Question:
Assalaamu Alaikum wrwb. Rabbi ul Awwal mubarak.
Can you tell me something about the merits and benefits of reciting Dua Gandjul Arsh and if there is history to how this dua came into existence. And should this dua be used? Thanks alot.
Answer:
`Alaykum as-Salam,
The strict and cautious view is to avoid “Du`a Gandjul Arsh” because it is a text mixing some of the known Beautiful Names of Allah and Attributes together with several non-transmitted, unheard of names and attributes such as:
– al-wafi (the loyal)
– al-mu`jiz (the one who incapacitates)
– al-khalis (the unalloyed)
– al-mukhlis (the sincere)
– al-safi (the pure)
– dhul-hayba (the dignified)
– al-fadil (the meritorious)
As you know it is not lawful for anyone to name Allah Most High by other than what He named Himself, or to describe Him by other than what He related of Himself, or what the Prophet said, or the Ummah agreed upon:
<<The meaning of the Names and Attributes being ‘ordained and non-inferable’ (tawqifiyya) is that it is not permitted for anyone to assert an Attribute or a Name for Allah except if there is an explicit text (nass) from Allah Most High or His Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) allowing the use of such a Name or Attribute. . . . Even if the Name or Attribute point to pure perfection, Ahl al-Sunnah hold that it is not permitted to apply either to Allah without a specific permission. The Mu`tazila considered that it is permitted to freely assert [a Name or Attribute] the meaning of which describes Allah, as long as it does not suggest any imperfection.>> (Muhammad Muhyi al-Din `Abd al-Hamid, al-Nizam al-farid bi-tahqiq Jawharat al-tawhid p. 126)
In keeping with this rule Imam al-Bayhaqi (Allah have mercy on him) entitled the first chapter of his Encyclopedia of the Divine Names (al-Asma’ wal-Sifat) thus: “Book of the Names of Allah the Most Exalted and His Attributes to which the Book of Allah Most High points as established, or to which the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (upon him blessings and peace) points, or to which the Consensus of the early Muslims of this Community points, before dissension befell and innovation appeared.”
What is even worse, the online Arabic text of this “Du`a Gandjul Arsh” contains mistakes, some of them horrible such as the misspelling “mu`jaz” which means incapacitated! To say this is blasphemy (ilhad) and it is best to avoid even risking such a terrible mistake.
Some of its syntax shows it was written by a non-Arab speaker. It appears to be known mostly in the Indo-Pakistani continent. Its name appears to be originally Du`a Kanzul Arsh which means the Du`a of the Treasure of the Throne. However, when we say “Kanz al-`Arsh” in the Sunnah we refer to what the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace) himself called by that distinguished name in his hadiths, namely:
(i) the Fatiha;
(ii) Ayat al-Kursi;
(iii) the closing verses of Surat al-Baqara;
(iv) Surat al-Kawthar;
(v) the phrase la hawla wa-la quwwata illa billah.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
