Benefits of Reciting 99 Names of Allah Daily

The Sunnah tells us that the reward for memorising the names of Allah, may He be Exalted, is admission to Paradise. Al-Bukhari (2736) and Muslim (2677) narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Allah has ninety-nine names . Whoever memorises them will enter Paradise.” 

The word translated as memorised in this Hadith include the following: 

·        Memorising them

·        Understanding their meanings

·        Acting upon what they imply. So if a person knows that Allah is One, he will not associate anything else with Him; if he knows that He is the Provider, he will not seek provision from anyone else; if he knows that He is the Most Merciful, he will do acts of obedience that are a means of attaining this mercy… And so on

·        Calling upon Him by these names, as Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allah , so call on Him by them” [Al-A`raf 7:180]. So one may say for example, “O Most Gracious, have mercy on me; O Oft-Forgiving, forgive me; O Accepter of repentance, accept my repentance” and so on. Thus you will realise that it is not prescribed to merely recite these names without understanding them, acting upon them and calling upon Allah by them. 

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Salih Al-`Uthaymin (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “What is meant by memorising them is not merely writing them on a piece of paper, then repeating them until you have memorised them…” (Majmu` Fatawa wa Rasa’il Ibn `Uthaymin, 1/74) 

Undoubtedly focusing in Ramadan on reading the Quran is better than focusing on any other kind of Dhikr. We advise you to read a great deal of the Quran and ponder its meanings, whilst not neglecting Du`a, calling upon Allah, may He be Exalted, by His names . 

And Allah knows best.