A l-Malik (The King) is one of Allah’s ninety-nine Beautiful Divine

Names and Attributes. Whosoever knows each one of them will be

admitted into Paradise. Allah, Most Gracious, says, “He is Allah,
besides Whom there is no god, the King, the Holy, the One Free from all
defects, the Giver of security, the Watcher over His creatures, the All-
Mighty, the Compeller, the Supreme. Glory be to Allah! High is He
above all that which they associate as partners with Him.” [XLI; 23] He,
Most Merciful, also says, “The Only Owner (and the King) of the Day of
Recompense (i.e. the Day of Resurrection).” [I; 4]

According to the Shafi’ite school of Islamic Jurisprudence a worshipper

should recite the above Quranic Verse in the first Rak’a of prayer as “The
Only Owner of the Day of Recompense” and in the second Rak’a as “The
King of the Day of Recompense”. This Name also occurs in the Quranic
Verse: “in a seat of truth (i.e. Paradise), near the Omnipotent King”
[LIV; 55]
In another Quranic Verse Allah, Glory to Him, says, “Say: ‘O Allah, Owner
of the Kingdom! You give kingdom to whom You will, and You take
kingdom from whom You will; and You endue with honor whom You
will, and You humiliate whom You will. In Your Hand is the Good.
Verily, You are Able to do all things.” [III; 26] He, Praised and All-High,
also says, “So Glorified and Far Exalted is He (above all that they
associate with Him), in Whose Hand is the Dominion of all things, and
to Whom you shall be returned.” [IIIVI; 83]

Definition of Al-Mulk (Ownership):

In Arabic the word “Mulk” means “the ability to dispose with things”, and
hence, Allah’s Beautiful Name “The King” is derived from His Holy Self,
but it can also be derived from His Acts as the Disposer with all things. In a
Divine Hadith, Allah, Glory to Him, says, “I am the King of kings, and the
Owner of kings. The hearts of kings are in My Hand: if My slaves obey
Me, I turn the hearts of their kings to them with tenderness and mercy;
but if My slaves disobey Me, I turn the hearts of their kings to them
with wrath and avenge. Therefore, do not occupy yourselves by abusing
kings but (rather) pray (to Allah) for their reform, for their reform
comes from your own reform.”

Allah, Praise belongs to Him, is the King and Owner of kings. In other
words, everything that can be owned belongs to Allah, All-High. Some
scholars hold that a king is someone who rules but does not own, and an
owner is someone who owns but does not rule; but Allah, Glory to Him, is
the Owner and King.

Sometimes, a person may own something but does not, or does not have the
right to, use it. Sometimes, a person may use, and dispose with, something
although he does not own it. And sometimes, a person may own, use and
dispose with something, but in the end it does not remain his own.

An example: A person may own a house legally and lawfully. He may dwell
in and dispose with it, but suddenly an act of public appropriation is issued
and the house is seized from him by the government. Thus, when it is said
that Allah is the Owner of the Kingdom, it means that He owns and disposes
with all things; and their final end will be to Him. Therefore, Allah’s
Ownership is Supreme and Absolute.

An Arabian who owned a herd of camels was once asked, “Whose are those
camels?”. In reply he said, “They belong to Allah, but they are in my hand
(i.e. I have been allowed by Allah, their real Owner to dispose with them).”
Hence, a true believer is someone who believes that his house, shop, car,
expertise, social position …etc. belong to Allah, All-Mighty.

An example: Even the very best and most specialized physician may
sometimes lose his memory or even become insane because of a blood-clot
in his brain and is, therefore, sent to an asylum. So, who is the Owner of the
Kingdom? It is, undoubtedly, Allah, Glory and Praise belong to Him.

Who is the Owner of our eyes by which we see things?! Who is the One
Who owns our ears, tongues, movement, power…etc. Allah, Praised and
Exalted! In other words, true Faith necessitates that one should firmly
believe that everything in one’s possession belongs in reality to Allah, All-
Mighty, Who allows one to dispose with it.

“Whose are these camels?” “They belong to Allah, but they are in my hand.”
Thus, your house belongs to Allah, but it is in your hand, and so is your car,
your shop …etc.

Now, if we say, “Someone is a king.” do we mean that he is really or

metaphorically a king? Scholars said: No one can really own anything
except Allah; and any kind of ownership other than that of Allah is only
metaphoric and unreal. This is because the real king is someone who is self-
sufficient in both himself and attributes and needs no one, or nothing, else in
existence. Is there a king who is self-sufficient and needs nothing for his
existence and survival? Does he not need air to breathe, water to drink, food
to eat, and sleep to rest? Does he not feel afraid or sad? Does he not wish he
could have more supporters and helpers? Each and every human being is,
therefore, in need of other fellow humans or other things for the achievement
of his existence and survival; and, therefore, no human being, or any other
creature, can ever be a real king. The Real King is Allah, the All-Mighty, the
Self-Sufficient; and anyone else can be only metaphorically called “a king”.

The Real King is He, Who is Self-Sufficient in Himself and Attributes and
needs nothing but all things in existence need Him for everything. In other
words, He is the King by Himself, His Existence, and His Attributes. He is
in need of nothing, but all things do need Him. Such is the accurate
definition of “The King”, and none but Allah, All-Mighty, All-High,
deserves it. In other words, the Real King is Allah; and whosoever describes
himself as king, or owner of a certain house, shop, business or company is
only metaphorically as such. Therefore, we should know the reality of
ourselves; and Allah will have mercy on those who know their reality and
abide thereby.

Allah, Glorified and All-High, is the One Who owns and grants ownership.
To this effect Allah, Most Gracious, says, “Say: ‘O Allah, Owner of the
Kingdom! You give kingdom to whom You will, and You take kingdom
from whom You will; and You endue with honor whom You will, and
You humiliate whom You will. In Your Hand is the Good. Verily, You are
Able to do all things.” [III; 26] And real ownership is to control one’s
desires and not to let them dominate over one, to be free from oneself and
not possessed thereby. To this effect, Joseph, (PBUH), invokes his Lord,
“My Lord! You have indeed bestowed on me of the sovereignty and
taught me something of the interpretation of dreams. (You are) the
(Only) Creator of the heavens and the earth! You are my Guardian in
this world and in the Hereafter. Cause me to die as a Muslim and join
me with the righteous.” [XII; 101]

The above-mentioned Quranic Verse is very delicate: Joseph acknowledges

the fact that Allah has bestowed on him sovereignty. But what kind of
sovereignty was it? It might be thought that it was sovereignty over treasures
of the earth, but most interpreters hold that it was not that as such, but,
rather, he (PBUH) was granted the real sovereignty, namely self-control.
That is because sovereignty in the traditional sense, which Allah, Most
Gracious, grants to whomsoever He pleases of His slaves, is a perishable
kind of sovereignty and is by no means a laudable privilege. But what is real
sovereignty? It was when he got control of himself saying, “I take refuge
with Allah!” when the king’s wife invited him maliciously to indecent work,
seducing him: “Come on!”. Scholars of Quranic interpretation said: This is
real sovereignty that never perishes – sovereignty whereby one is happy for
ever – i.e. to get control of oneself and dominate over one’s whims and
caprices. In other words, if you get control over you whims and caprices,
you are a real king; if you have self control, you are a real king; if you
dominate over yourself, you are a real king; if you suppress your desires,
you are a real king; and if you guide yourself to the way of righteousness
and happiness, you are a real king. If, however, your desires and caprices
lead you to misguidance, wrong-doing and sinful deeds, you are a slave. If
your mind rightly guides you, you are a real king; but if your whims and
desires mislead you, you are a mere slave. And great is the difference
between being a king or a slave.

One of the former European leaders who achieved great victories in World
War II once said a word that I never forget. He said, “In fact, we have
dominated the whole world except our own selves. We are weak before
ourselves!” A man, no matter how great and powerful he might be, is a mere
slave to his desires if he is seduced to illegal sexual relation by a woman
working with him. In fact, all mankind have two destructive points of
weakness, namely money and women. A man may have too many great
things, good knowledge, and amazing talents and abilities, yet he could be
enslaved by women and money. In this case he is by no means a free person
but rather a mere slave. In this context, the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH),
says, “Miserable is he who is enslaved by the Dirham and the Dinar (i.e.
money).” [narrated by Ibn Majah]

A slave is he who is enslaved by money and fails to make money in his own
benefit and service. This is because money is originally meant to be used by
people and not vice versa. In other words, if people get themselves enslaved
by money, they are mere slaves. The Prophetic Hadith goes on: “Miserable
is he who is enslaved by the vulva (pudendum of the female); miserable
is he who is enslaved by garments.”
Whenever you read Joseph’s invocation “My Lord! You have indeed
bestowed on me of the sovereignty!”, you really should deliberate its great
connotation, namely that real sovereignty is to get control of one’s own self
and not to be controlled thereby, to enslave one’s own desires and caprices
and not to get enslaved thereby, to be with the truth wherever it might be, to
stick to Allah’s Book, and to acknowledge the rights of other fellow humans.
Such is real heroism; and such is what most interpreters say about Allah’s
Words “My Lord! You have indeed bestowed on me of the sovereignty
and taught me something of the interpretation of dreams. (You are) the
Only Creator of the heavens and the earth! You are my Guardian (and
Protector) in this world and in the Hereafter! Cause me to die as a
Muslim and join me with the righteous!” [XII; 101]

Some say: The King is He Who possesses the hearts of worshippers and
makes them anxious. In fact, when someone gets to know Allah, Most
Gracious, All-Mighty, he enters a state of love and becomes possessed
thereby. He becomes great after having been trivial. Hence, he enters a state
of permanent anxiety until he meets his Lord, wondering, “Is my Lord
contented with me?! Does my work appeal to Allah, Most Gracious?! Does
Allah love me?! Is my work sincere enough?! Is there any deviation in my
work?! Is there anything or anyone I seek other than Allah?!

They also say that the King is He Who possesses the hearts of those who
know Him and causes such hearts to burn; the King is He Who, if He so
desires, grants ownership, or, if He so desires, causes to perish: “Verily, the
Seizure of your Lord is severe and painful.” [LXXV; 12]. If He gives, He
amazes; and if He brings someone to account, He inquires about everything.
A few years ago, He gave us heavy rain that amazed us and produced
seventy folds as much as previous years of wheat; but if rain is withheld
from us, who can ever order such rain to come down?! Even if all nations,
counsels or leaderships gather together, they can by no means cause rain to
fall down. And if rain is withheld from us, plants, animals and humans will
inevitably die. We are slaves because we can not survive without rain: “Say,
‘Tell me! If (all) your water were to sink away, who then can supply you
with flowing (spring) water?!’”[LXVII; 30]

Allah, Glorified and Exalted is The King, Who, if He so desires, grants

ownership and dominion, and, if He so desires, causes to perish. He is the
Real King, Whom none could ever defy or dispute with. None could ever
resist His Irresistible Divine Will or prevent His Judgment. He is the King,
by Whose Command all stars and planets run.

In one Quranic Verse Allah, All-Mighty, mentions five basic elements of

ownership. He, Most Gracious, says, “Say, ‘O Allah, Possessor of the
Kingdom! You give the kingdom to whom You will; and You take the
kingdom from whom You will; and You endue with honor whom You
will; and You humiliate whom You will. In Your Hand is the good.
Verily, Your are Powerful over all things.’” [III; 26]

Scholars interpreted the word “Kingdom” as that in the Hereafter as well as

that in the present world. In other words, if you are a true straightforward
honest sincere believer who performs deeds of righteousness, you are a king
in the Hereafter, when neither wealth nor children can avail anything, except
for those who come to Allah with pure hearts. Imam Ali, may Allah be
pleased with him, says, “Richness and poverty are (determined) after
standing before Allah (for judgment and accountability).” The above
Verse says, ”You give the kingdom to whom You will”. But who does the
word “whom” refer to? When Allah, All-Mighty, says, “And Allah guides
whomsoever He pleases to a Straight Path.”, He means: whosoever seeks
guidance, Allah will guide him/her. He also says, “And He misguides
whomsoever He pleases” in the sense that He, Most Gracious, misguides
those who seek misguidance. In other words, guidance and misguidance are
given to people in fulfillment of their own free choices of seeking either. To
this effect, Allah, Most Merciful, says, “And (remember) when Moses said
to his people, ‘O my people! Why do you annoy me while you know
certainly that I am the Messenger of Allah to you?’ So when they turned
away (from the Path of Allah), Allah turned their hearts away (from the
Right Path). And Allah guides not the people who are disobedient.”
[LXI; 5]
In the light of the above-mentioned the words “You grant kingdom to whom
You will” means that Allah grants guidance to those who seek it just as He
takes away guidance from those who reject Allah’s Religion, His Divine
Mercy, His Great Promise – i.e. those who seek the perishable pleasures and
enjoyments of the present world as well as the fulfillment of their lusty
desires and caprices even by committing sinful deeds and evil deviations.

By the way kingdom in the present world can be granted by Allah to both
those whom He loves and those He does not; but kingdom in the Hereafter is
granted only to those whom He loves.

The second connotation of kingdom in the present world is derived from

Allah’s Words, “And it is He Who has made you generations coming
after generations, replacing each other on the earth. And He has raised
you in ranks, some above others that He may try you in that which He
has bestowed on you. Surely your Lord is Swift in retribution, and
certainly He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [VI; 165]

Who has made you owner of your own house? It is Allah, Most Gracious.
Who did your house previously belong to? It belonged to someone else.
How did he sell it? He needed money, so he sold it. Who has made you the
new owner of such house? It is Allah, Most Generous. Your job: Who has
given it to you? It is Allah, Most Gracious. Why was someone else made to
leave such job so that it became yours? It is Allah, Most Wise, by His
Infinite Divine Wisdom and Judgment. This is the second connotation of
Allah’s Words in the above Verse “You grant kingdom (and ownership) to
whom You will” in the present world. To this effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says,
“It is He Who has made you generations coming after generations,
replacing each other on the earth.” But what is the wisdom behind this?
Why does Allah, Most Wise, give someone ownership and deprive someone
else of it? Why does he raise someone in rank above another and make
someone else inferior to another? The answer is simply: “that He may try
you in that which He has bestowed on you.” Allah tries you in both
richness and poverty, in both good health and sickness, and in both
powerfulness and weakness. If someone is rebellious and disobedient, what
is the remedy? The answer comes from the Lord, All-Mighty: “Verily, your
Lord is Swift in retribution”. But if he is obedient and devoted, the answer
is: “And verily, I am indeed Forgiving to him who repents, believes and
does righteous good deeds, and then remains in guidance.” [XX; 82]

Therefore, we, human beings, have been made generations coming after
generations replacing each other, and people’s lots in the present world have
been allotted by way of trial and testing; and they will be allotted by way of
recompense in the Hereafter. Allah, hence, is the Possessor of the Kingdom:
He either grants you kingdom in the present world, the Hereafter, or both.
How nice are religiousness and richness if they combine together,
And how ugly are infidelity and poverty in man!

By the Quranic Words “And you endue with honor whom You will” we
embark on the notion of honor and humiliation. Here we have something
delicate: If Allah desires to honor you, He subjugates even your enemies for
you; and if He desires to humiliate someone, He makes even his closest
relatives humiliate him: “And he whom Allah humiliates shall receive
honor from none.”:

Make all your honor with your Lord, it will be firmly established;
But if you seek honor from someone who dies, your honor will inevitably
perish.

Therefore, Allah’s being the King necessitates that it is He Who honors and
it is He Who humiliates; so try always to be with Him.

Obey Our Commands, and We shall remove for you Our Veils,
For We have granted with full content to those who have obeyed Us.
And take refuge with Us and seek Our Protection,
That We may protect you from the evil ones from among our creatures.

The Quranic words “In Your Hand is the Good” mean that even
humiliation coming from Allah to some of His slaves is good, and taking
away kingdom from other slaves is also good, even if it might be considered
as evil by some ignorant people.

The words “You make the night enter into the day…” denote Allah’s
Divine Disposal with the universe. The earth goes round the sun in an
elliptical orbit. Who makes it move in its accurate orbit round the sun? Is
there in the whole universe any other power that can put the earth back to
orbit if it were to go away from it? If it went away from its orbit round the
sun, the earth would perish and be attracted by other heavenly objects!!
“Verily, Allah grasps the heavens and the earth lest they should move
away from their places; and if they were to move away from their
places, there is not one that could possibly grasp them after Him. Truly,
He is Ever Most Forbearing, Oft-Forgiving.” [XXXV; 41]
The above Quranic Verse denotes that Allah, All-Mighty, holds the heavens
and the earth in their orbits. If a train goes out of its rails, can a tiny creature
like a baby, an ant or a fly bring it back to its rails? “And if they were to
move away from their places, there is not one that could possibly grasp
them after Him”. Who has made the earth go 30 km/hour round the sun?
Ho has made it turn round itself 1600 km/hour? Who has made it that big?
Who has made it so far away? This is one of the connotations of Allah’s
Divine Name “The King”.

“You make the night enter into the day; and You make the day enter
into the night. You bring the living out of the dead; and You bring the
dead out of the living. And You give wealth and sustenance to whom You
will without limit .” [III; 27]

The phenomenon of animal, plant and human generation: “You bring the
living out of the dead”: an olive seed seems like a lifeless piece of wood,
but a real olive-tree is hidden inside it. Consider types and circles of life: a
tree is dry and dead in the winter, but no sooner does spring come than it is
brought back to life again.

One day, Omar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, asked ‘Amr
bin Al-‘Ass to describe Egypt to him. ‘Amr said: “O Commander of the
Faithful! Its length is a month and its width is ten (i.e. Its length is a
distance of a month-march, and its width is a distance of a ten-days-
march). A blessed river runs across it. O Commander of the Faithful!
While it is a dark piece of amber (i.e. its soil is dark because of fertility),
it is a white pearl (i.e. when the Nile floods) and a green chrysolite.
Blessed is Allah, Who does whatever He wills.”

‘Amr described Egypt in winter, at the time of the flood of the river Nile, in
the spring, and in the summer. He also described its length and width.

One of the connotations of Allah’s being The King is that He alternates day
and night and brings the living out of the dead and the dead out of the living.
Of the meanings of Allah’s Words: “He brings the dead out of the living
and the living out of the dead” is that a disbeliever might give birth to a
believer and vice versa.
“And Noah called upon his Lord and said, ‘O my Lord! Verily, my son
is of my family! And certainly, Your Promise is true; and You are the
Most Just of the judges.’ He (Allah) said, ‘O Noah! Surely, he is not of
your family; verily, his work is unrighteous. So ask not of Me that of
which you have no knowledge! I admonish you lest you should be one of
the ignorant.’” [XI; 45,46]

The last item of Allah’s being The King is: “And You give wealth and
sustenance to whom You will without limit” in the sense that He, All-
Mighty, may give wealth and sustenance to a weak person just as He may
make a powerful and clever person poor. That is why merchants and
businesspeople usually say: “With Allah there is no clever merchant”; and
one of the invocations of believers against disbelievers is, “O Allah! Make
their own destruction in their evil planning!” In other words, the evil
plots of disbelievers are sure to bring about their own destruction. Thus goes
the Prophetic Hadith: “No might or power could ever avail a powerful
person against You (Allah).”

Now, the question is: Does a person really own, i.e. if someone makes you
the owner of something, do you really possess it? How can this idea be
discussed? The owner of a certain house, a building, a car is in our opinion
the one who enjoys full ownership by means of authentic documents
accepted by others. This is what we usually say; and there is not much
wrongness in it. Scholars literally said: It is more proper and more correct to
say that a human being can not own. Why? This is because his being
independent and free to dispose with other things is part of his self-
independence and self-sufficiency. If a human being can never be self-
independent or self-sufficient, then how can he be independent in his
disposal with other things. That is why Allah, Most Gracious, admonishes
His Messenger, (PBUH), and all human beings after him, “Say, ‘I possess
no power over benefit or hurt to myself except as Allah wills. And if I
had the knowledge of the Unseen, I should have secured for myself an
abundance of wealth, and no evil would have ever touched me. Verily, I
am but a warner and a bringer of glad tidings unto people who
believe.’” [VII; 188]

If the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), possesses no power over benefit or hurt

to himself, could he possibly have such power to others? The answer is
definitely, “No.” In other words, if one is unable to rightly guide one’s son,
could he ever be able to guide someone else’s son?! Impossible. Therefore, it
is definite that Allah, Glorified and All-High, is the Only Real King; and
man is only metaphorically as such. For example, an employee in the foreign
ministry might sometimes tell you: “We have appointed Mr. so and so as an
ambassador.” Such a saying has a metaphoric denotation, because the one
who has actually appointed the ambassador is the minister himself, not the
employee who tells you that. Yet, in absolute certainty: the One Who has
granted this man such a post is Allah, Most Gracious.

