Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
Allah’s Name “Al-Majid” (المجيد) is established in the Qur’an and Sunnah and is among the Beautiful Names whose authenticity is agreed upon. As for “Al-Majid” (الماجد), scholars have differed over whether it is established as one of Allah’s Names, because the hadiths in which it appears are disputed in terms of authenticity. The meanings of the two words are closely related, but “Al-Majid” (المجيد) is more emphatic in expressing the perfection, greatness, and vastness of majesty and glory.
Allah Almighty says:
“Indeed, He is Praiseworthy, Most Glorious.”
[Hud 11:73]
And He says:
“And He is the All-Forgiving, the Most Loving, Owner of the Throne, the Most Glorious.”
[Al-Buruj 85:14–15]
It is also authentically established in the prayer upon the Prophet ﷺ:
“O Allah, send Your blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad... Indeed, You are Praiseworthy, Most Glorious.”
[Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim]
The meaning of Al-Majid is: the One characterized by immense glory and majesty. Majd includes greatness, vastness, honor, generosity, and the perfection of Attributes.
Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sa‘di (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“Al-Majid is the One who possesses immense glory, and glory means the greatness and vastness of the Attributes.”
Allah is perfect in His knowledge, mercy, power, wisdom, forbearance, and all His other Attributes. Every one of His Attributes is at the utmost degree of perfection and greatness.
For this reason, the Name “Al-Majid” is among the Names that indicate a collection of meanings of perfection and majesty, rather than only a single meaning.
Scholars have differed regarding the Name “Al-Majid” (الماجد).
Some scholars counted it among Allah’s Beautiful Names and relied upon hadiths in which this wording appears, including a narration containing the words:
“That is because I am Generous, Majid, and Self-Sufficient.”
The word “Al-Majid” also appears in some narrations listing the ninety-nine Names of Allah.
However, another group of scholars did not establish this Name because the hadith containing it is disputed in authenticity, and because many hadith scholars do not consider the narrations that list the ninety-nine Names one by one in that exact form to be authentically traced back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Therefore, the safer and clearer wording is:
“Al-Majid” (المجيد) is unquestionably established, while there is scholarly disagreement over whether “Al-Majid” (الماجد) is established as one of Allah’s Names.
In Arabic, majd conveys meanings of honor, generosity, and abundance.
Al-Majid can refer to one who possesses great honor, generosity, and abundant giving.
If this Name is affirmed for Allah Almighty, its meaning would be: the One characterized by perfect honor, generosity, bounty, and greatness.
Thus, its general meaning is very close to the meaning of Al-Majid (المجيد).
From a linguistic perspective, the Arabic pattern fa‘il (فعيل) in Al-Majid (المجيد) is more emphatic in this context than the pattern fa‘il (فاعل) in Al-Majid (الماجد).
Ibn Manzur mentioned:
“Al-Majid... the form fa‘il is more emphatic than fa‘il.”
Thus, Al-Majid (الماجد) indicates one who possesses glory.
Whereas Al-Majid (المجيد) indicates the perfection, vastness, greatness, and firmly established nature of that glory.
For this reason, the Name Al-Majid (المجيد) carries a broader and stronger indication of the greatness and perfection of Allah’s Attributes.
Majd, when attributed to Allah Almighty, includes tremendous meanings such as:
greatness, majesty, honor, vastness, generosity, and the perfection of Attributes.
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
“As for majesty and glory, it necessarily entails greatness, vastness, and majesty.”
Therefore, majd does not merely mean generosity. Rather, it is a broad meaning that encompasses the Attributes of greatness, perfection, and majesty.
He also said:
“He is Al-Majid; His Attributes are descriptions of greatness.”
The methodology of Ahl as-Sunnah is that Allah’s Names are tawqifi, meaning that they are only affirmed on the basis of authentic evidence.
Therefore, whoever regards the hadith containing “Al-Majid” (الماجد) as authentic may affirm it, while whoever does not consider the evidence authentic does not count it among Allah’s Beautiful Names.
As for “Al-Majid” (المجيد), there is no dispute regarding its establishment because it appears explicitly in the Qur’an and authentic Sunnah.
“Al-Majid” (المجيد) is an established Name of Allah Almighty. It indicates the perfection of glory and the greatness and vastness of His Attributes, and linguistically it is more emphatic than “Al-Majid” (الماجد).
As for “Al-Majid” (الماجد), its meaning is close to that of Al-Majid and indicates abundant honor, generosity, and giving. However, scholars have differed over whether it is established as one of Allah’s Names due to disagreement concerning the authenticity of the evidence in which it appears.
Therefore, the stronger and more firmly established usage is the Name “Al-Majid” (المجيد), while one should not condemn those who affirm “Al-Majid” (الماجد) based on evidence they regard as authentic.
And Allah knows best.