Al-Musawwir
Al-Musawwir is the Fashioner — the One who gives every created thing its own distinct form.
Name 13 of 99
الْمُصَوِّرُ
Al-Musawwir
The Fashioner
- In Arabic
- الْمُصَوِّرُ
- Transliteration
- Al-Musawwir
- Position in the list
- Name 13 of 99
Al-Musawwir — The Fashioner
What the name means
Surah in Arabic is form, shape, appearance. This is the third stage after decree and origination: the particular face, the particular voice, the pattern on a leaf that belongs to no other leaf.
The Quran says He shapes you in the wombs however He wills — variety by intention rather than by accident.
Living by this name
It is the ground for treating difference as design. Colour, feature and form are the work of the Fashioner, which is why the Quran lists the variety of human tongues and colours among His signs rather than among His accidents.
It also explains the gravity with which the Sunnah treats imitating creation in image-making. See also Al-Khaliq and Al-Bari'.
Al-Musawwir 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-Musawwir really is in the verse it is cited from.
هُوَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْخَٰلِقُ ٱلْبَارِئُ ٱلْمُصَوِّرُ ۖ لَهُ ٱلْأَسْمَآءُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ
He is Allah, the Creator, the Inventor, the Fashioner; to Him belong the best names. Whatever is in the heavens and earth is exalting Him. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.
Surah Al-Hashr 59:24Read 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-Musawwir
Al-Musawwir (الْمُصَوِّرُ) means "The Fashioner". 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-Musawwir, each checked against the Arabic text before publishing.
Address Allah with "Ya" before the name — "Ya Musawwir" — 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 13 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.