A slave, for example, when is he on travel? When his master is. When is he
in settlement? Also when his master is. Does a slave have any freedom in his
movement away from his master? No. Then definitely you have to feel,
when you have documents of the ownership of a house, that it belongs in
fact to Allah, All-Mighty. At any moment you can sell or dispose with it, but
you are by no means its real owner. Something wrong might go with a
certain part of your body, and you might be told that such a surgical
operation costs 800, 000 pounds in addition to travel and accommodation
costs. The result is that you have to sell your house to pay for such a surgical
operation. Glorified is the Owner of Ownership. Another example: kidney
transplantation might sometimes cost 1000,000 pounds; and all that you own
might be the cost of such an operation. Transplantation of a heart-valve costs
500,000 pounds. Therefore, if someone is granted good health by Allah,
Most Merciful, he is rich in the full sense of the word.

There is a somewhat delicate issue; but before dealing with it, let’s read
Allah’s Words in His Holy Quran: “Allah puts forward the example of
(two men – a believer and a disbeliever): a slave (disbeliever) who is
under the possession of another and has no power of any sort, and (the
other) is a man (believer) on whom We have bestowed a good provision
from Us and he spends thereof secretly and openly. Can they be equal?
(By no means). All praises and thanks are to Allah. Nay! (But) most of
them know not.” [XVI; 75]

If a slave possessed by another person is unable to do anything

independently, could he ever be a real owner, i.e. someone who disposes
with the things that other people possess? That is impossible. But why does
the Quranic Verse go, “Within a few years. The decision of the matter,
before and after, is only with Allah. And on that Day, believers will
rejoice.” [XXX; 4]

Deliberate, dear brother believer! Decision of the matter is always in Allah’s

Hand. To this effect, Allah’s Words go: “On the Day, when no person shall
have any power to do anything for another, and the Decision, on that
Day, will be (wholly) with Allah.” [LXXXII; 19] Therefore, the decision of
all matters is in Allah’s Hand. In another Verse, Allah, Most Gracious, says,
“The Decision of the matter, before and after, is only with Allah.” In
another Verse, He, All-Mighty, says, “Then they were returned to Allah,
their True Master, the Just Lord. Surely, to Him does belong the
Decision, and He is the Swiftest in reckoning.” [VI; 62] He, Most
Merciful, also says, “And He is Allah; there is no god but He, and all
praises and thanks are to Him both in the present world and the
Hereafter. And to Him belongs the Decision; and unto Him you shall be
returned.” [XXVIII; 70]

Who does the Decision belong to in the present world? Does it not belong to
Allah? Yes, indeed. Another example is Allah’s Words, “And to Allah
belongs the Unseen of the heavens and the earth, and to Him do return
all affairs (for decision). So worship Him and put your trust in Him.
And your Lord is not unaware of what you do.” [XI; 123] He, Glory to
Him, also says, “The Path of Allah, to Whom does belong all that is in
the heavens and all that is in the earth. Verily, all matters, in the end, do
go to Allah (for decision).” [XLII; 53]

But in whose hand is the decision before the end? Here and in interpretation
of the above Verse scholars had a great opinion. They said: The fact is that
the decision of all matters, before and after, is only with Allah. In other
words, decision of all matters always belongs to Allah; and decision-making
is His at all times. But heedless straying feeble-minded disbelieves wrongly
believe that decision belongs to other human beings. On the Day of
Judgment, all creatures will inevitably see that both Judgment and Decision
as well as the Kingdom belong only to Allah and to no one else. They will
see that all affairs return to Him for decision and judgment. Hence, it is
wisest to see this before it is too late.

Therefore, even disbelievers and those who are heedless and straying will
inevitably see with their own eyes that decision is in Allah’s Hand, that
judgment belongs to Him and that to Him all matters will be retuned. In the
present world, they do not see Allah, All-Mighty. They see other guardians
and protectors than Him. They see superpowers and worship them instead of
Allah. But on the Day of Resurrection, they will see the Truth.

In fact it is only a matter of time: You either see the Truth in time before you
are overtaken by death or see it for sure on the Day of Resurrection and
incur absolute regret. Heroism is, therefore, not to wait until you see the
truth with other ignorant people. Heroism is to see the truth in due time in
order to avail yourself of it.

There is another thing: Why can’t a slave be an owner in the full sense of the
word? It has been said: That is because he can not be self-sufficient. Let us
suppose that a great king is in no need of any of his subjects, but is he ever
in no need of the air, water, food or marriage? That is why when Haroun Ar-
Rasheed, the famous Abbaside Caliph, whose kingdom spread to the end of
the ancient world, asked for a glass of water, his intelligent vizier asked him,
“O Commander of the Faithful! How much would you pay for this glass of
water if it were withheld from you?” “Half of my kingdom”, he replied. The
vizier asked, “How much would you pay if you were unable to get rid of it
(i.e. to urinate it)?” “The second half of my kingdom”, the Caliph answered.
The vizier said, “Then, your kingdom is worth only a glass of water!”

In one of Cairo museums there is the tomb of one of the greatest Pharaohs,
called Tout Ankh Amoun. It was dug out with a lot of gold, jewelry, and
other precious ornaments. But there was one thing that called my attention,
namely that he died at a very young age, eighteen years old. His coffin was
very short and so was his body. I said, “Glorified is Allah! No matter how
great man’s ownership and kingdom might be, his life remains in Allah’s
Hand. He owned all of Egypt together with its enormous treasures and
resources; nevertheless Allah caused him to die at the age of eighteen. The
tomb is full of priceless gold, jewelry and ornaments, but he died very
young. His great kingdom and wealth availed him nothing against death. His
kingdom was by no means real but rather metaphoric. In fact he owned
nothing; but Allah entrusted him with such kingdom and ownership.

One day, a prince asked a righteous man, “How can I help you?” The
righteous man asked, “Who? Me?!” “Yes, you”, the prince replied. The
righteous man said, “I have two slaves that are your masters: care and hope.
Care for the present world and hope for a long life are my slaves; but they
are your masters. I have dominated over them, but they have dominated over
you. I have got control over them, but they have got control over you.” Thus,
man is a real king if he controls his desires and caprices.

A righteous man once said, I was passing by ‘Asafan when I saw a beautiful
woman. She attracted my admiration and love, but I sought help from Allah
and was pious and went along doing nothing with that woman. When I went
to bed that night, I saw the holy Prophet Joseph (PBUH) in my sleep. I asked
him, “Are you Joseph?” “Yes, I am”, he replied. I said, “Praises and thanks
to Allah because He protected you from the wife of the ‘Aziz (of Egypt).”
He replied, “And Praises and thanks to Allah because He protected you from
the woman of ‘Asafan.” Such is real kingdom: to obey Allah, All-Mighty.

At first, Joseph (PBUH) was brought into his master’s palace as a slave.
Then, later on, he became a king. When, one day, a slave-woman, who had
known him as a slave, saw him going in a kingly procession, she said,
“Glorified is Allah, Who has made some of His slaves kings when they
obeyed Him; and Glorified is He, Who has made some kings slaves when
they disobeyed Him.” The truth is: He who is a truthful sincere slave to his
Master owns (as it were) all the wealth of his Master.

Shaqeeq Al-Balkhi was once quoted as saying: “My repentance began when,
in a year of drought and famine, I saw a boy playing joyfully while all
people were deeply depressed. I reproached him angrily, ‘O you there!
Playing happily while others are very sad?! Aren’t you ashamed?! Don’t you
see how miserable people are?!’ The boy replied, ‘Why should I be
unhappy? My master owns a whole village wherein I keep all that I need?’ I
said to myself, ‘This boy, who is enslaved by a human master, does not feel
unhappy or lonely at times of distress because his master owns a village on
earth, so why should I be unhappy or feel lonely and my Master is the King
of all kings?!’ So I knew the truth and repented.” In other words, the slave-
boy gave him a lesson in repentance. That is why wise people say: whether
you plan or not, the Disposer is Allah, Glorified and All-Mighty.
Turn away from all your worries,
And leave all matters to Allah’s Divine Decree,
And be happy with a soon-coming good
Whereby you forget all that has passed.
Many an unpleasant thing
Will bring you happiness in the end.
And perhaps the way may get narrowed,
And perhaps space may get wide.
Allah does whatever He desires,
So be not rebellious.
Allah has always shown you His Favors,
So measure according to what has passed.
And an evil visitation might bring hardship to someone,
Yet the way out thereof is with Allah.
The rings of distress narrowed so much so that they became so tightly
wrought,
Bu then it ended well although I have never thought it would end as such.

It has been recently announced that it rained so heavily in Italy last year. In
one night, the rain that fell was equal to that of a whole year. This proves
that in one single moment, Allah, Most Merciful, is able to provide us with
more than the usual average of rain; and should rain be delayed, it is all in
Allah’s Command to provide us with it. But never forget that Allah’s
determination of the amounts of rain-fall is meant for admonition and is by
no means out of disability.

True belief in Allah’s being the King necessitates that the salve should be
more confident in what is in the Hands of Allah than that which is in his own
hands. In other words, if you want to be the richest of all mankind, be more
confident in what is in Allah’s Hands than what is in your own hands. If you
want to be the strongest of all mankind, put all of your trust in Allah. And if
you want to be the most noble of all mankind, be dutiful and obedient to
Allah.

One day, Al-Hatim Al-Assam was fasting. When it was time for breakfast,
he was brought a tray with different kinds of delicious foods. But suddenly a
poor man came to ask him for food, so he gave him all that. Then, another
tray was brought to him, and as he was about to start eating, another poor
man came to ask him for food. So he gave him all that. He opened his eyes
to see some Dinars (gold money) in his hand. He could not help calling out,
“Al-Ghaouthu Mina-l-Khalaf (i.e. Please help me from Al-Khalaf)!” One of
his neighbors was called Khalaf, so people hurried to him saying, “Why are
you doing harm to the Sheikh (i.e. Al-Hatim Al-Assam)?!” And they brought
the man to the Sheikh saying, “Here is Khalaf! He has come to apologize to
you.” Al-Hatim said, “I did not mean him at all when I called out. I meant
that I just can not thank Allah enough for the good way whereby He treats
me: whenever I spend something, Allah gives me something better in
recompense.”

One day, ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said about Abdu-r-
Rahman bin ‘Aouf, one of the Prophet’s venerable Companions, “I am afraid
that ‘Aouf will enter Paradise crawling because of his great wealth.” He,
may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Nay! By Allah! I shall enter it (i.e.
Paradise) running. What can I do if I spend a hundred (Dinars) in the
morning, but Allah grants me what is better in the evening.

It has been rightly said that he who knows that the Real King is Allah rejects
haughtily to humiliate himself to any other human being. It has also been
said: How come that a free person humiliates himself to slaves while he gets
from his Master (Allah) whatever he desires?! In the Divine Hadith, Allah
addresses his righteous believing slaves, “Just ask, and you will be
granted! Be to me as I desire, I be to you as you desire!” It does not befit
you, after having known that Allah, Most Gracious, and no one else, is the
King, Who owns everything, that you humiliate yourself to anyone else. He
who knows Allah does not need any help from other creatures or human
beings. It has been rightly said that seeking delight from being in company
with people is the token of feeble-mindedness.

Bishr Al-Hafi once saw Ali bin Abi Talib, Commander of the Faithful, in his
sleep. He said, “O Commander of the Faithful! Admonish me.” Ali said,
“How good is sympathy of the rich on the poor for the sake of Allah’s
Recompense! And better than that is the pride of the poor over the rich
out of trust in Allah.”

If you put your trust in Allah, All-Mighty, Most Merciful, He will never let
you down. And he who sits before a rich person and humiliates himself to
him loses two thirds of his religion.

A man once asked a righteous scholar, “Admonish me!” The scholar said,
“Be a king in the present world, you will be a king in the Hereafter.”
“How can I do that?” The man asked. “Renounce pleasure in worldly
things i.e. lead a pious ascetic life), and you will be a king in the
Hereafter.” And it has been rightly said: “If you do not need someone, you
are equal to him; if you need someone, you are his slave; and if do good
to someone, you will be his commander.” In other words, if you are a king
in the present world, you will be a king in the Hereafter.

Al-Hassan Al-Basri was one day asked, “How did you achieve such a
prominent holy position?” “By my being in no need of people’s worldly
things and their need for my knowledge,” he replied.

Sufian bin ‘Uyaynah once said, “While I was going round the Old House
(the Ka’bah), I saw a man whom I thought to be one of the righteous. I came
to him asking, “Will you teach me something for which Allah does me
good.” He said nothing and kept going round the Ka’bah. When he finished,
he performed two Rak’as of prayer behind the station of Abraham and then
entered the Hijr (of Ishmael) and sat down there. I sat beside him asking
again, “Master! Will you teach me something for which Allah does me
good.” He turned to me saying, “Do you know what Allah, All-Mighty, Most
Gracious, says? He says, “I am the Ever-Living, Who never passes away.
Come unto me in obedience and devotion, and I shall make you ever-
living and never cause you to die – with your Lord and provided (with
sustenance).”

On his first night in his grave man is addressed by Allah, All-Mighty, “My
slave! They have gone away and left you alone; and in the earth have
they buried you. If they had stayed with, they would have availed you
nothing. No one has remained with you except Me; and I am the Ever-
Living, Who never passes away. If you obey Me, I shall make you ever-
living in a the Garden of Paradise, whose width is the heavens and the
earth. I am the King, Who never perishes. Come unto Me in obedience
and devotion, and I shall make you kings that never perish, kings of the
Hereafter. I am the King, Who, if He desires a thing, He says to it, ‘Be!’
And it is. Come unto Me in obedience and devotion, and I shall make
you as such (i.e. if you ask me anything, I grant it to you), for I am as
you think of me. If you ask Me, I shall give you; and if you pray to Me, I
shall answer you.”

The above-mentioned are some definitions, qualities and meanings denoted

by Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Malik” (The King).

* * *
Now we go to the second of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes,
Al-Quddous (The Holy). Allah, Most Gracious, says, “He is Allah: There is
no god but Him, the King, the Holy, the One Free from all defects, the
Giver of security, the Watcher over His creatures, the All-Mighty, the
Compeller, the Supreme. Glory be to Allah! (High is He) above all that
they associate as partners with Him.” [LIX; 23] He also says,
“Whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth glorifies
Allah. His is the Kingdom , and to Him belong all the praises and thanks
, and He is Powerful over all things.” [LXIV; 1]

But before we set out to talk about this Great Divine Name of Allah, I would
like to stop for a short time at a very important fact:

All of you know that solid bodies constitute entities that occupy certain
spaces, for they have length, breadth, height, weight and mass... A point does
not have a mass, but if it moves, it makes a line. If the line moves, it makes a
surface. If the surface moves, it makes a size… a point, a line, a surface, a
size.

A solid body has a mass, i.e. it has length, breadth, height, and weight. A
plant has a mass and grows. An animal has a mass, grows and moves. Man,
however, has a mass, grows, moves and thinks. The moment he disuses his
mind, he cancels his humanity and deteriorates to brutality. In other words,
he whose life is mere eating and drinking, permissible and impermissible
enjoyments, work and money, without thinking of the One Who created him,
the One Who brought him into existence, without thinking where he has
come from, where he shall end, or why, is a great loser. What is the value of
a person who disuses his mind or uses it in things he has not been created
for? It means: if you buy a highly developed computer for tens of millions of
pounds, but you put it in the corner of the house and put your things on it, as
if it were a table. Isn’t this a kind of disuse or misuse of such priceless
apparatus?! To use a highly sophisticated apparatus, which can give you – if
you use it properly – very accurate operations and information, but you use
it as if it were a mere table to put things on?!

He who disuses his mind or misuses it for things it has not been created for
is someone who cancels his humanity and is dominated by brutality.

In fact, I have mentioned this introduction so that you know that Allah,
Glorified and All-High, has endued man with an ability to conceive things.
But what should he conceive? What are the things he should conceive? This
is the question.

I have recently read that what is printed in one day all over the world and in
only one language can not be read in less than two hundred years. In other
words, there are countless topics and publications. But what should I read?
And what shouldn’t I read? What should I care for? And what shouldn’t I
care for? Such are serious questions.

Therefore, selectivity is indispensable. You must select the serious topic and
the important issue which have to do with your end.

A man in a room whose walls are full of books from the floor to the ceiling,
and after a few days he is going to take a vital examination: If he passes such
exam, he will achieve so may benefits. In such room there is only one book
relevant to the exam, so it is wise and normal to leave all other books and
study most carefully this particular book.

Man has been given the ability to conceive; and he has been endued with an
intelligent mind.

If you ask me what is the most important thing that Allah has created in the
universe, I say that it is the human mind. This is because the human mind is
the essence of religious obligation. In other words, unless you had such
human mind, Allah wouldn’t hold you responsible for your deeds. Moreover,
the human mind is the means whereby you get to know Allah, Most
Gracious.

We have previously said that there is a problem that can be solved only by
seeking knowledge. Since all mankind share the same human nature, anyone
who, after being heedless of Allah, All-Mighty, Most Merciful, got to know
the things that a believer knows, he would certainly turn to Allah with true
love and sincere devotion, just as a true believer does. Should anyone know
what the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad, (PBUH), knew, he would love
Allah as much as His Messenger did. All humans are certainly of the same
nature. Allah, Most Gracious, says, “O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord,
Who created you from a single person (Adam), and from him He
created his wife (Eve), and from them both He created many men and
women. And fear Allah through Whom you demand (your mutual
rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship). Surely,
Allah is Ever an All-Watcher over you.” [IV; 1]

Therefore, all mankind share the same human nature. They have the same
human qualities. But in what do they differ from one another? … They differ
in Knowledge…

That is why it has been said: An ignorant person can do more harm to
himself than his enemies can ever do to him.

Due to his ignorance, a farmer who had very profitable green houses bought
a chemical which he used without reading the proper instructions of the
producer. He used double the amount required and, therefore, all his plants
died immediately, and he incurred heavy losses. Such an ignorant person,
who did not read or follow the producer’s instructions, did more harm to
himself than his enemies could ever do to him.

Hence, the problem is simply a problem of knowledge; and the more serious
issue is that when man is visited by death, he will get to know everything;
and all things will be clear to him. He will certainly get to know the truth;
and everything will be unveiled to him. Pharaoh did see the truth that Moses,
(PBUH), had already seen, but only after it was too late.

So the problem is that knowledge should be in the proper time, i.e. you
should know the proper thing in the proper time. In other words, you should
select from among all human knowledge and information that which is
proper; and you should know it in the proper time.

Now, the question is: Why should we get to know Allah? Is He not in no
need to be known? Allah, All-Mighty, All-High, says, “…If you disbelieve,
you and all that is on the earth together, then verily Allah is Rich (Free
from all needs), Owner of all Praise.” [XIV; 8] He also says in a Divine
Hadith, “O My slaves! If the first and the last ones of you, and the jinn
and humans from among you, had the heart of the most dutiful and
pious one from among you, that would not increase a thing in My
Kingdom. O My slaves! If the first and the last ones of you, and the jinn
and humans from among you, had the heart of the most rebellious and
irreligious one from among you, that would not decrease a thing from
My Kingdom….” [narrated by Muslim and At-Tirmithi]
Why should we know Allah? We know Him simply in order to worship Him;
and we shall never worship Him unless we know Him. But why should we
worship Him? In order to be happy with Him, and in order to achieve the
purpose of His creating us. Allah, Most Gracious,, says, “Except him on
whom your Lord has bestowed His Mercy, and for that did He create
them. And the Word of your Lord has been proved true: ‘Surly, I shall
fill Hell with jinn and men all together.” [XI; 119]

Therefore, we know Him, then we worship Him and be happy with Him.
That is why our Lord, All-Mighty, All-High, also says, “And I created not
the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone).” [LI;
56]

Be careful not to forget the above Quranic Verse all your life!

As you know, worship is voluntary obedience mixed with sincere love based
on definitive knowledge and leads to eternal happiness.

