One way to understand the religion of Islam is to analyze the language and rhetoric of its users and listeners. A study examined the meaning behind the recitation of the 99 metaphorical names of Allah (God), translated from Arabic. Muslim rituals, of which this recitation is one, fulfill the basic principles of metaphors, which imply a framework of values or assume a response to the world. The use of the metaphorical approach for Islam is justified because of its concern with style of expression. The interactions of a religion's adherents and its symbols can be analyzed by rhetorical critics in an effort "to structure the persuader's strategies." The particular strategy employed in this study was to determine if the use of the names of Allah would influence and inform Western receivers. Subjects, 139 American, English-speaking undergraduates from the State University of New York College at Brockport, were given a semantic-differential test to discren if the 99 names were meaningful. The results indicated that most of the names were and thus are possibly useful as a rhetorical tool for informing and persuading. (Six figures and 12 references are appended.) (MS)