What Do the 99 Names of Allah Mean?

The Qur’an says the best names belong to God and tells people to call on him by them. Sahih al-Bukhari 7392 says Allah has ninety-nine names, one hundred less one, and that the person who memorizes them all will enter paradise. The sunnah.com page for that hadith does not print a list of ninety-nine. The Bible names God as the LORD, as I AM, and as the Almighty, and it says the Word was God.

Who Is Allah? is the Qur’an’s name for God beside the Father of Jesus. What Is God’s Name? is LORD, Jehovah, and the name of Jesus.

Key Points

• Qur’an 7:180Qur’an 7:180 · Saheeh InternationalAnd to Allāh belong the best names, so invoke Him by them. And leave [the company of] those who practice deviation concerning His names. They will be recompensed for what they have been doing.Qur’an 7:180 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source, in Saheeh International, says the best names belong to God, and to call on him by them. (1)
• Qur’an 17:110Qur’an 17:110 · Saheeh InternationalSay, "Call upon Allāh or call upon the Most Merciful [ar-Raḥmān]. Whichever [name] you call - to Him belong the best names." And do not recite [too] loudly in your prayer or [too] quietly but seek between that an [intermediate] way.Qur’an 17:110 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source says to call upon Allah or the Most Merciful, and that the best names belong to him. Qur’an 20:8Qur’an 20:8 · Saheeh InternationalAllāh - there is no deity except Him. To Him belong the best names.Qur’an 20:8 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source says there is no deity except him and that the best names belong to him. (1)
• Qur’an 59:22–24Qur’an 59:22 · Saheeh InternationalHe is Allāh, other than whom there is no deity, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed. He is the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.Qur’an 59:22 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source calls him the Entirely Merciful, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Creator, the Producer, and the Fashioner, and says the best names belong to him. (1)
• Sahih al-Bukhari 7392 says Allah has ninety-nine names and that the one who memorizes them will enter paradise. (2) That page does not print the ninety-nine.
• Exodus 34:6Exodus 34:6 · King James VersionAnd the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,Exodus 34:6 · King James VersionOpen source proclaims the LORD God, merciful and gracious. Exodus 3:14Exodus 3:14 · King James VersionAnd God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.Exodus 3:14 · King James VersionOpen source says I AM THAT I AM. Genesis 17:1Genesis 17:1 · King James VersionAnd when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.Genesis 17:1 · King James VersionOpen source says the Almighty God. (3) (4)
• Deuteronomy 6:4Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionHear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionOpen source says the Lord our God is one Lord. John 1:1John 1:1 · King James VersionIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source says the Word was God. (5) (7)

What Are the 99 Names of Allah?

A hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari gives the number. On Sahih al-Bukhari 7392Sahih al-Bukhari 7392 · sunnah.com EnglishNarrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Allah has ninety-nine Names, one-hundred less one; and he who memorized them all by heart will enter Paradise."Sahih al-Bukhari 7392 · sunnah.com EnglishOpen source, in the English on sunnah.com:

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Allah has ninety-nine Names, one-hundred less one; and he who memorized them all by heart will enter Paradise.”

Sahih al-Bukhari 7392 · sunnah.com English

Sunni hadith

(2) The report is a count and a promise. The page used here does not then list ninety-nine names. This article does not supply a list the hadith page does not print, and it does not invent meanings for names that page does not give.

What the Qur’an Says About the Best Names

The Qur’an commands the use of the names and warns against twisting them. Saheeh International, Qur’an 7:180Qur’an 7:180 · Saheeh InternationalAnd to Allāh belong the best names, so invoke Him by them. And leave [the company of] those who practice deviation concerning His names. They will be recompensed for what they have been doing.Qur’an 7:180 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source:

And to Allāh belong the best names, so invoke Him by them. And leave [the company of] those who practice deviation concerning His names. They will be recompensed for what they have been doing.

