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

                What is meant by profaning the names of Allah, may He be exalted?.
Praise be to Allah.
    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)