الجبار
al-Jabbār
Topic
A divine name: the Almighty, whose might determines everything in truth.
What it means
Al-Jabbār is one of the names of God and appears in the Quran’s closing verses of surah 59 among His names (59:23). It is a name of power: Faruqi renders it as He Who is almighty and Whose might truly determines everything. Some scholars derive it from a root meaning to mend, so that it also holds the sense of One who restores the broken and repairs the weak.
The same word is used for human beings in a bad sense, as in the Quran’s description of obstinate tyrants (11:59, 14:15). Scholars note that the divine name has a different character, since only God has real, unlimited might, and He uses it with justice and mercy. The name is used in supplications asking Him to repair what is broken.
Often misunderstood as
The name is often rendered “the Tyrant” or “the Compeller”, but for God it describes lawful and just might, unlike the human jabbar, who abuses power.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 27, listed as AL JABBĀR. The definition is restated here.