For this reason, none of Allah’s most beautiful names entails evil. Evil is mentioned only in what He brings about, as in His saying:

“Tell My servants that I am indeed the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful, and that My punishment is indeed the painful punishment.”

And His saying:

“Indeed, your Lord is swift in punishment, and indeed, He is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

And His saying:

“Know that Allah is severe in punishment, and that Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”

And His saying:

“Indeed, your Lord’s onslaught is severe. Indeed, it is He who originates creation and restores it. And He is the All-Forgiving, the Most Loving.”

He thus makes clear—glory be to Him—that His onslaught is severe, and that He is the All-Forgiving, the Most Loving.

“The Avenger” is not among Allah’s most beautiful names established in reports from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Rather, it occurs in the Quran only with qualifications, as in His saying, Most High:

“We shall indeed exact retribution from the criminals.”

And His saying:

“Indeed, Allah is Almighty, Possessor of Retribution.”

As for the hadith enumerating the most beautiful names, which includes “the Avenger” in the sequence “the Beneficent, the Accepter of Repentance, the Avenger, the Pardoner, the Most Compassionate,” those versed in hadith do not regard this enumeration as the words of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Rather, al-Walīd ibn Muslim related it from Sa‘īd ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz or from one of his other teachers.

For this reason, none of the compilers of the well-known collections transmitted it except al-Tirmidhī, who narrated it through al-Walīd ibn Muslim with one wording. Others narrated it with differences in the names and their order, showing that it is not the words of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). All the other narrators who transmitted this hadith from Abū Hurayrah, then through al-A‘raj, then through Abū al-Zinād, did not specify the individual names. Rather, they related his saying (may Allah bless him and grant him peace):

“Allah has ninety-nine names, one hundred less one. Whoever enumerates them will enter Paradise.”

This is how the compilers of authentic collections, such as al-Bukhārī, Muslim and others, recorded it. However, an enumeration of the names was also transmitted through