In this regard the scholars all agree that one may petition Allah and swear an oath upon Him by His Names and Attributes, just as one may invoke those very Names and Attributes with respect to others. Among the well-known supplications found in the Sunnah are:
“O Allah, I ask You—for all praise is Yours. You are Allah, the Bestower, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, Possessor of Majesty and Honor.”
In another report: “O Allah, I ask You because You are Allah, the One, the Self-Sufficient, who neither begets nor is begotten, and to whom none is comparable.”
And in yet another report: “I ask You by every Name that is Yours: those You have named Yourself with, revealed in Your Book, taught to any of Your creation, or reserved with You in the knowledge of the unseen.”
Such invocations
(1) The printed edition reads: “that Allah, exalted be He, is the only One Who is asked.”
(2) Manuscript A has: “You, al-Mannan (the Ever-Bestowing),” whereas the printed edition gives: “You are Allah, al-Hannan al-Mannan (the Most Tender, the Ever-Bestowing).”
(3) See: Sunan Ibn Majah, Book of Supplications, chapter “The Greatest Name of Allah,” hadith 3858 (2/1268); also recorded by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak, same book and chapter, who said, “This hadith is sahih according to Muslim’s criteria although the Two Shaykhs did not include it” (1/504). Al-Hakim transmitted it through another chain as well and left it without comment (1/504).
(4) Manuscript A reads: “the latter.”
(5) Manuscript B omits this hadith and cites the following one instead.
(6) The word “anta” (“You”) is absent from manuscript A.
(7) See: Sunan Ibn Majah, Book of Supplications, chapter “The Greatest Name of Allah,” hadith 3857 (1/1267–1268); also recorded by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak, same book and chapter, who said, “This hadith is sahih according to the criteria of the Two Shaykhs, yet they did not include it,” and he provided an additional supporting chain that meets Muslim’s criteria (1/504).
(8) Manuscript A reads: “the latter.”
(9) Reported by Ahmad in al-Musnad (1/391, 452) under the Musnad of Abdullah ibn Masud, and by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak, Book of Supplications, chapter “Supplication for Relieving Distress.” Al-Hakim commented: “This hadith is sahih according to Muslim’s criteria, provided the transmission of Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah from his father is uninterrupted, for scholars differ over whether he actually heard from his father” (1/509–510).