الحافظ
al-Ḥāfiẓ
Topic
A divine name meaning the Keeper of all things; without the article, a person who has memorized the Quran.
What it means
As a name of God, al-Ḥāfiẓ means the Guardian and Keeper. The Quran says: “God is the best Guardian” (12:64) and, of the Book, “It is We who sent down the Reminder, and We shall be its guardian” (15:9). He keeps the heavens and the earth, and “their preservation does not weary Him” (2:255). God’s guardianship thus extends to the whole creation and to the Quran itself.
Without the article, ḥāfiẓ is the title of one who has the Quran by heart, plural ḥuffāẓ. The memorizers have carried the revelation from the time of the Prophet to the present, and many Muslims, children and adults, learn the whole text. The title was also given to hadith masters of exceptional memory, as in al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar. The two senses share the root meaning of keeping safe.
Often misunderstood as
Translated “the Protector” alone; the same word names the memorizer who keeps the Quran in memory.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 30, listed as AL ḤĀFIẒ. The definition is restated here.