From among billions and billions of issues and topics, what is the most
important topic or issue? It is simply to know Allah, Glorified and Exalted,
because, as it has been mentioned in Prophetic Tradition, it is called out to a
deceased person who has just been buried:
“O My slave! They have gone back and left you alone; and in the earth
have they buried you. And if they stayed with you, they would avail you
nothing. No one has remained for you except Me; and I am the Ever-
Living, Who never passes away.”

You have to know that your end and final return will be to Him, because you
shall inevitably return to Him, and you shall come alone and by yourself
unto Him and leave everything. All the things you have achieved in your
lifetime will be lost in one second; and there will be Allah, Alone, with you.

The Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), said, “O Qais! You have a companion

that will be buried alive with you, and you will be buried dead with it. If
it is noble, it will honor you; but if it is evil, it will let you down. Verily, it
is your work.”

Therefore, from among the billions and billions of topics and issues, there is
only one most important topic and issue: to know Allah, All-Mighty, Most
Majestic. And perhaps you have already known that He is the Creator, you
have already known that He is the Lord, you have already known that He is
the True God, and you have already known some of His Beautiful Divine
Names and Attributes. And this lecture, by Allah’s Grace and Help, contains
a little tour round one of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names: Al-Quddous (The
Holy).

At the university, we learned that a good teacher is someone who can speak
not only eloquently and attractively but also interestingly and for a long time
without preparation, because he has a lot of relevant information concerning
things he has experienced and stored in his mind. Whenever he desires to
speak about something, his tongue goes fluently and attractively. Therefore,
don’t you think that if you are asked, “What do you know about your Lord,
Allah, Who has created you and brought you into existence?”, you should
give a clear answer?! Allah, Most Gracious, says, “Has there not been over
man a period of time when he was not a thing worth mentioning?”
[LXXVI; 1]

It is He Who has provided you with sustenance and survival. It is He Who

gave you the air; He gave you the water; He gave you the food; He gave you
your family; He gave you children; He gave you your mind whereby you
acquire knowledge and earn money among many other things; He also
provided you with enlightenment and guided you to Him. If you were asked,
“What do you know about Allah?”, shouldn’t your answer be attractive and
interesting?! This is the question.

When by Allah’s Help I decided to cover in every two lectures one of Allah’s
Beautiful Names and Attributes, my intention was to know Allah, All-
Mighty, All-High, because such knowledge must necessarily be conducive to
good manners and strict adherence to Allah’s religion. I do not believe that
man’s knowledge brings him no good, because when man reads something,
he reacts; and when he learns something, he wishes to reap the fruits of such
knowledge.

The Beautiful Divine Name of Allah, which we are going to talk about is Al-
Quddous (The Holy). This Name occurs in two Quranic Verses, first of
which is: “He is Allah: There is no god but Him, the King, the Holy, the
One Free from all defects, the Giver of security, the Watcher over His
creatures, the All-Mighty, the Compeller, the Supreme. Glory be to
Allah! (High is He) above all that they associate as partners with Him.”
[LIX; 23] The second is: “Whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is
in the earth glorifies Allah. His is the Kingdom , and to Him belong all
the praises and thanks , and He is Powerful over all things.” [LXIV; 1]

The Arabic word “Al-Quddous” denotes holiness and purity. “Al-Qudus”

means cleanliness and purity; and “At-Tattheer” is purification. “Al-Ard Al-
Muqaddasah” is the holy land. Paradise is called “Hatheerata-l-Quds”
because it purifies from sins and misdeeds of the resent world. Gabriel is
called “The Holy Spirit” because he is pure from any defects in
communicating Divine Revelation. And in Allah’s Words about His holy
angels, we read, “And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels,
‘Verily, I am going to place (mankind) generations after generations on
the earth.’ They said, ‘Will You place therein those who will make
mischief therein and shed blood, while we glorify You with praises and
thanks and purify ourselves for You.’ He (Allah) said, ‘I know that
which you know not.’” [II; 30]
The above Verses show that the angels purify and sanctify themselves in
order to be well-prepared to turn to Allah with obedience and devotion,
which is also man’s duty in the life of the present world. In other words, man
has to purify himself in order to attain a laudable position with Allah, the
All-Mighty King.

You all know that when someone is invited to an important high-leveled

meeting, he takes special care of his apparel: his clothes, colors of his
clothes…etc. He is also very careful about his movements and gestures. That
is why the angels here say, “while we glorify You with praises and thanks
and purify ourselves for You.”

Do you believe that man’s mission in the life of the present world is strictly
to purify himself so that he becomes well-qualified to be near Allah in
Paradise. This is because Allah is pure, and therefore, He does not accept in
His Company except those who are pure.

In the Divine Hadith, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “My slave! You have
purified your apparel before other humans for years. Why don’t you
purify your apparel before Me for one hour?!” Man paints and decorates
his house, beautifies the entrance to his house and his reception room. He
adorns his car. He wears elegant clothes. Why? Such is man’s apparel before
other humans. But man’s apparel before the Lord is his heart: “…while we
glorify You with praises and thanks and purify ourselves for You.”
Thus, you should take special care of the apparel of your own inner self (i.e.
your heart and soul) so that you may be allowed to be with the holy
Prophets, true believers, martyrs and righteous people on the Day of
Judgment. What a good company!

The accurate point which needs special elaboration in this lecture is that in
defining this Beautiful Divine Name of Allah, Al-Quddous (The Holy), it is
taken to mean that Allah is free from any attribution of perfection. This is a
problematic notion! What is this? It is indeed a serious and unfamiliar notion
to say that Allah is free from any perfection as conceived by the human
mind. The answer to this is that when man conceives himself, he sees in
himself qualities of both perfection and imperfection. Knowledge is
perfection and so are patience, forbearance, hearing, seeing, will, and life.
All such qualities denote perfection, while ignorance, blindness, deafness,
muteness, impatience, malice, and wickedness are all qualities of
imperfection. Thus, man sees that there are qualities of perfection and others
of imperfection. Therefore, when he desires to praise and glorify Allah, All-
Mighty, All-High, he attributes to Allah qualities of perfection that he
himself knows. But Allah, Al-Quddous (The Holy) is Free from all
anthropomorphic qualities of perfection that man attributes to himself or
imagines. In other words, whatever qualities of perfection you might think
of do not apply to Allah, for He is far above them. To this effect, Allah, All-
Mighty, says, “The Creator of the heavens and the earth. He has made
for you mates from yourselves, and for the cattle (also) mates. By this
means He creates you (in the wombs). There is nothing like Him; and He
is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.” [XLII; 11]

Allah, All-Mighty and Exalted, is not like one’s father, nor is He like a
teacher. He is far Exalted above all anthropomorphic qualities or attributes.
Is Allah merciful as a father is to his son? No! Sometimes a father has mercy
on his son in an ignorant way that causes him harm and destruction. But
Allah is Merciful and All-Knowing; and His Divine Mercy is associated
with His Absolute Divine Wisdom and Knowledge.

Therefore, when man desires to praise Allah, All-Mighty, All-High, he

attributes to Him his anthropomorphic qualities of perfection. He says:
Allah, Glorified and Exalted, is Quddous (Holy) in the sense that He is Free
from any anthropomorphic attribute of human perfection. He is far Exalted
above that; and He is Free from all perfect qualities of human beings, and
more fitting for Him is that He is Free from any attributes or qualities of
imperfection, whether human or non-human. He is even far above any
quality or attribute that human beings can ever imagine. In other words,
Allah, Most Gracious, is Free from any attributes or qualities that human
beings can ever imagine.

For example, one of the meanings of the Arabic words “Allahu Akbar”
(Allah is The Greatest) is that whatever you know about Allah, All-Mighty,
All-Majestic, Allah is far Exalted above that. He is far above whatever you
know about Him. That is one meaning. Also, the words “Al-Quddous” (The
Holy) mean that Allah is Free from, and far Exalted above, all attributes or
qualities that man can ever imagine. He is Free from, and far Exalted above
all anthropomorphic elements or qualities. Moreover, unless Allah, Most
Gracious, allows man to give anthropomorphic attributes of perfection to
Him, attributing such anthropomorphic qualities and attributes to Allah
would have been sinful and censured. You say, “Allah is “Raheem”
(Merciful), Allah is “‘Adil” (Just), Allah is “Lateef” (Kind), Allah is
“Haleem” (Forbearing). When you say “Allah is “Haleem” (Forbearing),
you might think that He is like man, and He forbears when He is angered…
He is “Quddous” (Holy) in the sense that He is Far Exalted Above such
imagined notions and attributes. I hope I have made the point clear enough.
Is it clear? Have you got it?

A knowledgeable holy person addressed another knowledgeable holy one:

“O so and so! Don’t you yearn for Allah, All-Mighty, All-Majestic?” “No. I
swear by Allah that I do not yearn for Him. I take refuge with Allah! What is
that you are saying?! When was He away from me so that I yearn for Him?
When was He away from me?!” He replied.

Another holy knowledgeable person was asked, “O Imam! When was Allah
(i.e. came into existence)?” He replied, “When wasn’t He?”, i.e. “When was
He not existing so that you ask me ‘When was Allah?’”

Now, another more advanced meaning of Allah’s Name “Al-Quddous” (The

Holy) is that He is Free from any quality or attribute that can be conceived
or imagined by the human mind or perceived by the human senses. But to
say “He is far Exalted above any imperfection” is almost impolite to Allah,
All-Mighty, All-Majestic.

If you were in the presence of a great man, and you said to him, “O Master! I
have told people about you.” He asks you, “What did you tell them?” And
you say, “I told them that your Majesty is not a liar!” What is this? Does he
accept that from you? Would you praise a king as not being a liar? Scholars
say that if you do this, it would be impolite. Couldn’t you see in the king
anything positive when you negated his being a liar?! Moreover, there is a
rule which says that negation of something is part of conceiving it, i.e. if you
negate a defect or an imperfection from a person, then it means that there is
a possibility that he may have such a defect or imperfection. Therefore, it is
impolite to say: Allah, Glorified and All-High, is Free from any defects or
imperfection. Such a saying would be impolite.

One of the definitions of “Al-Quddous” (The Holy) is that He is Free from

any needs. But you, human being, are in need of countless things. You are
poor: all your personality, intelligence, knowledge, power over other people,
patience, endurance…all vanish before a drink of water when you are thirsty.

A wise man addressed a Caliph, “O Commander of the Faithful! How much

would pay for this glass of water if it were withheld from you?” “Half of my
kingdom!” The Caliph replied. “And if it were prevented from going out
from you (i.e. if you were prevented from urinating it), how much would
you pay?” The man asked. The Caliph said, “I pay the other half of my
kingdom!”

You are in need of air; and if it were withheld from you, you would buy it
for the treasures of the present world.

A traveler was once crossing the desert on a camel on which he had his food
and drink. When he felt tired, he sat down for some rest. But he suddenly
fell asleep. When he woke up, he couldn’t find his camel, on which he had
put his food and drink. He felt sure that he was going to die, and he began to
cry in sorrow. He fell asleep once again. But after some time, he woke up to
find a tree in the distance and was, therefore, filled with hope. He hurried to
the tree to find beside it a spring of fresh water. He drank some water and sat
in the shade of the tree. Suddenly, he found a purse which he thought was
full of food. He was very happy, but, alas, when he opened the purse, he
found some jewels in it. He cried out in sorrow, “What a pity! These are
jewels!” What’s the good of jewels when one is in bad need of food? Jewels
are valuable in the city, but not in the desert when one is in bad need of food
and drink. He cried out, “If only there were food in the purse! What a pity!
There are only jewels in the purse! What shall I do with them in the
desert?!”
It is said that in World War II, a dough of bread was sold for a Guinea of
gold.

Therefore, man is weak. He needs air, water, food, family, entertainers,

lovers, …etc. To this effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “O mankind! It is you
who stand in need of Allah. But Allah is Free from all needs, Worthy of
all Praise.” [XXXV; 15]

“Al-Quddous” (The Holy) is He Who is Pure from all needs, Who is Self-
Sufficient, Whom all creatures need, and Who is Free from all kinds of
imperfection.

“Al-Quddous” (The Holy) is He Who is not confined by place or is worn out

by time. No human mind could ever imagine or conceive Him; and no hand
or power is stretched in His Kingdom without His Decree and
Foreordainment.

He is “Quddous” (Holy) in Himself, but He makes holy His obedient

devoted slaves.

When we say that someone is holy, it means that he is pure, because holiness
without purity is nonsense. Someone is holy means that he is
straightforward, he is chaste, he is pure, he is kind-hearted and
magnanimous, he has good intentions, there is no hatred or malice in his
heart, he never cheats, his eyes do not look at indecent or unlawful things, he
always watches his tongue, and he never utters indecent or unlawful words.
In other words, a person is not holy unless he is free from impurities or
qualities of perfection.

It has been said that “Al-Quddous” (The Holy) is He Who sanctified the
souls of the dutiful and obedient from sins and misdeeds and took the evil
ones by the forelock.

“Al-Quddous” (The Holy) is He Who purified the hearts of His friends. In

other words, each and every human being must necessarily have a heart,
which must be either as precious as a jewel or as worthless as a stone. Allah,
Most Gracious, says, “And surely We have created for Hell many of the
jinn and mankind. They have hearts therewith they understand not;
and they have eyes therewith they see not; and they have ears therewith
they hear not. They are like cattle; nay they are even more astray; those!
They are the heedless ones.” [VII; 179]

But the more man gets near to Allah, All-Mighty, All-Majestic, the more
magnanimous and kind-hearted he becomes and the more pure his heart is,
because it is filled with love for Allah, Most Gracious.

In other words, there is a very big difference between one human heart and
another: one that is as elevated as the sky, and another that is as low as the
earth; one is as pure as a diamond and another is as blurred and
contaminated as dirty water. Hearts are of different types; and the human
heart is the Lord’s house and the total sum of man’s faith. To this effect,
Allah,. Most Gracious, says, “The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons
will avail, except him who brings to Allah a clean pure heart.” [XXVI;
88,89]

By the Grace of Allah, Most Gracious, this lecture is intended to help man
clean and purify his heart from all defects and impurities and motivate him
to strive to adorn his heart with all kinds of perfection and purity.

Scholars hold that “Al-Quddous” (The Holy) is He Who purifies the hearts
of His friends from feeling at home or relying on familiar things of the life
of the present world. This is because man is always in a state of being
consumed and worn out: his food and drink, his home, his children, his
sustenance, his shop and storehouse, his factory and workshop, his job, his
position, his health, his heart, his veins and arteries – man is consumed in
every sense of the word. Worries of the life of the present world consume
him. But the heart of a true sincere devoted worshipper consumes and is not
consumed. This is because he consumes the present world by knowing
Allah; and he never allows the present world to consume him. A true
believer dominates over his desires and is never dominated by them. A true
believer controls his own self, and does not allow his own self to control
him. A true believer adheres to good moral values and never disdain or abuse
them. A true believer enjoys a high moral standard to which he sticks and
has an elevated level of knowledge that he never deviates from. He has an
exalted ethical and aesthetic standard. A true believer has a unique
personality.

Scholars also say that “Al-Quddous” (The Holy) is He Who purifies the
souls of His worshippers by keeping them away from sinful deeds or
following lusty evil desires and caprices. “Al-Quddous” (The Holy) is He
Who purifies the hearts of true believers from love for the present world.
“Al-Quddous” (The Holy) is He Who purifies the hearts of those who know
Him and are conscious of Him from everything except Him. He purifies the
hearts of worshippers, the hearts of true believers and the hearts of those
who know Him and are conscious of Him.

Worshippers are qualified by their being obedient to Allah. They turn to Him
with faithful worship and sincere devotion. And true believers look forward
to Allah’s Good Promise and Generous Recompense and shun all things that
make them lose His Love.

If you desire to be the richest of all people, be more confident in that which
is in Allah’s Hands than that which is in your own hands. If you desire to be
the noblest and most honorable of all people, be dutiful and obedient to
Allah. And if you desire to be the strongest of all people, trust in Allah. To
this effect, Allah, Most Merciful, says, “So put your trust in Allah; surely,
you are on manifest truth.” [XXVII; 79] He also says, “So do not become
weak nor be sad, and you will be superior if you are indeed true
believers.” [III; 139]

Feelings of oppression, feelings of subjugation and feelings of humiliation

are not known to a true believer who knows that all his affairs and matters
are in the Allah’s Hand and that Allah is the One Who has the Beautiful
Divine Names and Attributes.

That is why whenever befallen by a mischief, the holy Prophet, Muhammad,

(PBUH), used to invoke: “There is no god but Allah, the Most Gracious,
the Most Merciful. There is no god but Allah, the All-Knowing, the All-
Wise. There is no god but Allah. All things are in Your Hand, o Lord,
and You are Most Gracious, Most Merciful.” And that is why the one who
reads Allah’s Holy Quran never feels sad or depressed. He who reads Allah’s
Holy Quran is never unhappy or depressed because he knows – through the
Holy Quran – that all matters and issues are in the Hand of Allah: “Be! And
it is”. As for man, everything is limited, everything is rationed; but Allah’s
Divine Favors are Infinite and Unlimited.

When those who know Allah set out to do anything, they set out by Allah;
when they speak, they speak by Allah; At all times and under all
circumstances, their hearts are constantly conscious of Allah.
Are you a true believer? Have you covenanted Allah, All-Mighty, All-
Majestic? In weal and woe, in poverty and richness, in health and illness,
when you have a job or are unemployed, whether married or single, whether
you own a dwelling or not, Allah will get to you: Among the believers are
men who have been true to their covenant with Allah; of them some
have fulfilled their obligations (i.e. have been martyred), and some of
them are still waiting, but they have never changed in the least.”
[XXXII; 23]

Some knowledgeable men said: “May Allah let us taste even a bit of that
which He let them (i.e. those true believers mentioned in the above Verse)
taste, for He is the Owner of every Grace.

Yes, indeed: the taste of nearness; and he who tastes knows. To talk about
nearness is something and to taste it is something else. And there is a great
difference between pronouncing “one million Guineas of gold” and
possessing them.

Now then, what is our relationship, we believers, with this Divine Name? It
has been said: He who knows this Divine Name of Allah purifies himself
from following his desires and caprices. In other words, if you really desire
to be always with Allah, you have to free yourself not only from sins and
defects but everything except Allah as well, so that He, the Knower of the
Unseen, may accept you.

Therefore, he who knows this Name of Allah has to purify himself from
following his desires and caprices, so that he may reach the rank of “Ihsan”
(Perfection of deeds), which means “to worship Allah as if you saw Him,
with fear and love, for even if you cannot see Him, He can see you”. Such is
the state of watchfulness (with Allah).

Scholars say: He who knows this Divine Name purifies himself from
following his desires and caprices, purifies his wealth from unlawful or
dubious things; and he who knows this Divine Name purifies his time from
the sin of wrong-doing… Be careful that He sees you where He has
commanded you to be and misses you where he has forbidden you to be. At
the time of a religious lecture, where are you? In the House of Allah… At
the time of the Friday Prayer, where are you? The time between the Dawn
Prayer and sunrise, where are you? In your bed or in the mosque? He must
see you where He has commanded you to be and miss you where He has
forbidden you to be. In the streets crowded with indecently dressed women,
are you is such evil streets? Nay, by Allah! He is in one of Allah’s Houses.

Be careful to be seen where Allah has commanded you to be and be absent

from places where He has forbidden you to be.

As scholars say: He who knows this Name purifies his time from wrong-
doing, his heart from the way of heedlessness and his soul from idle life.

Idle life is to stay with one’s wife and children and prefer them to Allah’s
Good Pleasure… They tell you: “Stay with us; enough religious lectures;
aren’t you fed up with religious lectures?” And you stay with them and go
with them on a picnic that takes you away from a religious lecture. He who
knows this Name purifies himself from following his desires and caprices,
purifies his wealth from unlawful or dubious things, purifies his time from
sinful wrong-doing, purifies his heart from ways of misdeeds and deviation,
purifies his soul from idle life, purifies his secrecy from being watched or
observed. Does anyone see me? He enters the mosque in order to perform
prayer, and he meets some brothers there. He stands up to pray in veneration
and submission.. No.. Do not mind other creatures! Mind your own Creator!
Those can avail you nothing! You have a special status with Allah; and such
status is not elevated by the praise of those who praise you neither can it be
debased by the dispraise of those who dispraise you.

I give you this example, which I always repeat: If you have a kilo of a
precious metal, gold, for example, which some ignorant people think cheap
or valueless, it does not matter for you if such ignorant people think it is
cheap so long as it has a great value. But if you have a kilo of a cheap metal,
and by your cleverness and eloquent speech you were able to convince
people that it is gold, it is all in vain and will do you no good. Therefore, he
who knows himself will not be harmed by whatever people say about him,
because his goodness is intrinsic (i.e. from inside himself).

