Book review

AR REHMANUu
THE COMPASSIONATE ONE
He who is most compassionate. He who is kind. The benevolent one. The beneficent one.

Allah is widely believed to have ninety-nine Names, each of which has a meaning and is indicative of a desirable quality. This copiously researched book contains the most popularly accepted ninety-nine Names of Allah along with several lesser-known titles. These sacred Names are given in Arabic and phonetic English, with English translations and explanatory notes. Enhancing the appeal of the book is a comprehensive introduction. It deals with several canons, each of which differs in the names included and the sequence followed. Drawing upon the views of various scholars regarding the Names and attributes of Allah, the categorization of these Names and, most importantly, the benefits of reciting them, Parvez Dewan gives us perhaps the most thorough and accessible contemporary interpretation of the different aspects of the Supreme Being.


About the author Parvez Dewan was educated at St Stephen’s College, New Delhi, and the University of Cambridge. An officer of the Indian Administrative Service, allotted to Jammu and Kashmir, he is the executive head of the Jammu and Kashmir Haj Committee as well as the divisional commissioner of Kashmir. In his first posting as the sub divisional magistrate of Basohli he revived the Basohli School of Miniature Painting, which had vanished a century and a quarter before. He has published four books.