These names usually denote his praise, gratitude, commendation, glorification, magnification, perfect attributes, majestic qualities, and acts of wisdom, mercy, benefit, and justice from Allah, as believed by Muslims. These names are commonly called upon by Muslims during prayers, supplications, and remembrance, as they hold significant spiritual and theological importance, serving as a means for Muslims to connect with God. Each name reflects a specific attribute of Allah and serves as a means for believers to understand and relate to the Divine.
Some names are known from either the Qur’an or the hadith, while others can be found in both sources, although most are found in the Qur’an.[8] Additionally, Muslims also believe that there are more names of God besides those found in the Qur'an and hadith, and that God has kept knowledge of these names hidden with himself, and no one else knows them completely and fully except him.
List of names
The Quran refers to God's Most Beautiful Names (al-ʾasmāʾ al-ḥusná) in several Surahs.[9] According to Islamic belief, the names of God must be established by evidence and direct reference in the Qur'an and hadiths (the concept of tawqif). Thus, it is impermissible (haram) for Muslims to give Allah names except with what has been mentioned in the Qur'an or in authentic Hadiths, according to Sheikh Abd al-Muhsin al-Abbad, Muhammad ibn al-Uthaymin, and others, are as following Hadith:
Abu Hurairah reported that God has ninety-nine Names, i.e., one hundred minus one, and whoever believes in their meanings and acts accordingly, will enter Paradise; and God is witr (one) and loves 'the witr' (i.e., odd numbers).
Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "God has ninety-nine Names, one-hundred less one; and he who memorized them all by heart will enter Paradise." To count something means to know it by heart.
— Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 9, Book 93, Hadith 489
Gerhard Böwering refers to Surah 17 (17:110) as the locus classicus to which explicit lists of 99 names used to be attached in tafsir. A cluster of more than a dozen Divine epithets which are included in such lists is found in Surah 59.[12]
The Most Merciful (in major affairs)/[14] The Beneficent/ All-Compassionate/ Most Gracious/
Quran: Beginning of every Surah (chapter) except one, and numerous other places. The first Ayah (verse) of Surah ar-Raḥman (Surah 55) consists only of this name.
There are several names that usually not included in the interpretation of al-Tirmidhi's Hadith list of 99, but also found in Qur'an and authentic Hadiths. Those names including al-Ilah (The only One Who deserve to be worshipped),[16]ar-Rabb (The Most authoritative/Most regulative/Possessor/Arranger).,[17]Muqallibal-qulub (Changer of the hearts),[18]al-Mannan (The all-giving/Giver without being asked),[4] or al-Muhsin (The One who continually perform good deeds);[4] among others.
On the other hand, there is no universal agreement among Islamic exegesis scholars, as to how many as a name of God, since it was only Ibn Hazm who only agreed the limitation of 99 names. Instead, Islamic scholars such as al-Khattabi, al-Qurtubi, Abi Bakr bin Thayyib, Ibn al-'Arabi (not Ibn Arabi),[a]Abu Abdillah ar-Razi, Ibn Taymiyya, Al-Nawawi, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani,[20]Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya[21] and Ibn Rajab,[22] has stated that Allah has Infinite numbers of name. This with the rulings that only few names and each of its attributes revealed and known in Qur'an and Hadiths, while the uncountably unrevealed names and their attributes are only known by Allah Himself.[23][24] The basis of this rulings was the Hadith which said:
Arabic: أَسْأَلُكَ بِكُلِّ اسْمٍ هُوَ لَكَ سَمَّيْتَ بِهِ نَفْسَكَ أَوْ أَنْزَلْتَهُ فِي كِتَابِكَ أَوْ عَلَّمْتَهُ أَحَدًا مِنْ خَلْقِكَ أَوْ اسْتَأْثَرْتَ بِهِ فِي عِلْمِ الْغَيْبِ عِنْدَكَ, romanized: "I beg You by every Names that is Yours, which You have named Yourself with, or revealed in Your Book, or taught to any of Your creation, or (which you) kept them secret to Yourself in the mysterious knowledge of Yours." Transmitted by Abdullah ibn Masud.[25]
And also another Hadith with multiple chain of transmitters:
Arabic: اَللَّهُمَّ إِنِّيْ أَعُوْذُ بِرِضَاكَ مِنْ سَخَطِكَ، وَبِمُعَافَاتِكَ مِنْ عُقُوْبَتِكَ، وَأَعُوْذُ بِكَ مِنْكَ، لاَ أُحْصِيْ ثَنَاءً عَلَيْكَ أَنْتَ كَمَا أَثْنَيْتَ عَلَى نَفْسِكَ., romanized: “O Allah, indeed I seek refuge in Your blessing from Your wrath, and I seek refuge in Your salvation from Your torment, and I seek refuge in You from You. I cannot limit the amount of praise to You. You are as You praise Yourself." Transmitted by Aisha[26]
