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Is "Al-Rafi'" among the Beautiful Names of Allah?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The names of Allah are Tawqifiyyah, meaning we derive them only from what is mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah; the intellect cannot comprehend them. The names of Allah are not limited to a specific number, as the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "I ask You by every name belonging to You which You have named Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or taught to any of Your creation, or kept hidden in the knowledge of the unseen with You." It is mentioned in a Sahih narration that Allah has ninety-nine names, whoever enumerates them will enter Paradise. However, the specification of these names in the Tirmidhi Hadith is considered weak by most scholars and is an interpolation by some narrators.

Some scholars have striven to extract these names from the Qur’an and Sunnah, agreeing on many of them and differing on some. This is part of the meaning of "enumerating" mentioned in the Hadith. The name "Al-Rafi'" (The Exalter) has not been used as an absolute name for Allah except in the list of names mentioned in the weak Hadith. Rather, it is mentioned in a qualified sense, as "Rafi'ud-Darajat" (Elevator of Ranks). Nevertheless, some imams, such as Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani, affirmed it based on their diligent derivation from the Qur’an, which is a permissible form of scholarly effort.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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