Rahman is a Name, not an Attribute of Allah

Submitted by Ali (United States), Dec 12, 2012 at 21:48

Assalamu Alayki sister,

Most of what you said is true, but you are wrong on one point. As a Muslim you should always tell the truth, and I know it was not your intentions, but you lied.

Rahman is a totally different name for God. In fact the Qur'an says "Call him by Allah OR by Rahman, whatever NAME you like...". Raheem, Salam, etc. are Sifats (Attributes) of God, not Names. Allah was used in Northern Arabia and Syria mostly. Rahman was used in Southern Arabia(Hejaz) and Yemen. They both were used by Christians, Pagans, and even Jews before Islam to refer to The Creator.

If you read the Qur'an in chronological order (Sura 96 onwards) it never uses Allah until about 14 suras in. Rahman means the Almighty in Arabic, not Most-Gracious or whatever people call it. It does have the RHM root, but it was used as a NAME, not a word. Look up Rahman everywhere it's used in the Qur'an, it always conveys a sense of 'wrath and power,' not butterflies.

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