السميع
al-Samīʿ
Topic
A name of God: the All-Hearing, who hears every call and responds to those who turn to Him.
What it means
Al-Samīʿ means the One who hears everything, near or far, spoken aloud or kept silent. The Quran pairs it often with al-ʿAlīm, the All-Knowing, and with al-Baṣīr, the All-Seeing: “There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing” (42:11). Faruqi adds that He hears and responds to all calls. Believers draw comfort from the name because every prayer is heard. Ibrahim and Ismail built the Kaaba with the words, “Our Lord, accept this from us; You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing” (2:127). The name also warns, because God hears what people say in secret. In the ritual prayer the worshipper rising from the bow says, samiʿa Allāhu li-man ḥamidah, “God hears those who praise Him”.
Often misunderstood as
Understood as simple hearing, the name loses the Quranic point that God also responds, which Faruqi stresses.
What the sources say
The Quran says that God heard the plea of the woman who disputed with the Prophet about her husband, and that He hears the conversation of both parties (58:1). Scholars cite the verse to show that nothing escapes His hearing, and the Muslim tradition teaches that He answers supplication.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 35, listed as AL SAMĪ'. The definition is restated here.