Praise be to Allah.
Knowledge of the names and attributes of Allaah is of major importance in the life of the Muslim. Through them the Muslim may come to know about his Creator, may He be exalted, and through this knowledge he may attain all aspects of Tawheed.
In the answer to question no. 4043 we have explained the importance of knowing the names of Allaah, may He be exalted. Please refer to this question.
Secondly:
The names of Allaah are not limited to a specific number. There is a saheeh report from which some people understand that Allaah has only ninety-nine names. This report was narrated bu al-Bukhaari (2736) and Muslim (2677) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him), and says that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Allaah has ninety-nine names, one hundred less one. Whoever learns them will enter Paradise.”
Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) narrated that the scholars were unanimously agreed that the names of Allaah are not limited to this number. In the answer to question no. 41003 we have quoted the evidence that they cannot be limited to this number, as well as the comments of the scholars refuting those who say that the names of Allaah are limited to this number.
In the answer to question no. 48964 you will find a detailed discussion of the guidelines concerning the names that may correctly be applied to Allaah, may He be exalted.
The hadeeth which is narrated by al-Tirmidhi, listing these ninety-nine names is a da’eef (weak) hadeeth. It was classed as da’eef by Imam al-Tirmidhi (may Allaah have mercy on him) himself and others.
Al-Tirmidhi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, after narrating the hadeeth:
This is a ghareeb hadeeth (i.e., it is weak, as is the apparent meaning of his words here). It was narrated to us by more than one person from Safwaan ibn Saalih, but we only know of it through Safwaan ibn Saalih, and he is thiqah (trustworthy) according to the scholars of hadeeth. This hadeeth was also narrated by more than one person from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet , but in many reports we do not know of any saheeh isnaad mentioning the names except this hadeeth. Adam ibn Abi Iyaas narrated this hadeeth with another isnaad from Abu Hurayrah from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), in which he mentioned the names of Allaah, but its isnaad is not saheeh.
Sunan al-Tirmidhi, 5/530 – 532
The hadeeth was also classed as da’eef by al-Haafiz ibn Hajr in al-Talkhees al-Habeer, 4/172. He also narrated that Ibn Hazm, al-Bayhaqi and others classed it as da’eef.
And it was classed as da’eef by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have mercy on him) in Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 22/482.
Many scholars have striven to derive the names of Allaah from the Qur’aan and Sunnah. One of these scholars is Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen, in his book al-Qawaa’id al-Muthla fi Sifaat Illaahi wa Asmaa’ihi’l-Husna. In this book he lists the names of Allaah in the Qur’aan and Sunnah according to his findings. You can find these names in his book by clicking on the following link:
https://ar.islamway.net/book/25873
Thirdly:
With regard to the attributes of Allaah, may He be exalted, they are more than can be listed here. In the answer to question no. 39803 we have discussed this matter in more detail. Please refer to this question.
In the book mentioned above, Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) has discussed some useful principles concerning the attributes of Allaah, may He be exalted, which you will find by clicking on the following link:
https://ar.islamway.net/book/25873
With regard to striving to learn them according to what is narrated in the Qur’aan and Sunnah, some scholars have striven to list the attributes that are mentioned in the Qur’aan and Sunnah. One of the best books that have been written on this topic is the book of Shaykh ‘Alawi ibn ‘Abd al-Qaadir al-Saqqaaf: Sifaat Allaah ‘azza wa jall al-Waaridah fi’l-Kitaab wa’l-Sunnah. You can read this book on his site by clicking on the following link:
https://dorar.net/article/1221
And Allaah knows best.
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