The first pillar of Iman (faith) in Islam is Faith in Allah. As Muslims, we believe in Allah according to His beautiful names and attributes.
Allah has revealed His names many times in the Holy Quran, primarily for us to understand who He is. Learning and memorizing the names of Allah will help us to identify the correct way to believe in Him.
There is nothing more sacred and blessed than understanding the names of Allah and living by them. How can we expect to worship, love, fear, and believe in our Lord, Almighty Allah, if we don’t know who He is?
In Islam, the Quran teaches that Allah has 99 names. This also follows what the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said in the Hadith of Al-Bukhari that Allah has ninety-nine names, and whoever memorizes them by heart will enter Paradise.
Each of the 99 names describes Allah’s good and beautiful attributes so that it is easier for Muslims to understand them. The 99 names of Allah are also known as Asmaul Husna.
Asmaul Husna consists of two words, namely al-Asma and al-husna. The word asthma is the plural for “name.” Meanwhile, the word husna is a muannat form of the word ahsan which means the best, beautiful, or most beautiful. Asmaul Husna means “the beautiful names of Allah.”
Quoted from the book Asmaul Husna by Sheikh Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi, Allah is al-ism al-a’zham, the greatest name that includes Allah’s beautiful nature and is a sign of the essence and cause of all existence. No one has this name but Him.
Islam teaches its adherents to chant the names of Allah along with acts of worship such as prayer. Praying by calling Asmaul Husna has various virtues. These include providing a sense of security, being close to God, strengthening faith, and more.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the pronunciation of prayers that we encounter almost always includes one or more names of Allah contained in the 99 Asmaul Husna, such as Yâ Raḫmân, Yâ Karîm, Yâ Razzâq, Yâ Fattâḫ, and so on. Some scholars specifically composed a prayer that they named Du’â al-Asmâ al-Ḫusna (Asmaul Husna Prayer).
Now you can listen to the recitation of 99 names of Allah in Sami Yusuf’s voice :
