We have already come across the phrase Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem as part of the Basmalah which is accepted by the majority of Muslim scholars to be the first ayah of the Fatihah. But now it comes as the third ayah of the Fatihah. The fact that it comes again so soon after the Basmalah, was one of the main reasons that led scholars such as At-Tabari, who is one of the first major interpreters of the Qur’ān, to believe that the Basmalah is not part of the Fatihah. He argued that repetition with no ayas of a different meaning in between does not exist in the Qur’ān. Of course there is one ayah, which is al-hamdalah in between, but At-Tabari argues, in a rather complicated linguistic argument why he does not consider that ayah to be a real separating ayah. He says that a number of interpreters consider that Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem has been located in this position but in meaning belongs to an earlier word position in the middle of the previous ayah, as if the two ayas read as: “Al-Hamd li-Allah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem Rab Al-Alameen”. He argued that this is common in Arabic and gave an example from the Qur’ān itself, namely the first two ayas of surat Al-Kahf 18 i.e.
الْحَمْد لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ عَلَى عَبْده الْكِتَاب وَلَمْ يَجْعَل لَهُ عِوَجًا. قَيِّمًا
meaning
الْحَمْد لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ عَلَى عَبْده الْكِتَاب قَيِّمًا وَلَمْ يَجْعَل لَهُ عِوَجًا
“Praise be to Allah, Who hath sent to His Servant the Book, and hath allowed therein no Crookedness. Straight (and Clear)” meaning: “Praise be to Allah, Who hath sent to His Servant the Book Straight (and Clear) and hath allowed therein no Crookedness”.
At-Tabari also stated that in “Al-Hamd li-Allah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem Rab Al-Alameen”, Rab Al-Alameen would now would be logically followed by Malik or Malek Yawm Ad-Din, (whichever of the two acceptable readings of the word), a phrase which describes Rab Al-Alameen. But this opinion related to Al-Basmalah does not represent the mainstream opinion. We already discussed the three different opinions concerning the Basmalah.
If we exclude the Basmalah at the beginning of the surahs, we find that the phrase Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem appears in the Qur’ān other than Al-Fatihah in four other surahs. These ayas and their translation are given below:
(1) In surat Al-Baqarah 2/163
وَإِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ الرَّحْمَنُ الرَّحِيمُ
And your God is One God: there is no god but He, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
(2) In surat Al-Naml 27/30
إِنَّهُ مِنْ سُلَيْمَانَ وَإِنَّهُ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
“It is from Sulaiman, and is (as follows): ‘In the name of Allah, Most Gracious Most Merciful’:
(3) In surat Fusilat 41/2
تَنْـزِيلٌ مِنَ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ
A revelation from (Allah), Most Gracious, Most Merciful;
(4) In suat Al-Hasr 59/22
هُوَ اللَّهُ الَّذِي لا إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ هُوَ الرَّحْمَنُ الرَّحِيمُ
Allah is He, than Whom there is no other god; Who knows (all things) both secret and open; He, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
We have already argued in the Basmalah chapter that Ar-Rahman is not translatable and should, therefore, remain in its Arabic form. It is a word in Arabic which is applied only to Allah and is a word which was generally not known to the Arabs before Islam and the revelation of the Qur’ān. The major old Arabic dictionary Lisan Al-Arab states that, according to Abu Al-Hasan, it is a word that was in the books of earlier prophets, but he does not elaborate or give any evidence. The word means one with compassion and mercy beyond any compassion and mercy.
Ar-Rahman has a special place among the commonly known 99 names of Allah and comes immediately after it. This is confirmed by the ayah 110 of Surat Al-Isra’ in the Qur’ān where Allah associated the name Ar-Rahman with his most sacred name which is “Allah”. The ayah starts:قل ادعوا الله أو ادعوا الرحمن أيّا ما تدعوا فله الأسماء الحسنى.. i.e. “Say (O Muhammad): “Invoke Allah or invoke Ar-Rahman, by whatever name you invoke Him (it is the same), for to Him belong the Best Names.”
