What is meant by profaning the names of Allah and types of profanation

The scholars have mentioned
different types of profaning the names of Allah, may He be exalted, all of
which involve distorting the meaning in a way other than the way it should
be understood. There are several types:

1.

Denying any of His names or
the attribute to which a name refers. For example: those who deny that the
name ar-Rahmaan (the Most Gracious) is one of the names of Allah, may He be
exalted, as the people of the Jaahiliyyah did.

Or they may affirm the name
but deny the attribute to which it refers, as some of the innovators said
that Allah, may He be exalted, is Merciful without mercy, All-Hearing
without hearing.

2.

Calling Allah, may He be
glorified and exalted, by a name by which He did not call Himself. 

The reason why this is
profanation is that the names of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, are
limited to what is mentioned in the texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah, and it
is not permissible for anyone to call Allah, may He be exalted, by a name by
which He did not call Himself. This comes under the heading of speaking
about Allah without knowledge, and transgressing against the rights of
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted. This is what some of the
philosophers did, when they called God the primary cause, and as the
Christians did when they called Allah, may He be exalted, the Father, and so
on.

3.

Believing that these names
refer to attributes of created beings, and hence thinking that this points
to likening Allah to His creation.

The reason why this is
profanation is that the one who believes that the names of Allah, may He be
glorified and exalted, point to likening Allah to His creation has
misinterpreted them and distorted them from the correct meaning. He has
understood the words of Allah and the words of His Messenger (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) as pointing to kufr (disbelief), because
likening Allah to His creation is kufr, as it is a rejection of the words
(interpretation of the meaning): “There is nothing like unto Him, and He
is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer” [ash-Shoora 42:11] and “Do you know
of any who is similar to Him?” [Maryam 19:65]. Na‘eem ibn Hammaad
al-Khuzaa‘i, the shaykh of al-Bukhaari (may Allah have mercy on them both)
said: The one who likens Allah to His creation has committed an act of kufr,
and the one who denies any attribute that Allah has ascribed to Himself has
committed an act of kufr; there is nothing in the attributes that Allah has
ascribed to himself that is similar to the attributes of His creation.

4.

Deriving names of idols from
the names of Allah, may He be exalted, such as deriving the name al-Laat
from al-Ilaah (the God), and al-‘Uzza from al-‘Azeez (the Almighty) and
Manaat from al-Mannaan (the Benefactor). End quote.

Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him)