Dhikr "ALLAH, ALLAH"

Wa `alaykum as-Salam wa rahmatullah:

The question was asked:

Is it permissible to make dhikr by saying the name of Allah alone i.e. saying "Allah Allah Allah"
without any accompaning phrase i.e. saying "subhaanallah, alhamdulillah,allahuakbar, la ilaha
illallah." Is there consensus among ulama on this issue? If not, which prominent scholars have
approved/disapproved of this?

Asta`idhu billah, Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim:

{Say: ALLAH. Then leave them to their playing} (6:91).

{Surely by mentioning ALLAH hearts become peaceful} (13:28).

From Abu Sa`id al-Khudri, the Prophet said, upon him peace:

"No people mention ALLAH but the angels surround them, mercy covers them, tranquility
descends on them, and ALLAH mentions them to those who are with Him." (Muslim, at-
Tirmidhi)

From Abu Hurayra, the Prophet said that Allah Most High said:

"I am as My servant thinks of Me and I sit with him when he remembers Me. If he mentions Me
in himself I mention him in Myself. If he mentions Me in a gathering I mention him in a better
gathering." (Al-Bukhari, Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, and Ahmad)

The Prophet said, upon him blessings and peace:

"ALLAH, ALLAH! Fear Him with regard to my Companions! Do not make them targets after
me! Whoever loves them loves them with his love for me; and whoever hates them hates them
with his hatred for me. Whoever bears enmity for them, bears enmity for me; and whoever bears
enmity for me, bears enmity for Allah. Whoever bears enmity for Allah is about to perish!"

Narrated from `Abd Allah ibn Mughaffal by al-Tirmidhi who said: gharîb (single-routed), by
Ahmad with three good chains in his Musnad, al-Bukhari in his Tarikh, al-Bayhaqi in Shu`ab al-
Iman, and others. Al-Suyuti declared it hasan in his Jami` al-Saghir (#1442).

Asma' bint `Umays the wife of Abu Bakr and mother of `Abd Allah ibn Ja`far ibn Abi Talib -
Allah be well-pleased with all of them! - said:

"The Messenger of Allah - upon him blessings and peace - taught me words for me to say in
times of duress: 'ALLAH, ALLAH is my Lord nor do I associate with him anything!'" (Abu
Dawud and Ibn Majah with a good chain)
The Prophet upon him peace - said as narrated from Anas:

"The Hour will not rise until ALLAH, ALLAH is no longer said on the earth."

Through another chain from Anas, Allah be well-pleased with him:

"The Hour will not rise on anyone saying: ALLAH, ALLAH."

Muslim narrated both in his "Sahih," Book of Iman (belief), chapter 66 titled (by al-Nawawi):
"The Disappearance of Belief at the End of Times."

Imam al-Nawawi said in his commentary on this chapter:

"Know that the narrations of this hadith are unanimous in the repetition of the name of Allah the
Exalted for both versions and that is the way it is found in all the authoritative books." (Sharh
Sahih Muslim, Dar al-Qalam, Beirut ed. vol. 1/2 p. 537)

Additional Remarks on the two narrations of ALLAH, ALLAH

1. Note that Imam al-Nawawi placed Anas's hadith under the heading of the disappearance of
belief (iman) at the end of times although there is no mention of belief in the hadith. This shows
that saying "ALLAH, ALLAH" stands for belief. Those who say it have belief, while those who
don't, don't. Those who fight those who say it, are actually worse than those who merely lack
belief and do not say "ALLAH, ALLAH."

2. Note that al-Nawawi highlights the authenticity of the repetition of the form to establish that
the words "ALLAH, ALLAH" are a Sunna ma'thura (invocation inherited from the Prophet
and the Companions) as it stands. Ibn Taymiyya's claim that the words must not be used alone
but _obligatorily_ in contruct, e.g. with a vocative form ("Ya Allah") is therefore an innovation
departing from the Sunna.

3. One who knows that the dhikr "ALLAH, ALLAH" has been mentioned by the Prophet
himself, is not at liberty to muse whether it was used by the Companions or not in order to
establish its basis. It suffices for its basis that the Prophet said it! Sami`na wa-Ata`na!

4. One who knows that "ALLAH, ALLAH" is a dhikr used by the Prophet, is not at liberty to
object to similar forms of dhikr such as HU and HAYY and HAQQ. "To Allah belong the most
beautiful names, so call Him by them" (7:180). Moreover, it is established that Bilal used to
make the dhikr "AHAD, AHAD" while undergoing torture. As for the hadith of the ninety-nine
Names, it does not limit the Names of Allah to only ninety-nine, as al-Nawawi made clear in his
commentary of that hadith.

5. Note that the Siddiqi translation of Sahih Muslim, which is almost as flawed as the Khan
translation of Sahih al-Bukhari, mistranslates the first as: "The Hour (Resurrection) would not
come so long as Allah is supplicated in the world" and the second as "The Hour (Resurrection)
would not come upon anyone so long as he supplicates Allah."
This is wrong as translation goes, although it is right as a commentary, since saying "ALLAH,
ALLAH" is supplicating Him, as is all worship according to the hadith of the Prophet:
"Supplication: that is what worship is." (Tirmidhi and others narrate it.) However, concerning
accuracy in translation, the word form highlighted by al-Nawawi must be kept intact in any
explanation of this hadith. It is not merely "supplicating Allah". It is saying: "ALLAH, ALLAH"
according to the Prophet's own wording, upon him peace.

6. The fact that an alternate version exists in Musnad Ahmad with the words "LA ILAHA
ILLALLAH" instead of "ALLAH, ALLAH" in no way cancels out the wording in Muslim. We
do not leave a wording in Sahih Muslim for a wording in Musnad Ahmad nor do we make
TA`TEEL and TA'WEEL of an established, explicit, and authentic Nass which, furthermore,
confirms the letter of the Glorious Qur'an!

7. Imam al-Nawawi's daily devotion (Wird) uses the dhikr ALLAH, ALLAH!

And Allah knows best.

Was-Salam.

Hajj Gibril
GF Haddad

[14 May 2003]