Ar-Rahman

The One who shows mercy, forgives, spares, and bestows blessings upon every living being. Allah Almighty says: "And ask those We sent before you of Our messengers: have We made besides the Most Merciful deities to be worshipped?" (Az-Zukhruf, 45) In this world this attribute embraces both believers and disbelievers, for Allah grants provision in this life to believer and disbeliever alike, without distinguishing between them. Ar-Rahman — meaning the One who never withholds His mercy from His creation in granting provision, meeting needs and bestowing every kind of good — carries a broader meaning than the name Ar-Raheem. Ar-Rahman is both a name and an attribute of Allah Most High. When mentioned alongside the word Allah it carries the sense of an attribute. In the Qur'an, however, it is used not in that way but as a proper name. Because this name belongs to Allah alone, it is considered fitting to mention it on its own rather than attached to another name. Using Ar-Rahman in this way does not conflict with His attribute of mercy, for the name Allah likewise indicates the attribute of divinity and yet has never been mentioned as an attribute belonging to anyone else. The difference between the attributes Ar-Rahman and Ar-Raheem in the Basmala — the opening verse of the Qur'an — is expressed concisely in the saying: Allah Most High is the Rahman of this world and the Raheem of the Hereafter. In keeping with the attribute of Ar-Rahman, Allah Almighty has made it incumbent upon Himself to treat all living creatures in this world with compassion and mercy, and all people without distinction between believer and disbeliever. Allah Most High says in a sacred hadith: "My mercy prevails over My wrath." A reminder: The servant should first show mercy to Allah's heedless servants and strive with all his strength to turn them toward Allah's path through counsel and gentle admonition. In this he should prefer gentleness and compassion over harshness. He should look upon the rebellious with an eye of mercy, not with an eye of scorn and oppression. The believer's chief aim should be to work with all his might to remove every wrongdoing that appears among people — as though it had issued from his own self — and thereby to save them from incurring Allah's wrath.

If a Muslim persists sincerely in this name, saying "Ya Rahman", his heart is softened, he is kept safe from oppressors, and he attains material and spiritual blessings. To receive divine favour, and to love and be loved, it is recited 298 times as "Ya Rahman, jalla jalaluhu". Whoever on a Friday, after the afternoon prayer, turns towards the qibla and continues the remembrance "Ya Allah, jalla jalaluhu" and "Ya Rahman, jalla jalaluhu" until the sun sets, his request is granted without fail. Whoever withdraws into seclusion after the prayer and persists in the remembrance "Ya Rahman, jalla jalaluhu" a hundred times, his heedlessness and forgetfulness leave him. If the noble name "Ar-Rahman" is written with saffron and musk and hung as a plaque in the house of a person of bad character, that house begins to press upon him. God willing, within a short time his character changes for the better and he becomes a person of modesty, mercy and compassion.