As for the established Islamic creed about these unrevealed names of Allah, majority fatwas of scholars said it is obligatory for a Muslim to believe in those names existence along with their attributes, but it is forbidden for Muslims to trying to searching for them without literal evidences from Qur'an and authentic Hadiths.[20][22][23][21] In the creed of Islamic eschatology, Those hidden names are believed to be hidden from anyone but Allah, and will only be revealed personally to Muhammad during the Judgement Day[21]
Attributes
Islamic tenets has detailed descriptions about to differentiate names with attributes (Arabic: صِفَة, romanized: ṣifāh plural of sˤi.faːt), which has literal abilities of their owns. Examples of the attributes are the name of "ar-Rahman" contains the attributes "mercifulness in general",[3] or "fundamental mercy".[28] According to Sahih Bukhari and Muslim, Allah has 100 kinds of Rahmat (grace/godsend), whereas only one of them already revealed to this world, while the other 99 still withheld for the afterlife. One of the "Rahmat" which sent to the world are sufficient to fulfil the needs of all creatures until the Judgement Day; including humans, Jinns, and even non-sentients such as animals, so the parents of animals would not trample their babies under their foots or wasting.[29] Another example is name of al-ʿAliyy contains several attributes, such as "heightness" and "above all".[3]
Samee-Ullah gave example the attribute of 'Anger' (Gadb) of Allah cannot be likened to the anger of humans. And also the naming of Allah solely with his attribute are deemed wrong by Samee-Ullah, such as "al-Gaadib (the Angry one)," as example,[citation needed] since This ruling is because the naming of Allah are limited by the evidences from Qur'an and Hadith.[4] Thus, postulating the tenet in Islam's creed that essentialy, the name-bearing of Allah are different from attributes of Allah.[5] Nevertheless, Al-Uthaymin stated the principal ruling of giving attributes to Allah is similar with the ruling about giving name to Allah; that is forbidden to gave attributes without evidences from Qur'an and Sunnah.[30] One of the disputed name of Allah among the Islamic academic is "al-Hannan",[4] Since it is considered as one of the attribute of "ar-Rahman" name in Maryam19:13, not because al-Hannan is a name itself.[31]
Both Ibn Taymiyya in his work, The treaty of Tadmur, and Ibn al-Qayyim has published their statements refuting Jahmiyya,[4] and al-Juwayni respectively; as Jahmiyya scholars and al-Juwayni rejected the existence of the attributes of Allah and consider the names of Allah are just semantics without any substances in them.[3] Both Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn al-Qayyim statement became the ruling which established by Saudi Council of Senior Scholars, as they stated that each of Allah's name contains multiple attributes.[3] The Salafi scholars such as Abdul-Aziz Ibn Baz does not consent the interpretation of the attributes of Allah.[32] Moreover, Walid Muhammad Abdullah Muhammad al-'Ali, exegesis professor of Islamic University of Madinah, has quoted Ibn al-Qayyim's concern regarding the importance names and its attributes of Allah as part of the first article of the six Articles of Faith, the Tawhid (oneness [of God]') article.[33]
Sufi and Shia mysticism
There is a tradition in Sufism to the effect the 99 names of God point to a mystical "Most Supreme and Superior Name" (ismu l-ʾAʿẓam (الاسْمُ ٱلْأَعْظَم).[34] This "Greatest Name of God" is said to be "the one which if He is called (prayed to) by it, He will answer."[35] More than 1000 names of God are listed in the Jawshan Kabir (جَوْشَنُ ٱلْكَبِير—literally "the Great Cuirass") invocations.[citation needed] Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi surmised that the 99 names are "outward signs of the universe's inner mysteries".[8]
Ibn Arabi (26 July 1165 – 16 November 1240) did not interpret the names of God as mere epithets, but as actual attributes paring the universe both in created and possible forms. By these names, the divine traits disclose for humans, whose divine potential is hidden, can learn to become a reflection of such names. However, such reflections are limited; the divine traits do not equal the divine essence of the names.[36] Influenced by the metaphysical teachings of Ibn Arabi, Haydar Amuli assigned angels to the different names of God. Accordingly, the good angels as a whole are a manifestation of God's Names of Beauty. Shaitan (shayatin) on the other hand are a manifestation of God's Names of majesty, such as "The Haughty".[37]
The Arabic names of God are used to form theophoric given names commonly used in Muslim cultures throughout the world, mostly in Arabic speaking societies.
