the attributes of action. This is why Allah’s Greatest Name—the Name by which, when He is invoked, He answers, and by which, when He is asked, He gives—is al-Hayy al-Qayyūm (the Ever-Living, the All-Sustaining).” End quote.1
This Name occurs in most of the hadiths that contain an indication of the Greatest Name. Thus, this view and the preceding one are the two strongest views concerning the Greatest Name.2 In any event, this is a matter of scholarly judgment, since no definitive evidence specifying it has been transmitted that must necessarily be followed. Nevertheless, whoever invokes Allah with the supplications cited above, saying in his supplication, “O Allah, I ask You by virtue of the fact that all praise belongs to You. There is no deity but You alone, without partner—the Bestower, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, the Possessor of Majesty and Honor,” or says, “O Allah, I ask You by virtue of my testimony that You are Allah; there is no deity but You—the One, the Self-Sufficient Master, who neither begets nor was born, and to whom none is equal,” has indeed invoked Allah by His Greatest Name. This is because the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stated that the one who invoked Allah in this manner had invoked Him by His Greatest Name—the Name by which, when He is asked, He gives, and by which, when He is invoked, He answers.
We should, however, remember that the acceptance of supplication is subject to numerous conditions mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah. These will be discussed at length later, if Allah wills.
In conclusion, I ask Allah, the Most Generous, to grant both me and you success in attaining every good that He loves and is pleased with.