Al-ʻAfūw

Afuw is one of the Names of Allah. It is part of the 99 Names of God, by which Muslims regard God and which are traditionally maintained as described in the Qur'ān, and Sunnah, amongst other places.

Linguistic Translation of Afuw

Afuw is said to come from the root 'a-f-a which has the following classical Arabic connotations: to pass over, forgo, absolve; to obliterate all traces, efface, remove; to kill-off, allow to die; to turn away from punishing, not see, annul; or to make unapparent, imperceptible. Afuw is the one who possesses great ‘afw.

Deeper explanation

Tradionally, it is translated as "Forgiver" and "Pardoner". However, according to the book "Al-Maqsad Al-Asna fi Sharah Asma' Allahu al-Husna" (aka The best means in explaining Allah's Beautiful Names), Imam Al Ghazali defines this Attribute as "The One Who Erases Sin". To have a better understanding how Al-Afuw differs from other Attributes such as Al-Ghaffar and Al-Ghaffur, the following is an excerpt from the translation of Imam Al Ghazali's work by Robert Charles Stade:

"Al-Afu is the One Who erases sins and disregards acts of disobedience. This concept approximates the sense of Al-Ghafur, (the One Who forgives much), though the former is more far-reaching than the latter. For Al-Ghufran indicates a veiling (of the sin) whereas Al-Afu indicates an erasing, and the erasing (of sin) is more far-reaching (than the simple veiling of it)."

Another way to better understand this Attribute is to consider the metaphor which the classical Arabic dictionary, Taj al-Arûs, offers wherein 'afûw is said to be like the desert wind completely obliterating footprints in the sand. The same time of metaphor is used in the book, "Physicians of the Heart: A Sufi View of the 99 Names of Allah". The author states:

"Let’s begin with a physical metaphor that is part of the word’s root meaning: Afu til … (Arabic?). This is an image of the wind blowing across the desert vastness and completely erasing all the tracks in the sand. It is as if no one had ever walked there. Such a fundamental image in the root of the word shows us that with al-‘Afuw, you do not even notice the fault."

Occurrence in Quran

The Name of Allah, Al-’Afuw, can be found in the Quran five times (4:43, 4:99, 4:149, 22:20, 58:2). It is linked several times with Al Ghaffur and atleast once with Al-Qadeer (4:149).

Occurrence in Hadith

It has been related by Imam Tirmidhi that Aisha asked the Islamic Prophet Muhammad “What should I say on Laylat-al-qadr?” He replied, "Say, 'O Allah, You are Al-’Afuww and You Love to ‘afw, so fa’fu me”.

Concept of Allah's Forgiveness

When reading "one-word" translations of the Attributes or Names of Allah, one can be confused as to why there are certain Attributes that are very similar. For example, Al Ghaffar, Al Ghaffur, Al Haleem, Al-Afuw and At Tawwab all seem to belong to the concept of forgiveness. One may ask why there are so many Attributes that deal with one subject. This can be better understood if a person uses the analogy of color. For example, when dealing with children, a typical crayon box will have the basic fundamental colors, such as black, white, blue, green, red etc. However, a person with knowledge knows that one color can have many different shades. When taking the color "blue" into account, it can range from various shades. The child does not understand the concept of different shades of "one" color until he either learns from a teacher or experiences them. Likewise, though forgiveness can be deemed as one subject, Allah was many different Attributes that deal with the different "shades" of forgiveness. It is very, very important to keep in mind that one Attribute of Allah should not be deemed "inferior" to another Attribute.

When contemplating how Allah deals with an individual's forgiveness, the root definition of each of these words help a great deal. In general, an individual has sins that he is aware of and sins that he is not aware of. Al Haleem has been explained to mean that Allah is Forbearing and Clement, where He gives an individual respite, or time to ask Him for forgiveness. Allah is not in haste to punish an individual for his sins. He even at times overlooks sins due to His Attribute of Haleem. Al Ghaffur has been described as meaning Allah is "The Most Forgiving One". He forgives a particular sin, no matter how large it may be. If the person returns to the same sin, Allah is Al Ghaffar, The Very Forgiving One. Al Ghaffar gives the notion that Allah continuously and repetitively forgives an individual for his sins. If an individual returns back to Allah and asks for repentance, it can be accepted due to Allah's Attribute of being Tawwab, the Acceptor of Repentance. Once Allah accepts the repentance of an individual through His Infinite Mercy, He can erase the sin altogether because of His Attribute, Affuw. There would be as though there is no sin at all. Since man is not perfect, he repetitively sins and asks for forgiveness and seeks repentance, so the cycle of Forgiveness can repeat from Allah.