istighaatha. Istighaatha in Arabic is beyond help, it is like the hotline. You use it when you have a dire need and a special case, and you need help and assistance.
He also used to repeat the name Ya Dhal Jalaali wal Ikram, O Possessor of Majesty and Honour continuously.
We have another narration which is a weak narration but the sequence of the narration the supplication is beautiful. It’s mentioned in Tabarani’s Mujjam:
O the Light of the heavens and the earth, O the Most Beautiful of the heavens and the earth, O Compeller of the heavens and the earth, O the Supporter of the heavens and the earth, O the Originator of the heavens and the earth, O the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth, O Possessor of Majesty and Honour, O Compeller of the satisfaction of Your Right, O the Helper of the beseechers.
Even if it’s a weak narration the supplication is very nice to read, repeat and use. Are we allowed to recite a supplication even if it’s not in the sunnah? Yes, if it’s in line with the Quran and the Shariah. There is nothing wrong with it. There’s no restriction that you can only recite duas from Quran and Sunnah. The rule is that they should not contradict Quran and Sunnah.
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did call upon Allah Almighty with this very name and for us it’s a very special name especially in distress in situation where you feel helpless when you feel very sad and you need Allah Almighty to get you out of this, you need Allah Almighty’s support, you call upon Allah Almighty with this very name Ya Gheeyaath al Mustaghitheen, the Helper of those who are seeking help, for those who are beseeching help from You Ya Allah Almighty.
How can we apply this name in our lives?
It’s from the sunnah in calamities that afflict the Ummah and nawaazil which means something urgent and disastrous that strikes Ummah to recite the Dua Qunoot, which we call Qunoot Nawaazil. It is similar to the Qunut we recite in Ramadan in the witr prayer. During times of calamity, in every salah, (which can be fard or sunnah), ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) recited the qunoot for one month – at fajr, dhuhr, asr, maghrib and ‘isha. He did this after the Battle of Uhud, when the believers were defeated to a certain extent in that battle and the tribes surrounding Madinah felt emboldened to attack them. They started plotting and scheming and pretended that they wanted to learn Islam so asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) to send some reciters to teach them. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) sent forty reciters, but while they were on their way, they had them killed. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was so upset and angry. Those who tricked him (peace be upon him) were from three tribes: Ri’l and Zakwan and Usayya. So Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) made dua against them for one month.
With the attacks on our brothers and sisters now we have urgency so we should also recite the Dua Qunoot in all our prayers. It’s not compulsory, but it’s sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). You can call upon Allah, saying: Ya Hayyu Ya Qayyoom bi rahmatikka nastagheeth, Ya Allah, Ya Gheeyaathal mustagheetheen, Ya Gheeyaathal mustagheetheen, aghtithna Ya Allah, aghithna Ya Allah. So You can help us, assist us Ya Allah, support us and so on.
When you pray your salah, in the last rakah of your salah, after you recite Fatiha and a short surah, bend into ruku position, then stand up from the ruku, saying ‘Sami Allahhu liman hamida and raise your hands and recite the Qunoot. If it is a fard salah, then recite it in Arabic, but if it is a sunnah, you may recite it in your language.
The real ghauth is from Allah Almighty, but we can mirror this name in our actions by being a support to somebody who has broken down, who is suffering from financial difficulties or having a crisis and needs comforting. Some kind words will cheer them up, and lift their spirits. Of course, at the end of the day, the real help and support comes from Allah Almighty as we recite in Surat Al-Fatiha ‘You alone we worship and from You alone we seek help’. Even if you receive help from people, the One who is behind this help is Allah Almighty who sends help through different means. It may be someone who stops in the middle of nowhere and gives you a lift when you’ve broken down and there is no one to help you. Who sent this person? Allah Almighty. Or you find you have run out of steam and you can’t cope, but then someone just appears from nowhere and gives you a helping hand. Sometimes you be somewhere and you overhear something, that was not directed at you, but it was exactly what you needed at that very moment. Who facilitated this to happen in the first place? Allah Almighty.
It’s all about your purity. As long as you have a pure heart as long as you have a heart that is longing for the truth and is not a corrupt heart, then Allah Almighty will facilitate for you to find the truth. Especially these days I have watched many clips of non-Muslims searching for Islam. You would never have imagined that they would become Muslim. How did they come to read the Quran? They had pure hearts. Appearances can be deceptive. Regardless how people look, it is what is inside what leads them to Islam. People who possess a beautiful soul, just need a nudge, a good word, a kind action, which leads them to it.