People of good knowledge said: He who knows Allah’s Divine Name “Al-
Quddous” does not humble himself to any other creature, neither does he
stand in submission before a rich person. One of the Prophet’s Companions
shook hands with him. He felt so blessed and happy and said: “By Allah! I
shall never touch with my hand anything that is not holy.” And he lived for
eighty years and he did not touch his private part with his hand, with which
he touched the Prophet’s holy hand. Why? Because when he shook hands
with the Prophet (PBUH), his hand became so sacred for him.

Well, does it befit him who worships his Lord and turns to Him with
obedience, love and devotion, to humiliate himself to a creature?! … After
having known Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Quddous” and having been blessed
by knowing Allah, Most Gracious, it is impossible that he humiliates himself
to any creature. That is why he who stands in humiliation and submission to
a rich person, loses two thirds of his religion.

Make all your honor with your Lord,

It stands firm and deeply rooted.
If you get your honor from someone that passes away,
Your honor will, likewise, pass away.

A true believer receives a special kind of treatment from Allah, All-Mighty,

All-Majestic. The proof is: “And remember Thu-n Noun (Jonah), when
he went off in anger, and imagined that We would not punish him! But
he cried out through the darkness: ‘There is no god but You (O Allah)!
Glorified and Exalted are You! Truly, I have been of the wrong-doers.”
[XXI; 87] And the answer that came from his Lord became a Divine Law:
“And We answered his call and delivered him from the distress; and
thus We do deliver the believers.” [ibid; 88]

By Allah! This Quranic Verse, alone, fills man with tranquility, peace,
happiness, dignity, and honor, “and thus We do deliver the believers.”

Scholars said: He who knows Allah’s Name “Al-Quddous” never humbles

himself to any creature because his soul has become sanctified by his
knowledge of Allah, Most Gracious. Therefore, it is impossible that he
humbles himself to anyone except Allah, All-Mighty, All-Majestic.

And he who knows Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Quddous” never magnifies

any creature in his heart whereby he has known Him. His heart, which has
magnified Allah, All-Mighty, All-Majestic, is impossible to magnify with
Him anyone else!

“They swear by Allah to you in order to please you, but it is more fitting
that they should please Allah and His Messenger, if they are believers.”
[IX; 62] This Quranic Verse shows clearly that pleasing the Messenger of
Allah is the same as pleasing Allah.

Scholars also said: He who really knows Allah’s Name Al-Quddous must
never care about whatever things he may miss after having found his Lord.
Such is a crystal clear fact.

I seek Your Good Pleasure even if life is bitter,

And I seek Your satisfaction even if all mankind are dissatisfied.
And let that which is between You and me be firmly established,
Even if that which is between the whole world and me is destroyed.
If good links are built up with you, everything turns out fair and easy,
And all that is on the ashes is ash.

* * *
Had your eyes seen of Our Beauty that which they have seen,
You would not have turned away from Us to any other ones.
And had your ears heard Our Beautiful Words,
You would have taken off the cloak of pride and come unto Us.

Therefore, he who knows Allah’s Name “Al-Quddous” does not care about
whatever things he misses after having found Him.

I have read something about Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq, the venerable

Companion and Caliph, may Allah be pleased with him: words that I never
forget, namely that he never regretted anything that he missed from the
present world.

Now, he who seeks Him should never give up before he gets to Him after
having set off to Him. Such are very delicate words that need elaboration.

Once you have sought Allah, Most Gracious, nothing should cause you to
give up, no problem, no danger, no fancy, no threat, no poverty, nothing at
all. Such is real truthfulness, i.e. truthfulness of direction.

People of understanding said: He who knows this Divine Name should

double up his efforts until Allah purifies him from his defects and faults.
He has some faults in his own soul. But the comforting fact is that physical
defects, i.e. defects of the body, end with death, whatever such defects or
illnesses might be. For example, if someone’s hand is inflicted, or his vision
is weak, or his back aches, when he is visited by the angel of death all his
physical problems end for ever. In other words, all physical illnesses end by
death, but all illnesses of the heart begin with death. “People are asleep, but
when they die, they wake up.”

Man’s indulgence in his worldly desires and caprices disables him from
considering his faults and defects, but once he is separated from his desires
and caprices, his faults and defects come up to burn him.

In Al-Jami’ As-Sagheer book of Prophetic Hadith we read:

“Verily, on the Day of Resurrection, disgrace befalls the person so much
so that he says, ‘O Lord! Your sending me to Hell-Fire is easier for me
than what I am suffering (from disgrace)!’ although he knows how
much torment is there in it (Hell-Fire).” [Al-Jami’ As-Sagheer: narrated
by Jabir]

Psychological pains, pains of regret, feelings of disappointment and loss are

all confirmed by Allah’s Words, “Say, ‘Shall we tell you (who are) the
greatest losers in respect of deeds?’ Those whose efforts have been
wasted in this life while they thought that they were acquiring good by
their deeds. They are those who deny the Signs of their Lord and the
Meeting with Him (in the Hereafter), so their works are in vain, and on
the Day of Resurrection, We shall assign no weight for them. Hell shall
be their recompense, for they disbelieved and took My Signs and My
Messengers by way of jest and mockery.” [XVIII; 103-106]

Knowledgeable people said: He who knows this Divine Name should double
up his efforts until Allah purifies him from all his defects and faults, purifies
him from all his sins and misdeeds, and purifies his heart from all impurities,
so that he may turn to Allah with true faith and sincere devotion.

People of good knowledge said: Of the etiquettes of knowing this Divine

Name is that he who knows it should double up his efforts until Allah
purifies him from all his defects and impurities in all his conditions and
purifies his heart from all its impurities and defects, so that he may turn to
Allah with true love, sincere devotion and truthful obedience at all times.
They said: He who purifies his tongue from slander and backbiting, Allah
purifies his heart from slander and brings him nearer to Him, and he who
purifies his eyes from looking at indecencies, Allah purifies his secrecy from
all barriers.

If man abstains from looking at unlawful or indecent things, Allah opens his
insight to the truth; but if he looks at unlawful or indecent things, Allah
eclipses his insight from the truth.

If man purifies his tongue from calumny, slander and backbiting, Allah
brings him nearer to Him.

The following Quranic Verse sums up the whole thing:

“ – ‘while we glorify You with praises and thanks and sanctify You.’ He
(Allah) said, ‘I know that which you know not.’” [II; 30] It means that we
purify ourselves in order to deserve to be with You, o Lord, in Your Paradise,
with believers, with Prophets and Messengers, with the truthful and faithful,
and with the righteous.

Be committed to Allah’s Commands and Enjoinments and leave all things up

to Him! Stand in prayer with veneration so that Allah may confer upon you
His Grace! Try to perform prayer with your children so that Allah may guide
them to the Straight Path! Purify their outer apparel so that Allah may purify
their inner selves. Their outer apparel is your job but their inner selves are in
Allah’s Care and Disposal.

Do not despair even if you see someone indulged up to his ears in the most
horrible sins: reconciliation with Allah can be effected in a single instant.

“When a slave turns to Allah (with sincere repentance), it is called out in

the heavens and the earth: ‘Congratulate so and so, as he has been
reconciled with Allah!’”

I end up my lecture with the following words in the hope that you keep them
in your minds:

Verily, a good deed has brightness on the face, light in the heart, magnitude
of sustenance, strength in the body, and love in the hearts of other fellow
humans.
Does not the one of us wish to be like that: a face as bright as the
illuminating sun, an enlightened heart, good sustenance, a strong body, love
in the hearts of other fellow humans?!

One of the scholars of Egypt lived for a hundred and thirty years; and
another of Syria lived for ninety-six years. He was said to have an upright
stature, good sight and hearing, a mouth full of teeth, red cheeks, and a
strong body. Whenever asked: “What is this good health?!”, he would
answer, “O son! We have protected them (our parts of body from sins and
misdeeds) when we were young, so Allah protected them for us in our old
age.”

O Allah! Let us enjoy our hearing, seeing and strength so long as You grant
us life.

They also said: A sin has blackness on the face, darkness in the heart and
grave, weakness in the body, narrowness in sustenance [to the same effect,
the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), says, “Man may be deprived of
sustenance because of a sin that he commits.”], and hatred in the hearts of
fellow humans. Most dangerously, sins and misdeeds make man worthless in
the sight of his Lord, Allah, as well as other fellow humans… If Allah’s
Commands are disrespected by people, they become worthless to Him.

One final piece of advice: If you are dutiful to Allah by shunning unlawful
things, you are a repentant. If you abstain from committing dubious things,
you are of those who purify themselves. If you do not care for unnecessary
things, you will be safe from long accountability. And if you hasten to serve
your Lord, Allah, you will be generously recompensed.

* * *
N ow, we move on to the third Divine Name of Allah, “As-Salam”
(The Source of peace, safety and perfection), which is mentioned in
some of the Verses of Allah’s Holy Quran: “He is Allah. There is
no god but Him, the King, the Holy, As-Salam (the Source of Peace,
safety and Perfection), the Giver of security, the Watcher over His
creatures, the All-Mighty, the Compeller, the Supreme. Glory be to
Allah! (High is He) above all that they associate as partners with Him.”
[LIX; 23], “Allah calls to the Home of Peace (i.e. Paradise) and guides
whom He wills to the Straight Path.” [X; 25], “And if he (the dying
person) be of those of the Right Hand, then there is safety and peace for
those of the Right Hand.” [LVI; 90,91], and “And peace be on him the
day he was born, the day he dies, and the day he will be raised up alive.”
[XIX; 15]

This Divine Name of Allah means that He, All-Mighty, All-Majestic, is the
Source of Peace and Safety, which also means that He, Glorified and
Exalted, is Free from any kind of defect, His Attributes are free from any
kind of imperfection, His Acts are free from any kind of evil. But here we
have to elaborate some delicate expressions: He is Free from any kind of
defect, His Attributes are fee from any kind of imperfection, and His Acts
are free from any kind of evil. But isn’t there evil in this present world? So
how come that scholars, when they interpret such a Great Divine Name of
Allah, say that His Acts are free from any kind of evil?!

At the outset, and in answer to this question, I give special importance to this
point, because if you properly understand it, dear reader, you think well of
your Lord, Allah, Most Gracious. And undoubtedly, to think well of Allah is
the price of Paradise. In fact this statement has to be understood to mean that
Allah’s Acts are Free from any kind of absolute evil. But what is absolute
evil?! It is evil that we do just for evil itself. For example, if someone has a
serious inflammation in his vermiform appendix, doesn’t the surgeon, whom
we wish to carry out such an operation, use a special knife whereby he cuts
his flesh? And doesn’t his blood gush out after he has been anesthetized?
When he comes round, doesn’t he feel pain? Do we really desire to cut his
body just because we like to harm him or save him? Doesn’t such well-
experienced surgeon cut open the patient’s body and cut off his inflamed
vermiform appendix saving him from danger and bringing him health, safety
and comfort? But when someone stabs another just for the sake of killing
him without any crime he has committed, we say: This is an absolute evil
deed, i.e. doing evil things just for the sake of evil. But when a surgeon cuts
open his patient’s abdomen to eradicate his inflamed vermiform appendix
and bring him safety and comfort is by no means absolute evil, because it is
conducive to good favorable results in the end. In this sense should we
understand Allah’s Divine Name “As-Salam”, i.e. the One Who provides
safety and peace.

Allah’s Acts are, hence, free from any kind of absolute evil; but when man
does evil for the sake of evil, this is absolute evil.

Therefore, in the light of the afore-mentioned we should believe that there is

no absolute evil in Allah’s Acts. Yes, indeed, there is no absolute evil in
Allah’s Acts. But there are kinds of evil that Allah, Alone knows; and such
kinds of evil are necessary to bring about good desirable results.

Man has been created for eternal happiness. But if he deviates from his
target, he must be corrected, he must be treated, he must be pushed forward,
and he must be deterred. Something must be done to push him towards his
noble target. Hence, he who believes that in Allah’s Acts there is absolute
evil, or that Allah, Most Gracious, does evil just for the sake of evil, does not
know Allah at all. To this effect, Allah, Most Merciful, says, “Say, ‘O Allah!
Possessor of the Kingdom! You give the kingdom to whom You will; and
You take the kingdom from whom You will; and You endue with honor
whom You will; and You humiliate whom You will. In Your Hand is the
Good. Verily, You are Powerful over all things.” [III; 26]

For example, is there in the whole world a real father who sees his son
commit a crime or a grievous sin – such as stealing money, robbing others of
their possessions, telling big lies, transgressing against the rights of others or
killing unlawfully other fellow humans – and yet stands hand-folded and
does nothing to deter his son by scolding, advising, beating, warning,
reproaching, blaming, …etc.?! And is there in the whole world a real father
who intentionally injures or does harm to his dutiful righteous son who does
no evil things at all. Such simple human fathers can never do such unfair and
unjust evil things as those mentioned above.
Hence, absolute evil does not exist in Allah’s Acts; and whatever disaster
befalls humans is due to what their hands have earned. Moreover, the more
grievous the deviation, the harder the treatment.

That was the first meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “As Salam”,
i.e. Allah is Free from all kinds of imperfection, His Attributes are free from
all kinds of defects, His Acts are free from absolute evil. Any kind of evil
that Allah, Most Gracious, inflicts on his creatures is meant for the near or
far benefit of mankind. For example, someone might lose all his wealth, or
suffer from an incurable disease that forces him to spend all his money for
its treatment. Such total loss of wealth, and such incurable disease both seem
to be seriously evil to those who undergo them. But when we remember that
man has been created for an eternal happiness, that such disease or loss do
serve as a kind of treatment to drive him back to his Lord, Allah, Most
Gracious, Most Merciful, and that the ultimate goal of such loss or disease is
a noble one, i.e. ultimate good for man.

The second meaning of Allah’s Divine Name, “As-Salam”, is that Allah,

Most Gracious, is the Giver of safety to His slaves, i.e. there is no safety in
the whole universe except that which is attributed to Him.

Now, we get through a delicate subject, and I really wish to follow a very
clear kind of methodology in understanding Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names
and Attributes. Let’s shun theoretical definitions. Let’s forget what other
scholars have said, although what they have said about Allah’s Name “As-
Salam” is so good and valuable. You, as a human being: Can you find in the
universe around you events, signs, evidence of the fact that Allah is “As-
Salam” (The Source of Peace, safety and Perfection)? I have tried to find out
some pieces of evidence derived from our daily life, our bodies, and the
things around us in order to prove that the whole universe is but a
substantiation of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and a feature of His
Perfect Divine Attributes.

For example, if someone’s bones have been broken, how do they recover?
No one knows exactly how it goes. When a bone-cell is harmed, or, in fact,
when bones first grow, they keep growing until they reach a certain degree
of growth designed and controlled by Allah, Most Gracious, for He, All-
Mighty, is the Creator, Who designs and controls all things.
Due to Allah’s Mercy on us our bodies keep growing until they reach an
acceptable and suitable extent where they stop growing. And in this context,
there is a very serious disease that makes man keep growing incessantly
until one becomes a giant. It is the giant-disease which makes man’s bones
grow non-stop. Allah’s Divine Mercy on us stops the growth of our bones at
a certain extent pre-designed and controlled by Him, Most Gracious.
Medical Scientists hold that the bone-cell hibernates for even forty years.
But if a bone is broken, the cells wake up and start to grow up and get
cemented with the other bone-cells. Now, the question is: What would
happen to us if such bone-cells did not wake up or recover?! Undoubtedly,
self-recovery of the cells of broken bones is a clear substantiation of Allah’s
Divine Name “As-Salam” (The Source of peace, safety and perfection).

When you walk on your small-sized delicate feet, what guarantees that you
do not fall down? There is a balance-apparatus that Allah, Most Gracious,
placed in the inner part of your ear, consisting of three channels containing a
liquid and fringes. When you bend down on one side, the liquid rises in one
part of the channel and goes down in the other, and the fringes move with
the liquid and give orders to the brain in order to cause the body to bring
them back to their normal balanced position. Without such apparatus, which
Allah, All-Mighty, placed in the inner part of our ears, we would need
seventy-centimeters-long feet. Hence, for your safety Allah has provided
you with such apparatus of balance in your ears.

Allah, Glorified and Exalted, placed inside the bones of human body highly
sensitive nerves that seem to have no function. When a certain bone is
broken, strong pain, which the nerves inside the bone carry to the brain,
helps keep the broken bone in place, which constitutes three quarters of
treatment. In other words, Allah, Most Merciful, put inside bones such
hyper-sensitive nerves for the safety of man. This is because He, Most
Gracious, is “As-Salam” (The Source of Peace, safety and perfection).

The nerves inside your teeth are meant to warn you of decay and drive you
to see your dentist to have your teeth treated before you lose them all. Such
nerves are a substantiation of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “As-Salam”
(The Source of Peace, safety and perfection).

Immunity system, which is the main concern of the whole world nowadays,
is a big army that Allah, Most Gracious, put in the human blood: the white
corpuscles, some of which do the job of reconnaissance, probing enemy
forces, others make the necessary anti-serum, and others use the anti-serum
to fight the enemy germs and viruses, while you are completely
unconscious.

For your own safety Allah has put in you an apparatus of immunity: The
white corpuscles, some of which are especially made for probing the
structure and weak points of the enemy germs and viruses, others are for
making the necessary anti-serums, and others for fighting enemy germs and
viruses as soon as they enter the body. The AIDS, which is the main interest
of the whole world nowadays, is but a kind of weakness in the person’s
immunity apparatus. Why did Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, put
such an apparatus in man?! The answer is: for his own safety, which
substantiates Allah’s Divine Name “As-Salam” (The Source of peace, safety
and perfection).

The heart: Allah, Most Gracious, has made therein a special electric alarm
center of its own. All other muscles of the human body receive direct orders
from the brain through sensor and motor nerves. Sensor nerves carry
surrounding feelings to the brain, while motor nerves carry brain-orders to
muscles. In other words, all muscles of the body move by orders from the
brain, except the muscle of the heart, yes indeed, except the heart-muscle,
which Allah has provided with a special electric generation center of its own.
That is because the heart is very important and dangerous. If anything goes
wrong with this electric-generation center, there is another extra generation
center, which starts to work immediately and automatically in case of any
failure on the part of the first generation center. Some advanced countries
have extra man-made generation centers in cases of emergency. Now, if
anything goes wrong with the basic generation centers, the extra
supplementary ones start working at once. In other words, in the human
heart there are three electric generation centers of its own. If the first fails to
work, the second starts working automatically; and if the second fails, the
third immediately goes off. Why did Allah, Most Gracious, create such
generation centers?! The answer is: for your own “safety”.

One day, a kidney-specialist told me: If we amputate both kidneys but leave
only one tenth of either, this one tenth of either kidney is enough to purify
the blood of man. Therefore, it is for your own safety that Allah, Most
Merciful, gave your two kidneys an ability that is twenty times as much as
you need. This is only for your own safety, which is a substantiation of
Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “As-Salam” (The Source of peace, safety
and perfection).

Blood vessels: Veins and arteries: Due to Allah’s Infinite Divine Wisdom
and Mercy, He has made arteries inside parts of the body while veins in the
outer sides. This is because veins are linked directly with the heart; and,
hence, if they are cut, man loses all his blood, because they are like a pump.
If a vein is opened, do you know what happens? As I have been told by a
specialist surgeon, when a vein is opened during a surgical operation, blood
gushes out up to the ceiling because of high blood pressure unless it is
immediately clipped. This vein, which Allah placed in man for his own
safety and survival, is placed inside, while arteries are placed outside. This is
another substantiation of Allah’s Divine Name “As-Salam” (The Source of
peace, safety and perfection).

