His Eminence, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Prof. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, said that Allah's two names, Ad-Dar and An-Nafi, have not been mentioned in the Qur’an as such. They come from the roots, Darra and Nafa’a, and they are not mentioned in the Quran in the active participle form. The Grand Imam pointed out that these utterances do not involve direct denotation that Allah is Benefactor (An-Nafi’) and Afflicter (Ad-Dar). However, they necessitate that if you do not logically ascribe the attributes An-Nafi’ and Ad-Dar to Allah Almighty, the texts containing these words would be invalid. He added that Qur’anic texts do not directly mention Allah’s names An-Nafi’ (the Benefactor) and Ad-Dar (Afflicter), yet they conceptually indicate that none other than the Almighty can bring benefit or harm; otherwise, the proposed argument would be invalid.

 

 

During the twenty-fourth episode of his Ramadan TV program, Imam Al-Tayyeb Talk, the Grand Imam reviewed what the Eminent Andalusian scholar, Abu Bakr ibn Al-`Arabi, noted about the harm that befalls a person. Ibn Al-`Arabi believed that such worldly harm is not actually called harm unless you call effective medicine harm. Likewise, Almighty Allah may bring harm to a person only for a benefit to that person. Hence, it would not be called harmful or bad, though it might be painful. This is because Allah’s acts cannot be described as bad. He added that when you know that the harm inflicted upon a person is meant for a consequential benefit, you wouldn’t see it as unjust or bad. He concluded that the real harm is the torment in Hellfire, while the real benefit is access to Paradise. In this sense, Almighty Allah brings harm and benefit, though He does it perfectly duly to those deserving it.