Allah Almighty has His own ways of doing things. It’s not our way, it’s His way. The guidance of the hearts is only in Allah Almighty’s hands. You can give the guidance but you can’t guide the hearts. And this is what we see these days – people are coming together, reading the Qur’an and accepting Islam and discovering the beauty of the revelation and the sweetness of the guidance of Allah Almighty. In the midst of distressing scenes of bombardment and destruction, people are finding the truth. Allah Almighty stated in the Qur’an ‘You might hate something and it’s good for you and you might love something and it’s bad for you’, Allah Almighty knows and you do not know. Our knowledge is limited. When we look at the details and the picture before your eyes it gives us nightmares but when we see the bigger picture it gives you hope. Although we are in deep agony over what is happening, we are hopeful that this is a new page. Our Ummah will be victorious.
We are seeing a change. What we once had only read in history and seerah books about people with resilience and sabr we are seeing with our own eyes. It is astonishing and remarkable that anyone has this much patience, courage and resilience. The Al Jazeera reporter Wael al-Dahdouh was reporting live when he received the news about his family, he lost his wife, his daughter and his granddaughter. He hugged his daughter, his granddaughter and his wife, they prayed janazah on them the next day and he came back to work. And you look at this and you say how can somebody do this. This is the strength of imaan. They were civilians. Look at the strength of imaan in his heart! Allah Almighty is giving them tathbeet, steadfastness. You may be weak, but He can make you as strong as a mountain that nothing can shake. This is the strength of imaan.
These tests of the Ummah are bringing us many lessons and teaching us many lessons and allowing us to re-read the Qur’an and the seerah in a different way and allows us to understand some events in a different way. When Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was in the Battle of the Ditch, 10,000 troops came to invade Madinah to uproot Islam and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his Companions and wipe it off the map. This was the plan of Quraysh and their allies. Bani An Nadeer, one of the Jewish tribes in Madinah betrayed Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and tried to assassinate him by dropping a big rock on him. However Jibreel came and saved him by revealing this plan. The 10,000 strong troops gathered to attack the 3000 inhabitants of Madinah. They kept them under siege for 33 days. And during this time Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) did istighaatha, called on Allah Almighty for ghauth (help and support and assistance). Allah Almighty sent a strong wind that uprooted and overturned their tents. Their utensils and equipment went flying. It was so severe, they dispersed. It showed the resilience and sabr of the people against an overwhelming opponent. Despite the atmosphere of hopelessness and fear that they would be defeated, the stronger believers said Allah Almighty is with us and Allah Almighty will give us victory and we will be victorious. This is exactly what happened. Allah Almighty did support them but they were tested as well. Our Ummah is being tested now. This shake for the Ummah is a test and we need to have more sabr and more resilience and be strong and keep making supplications and have a strong connection with Allah Almighty. We ask Him, He is Al-Mugheeth to give this ummah gheeyaath and ghauth and help and assistance and protect the innocent and support those who are oppressed and give them victory Ya Rabbal ‘Aalameen.
Shaykh Haytham Tamim – 7th November 2023 Transcribed S Jawaid
Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names – Al Latif
Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names – Al Jabbar
Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names – Al Muizz and Al Mudhill
Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names – Al Khafid and Ar Rafi’ – Utrujj
Knowing Allah through His beautiful Names – Al Qabid and Al Basit – Utrujj
Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names – Al Jameel, Al Jaleel, Al Kareem – Utrujj
Knowing Allah through His Beautiful Names – Al Hafidh – Utrujj
Major Principles in Islam 11 Knowing Allah through His names Al Hakam Al Adl – Utrujj
Major Principles in Islam 8: Ar-Razzaaq and Al-Wahhab – Utrujj
Major Principles in Islam 7: Knowing Allah through His names Ad Dhahir and Al Batin – Utrujj
Major Principles in Islam 6: How to reflect Allah’s name Al Haqq in your life – Utrujj
Major Principles of Islam 4 – Al Ghani, Al Noor, Al Haadi, Al Wahab, Al Kareem – Utrujj
Major Principles of Islam 3 – Loving Allah, Al Wadud – Utrujj
Shaykh Haytham Tamim
Shaykh Haytham Tamim is the founder and main teacher of the Utrujj Foundation. He has provided a leading vision for Islamic learning in the UK, which has influenced the way Islamic knowledge is disseminated. He has orchestrated the design and delivery of over 200 unique courses since Utrujj started in 2001. His extensive expertise spans over 30 years across the main Islamic jurisprudence schools of thought. He has studied with some of the foremost scholars in their expertise; he holds some of the highest Ijazahs (certificates) in Quran, Hadith (the Prophetic traditions) and Fiqh (Islamic rulings). His own gift for teaching was evident when he gave his first sermon to a large audience at the age of 17 and went on to serve as a senior lecturer of Islamic transactions and comparative jurisprudence at the Islamic University of Beirut (Shariah College). He has continued to teach; travelling around the UK, Europe and wider afield, and won the 2015 BISCA award (British Imams & Scholars Contributions & Achievements Awards) for Outstanding Contribution to Education and Teaching.
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