The Quran tells us: “God has the most excellent names.” (7:180) Here, “names” have the extended meaning of the best attributes that inhere specifically in God. Traditions tell us that they number 99, which are a major sampling of God’s infinity of attributes. These best names of God, asma-e-husna, in actual fact, are different aspects of the attributes of God. When a person reflects on the existence of God and His creations, various aspects of God appear to him and he is able to understand these different aspects of God. Conscious realization of these aspects is what is meant by enumeration of God’s names.
All the divine names mentioned in the Quran, give us points of reference for reflection and pondering. With these names we find definite guidance with which we may arrive at a concept of the divine Being, and thinking of the attributes of God, we may establish a specific intellectual relationship with the Divine Being. It is this relationship which is called God-realization. Those who attain the realization of God in this way will undoubtedly go to Paradise, because Paradise is, in actual fact, the reward for the realization of God.
