The Inspiration
The “Learn the 99 Names of Allah in the 99 days til Ramadan” event began in 2013 inspired by a Facebook post that suggested such a task would be a beneficial endeavor. Always excited to motivate you towards good, I created a quick graphic and a spur of the moment event inviting folks to follow along as I posted one graphic per day of one of Allah’s Names or Attributes on the Creative Motivations event wall. To my surprise, the event quickly went viral and before I knew it I had thousands of people participating and looking forward to the informative graphics each day. Realizing the sudden gravity of this endeavor, I decided to approach the project more carefully (for fear of misguiding anyone!), sourcing only authentic materials, doing very in-depth research, and providing lots of guidance and supplementary materials to encourage each participant to study the names more intently and build a deeper, more profound relationship with Allah. We eventually developed a card set at everyone’s request, as well as various related products and sold them in the Creative Motivations shop (currently closed).
The Motivation: A Personal Account
Until you truly know Allah, you have not experienced the full beauty and depth of your faith. Islam is a beautiful religion. Some of us are born into it, some find our way later in life, whether drawn by the sensible, logical quality of the deen, the beauty and peace, the justice and camaraderie or an attraction we have yet to understand… once we find our way, or consciously embrace our faith, it can be the most amazing experience of our lives. When I converted to Islam in 2001, it was definitely a life altering experience. My emaan was so high, the sheer mercy of a breeze could bring me to tears. But as the years wore on, the excitement waned. This is not unusual, emaan goes up and down in every heart, and we should expect it to. I didn’t feel like anything was missing, I just longed for that surge I’d had in the beginning. So as the years wore on I continued to practice my faith, held the same concrete beliefs, gave dawah, studied, embraced the sisterhood, but I never felt the excitement, the appreciation and dependence on Allah as I felt in that first year… that is, until I began studying Allah’s Names.
When I began to explore Allah on a deeper level, everything changed. I realized I had never truly known my Lord… not truly. I loved and revered Him, trusted and called upon Him, worshiped and appreciated Him to an extent, but I was stunted by my sheer ignorance of Who Allah really was. The 99 Names project has had a profound and long-lasting effect on my Emaan. Not only do I feel a similar excitement as I felt when I first took my shahadah, I feel something deeper, more resonating. I have a knowledge of and feel a nearness to Allah that I had never felt before. When I began to experience this in the first week of the project, I knew I couldn’t stop. I wanted everyone to feel as I had felt. To know Allah as I had known Him. I wanted the entire ummah to grow together in this wonderful understanding of and reliance upon our Lord.
As you can imagine, there are many blessings in learning the 99 Names of Allah. Most importantly, it allows you to know your Lord on a deeper and more complex level and the better you know your Lord, the greater your love, faith and reliance upon Him, insha’Allah. You must ask yourself, how can you truly love Allah if you do not know Him? Studying His Names is the best way to understand, appreciate and grow near to Him, and understanding Him is the very foundation of your faith… so as long as you do not get to know your Lord, your faith is being stunted and falling short. And Allah knows best.
Another special advantage to knowing Allah’s Names is being able to call upon Him in the capacity that most fits your needs. When you suffer some injustice, you call upon “The Most Just,” when you complain of some illness or pain, you call upon “The One Who Cures;” when your faith is shaken and you Emaan is low, you call upon “The One Who Gives Emaan & Security.” Calling upon Allah by His Most Beautiful Names is highly recommended and it honestly makes your duaas feel more personal, like a one-on-one conversation with your Lord. Imagine, when you want something from your spouse (or parent or child, etc). Yknow how you call the person by some nickname you know they love? One, to show your endearment toward them, to make them happy and two, to soften their heart and sway their favor, i.e. soften them up to get what you want, lol.
