Sufism

Ninety-nine Names of God, each a facet through which the One is known

Al-Ghazali's treatise treats the ninety-nine names not as a list to memorize but as distinct qualities meant to be understood and, as far as a human being can, taken on in one's own character.

Al-Ghazali's al-Maqsad al-Asna works systematically through the traditional list of ninety-nine divine names drawn from Qur'anic and hadith usage, arguing that names such as al-Rahman (the Merciful), al-'Adl (the Just), and al-Ghaffar (the Forgiving) are not interchangeable honorifics but distinct, real qualities, each disclosing something true about God that no other name alone could capture. The number ninety-nine itself comes from a hadith promising paradise to whoever "encompasses" or "counts" them, which al-Ghazali reads as a demand for comprehension rather than mere recitation. His deeper practical claim is what he calls takhalluq: knowing a divine name is only the first step, and the real work is striving to take on a portion of that quality in one's own conduct, whether mercy, justice, or patience, to the degree a created being is capable of it. This turns theology into an ethical program, not just a catalogue of God's attributes.

al-Maqsad al-Asna fi Sharh Asma' Allah al-Husna