for the overwhelming majority of Muslims hold that Allah’s names are more than ninety-nine.

They—including al-Khattābī—said: In his statement,

“Allah has ninety-nine names; whoever enumerates them,”

the numerical restriction applies to the names described as being these particular names. Thus, the clause,

“Whoever enumerates them will enter Paradise,”

qualifies the ninety-nine. It is not an independent sentence, but occupies the accusative position grammatically. It may, however, be understood as an independent sentence without changing the meaning. The sense is: Allah has names numbering this many; whoever enumerates them will enter Paradise. This is like someone saying, “I have a hundred slaves whom I have set aside for emancipation, and a thousand dirhams which I have set aside for Hajj.” The numerical restriction applies to what bears this qualification, not to the total number possessed. For he did not say, “Allah’s names are ninety-nine.”

He said: This is supported by his words in the hadith narrated by Ahmad in al-Musnad:

“O Allah, I ask You by every name belonging to You with which You have named Yourself, or which You have revealed in Your Book, or taught to any of Your creation, or kept exclusively with Yourself in the knowledge of the unseen.”

This indicates that Allah has more than ninety-nine names, which some believers enumerate.

Furthermore, the numerical specification in his statement,

“Allah has ninety-nine,”

is comparable to the Exalted’s words,

“Nineteen.”

When they considered them few, He said:

“And none knows the soldiers of your Lord except Him.”

It is all the more fitting, then, that none but He should know His names. Even if the former statement had been made on its own, it would imply the exclusion of any additional names only through the restrictive implication of a specified number. This is weaker than the restrictive implication of a qualifying attribute, and the disagreement over it is well known. Nevertheless, the view we favor is that singling something out for mention—once grounds for general inclusion are present—does imply