The Ninety-Nine Names · the 15th name
الْقَهَّار
Al-Qahhar
The All-Subduing
- The rootق ه ر
- From the rootqahara: to overpower completely, to subdue so that nothing is left standing against
The essay
Al-Qahhar names the end of every contest. Not that He wins arguments, but that nothing has independent standing against Him at all: not the tyrant, not the illness, not death, not the one who denies Him and dies comfortable in his bed. The Qur'an nearly always pairs it with The One, and the pairing is the argument: there is no second power for the defeated to appeal to.
In the Qur'an
لَّوۡ أَرَادَ ٱللَّهُ أَن يَتَّخِذَ وَلَدٗا لَّٱصۡطَفَىٰ مِمَّا يَخۡلُقُ مَا يَشَآءُۚ سُبۡحَٰنَهُۥۖ هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلۡوَٰحِدُ ٱلۡقَهَّارُ
Had Allah willed to take a son, He would have chosen from what He creates whatever He willed. Glory be to Him. He is Allah, the One, the All-Subduing.
this Name is in the Qur’an
What it asks of you
Whatever currently looks unstoppable is already subdued. Behave accordingly and stop negotiating with it in your head.
Read beside it
The words