The Meaning of Ar Rahman: The First Name in Asmaul Khusna

As Muslims, the first and the most important thing we have to do is to testify that our god is Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala. We have to believe that there are no other gods except the one and only Allah. However in Islam, Allah SWT is known by more than just one name. The are actually ninety nine (99) other holy names which is known as Asmaul Khusna.

Asmaul Khusna is Allah’s other holy names. They are the most beautiful and excellent for a name can be. In a hadith that is narrated in Sahih Bukhari, Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him, said that Allah has one hundred names minus one, or in other words He has ninety nine name. For those of whom who can memorize all of the names, paradise is promised. In the Holy and Noble Quran Surah Al-A’raf, verse 180, Allah SWT says that the most beautiful name are only belong to Him, and for those who shunned or insult His exalted names will soon be punished.

Therefore it is important for us Muslims to try to not only memorize Allah’s beautiful exalted names but we also have to understand their meanings. All Muslims have to  study Asmaul Husna so that we can get closer to Allah SWT. If we understand His names, we can pray to Him easier. Allah’s good qualities, which are described by His holy names, are to be imitated by us so that we can become better persons. The first name in Asmaul Khusna is Ar Rahman.

The Meaning of Ar Rahman: The First Name in Asmaul Khusna is an Arabic word to describe that Allah is The ِMost Beneficent. sometimes people also refers to Ar Rahman as the All-Compassionate. It can also be translated that Allah is the Most Gracious of all. It is easy to translate the word Ar Rahman, but what does this excellent name really means?

Ar-Rahman is Allah’s first other name in Asmaul Khusna. This word tell us that Allah SWT has the most generous nature. Allah’s generosity extends to all of His creations. It means that Allah does not only give blessings and prosperity to humans, but He also showers even the most tiniest insignificant creature we can think of with grace. It is because all of His creations have meaning despite sometimes we, humans, can not comprehend why that thing is even exist. Allah also loves every humans regardless of their belief and attitude. Even the most evil human in the world gets to taste Allah’s grace because without his endless grace or love, he would not even exists.

It rises a question then, since Allah give His grace to every humans, good and evil people, it it okay for us to do whatever we want? The answer is obviously NO! In Surah Ibrahim verse 7, Allah SWT clearly says that for those of whom who are grateful to Allah’s countless grace, He will increase it. For those who deny His grace and not grateful to Allah’s mercy, His punishment will be severe.

Surah Ar Rahman, the 55th surah in the Nobel Quran, explains Allah’s most gracious trait in detail. This surah gives us a lot of examples of Allah’s blessings. It also asks us 31 times, which of God’s favors that we deny. It is a powerful verse and the the repetitions in this surah implied the importance that we should always be grateful.

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Allah blessings can generally be differentiated into three categories

• The first one is the blessing which is guaranteed. Every Allah’s creations are guaranteed and automatically receive His grace. For example, Allah SWT creates oxygen to sustain our life, every living creatures who need oxygen to live can enjoy this blessing for free and without them doing anything.
• The second one is the blessing that has to be sought. Sometimes we have to go out of our way to pick our fortune. Allah put His blessings in form of fortunes so that human will work to acquire them. If we work honestly then we will accept Allah’s grace. Working is not complet without prayer however, we have to pray to Allah so that we can full fill our needs and work diligently to aquire them.
• The third is the blessing that come out of a good deeds. Allah SWT will rewards His faithful believers who do good deeds. All followers of Prophet Mohammad should always be aware that when they are doing good deeds, they should not hope for rewards from others but only hopes to Allah. In Al Baqarah verse 261, every good deeds will be multiplied by seven and then each of those seven goodness will be multiplied again to one hundreed times. So each good deed that we do, Allah SWT promises that we will be rewarded seven hundreds folds.

If have sufficient wealth then we have to be generous and share it. We have to become a Muslim who always helps others in times of needs. Islam has already arange on how to share our wealth to those who are less fortunate via Zakah and Sodaqoh. Helping other people do not always have to be via wealth, even if we are poor we can try to help by using our body and mind. Again, we have to remember that we should not help people so that other people think that we are good because it will become riya’. We help other people because we only hope for Allah’s blessings.

Prophet Mohammad, The Messenger of Allah said: “It is not from our group those who do not love  the younger, do not respect the eders.” (HR Tirmidhi).

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We have to remember that Ar Rahman, which can also mean to bring kindness, does not only apply to fellow humans. The Meaning of Ar Rahman: The First Name in Asmaul Khusna also applies to creatures created by Allah SWT such as animals and plants. We should not hurt any animals without reasons, remember that our Prophet Mohammad is known as animal lover, he owned horse and a cat which he deeply cared for. We also should not cut down trees excessively because it will causes many harms.

Then What Are the Benefits of undestanding the Nature of Ar-Rahmaan? First of all, when we feel sad and unloved by our fellow human, remember that Allah still loves you. We are never alone. Second that we always feel grateful and content. And third we can make our life and other people’s life better. The world will become a better place with less hatred and we will prosper.

In conclusion, by  understanding and immitating the nature of Ar-Rahman, we can develop a helping nature between people in our community and also to other creations as well. May  Allah bless us so that we can emulate Ar-Rahman’s trait and may we always belong to those who are always graceful. Aamiin Ya Rabbal Aalamiin.