الْحَمِيدُ
Al-Hamid
The Praiseworthy
What Al-Hamid Means
Al-Hamid is from the root h-m-d, praise that is deserved. Allah is Al-Hamid: He is praiseworthy in Himself, in every attribute and every act, whether creation praises Him or not — His worthiness of praise does not wait for our tongues. That is why the name is twice paired with Al-Ghaniyy, the Self-Sufficient: “Allah is Al-Ghaniyy, Al-Hamid” (31:26; 57:24) — He gains nothing from our praise and loses nothing by our silence; the gain is entirely ours. Even the believers of the trench were killed only “for believing in Allah, Al-Aziz, Al-Hamid” (85:8). For the believer this name sets the default of the heart: hamd in ease and in hardship alike, because the One praised is Hamid in both. And praise itself is worship of the highest rank — the Prophet ﷺ called ‘Alhamdulillah’ the best of supplication (Tirmidhi 3383).
Al-Hamid in the Quran
لِلَّهِ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلْغَنِىُّ ٱلْحَمِيدُ
“To Allah belongs what is in the heavens and the earth. Surely, it is Allah who is free of all needs, worthy of every praise.”
ٱلَّذِينَ يَبْخَلُونَ وَيَأْمُرُونَ ٱلنَّاسَ بِٱلْبُخْلِ ۗ وَمَن يَتَوَلَّ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلْغَنِىُّ ٱلْحَمِيدُ
“-those who are miserly and bid others to be miserly. And whoever turns away, then Allah is the All-Independent, the Ever-Praised.”
وَمَا نَقَمُوا۟ مِنْهُمْ إِلَّآ أَن يُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْحَمِيدِ
“They punished them for nothing but that they believed in Allah, the All-Mighty, the Worthy of All Praise,”
What the Prophet ﷺ Taught Us
THE FOUNDATION OF THE 99 NAMES
“Allah has ninety-nine names, i.e. one-hundred minus one, and whoever knows them will go to Paradise.”
“Narrated Rifa`a bin Rafi` Az-Zuraqi: One day we were praying behind the Prophet. When he raised his head from bowing, he said, “Sami`a l-lahu liman hamidah.”
“Jabir bin `Abdullah (ra) narrated that : the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “The best remembrance is: ‘there is none worthy of worship except Allah (Lā ilāha illallāh)’ and the best supplication is: ‘All praise is due to Allah (Al-ḥamdulillāh).’””
Calling Upon Allah by This Name
Allah Himself commands us to call upon Him by His beautiful names:
وَلِلَّهِ ٱلْأَسْمَآءُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ فَٱدْعُوهُ بِهَا ۖ وَذَرُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِىٓ أَسْمَـٰٓئِهِۦ ۚ سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ
“For Allah there are the most beautiful names. So, call Him by them, and leave those who deviate in (the matter of) His names. They shall be recompensed for what they have been doing.”
Allah commands us to call upon Him by His names (7:180), so call upon Him as Ya Hamid — for example, in your own words: “Ya Hamid, to You belongs all praise in every state; teach my tongue and my heart to praise You in hardship as in ease.” The practical lesson is the scale of small words: one man’s sentence of extra praise after ruku’ set over thirty angels racing to record it (Bukhari 799). Never rate an ‘Alhamdulillah’ as a small deed.
Quran translations: Mufti Taqi Usmani. Hadith texts and gradings: the DeenHub hadith library. Every reference on this page is from the Quran or from hadith graded Sahih or Hasan.