Al-Halim
Al-Halim is the Most Forbearing — the One who does not rush to punish, though He has every power to.
Name 32 of 99
الْحَلِيمُ
Al-Halim
The Most Forbearing
- In Arabic
- الْحَلِيمُ
- Transliteration
- Al-Halim
- Position in the list
- Name 32 of 99
Al-Halim — The Most Forbearing
What the name means
Hilm is restraint held by someone fully able to act. It is not weakness or indifference; the Quran attaches it to knowledge and to forgiveness, so the delay is deliberate rather than distracted.
The verse states the reason for the delay: if Allah were to take people to account for what they earned, He would not leave a creature on the earth's surface.
Al-Halim in the Quran
The 3 verses below contain this name. Every reference is checked against the Arabic text of the Quran before it is published, so Al-Halim really is in each verse it is cited from.
لَّا يُؤَاخِذُكُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِٱللَّغْوِ فِىٓ أَيْمَٰنِكُمْ وَلَٰكِن يُؤَاخِذُكُم بِمَا كَسَبَتْ قُلُوبُكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌ حَلِيمٌۭ
Allah does not impose blame upon you for what is unintentional in your oaths, but He imposes blame upon you for what your hearts have earned. And Allah is Forgiving and Forbearing.
Surah Al-Baqarah 2:225Read the full surah →إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ تَوَلَّوْا۟ مِنكُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْتَقَى ٱلْجَمْعَانِ إِنَّمَا ٱسْتَزَلَّهُمُ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنُ بِبَعْضِ مَا كَسَبُوا۟ ۖ وَلَقَدْ عَفَا ٱللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ حَلِيمٌۭ
Indeed, those of you who turned back on the day the two armies met, it was Satan who caused them to slip because of some [blame] they had earned. But Allah has already forgiven them. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Forbearing.
Surah Ali 'Imran 3:155Read the full surah →لَيُدْخِلَنَّهُم مُّدْخَلًۭا يَرْضَوْنَهُۥ ۗ وَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَعَلِيمٌ حَلِيمٌۭ
He will surely cause them to enter an entrance with which they will be pleased, and indeed, Allah is Knowing and Forbearing.
Surah Al-Hajj 22:59Read 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-Halim
Al-Halim (الْحَلِيمُ) means "The Most Forbearing". 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 3 verses containing Al-Halim, each checked against the Arabic text before publishing.
Address Allah with "Ya" before the name — "Ya Halim" — 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 32 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.