The name Abu al-A‘la

Question

Question: Was Abu al-A‘la (ابو الاعلیٰ) the name of any of the noble Companions ﵃ or of the friends of Allah (awliya’), or not? Further, is there anything objectionable in this name from the point of view of the Shari‘a or not? If giving the name Abu al-A‘la is correct, then giving the names Abu al-Rahman, Abu al-Jabbar, Abu al-Ghaffar and the like should also be correct, because just as al-Rahman is a name-attribute of God, so too al-A‘la is a name-attribute of God. I hope you will give correct guidance on this.

Answer

“Al-A‘la” (the highest) is not an exclusive attribute such that applying it to anyone else would be incorrect. In the Noble Qur’an, in the story of Musa ﵇, it is said: [ar]قُلْنَا لَا تَخَفْ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْأَعْلَىٰ[/ar] “We said: ‘Do not fear; you are indeed the uppermost’” (Surah Ta Ha, 20:68).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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