Al-Fattah
Al-Fattah is the Opener — the One who opens what is shut, and who judges between people with the truth.
Name 18 of 99
الْفَتَّاحُ
Al-Fattah
The Opener
- In Arabic
- الْفَتَّاحُ
- Transliteration
- Al-Fattah
- Position in the list
- Name 18 of 99
Al-Fattah — The Opener
What the name means
Fath in Arabic covers both opening and deciding; an Arab judge was said to open the case between two parties. So the name works on two levels: doors opened — provision, understanding, relief — and disputes settled.
The single verse carrying it uses the judging sense: our Lord will bring us together, then open between us with the truth, and He is al-Fattah, al-Alim.
Al-Fattah in the Quran
The verse below contains this name. Each reference is checked against the Arabic text of the Quran before it is published, so Al-Fattah really is in the verse it is cited from.
قُلْ يَجْمَعُ بَيْنَنَا رَبُّنَا ثُمَّ يَفْتَحُ بَيْنَنَا بِٱلْحَقِّ وَهُوَ ٱلْفَتَّاحُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ
Say, "Our Lord will bring us together; then He will judge between us in truth. And He is the Knowing Judge."
Surah Saba 34:26Read the full surah →
How reliable is the list of ninety-nine?
That Allah has ninety-nine names is established in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, and both are agreed upon. The specific enumeration — this list of ninety-nine — comes from a narration in Jami' at-Tirmidhi that at-Tirmidhi himself called gharib, and which many hadith scholars grade weak; several held that a narrator compiled the names by searching the Quran and Sunnah. Classical scholars including al-Khattabi, Ibn Hazm, al-Qurtubi and al-Ghazali compiled lists of their own that differ from it. None of this touches the names themselves, every one of which is established elsewhere; it means the count of exactly these ninety-nine is a scholarly arrangement rather than a revealed roster, and Allah's names are not limited to them.
Questions about Al-Fattah
Al-Fattah (الْفَتَّاحُ) means "The Opener". Like every one of the ninety-nine names, it describes an attribute of Allah rather than serving as a label — the names are how the Quran teaches who Allah is.
Yes. This page cites 1 verse containing Al-Fattah, each checked against the Arabic text before publishing.
Address Allah with "Ya" before the name — "Ya Fattah" — and ask for what that attribute gives. The Quran instructs it directly: "To Allah belong the most beautiful names, so call upon Him by them" (7:180).
It is number 18 in the well-known list. The order comes from the narration of at-Tirmidhi and is a scholarly arrangement, so numbering can differ slightly between printed lists — the names themselves do not.