Qur’ān, where we are repeatedly told that while good is rewarded ten times over or even more, evil is either forgiven or requited with its equivalent. In one place, indeed, the unbounded mercy of the Divine Being is said to be so great that “He forgives sins altogether” (39:53). Hence the attributive name Mālik is introduced to link the idea of requital with that of forgiveness, and that is why, while the Opening chapter mentions the name Mālik as the next in importance to Raḥīm, in the body of the Holy Qur’ān it is the name Ghafūr (Forgiving) which occupies that place of importance, the first two, Raḥmān and Raḥīm, along with the cognate verb forms, occurring some 560 times, and Ghafūr, the next in point of frequency, occurring in its noun and verb forms about 230 times. Hence it will be seen that the Holy Qur’ān gives prominence to the attributes of love and mercy in God to an extent whereof the parallel is not to be met with in any other revealed book.
From the explanations thus given of the four names Rabb, Raḥmān, Raḥīm and Mālik, from the frequency of their mention in the Holy Qur’ān, to which no approach is made by any other name, and from their mention in the Opening chapter of the Holy Qur’ān, it is clear that these four names are the chief attributive names of the Divine Being, and all His other attributes are but offshoots of these four essential attributes. On the basis of a report from Abū Hurairah, which, however, is regarded as weak (gharīb) by Tirmidhī, ninety-nine names of God are generally mentioned, the hundredth being Allāh; but while some of them occur in the Holy Qur’ān, others are only inferred from some act of the Divine Being, as finding expression in the Holy Book. There is, however, no authority whatsoever for the practice of repeating these names on a rosary or otherwise. Neither the Holy Prophet, nor any of his Companions ever used a rosary. In the Holy Qur’ān, it is said: “And Allāh’s are the best names, so call on Him thereby, and leave alone those who violate the sanctity of His names” (7:180). The context shows that calling on God by His excellent names only means that nothing derogatory to His dignity should be attributed to Him; for, in the second part of the verse, those who