Names of Allah

LO: to explore five names of Allah and to learn their meanings.

SC I am able to identify names of Allah. I am able to recall names of Allah with its meaning. I am able to recall a story behind a name of Allah.

Activity 1 In pairs try to recall as many names of Allah with the meanings.

Al-Qādir: The All Powerful. Allāh can do whatever he wants and nobody can stop him. Aṣ-Ṣamad: The Independent. He does not need anyone. Everyone is in need of Him. Al-Mujīb: The One Who answers our duʿās. He loves those who ask from Him. Ar-Razzāq: The Provider. He gives us all the things we need. Allāh sends down rain, which helps the plants grow. Al-Khāliq: The Creator. He created us and the whole universe. He made everything the way it is.

Activity 2 Using the flashcards learn the names of Allah with its meanings.

Activity 3 In groups read the stories and match it with a name of Allah.

Al-Qadir The All Powerful When the Muslims went to Egypt in the time of Umar, the water of the River Nile would become shallow. It was the belief of the Egyptian people that if they sacrificed a beautiful young girl by throwing her into the river, it would fill up with water again. This was very strange and worrying for the Muslims. So they wrote to Umar explaining the situation. So Umar turned to Allah. He knew only Allah could make the river flow again. So he sent a letter to give to the River Nile. The letter said, ‘O River! If you flow according to your own wish then we do not need you but if you flow according to the will of Allah, then we ask you to rise and not become shallow again.’ All the people gathered to see what would happen to the River Nile. To their amazement, it started flowing again. This is how Allah showed his power to the people. The River Nile has never become shallow again after that.

As-Samad Humans need air to breathe, water to drink and food to eat. Just like us other creations in the universe also rely on different things. Allah does not rely on anything at all. The Prophet (saw) said that Allah says: ‘O My servants! If you and the Jinn were to stand on one place and each of you were to wish whatever he wanted, I will be able to grant you all your wishes in one go but nothing will decrease in My Kingdom, not even the amount of a tiny droplet of water at the end of a needle if it were dipped in the ocean.

Al-Khaliq The Creator. He created the humans from clay, angels from light and Jinns from fire. He made our bodies, gave us skin colour and made us special. He created the mountains, the seas, the sun , the moon and the trees. In fact, he created everything.

Ar-Razzaq The Provider Allah sends down rain which helps the plants grow. The plants become food for us and for the animals too. Without Allah we would not have any food to eat or clothes to wear. The Prophet said that Allah says: ‘O My servants! All of you are hungry except for those whom I have fed, so ask Me to give you food and I shall feed you. O My servants! All of you are without clothes except those whom I have clothed, so ask Me for clothes and I will clothe you.’

Al-Mujib The One who answers our duas The Prophet said, ‘Three people were once on a journey and they faced a storm. The three of them went into a cave to take shelter. Suddenly, a rock fell from the mountain and blocked the entrance. There was no way to get out. So they all turned to Allah and made dua to Him. Each of them remembered something they did for the sake of Allah and said to Him, ‘O Allah if I really did this for your sake then remove this rock from the entrance’. After the first persons dua, Allah moved the rock slightly but it was not enough for them to come out. The same happened with the second persons dua, but on the third persons dua Allah moved it enough for them to come out.’