Al-Awwal — The First

Al-Awwal is the First, before whom there is nothing — not first in a sequence He belongs to, but prior to sequence itself. Time is created, so the name does not place Allah at the start of a timeline; it denies that anything preceded Him. It opens the four names of 57:3 — the First, the Last, the Manifest, the Hidden — which classical scholars treat as a complete map of His relation to existence. A hadith explains it plainly: You are the First, so there is nothing before You.

Updated July 16, 2026