Because the names of God themselves are reserved to God and their use as a person's given name is considered religiously inappropriate, theophoric names are formed by prefixing the term ˁabd (عَبْدُ: "slave/servant of") to the name in the case of male names;
This distinction is established out of respect for the sanctity of Divine names, which denote attributes (of love, kindness, mercy, compassion, justice, power, etc.) that are believed to be possessed in a full and absolute sense only by God, while human beings, being limited creatures, are viewed by Muslims as being endowed with the Divine attributes only in a limited and relative capacity. The prefixing of the definite article would indicate that the bearer possesses the corresponding attribute in an exclusive sense, a trait reserved to God.
Names of Allah in Arabic calligraphy.
Quranic verse 3:26 is cited as evidence against the validity of using Divine names for persons, with the example of Mālik ul-Mulk (مَـٰلِكُ ٱلْمُلْكُ: "Lord of Power" or "Owner of all Sovereignty"):
Say: "O God! Lord of Power, You give power to whom You please, and You strip off power from whom You please. You endue with honour whom You please, and You bring low whom You please. In Your hand is all Good." Verily, over all things You have power.
The two parts of the name starting with ˁabd may be written separately (as in the previous example) or combined as one in the transliterated form; in such a case, the vowel transcribed after ˁabdu is often written as u when the two words are transcribed as one: e.g., Abdur-Rahman, Abdul-Aziz, Abdul-Jabbar, or even Abdullah (عَبْدُ ٱللّٰه: "Servant of God"). (This has to do with Arabic case vowels, the final u vowel showing the normal "quote" nominative case form.)
Examples of Muslim theophoric names include:
Raḥmān, such as Abdul-Raḥman Al-Sudais (عَبْدُ ٱلْرَّحْمَان ٱلْسُّدَيْس): Imam of the Grand Mosque of Makkah, KSA
Salām, such as Salam Fayyaḍ (سَلَام فَيَّاض): Palestinian politician
Jabbār, such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (كَرِيم عَبْدُ ٱلْجَبَّار): American basketball player
Baháʼí sources state that the 100th name was revealed as "Baháʼ" (Arabic: بهاء "glory, splendor"), which appears in the words Bahá'u'lláh and Baháʼí. They also believe that it is the greatest name of God.[38][39] The Báb wrote a noted pentagram-shaped tablet with 360 morphological derivation of the word "Baháʼ" used in it.[38]
^Ibn al-'Arabi full Nisba name is Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Andalusi al-Ishbili al-Maliki, a Maliki scholar who died in 1121 AD. Ibn Arabi full Nisba is Muhammad ibn Ali al-Hatimi at-Tayy al-Andalusi, a philosopher who died in 1216 AD.[19]
^Mark W. Muesse (2018). Four Wise Men. BoD – Books on Demand. p. 240. ISBN9780718895228. Retrieved 20 August 2024. ... attributes, which name certain qualities that assist in appropriately orienting the mind toward god.
