Among the virtues of knowing and recognizing the names of Allah Ta’ala is the great reward for anyone who counts the names of Allah Ta’ala . Rasulullah sallallaahu ‘alaihi wasallam said,
God willing, God willing, God willing, God willing. وَاحِدًا ، مَنْ أَحْصَاهَا دَخَلَ الْجَنَّة
“Indeed, Allah has 99 names, which is one hundred minus one. Whoever counts them will enter Paradise. ” (Narrated by Bukhari no. 2736, 7392 and Muslim no. 6986)
The meaning of “counting” the names of Allah
It should be noted that the meaning of “counting” in the above hadith is not merely memorizing the names of Allah Ta’ala , but also includes understanding these names, both in their wording and meaning, and worshipping Allah Ta’ala according to the consequences of these names. We will not achieve this unless we study them. (See Syarh Al-Qawaa’idul Mutsla, p. 105)
Ibnul Qayyim Rahimullah explained that “counting” in the hadith above has three levels. The first level, counting (memorizing) the pronunciations and numbers. The second level, understanding the meaning and content in it. The third level, pray or worship with him, as Allah Ta’ala says ,
وَلِلَّهِ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَى فَادْعُم
“Only to Allah belong the honorable names. So pray with them.” (QS. Al-A’raf [7]: 180). (See Badaai’ul Fawaaid, 1: 171)
The number of names of Allah Ta’ala
Another issue that needs to be considered is that the hadith above does not indicate that the names of Allah Ta’ala are only 99, but rather that Allah Ta’ala has beautiful names . Among them are 99 names, and whoever counts them will enter Paradise. This does not mean that there are no other names of Allah Ta’ala besides these 99. A similar expression in the hadith is the statement, “I have 100 dirhams that I use for charity.” This statement does not deny that the person has more than 100 dirhams, but of the amount of money he has, he only gives 100 dirhams in charity. The meaning of this statement is not, “I have no money except 100 dirhams,” because he could have 1000 dirhams. (See Syarh Al-Qowaa’idul Mutsla, p. 80)
Another piece of evidence is that the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) himself never mentioned in detail the 99 names of Allah Ta’ala he was referring to. The hadiths that mention these 99 names in detail are weak, as explained by scholars of hadith.
The details of the 99 names of Allah Ta’ala are a field for the ulama (rahimahumullah) to make ijtihad in determining and collecting the 99 names referred to in the hadith. We see the results of the ijtihad of different scholars in determining the 99 names. Some scholars include certain names of Allah, but other scholars do not include them and vice versa. Therefore, if we collect a list of all the names of Allah Ta’ala mentioned by the ulama, there will definitely be more than ninety-nine names. (See Syarh Al-Qawaa’idul Mutsla, pp. 78-97)
An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said,
وَاتَّفَقَ الْعُلَمَاء عَلَى أَنَّ هَذَا الْحَدِيث لَيْسَ فِيهِ حَصْر لِأَسْمَائِهِ سُبْحَانه وَتَعَالَى ، فَلَيْسَ مَعْنَاهُ : أَنَّهُ لَيْسَ لَهُ أَسْمَاء غَيْر هَذِهِ التِّسْعَة وَالتِّسْعِينَ ، وَإِنَّمَا مَقْصُود الْحَدِيث أَنَّ هَذِهِ التِّسْعَة وَالتِّسْعِينَ مَنْ أَحْصَاهَا دَخَلَ الْجَنَّة ، فَالْمُرَاد الْإِخْبَار عَنْ or الْإِخْبَار God willing
“Scholars agree that this hadith does not indicate a limitation on the names of Allah Ta’ala. It does not mean that Allah has no names other than these 99. The meaning of the hadith is that whoever counts these 99 names will enter Paradise. Therefore, what is meant by the hadith is the news of entering Paradise for those who count Allah’s names, not a limitation on Allah’s names.” ( Sharh Sahih Muslim, 9:39)
However, the claim of consensus (ijma’) among scholars on this issue needs to be reconsidered, as some scholars, including Ibn Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him), are of the opinion that there are only 99 names of Allah , the Exalted . Although there is no doubt that his opinion on this issue is incorrect, as explained previously.