What is Ism-e-Azam?

Respected readers,

Surely, a large majority of you may have heard about the term Ism-e-Azam. The great Sufis have produced enormous works and explanations on this subject based upon the knowledge of Quran. They have listed the benefits and rewards of this invaluable zikr of Allah.

We as ordinary Muslims do not possess the ability and knowledge to completely inform you about Ism-e-Azam, its formulae, deduction and benefits, but with full honesty we will attempt to describe it to the Muslim Ummah. The Quran states:

And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allah, so call on Him by them, and leave the company of those who belie or deny (or utter impious speech against) His Names. They will be requited for what they used to do (7:180)

Say (O Muhammad SAW): "Invoke Allah or invoke the Most Beneficent (Allah), by whatever name you invoke Him (it is the same), for to Him belong the Best Names. And offer your Salat (prayer) neither aloud nor in a low voice, but follow a way between. (17:110)

Let us understand the purpose of this revelation (shan-e-nuzool) of the above ayah of Surah Isra (17):

“One night the leader of both worlds, Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was doing zirk of Allah in the blessed Ka’ba. In Sajdah he was loudly saying Ya Allah and then Ya Rahman. When Abu Jahl saw this, he told his colleagues “look, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) tells us not to bow down to and call to extra Gods, but today is calling to Gods himself. Sometimes he calls Allah and sometimes he calls Rahman”. Immediately this ayah was revealed, in which this doubt was removed that Allah and Rahman are not two different names of two different beings, but are the names of the necessary being known as Allah. Allah is the Ism-e-Zaati (personal) and Rahman is His attribute.

Tafseer Naeemi states in relation to the ayah of Sura Isra: “asking dua is an act of worship, obedience and helplessness, and so therefore, when a dua is asked from Allah, it should be through His names and attributes. Whether His Zaati name is used or his attributes, both are acceptable but it must be noted that at the time of dua, no other names must be used except His names.