Supplicating to Allah by His Most Beautiful Names

Q 3: Allah (Exalted be He) says (what means): And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allâh, so call on Him by them How can Allah be supplicated to by His Most Beautiful Names; should He be supplicated to by ten of His Names or more, or can it be just by the Name befitting the reason for the Du‘a’ (supplication)?

A: It is lawful to supplicate to Allah and seek to draw close to Him by His Most Beautiful Names, as Allah (Exalted be He) says: And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allâh, so call on Him by them (Part No. 1; Page No. 158) Imam Ahmad reported a Hadith narrated by Ibn Mas‘ud, that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, “There is no servant who, when stricken by distress and grief, says: ‘O Allah! I am Your servant, son of Your servant, son of Your maidservant; my forelock is in Your hand, Your Decree over me is forever executed and Your Judgment over me is just. I ask You by every Name belonging to You which You have named Yourself with, revealed in Your Book, You taught to any of Your creation, or You have preserved in the knowledge of the Unseen with You, that You make the Qur’an the spring of my heart and the light of my breast, and the dispeller of my sorrow and the remover of my distress),’ but Allah, the Exalted and the Glorious, will surely remove his distress, and replace his grief with joy.” He (peace be upon him) was asked, “O Messenger of Allah! Should we learn these words?” He said, “Yes, anyone who hears them should learn them.” The supplicant may beseech Allah by any of His Most Beautiful Names with which He named Himself or His Messenger (peace be upon him) named Him with. It is preferable to choose the Name that best suits what is being asked for, for example: “O Helper! Help me;” “O Most Merciful! Have mercy upon me;” or “O Lord! Forgive me and have mercy upon me, verily, You are the One Who accepts Tawbah (repentance), the Most Merciful.” May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.