الْمُتَكَبِّرُ
Al-Mutakabbir
The Supreme
What Al-Mutakabbir Means
Al-Mutakabbir is built on the root k-b-r, greatness. It means the Supreme One, exalted above every defect and above all the qualities of creatures, to whom greatness and pride belong by right. In a human being, pride is almost always a false claim — boasting about what he did not create and cannot keep — but in Allah, supremacy is simple reality: He truly is greater than everything, and the Quran places this name at the end of the great list, followed at once by ‘Glory be to Allah above what they associate with Him’ (59:23). Allah states the boundary Himself: pride is His cloak, and whoever tries to snatch it will be punished (Muslim 2620). For a believer this name is the cure for arrogance. He leaves the cloak of greatness to its Owner, walks humbly before Him, and finds that honour with Allah grows exactly as self-importance shrinks.
Al-Mutakabbir in the Quran
هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلْمَلِكُ ٱلْقُدُّوسُ ٱلسَّلَـٰمُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُ ٱلْمُهَيْمِنُ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْجَبَّارُ ٱلْمُتَكَبِّرُ ۚ سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
“He is Allah, besides whom there is no god, the Sovereign, the Supreme-In-Holiness, the Safe (from all defects), the Giver-Of-Peace, the Guardian, the All-Mighty, the All-Repairer, the Sublime. Pure is Allah from what they associate with Him.”
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.”
“Abu Sa’id Khudri and Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying: Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, said: Glory is His lower garment and Majesty is His cloak and (Allah says, ) He who contends with Me in regard to them I shall torment him.”
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 you may call Him ‘Ya Mutakabbir — O Supreme One’ in your own words, for example asking Him to pull pride out of your heart and clothe you in humility. The practical lesson is a daily check: whenever you catch yourself looking down on someone, remember whose cloak pride is (Muslim 2620) — and step back from wearing what belongs to Allah alone.
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.