When man becomes so hungry that he is about to die of starvation: You, as a

human being, have so many nutritional elements. For example, you have
herbs, legumes, grains, and fats. No matter how knowledgeable you are, can
you change wheat into fat or meat? Such a thing is beyond human ability.
But your human body is equipped with a marvelous mechanism whereby it
changes starches into fats in case of need. Such flexibility in changing
substances is for your own safety. When man is hungry, he consumes the fats
stored in his body, then he consumes his muscles, in such cases of
starvations and famines; and there remains only his bones and flesh. In this
context, when a young man once entered upon Abdul Malik bin Marwan, the
Umayad Caliph, the latter addressed his two chamberlains in anger:
“Everyone who desires to enter upon me has an access to do so, even young
children!” The young man stood up and asked permission to talk. He said:
“O Commander of the Faithful! My entrance upon did not derogate from
your privilege (as a Cliph), although it was a great honor to me.” Then, he
went on to say: “We have been visited by three years of drought and famine.
One year consumed the fat (of our bodies); the second devoured the flesh;
and the third crushed the bones!” Hence, the first stored thing that is
consumed from man’s body in case of famines is his fat, then his muscles,
except for that of the heart. Who has designed such a marvelous design? If
someone is made to suffer death by starvation, he consumes all his muscles,
except for the muscle of his heart. This is for his own safety.

Moreover, some of the food stored in man’s body is not consumed except at
times of famines. Man sometimes starves. What does starvation mean? It
means that the storage of food in your liver decreases. I say “in your liver
and not in your arteries”. In other words, if you test the blood of a hungry
person, you find that the rates of nutritional elements in his blood are all
normal, but the storage of nutritional elements in his liver decreases. This is
all for the safety of man, and certainly is a manifestation of Allah’s Divine
Name “As-Salam” (The Source o peace, safety and perfection).

Something else: When man sleeps, the weight of his body presses down on
his muscles that are under the bones. This pressure causes narrowness to the
blood vessels and, hence, weak blood flow, which is very dangerous.
Therefore, Allah, Most Gracious, has put in man nerve-centers that sense
pressure of the body, narrowness of blood vessels and weakness of blood-
flow. They send messages to the brain, which, in turn, orders the body, while
you are heavily asleep, to turn over from one side to another. To this effect,
Allah, Most Gracious, says, “And you would have thought them awake,
whereas they were asleep. And We turned them over on their right and
on their left sides, and their dog stretching forth his two forelegs at the
entrance (to the Cave). Had you looked at them, you would certainly
have turned back from them in flight, and would certainly have been
filled with awe of them.” [XVIII; 18]

Turning you in your sleep from one side to another, every now and then, so
that you may not fall off your bed, is for your own safety, and is definitely a
manifestation of Allah’s Divine Name “As-Salam” (The Source of peace,
safety and perfection).

While you are asleep, there is saliva in your mouth. Once this saliva
becomes excessive, it gives a warning to the brain, which, in turn, gives
orders to the pharynx to close the way to the trachea and opens that to the
stomach, which causes the saliva to go straight to the stomach, while you are
soundly asleep. This is a manifestation of Allah’s Divine Name “As-Salam”
(The Source of Peace, safety and Perfection).

Another example, where did Allah, most Gracious, put your brain, the most
dangerous part of your body? In your skull. What did He make in it? layers
one above another. And what did He put between the brain and the skull? He
put a liquid. What is the function of this liquid? It has been especially
designed to absorb all shocks. If someone receives a blow on his head or if
he falls down on his head, the liquid inside his skull disperses the pressure of
the shock all over the skull, protecting the brain from harm or injury. It is
Allah, Most Merciful, Who has placed the brain inside, as it were, a
protection box with fixed joints, which also absorb some shocks. Without
such bent and jig-saw joints, the skull would be broken by the weakest blow
or shock. These jig-saw joints absorb the shocks, just like springs, and
protect the brain. This is for your own safety; and this is another
manifestation of Allah’s Divine Name “As-Salam” (The Source of peace,
safety and perfection).

Where is the spinal cord, the most dangerous thing in man, placed? Inside
the vertebral column! Where is the heart placed? In the chest! Where is the
womb placed? In the pelvis: “Thereafter, We made him (the offspring of
Adam) a sperm in a safe lodging (womb of the woman).” [XXIII; 13] The
womb is located right in the geometrical center of the body of the woman.

Where are factories of the red corpuscles, which are the most dangerous
factories in the human body, located? Inside the bones! Do you see what
safety is like?!

Where is the eye located?! Inside the eye-socket! Allah has made for the eye
a special safe socket for its own safety and protection. If a person receives a
blow or shock on his face, the blow does not reach the eye, because it is
protected inside its own socket!

Hence, the eye is inside the socket, the brain inside the skull, the spinal cord
inside vertebral column, the heart inside the chest, the factory of making the
red corpuscles inside the bones, and the womb inside the pelvis. What is this
fascinating accuracy?! It is certainly the work of Allah, the All-Mighty,
Whose Divine Power and Wisdom are Infinite.

Why did Allah, Most Gracious, make the nose of the newborn baby
cartilaginous and hard? In order not to bend and close, smothering the baby
while suckling. The older the baby grows, the softer its nose becomes. This
is Allah’s Infinite Divine Wisdom.

When a woman’s womb contracts at a child-birth, it so does for her own

safety. But what happens? While delivering, the mother’s womb contracts
gently, which is called “At-Talq” (i.e. labor); but when the baby is pushed
out of the womb, the womb contracts strongly. Why? It is said: Because
when the baby is pushed out of the womb, tens of thousands of blood
capillaries are cut off. If it contracted gently, the mother would die of
bleeding. The doctor or midwife probes the womb: if it is hard, the delivery
is safe and normal. If both kinds of contraction were reversed, both mother
and child would die. If contraction were too strong, the baby would be
smothered; if it were too lenient, the mother would die. Hence, for safety of
both mother and child, the first contraction is mild while the second is
strong, all for safety of mother and child.

I swear by Allah! Even if we spent long hours, days, months, years,

contemplating Allah’s Divine Name “As-Salam” (The Source of Peace,
safety and perfection), only in the world of plants, animals and humans, we
would never be able to cover all its manifestations.

The seminal animalcules: A few days ago, one of our brother doctors, may
Allah generously reward him, told me that the seminal animalcule, which
Allah, All-Mighty, creates inside testicles, needs eighteen days to be fully
grown. It is stored inside testicles and made to hibernate until it enters a
woman’s womb, where it starts working. In other words, the moment it is
emitted from its place it starts to work. Without this quality all men would
be futile, as futility comes from the fact that a seminal animalcule has a
definite life-span of only ten hours. And if it were made inside the testicles
and weren’t used within that short time, it would die. The fact is that it is
made, stored and made to hibernate inside the testicle. As soon as it enters
the womb, it starts working and lives for ten hours during which it is able to
settle inside the woman’s ovule. Whose design is this ?! It is Allah’s Design,
Whose Divine Name is “As-Salam” (The Source of Peace, safety and
perfection)!

I do really wish, dear reader, after we have set out to elaborate the Beautiful
Divine Names of Allah, that you follow, in understanding these Names, a
way that comprises both theoretical definitions and practical substantial
evidence, and that you deliberate freely some features of the creation of
man, animal and plant.

When it lacks water, a tree starts consuming the water of its leaves, which
makes them wilted and dry. If it is not watered, the tree consumes the water
of its twigs. If it is still not watered, it consumes the water of its branches. If
it still needs water, it uses the water of its trunk. If it still lacks water, it
consumes the water of its roots, which is the last thing a tree can consume
before it turns into mere wood for burning.
If the process were reversed, the tree would die if it were left without water
for only two weeks. This is because it would start consuming the water of its
roots, which would cause them to fade and dry out and the tree to die. Who
gave the tree such a marvelous design, which makes it consume the water of
its leaves first so that you may hasten to water it?! Such is the Design of
Allah, “As-Salam” (The Source of peace, safety and perfection)!

The rising sap of a plant: In a tree there are vessels for rising sap and others
for falling sap. A tree grows horizontally, which causes narrowness in its
vessels. That is why such vessels, which are very vital for the tree, are
supported with spiral fibers so that the tree’s crust and bast do not over-grow.
Who designed this?! Allah, Glorified and Exalted.

The plant-seed, which Allah, Most Gracious, has made one of His
Marvelous Signs, resists death for years and years. For, example, seeds of
wheat were found in the pyramids of Egypt. They have been lying there for
thousands of years. But when they were recently planted, they grew up
normally. In other words, the seed of wheat is a living creature that has a
core that remains alive for nearly six thousand years; and whenever it is
planted, it grows up. To my knowledge and faith, all things in existence:
plants, animals and humans are designed and disposed with by Allah, As-
Salam, the Source of peace, safety, and perfection.

Water is another crystal clear Sign of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name, “As-
Salam” (The Source of peace, safety and perfection). If water contracted
when it froze, and, therefore, it sank low into the depth of oceans, life would
be impossible on earth. But it does not contract. When it freezes, water
expands, which is an amazing exception, and, thus, floats. If it didn’t, all the
seas and oceans would be solid blocks of ice, evaporation would stop, and so
would rain. Plants would die, and so would animals and humans. But due to
Allah’s Infinite Divine Mercy, this does not happen, which is a crystal clear
manifestation of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name: “As-Salam” (The Source of
peace, safety and perfection)!

This same odd property of water also plays a vital role in making soil on
earth. When water gets colder, it expands and, therefore, it causes rocks to be
broken off into tiny pieces of soil. In other words, it is well-known that soil
comes from broken rocks, which the freezing of water plays a vital role in
breaking off. Let’s contemplate Allah’s Words: “By the sky which gives
rain again and again, and the earth which splits again and again!”
[LXXXVIII; 11, 12]

Hence, the increase in the volume of water when it gets colder or freezes is
one of the forces that make soil out of hard rocks. This is for the safety of
life. And if we desire to deliberate Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names from this
way, it is really a wonderful vast way and within the reach of everyone.
Everyone can deliberate Allah’s Name “As-Salam” (The Source of peace,
safety and perfection) on the basis of contemplation on things starting with a
glass of water, through a dough of bread, to man’s own parts of body, organ,
cells, and tissues, and even his food and drink. In this context, Allah, All-
Mighty, All-Majestic, says, “…Who has created the seven heavens one
above another; you can see no fault in the creation of the Most
Gracious. Then look again: Can you see any rifts?” [LXVII; 3] Hence,
His Creation is perfect and faultless: “Verily, We have created all things in
(perfect) measure.” [LIV; 49] He, Most Gracious, also says, “He
(Pharaoh) said: ‘Who then, O Moses, is the Lord of you two?’ He
(Moses) said: ‘Our Lord is He Who gave all things their form and
nature, then guided them aright.’” [XX; 49,50]

The yearly migration of birds is made for their own safety. The birds migrate
seven thousand kilometers, and some fly eighty-six hours non-stop. Is there
in the whole world a plane that can fly eighty-six hours non-stop without
being supplied with fuel? It is impossible: “He gave all things their form
and nature, then guided them aright”.

I have mentioned examples, some of which about man’s creation, some

about plant creation, and some about animal creation. A fish has been
endued by Allah, Most Gracious, with a special apparatus whereby it knows
where it is from the surface of the water. In its upper third part and under the
scales there is a pipe that is empty from air. When it goes deeper into the
water, the pressure on this pipe increases. This is similar to pressure-
apparatus in submarines. Allah, the Source of peace, safety and perfection,
has endued each and every fish with this apparatus of pressure, whereby it
knows where it is from the surface of the water. If it goes down, it knows the
depth of the place it has reached. This is for its own safety.

Look at all domestic animals around us! You will certainly notice how
wonderful their systems of safety are. This is a clear manifestation of Allah’s
Beautiful Divine Name “As-Salam” (The Source of peace, safety, and
perfection)!

Therefore, Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “As-Salam” may be taken to

mean that He, All-Mighty, is Free from any defect, His Attributes are free
from any kind of imperfection, His Acts are free from any kind of evil, He is
the Source of safety to His creatures (i.e. there is no safety in the whole
universe except that which is attributed to Him), or He is the One from
Whose Punishment true believers in Him and His friends are safe: “Say:
‘Praise and thanks are to Allah, and peace be on His slaves whom He
has chosen.” [XXVII; 59]

Scholars said: Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “As-Salam” in the sense that
He is Free from all kinds of defects or imperfection belongs to attributes of
deanthropomorphism (i.e. elimination of anthropomorphic elements from
the conception of deity). If His Name “As-Salam” is taken to mean that He
confers His peace upon His friends, then, it belongs to Names of Allah’s
Divine Self. If it is taken to mean that He is The Provider of safety to
believers, then, it is a Name that belongs to Allah’s Acts. In other words,
Allah’s Name “As-Salam” belongs to His Names of deanthropomorphism,
Attributes of His Divine Self, or Qualities of His Acts.

Of the meanings of this Divine Name is that remembering Allah, Most

Gracious, conduces to feelings of security, tranquility and safety. To this
effect, Allah’s Words go, “Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts
find rest.” [XIII; 28]

In man’s heart there may dwell feelings of loneliness, fear, anxiety, and
worry. Such feelings are not removed or minimized except by remembering
Allah, Most Gracious and being conscious of Him. Here I whisper these
words to my dear readers: search everywhere and in everything. There is
nothing in the whole world to give you happiness except in remembering
Allah, Most Merciful, and being conscious of Him.

Verily, the hearts do suffer rustiness, just like iron. But how can they be
cleared up?! By the remembrance of Allah and reading His Holy Quran!

One of the meanings of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “As-Salam”,

therefore, is that if you remember Him, you feel peaceful. If you remember
Him, fear is removed from you. If you remember Him, loneliness is
removed from you. If you remember Him, you feel secure with Him. And if
you remember Him, you feel tranquil with Him.

Those who are unconscious of Allah, Most Gracious, or turn away from
Him, fear devours their hearts and they never feel balanced. In fact, they feel
crushed because they associate with Allah other gods to which He gave no
authority. That is why Allah, All-Mighty, casts fear into their hearts.
Tranquility is the token of a true believer.

I reiterate that “As-Salam’ (The Source of peace, safety and perfection) is

one of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names. If you remember Him, He grants
you peace. If you remember Him, He bestows tranquility on you. If you
remember Him, you feel so near to Him. If you remember Him, you feel that
He defends you, that you are in His Care, Protection, Help and Grace.

One of the meanings of Allah’s Name “As-Salam” is that if you get

connected to Allah, Most Gracious, you have all your defects and faults
purified. Here we get into delicate meanings, first of which is that He, All-
Mighty, All-Majestic, is Free from all kinds of defects; His Attributes are all
free from all kinds of imperfection, and His Acts are free from all kinds of
evil, I mean, absolute evil, because purposeful evil is a kind of treatment and
medicament. And medicament is usually of bitter taste. Another meaning is
that He is the Source of safety, i.e. He grants safety to His slaves, either in
their creation, as we have already mentioned, or in themselves as
remembrance of Allah brings security, tranquility and safety to them.

Once again, connection with Allah purifies man from all defects, from
avarice, from meanness, from malice, grudge, from feud, from envy, from
arrogance, and from a great many other defects and faults, which are the
main source of human misery and wretchedness. If you get connected with
Allah, the Source of peace, safety and perfection, you get purified from all
such defects and faults. Allah, Glorified and Exalted, grants you safety in
your body. He gave you organs and apparatuses. He gave you cells and
tissues, marvelous accuracy of your digestive, nervous, muscular, and
circulatory systems. If you are afraid, remember Him, and He fills your heart
with peace. If you get connected with Him, He purifies you from all defects
and faults, He purifies your soul, thanks to His Beautiful Divine Name “As-
Salam” (The Source of peace, safety, and perfection).
In your business, He guides you to peaceful ways; in your marriage He
guides you to peaceful ways; and in your relationships with your neighbors
He guides you to peaceful ways. If you adhere to His Divine Commands and
Enjoinments in His Holy Quran, He guides you, in everything and every
issue, to peaceful ways. And He, Allah, invites you to the Home of Peace,
i.e. Paradise. Hence, Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “As-Salam” brings
comfort, because with it you live in peace, you live in tranquility, you live in
comfort. You feel that He, the Creator of the universe, is always with you.
He, All-Mighty, never lets you down or leaves you unprotected in the face of
your enemies. He, Glory to Him, defends you, protects you, helps you, gives
you victory; and you reap the ripe fruits after you have paid the price. To this
effect, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “Indeed Allah took the covenant from
the children of Israel, and We appointed twelve leaders among them.
And Allah said: ‘I am with you if you perform prayer and give Zakat
(Alms) and believe in My Messengers, honor and assist them, and lend a
good loan to Allah, verily, I will expiate your sins and admit you to
Gardens under which rivers flow (in Paradise). But if any of you, after
this, disbelieves, he has indeed gone astray from the Straight Path. [V;
12]

One of the meanings of Allah’s Divine Name “As-Salam” is, therefore, that
remembrance of Allah conduces to security and peace, that connection with
Allah, All-Mighty, All-High, conduces to freedom from defects, faults and
impurities, and rids of sins, grudge, envy, feud, and arrogance. All such
grievous deadly evil qualities are purified and removed from you if you get
connected with Allah, Most Gracious.

Another meaning of this Divine Name, “As-Salam”, is that if you adhere to

His Religion, Allah guides you to peaceful ways. To this effect, Allah, Most
Merciful, says, “Verily, this Quran guides to that which is most just and
right.” [XVII; 9] In other words, if you stick to Allah’s Divine Law and
Legislation, He grants you safety in the life of the present world; if you turn
to Him with love, He gives you security and safety; if you obey Him in all
aspects of your life, He grants you safety in the world to come. Allah, All-
High, says, “He is Allah: There is no god but Him, the King, the Holy,
“As-Salam” (The Source of peace, safety and perfection).” [LIX; 23]

Sometimes, you befriend someone evil or have a partnership with him in

some of your works, and he destroys your life. A man may marry an evil
woman who destroys him. In this context, someone told me that he met a
woman in a casino. He was fond of her and got married to her. After some
time, they didn’t get on well with each other because she wasn’t committed.
I asked him, “Where did you get her from?!”, “Where did you marry her?!”
Then she left him and went to live with her family. He tried to please her and
reconcile things with her, but she refused unless he had one thousand Pounds
registered for her. She accepted to return to him but only in order to plot
against him. She brought an action against him at court, and plotted with the
notification clerk, hid the court’s notification from him, and won a non-
revocable verdict of imprisonment against him upon charges of non-payment
of advance-dowry. When he was informed of the court’s verdict, he shot her
together with her mother and sister; and then he shot himself. They were all
taken to hospital and rescued from death except him, for he could not be
saved. No safety is to be sought with a woman of evil birth and breeding,
although she might be very beautiful. That story happened in Damascus a
short time ago.

However, if we abide by Allah’s Religion, Allah, All-Mighty, Most

Gracious, will certainly bless our marriage, work, provision, health, and
children. He will also guide us to ways of peace and safety. To this effect,
He, Most Merciful, says, “Verily, this Quran guides to that which is more
just and right.” [XVII; 9], and “Then if there comes to you guidance
from Me, then whosoever follows My guidance will neither go astray
nor shall be distressed.” [XX; 123]

You have to know that safety, all safety, is to be with Allah. Safety, all safety,
is to obey Him. Safety, all safety, is to know Him. Safety, all safety, is to
worship Him. Safety, all safety, is to understand His Book, the Holy Quran.
Safety, all safety, is to be committed to His Religion of Islamic Monotheism.
And safety, all safety, is to adhere to His Commands and Enjoinments.

Now, the word, “As-Salam” bears another meaning in the Holy Quran.
Allah, Most Gracious, says, “And Allah invites to Dar As-Salam (The
Home of Peace).” [X; 25]
But what is “Dar As-Salam” (The Home of Peace)? It is Paradise, wherein
there is no distress or envy, wherein you are not chased by illness of worry,
wherein you are not visited by fear or are transgressed against by anyone
else, no wars, no persecution, nothing of the like of this at all: “And Allah
invites to Dar As-Salam (The Home of Peace) and guides whom He wills
to the Straight Path.” [X; 25,26]
Such is Dar “As-Salam” (The Home of Peace, Paradise); what a good
recompense and dwelling!

Also, the word “As-Salam” is mentioned in another Quranic Verse: “And if

he (the dying person) be of those of the Right Hand, then there is Salam
(safety and peace) for those of the Right Hand.” [LVI; 90,91] In this Verse
Allah, Glory to Him, tells you about “As-Salam” (i.e. safety and peace) that
He grants to people of the Right Hand on the Day of Judgment. They say:
“Our health is good, and our joy is great!”, for they are in safety and peace
in Paradise of never-ending Bliss.

