a large number of scholars have inclined.

Imam Abū Abd Allah ibn Mandah, who favored the view in his book al-Tawhīd that Allah’s Greatest Name is “Allah,” said: “His name ‘Allah’ denotes His very Essence. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has forbidden any of His creatures from bearing this name or any deity besides Him from being called by it. He made it the beginning of faith, the pillar of Islam, the declaration of truth and sincerity, and a repudiation of all rivals and of associating partners with Him. It protects the one who utters it from being killed. Obligatory acts of worship are begun with it, oaths are sworn by it, and refuge from Satan is sought through it. Things are begun and concluded in His name. Blessed is His name, and there is no deity other than Him.”1 End quote.

This noble Name has properties that no other name possesses. One of them is that all the other Names are ascribed to it, as in His words: “To Allah belong the Most Beautiful Names.” Thus, it is said that the Almighty, the Most Merciful, the Most Generous, and the Most Holy are among the Names of Allah; but it is not said that Allah is one of the names of the Most Merciful. Rather, this noble Name entails all the meanings of the Most Beautiful Names and indicates them comprehensively, while the Most Beautiful Names elaborate and clarify the divine attributes. Because of these profound meanings and the other properties unique to this Name, many scholars favored the view that the Greatest Name is “Allah.” This is further supported by the fact that this noble Name occurs in every hadith that contains an indication of the Greatest Name.

Other scholars maintained that the Greatest Name is al-Hayy al-Qayyūm (the Ever-Living, the All-Sustaining). Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said in his book Zād al-Maād: “The attribute of life comprises all the attributes of perfection and necessarily entails them, while the attribute of sustaining all things comprises all