Qur’an 7:180 · Saheeh International

Qur’an · accepted by Muslims

(1) Qur’an 17:110Qur’an 17:110 · Saheeh InternationalSay, "Call upon Allāh or call upon the Most Merciful [ar-Raḥmān]. Whichever [name] you call - to Him belong the best names." And do not recite [too] loudly in your prayer or [too] quietly but seek between that an [intermediate] way.Qur’an 17:110 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source says to call upon Allah or upon the Most Merciful, and that whichever name is used, the best names belong to him. Qur’an 20:8Qur’an 20:8 · Saheeh InternationalAllāh - there is no deity except Him. To Him belong the best names.Qur’an 20:8 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source says there is no deity except him, and that the best names belong to him. The verses say the names are his. They do not, in these lines, number them at ninety-nine. The number is the hadith.

Names Printed in Qur’an 59

Qur’an 59:22–24 is one of the passages that actually prints names. Qur’an 59:22Qur’an 59:22 · Saheeh InternationalHe is Allāh, other than whom there is no deity, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed. He is the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.Qur’an 59:22 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source calls him Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. Qur’an 59:23Qur’an 59:23 · Saheeh InternationalHe is Allāh, other than whom there is no deity, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Grantor of Security, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior. Exalted is Allāh above whatever they associate with Him.Qur’an 59:23 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source calls him the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Grantor of Security, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior. Qur’an 59:24Qur’an 59:24 · Saheeh InternationalHe is Allāh, the Creator, the Producer, the Fashioner; to Him belong the best names. Whatever is in the heavens and earth is exalting Him. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.Qur’an 59:24 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source calls him the Creator, the Producer, the Fashioner, and says the best names belong to him. (1) Those are names in the text. They are not a completed catalog of ninety-nine, and this page does not pad them out to that count.

Tawhid and Christian Monotheism is the Qur’an’s confession that God is one, set beside the Christian confession that the one God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God? stays on that question. Sharing a name, or a list of merciful and mighty titles, is not yet the same confession. The Qur’an says God has no son. John 1:1John 1:1 · King James VersionIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source says the Word was God.

Biblical Names of God

The Bible also gives God names, and it puts them in sentences. Exodus 34:6Exodus 34:6 · King James VersionAnd the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,Exodus 34:6 · King James VersionOpen source:

And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

Exodus 34:6 · King James Version

(3) Exodus 3:14Exodus 3:14 · King James VersionAnd God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.Exodus 3:14 · King James VersionOpen source says, “I AM THAT I AM.” Genesis 17:1Genesis 17:1 · King James VersionAnd when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.Genesis 17:1 · King James VersionOpen source says, “I am the Almighty God.” Deuteronomy 6:4Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionHear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionOpen source says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.” Matthew 6:9Matthew 6:9 · King James VersionAfter this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.Matthew 6:9 · King James VersionOpen source teaches the prayer that begins “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” (6)

Merciful, gracious, and almighty sit in both books. The biblical sentences also say the one Lord is the Father of Jesus, and that the Word who was with God was God. What Is God’s Name? follows LORD, Jehovah, and the name Jesus. Is God Real? is the question of whether God is. The Trinity is the confession those names belong to.

Urdu, Kannada, and Audio Lists

This page quotes Saheeh International in English and the English of Sahih al-Bukhari 7392 on sunnah.com. It does not host an Urdu list, a Kannada list, or an audio recitation. The meanings it gives are the English glosses already printed in those translations: the Most Merciful, the Sovereign, the Creator, and the rest of Qur’an 59:22–24.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Many Names Does the Hadith Count?

Ninety-nine, one hundred less one. (2) The page does not print them.

Are the Biblical Names the Same List?

Exodus 34:6Exodus 34:6 · King James VersionAnd the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,Exodus 34:6 · King James VersionOpen source and Qur’an 59:22Qur’an 59:22 · Saheeh InternationalHe is Allāh, other than whom there is no deity, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed. He is the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.Qur’an 59:22 · Saheeh InternationalOpen source both speak of mercy. The Bible also says the Word was God, and the Qur’an says God has no son. Who Is Allah? quotes that denial. The lists are not the same confession.

Keep Reading

• Who Is Allah?
• Tawhid and Christian Monotheism
• Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God?
• What Is God’s Name?
• Is God Real?
• The Trinity
• Can God Have a Son?