The word “As-Salam” also comes in Allah’s Words: “And Salam (peace)
be on him (Jesus) the day he was born, the day he dies, and the day he
will be raised up to life.” [XVI; 15]

In interpretation of the above Quranic Verse Sufian Bin ‘Uyaynah, a

venerable Islamic Scholar, said: “Man is most lonely in three positions: the
day he is born, when he comes out of his mother’s womb, in which he used
to be in comfort and safety away from troubles and problems of life to which
he comes, i.e. he moves from a narrow peaceful place to an unfamiliar one
that is much larger and more dangerous. The second station in which man
feels most lonely is when he dies leaving everything (his wife, children and
family, house, shop, work, friends, desires, hobbies, …etc.) on a no-return
trip to the Hereafter.

He who decorates and ornaments his home, in which he has his own book-
case and study, in which he puts his personal things, presents and gifts that
have been given to him. His family wish to open his personal drawer, but he
never permits them to do so all his life. But when he passes away, they open
the drawer, which has always been impermissible for them to touch, and
they take his car, shop, factory and even all his other things and possessions.
They sell and buy of his things and then forget him after some time.

The third station in which man feels most lonely is the day he is raised up to
life again, on the Day of Resurrection. Concerning that day, ‘A’ishah, may
Allah be pleased with her, asked her husband, the Messenger of Allah,
Muhammad, (PBUH), “O Messenger of Allah! Shall we know one
another on the Day of Resurrection?” He (PBUH) said, “Yes, o Mother
of the Faithful! Except for three positions: at As-Sirat (The Path), upon
the Mustering, and when the Scrolls are spread out.”
On that Day, when a mother sees her son, she will address him, “O my son!
Didn’t I make my abdomen a vessel for you, my breast a drinking pot for
you, my lap a ground for you?! Have you got any good deed (of yours you
can give me) whose goodness returns to me?” He (the son) will say, “O
Mother! I actually suffer from that which you suffer from!” As for Jesus,
(PBUH), Allah, Most Gracious, says, “And Salam (peace) be on him
(Jesus) the day he was born, the day he dies, and the day he will be
raised up to life.”

Now, what is the duty of a true believer towards this Divine Name? We
know that a true believer is someone who is free from any secret or public
violations of Allah’s Commands and Enjoinments, someone who is free
from covert and overt defects and faults, someone whose duty is to be
peaceful towards other creatures. Allah, All-Mighty, says, “Leave (O
mankind!) open and secret sins!” [VI; 120]

He who is free from sins and misdeeds, defects and faults, attains utmost
peace and safety. So, let our relationship with this Divine Name of Allah,
“As-Salam” be like that if we really desire to enjoy the advantages of this
Quranic Verse: “The Day (The Resurrection Day) whereon neither
wealth nor sons will avail, except him who comes to Allah with a clean
(pure) heart.” [XXVI; 88,89]

A clean pure heart is that which is free from polytheism and lack of firm
belief in Allah; and he whose heart fluctuates between belief and disbelief
will be inevitably a great loser.

The fortuneteller and doctor both claimed

That the dead will not be raised up to life. I said: Listen!
If that which you say is true, I shall not be a loser.
But if my words are true, great loss shall be yours.

We do pray to Allah, Most Merciful, to make all our deeds and affairs rightly
guided. As for the above verses, they reflect no true belief but rather mere
suspicion and uncertainty: “Verily, true believers are those who believe in
Allah and His Messenger, and afterwards doubt not…” [IL; 15]

A healthy person is someone whose heart is free from doubt and polytheism,
from disputation and hypocrisy, untruthfulness and dissimulation, eye-
service and lip-service, someone whose self is free from desires and
caprices, and whose mind is free from dubieties and doubt.

Such is a believer’s duty towards his Lord from the perspective of Allah’s
Divine Name “As-Salam”. But what is his right on Allah?! This is the most
important point of the whole lecture.

You have believed in Allah, you have contemplated the universe, you have
known Him and adhered to His Commands and Enjoinments, you have
attended lectures on His Religion of Islamic Monotheism, you have
controlled your desires and caprices, you have guarded your deeds and
lowered your gazes from unlawful things, you have kept your ears away
from listening to indecent things, you have not mingled with women that are
unlawful for you, and you have not breached Allah’s Religion. So what
rights do you have on Allah? Listen to what knowledgeable scholars have
said in this concern. They have said:

Allah undertakes to protect those who adhere to His Commands and

Enjoinments and turn to Him with true love and sincere devotion. What does
He protect them from? They said: He protects them from the dangers of the
present world and grants them the good things thereof.

A true believer’s wife is usually righteous; his children are dutiful; his
provision and sustenance are available in his own homeland, his reputation
is pure and clean, his character is noble, his manners are good, and he is
popular and loved by everybody. Such are the fruits of piety and good
righteous work. Moreover, Allah, Whose Divine Name is “As-Salam” (The
Source of peace safety and perfection), protects him from all dangers of this
present world and grants him all the good things thereof. Such is safety of
the present world.

But what is safety of religion? Your mind is freed from all kinds of religious
heresies, innovations and dubieties; and your heart is freed from desires,
caprices, and love except for Allah. Even more, a true Muslim is someone
from whose tongue and hand Muslims are safe.

Some scholars said: How can people be safe from man’s tongue and hand
while he himself is not safe from his own tongue and hand, and while he is
dominated by his own desires and caprices?! Thus, it is a crystal clear
invitation, for you and me, to overcome our desires and caprices and not to
allow them to dominate over us.

* * *

A l-Mu’min is the fourth of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names. To

believe that Allah, Glory to Him, exists does not mean anything.
This is because Satan himself: what did he say when he spoke to his
Lord, Allah, All-Mighty? He said: “My Lord!” And in another situation he
swore by Allah’s Might: “By Your Might!” This means that he believed in
Allah and in His existence; nevertheless, he was, and still is, the head of all
disbelief and infidelity. In other words, to believe only in the existence of
Allah, Glory to Him, but not in His Oneness, Lordship, Godhood, Beautiful
Divine Names and Attributes, or aspects of His Infinite Divine Greatness, is
by no means sufficient. I repeat once again: to believe in Allah as the Creator
only is not sufficient at all. This is because in His Holy Quran our Lord,
Glorified and Exalted, describes polytheists as: “And if you were to ask
them: ‘Who has created the heavens and the earth and has subjected
the sun and the moon?’, they will surely reply: ‘Allah.’ How then are
they deviating (as polytheists and disbelievers)?!” [XXIX; 61]

Therefore, polytheists admit that Allah, All-Mighty, is the Creator of the

universe, but, firstly, they associate others with him in worship, and
secondly, they deny the Resurrection.
Hence, belief in Allah necessitates that a believer has to acknowledge
Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names. Sometimes, you know that someone is one
of your neighbors. This is not enough because you have to know some
details about him: his education, his character, his deeds, his achievements,
…etc. In other words, your knowledge is not adequate enough unless you
know some important details that furnish you with a clear idea about him. It
is more fitting that belief in Allah, All-Mighty, should be based on knowing
His Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes.

It is a clear fact that the whole universe is but a substantiation and

manifestation of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes. Allah’s real
Self, however, is unperceivable by the human mind. To this effect, Allah,
Most Gracious, says, “No vision can grasp Him, but He grasps all vision;
and He is the Most Subtle and Courteous, Well-Acquainted with all
things.” [VI; 103]

It is impossible to see Allah with your own eye, but you can know Him by
your mind and through contemplation on His Creation, for the whole
universe shows clearly that He is the Maker, and the system therein shows
clearly that He is the Designer, the control thereof shows manifestly that He
is the Controller. In other words, it has been rightly said: “Water denotes the
existence of a spring, footprints denote walking, and dung denotes the
existence of animals. How come, then, that the heaven, with all its
constellations, and the earth, with all its mountains and valleys, do not
bespeak the existence of Allah, the Most-Wise, the All-Aware?!”

Now, the question is: Why should we know Allah? The answer is: In order to
worship Him. Why should we worship Him? In order to attain happiness of
being intimate to Him in this present world and the world to come. This is
because Allah has originally created us to make us happy; and we are never
happy unless we feel that we are near, and intimate to, Him. We are never
happy unless our work is righteous; and our work is never noble or righteous
unless we get to know our Lord’s Divine Greatness. That is why in
describing people of Hell-Fire our Lord, All-Mighty, All-Majestic, says,
“Verily, he used not to believe in Allah, the Great.” [LXIX: 33] In other
words, we must know Allah’s Divine Greatness, because if we do not, we
shall inevitably breach His Divine Commands, i.e. if we know Allah’s
Divine Greatness, we worship Him properly.
The whole matter can be summed up in the importance of knowing who
Allah is in order to obey Him, in order to turn to Him with love and
devotion, in order to hope for what He has for you, and in order to fear His
Irresistible Divine Threat and Punishment. And you shall never fear His
Threat and Punishment, you shall never hope for His generous Reward, you
shall never turn to Him with love and devotion, you shall never surrender
yourself to His Divine Decree, and you shall never yield to His Divine
Judgment unless you know Him adequately. In other words, if you get to
know Allah, Most Gracious, you yield to His Divine Decree, and you see,
most clearly, His Ultimate Divine Wisdom, Knowledge, Mercy, Courtesy,
Tenderness, Clemency, and Bounty. The more you get to know Him, the
more submissive, loving and obedient to Him you are, and the more you
worship Him and do good to His slaves, your fellow humans. I reiterate: we
must know Allah and not only say: “Allah is the Creator of the universe”, for
such words are naïve and of no good. Such words do not prevent us from
committing sinful deeds or transgressing against Allah’s Divine Orders.
Such words do not motivate us enough to obey Allah. In other words, it is
not enough to acknowledge Allah’s being the One Who created the whole
universe yet you commit sins and misdeeds. It is not enough to admit Allah’s
Being the creator of everything yet you deviate from His Religion. It is not
enough to say that He is the One Who originated the whole universe yet you
have low worldly desires and ambitions. Such attitudes are serious and
reflect manifest controversies. If, however, you get to know adequately who
Allah is, which is the ultimate goal of our lectures – to help increase our
knowledge of Allah, Most Gracious, day by day, you stick to His Divine
Commands and Ordainments. This is because the more you know Allah, the
more reverent, obedient, submissive, humble, fearful, contented, hopeful,
sacrificing, sincere, devoted, and faithful. That is to say that your good work
is positively proportioned with your knowledge; and your happiness is also
positively proportioned with your good work. In other words, Islamic
religion can be summed up in three words: knowledge, obedience, and
happiness, i.e. your knowledge of Allah, Most Gracious, determines your
obedience to Him; and your obedience to Him determines your happiness
with Him.

Therefore, we should by no means stop at accurate definitions of Allah’s

Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes. Nay, we should have hundreds,
thousands or even hundreds of thousands, of cosmic evidences of such
Names and Attributes. Hence, your knowledge of Allah and being conscious
of Him is clearly betokened by your constant remembrance of Him and
glorification of His Beautiful Names and Attributes, such as the Most Subtle,
the Most Courteous, the Most Merciful, the Sovereign, the All-Holy, the
Peace, …etc. I hope that every Muslim carries out his\her own studies and
research and reflects on cosmic Signs that bespeak Allah’s Beautiful Divine
Names and Attributes.

Let us now move ahead to another Beautiful Name of Allah’s, namely “Al-
Mu’min”.

A king of this world does not accept that his honorific title be given to any of
his subjects, although such king is a mere human being who eats like
everyone else, drinks like everyone else, and sleeps like everyone else; and
he has a human body: he feels hungry and thirsty, he gets angry and furious,
and he gets ill and even dies. In other words, there are no genuine physical
differences between a human king and his other fellow human beings, yet,
due to his pride and majesty, he does not accept that any of his subjects be
given any of his kingly titles. Allah, however, has called us, after we have
known Him, “Al-Mu’mineen” (plural of “Mu’min” i.e. believer), just as He
called Himself “Al-Mu’min”. To this effect, He, Most Gracious, says, “He is
Allah: There is no god but Him, the King, the Holy, the Peace, Al-
Mu’min, the Watcher, the All-Mighty, the Compeller, the Supreme.
Glory be to Allah! (High is He) above all that they associate as partners
with Him.” [LIX; 23]

But this Divine Name, “Al-Mu’min”, needs contemplation. The word

“Mu’min” in Arabic can be taken to mean (believer). When we say Allah,
All-Mighty, is “Mu’min” (believer), what is meant by this word “Mu’min”
(believer)? We are “Mu’mineen”, i.e. believers, for we believe in Allah, His
Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), and the Last Day. But when we say that
Allah is “Mu’min”, what does that mean?! In fact, the word “Mu’min” in
Arabic has more than one meaning. The first meaning is derived from the
Arabic word “Amana”, which mans “to believe”. This is when the Imam
recites in prayer the opening Surah of the Holy Quran and Muslims who are
being led by him say: “Ameen”, i.e. “O Lord! We do believe in what the
Imam is reciting.” The second meaning of the word “Mu’min” is derived
from the Arabic word “Al-Amn”, i.e. security. Both meanings can be found
in the following two Verses: “They said: ‘O father! We went racing with
one another and left Joseph at our belongings; and a wolf devoured him.
But (Wa Ma Anta Bi Mu’minin Lana) [i.e. you will never believe us]
even if we speak the truth.” [XII; 17] The word Mu’min in this Verse
means “believe that something is true”. The second meaning is found in
the Verse: “(It is) He (Allah) Who has fed them against hunger and
(Amanahum )Min Khawouf) i.e. made them safe and secure from fear.”
[CVI; 4] Here the word Amanahum means “made them safe and gave
them security”.

Therefore, Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Mu’min” can be taken from

the words “belief” or “security”. But how can we understand this Divine
Name in the first meaning?

In fact, a human being may, or may not, know himself. If he does not know
himself and gets involved in doing something that does not befit his abilities,
he loses heavily; and it is said to him, “If you had known your abilities, you
would not have incurred such a heavy loss.” In other words, a person who
involves himself in something that is beyond his abilities does not know the
reality of himself or his abilities. On the contrary, a person who knows
perfectly himself and his abilities: his acts come in full congruity with his
knowledge. This is just an example to make things clear to you. In other
words, the first meaning of Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Mu’min” is that He,
Glory to Him, knows perfectly Himself and His Names and Attributes. This
is the first meaning.

The second meaning is that Allah, Most Gracious, verifies His Prophets and
Messengers. For example, He, All-Mighty, sent His Messenger Muhammad,
(PBUH), and verified him, i.e. made people believe him by providing him
with miracles. The same thing applies to Allah’s other Prophets and
Messengers, (PBUT), such as Moses, Jesus, Jonah, Noah, …etc. Therefore,
the second meaning of Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Mu’min” is that Allah
verifies His Prophets and Messengers and makes people believe in them.
Everything that Allah promises believers comes true to verify that His
Promise is true. He promises you a happy life, and when you live a happy
life you surely find out that His Act of making you happy has come to verify
His Promise. In other words, Allah’s Acts come to verify His Promise; and
He provides His Prophets and Messengers with Signs and Miracles to verify
their calls and make people believe in them. He also gives believers Signs
and Evidences of the truthfulness of their faith. When you, dear Muslim
brother, read the Holy Quran, for example, what makes you cling to it and
adhere to its enjoinment? You do this simply because the circumstances in
which you live come all in conformity with the Holy Quran. If you are
straightforward in selling and buying, you feel comfortable and contented,
and Allah, Most Gracious, provides you with a good honest income and
makes people come to you for their needs. And if you are honest and
trustworthy, Allah, All-Mighty, ennobles your name among people and fills
them with respect to you. In other words, any promise that Allah promises
you: If you do what you are commanded to do, all events come to prove to
you that Allah’s Promise is true, or to show you clearly that Allah’s Promise
certainly comes true. Therefore, one meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine
Name “Al-Mu’min” is that He makes people believe in His Prophets and
Messengers because He provides them with Miracles. Similarly, He makes
His Holy Quran believed in simply because if you believe in it and work
according to its enjoinments, Allah, All-Mighty, endues you with a blessed
happy life. So what makes you believe in Allah’s Words?! It is this happy
blessed life that He bestows on you; and also, hard miserable life makes you
believe in His Words. If you follow Allah’s Guidance in all aspects of your
life, you shall inevitably see with your own eyes that all events come to
verify what the Holy Quran says. Hence, Allah, All-Mighty, is “Mu’min” in
the sense that He makes His slaves believe in Him and in His Book and
Religion simply because all His Acts come to verify His Divine Promises
and Threats. He, Most Gracious, says, “Truly, Allah defends those who
believe (in Him and in His Messenger and Religion) Verily, Allah likes
not any treacherous ingrate (to Him).” [XXII; 38]

You certainly feel that in a great many circumstances Allah inspires someone
you do not know to defend you; and when you read Allah’s Words, “He
(Allah) said: ‘Get you down from it (Paradise), both of you, together.
Some of you are an enemy to some. Then, if there comes to you guidance
from Me: he who follows My Guidance shall never go astray or be
distressed.” [XX; 123], you feel that you are rightly guided, that you have a
good understanding of the world, that you have a clear vision of life, and
that your explanation of events is right. This is because you follow Allah’s
Orders and, therefore, events come to verify such Divine Orders.

This is one meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Mu’min”. And,

as afore-mentioned, the great thing about Islamic religion is that it provides
you with an adequate explanation not only of the universe but of life and
man as well. No matter how long you live, no matter how circumstances
change, and no matter what new conditions and circumstances come to light,
everything remains within the framework of Allah’s Explanation of the
universe, life and man. When you read the Holy Quran, you shall never be
surprised by any event that is not mentioned therein. For example, if you are
given an interpretation of a new phenomenon, you may, after some time, be
surprised that another phenomenon comes to foil such interpretation, which
quite often happens with a great many theories and studies. But if you read
the Holy Quran, which is definitely from Allah, there will never ever come
an event that foils or disproves what you have read in therein. This is a very
delicate point: The Holy Quran was sent down by Allah, All-Mighty, some
fourteen centuries ago; and science has developed incredibly ever since that
time. Nevertheless, all the things mentioned in the Holy Quran are still, and
will always be, true and unchangeable. Since the dawn of human history and
until fifty years ago, science developed in narrow steps; but for the last fifty
years, science and technology have developed incredibly. Nevertheless, you
can never ever find any scientific fact that falls in contradiction with Allah’s
Book, the Holy Quran.

This means that when you read the Holy Quran, you enjoy a state of peace
of mind simply because all things (events, incidents, phenomena, disasters,
…etc.) come to verify Allah’s Words. Therefore, Allah is “Mu’min” in the
sense that His Words makes you believe Him because His Acts verify His
Words. This is another meaning of Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Mu’min”.

Here is another meaning: Allah, Most Gracious, bestows security and peace
upon mankind, but How? Here we have a very delicate meaning of the word
“Mu’min” in Arabic. If iron were made to be sometimes soft and sometimes
solid, you would never feel secure when you construct a building. You
would think: This iron may become soft any moment, and the whole
building could be destroyed. In other words, Allah, Most Gracious, has
given not only iron but all other forms of matter stable properties. In other
words, if you use iron with cement to construct a building, even if you live
on the tenth floor, you feel secure and safe. But what makes you feel secure
and safe? The answer is: stability of the properties of both iron and cement,
otherwise the whole building would be destroyed any moment.

Therefore, we can say that stability of properties of elements and substances

gives security and safety to people. Consider, for example, stability of the
Earth’s movement! This Mosque was constructed many years ago. If the
Earth shakes during the its movement, all buildings on its surface would be
destroyed. The Earth moves round the sun at a speed of 30 km\second, yet
with marvelous stability, calmness and balance. In order to make us know
the Grace of balance and stability Allah, All-Mighty, sometimes makes the
Earth quake, and, in a few seconds whole cities or regions are completely
ruined. In other words, stability and balance of the Earth’s movement verify
Allah’s Words, “Is not He Who has made the Earth as a stable abode and
has placed rivers in its midst, and has placed firm mountains therein,
and has set a barrier between the two seas?! Is there any god besides
Allah?! Nay! But most of them know not.” [XXVII; 61]

You should know that Allah, Most Merciful, gave you security and enabled
you to buy a flat on the tenth floor; and you know that such a flat is stable
and safe and that if there were any kind of vibration or shaking, there would
be no security. Furthermore, unless there is a kind of stability in the Earth’s
plant-production, life would also be impossible. For example, if you planted
seeds of a certain plant, such as melons, but the product were a different
plant, such as tomatoes, things would get mixed and life would be too
difficult or even impossible. Therefore, stability of the Earth’s plant-
production is another Divine Grace, which provides security and stability,
namely that there are thousands of kinds of plants: the production of some is
long-termed while that of some is short-termed, some yield their fruits
earlier than others, some are suitable for food-industry while others should
be eaten right after harvest, some are for table-service while others are for
consumption, some for the treatment of certain diseases …even seeds of
plants have different properties; and such properties are stable. So, what
makes you feel secure and safe when you plant?! Stability of properties.

