Having already discussed the unlimited number of Allah’s names and attributes, we turn now to an authentic hadith that seems to clash with what we said before.
The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said:
Translation: Indeed, Allah has 99 names (one hundred minus one); whoever memorizes them will enter Jannah. [Saheeh Bukhari and Saheeh Muslim]
This hadith is talking about the elite 99 names of Allah. Although all of Allah’s names are husna, some of them stand out above others.
So which names are the elite 99? Virtually every single scholar of Islam has a different opinion on this. And realize that the common version that we know–like the one in this nasheed–is da’eef.
Why is it da’eef? It comes from the same hadith as we stated above–except at, at some point, one narrator added “And this is what I think those names are.” So it’s someone’s opinion.
And realize that most of the names they’ve mentioned there are ok–but some are definitely negative (which goes against Allah’s names being husna), and some are definitely not Allah’s names.
But the good thing is, about 80-90% of the names there are ok. And even among the scholars of Islam, they agree on the vast majority of which names are THE elite 99–but they differ in a few names.
And why is this important to know–aside from for tawassul? Because this is your key to jannah! Another wording of this hadith, instead of using hadifha (to memorize, to protect), uses the word “hisaa” (with saad). The root word has something to do with intelligence and intellect; the meaning is that whoever knows and acts upon these names will enter Jannah.
Having said all that–if these 99 names are so important, why didn’t Allah just tell us which are His 99 names?
But think about it–if He (سبحانه وتعالى) told us–would anyone bother with the other names? Probably not. Would anyone try to investigate the meanings of and learn the names? Not really–we’d just have a common list of names passed around, and nobody would do more than memorize.
Instead, by not telling us, He (سبحانه وتعالى) has created a situation like Laylatul-Qadr. Nobody knows when Laylatutl-Qadr is, except Allah–so people strive the last ten days of Ramadan, doing extra nawafil acts, in the hopes that it’s Laylatul-Qadr.
And these elite 99 names are like that–you have to work hard, and strive above and beyond just learning 99, if you want to know them for sure.
So learn these names–with their meanings! Subhanallah, nothing will increase your eman quite like this will.
To start you off, you can check our List of Allah’s Names post, and also check God Names, a site that details 99 names, with a great explanation of meaning.
May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) help us to learn and memorize and act upon His 99 names, and become those of Jannah by it–ameen ya rabbi!
Yasir Qadhi. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Light Upon Light: Fundamentals of Faith 102. Metro Toronto Convention Center, July 2007.
Assalamualaikum bro,
The links on the GodNames website doesn’t work :(.
Wa’alikum as-salaam,
Try it again, it seems to be working now.
A small correction in the Arabic:
It reads “Allah has 90 Names”
The correct form is:
إِنَّ لِلَّهِ تِسْعَةً وَتِسْعِينَ اسْمًا مِائَةً إِلاّ وَاحِدًا مَنْ أَحْصَاهَا دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ .
Which site/resource did you get the Arabic text?
Jazakumullahu khayran. I got this from the Light Upon Light binder (2007 version). This is what they had in there.
I couldn’t find the Arabic online; do you know a good, searchable site for Arabic ahadith?
First off, Jazakallahu Khair for replying/correcting so quickly.
Second, here is a good site to get the Arabic. Unfortunately it DOES NOT contain the harakaat:
Steps:
1. Go to http://hadith.al-islam.com/Bayan/.
2. Type in Search box (top-left) e.g. type “99 names”.
3. Find your hadeeth in the results, and open the link.
4. Now, click on the “Arabic only” link on that page.
AA wr wb
I realy love esslam
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May I ask why is the nasheed daeef? Are there any names in there which are not mentioned in the quran’ or hadith?
@rozie as mentioned in the post, the nasheed (and most incarnations of the 99 names in media) are based on a hadith where one of the narrators himself added “And this is what I, personally, think the 99 names are: …”
Some of the names mentioned are not even names of Allah (such as Ad-Daar), and some of the names of Allah are missing (such as Al-Ahad).
Wallahu a’lam.
Jazakallahu Khayr.
I am in the process of going through the Asma wa Sifah with my children. So I find the articles very useful. May Allah bestow you with good knowldege and barakah in your time spent.
JazakAllah Khayr shaikh
Thank u for enlightening us. Just wanted to pint out Al Ghafoor, Al Ghaffar and Al Afuww are repeated twice
this is a really good website.this is were i go to memorise it hope it helps
[...] It is clear that Allah has an attribute of anger however we cannot give him a name such as: ‘The Angry One’ (al-ghadib) because to do so would not be befitting His Majesty and neither is it found in the sacred texts. An important principle to keep in mind is that every name of Allah denotes an attribute. For example, Allah is the Most Merciful (Ar-Rahman) and thus He has the attribute of mercy (rahma). However, as we already saw above, not every attribute denotes a name of Allah. Source [...]