Al-Mu'izz Meaning: The Honourer (المعز)

الْمُعِزُّ

One of the Most Beautiful Names of Allah

Al-Mu'izz

The Honourer

Al-Mu'izz gives esteem to whoever He wills, and no one can then degrade that person. It is not in the Quran as a Name but in the hadith that lists the Names, which at-Tirmidhi himself called gharib. 3:26 attributes the act to Allah directly: You honour whoever You please.

Key verse

Al Imran 3:26The Clear Quran

﴿قُلِ ٱللَّهُمَّ مَـٰلِكَ ٱلْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِى ٱلْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتَنزِعُ ٱلْمُلْكَ مِمَّن تَشَآءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَن تَشَآءُ ۖ بِيَدِكَ ٱلْخَيْرُ ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ﴾

Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “O Allah! Lord over all authorities! You give authority to whoever You please and remove it from who You please; You honour whoever You please and disgrace who You please: all good is in Your Hands. Surely You ˹alone˺ are Most Capable of everything.

The scholar's text

English

He gives esteem to whoever He willed, hence there is no one to degrade him; And He degrades whoever He willed, hence there is no one to give him esteem.

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «إِنَّ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى تِسْعَةً وَتِسْعِينَ اسْمًا مَنْ أَحْصَاهَا دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ هُوَ اللَّهُ الَّذِي لَا إِلَه إِلَّا هُوَ الرَّحْمَنُ الرَّحِيمُ الْمَلِكُ الْقُدُّوسُ السَّلَامُ الْمُؤْمِنُ الْمُهَيْمِنُ الْعَزِيزُ الْجَبَّارُ الْمُتَكَبِّرُ الْخَالِقُ الْبَارِئُ الْمُصَوِّرُ الْغَفَّارُ الْقَهَّارُ الْوَهَّابُ الرَّزَّاقُ الْفَتَّاحُ الْعَلِيمُ الْقَابِضُ الْبَاسِطُ الْخَافِضُ الرَّافِعُ الْمُعِزُّ الْمُذِلُّ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ الْحَكَمُ الْعَدْلُ اللَّطِيفُ الْخَبِيرُ الْحَلِيمُ الْعَظِيمُ الْغَفُورُ الشَّكورُ العَلِيُّ الكَبِيرُ الحَفيظُ المُقِيتُ الْحَسِيبُ الْجَلِيلُ الْكَرِيمُ الرَّقِيبُ الْمُجِيبُ الْوَاسِعُ الْحَكِيمُ الْوَدُودُ الْمَجِيدُ الْبَاعِثُ الشَّهِيدُ الْحَقُّ الْوَكِيلُ الْقَوِيُّ الْمَتِينُ الْوَلِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ الْمُحْصِي الْمُبْدِئُ الْمُعِيدُ الْمُحْيِي المُميتُ الحَيُّ القَيُّومُ الواجِدُ الماجِدُ الواحِدُ الأحَدُ الصَّمَدُ الْقَادِرُ الْمُقْتَدِرُ الْمُقَدِّمُ الْمُؤَخِّرُ الْأَوَّلُ الْآخِرُ الظَّاهِرُ الْبَاطِنُ الْوَالِي الْمُتَعَالِي الْبَرُّ التَّوَّابُ الْمُنْتَقِمُ العَفُوُّ الرَّؤوفُ مَالِكُ الْمُلْكِ ذُو الْجَلَالِ وَالْإِكْرَامِ الْمُقْسِطُ الْجَامِعُ الْغَنِيُّ الْمُغْنِي الْمَانِعُ الضَّارُّ النَّافِعُ النُّورُ الْهَادِي الْبَدِيعُ الْبَاقِي الْوَارِثُ الرَّشِيدُ الصَّبُورُ» . رَوَاهُ التِّرْمِذِيُّ والبيهقيُّ فِي الدَّعواتِ الْكَبِير. وَقَالَ التِّرْمِذِيّ: هَذَا حَدِيث غَرِيب

Note: The word إلا (except) was missing from «لا إله إلا هو» (there is no god but He) in the original and is restored here. This list is Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3507, which al-Albani graded weak (da'if); in at-Tirmidhi's collection its wording also has «مائة غير واحدة» (one hundred less one) after the ninety-nine Names, and no الأحد after الواحد.

Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, “God Most High has ninety-nine names. He who retains them in his memory will enter paradise. He is God than whom there is no god, the Compassionate, the Merciful, the King, the Holy, the Source of Peace, the Preserver of security, the Protector, the Mighty, the Overpowering, the Great in Majesty, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner, the Forgiver, the Dominant, the Bestower, the Provider, the Decider, the Knower, the Withholder, the Plentiful Giver, the Abaser, the Exalter, the Honourer, the Humiliator, the Hearer, the Seer, the Judge, the Just, the Gracious, the Informed, the Clement, the Incomparably Great, the Forgiving, the Rewarder, the Most High, the Most Great, the Preserver, the Sustainer, the Reckoner, the Majestic, the Generous, the Watcher, the Answerer, the Liberal, the Wise, the Loving, the Glorious, the Raiser, the Witness, the Real, the Trustee, the Strong, the Firm, the Patron, the Praiseworthy, the All-Knowing, the Originator, the Restorer to life, the Giver of life, the Giver of death, the Living, the Eternal, the Self-sufficient, the Grand, the One, the Single, He to whom men repair, the Powerful, the Prevailing, the Advancer, the Delayer, the First, the Last, the Outward, the Inward, the Governor, the Sublime, the Amply Beneficent, the Accepter of Repentance, the Avenger, the Pardoner, the Kindly, the Ruler of the Kingdom, the Lord of Majesty and Splendour, the Equitable, the Gatherer, the Independent, the Enricher, the Depriver, the Harmer, the Benefiter, the Light, the Guide, the First Cause*, the Enduring, the Inheritor, the Director, the Patient.” *Or, 'the Incomparable' (al-badi'). Tirmidhi and Baihaqi, in [Kitab] ad-Da'awat al-kabir, transmitted it,

It is mentioned 0 times in the Holy Quran but it is mentioned in this Hadith

Arabic

يعز من يشاء فلا مذل له، ويذل من يشاء فلا معز له.

ملاحظة: سقطت كلمة «إلا» من «لا إله إلا هو» في الأصل، وأعيدت هنا. وهذا السرد في جامع الترمذي 3507، وضعفه الألباني، ولفظه في جامع الترمذي فيه «مائة غير واحدة» بعد «تسعة وتسعين اسما»، وليس فيه «الأحد» بعد «الواحد».

لم يرد في القرآن الكريم، وورد في هذا الحديث.

You Honour Whoever You Please

The act is named in the prayer of 3:26: You honour whoever You please and disgrace who You please. Al-Baghawi gathers what scholars meant by it. Ata said: the honoured are the Emigrants and the Helpers, the disgraced Persia and Rome. Others said Muhammad ﷺ and his Companions, who entered Mecca ten thousand strong. Still others took it inward: He honours with contentment and being pleased with what one has, and disgraces with greed.

Arabic: وتعز من تشاء

تقول آية آل عمران: ﴿وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَآءُ﴾، وجمع البغوي أقوال العلماء فيها: «قال عطاء تعز من تشاء: المهاجرين والأنصار وتذل من تشاء: فارس والروم»، «وقيل تعز من تشاء محمدا صلى الله عليه وسلم وأصحابه حتى دخلوا مكة في عشرة آلاف ظاهرين عليها»، «وقيل تعز من تشاء بالقناعة والرضى وتذل من تشاء بالحرص والطمع».

Do They Seek Honour With Them?

An-Nisa 4:139The Clear Quran

﴿ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَّخِذُونَ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ أَوْلِيَآءَ مِن دُونِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ۚ أَيَبْتَغُونَ عِندَهُمُ ٱلْعِزَّةَ فَإِنَّ ٱلْعِزَّةَ لِلَّهِ جَمِيعًا﴾

who choose disbelievers as allies instead of the believers. Do they seek honour and power through that company? Surely all honour and power belongs to Allah.

4:139 asks it of those who take the disbelievers as allies instead of the believers: do they seek honour and power through that company? Surely all honour and power belongs to Allah. They took them as allies, al-Sa'di says, to draw strength and help from them, while all honour is Allah's, the forelocks of His servants are in His hand, and His will is carried out in them.