Therefore, it can be said that stability of properties of substances and

elements gives man the feeling of security and safety. The Sun always rises
in the east, i.e. no surprises are expected with regards to the Sun’s rise. In
other words, there are no supplications for sunrise, i.e. people do not have to
pray to Allah: “O Lord! The Sun has not risen today! We beseech you to
make it rise for us!” Allah has reassured you that the Sun always rises and
then sets, and that the Earth always goes round the Sun. It is enough for you
to read on the calendar that dawn is at 05.18 a.m. and that the Sun rises at
06.30 a.m. How long has such times been on the calendar? The answer is:
since the dawn of history; and they will continue to be on the calendar till
the end of the world: utmost accuracy even in minutes and seconds.

The whole Earth moves round the Sun; and there are stars according to
whose movement the most accurate clocks in the world, such as Big Ben,
are set. Someone may say: “I have set my watch according to Big Ben!” But
how is Big Ben itself set? The answer is: It is set according to movement of
the galaxy.
Therefore, stability of rotation, whirling, speed, movement, angle of
movement, …etc, provides man with stable laws and properties that make
him feel secure and safe. Hence, it can be said: properties of metal
substances are usually stable. It would be a great problem if someone bought
a gold ring at a very high price, but then, after some time, gold changed into
another cheap metal! Gold remains always gold, and so do other metals such
as tin, iron, silver, lead, aluminum, …etc. Stability of properties of elements,
metals and substances gives man a feeling of security and safety, which is a
Divine Grace that a great many of us do not recognize due to familiarity,
which can very often be, as wise people remark, a barrier between man and
His Lord’s Graces. Although they are miraculously Great, such Divine
Graces are too familiar to be heeded. Therefore, one of Allah’s Beautiful
Divine Names is “Al-Mu’min” in the sense that when you read His Book,
the Holy Quran, all events and incidents come to verify His Divine Words in
His Holy Book. Another meaning of Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Mu’min” is
that He, Most Gracious, bestows peace and security to man by means of
stability of properties of elements and substances.

Stability of cosmic laws: laws of motion are stable, and so are laws of
expansion. Also, laws of human body are stable in the sense that if a doctor
at one end of the world makes a certain medicine, it can be used by people at
the other end of the world. In other words, a medicine has the same
influence on all people. What does this mean? It means that all human
beings share the same physical qualities. Take the human heart for example,
If someone studies medicine and specializes in the human heart in America,
Africa, Asia, Europe or any other continent or country in the world, and if he
opens any human heart, he finds that its arteries and veins, nerves and
electrical centers are of the same perfect accuracy as all other human hearts.
Such stability enables doctors to take any human body as a model for all
other human bodies. In addition to that there is stability of systems, stability
of properties of substances. And sometimes, Allah makes anti-substances or
anti-properties. For example, fire has the property of burning, but water has
the property of putting off fire. In other words, for everything dangerous
Allah, Most Gracious, provides you with anti-substances that eliminate its
danger. In fact, this applies to all things. Take, for example, diseases that
afflict plants. Allah, Most Merciful, has made different kinds of chemicals
that rid plants of parasites, insects, or any other kinds of danger.
In the light of the above-mentioned it can be said that one of the meanings of
Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Mu’min” is that He, Most Gracious, bestows
security and safety to mankind.

Pain is called by scientists an “early warning system”. If someone has a

partial decay in one of his teeth, he feels a lot of pain, which forces him to
go to the dentist to treat his bad painful tooth. If there were no nerves in the
teeth, he would not feel any pain, and he would not go to the dentist to treat
his bad teeth. Pain is, therefore, one of the early warning systems; and in
fact, against each and every danger that may afflict man in the present world
Allah has made a special kind of protection.

If man seeks help from Allah, All-Mighty, Allah protects him from sins and
misdeeds, for Allah teaches us to pray to Him, “You (Alone) do we
worship, and You (Alone) do we ask for help.” [I; 5] That is why Imam
Ash-Shafi’i said, “I swear by Allah! Even if the heaven were made of
copper, the earth were made of lead, and all creatures were my dependents
(i.e. I were their breadwinner), I would never fear poverty.” And in fact, if
you desire to see the genuine difference between the life of a true believer
and that of a disbeliever, you will certainly find that feeling of security and
safety is the only point of difference between both lives. Abraham addressed
his pagan people, “And how should I fear those whom you associate in
worship with Allah, while you fear not that you have joined in worship
with Allah things for which He has not sent down to you any authority.
(So) which of the two parties has more right to be in security, if you but
know? It is those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah and worship none
but Him, Alone) and confuse not their belief with wrong-doing: for them
(only) is security and they are the rightly guided.” [VI; 81,82]

You certainly find the hearts of disbelievers empty and liable to fear, worry,
fright, and expectation of disasters. But our Lord, the Almighty, the All-
Majestic: if you believe in Him, He fills your heart with tranquility, He fills
your heart with peace and security, He fills your heart with contentment with
His Decree, He fills your heart with knowledge of His Perfection. All such
Divine Graces bespeak His Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Mu’min”.

Another thing: How can you be safe from Allah’s Torment in the Hereafter?
He, Most Gracious, has subjected the whole universe for you; He has
granted you an intelligent mind; He has granted you a pure human nature;
He has granted you desires and caprices; He has granted you the ability to
make your own choices; and He has granted you the power and ability to
translate such choices into actions. All such Blessings are meant to enable
you to be safe in the Hereafter. Sometimes you feel that if you turn to Allah,
He rids you of worry, narrow-heartedness, tiredness, and fear. This is
because Allah, All-Mighty, Most Gracious, is the Source of peace and
security. Someone or something might cause you to worry, but Allah, Whose
Name is “Al-Mu’min”, bestows His peace and security upon you, providing
that you believe in Him, entrust all your affairs to Him, stick to His Bidding
and Forbidding. This meaning of Allah’s Name “Al-Mu’min”, which befits
His Divine Might, Mercy and Majesty, shows beyond a shadow of doubt that
He, All-Mighty, knows Himself perfectly.

From among people is someone who knows and knows that he knows: such
is a scholar; so follow him. Another one knows, but does not know that he
knows: such is a heedless person; so wake him up. A third is someone who
does not know, but he knows that he does not know: such is an ignorant
person; so teach him. A fourth is someone who does not know, yet he does
not know that he does not know: such a person is a devil; so beware him.

I choose here, as the best one of the above-mentioned four types of people,
the one who knows and knows that he knows that Allah, Glory to Him, is
“Al-Mu’min”, i.e. he believes with absolute certainty that Allah, Most
Gracious, is the One Who provides those who believe in Him with peace and
security.

Another meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Mu’min” is that it

is less important for Allah that the whole universe be eliminated than that he
fails to fulfill His Divine Promise to any of His believing slaves. It is less
important for Allah that the whole universe be destroyed than that any event
or incident comes contrary to what He has promised true believers. If He
promises you - as a true believer - victory, victory will inevitably come; if
He promises that He will defend you, He will certainly do; if He promises to
protect you, He will surely do; if He promises to provide you with
sustenance, He will indeed do; if He promises to establish you firmly in
religion, He will inevitably do; if He promises to make you His Vicegerent,
He will undoubtedly do; and if He promises to be with you, He will
definitely be.

The third meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Mu’min” is that He, Most
Merciful, grants security to His creatures. In order to simplify things, I put
forward some facts that have to do with the human eye. When you drive
your car during the day, you feel secure because the scope of vision is far
enough to see clearly. But in the night, it may be dark and you may be
dazzled by the light of forthcoming cars, which makes you feel worried and
insecure. In other words, driving in the night is accompanied by feelings of
worry and insecurity; and there are a lot of unexpected surprises on the road
since the lights of the car do not show everything clearly and their scope is
short. It can be said that the better vision is, the more secure you feel.
Moreover, just as Allah has given you eyes to see with, He has also given
you ears whereby you hear things. In the dark, you quite often depend on
your ears more than your eyes to perceive things. Therefore, sharp ears are
part of your safety, and so are sharp eyes and the sense of smell. For
example, if food smells bad, this means that it is not edible. For your food-
security Allah, Most Gracious, makes you depend more on your sense of
smell and taste than on hearing or seeing. He, Most Merciful, has given you
a hand to push back harmful things; and He has provided you with legs
whereby you move from one place to another. All such things, and countless
other faculties, are meant for your own safety and security. This is another
meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Mu’min”.

In fact, at the end of every lecture, we have to ask: “O Lord! One of Your
Names is “Al-Mu’min”, but what do I have to do with such Name?! You are
“Al-Mu’min” because all events and incidents have come to verify that
which You say in Your Book, the Holy Quran. This comforts me and
solidifies my relationship with You. And You are “Al-Mu’min” because You
have granted me peace and security: You have granted me my senses and
organs of body; and You have given elements, substances and cosmic
systems the property of stability and balance, which provides me with safety
and security. This also solidifies my relationship with You, and increases my
Faith in You!” A cardiologist one day told me: If people’s hearts were
located in several different places of the body: one on the right, another on
the left, a third in another location, and so on and so forth, things would be
greatly confused for us. This cardiologist studied in the USA and was taught
that man’s heart is located on the left side of the body. But one day, while he
was operating on someone, he was greatly surprised to find the patient’s
heart on the right side. He was not taught such case because it was abnormal
and very rare! This calls our attention to a very serious issue, namely that all
our human bodies share the same structure and nature, even on the level of
highly delicate and complicated nerve-systems, which is a great source of
security to mankind. This also applies to the Earth’s movement, which has
been previously mentioned. Stability of the Earth’s movement round the Sun
is also a source of security to mankind. Nevertheless, Allah, All-Wise, has
not made the course of rain-fall on the Earth’s surface stable, but rather
changeable. This is because He, Most Gracious, desires that in cases of
drought we remember Him and pray to Him; He, Most Merciful, desires that
we turn to Him with repentance and devotion. In other words, Due to His
Infinite Divine Wisdom and Mercy, Allah, All-Mighty, has made certain
things stable while others unstable, i.e. changeable. He has made the motion
of the Earth round the Sun stable, and so has He made cosmic systems and
properties of elements and substances, but He has made provision of
sustenance in His own Hands so that people may turn to Him with
repentance, supplication and devotion. Such is another remarkable meaning
of Allah’s Name “Al-Mu’min”!

As a “Mu’min” (i.e. a true believer), the first thing you have to do is make
your deeds conform to your words, for it does not befit you, as a true
believer, that you have a kind of duality in both character and behavior, that
your inner things differ from your outer ones, that you believe in something
but say something else, for such things reflect serious lack of balance in your
character and behavior. In this context, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “And leave
you sin, open and secret. Verily, those who commit sin will get due
recompense for that which they used to commit. “ [VI; 120]

Your outer being, which people see, may show that you are straightforward
and that you are committed to your religious obligations: prayer, fast,
pilgrimage, and almsgiving; but your inner being may be something
different: envy, backbiting, slander, arrogance, telling lies, malice, grudge,
…etc. Such evil qualities are considered as covert, or secret, sins. Thus, as a
true believer, your deeds must be in full conformity with your words. You
should be a one-sided person: you should not have an interior that differs
from your exterior, you should not have covert and overt things in your
character or behavior; you should not have announced and unannounced
attitudes. In short, you, as a true believer, should not have any kind of
duality in your character or behavior. Your deeds should verify your words.
If you desire to be at the proper noble level, all your deeds must be in full
conformity with your words. This is the first thing. Another thing is that
people should be safe from you. Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), addresses this
issue, “By Allah! He is not a true believer. By Allah! He is not a true
believer. By Allah! He is not a true believer.” They asked, “O Messenger
of Allah! Who is he?!” He, (PBUH), replied, “He whose neighbors do not
feel safe from his evil deeds.” [narrated by Al-Bukhari]

In fact, there are horrible people: if you say a word that they dislike, you can
not sleep the night for fear of its evil consequences. A true believer must be a
source of security and peace to everybody. No such evil things as harm,
injury, treason, dishonesty, treachery, or disloyalty, whatsoever, should come
from him to his fellow humans. He must be a fountain of peace and security.
Even if you do him wrong, you should never expect any kind of tyranny,
transgression or injustice from him.

In a Divine Hadith, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “The son of Adam does hurt
Me! He insults time; and I am Time: in My Hand is the Affair (of all
matters); I alternate the night and day.” Despite Allah’s Infinite Divine
Might and Majesty, people openly disobey Him, but He, Most Merciful,
does not expose them. They forget Him, but He, Most Gracious, does not
forget them. They openly disobey Him, yet He covers them, provides them
and protects them. This is Allah’s Divine attitude towards His slaves. And
you, dear reader, as a true believer: the first and foremost of your qualities
should be that your deeds must be in full conformity with your words. You
must have no duality in your character and behavior, outer and inner being,
secret and public life. In both your private and secret life you should be the
same. Yes, indeed! This is the second part of your share of Allah’s Divine
Name “Al-Mu’min”: that all people around you should feel safe from you. If
you marry your daughter to a believer, you should never be afraid that he
may one day make her hungry or treat her badly. You should never fear that
he may one day beat her or expose her secret affairs to others. Only good
things should come from a true believer. If you do business with a true
believer or have a partnership with him, you should feel comfortable and
secure. You should never be afraid that he may one day play with accounts
or take for himself unlawfully any money out of the profits. You should
never fear that he may make any secret contracts with other people. You
should never be afraid or feel uncomfortable with him. If you take your
electrical appliance to a true believer in order to be repaired, you should
never feel afraid that he may change a certain good piece by another bad
one, or take your good appliance and give you another bad one instead. A
true believer must always be honest and trustworthy in his job or profession,
his words and deeds, in his marriage and partnership. Such is a true believer:
safe, honest, and trustworthy.
Narrated Abu Hurairah, my Allah be pleased with him, that Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), said, “A true Muslim is someone from whose tongue
and hand Muslims are safe; and a true believer is someone whom people
trust on their bloods (lives) and wealth.” [narrated in Sunan At-Tirmithi]

If you lend a true believer any money or put any money under his custody,
you should never be afraid that he may deny it even if you do not have any
documents to prove that you have given him the money, for he is honest and
trustworthy and he fears Allah, All-Mighty. If you are a true believer, you
should believe in Allah’s Words, “He is Allah, beside Whom there is no
god, the King, the Holy, the One Free from all defects, Al-Mu’min (The
Giver of security), the Watcher over His creatures, the All-Mighty, the
Compeller, the Supreme. Glory be to Allah! (High is He) above all that
they associate as partners with Him.” [LIX; 23]
Therefore, Allah, Most Gracious, is the Fountain of peace and security to
His slaves in both His Acts and in what He has prepared for them in the
Hereafter. Allah, Most Merciful describes His believing slaves: “No sense of
fatigue shall touch them in it (Paradise), nor shall they (ever) be made to
leave it.” [XV; 48]

If Hell-Fire is mentioned or described to you, as a true believer, you should

work hard to avoid it by deliberation and admonition, by righteous deeds, by
turning to Allah, Most Gracious, with obedience and devotion, fear and
hope, by offering service to fellow humans, by generosity and by humbling
yourself before Allah, All-Mighty. Such righteous deeds guarantee for you,
through Allah’s Grace, safety from chastisement of Hell-Fire.

Also, a true believer is someone who is a source of security to those around

him. His neighbors feel secure with him, and those who deal with him feel
secure with him, for he is honest and trustworthy, and he never tells lies or
cheats. He is trustworthy: just like Prophets and Messengers, (PBUT), who
are entrusted with Allah’s Divine Message. He considers his wife and
children as a big trust that Allah has put in his hands. But what I want you to
do, dear reader, is to invite people to Allah, Most Gracious, so that they obey
Him and protect themselves from His Punishment and Torment on the Day
of Resurrection. You should know that such a job is the mission of Allah’s
Prophets and Messengers, (PBUT), and it is the best kind of security: the
best work whereby you receive Allah’s Generous Reward is to strive to save
people from the Torment of Hell-Fire by helping them know their Lord,
Allah, Most Merciful. This is because once they know Him, they obey Him
and do righteous deeds for His sake. In this way you follow the course of
Allah’s holy Prophets and Messengers, (PBUT); and in this way you become
a true believer, for this is the holy Prophets’ and Messengers’ mission in life,
namely to call people to Allah and His Religion and save them from Hell-
Fire. You should also know that if people become true believers, all their
affairs are set aright in both the present world and the Hereafter. Allah, All-
Mighty, is “Al-Mu’min”, and He has called His obedient slaves
“Mu’mineen”, which is a great honor for them, and for which honor should
all people compete. It suffices them to read Allah’s Words, “Successful
indeed are believers.” [XXIII; 1]

Allah, Glory to Him, is the King of kings, yet He has given you permission
to name yourself after His Divine Name, “Al-Mu’min”. As afore-mentioned,
He is “Mu’min” first in the fact that He knows Himself perfectly, and,
second, His Acts always come to verify His Words. In other words, when
you read the Holy Quran, you do not fear any unexpected things, and you
are never afraid that certain events or incidents may come to contradict the
Holy Quran and then you feel embarrassed before other people. Nay! When
you read the Holy Quran and believe in what Allah says therein, you are
never afraid that one day a scientific fact will come to disprove any of its
Verses. This is by all means possible, because Allah, All-Mighty, is “Al-
Mu’min”: His Acts always come to verify His Words. This is the second
meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Mu’min”. The third meaning is that
Allah, All-Mighty, grants you security: in your senses, organs and parts of
body, food, and even stability of the air of the atmosphere, which is very
precious, stability of properties of elements and substances, stability of
growth of plants, and stability of the structure of things and their work. To
this effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “Verily, We have created all things in
due measure.” [LIV; 49]

You, as a true believer: your deeds should come to verify your words, people
should feel safe from you, for you are honest and trustworthy and no evil
things such as treachery, disloyalty, grudge, feud, dishonesty, or cheating are
expected to come from you.

Everyday, we hear thousands of stories about people’s perfidy and treason to

one another; and we hear hundreds of stories of partners’ disloyalty to one
another and betrayal of husbands and wives to one another. We hear of
shameful disgraceful deeds, tricks, wrong-doings, and transgressions. It is
impossible that such evil things come from a true believer, for he is honest,
peaceful and trustworthy.

Narrated Abu Shuraih that Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said: “By Allah! He
is not a true believer. By Allah! He is not a true believer. By Allah! He is
not a true believer.” They asked, “O Messenger of Allah! Who is he?!” He,
(PBUH), replied, “He whose neighbors do not feel safe from his evil
deeds.” [narrated by Al-Bukhari]

Now, a serious question comes to light: How can we reconcile between

Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Mu’min”, in the sense that He is “the
Giver of security”, and the fact that He, All-Mighty, sometimes does cast
terror into the hearts of His slaves. How can we reconcile between the fact
that He is the Source of security and the fact that He may sometimes fill the
hearts of His slaves with terror?!

Allah, Most Gracious, describes Moses when he fled from Egypt after
having killed a man of its people in defense of one of the children of Israel:
“So he (Moses) escaped from there, looking about in a state of fear. He
said: ‘My Lord! Save me from the wrong-doers!’” [XXVIII; 21]

In fact, the answer to the above question is very delicate. It can be as

follows: Man may quite often feel secure and comfortable in this present
world and, therefore, he may forget his Lord, Allah, All-Mighty. He may get
deeply involved in the life of this present world and place his confidence in
it. He may become proud of his wealth and power, his position and
livelihood, and he may wrongly think that this present life will last for ever
and ever, that he is in a very strong position. In this way he may get involved
in the present world and become heedless of the Hereafter. How can such a
person be treated?! Allah, Most Merciful, treats him by casting terror into his
heart, which drives him back to his Lord, Allah, All-Mighty, and causes him
to stand at His Door with sincere repentance and faithful devotion, ridding
himself of such heedlessness and indifference. In other words, when Allah,
Most Merciful, sometimes frightens you, He does so in order to bring you
back to security; He sometimes impoverishes you in order to enrich you; He
withholds things from you in order to give you; He hurts you in order to do
good to you; and He debases you in order to honor you.

Now, in the previous paragraph there is reference to Allah’s coupled Names,

i.e. both Names come successively one after another. Here scholars
emphasize that such coupled Names must always be mentioned together
(one immediately after the other). For example, Allah may sometimes try
you with your health and, therefore, make you ill in order to mercy you with
health. In this context, a wise poet says:
Illness that You bring to me may bring about laudable ends
And bodies may be restored to health by illness.

