All praise is due to Allah, and may blessings and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
The Qur’an establishes that Allah has counted all things precisely. However, Al-Muḥṣī does not occur as a name in the Qur’an or authentic Sunnah, and the narration enumerating the names that includes it is weak. Nevertheless, a number of scholars have counted it among the Most Beautiful Names. The fatwa presents these views without concluding with an explicit preference for either including or excluding it.
Enumeration is established in the Qur’an
Allah speaks of His encompassing all things and counting them, saying:
“He encompasses whatever is with them and has counted all things precisely.” [Al-Jinn 72:28]
He also says:
“We have recorded all things in a clear register.” [Yā Sīn 36:12]
What these two verses establish is enumeration expressed as a verb. According to the fatwa, the word Al-Muḥṣī in the form of a name does not occur in the Qur’an or authentic Sunnah.
This distinction matters: asking whether a particular name is established differs from asking whether its meaning is correct. Allah’s enumeration of all things is established by the text. The question here concerns counting Al-Muḥṣī among His Most Beautiful Names.
The meaning of “Al-Muḥṣī” according to scholars who affirmed it
Al-Khaṭṭābī explains Al-Muḥṣī as the One who encompasses and counts all things through His knowledge. Nothing minute escapes Him, nothing immense is beyond His power, and no matter distracts Him from another.
This includes the movements, breaths, and deeds of His creatures, whether good or evil. None of these is lost, even if those who performed them forget. He cites Allah’s statement:
“What is with this record that it leaves nothing small or great without counting it?” [Al-Kahf 18:49]
And:
“Allah has kept account of it, while they have forgotten it.” [Al-Mujādilah 58:6]
See Shaʾn al-Duʿāʾ (1/79).
Abū Bakr ibn al-ʿArabī explains the distinction in meaning between knowledge and enumeration: knowledge concerns knowing things and their disclosure, while enumeration concerns encompassing them and knowing their number without heedlessness or forgetfulness. He summarizes this by saying: “Al-Muḥṣī is the One who knows the number.” See Al-Amad al-Aqṣā (2/36–37).
The perfection of Allah’s knowledge and enumeration
In explaining this name, Ibn al-ʿArabī mentions meanings indicating the perfection of Allah’s knowledge. These include that He knows the number of that which has no end and that the multitude of things does not distract Him from knowing them.
The falling of leaves, the sowing of seeds, and the changing conditions of everything moist and dry are all known to Him and counted. He also mentions that all of this is written down in detail.
The purpose of this explanation is to show that Allah’s enumeration is perfect: it is unaffected by heedlessness, unhindered by great numbers, and nothing is hidden from Him. Ibn al-ʿArabī presents these meanings as part of his explanation of the name he counted among Allah’s Most Beautiful Names.
The narration enumerating the names that includes “Al-Muḥṣī”
Al-Muḥṣī appears in the version transmitted through Al-Walīd ibn Muslim of the hadith enumerating the names. It is recorded by Al-Tirmidhī (3507), Ibn Ḥibbān (808), Al-Bayhaqī in Al-Asmāʾ wa-l-Ṣifāt (6), and Ibn Mandah in Al-Tawḥīd (361).
However, the fatwa explains that this narration is weak. Its inclusion of the name should therefore not be presented as established through an authentic hadith.
The presence of a word in a transmitted list of names is not, by itself, sufficient to authenticate its attribution to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. The grading of the narration transmitting it must be taken into account.
Scholarly views on counting it among the names
A number of scholars have counted Al-Muḥṣī among the Most Beautiful Names, including Al-Khaṭṭābī, Al-Ḥalīmī, Al-Bayhaqī, Ibn al-ʿArabī, Al-Sharbāṣī, and Nūr al-Ḥasan Khān. See Muʿtaqad Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah fī Asmāʾ Allāh al-Ḥusnā by Dr. Muḥammad ibn Khalīfah al-Tamīmī (p. 244).
Ibn al-ʿArabī states that it occurs in the Qur’an as a verb, not as a name. He mentions its occurrence in the narration enumerating the names and then reports consensus, saying: “The Muslim community has unanimously agreed upon it.” See Al-Amad al-Aqṣā (2/35).
This is Ibn al-ʿArabī’s report of consensus as quoted by the fatwa, alongside its observation that the word does not occur as a name in the Qur’an or authentic Sunnah. After presenting these quotations, the fatwa does not add an explicit ruling that settles the issue.
Conclusion
Allah’s enumeration of all things is established in the Qur’an. As for Al-Muḥṣī as a name, the fatwa states that its occurrence is not established in the Qur’an or authentic Sunnah, although a number of scholars counted it among the Most Beautiful Names and Ibn al-ʿArabī reported consensus on it. A definitive conclusion that the fatwa did not explicitly state should therefore not be attributed to it.
And Allah knows best.