^ abcdeM. Saifudin Hakim (9 April 2018). "Sifat Allah: Apakah Hanya Tujuh atau Dua Puluh? (Bag. 3)" [The Attributes of God: Only Seven or Twenty? (Part 3)]. muslim.or.id (in Indonesian). Yayasan Pendidikan Islam Al-Atsari (YPIA) Al-Atsari Islamic Education Foundation. Retrieved 19 August 2024. References from:
Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal no. 3712. graded authentic by Shaikh Albani in Silsilah Ash-Sahihah no. 3528
^Please note the written Arabic spelling of the names written in Arabic in the table are in the vowelled Classical/Quranic form (proper = in the Quran and Ahādith) with the square bracketed "[.]" variant of the written Arabic forms given in common or modern texts—usually in media, some long vowels and punctuations are omitted for the easier typing and reading.
^Abdullah bin Taslim al-Buthoni (2010). "Ar-Rabb, yang Maha Mengatur dan Menguasai Alam Semesta" [Ar-Rabb, the Almighty who regulates and rules the Universe]. Almanhaj.com (in Indonesian). asdf. Retrieved 17 August 2024. References:
Mu’jamu Maqâyîsil Lughah 2/313
An-Nihâyah fî Gharîbil Hadîts wal Atsar 2/450
Tafsir at-Tabari 1/89
Commentary of Abdul-Rahman al-Sa'di in his work; Tafsiir al-Asma-illahil husna hlm. 47
commentary of al-Uthaymin in kitab “Syarhul arba’iin an-Nawaawiyyah” (hal.43).
^ abcdAdika Mianoki (2022). "Berapakah Jumlah Asmaul Husna?" [How many the numbers of Asmaul Husn]. muslim.or.id (in Indonesian). Yayasan Pendidikan Islam Atsari (YPIA) Islam Atsari Educational Institute. Retrieved 14 August 2024. Reference commentary from= Kamila bint Muhammad bin Jassim bin Ali Al-Jaham Al-Kuwari (2002). المجلى في شرح القواعد المثلى في صفات الله وأسمائه الحسنى [magazine in explaining the ideal rules in the attributes of God and His beautiful names... by Muhammad Salih al-Uthaymin] (in Arabic). Dar Ibn Hazm. pp. 123–132. Archived from the original on 13 December 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
^ abcdAmmi Nur Baits (2011). "Hafal Asmaul Husna, Masuk Surga?" [(if) memorized Asma al-Husn, (is it) guaranteed entering the heaven?]. KonsultasiSyariah.com (in Indonesian). Yufid Institution Network. Retrieved 15 August 2024. Ibn al-Qayyim, in Shifa ul-Alil p. 472; Al-Uthaymin; Al-Qawaid ul-Muthla, Pg. 13 – 14
^Muhammad Abduh Tuasikal (2018). "Syarhus Sunnah: Kaidah Nama dan Sifat Allah #02" [Explanation of Sunnah: principles of the Name and Attributes of Allah #02]. Rumaysho (in Indonesian). Retrieved 19 August 2024. References from:
Al-Minhaj Syarh Sahih Muslim. First printing, 1433 H. Yahya bin Syarf An-Nawawi. Publisher Dar Ibn Hazm.
Syarh Asma' Allah Al-Husna fi Dhaui Al-Kitab wa As-Sunnah. 12th printing, 1431 H. Syaikh Sa'id bin Wahf Al-Qahthani.
Syarh As-Sunnah. Second printing, 1432 H. Imam Al-Muzani. Ta'liq: Dr. Jamal 'Azzun. Maktabah Dar Al-Minhaj Publishers.
Syarh Al-Qawa'id Al-Mutsla. Syaikh Muhammad bin Shalih Al-'Utsaimin. Ta'liq: Abu Ya'qub Nasy-at bin Kamal Al-Mashri. Maktabah Al-Muslim Publishers.
^Walīd ibn Muḥammad ibn ʻAbd Allāh ʻAlī (2004). جهود الإمام ابن قيم الجوزية في تقرير توحيد الأسماء والصفات, Volume 3 [The efforts of Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya in establishing the oneness of names and attributes, Volume 3] (in Arabic). المبرة الخيرية لعلوم القرآن والسنة. pp. 1390, 1412, 2041. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
