The 99 Names: Why Allah's Names come first

Understanding Allah's Beautiful Names is a noble branch of knowledge. In fact, the scholars called it the greater knowledge. It's the first and foremost thing meant by the Prophet's words ﷺ:

“Whoever Allah wants good for, He gives them understanding of the religion.”

[Sahih Al-Bukhari, 71]

It's the most worthy thing a person could spend their breath on, the best pursuit of anyone with sound judgement. It's the finish line the racers race toward and the summit the competitors compete for. It's the backbone of the whole journey to Allah, the sirat al-mustaqeem (straight path) to His love and His pleasure, the road of everyone Allah has loved and chosen.

Every building needs a foundation

Just as any structure needs a foundation, the foundation of the religion is faith in Allah, in His Names and His attributes. The firmer that foundation, the more weight the building can carry, and the safer it is from cracking and collapse.

Ibn Al-Qayyim put it beautifully; to paraphrase him:

Whoever wants their building to rise high should first secure the foundation and give it real care and attention, because how high a building rises depends on how solid its base is. Our deeds and spiritual ranks are the building; faith is the foundation. When the foundation is solid, it carries the structure and lets it climb - and if part of the upper building gets damaged, it's easy to repair. But when the foundation is weak, the building never really rises or holds steady, and if the foundation itself cracks, the whole thing comes down, or nearly does.
The one who truly knows, he continues, pours his energy into getting the foundation right. The ignorant person keeps building upward with no foundation at all - so it isn't long before it all falls down. Allah says: “Is one who founded his building on righteousness from Allah and His good pleasure better, or one who founded his building on the edge of a crumbling cliff, so it collapsed with him into the fire of Hell?” [At-Tawbah: 109]

His image for it: the foundation is to your deeds what physical strength is to the body. Strong, it carries you and fends off much harm. Weak, it can barely hold you up, and every ailment reaches you faster. So build on the strength of a solid foundation of faith, because if something at the top gets damaged, repairing it is far easier than rebuilding from the ground.

This foundation comes down to two things: sound knowledge of Allah, His command, His Names and attributes; and sincere, undivided submission to Him and His Messenger and no one else. That is the firmest base a servant can build on - and on it, the structure rises as high as he wishes.

Why the Quran returns to this again and again

This is exactly why the Quran is so full of evidence anchoring this foundation. Hardly a single verse passes without some mention of Allah's Beautiful Names or His lofty attributes - clear proof of how essential this knowledge is, and how badly we need it.

And how could it not hold this rank? It's the very purpose we were created for. The tawheed Allah created creation for has two sides:

• Tawheed of knowledge and affirmation: faith in Allah's lordship, His Names and His attributes.
• Tawheed of intention and worship: devoting worship to Him alone.

The first is pointed to in:

It is Allah who created seven heavens, and of the earth their like - that you may know that Allah is over all things competent, and that Allah has encompassed all things in knowledge. [At-Talāq: 12]

The second in:

I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. [Adh-Dhāriyāt:56]

One verse: created to know. The other: created to worship. So tawheed is both knowledge and action.

The command to learn it

The Quran repeatedly commands us to learn this noble knowledge and tend to this great foundation. Again and again it says "know that Allah is..." and completes it with His Names: that He is Mighty and Wise; that He knows all things; that He sees what you do; that He is Forgiving and Forbearing; that He is Hearing and Knowing; that He is Free of need and Praiseworthy; that He is severe in penalty yet Forgiving and Merciful; that He is your Protector - the best protector and the best helper; that He is with those who are mindful of Him; that He knows what is in your souls, so be wary of Him. And: So know that there is no god but Allah. The verses in this vein come to nearly thirty.

As for Allah mentioning His own Names and attributes in the Quran, that is greater still… nothing else He mentions compares to it. It is the most magnificent, the most excellent, the most elevated subject in the entire Book.

Ibn Taymiyyah noted that the Quran contains far more mention of Allah's Names, attributes and actions than it does of the food, drink and delights of Paradise - and that the verses carrying His Names and attributes are greater in rank than the verses about the afterlife. The greatest verse in the Quran - Ayat al-Kursi - is great precisely because of what it contains of this. This is confirmed in the authentic hadith reported by Muslim, where the Prophet ﷺ asked Ubayy ibn Ka'b which verse in Allah's Book was greatest; when Ubayy answered with Ayat al-Kursi, the Prophet ﷺ struck his chest and said, roughly, "May knowledge bring you joy, Abu Al-Mundhir." [Sahih Muslim, 810]

Likewise the greatest chapter is Al-Fatihah, described in the hadith of Abu Sa'id ibn al-Mu'alla as unmatched in the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, or even the rest of the Quran - and it too holds more mention of Allah's Names and attributes than of the afterlife.

And it's authentically established that “Say, He is Allah, One” (i.e. Surah Al-Ikhlas) equals a third of the Quran. There's the well-known account of the companion who kept reciting it, saying he loved it because it describes the Most Merciful - and the Prophet ﷺ told him that Allah loved him for it. Which shows: Allah loves the one who loves to mention His attributes. This is a vast and open door.

What this means for us

All of this points clearly to how significant this knowledge is, how much good it carries. It's a root of faith, a pillar of the religion, and a foundation of Islam itself.

How could humanity ever be set right without knowing its Maker, its Provider, its Creator? Without knowing His Beautiful Names and lofty attributes, the perfect descriptions that point to His majesty and greatness - and that He alone is the One truly worthy of worship?

Yet most people are so occupied by what was created for them that they forget what they were created for. Allah warned us of exactly this:

O you who believe, let not your wealth or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. And whoever does that, it is they who are the losers

[Al-Munafiqūn: 9]

And Allah is the One whose help we seek, the One who grants success in every good.

Until next time,

BarakAllah feekum