How many names does Allah have?

Allah’s attributes have no limit. The well known ninety-nine names are the aspects of God that human beings can grasp with their faculties, but Allah is not confined to them.

The ninety-nine names are familiar to Muslims. They describe God as the Merciful, the All-Knowing, the Creator and much more. Yet this number is not a limit set on God. It shows how much human beings are able to recognise of Him. Whether one counts ninety-nine or a hundred and one is therefore not what matters.

God shows Himself to every creature as far as it can grasp Him. Human beings know the world through five senses and a limited mind. A being with more senses would perceive more of God’s attributes. A being with lesser faculties would recognise less of Him. God Himself remains the same. Only the vessel that receives Him differs.

An everyday example makes this clear. You cannot show the beauty of a face to someone who cannot see. The beauty is there, but he lacks the sense to perceive it. It is the same with us and God. Much about Him remains hidden from us because we lack the means to perceive it. After death human senses will be sharpened, and new aspects of God will become visible.

That is why human beings should stay humble. God has shown Himself to us in the attributes we are able to understand. But to fix Him to this number would be to measure Him by our own measure. God is limitless, and nothing can encompass Him.