الْمُقَدِّمُ
Al-Muqaddim
The Expediter
What Al-Muqaddim Means
Al-Muqaddim, from qa-da-ma, to go before, is the One who puts forward whatever He wills: He advances one matter and holds back another, raises one person and delays another, all by perfect wisdom. The Quran does not use the noun as a name of Allah, but it shows the act itself — on the Day of Judgement Allah will say: ‘Do not dispute before Me; I had already sent the warning to you beforehand’ (50:28): the sentence arrives only after the proof was put forward. In his night prayer, the Prophet (saw) named his Lord with both sides of this pair: ‘You are Al-Muqaddim and You are Al-Muakhkhir; there is no god but You’ (Al-Bukhari 1120). For the believer, this name heals the anxiety of timing: whatever reached you early, and whatever has not reached you yet, came by the decision of the One who orders all things.
Al-Muqaddim in the Quran
قَالَ لَا تَخْتَصِمُوا۟ لَدَىَّ وَقَدْ قَدَّمْتُ إِلَيْكُم بِٱلْوَعِيدِ
“He (Allah) will say, “Do not quarrel before Me, while I had sent to you My threat well in advance.”
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 Ibn `Abbas: When the Prophet (ﷺ) got up at night to offer the Tahajjud prayer, he used to say: Allahumma lakal-hamd. Anta qaiyyimus-samawati wal-ard wa man fihinna. Walakal-hamd, Laka mulkus-samawati wal-ard wa man fihinna. Walakal-hamd, anta nurus-samawati wal-ard.”
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.”
Follow the Prophet’s (saw) own wording from his night prayer and call on Allah as Al-Muqaddim (Al-Bukhari 1120). When something you long for seems delayed, or a door opens before you feel ready, say in your own words: ‘Ya Muqaddim — O You who put things forward by wisdom — bring forward for me what is good, and keep back from me what is harm, for You alone know the right order of things.’
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.