Al-ʻAfūw
al-ʻAfūw (Arabic: العفو) is one of the names of God in Islam. It means The Pardoner, The Most Forgiving, The Effacing, The Eliminator of Sins. It is one of the 99 Names of God used by Muslims to refer to God, and is described in Qur'an and Sunnah.
Linguistic translation of Afuw
Afuw is said to come from the root 'a-f-a which has the following classical Arabic connotations:
- to forgive, pardon
- 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
- to make unapparent, imperceptible
- to give spontaneously, to give without constraint
- to give more than what is due
Occurrence in Quran
As a name of God, Al-’Afuw can be found in the Quran five times. It is linked several times with Al-Ghafoor (4:43,[1] 4:99,[2] 22:60,[3] 58:2[4]) and once with Al-Qadeer (4:149[5]).
Occurrence in Hadith
In At-Tirmidhi by Imam Tirmidhi in Book 9, Hadith 1195, it is mentioned:
Hazrat Aisha (R.A) asked Prophet Muhammad: "O Messenger of Allah! If I realize Lailat-ul-Qadr (Night of Decree), what should I supplicate in it?" He (ﷺ) replied, "You should supplicate:
Allahumma innaka 'afuwwun, tuhibbul-'afwa, fa'fu 'anni
الْلَّهُمَّ اِنَّكَ عَفُوٌّ تُحِبُّ الْعَفْوَ فَاعْفُ عَنَّي
'O Allah, You are The Forgiver, You Love Forgiveness, so Forgive me'.
References
- ^ "Surah An-Nisa - Al-Qur'an al-Kareem - القرآن الكريم". quran.com.
- ^ "Surah An-Nisa - Al-Qur'an al-Kareem - القرآن الكريم". quran.com.
- ^ "Surah Al-Haj - Al-Qur'an al-Kareem - القرآن الكريم". quran.com.
- ^ "Surah Al-Mujadila - Al-Qur'an al-Kareem - القرآن الكريم". quran.com.
- ^ "Surah An-Nisa - Al-Qur'an al-Kareem - القرآن الكريم". quran.com.
