Names of God in the Qur'an

2008/9 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Divinities

The 99 Names of God, also known as The 99 Attributes of God ( Arabic: أسماء الله الحسنى transliteration: Asma’ Allah al-Ḥusná), are the names of God, Muslims believe are revealed in the Qur'an and Sunnah; even though the names (as adjectives, word constructs, or otherwise) exceed ninety-nine in the Qur'an and Sunnah. Muslims believe that there are an elite group of names, or the Best names, which number 99.

Origin

In one Islamic tradition, the Islamic prophet Muhammad used to call God by all His names:

"Allahumma inni ad`uka bi asma'ika al-husna kulliha"

"اللهم اني ادعوك باسمائك الحسنى كلها"

"O God, I invoke You with all of Your beautiful names."

(Narrated by Ibn Majah, book of Du`a; and by Imam Malik in his Muwatta', Kitab al-Shi`r)

Muhammad is also reported to have said in a famous Hadith:

"Verily, there are ninety-nine names of God, one hundred minus one. He who enumerates [and believes in them and the one god behind] them would get into Paradise."

(Sahih Muslim, Vol. 4, no. 1410)

Of note is that this hadith does not say that there are only 99 names, but 99 names that are better than the others. This caused people to search them out in the Qur'an and Sunnah, and a list was compiled. Over time it became custom to recite the list in its entirety. While some Muslims believe that this list is mentioned by Muhammad himself, the specialist Muslim scholars argue strongly that the list was just compiled by a Muslim scholar as an addendum to the actual hadith, (Al Waleed ibn Muslim). If it was only an attempt of a scholar, they are not necessarily the names proper, and other attempts may still be made. A recent scholar, Dr. Mahmoud Abdel-Razek, made an attempt of this kind and explained in detail why he differs in opinion with Al Waleed about enlisting some of the names. However, reciting the traditional names has developed into a ritual by some Muslims (a bit like a Catholic litany of Saints) as an attempt to enumerate them, while most other Muslims believe that the "enumeration" is not just the act of recitation, but applying the attributes that the names suggest.

Numerology

Some Muslims believe that what could be interpreted as the number 99 written in Hindu-Arabic numeral system is imprinted on human hands. If one looks at his or her palms, thumbs facing upward, the lines in the hands appear as "١٨ ٨١", which are the Hindu-Arabic numerals -commonly used in eastern Arab countries- of 81 and 18, which sum to 99. If you subtract the numbers 81 and 18 you are left with 63 which was the age of which Muhammad along with 3 of his four companions died.

However, this has no Islamic or Qu'ranic basis supporting it and, from an Islamic perspective, is irrelevant to the concept of the names of God discussed in the previous section. In Islam nothing can be taken as Beliefs or Aqidah without clear proof which means that the belief should be found in definite source (Qur'an or authentic hadeeth) and its meaning should bring no confusion so that there is no possibility of difference of opinion except if apostates don't want to see it so. This is very likely a novelty of unknown origin that has developed in some Muslim cultures, especially those that use numeral system mentioned above. It also happens to work with a combination of Chinese and Western numerals, appearing as "八1 1八" - "81 18". In general, many Muslims have diverging views however Orthodox Sunni Islam has no documentation of this.

List of Names

The Qur'an refers to the attributes of God as God's “most beautiful names” (Arabic: al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā) (see ^{[Qur'an  7:180]}, ^{[Qur'an  17:110]}, ^{[Qur'an  20:8]}, ^{[Qur'an  59:24]})). According to Gerhard Böwering, "They are traditionally enumerated as 99 in number to which is added as the highest name (al-ism al-aʿẓam), the supreme name of God, Allāh. The locus classicus for listing the divine names in the literature of qurʾānic commentary is ^{[Qur'an  17:110]}, “Call upon God, or call upon the merciful; whichsoever you call upon, to him belong the most beautiful names,” and also ^{[Qur'an  59:22]} q 59:22-4, which includes a cluster of more than a dozen divine epithets."

Islamic theology makes a distinction between the attributes of God and the divine essence.

Below is a list of the 99 Names of God according to the tradition of Islam.

Additional Names

Another epithet found in the Qur'an is Dhul Fadl al Azim (ذو الفضل العظيم) "The Lord of Infinite Grace" ( 2.105, 3.74, 8.29, 57.21, 57.29, 62.4), but it is not part of the traditional list of the 99 names of God.

The following list contains Names that are not in the traditional list of 99 Names above.

Sufism

In Sufism, the idea of the 100th name is most prominent. It has become the elusive object of mystic devotion, the symbol of God's transcendent being.

Sufis often describe their discipline as the quest to know the one-hundredth name of God and thus to merge their consciousness with the divine reality.

Mahdi

Other such Hadiths, which vary according to different Shi'a sects of Islam, suggest that the 100th Name will be revealed by the Mahdi.

Bahá'í

The Bahá'í Faith has claimed to fulfill the prophecy of the Mahdi, and the 100th name was revealed as " Bahá’" (an Arabic word بهاء meaning "glory, splendor" etc.), and is the root word for Bahá'u'lláh and Bahá'í. The Báb wrote a noted pentagram tablet with 360 derivatives of the word "Bahá'" used in it. While the Bahá'í Faith has roots in Islam and the monotheistic traditions, it is an independent religion, and its followers are not considered Muslims.

Personal Names

According to Islamic tradition, a Muslim may not be given any of the 99 names of God in the exact same form. For example, nobody may be named Al Malik (The King), but may be named Malik "King".

However the names/attributes of God can be combined with the word "‘Abd -" which means servant (of God) and are commonly used as personal names among Muslims. For example ‘Abd ar-Rahman ("servant of(or slave to) the Most Compassionate/the Beneficent").

Some Muslim people have names resembling those 99 (but without the article "The" which is only used to denote God) as the names could mean attributes people can have. Examples include

• Ali, such as Ali ibn Abi Talib.
• Ra'ouf, such as Ra'ouf Mus'ad.
• Salam, such as Salam Fayyad.