ALLAH’S NAMES AND ATTRIBUTES

Tawheed (belief in the oneness of Allah) involves believing in the oneness of the Names and Attributes
of Allah (Tawheed al-Asmaa’ was-sifaat). It is important for a Muslim to properly understand the
meanings and significance of Allah’s Names and Attributes in order to worship Allah correctly. As Allah
says in the Qur’an:

(‫ األعراف‬، 7: 180) “ … ُ ‫لِل ْاأل َ ْس َما ُُء ْال ُح ْسنَى فَا ْد‬
‫عوُهُ ِب َها‬ ُِّ ِ ‫” َو‬
“And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them…” (Al ‘Araaf, 7:180)

I. THE GREATEST NAME OF ALLAH

It has been confirmed in quite a few ahadeeth that Allah has a Greatest Name ( Ism al A’zam ) which, if
supplicated with, He responds to and if He is asked with, He gives.1 According to an authentic chain of
narration, the two verses of Surah Baqarah and Al Imran and one verse of Surah Ta Ha carry the
Greatest Name of Allah.2

Many scholars have said that The Greatest Name of Allah is ‘Allah’. The word ‘Allah’ is a proper noun
(and the personal name) of the Lord. It is said to be the greatest name because it describes all of His
attributes.3Allah is the name that has the essence of the only true God who deserves all praise. Hence,
He prefers it to all his names. It is this name – Allah – that combines all attributes of perfection. An
entire chapter of the Qur’an, Surah Al Ikhlas (chapter 112) shows the Infinite meaning of this name of
Allah. Allah is One and Unique. He has neither a wife, a son, a partner, nor an equal. He is the sole
creator and the Rubb of the universe.

II. ARE THE NAMES OF ALLAH LIMITED TO 99?

Allah’s names are not limited to 99 or to a specific umber. This is based on the widely known
supplication of the Prophet (PBUH) , “I ask You by all of Your names that You have names Yourself with,
have revealed in your book, have taught to one of your creation, or have kept exclusively with Your
knowledge from the matters of the unseen.” 4 Since we have absolutely no way of knowing those
matters that Allah has kept unseen, we cannot say that the names of Allah are only 99 or are only
limited to those that we find in the Qur’an and Sunnah.

However, one might argue that Allah has only 99 names with regards to the following saying of the
Prophet (PBUH) , “Verily, Allah has ninety-nine Names, one short of one hundred. Whoever enumerates
them (memorizes them, understands their meanings and worships Allah based on their significance), will

1 Sahih, Tirmidhi 3857. Mishkat al Masabih 1/704 & Saheeh al Jami’ 1/329 & Waabil at-Tayyib pg.161 & Jaami’ al Usool 4/169.
2 Surah al Baqarah 2:163, Surah al Imran 3:1-2, Surah Ta Ha 20:111. (resource given at the end)
3 Tafseer Ibn Katheer
4 Related by Ahmad (1/391, 452); by Ibn Hibban (2372); and by Al-Hakim (1/509). And Al-Albani mentioned it in Al-Ahadeeth As-

Saheehah (199)
enter Paradise.” 5 But this hadeeth does not point out that Allah has ONLY ninety-nine names. Also,
there is no authentic narration in which the Prophet (PBUH) listed the ninety-nine names of Allah. Hence
it can be concluded that the above mentioned hadeeth means : ‘if one enumerates ninety-nine names of
Allah, he will enter Paradise.’

III. PRINCIPLES REGARDING THE USE OF ALLAH’S NAMES & ATTRIBUTES :

There are numerous principles that should be kept in mind while approaching Allah’s names and
attributes. Some of the important principles are summed up below :

 All of Allah’s Names should be understood in the Highest and Ultimate degree which is
incomparable. This means that Allah’s names express a degree of utter perfectness that is free
from any flaw or deficiency. If any Name or Attribute of Allah is similar to any attribute of His
creation, then it is similar only in wording and its meaning should be understood in a way that is
beyond human attainment. For example, the Name As-Sami’ (‫ )السميع‬implies that “Hearing” is
one of Allah’s qualities. However, Allah hears everything including that which is said in secrecy
or in private, something that none of His creation can do.

 Concerning the Names and Attributes of Allah, we must limit ourselves to what is mentioned
in the Qur’an and Sunnah. One must neither add nor take away from those names. Also, giving
Allah a name that He has not given Himself is wrong and prohibited.

 One should not deny or utter false speech regarding Allah’s Names. We cannot reject any of
His names nor can we reject any of His attributes.

 It should be kept in mind that one may derive Attributes from Allah’s Names but one may not
drive Names from His Attributes. For example, one may derive the Attribute ‘rahmah’ (mercy)
from His Name ‘Ar-Rahman’ (The Merciful) but deriving a name ‘al-mustawi’ (The One who Rises
Over) from His Attribute ‘al-istiwaa’ is wrong.

 When we affirm Allah’s Attributes, we must avoid the two false beliefs : At-Tamtheel and At-
Takyeef.6 At-Tamtheel occurs when one affirms an attribute of Allah but believes that it is
similar to the attribute given to any of Allah’s creation. At-Takyeef occurs when one affirms an

5 Related by Al Bukhari – Book of Tawheed (7392) and by Muslim – Book of Remembrance (2677)
6 The Beautiful Names And Attributes of Allah – Important Points to Remember by Shaikh Muhammad bin Salih Al- ‘Uthaimeen
(translated by Faisal Shafeeq) chapter 2, pg.71.

Resources:
 The Islamic Digest Of Aqeedah And Fiqh by Mahmoud Rida Murad (pgs. 22 & 23 only) published by Islamic Cultural
Center, Dammam – Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
 The Beautiful Names And Attributes Of Allah – Important Principles To Remember by Shaikh Muhammad bin Saalih
Al-Uthaimeen (pgs. 1-78 only) published by Darussalam.
 http://z8.invisionfree.com/Sunnah/index.php?showtopic=387 (for 2 above)
 attribute of Allah but also tries to imagine or ‘picture’ it in reality. This is completely prohibited
as Allah says :

َ ‫ْس ك َِمثْ ِل ِه‬

“… ۖ ‫ش ْيء‬ َ ‫” لَي‬
“There is nothing like unto Him.” (Ash-Shuraa’ 42:11)

 It is allowed to supplicate using any of Allah’s Names but not to by using any of his Attributes.
For example, it is allowed to call onto Allah saying, “ O Most Generous One!” but not “ O Karam
(Generosity) !” , because ‘generosity’ is an attribute of Allah.

 It is permitted to name oneself using one of Allah’s Names by prefixing ‘Abd’ (‘the slave of’)
but using Allah’s Attributes by prefixing ‘Abd’ to them is wrong. For example, one may call
himself Abd al-Kareem (slave of the Most Generous) but not Abd al-Karam (slave of generosity).

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