You don’t call everyone you know by some sweet nickname, just the people who are closest to you. For me, calling upon Allah by the Names He loves is similar, but on a much greater level. I feel a closeness to Allah when I mention these Names in my duaas to Him, it feels more personal, as if not everyone knows this name or is calling upon Him by it in this moment, so my duaa feels more special to me… more specific and direct. What’s more, I know I am calling upon Him by a Name that He loves, which may then allow me to fall into His favor (i.e. grant my request)! So learning, understanding and using these names in my worship is a win-win!
Learning and acting with the understanding of His Names is an act loved by Allah and also a means to Paradise. “And to Allah belongs the Most Beautiful Names, so call on Him by them.” (7:180)
Abu Hurayrah (r) reported that the Prophet (S) said, “Allah has ninety-nine names, one hundred less one. Whoever ‘ahsaaha‘ will enter Jannah.” [Bukhari and Muslim]
The most important thing for us to remember is that the hadeeth says “man ahsaahaa”, meaning, whoever enumerates them, believes in them, ponders their meanings, worships Allah by them and supplicates with them, and acts by them according to one’s belief in them. So it’s not just about memorizing the names of Allah ta’ala, we must practice the above as well, insha’Allah.
The Resources
We are frequently asked about the resources used in the development of the graphics and card sets. As with all of our products and materials, we use only authentic resources in the making of our graphics/explanations in the 99 Names Card Sets. We have been especially cautious to avoid weak ahadith and unverified resources or explanations, for fear of spreading any false information or misguidance, insha’Allah.
Most of the online media (videos, primarily) that has been used in developing definitions has been posted in the supplementary materials on each page in the tabs beneath the graphics. For example, the video series’ by Dr Bilal Philips and brother Majed Mahmoud, also sourced from authentic sources.
There are many lists established by various scholars that enumerate the 99 Names of Allah based upon their own research. There are some variations in these lists, as the scholars used different parameters in establishing them. Our list of names is based upon the 99 Names of Allaah mentioned in Sheikh ibn Uthaymeen’s Al-Qawaa`id Al-Muthlaa, which were all derived from the authentic Quran and Sunnah.
We have done our best to explain and define the names with brevity, clarity and accuracy. We do not mention any specific ahadith or ayat in the short explanations on the graphics, because there simply is not space to add the evidences as well as the summarized explanations on each card. We also wanted to keep the definitions as concise and simple as possible, to encourage expanded study with the supplementary resources.
Our Primary Breadth of Resources is as follows:
- List of Names: Sheikh ibn Uthaymeen’s Al-Qawaa`id Al-Muthlaa – List Available HERE
- Video Series: In the Name of Allah by Dr Bilal Philips – Available HERE
- Video Series: Understanding Allah’s Beautiful Names by Br Majed Mahmoud – Available HERE
- Video Series: The 99 Names of Allah by Dr Suhaib Hasan Abdul Ghaffar – Available HERE
- Book: The Noble Quran – Available HERE
- Book Series: Sahih Bukhari – Available HERE
- Book Series: Sahih Muslim – Available HERE
- Book Series: Tafseer Ibn Kathir – Available HERE
- Book: An Explanation to the Beautiful and Perfect Names of Allah by Shaykh Nasir As-Sa’di – Available HERE
- Book: Who Is Allah? His Names and Attributes and their Significance to the Individual by Umm Abdurrahman Sakina Hirschfelder – Available HERE
- Book: The Tree of Faith by Shaykh Abdur-Rahman Al Sa’di – Available HERE
- Website: Understand Quran Academy – Asma ul Husna Series – Available HERE
- Website: AbdurRahman.org – Several Articles – Available HERE
- Website: Tayyibaat.com – Names of Allah Series – [No longer online]
- Website: Duas.com – Available HERE
- Website: Salaf-us-Saalih.com – Several Articles – [No longer online]
- Website: Quran.com – {For faster search} – Available HERE
- Website: Islam Q & A – Fataawa on the Topic – Available HERE
- Web Document: Qabeelat Nurayn Projects Committee – Ahadun Ahad – Available HERE