Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. To proceed:
It is permissible to describe Allah تعالى as a beloved in the sense that Allah, Glorified and Exalted, is beloved by the believers and that the believer loves Allah تعالى. However, one should not believe that “the Beloved” (al-Ḥabīb) is one of the Beautiful Names of Allah, because the Names of Allah تعالى are established by revelation, and only those supported by evidence may be affirmed. As for supplicating by saying “O my Beloved,” it is preferable to call upon Allah by His established Beautiful Names, such as “O Most Loving” (Yā Wadūd). Nevertheless, if a person says it while intending Allah تعالى, there is no harm in doing so.
Yes, this is correct as a statement describing Allah تعالى, not as a means of establishing a new Name for Him.
The believer loves Allah سبحانه, and Allah تعالى loves His believing servants. Allah تعالى says:
﴿He loves them and they love Him﴾ [al-Mā’idah: 54].
And He سبحانه says:
﴿Indeed, my Lord is Merciful and Loving﴾ [Hūd: 90].
Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهما explained “al-Wadūd” as meaning: the Beloved, and al-Bukhārī mentioned this explanation in a decisive form.
Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله explained that the Name “al-Wadūd” encompasses two meanings: that Allah تعالى loves His close servants and that He is beloved by them. Thus, Allah سبحانه loves His believing servants, and they love Him.
Accordingly, when a Muslim says: “Allah is my beloved,” if he means that Allah تعالى is beloved to him, then the statement is correct in meaning.
Here it is necessary to distinguish between describing Allah and assigning a formal Name to Him.
We do not establish “the Beloved” as one of the Beautiful Names of Allah, because there is no clear, authentic text establishing this as a Name of Allah تعالى.
The Names of Allah تعالى are established by revelation, so it is not permissible to add to them a name that has not been established in the Qur’an or Sunnah.
Thus, saying “Allah is my beloved” as a statement of description differs from saying: “Among Allah’s Names is al-Ḥabīb.”
This distinction is important because the scope of statements describing Allah تعالى is broader than the scope of His established Beautiful Names.
The more complete and preferable approach in supplication is to call upon Allah تعالى by His established Beautiful Names, as He says:
﴿And to Allah belong the Most Beautiful Names, so call upon Him by them﴾ [al-Aʿrāf: 180].
For example, a Muslim may say:
“O Most Loving, have mercy on me.”
or:
“O Lord, have mercy on me.”
or:
“O Most Merciful, O Most Compassionate, forgive me.”
As for saying: “O my Beloved, O Allah,” if it is clear from the context that the person means Allah تعالى, there is no harm in it with regard to the basic principle of supplication. This does not mean that he has established “the Beloved” as a Name of Allah تعالى.
The Permanent Committee has permitted expressions of calling upon Allah such as “O Helper” and “O Facilitator” when Allah تعالى is intended and the context makes the intended meaning clear, and it stated that consideration is given to the supplicant’s intention and the clarity of what is intended.
Nevertheless, it is preferable, and farther from ambiguity, for a Muslim to adhere to the Names established in the revealed texts when supplicating to Allah تعالى.
And Allah knows best.