Explanation

This, then, is a third kind of reply. If the questioner says, “Who is al-Quddūs? Who is al-Salām? Who is al-Muʾmin?” and you answer, “the Knower of the unseen and the seen,” or “the One whose mercy has embraced all things,” or “He is the All-Forgiving, the All-Merciful,” that is a third answer, different from the two that preceded it. In substance, however, it still serves to identify the very Being in question; for when I say, “He is the All-Forgiving,” I have effectively explained what al-Quddūs means. The listener understands that I am specifying the Named One—Allah Himself—but by introducing a fresh meaning that may not have crossed his mind. I have brought forth a name that conveys an attribute not found in the particular name he asked about.

Take another example. If the inquirer already knows, or simply asks, “Who is al-Quddūs? Who is al-Salām?” I might reply, “He is severe in punishment toward whoever disobeys Him,” because I know that this man persists in sin and wish to admonish him. Conversely, if the inquirer is a person anxious and fearful for his own soul, I would answer to the effect that “He is as His servant expects Him to be,” so as to remind him to entertain good expectations of Allah.

We now have three categories of interpretation: (1) explaining the word by identifying the intended referent without regard to His attributes; (2) explaining it by the specific meaning contained within the name itself; and (3) explaining it through a different attribute of the One intended—such as the All-Forgiving, the All-Merciful, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, and so on.

It is clear that these are not mutually contradictory interpretations, as some people imagine. A parallel example is their exegesis of al-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm (the Straight Path). Some said it is the Quran, meaning adherence to it, citing the Prophet ﷺ in the hadith of ʿAlī reported by al-Tirmidhī