Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
The Names of Allah are tawqifi (determined by revelation). This means that we may not affirm a name for Allah merely because its meaning is good or because it indicates a perfect attribute. Rather, we must refer to what has been established in the Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah.
Allah says:
“And to Allah belong the Most Beautiful Names, so call upon Him by them.”
[Al-A‘raf 7:180]
Therefore, when affirming the Names of Allah, scholars are careful to adhere to the expressions established in the revealed texts.
Allah says in the Qur’an:
“The Exalter of ranks, Owner of the Throne.”
[Ghafir 40:15]
However, the word “Ar-Rafi‘” does not appear in this verse as an unrestricted, independent Name. Rather, it appears in the expression “Rafi‘ ad-Darajat” (Exalter of ranks).
For this reason, scholars have differed over whether “Ar-Rafi‘” should be counted among the Most Beautiful Names of Allah.
Some scholars included it among Allah’s Names, including Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar, may Allah have mercy on him. Other scholars also mentioned it when compiling the Divine Names from the texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah.
Others held that it is preferable not to use “Ar-Rafi‘” by itself as a Name of Allah, because the Qur’an does not use it independently in this form; rather, it occurs as “Rafi‘ ad-Darajat.”
It is authentically reported that the Prophet ﷺ said:
“Allah has ninety-nine Names, one hundred minus one; whoever enumerates them will enter Paradise.”
Agreed upon by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.
However, the authentic hadith does not list these Names one by one.
A narration reported by At-Tirmidhi contains a list of the ninety-nine Names and includes “Ar-Rafi‘.” However, a number of leading hadith scholars held that the list of Names in this narration is not authentically established as the words of the Prophet ﷺ, but was inserted by some narrators.
Furthermore, the Prophet’s ﷺ statement that Allah has ninety-nine Names does not mean that Allah’s Names are limited to this number. Other evidence indicates that Allah has Names whose knowledge He has kept to Himself.
Scholars exercised scholarly judgment in deriving the Most Beautiful Names of Allah from the Qur’an and Sunnah. They agreed on many Names but differed regarding some of them according to the criteria each scholar adopted for establishing a Divine Name.
Among the Names concerning which this difference occurred is “Ar-Rafi‘.”
Those who affirmed it relied on Allah’s statement “Rafi‘ ad-Darajat” or on some narrations listing the Divine Names, based on a scholarly interpretation recognized by some scholars.
Those who did not count it among the Most Beautiful Names noted that the Qur’anic text does not use “Ar-Rafi‘” as an independent Name, but mentions it in the expression “Rafi‘ ad-Darajat.”
There is no explicit statement in the authentic texts that uses “Ar-Rafi‘” alone as an independent Name of Allah. Rather, the Qur’an states:
“Rafi‘ ad-Darajat, Owner of the Throne.”
[Ghafir 40:15]
Therefore, scholars differed regarding it: some included it among the Most Beautiful Names, while others did not.
The safer and more cautious approach concerning Allah’s Names is to restrict ourselves to the Names that are clearly established as Names of Allah in the Qur’an or authentic Sunnah, while affirming what Allah has stated about Himself in the expression “Rafi‘ ad-Darajat.”
And Allah knows best.