The 99 names are related by at-Timidhi in what is considered to be a weak hadīth. This hadīth which was related by Abu Hurairah states:
قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إن لله تعالى تسعة وتسعين اسما مائة غير واحد من أحصاها دخل الجنة هو الله الذي لا إله إلا هو الرحمن الرحيم الملك القدوس السلام المؤمن المهيمن العزيز الجبار المتكبر الخالق البارئ المصور الغفار القهار الوهاب الرزاق الفتاح العليم القابض الباسط الخافض الرافع المعز المذل السميع البصير الحكم العدل اللطيف الخبير الحليم العظيم الغفور الشكور العلي الكبير الحفيظ المقيت الحسيب الجليل الكريم الرقيب المجيب الواسع الحكيم الودود المجيد الباعث الشهيد الحق الوكيل القوي المتين الولي الحميد المحصي المبدئ المعيد المحيي المميت الحي القيوم الواجد الماجد الواحد الصمد القادر المقتدر المقدم المؤخر الأول الآخر الظاهر الباطن الوالي المتعالي البر التواب المنتقم العفو الرءوف مالك الملك ذو الجلال والإكرام المقسط الجامع الغني المغني المانع الضار النافع النور الهادي البديع الباقي الوارث الرشيد الصبور
A translation of this hadīth reads: Allaah’s Messenger (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said: “Allaah The Most High has ninety-nine names. He who retains them in his memory will enter Paradise. He is Allaah, other than whom there is none worthy of worship, the Compassionate, the Merciful, the King, the Holy, the Source of Peace, the Preserver of Security, the Protector, the Mighty, the Overpowering, the Great in Majesty, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner, the Forgiver, the Dominant, the Bestower, the Provider, the Decider, the Knower, the Withholder, the Plentiful Giver, the Abaser, the Exalted, the Honourer, the Humiliator, the Hearer, the Seer, the Judge, the Just, the Gracious, the Informed, the Clement, the Incomparably Great, the Forgiving, the Rewarder, the Most High, the Most Great, the Preserver, the Sustainer, the Reckoner, the Majestic, the Generous, the Watcher, the Answerer, the Liberal, the Wise, the Loving, the Glorious, the Raiser, the Witness, the Real, the Trustee, the Strong, the Firm, the Patron, the Praiseworthy, the All-Knowing, the Originator, the Restorer to Life, the Giver of Life, the Giver of Death, the Living, the Eternal, the Self-sufficient, the Grand, the One, the Single, He to Whom men repair, the Powerful, the Prevailing, the Advancer, the Delayer, the First, the Last, the Outward, the Inward, the Governor, the Sublime, the Amply Beneficent, the Acceptor of Repentance, the Avenger, the Pardoner, the Kindly, the Ruler of the Kingdom, the Lord of Majesty and Splendor, the Equitable, the Gatherer, the Independent, the Enricher, the Depriver, the Harmer, the Benefactor, the Light, the Guide, the First Cause, the Enduring, the Inheritor, the Director, the Patient.”(3) (This is as per a translation by Dr. `Umar Al-Ashqar in an internet site, abdurrahman.org/…/hadith99names.html). We consider these translations merely indicative.
Ibn Majah also related a similar hadīth with a few differences in the names. However, both the two hadīths are considered weak and that is probably why al-Bukhari and Muslim did not include them in their Sahihs. There is, however, a consensus among the scholars that Allah’s names are not confined to 99 but there are many more. But the only names and attributes to be ascribed to Allah are those mentioned in the Qur’ān or in the authentic Sunnah as these are directly communicated to us and are not the products of opinion and interpretation.
The other word in the Ayah is Ar-Raheem which means The Merciful. As explained earlier, the word Raheem, unlike the word Rahman, may be applied to people. Raheem is an exaggerated form of the word Rahem راحم, i.e. merciful, but Ar-Rahman is the most exaggerated form of the word. Normally in describing someone, one would proceed from the lesser strong attribute to the stronger one, but once one starts with the stronger attribute there would be no need to use the lesser one. Here the purpose of the use of Ar-Raheem after the more exaggerated form Ar-Rahman is explained by some interpreters as the add-on of finer details of mercy to the main aspects of mercy already covered by the word Ar-Rahman. Lisan Al-Arab also states that Al-Azhari related that Abu Al-Abbas said that Ar-Rahman is a Hebrew word while Ar-Raheem is Arabic, and Allah used the two words together for greater effect.
In the chapter about Al-Basmalah, we have mentioned that the mercy and bounty of Al-Rahman encompasses believers and non-believers, whereas the mercy and bounty of Ar-Raheem is specific for the believers only. It is also said that Allah is Ar-Rahman of/in this world and also the hereafter, whereas He is Ar- Raheem of/in this world: رحمن الدنيا والآخرة ورحيم الدنيا.