Arabic: أيبتغون عندهم العزة فإن العزة لله جميعا

تسأل آية النساء: ﴿ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَّخِذُونَ ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ أَوْلِيَآءَ مِن دُونِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ۚ أَيَبْتَغُونَ عِندَهُمُ ٱلْعِزَّةَ فَإِنَّ ٱلْعِزَّةَ لِلَّهِ جَمِيعًا﴾، قال السعدي: «فاتخذوا الكافرين أولياء يتعززون بهم ويستنصرون. والحال أن العزة لله جميعا، فإن نواصي العباد بيده، ومشيئته نافذة فيهم».

The Honourable Will Expel the Inferior

Al-Munafiqun 63:8The Clear Quran

﴿يَقُولُونَ لَئِن رَّجَعْنَآ إِلَى ٱلْمَدِينَةِ لَيُخْرِجَنَّ ٱلْأَعَزُّ مِنْهَا ٱلْأَذَلَّ ۚ وَلِلَّهِ ٱلْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَسُولِهِۦ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلَـٰكِنَّ ٱلْمُنَـٰفِقِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ﴾

They say, “If we return to Medina, the honourable will definitely expel the inferior.” But all honour and power belongs to Allah, His Messenger, and the believers, yet the hypocrites do not know.

63:8 records the boast of the hypocrites: if we return to Medina, the honourable will expel the inferior. Al-Sa'di gives the setting, the campaign of al-Muraysi', when words passed between some of the Emigrants and the Helpers and the hypocrites showed what they had hidden. The verse answers: all honour and power belongs to Allah, His Messenger and the believers. They are the honoured ones, al-Sa'di says, and the hypocrites and their brothers among the disbelievers are the disgraced.

Arabic: ولله العزة ولرسوله وللمؤمنين

تحكي آية المنافقون: ﴿يَقُولُونَ لَئِن رَّجَعْنَآ إِلَى ٱلْمَدِينَةِ لَيُخْرِجَنَّ ٱلْأَعَزُّ مِنْهَا ٱلْأَذَلَّ ۚ وَلِلَّهِ ٱلْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَسُولِهِۦ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلَـٰكِنَّ ٱلْمُنَـٰفِقِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ﴾، قال السعدي: «وذلك في غزوة المريسيع، حين صار بين بعض المهاجرين والأنصار، بعض كلام كدر الخواطر، ظهر حينئذ نفاق المنافقين، وأظهروا ما في نفوسهم». وقال في جوابها: «فهم الأعزاء، والمنافقون وإخوانهم من الكفار [هم] الأذلاء».

When You Were Few

Al-Anfal 8:26The Clear Quran

﴿وَٱذْكُرُوٓا۟ إِذْ أَنتُمْ قَلِيلٌ مُّسْتَضْعَفُونَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ تَخَافُونَ أَن يَتَخَطَّفَكُمُ ٱلنَّاسُ فَـَٔاوَىٰكُمْ وَأَيَّدَكُم بِنَصْرِهِۦ وَرَزَقَكُم مِّنَ ٱلطَّيِّبَـٰتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ﴾

Remember when you had been vastly outnumbered and oppressed in the land, constantly in fear of attacks by your enemy, then He sheltered you, strengthened you with His help, and provided you with good things so perhaps you would be thankful.

8:26 reminds the believers of what they had been: outnumbered and oppressed in the land, afraid of being snatched away, until He sheltered them and strengthened them with His help. Al-Sa'di calls it a favour He reminds them of: help after humiliation, numbers after fewness, wealth after need. 3:123 names the day: Allah made you victorious at Badr when you were vastly outnumbered, few in men and arms, al-Sa'di says, against an enemy with many of both.

Arabic: واذكروا إذ أنتم قليل مستضعفون في الأرض

تذكر آية الأنفال: ﴿وَٱذْكُرُوٓا۟ إِذْ أَنتُمْ قَلِيلٌ مُّسْتَضْعَفُونَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ تَخَافُونَ أَن يَتَخَطَّفَكُمُ ٱلنَّاسُ فَـَٔاوَىٰكُمْ وَأَيَّدَكُم بِنَصْرِهِۦ وَرَزَقَكُم مِّنَ ٱلطَّيِّبَـٰتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ﴾، قال السعدي: «يقول تعالى ممتنا على عباده في نصرهم بعد الذلة، وتكثيرهم بعد القلة، وإغنائهم بعد العيلة». وفي آل عمران: ﴿وَلَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِبَدْرٍ وَأَنتُمْ أَذِلَّةٌ ۖ فَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ﴾، قال: «وتذكير لهم بما نصرهم به يوم بدر وهم أذلة في قلة عَددهم وعُددهم مع كثرة عدد عدوهم وعُددهم».

