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Islamic Creed The Names and Attributes of Allah in Islam 728 2026-09-14

Is “Al-Hamil” One of the Beautiful Names of Allah? A Study of the Hadith “O Allah, Carry, for You Are the Carrier”

Question
How authentic is the hadith narrated by Abu Nu‘aym al-Isfahani, in which the Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said: “O Allah, carry, for You are the Carrier.” Can this hadith be used as evidence to affirm “Al-Hamil” (the Carrier) as a Name of Allah Almighty and count it among the Beautiful Names of Allah?
Answer

 

All praise is due to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:

The hadith mentioned is not authentically established from the Prophet ﷺ because its chain of transmission is weak. Therefore, it cannot be used as evidence to affirm “Al-Hamil” as one of the Beautiful Names of Allah. We have also not found any recognized scholar who counted “Al-Hamil” among the Names of Allah Almighty.

First: Source of the Hadith and the Status of Its Chain of Transmission

Abu Nu‘aym al-Isfahani narrated the mentioned hadith in Ma‘rifat al-Sahabah. It states that when the Prophet ﷺ placed his belongings down from his mount, he said:

“O Allah, carry, for You are the Carrier.”

The narration then mentions the story of a young boy whose hand had been broken. The Prophet ﷺ passed his hand over it, and it became straight again. He then instructed the boy to eat with his right hand. After that, the elderly man who was the leader of his people accepted Islam.

At first glance, the chain of transmission contains trustworthy narrators. However, it includes ‘Ata ibn al-Sa’ib, who was originally trustworthy but experienced memory confusion later in life. Hadith scholars therefore distinguished between those who heard from him before this confusion and those who heard from him afterward.

Second: Why the Hadith Was Graded Weak

Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, may Allah have mercy on him, mentioned that several narrators heard from ‘Ata ibn al-Sa’ib before his memory became confused. Among them were Shu‘bah, Sufyan al-Thawri, Zuhayr ibn Mu‘awiyah, Za’idah, Ayyub, and Hammad ibn Zayd. Narrations from others who transmitted from him are considered weak because of the possibility that they heard from him after his memory had become confused, although there is some scholarly disagreement regarding certain narrators.

The narrator from ‘Ata ibn al-Sa’ib in this hadith is Abu al-Ahwas Sallam ibn Sulaym, and scholars held that he most likely heard from ‘Ata after his memory had become confused.

Ibn Abi Hatim, may Allah have mercy on him, said when discussing the differing narrations from ‘Ata ibn al-Sa’ib that the narration of al-Thawri from him was the closest to being correct, and he did not rely on the narrations of Jarir, Abu al-Ahwas, and Nasr ibn Abi al-Ash‘ath.

Accordingly, the chain of transmission of this hadith is weak, and matters concerning the Names of Allah Almighty cannot be established through it.

Third: Is “Al-Hamil” One of the Names of Allah?

We have not found any recognized scholar who counted “Al-Hamil” among the Beautiful Names of Allah.

The principle regarding the Names of Allah Almighty is that the Divine Names are tawqifi, meaning that Allah is only named with what He named Himself in His Book or what His Messenger ﷺ named Him in the authentic Sunnah.

It is not sufficient that a word carries a correct meaning with regard to Allah Almighty or that it is derived from an action or attribute established for Him. Rather, there must be evidence establishing that the Name itself may be applied to Him.

Therefore, even if the linguistic meaning of “Al-Hamil” is correct in relation to Allah, that alone is not sufficient to make it one of the Beautiful Names of Allah.

Conclusion

The hadith “O Allah, carry, for You are the Carrier” is not authentically established from the Prophet ﷺ. Its chain of transmission is weak because Abu al-Ahwas narrated it from ‘Ata ibn al-Sa’ib after the latter’s memory had become confused.

Furthermore, it has not been established that recognized scholars counted “Al-Hamil” among the Beautiful Names of Allah. Therefore, it is not correct to affirm this as a Name of Allah Almighty on the basis of this hadith.

And Allah knows best.