the Ever-Firm; the Protecting Friend; the Praiseworthy; the Enumerator; the Originator; the Restorer; the Giver of Life; the Giver of Death; the Ever-Living; the Sustainer of All; the All-Possessing; the Illustrious; the One and Only—also transmitted as ‘the One’—the Eternal Refuge; the All-Powerful; the Omnipotent; the One Who Brings Forward; the One Who Puts Back; the First; the Last; the Manifest; the Hidden; the Governor; the Most Exalted; the Beneficent; the Accepter of Repentance; the Avenger; the Pardoner; the Most Kind; the Owner of Sovereignty; the Possessor of Majesty and Honour; the Equitable; the Gatherer; the Self-Sufficient; the Enricher; the Giver; the Withholder; the Bringer of Harm; the Benefactor; the Light; the Guide; the Incomparable Originator; the Everlasting; the Inheritor; the Guide to the Right Way; the Patient; the One to whom nothing is comparable, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.”

Among His names not included in these ninety-nine is “the One Free of All Imperfection.” It is reported in a hadith that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to say:

“Free of all imperfection, Most Holy.”

Another is His name “the Healer,” as established in an authentic hadith in which he used to say:

“Remove the affliction, Lord of mankind, and grant healing. You are the Healer; there is no healer but You. Grant healing that leaves no illness.”

Likewise, His names expressed as phrases include: the Most Merciful of the merciful; the Best of those who forgive; the Lord of all worlds; the Master of the Day of Judgement; the Best of creators; the Gatherer of mankind for a Day about which there is no doubt; and the Turner of hearts. These and other names are established in the Book and the Sunnah, and their use in supplication is established by the consensus of the Muslims, yet they are not among these ninety-nine.

The third argument:

This is the evidence cited by al-Khattābī and others: the hadith of Ibn Masʿūd, who reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“No servant has ever been afflicted