الْبَاسِطُ
Al-Basit
The Extender
What Al-Basit Means
Al-Basit is built on the root b-s-t, to spread out and extend wide. It is the generous counterpart to Al-Qabid: the One who spreads provision, ease and blessing open for whom He wills. ‘To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth; He extends provision to whom He wills and measures it out’ (42:12). Both movements — extension and measure — are acts of the same wise Provider, which means abundance is not a certificate of Allah’s pleasure nor scarcity a proof of His anger; each is an apportioned test. The Prophet ﷺ taught this in the market, naming Allah Al-Basit when prices rose and people wanted them forced down (Abu Dawud 3451). For a believer this name turns plenty into responsibility: what the Extender has spread before him, he spreads onward to others in gratitude, and when his own share narrows he remembers that extension, like constriction, comes from that same open Hand — and asks Him with hope rather than panic.
Al-Basit in the Quran
مَّن ذَا ٱلَّذِى يُقْرِضُ ٱللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا فَيُضَـٰعِفَهُۥ لَهُۥٓ أَضْعَافًا كَثِيرَةً ۚ وَٱللَّهُ يَقْبِضُ وَيَبْصُۜطُ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ
“Who is the one who would give Allah a good loan so that Allah multiplies it for him many times? Allah withholds and extends, and to Him you are to be returned.”
لَهُۥ مَقَالِيدُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ يَبْسُطُ ٱلرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيَقْدِرُ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌ
“To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth. He extends provision for whomsoever He wills, and straitens (it for whomsoever He wills). Surely He is All-Knowing in respect of every thing.”
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 Anas ibn Malik: The people said: Messenger of Allah , prices have shot up, so fix prices for us. Thereupon the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Allah is the one Who fixes prices, Who withholds, gives lavishly and provides, and I hope that when I meet Allah, none of you will have any claim on…”
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 Basit — O Extender’ in your own words, for example asking Him to spread provision, ease and blessing over you and your family, and to make you a means of spreading good to others. Answer His extension with extension of your own: share what He spreads before you, and in narrow days ask the Extender — He has never stopped extending to His creation (42:12).
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.