الْمُتَعَالِي
Al-Mutaali
The Most Exalted
What Al-Mutaali Means
Al-Mutaali comes from ‘uluww, height and exaltedness carried to its utmost: the One who is exalted high above every defect, every partner and every comparison that creatures invent. The Quran names Him with it inside a verse about knowledge: ‘Knower of the unseen and the seen, the Most Great, the Most Exalted’ (13:9), and with its verb form as a crown to a warning: ‘Exalted is Allah, the King, the Truth’ (20:114). Scholars explain that His exaltedness is in every sense — in essence, in power and in absolute dominion over all things — and that every attempt to liken Him to created things falls infinitely short of Him. For the believer, Al-Mutaali lifts the heart: the God you worship is not a greater version of created things; He is exalted above all of it, and nearness to Him is reached by obedience, not by imagination.
Al-Mutaali in the Quran
عَـٰلِمُ ٱلْغَيْبِ وَٱلشَّهَـٰدَةِ ٱلْكَبِيرُ ٱلْمُتَعَالِ
“He is the Knower of the hidden and the manifest. He is the Great, the High.”
فَتَعَـٰلَى ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمَلِكُ ٱلْحَقُّ ۗ وَلَا تَعْجَلْ بِٱلْقُرْءَانِ مِن قَبْلِ أَن يُقْضَىٰٓ إِلَيْكَ وَحْيُهُۥ ۖ وَقُل رَّبِّ زِدْنِى عِلْمًا
“So High above all is Allah, the True King! And do not hasten with (reciting) the Qur’ān before its revelation to you is concluded, and say, “My Lord, improve me in knowledge.””
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.”
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.”
Call on Al-Mutaali when the world belittles your faith, or when your own soul feels low and pulled down by sin: the Most Exalted raises whom He wills. In your own words: ‘Ya Mutaali — O Most Exalted above every flaw — raise me above the sins that drag me down, and make my heart too high for anything that displeases You.’
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.