All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
It is not established through authentic reports that “Al-Da’im,” “Al-Baqi,” or “Al-Munir” are among the Beautiful Names of Allah, because none of the hadiths that enumerate these names in a list are authentic. Nevertheless, some scholars included some of these terms among the Names of Allah based on their scholarly interpretation of the texts and the meanings of the Divine Names.
Therefore, it is important to distinguish between a meaning being established as true of Allah and the specific term itself being established as one of His Beautiful Names.
The term “Al-Da’im” appears in some narrations, including:
“Do not insult time, for Allah is Al-Da’im, and Allah is Ad-Dahr.”
However, the additional phrase “for Allah is Al-Da’im” has not been authentically established.
The name “Al-Da’im” also appears in some versions of the hadith enumerating the Beautiful Names, but those narrations are weak.
Therefore, “Al-Da’im” is not established as one of Allah’s Names on the basis of an authentic hadith.
Nevertheless, the meaning of Allah’s everlasting existence and permanence is true. Allah is not subject to death or annihilation. But the correctness of a meaning does not necessarily mean that every term expressing that meaning is one of Allah’s Names.
The name “Al-Munir” appears in one of the narrations enumerating the Beautiful Names, but that narration is weak.
There is no independent authentic hadith establishing “Al-Munir” as one of Allah’s Names.
Therefore, it is not correct to state with certainty that it is one of the Beautiful Names merely because it appears in that narration.
This issue demonstrates the importance of the principle that Allah’s Names are established only through revelation, so no name may be affirmed without authentic evidence.
The term “Al-Baqi” also appears in several narrations enumerating the Beautiful Names, but their chains of transmission are weak.
Nevertheless, a number of scholars counted it among Allah’s Names, including Al-Khattabi, Ibn Mandah, Al-Halimi, Al-Bayhaqi, Ibn Al-‘Arabi, Al-Qurtubi, and others.
For this reason, scholars differed concerning it.
As for its meaning, there is no doubt that Allah remains forever and is never subject to annihilation, but the Name established in the revealed texts is “Al-Akhir” (the Last).
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“O Allah, You are the First and there is nothing before You, and You are the Last and there is nothing after You.”
[Narrated by Muslim]
The Name “Al-Akhir” indicates Allah’s everlasting existence and eternity.
Therefore, some scholars said that “Al-Baqi” is not established as an independent Divine Name, although it is correct to describe Allah as remaining forever.
This is one of the most important points in this issue.
Not every expression that may correctly be used when speaking about Allah is necessarily one of His Beautiful Names.
It may be correct to say that Allah is ever-remaining or everlasting in meaning, because Allah neither perishes nor ceases to exist. But this does not mean that “Al-Baqi” and “Al-Da’im” have been established as revealed Names of Allah.
The category of expressions that may correctly be used when speaking about Allah is broader than the category of His Beautiful Names. Divine Names require specific evidence establishing them.
It is authentically reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Indeed, Allah has ninety-nine names, one hundred minus one; whoever enumerates them will enter Paradise.”
[Narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
However, the narrations that list these names one by one have not been authenticated by the majority of hadith scholars.
This is why the lists of Allah’s Beautiful Names compiled by scholars differ.
A name may appear in one scholar’s list but not in another’s, depending on each scholar’s interpretation of the textual evidence and the criteria used for establishing a Divine Name.
Yes.
Scholars who devoted attention to collecting Allah’s Names from the Quran and Sunnah differed regarding some names, with some including terms that others omitted.
The reason is that the Beautiful Names were not transmitted in an authentic hadith as one complete and fixed list. Rather, scholars derived the Names from the revealed texts.
Therefore, disagreement over terms such as “Al-Baqi” and similar expressions is a matter of scholarly interpretation.
However, the principle agreed upon by Ahl al-Sunnah is that Allah’s Names are established only through revelation and cannot be affirmed merely through analogy or personal preference.
It is not established through authentic reports that “Al-Da’im,” “Al-Munir,” or “Al-Baqi” are among the Beautiful Names of Allah, because the hadiths in which these names are enumerated are weak.
As for “Al-Baqi,” a number of scholars included it among the Beautiful Names, while others did not establish it as such.
Likewise, the meaning of “Al-Da’im” is correct regarding Allah, but it is not established as a Divine Name through an authentic report.
As for “Al-Munir,” it has likewise not been established through authentic evidence.
The more precise wording is: Allah is Ever-Remaining and Everlasting and never perishes, but the truth of a meaning does not necessarily establish the specific term as one of His Beautiful Names.
And Allah knows best.