THE BEAUTIFUL NAMES OF ALLAH (SWT)

“Allah: there is no true God but Him. The Ever-Living, the Divine Master of all. Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth. Who is there that can intercede with Him, except by His permission? He knows all that lies open before them and all that lies hidden from them; whereas they cannot attain to anything of His knowledge save as He wills. His throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and the preservation of both does not tire Him. He is the Most High, the Most Great.”  (Quran 2:255)

Allah (SWT) means The God in Arabic. The word is derived by contraction from Al-Ilāh. The words “El” and “Ellah” are also the Hebrew and Aramaic words for God. The first pillar of faith in Islam is a belief in Him in order to worship Him with love, fear, and trust. For this purpose, Allah (SWT) describes Himself to us through His Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names (Table 1) in the Noble Quran and the Prophet (PBUH)’s sayings. Therefore, learning about His Beautiful Names is knowing what we are created for, and to ignore their meaning would be to neglect what we are living for.

In fact, the more we learn about the Beautiful Names of Allah (SWT), the more we increase our Muslim faith. There is, therefore, nothing more sacred and blessed than understanding the meaning of the Beautiful Names of Allah (SWT) and, most importantly, living by them.

For example, as indicated in the Quranic verse “Allah is the Creator of all things and He is the guardian of all things.” (Quran; 39:62), the Beautiful Name “The Creator” means that Allah (SWT) created us and everything else in the universe. Moreover, based on the Quranic verse “Allah, The Self-sufficient Master, whom all creatures need (Quran, 112:2), the Beautiful Name “The Eternal Lord” means that He is the One who can satisfy each need in a way He knows is best, while He is without any need. He is the One upon who all of creation depends, while He depends on no one.

Furthermore, according to the Noble Quran: “Verily they are enemies to me except the Lord. Who has created me and it is He Who guides me. And it is He who feeds me and gives me to drink. And when I am ill, it is He who cures me” (Quran; 51:58), we should be very thankful to Allah (SWT) because He not only guides us through life with the Noble Quran and the Prophet (PBUH) but also provides everything to all living creatures. His provision is endless including all material things, like money, food, water, air, shelter, and protection.

As well as meeting our physiological needs, He (SWT) also provides for our psychological needs. For example, He gives us love through the love of our parents. Moreover, we also enjoy beautiful flowers, cute animals, delicious food, tasty drinks, vegetables, and fruits of different flavors, shapes, and colors. And the only thing He asks in return is thanks for these blessings by showing love to Him and all His creatures. 

“And He is with you (by His knowledge) wheresoever you may be” (Quran; 57:4)

The most sincere manifestation of the Muslim faith is to live our life feeling that Allah (SWT) is always with us with His Beautiful Names. Therefore, if we do anything, He is “The All-Seeing”, if we say something, He is “The All-Hearer” and if we think about anything, He is “The All-Knowing One”.

As mentioned in Noble Quran “So, whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant) shall see it. And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant) shall see it” (Quran; 99:7-8)1, this feeling of His presence scares the believers and helps them stay away from bad deeds because He is “The Reckoning One”. Finally, as mentioned in the Quranic verse “They have no protector other than Him, and He makes none to share in His Decision and His rule” (Quran; 18:26)1, we should worship Him alone as “The Impartial Judge”. 

As a consequence, knowing the meaning of the Beautiful Names of Allah (SWT) allows us to thank Him for all that He has provided to make our life comfortable, to trust Him (Tawakkul) when we need help to solve our daily problems, and therefore fulfill our divine duties with love and thankfulness.

On a last note, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: “Allah has Ninety-Nine Beautiful Names and whoever knows their meaning will enter to Paradise”.

Table 1: The Beautiful Names of Allah (SWT)