Ism e Allah Zaat is, in fact, the Divine Essence and is specific for His glorified Divine Self. Well known scholars of Islam state that this name is neither an infinitive noun nor derivative. Neither one can derive it from any word and vice versa. Unlike other attributive names of Allah, one cannot apply it metaphorically on anyone.
Ism e Azam encompasses all the Divine attributes within itself. Hence, when a person remembers Allah with the name Allah ( اَللّٰہُ ), Ism e Allah Zaat, he actually calls upon all the attributive names of Allah simultaneously. It is the unique quality of this name which no other attributive name encompasses.
Allah has two kinds of names, personal and attributive
Name is the medium used to call and recognize somebody or something. There are two kinds of names; personal and attributive. If somebody’s ‘personal name’ is Naveed and he is an expert in medical knowledge, people call him ‘Doctor Naveed’. Moreover if he has learnt Quran by heart then he is ‘Hafiz Naveed’. If he has performed hajj then ‘Haji Naveed’. Hence, the more attributes he will possess, the more attributive names will become a part of his personal name. So ‘Naveed’ is his personal name whereas doctor, hafiz or haji are all his attributive names because they were attached to his original name when he acquired those attributes. This shows that the invocation of an attributive name only includes the remembrance of one particular attribute while the invocation of the personal name includes each of the attributive names as well.
Similarly Ism e Allah Zaat, ( اَللّٰہُ ) is His personal name while Kareem, Raheem, Ghafoor, Ghafaar and other such Divine names are attributive names. They all are included in the personal name Allah ( اَللّٰہُ). When a person invokes Allah ( اَللّٰہُ ) he in fact remembers Allah with all His attributes.
The meaning of names ‘Allah’ does not change
Like Allah Himself, His name is also unprecedented, peerless and unique because of its marvels, astonishing Essence and meaningfulness. Moreover the distinguished quality of this name is that if one gradually separates its letters, even then its meanings are not changed and in any case it remains Ism e Allah Zaat and is to address Allah only.
Removing the first letter
If the first letter ‘A’ ( ا ) of Allah Hoo ( اَللّٰہُ ) is removed it becomes Lillah ( لِلّٰہ ) in Arabic which means ‘for Allah’, it is also Ism e Allah Zaat. In the Quran, Allah says:
لِلّٰہِ مَافِی السَّمٰوٰتِ وَمَافِی الْاَرْضِ
Meaning: Whatever exists in the heavens and the earth belongs to Allah. (Al-Baqarah 284)
Removing the second letter
If the first letter ‘L’ ( ل ) of Lillah ( لِلّٰہ ) is removed, it become LaHoo ( لَہُ ) in Arabic which means ‘for Him’. It is also Ism e Allah Zaat. As Allah says in Quran:
لَہُ الْمُلْکُ وَلَہُ الْحَمْدُ وَھُوَ عَلٰی کُلِّ شَیْئٍ قَدِیْر
Meaning: His is the entire kingdom and His is all the praise. And He is all-powerful over everything. (At-Taghabun 1)
Removing the third letter
If the second ‘L’ ( ل ) is also removed it becomes Hoo ( ھُوْ ) in Arabic. Hoo ( ھُوْ ) is a pronoun for Allah, as used many times in the Quran for Ism e Allah Zaat:
ھُوَ اللّٰہُ الَّذِیْ لَآ اِلٰہَ اِلَّا ھُوٰ
Meaning: Hoo ( ھُوْ ) is Allah besides whom there is no God. (Al-Hashr 22)
Allah says in the Quran:
اَللّٰہُ نُوۡرُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الۡاَرۡضِ ؕ
Meaning: Ism e Allah Zaat ( اَللّٰہُ ) is the light of the heavens and the earth. (An-Nur 35)
Ism e Azam- its Benefits and Significance
- Sultan Bahoo books frequently talk about the benefits of Ism e Allah Zaat. In one of his books he said: From this Divine light (of Ism e Allah Zaat) all the creation manifested and hence, this light is the sustenance of all the creation. (Majalisa-tul-Nabi)
This means that Allah manifested in the form of the Mohammadan light from the light of Ism e Allah Zaat and then he created all the souls of the creation from it. The sustenance of human soul is the light of Ism e Allah Zaat. When one provides the souls with their sustenance, they gain the sight to see Allah Almighty.
The earth and skies are stable because of Ism e Allah Zaat
Sultan ul Arifeen Hazrat Sakhi Sultan Bahoo about Ism e Azam said: The seven layers of earth and skies are stable without any pillar only because of Ism e Allah Zaat. (Ain-ul-Faqr)
“Ism-e-Allah Zaat is believed to be effective only when it is granted by a spiritual leader who has been authorized by the Holy Prophet (S.A.W). If you seek to obtain Sultan ul Azkar Vist Khanqah Sultan ul Ashiqeen, Sultan ul Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman is the current Imam of the Silsila Sarwari Qadri Order.”
