Even if a person repeated the name “Allah” a million times, he would not thereby become a believer or merit Allah’s reward or His Paradise. Unbelievers of every nation mention the name alone, whether or not they acknowledge Him and His oneness.

Even when He commanded us to mention His name, as in His words:

“So eat of what they catch for you, and mention the name of Allah over it,”

and His words:

“And do not eat of that over which the name of Allah has not been mentioned,”

and His words:

“Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High,”

and His words:

“So glorify the name of your Lord, the Most Great,”

and similar passages, mentioning His name was to be done through a complete utterance, such as saying, “In the name of Allah,” or, “Glory be to my Lord, the Most High,” and, “Glory be to my Lord, the Most Great,” and the like. He never prescribed mentioning the name alone. Doing so neither fulfills a command nor establishes [the lawfulness of game] (1) or of a slaughtered animal, or anything else of that kind.

If it is said: A person who utters or hears the name alone may experience a stirring of love and reverence for Allah, and similar feelings.

I reply: Yes, and he is rewarded for that lawful inward experience and state of faith, not because mentioning the name alone is recommended. Hearing it stirs what lies dormant in the heart. Yet what lies dormant may also be stirred by hearing an utterance that is forbidden or disliked. A Muslim may even hear someone associating partners with Allah or reviling Him, and a state of deep feeling and love for Allah surges in his heart because of the intensity of his aversion