Tafsir of Al-Isra 17:110

Ibn Jarir and Ibn Marduyah recorded from Ibn Abbas: The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was praying in Makkah one day and supplicated to Allah, saying in his supplication: "O Allah, O Most Merciful" (Ya Allah, Ya Rahman). The polytheists said, "Look at this apostate, he forbids us from calling upon two gods, yet he calls upon two gods!" Thus, this verse was revealed.

Ad-Dahhak said: The People of the Scripture said to the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): "You rarely mention Ar-Rahman (the Most Merciful), yet Allah has mentioned this name frequently in the Torah." Thus, this verse was revealed.

According to the first report, the intention is to equalize the two expressions, as they are both terms for a single Essence, even if the consideration differs. Tawhid (monotheism) pertains to the Essence which is the Worshipped, and this aligns with His subsequent saying: {And say, "Praise to Allah, who has not taken a son and has had no partner in [His] dominion."}

According to the second report, the intention is to equalize them in the beauty of their usage and in leading to the intended goal. The People of the Scripture understood Ar-Rahman to be more excellent because it is more beloved to Him, as it is mentioned frequently in their Book. The wisdom behind this—as indicated by the reports—is that Moses (peace be upon him) was quick to anger, so the mention of Ar-Rahman was increased for him so that he would treat his nation with increased mercy; for the Prophets (peace be upon them) adorn themselves with the attributes of Allah.

Al-Qadi Al-Baydawi said: "This necessitates His saying—Exalted is His Name—{Whatever [name] you call - to Him belong the best names}, because characterizing the names as 'the best' implies that those to whom this is said might think one name is more excellent than another, rather than there being a difference in the Essence."

The author of Al-Kashf said: The objective in both interpretations is to equalize the two expressions in their excellence. The difference is that if the equality in excellence is a rebuttal to those who said, "You rarely mention [the Most Merciful]," it means that bringing either of the two excellent names is sufficient. Or, if it is a rebuttal to those who said, "He forbids us from calling upon two gods while he calls [upon two]," it means the difference lies between the two expressions that signify His perfection, not between two perfect beings; thus, the objections are rejected.

It has been countered that the appropriateness of describing the names as "the best" for the second interpretation is clear and undeniable. Al-Tayyibi explained the responses by stating that the objection of the Jews was an expression of the superiority of one name over the other, while the objection of the polytheists was an expression of combining the two expressions. His saying, {Whatever [name] you call}, corresponds to the rebuttal of the Jews because the meaning is: "Whichever of the two names you call upon, it is excellent." This does not apply to the objection of the polytheists. He then said: "This is accepted if 'or' is for choice (disjunction)." It is permissible for it to be for permissibility, and the application is then clear: the polytheists forbade combining the two names, so the rebuttal was to permit the combination of numerous names, let alone the combination of the two names. Furthermore, the answer by "choice" in the rebuttal to the People of the Scripture is not matching because they objected based on preference, and the answer given was equality; whereas "or" requires it. The ready answer would have been: "We have preferred 'Allah' over 'Ar-Rahman' in mention because it encompasses all attributes of perfection, unlike 'Ar-Rahman'."

Al-Jalabi also forbade the responses, noting that the advancement of the predicate in His saying, {To Him belong the best names}, necessitates the rejection of the first [objection], meaning these names belong to Allah, not to others as the polytheists claimed—unless one says "or" is for choice, which is not granted. Rather, it must be for permissibility, because as Al-Radi and others stated, it is permissible to combine the conjoined items or limit oneself to one of them. In a choice, combination is not allowed, whereas here it is allowed. It was defended that the meaning is: "To Allah belong names that agree in excellence, because their signified meanings do not differ in essence, unlike others—Glory be to Him—whose names differ."

Supplication (ad-du'a), according to what Abu Hayyan and a group chose, means "calling" (an-nida). Al-Zamakhshari said: "It is in the sense of naming (at-tasmiyah), not calling." It takes two objects; you say, "I called him Zayd," then one is dropped as unnecessary, so you say "I called Zayd." The origin, as is said, is that it takes the second object with the preposition ba', but it is expanded so the ba' is deleted. The other object here is implied: "Name Him by this name or by this name." The same is said for the second supplication. He reasoned that if it were interpreted by the well-known literal sense, it would lead to either association—that the meanings of the two names differ—or to coupling a thing to itself with "or," which is only allowed with "and" if they are identical. This was challenged by saying that we choose the second [option], and what was mentioned does not necessarily follow because the intent is the utterance—just as you say, "The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) called out with Muhammad or with Ahmad," even though the difference in their concepts is sufficient for its validity.

{Whatever} is a conditional noun, governed by {you call}, and it is a governing and governed element from two sides. The tanwin is a substitute for the omitted genitive, with the estimate: "Whichever of these two names..." The ma is an added particle for emphasis. The sentence {To Him belong the best names} occupies the position of the response to the condition, and it is, in reality, a justification for it. It is as if the origin of the speech was: "Whatever name you call Him by, it is excellent, because to Him—Glory be to Him—belong the best names, of which these two are a part."

Al-Tayyibi said: "He interpreted 'or' as permissibility and addressed the polytheists: The meaning is, 'Call His sanctified Essence by Allah and by the Most Merciful, for they are the same in the correctness of being named by them. So by whichever you name Him, you are correct; and if you name Him by both, you are more correct, because to Him belong the best names, and Allah—Glorified is He—has commanded us to call upon Him by them in His saying, {And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them}.'"

The description of the names as "the best" is due to their indication of that which encompasses all attributes of perfection, such that nothing of them is left out, and what is of the attributes of Majesty, Beauty, and Honor. Know that the apparent meaning of what was narrated from the Jews is that they do not deny the excellence of His other names, but rather they claim that Ar-Rahman is the most beloved, greatest, and most noble of His names due to the frequency of His mention of it in the Torah.

It is indicated by the fact that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) singled out certain names as being the Greatest Name. It was narrated that he heard a man supplicating, saying: "O Allah, I ask You by the fact that I bear witness that there is no god but You, the One, the Eternal Refuge, who neither begets nor is born, and nor is there to Him any equivalent." He (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "By Him in whose hand is my soul, he has asked Allah by His Greatest Name, which, if He is called by it, He answers, and if He is asked by it, He gives."

It was also narrated that he said: "The Greatest Name of Allah is in these two verses: {And your god is one God. There is no deity [worthy of worship] except Him, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful} and the opening of Al-Imran, {Alif, Lam, Mim. Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence}."

And do not recite [too] loudly in your prayer, nor recite [too] quietly, but seek between that an intermediate way.

Ahmad, Al-Bukhari, Muslim, At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasa'i, Ibn Hibban, and others recorded from Ibn Abbas: "This was revealed when the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was hiding in Makkah. When he prayed with his companions, he would raise his voice with the Quran. When the polytheists heard that, they would revile the Quran, the One who revealed it, and the one who brought it. So Allah—Exalted is He—said to His Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): {And do not recite [too] loudly in your prayer}—meaning your recitation—so that the polytheists do not hear and revile the Quran. {Nor recite [too] quietly} from your companions so that they do not hear the Quran until they learn it from you. {But seek between that an intermediate way}—meaning between loud recitation and quiet recitation."