Al-Adl

The root. Al-Adl comes from ʿ-d-l, a root that carries both balance and equivalence — the same root gives Arabic iʿtidāl (being level, upright) and ʿadīl (an equal counterpart), so justice in this root is not an abstract ideal but a state of things set level, with nothing outweighing what it should not. Al-Adl is used as a noun rather than a participle, naming the quality itself rather than one who acts it out, closer in shape to As-Salam than to an active-agent name like Al-Baseer.

What it means here. Al-Adl names Allah as the one whose every decree and judgment is exactly proportioned, giving each thing and each claim precisely its due, neither favoring nor shortchanging. It is not a name that claims mere fairness as humans practice it, weighing competing interests as best they can; it describes a balance that does not need to be checked because nothing in it can be off. Muslim scholars later placed Al-Adl among the ninety-nine, reading it out of Allah's justice affirmed throughout the Quran rather than out of this exact word applied to Him.

Where it is met. The word ʿadl itself is not used in the Quran as a name for Allah; it appears instead as a command — "Allah commands justice" in Surah An-Nahl — and as a description of His word, "the word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and justice," in Surah Al-An'am. Believers are repeatedly commanded to judge and testify with ʿadl, holding it as the standard His own decree already meets.