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What is the ruling on a person saying, "Indeed, Ali is the First and the Last"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

It is not permissible to describe a creature as "the First and the Last" absolutely, as these two descriptions are exclusive to Allah, the Almighty. Ibn al-Qayyim prohibited naming with names exclusive to Allah, and it was reported that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, changed the kunya (agnomen) of Abu al-Hakam because judgment (al-Hukm) belongs to Allah. As for names that can be applied to both Allah and others, such as Al-Sami' (the All-Hearing) and Al-Basir (the All-Seeing), it is permissible to convey their meanings when referring to a creature, but it is not permissible to name a person with them in an absolute sense. It is permissible to describe a creature as first or last if this firstness or lastness is qualified, such as describing the Day of Judgment as the Last Day.

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

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