When Allah Had Honoured Islam

Abu Ayyub al-Ansari explained 2:195 on a battlefield, when people thought a man who charged the enemy had thrown himself into destruction: “this Ayah was only revealed about us, the people among the Ansar, when Allah made Islam might, and increased its supporters”. Some of them had said they would now stay and tend their property, and the verse came down to answer them: “So the destruction was tending to the wealth and maintaining it”, staying with their property and leaving the campaigns, as the Arabic of the report has it (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2972, graded sahih by al-Albani).

Arabic: لما أعز الله الإسلام

فسر أبو أيوب الأنصاري آية البقرة لما ظن الناس أن رجلا حمل على العدو ألقى بنفسه إلى التهلكة، فقال: «وَإِنَّمَا نَزَلَتْ هَذِهِ الآيَةُ فِينَا مَعْشَرَ الأَنْصَارِ لَمَّا أَعَزَّ اللَّهُ الإِسْلاَمَ وَكَثُرَ نَاصِرُوهُ»، وقالوا نقيم في أموالنا، فنزلت الآية ترد عليهم: «فَكَانَتِ التَّهْلُكَةُ الإِقَامَةَ عَلَى الأَمْوَالِ وَإِصْلاَحَهَا وَتَرَكْنَا الْغَزْوَ» (جامع الترمذي 2972، وصححه الألباني).

From the Sunnah

this Ayah was only revealed about us, the people among the Ansar, when Allah made Islam might, and increased its supporters

وَإِنَّمَا نَزَلَتْ هَذِهِ الآيَةُ فِينَا مَعْشَرَ الأَنْصَارِ لَمَّا أَعَزَّ اللَّهُ الإِسْلاَمَ وَكَثُرَ نَاصِرُوهُ

Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2972, narrated by Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, as Aslam ibn Imran reported (Sahih (Ahmad Muhammad Shakir); Sahih (Al-Albani); Hasan Sahih (Bashar Awad Maarouf); Isnaad Sahih (Zubair Ali Zai))

A du'a with this Name

اللَّهُمَّ عَافِنِي فِيمَنْ عَافَيْتَ وَتَوَلَّنِي فِيمَنْ تَوَلَّيْتَ وَاهْدِنِي فِيمَنْ هَدَيْتَ وَقِنِي شَرَّ مَا قَضَيْتَ وَبَارِكْ لِي فِيمَا أَعْطَيْتَ إِنَّكَ تَقْضِي وَلاَ يُقْضَى عَلَيْكَ إِنَّهُ لاَ يَذِلُّ مَنْ وَالَيْتَ سُبْحَانَكَ رَبَّنَا تَبَارَكْتَ وَتَعَالَيْتَ

O Allah, pardon me along with those whom You have pardoned, be an ally to me along with those whom You are an ally to, guide me along with those whom You have guided, protect me from the evil that You have decreed, and bless for me that which You have bestowed. For verily You decree and none can decree over You. He whom You support can never be humiliated. Glory is to You, our Lord, You are Blessed and Exalted

Sunan Ibn Majah 1178, graded sahih by al-Albani: the words the Prophet ﷺ taught al-Hasan ibn Ali for the qunut of witr

Questions about Al-Mu'izz

What does Al-Mu'izz mean?

Al-Mu'izz gives esteem to whoever He wills, and then no one can degrade that person.

Is Al-Mu'izz in the Quran?

Al-Mu'izz is not in the Quran as a Name; it comes in the list of Names in at-Tirmidhi; at-Tirmidhi called that report gharib, and al-Albani graded it weak (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3507). 3:26 says: You honour whoever You please.

Where is true honour found?

All honour and power belongs to Allah, 4:139 says, and al-Sa'di adds that seeking it from others is the mistake of those who took the wrong allies.

Who are the honoured, according to 63:8?

Allah, His Messenger and the believers hold all honour and power, 63:8 says, against the hypocrites' boast.

See all the Names of Allah

The Most Beautiful Names of Allah: الْمُعِزُّ Al-Mu’izz (The Honourer)