Narrated Abu Hurairah that Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said: “Allah, All-
Mighty, All-Majestic, says on the Day of Resurrection: ‘O son of Adam!
I was ill, but you did not visit me!’ He (the son of Adam) says: ‘How can
I visit You and You are the Lord of all worlds?!’ He (Allah) says: ‘Did
you not know that My slave so and so fell ill but you did not visit him?!
Did you not know that if you had visited him, you would have found Me
with him…” [Sahih Muslim]

When Allah, Most Gracious, sometimes takes away your health, He does so
in order to recompense you with some of His Divine Mercy for what He has
taken from you. If you visit a believing patient, you find him in a very high
spiritual condition and his face is exceedingly bright simply because he is
quite near to Allah, Most Gracious, Who made him ill in order to bestow
some of His Divine Mercy upon him. In other words, Allah, Most Merciful,
sometimes takes away certain things in order to give better things instead;
He tests in order to reward; He does harm in order to do good; He debases in
order to honor; He withholds in order to grant; and He frightens in order to
grant security. If man turns away from his Lord and deviates from His
Religion, his heart is filled with fear and discomfort that drive him back to
his Lord and make him turn to Him with sincere repentance and faithful
devotion. Therefore, I would like you, dear reader, to collect some cosmic
Signs about the creation of mankind, animals and plants, which will, by
Allah’s Leave, cast tranquility and comfort in your heart - after you get to
know Allah’s Infinite Divine Power and Might - and provide you with
adequate admonition that increases your faith in Allah “Al-Mu’min”.

I would also like to inform my dear readers that such Beautiful Divine
Names are but mere definitions, and are, therefore, not such a big issue; but
evidences and examples of them from the universe constitute a really big
issue: an issue of vast endless horizons, because the whole universe is but a
manifestation and substantiation Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and
Attributes.
To wrap up, I put forward the following facts: Allah, All-Mighty, is
“Mu’min” in the sense that He, Most Gracious, knows Himself, and that His
Divine Acts come to verify His Words. And if you believe in Him and read
His Book, you will never be surprised by events or incidents that contradict
that which is in His Book. Also, it is an undisputable fact that He, Most
Merciful, grants you security through His Creation and Acts. Furthermore,
as a true believer, you should have two qualities: first that your deeds should
come to verify you words, and second that people should feel secure with
you. If you find in your heart fear instead of security, this means that Allah,
Most Gracious, is frightening you in order to grant you security; He is taking
things away from you in order to grant you better things; and He is debasing
you in order to honor you. Hence, you, as a true believer, should be
reassured that all your affairs with Him will inevitably end up perfectly well.

* * *

I n this lecture we shall be dealing with the fifth of Allah’s Beautiful Divine
Names: “Al-Muhaimin”.

In our approach to the study of Allah’s Beautiful Names, we adopt the

following procedures:
-First point: the speech about Allah’s Beautiful Name,
-second point: its practical applications,
-third point: the relationship between true believers and this Name.
Among the meanings of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Muhaimin” is that
Allah, All-Mighty, is the Observer and the Witness, Who knows all secrets
and what is even more secret than secrets. He knows deception of the eyes
and what the breasts conceal. He knows overt and covert things and man’s
secret and public affairs. He sees things and what lies behind them. And He
sees all things, both hidden and seen.

This Beautiful Divine Name necessitates the ability to fulfill people’s

benefits from the view-points of knowledge and power. In other words, from
among mankind there are people who know but lack the power or ability to
do things; and there are others who have the power or ability but lack
knowledge. The Name also necessitates continuity and endurance. Hence,
you may know but lack power, as is commonly said: “The eye sees but the
hand is short”, and you may have the power but lack knowledge. That is to
say: some people may be powerful and able to do things, but they lack
knowledge, i.e. they do not know what is going on. Others may know and
have the power to do things; nevertheless, they can not guarantee the future.
A person may know what is going on before and around him, and he may be
sure that his hand can reach things under his power, yet he does not know
what the results will be in the future. But when we say that “Al-Muhaimin”
is one of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names, this means that He, All-Mighty,
knows all things, and that His Divine Knowledge is Infinite, i.e. nothing in
the heavens and the earth can ever be hidden from Him. If a doctor examines
a female patient who suffers some illness in one part of her body, but he
seizes a glimpse at another private part of hers, it would be a kind of treason
undetectable by any human observation whatsoever. But Allah has the
Ability to detect such an unlawful act on the part of the doctor. This is
because Allah, All-Mighty, knows even secret glances of the eyes. He, All-
High, knows what was, what is, what will be and what is not: if it were to be
how it would be. He knows all secrets that no human beings can ever see. He
knows your secret and public things: things that you keep secret for yourself
or things that you announce. He knows “secrets and what is even more
secret”. He knows what goes into the interior of the earth and what goes out
of it. He knows what falls from the heaven and what goes up into it. And He
is with you wherever you may be: in your secret intentions, hopes,
ambitions, desires, motivations, movements, secrecy, publicity, interior,
exterior, …etc. he knows everything. By the way, man can not dominate
unless he knows all relevant things that have to do with the thing he is about
to do. No man can ever dominate over anything, no matter how simple and
limited it might be, if he does not know all relevant information about it.
That is why he needs to search for proper relevant facts and information,
because he can not determine to do anything if he does not possess enough
relevant facts about it. In other words, he who desires to dominate must have
enough relevant knowledge.

But what is the use of knowledge if you do not have the necessary power or
ability?! You may know but lack the ability; but Allah, the Almighty, knows
and is Powerful over all things. Nothing can ever escape His Infinite Divine
Power and Ability. And you may know what to do and have the ability to do
it, yet you can not know what will be tomorrow. Describing His Infinite
Divine Power and Ability, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “Allah causes the night
and the day to succeed each other. Truly, in this is indeed a lesson for
those who have insight.” [XXIV; 44] Describing His Infinite Divine
Knowledge, He says, “If a wound has touched you, be sure that a similar
wound has touched the others. And so are the days: We give them to
men by turns so that Allah may test those who believe and that He may
take martyrs from among you. And Allah likes not the wrong-doers.”
[III; 140]

Among the meanings of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Muhaimin” is the

following notion that I put forward to my dear readers: Whenever Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), was on travel, he would invoke: “O Allah! You are
the Companion in travel and the Guardian on the family, wealth and
children.”

Do you think that such qualities as in the above Hadith can ever be in a
human being: to be your companion in your travel and, at the same time, the
guardian on your family, wealth and children?! That is impossible! He can
either be with you in your travel or at home with your family, wealth and
children. That is why they said that both qualities can not be together except
in Allah, All-Mighty: He is with you in your travel, providing you with
protection, care, help, and support, yet, at the same time, He is at home with
your family, wealth and children, also providing them with protection and
care, in your absence. Therefore, Allah, Most Gracious, can be with you in
travel and, at the same time, with your family, wealth and children.

Furthermore, it is very rare that both knowledge and power are found
together at the same time in a human being. That is why in human
communities, there are people who excel in knowledge but are short-handed
and unable to do what they like to do; and there are other people who excel
in power but their knowledge is limited. But supposedly, if both qualities of
perfect knowledge and perfect power were found in one person, which is
very rare (perhaps the rate is 1/50,000,000), he would lack vision of the
future, i.e. someone who is more powerful might come and take all that he
has in his hands, someone who is more intelligent might come to overcome
him, or someone who is so cunning and malicious may take away all that he
has under his power or possession.

In other words, you may have both knowledge and power but it is
impossible that you possess the future. When you say that Allah is “Al-
Muhaimin”, it means that He, All-Mighty, has both Perfect Absolute
Knowledge: “And Allah knows all things.” [XLIX; 16] and Perfect
Absolute Power: “Certainly, Allah is Powerful over all things.” [II; 20]
Moreover, nothing could ever escape His Infinite Divine Knowledge and
Power, and there is no one in all existence that shares in His Decision and
Rule: “They have no Guardian other than Him, and He makes none to
share in His Decision and Rule.” [XVIII; 26]

If there were any other gods together with Allah in the heavens and the earth,
they would be corrupted, for each god would go away with that which he has
created, and some gods would try to overcome other gods. In other words,
no one except Allah, Alone, could possibly compete, dominate, resist,
overpower. Therefore, you should put your trust in Allah, “Al-Muhaimin”,
Who knows all things, Who is Powerful over all things, Who knows what
was, what is, what will be, and what is not – if it were, how it would be. And
nothing is the like of Him.

By way of comparison and contrast, the following examples can be put

forward: A person may own something but does not benefit from it. He may
own a house that is worth 40,000,000 Pounds, but he has let it to another to
live therein. Another person may live in a house that he does not own. A
third may own a house and live therein, but suddenly an act of expropriation
may be issued and he may lose thereby his ownership of the house. But
when we read Allah’s Words, “And to Allah belongs the dominion of the
heavens and the earth, and Allah has power over all things.”, this means
that the whole universe really belongs to Allah by way of ownership,
disposition, and end.

Now, I would like you to know that a very important part of your belief in
Allah is that you know His Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes. It may
be asked whether the following often repeated Prophetic Hadith is authentic:
“Verily, Allah has ninety-nine Names: whosoever knows each and every
one of them enters Paradise.” Yes, indeed. It is authentic and definitive.
But don’t you ever think that mere knowledge, enumeration, or reading of
Allah’s Beautiful Names and Attributes enables man to enter Paradise! Nay!
He should understand such Divine Names and Attributes and gets his own
share of them. In other words, he should firmly believe in, and qualify
himself with, each and every one of such Divine Names.

“Al-Muhaimin” is, therefore, the One Who has Absolute Knowledge of all
things, Whose Power is Infinite, Irresistible and Absolute. However, there
are four other subsidiary meanings that add more beauty to this Divine
Name:

First Meaning: Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Muhaimin” embraces

His Love and Compassion. Sometimes, a loving mother stands at the bed of
her ill son, watching all his movements with care and worry. Such
compassionate attitude on the mother’s part is that of knowledge and
domination, and it is motivated by noble tenderness, sympathy, compassion,
and kindness. Sometimes, people’s domination is motivated not by noble
motivations such as sympathy, compassion, or tenderness, but rather by
arrogance, tyranny, aggression, and transgression, …etc. In this case
domination is mere tyranny and injustice. In other words, when we describe
someone as being “Muhaimin”, this has controversial connotations, but
when we describe Allah, Most Gracious, as being “Al-Muhaimin”, this
includes positive connotations such as His Divine Love, Compassion,
Tenderness, and Care for His slaves, in addition to the original meaning of
the Name. In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), one day, saw a
woman kissing her beloved baby. He, (PBUH), said: “Could that woman
possibly cast her (beloved) baby in fire?!” “By no means, O Messenger of
Allah!” They replied. He, (PBUH), said, “By Allah, in Whose Hand is
Muhammad’s soul! Allah is indeed more Merciful upon His slave than
this mother upon her (beloved) baby!”

Therefore, Allah’s Domination over His creatures is mixed with His Divine
Love, Compassion, Tenderness, Mercy and Care concerning their happiness
in the present world and the world to come. In other words, the original
meaning of Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Muhaimin” includes His Divine
Domination and Power, but one of the subsidiary meanings of this Name
includes His Divine Love and Compassion molded in His Divine
Domination and Power.

Second Meaning: When we say that someone is “Muhaimin” over a certain

store, for example, it means that he is trustworthy and honest in being in
charge of such store. He never lets anything go out of the store without his
knowledge, registration, observation, or control. Such is domination of
trustworthiness. Thus, another meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine name
“Al-Muhaimin” is that He is the Trustworthy Protector of His slaves. To this
effect the Quranic Verse goes, “He (Joseph’s father, Jacob) said: ‘Can I
entrust him (Joseph’s brother) to you except as I entrusted his brother
(Joseph) to you aforetime? But Allah is the Best to protect, and He is the
Most Merciful of those who show mercy.” [XII; 64]

The word “Muhaimin” means that if you are with Allah, believing in His
existence, and if you desire to argue with someone on such basis, you will be
the winner, because all events will come to prove the validity of your
argument. This is because everybody puts forward a certain theory,
hypothesis, analysis, doctrine, notion, interpretation, creed, …etc, but actual
realities prove validity of the ideology that is put forward by Allah, All-
Mighty, in His Divine Book, the Holy Quran. Therefore, if you are on the
Quran’s side, you will be the winner every time.

To say, for example, “Allah shall indeed destroy usury and give increase
for deeds of charity. And Allah does not like sinful disbelievers.” [II;
276]: Allah does indeed destroy usury or usurious transactions; and this is
indeed a Quranic Verse which is part of your creed. People who deal in
usury may say the opposite: Is it reasonable that I should keep my wealth or
assets frozen and not deposit it in a bank to get a reasonable interest by
which I make a living?! In other words, you, as true believer, say that Allah,
All-Mighty, destroys usury, while a disbeliever puts forward another
opinion, namely that one must invest one’s wealth. Days go on, and events
come to prove that the wealth of such a usurer has been destroyed. Whose
opinion is “Muhaimin”, i.e. dominates, in this issue? Yours! When you
believe that a usurer’s wealth will be inevitably destroyed, the days come to
prove that you are right, this means that your opinion is “Muhaimin”, i.e. the
right dominant opinion. Another example: You, as a true believer, believe
that lowering down of man’s gaze towards unlawful women brings
sweetness and comfort to his heart and makes his married life happy; but a
disbeliever may claim that his eye needs to enjoy looking at beautiful
women, whether lawful or unlawful, because beauty has been created to be
looked at and admired. You confirm invalidity of his opinion, saying: “You
are wrong! Such is a Divine Command, and such is a Quranic Verse!” Days
go by, and you find that such a disbeliever, who spends all his time in the
streets watching indecent women, suffers from a serious eye-disease, such as
weakness of eye-lids, which renders him unable to open his eyes. Who is
“Muhaimin”, i.e. dominant in this case?! You are! You are dominant because
events have come to prove validity of what you believe is a Divine
Command. A third example: If you choose your wife on the basis of her
being chaste, religious, and righteous, and on the basis of her good righteous
family, and if you prefer her righteousness and religiousness to her beauty,
wealth, or social rank, you work according to your firm belief in Allah, All-
Mighty, and with full obedience to Him, because He says in His Holy Quran,
“And do not marry idolatresses till they believe (in Allah, Alone). And
indeed a slave believing woman is better than a (free) idolatress, even
though she (the latter) pleases you. And give not (your daughters) in
marriage to idolaters till they believe (in Allah, Alone). And verily, a
believing slave is better than a (free) idolater, even though he (the latter)
pleases you. Those (idolaters and idolatresses) invite you to the Fire; but
Allah invites (you) to Paradise and Forgiveness by His Leave, and
makes His Signs clear to mankind that they may remember.” [II; 221]
But a disbeliever may follow his lusty desires, saying: a wife should fill
one’s eyes with beauty and allurement. It does not matter if she is a true
believer or not, a religious righteous woman or not. Days go by, and you
suddenly find that the man who chose the righteous religious wife lives a
happy, contented, stable married life, full of love and compassion. His
happiness increases by days, and Allah, Most Gracious, blesses his wife and
provides him with good children that fill his heart with happiness and
delight. But the man who preferred beauty to religiousness: his life becomes
a piece of Hell. Who is “Muhaimin”, i.e. the dominant in this case? The
believer! That is why our Lord, All-Mighty, All-Majestic, says, “That
Abode of the Hereafter (i.e. Paradise): We shall make it to those who do
not rebel against the truth with pride and oppression in the land nor do
mischief by committing crimes. And the good end is in favor of the pious
and righteous.” [XXVIII: 83]

The above-mentioned are some subsidiary meanings of Allah’s Beautiful

Name “Al-Muhaimin”. Undoubtedly, Allah’s being “Al-Muhaimin” includes
His Divine Love, Compassion, Tenderness, Protection, Care and
Trustworthiness.
Among the meanings of Allah’s Name “Al-Muhaimin” is also that He, Most
Gracious, verifies His Words to you by His Divine Acts concerning all the
things that you read in the Holy Quran and believe therein. Also, among the
meanings of such Divine Name is that He, All-Mighty, makes you
victorious; He makes your words truthful and your belief rightly guided.
Things come to verify your belief and words. In other words, Allah’s Name
“Al-Muhaimin” includes absolute and all-embracing knowledge, absolute
and all-embracing power, perseverance and endurance. Such are the basic
meanings of the Name. Other subsidiary meanings of the Name include His
Overwhelming Divine Love, Care, Protection and Compassion, and not
arrogance, tyranny or unjust domination, as is the case with human beings. It
also includes verification of all the things mentioned in the Holy Quran. This
is the theoretical part of the meaning of Allah’s Divine Name “Al-
Muhaimin”: knowledge, power, endurance, compassion, protection and
verification.

Now, let us have a few examples buy way of illustration: There are incidents
and events, evidences and truths that deepen our understanding of this
Divine Name and its meanings. When Allah, All-Mighty, addressed Moses
and his brother Aaron, (PBUT): “Go, both of you, to Pharaoh! Verily, he
has transgressed. And speak to him mildly, perhaps he may accept
admonition or fear (Allah).” [XX; 43,44]

Pharaoh! And who do you think Pharaoh was?! It was he who slaughtered
the children of Israel and spared the lives of their women! Who could ever
dare speak to him?! Who could disprove his false claim of being a god?!
Who could ever dare?! That is why Moses and Aaron, (PBUT), said: “Our
Lord! Verily, we fear lest he should hasten to punish us or lest he should
transgress.” [ibid; 45] Allah, All-Mighty, said: “Fear not! Verily, I am
with you both, hearing and seeing! So, go you both to him, and say:
‘Verily, we are Messengers of your Lord. So let the children of Israel go
with us. And do not torment them. Indeed, we have come with a Sign
from your Lord! And peace will be upon him who follows the guidance.
Truly, it has been revealed to us that the torment will be to him who
denies and turns away.” [ibid; 46,47]

In the above Verses Allah said: “I am with you, hearing and seeing”, i.e.
Pharaoh is in My Hand and under My control. Therefore, if you believe
that Allah is “Al-Muhaimin” you feel safe and secure, comfortable and
peaceful. This is because all the matter is in Allah’s Hand and under His
Divine Knowledge and Power. All creatures are in His Divine Hand; and He
knows secrets and what is more hidden than secrets.

Also, our Prophet Muhammad, (PBUH), was once on a meeting with the
Jews of Bani Nadheer, who plotted against him and wanted to throw a large
rock onto him and kill him thereby. Who told him to move away from that
place?! It was Allah, All-Mighty, Most Gracious! They conspired against
him in a secret closed room, but Allah told him and warned him against
them. Such is another meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-
Muhaimin”: He knew what they said and plotted.

After Badr expedition, ‘Umair bin Wahab sat with Safwan bin Umayyah and
told him: “I wish I could go to Medina, kill Muhammad and rid you of him!
If only I were not so heavily indebted and if only I did not have children for
whom I fear poverty!” Safawn soon replied: “As for your debts, I undertake
to pay them back, no matter how great they are. And as for your children,
they are my own children! So, go ahead with what you intend to do!”
‘Umair soaked his word in poison, put it on his shoulder, mounted on his
camel and headed for Medina. Upon his arrival at Medina, Omar bin Al-
Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, received him saying: “That is
Allah’s enemy, ‘Umair!” He soon tied him up with the holder of his sword
and drove him to the holy Prophet, (PBUH), saying: “O Messenger of
Allah! This is Allah’s enemy ‘Umair. He has come seeking evil!” But
Allah is “Al-Muhaimin”! The holy Prophet, (PBUH), said: “Let him go!”
Omar, may Allah be pleased with him, let ‘Umair go. The Prophet, (PBUH),
addressed ‘Umair: “Come nearer to me!” And ‘Umair came nearer to the
Prophet, who immediately bade him: “Why don’t you greet us?!” ‘Umair
said: “Good morning, Muhammad.” The Prophet added: “Say: ‘Peace be
with you.” ‘Umair replied: “That is how we greet others.” The Prophet
asked: “What brought you to us?” ‘Umair said: “In order to set my
brother free from captivity.” The Prophet asked: “And that sword on
your shoulder?!” ‘Umair answered: “May Allah cause such swords to
perish! Did they avail us anything on the day of Badr Expedition?!” The
Prophet asked: “Didn’t you tell Safwan: ‘If only I were not so heavily in
debt, and if only I did not have children for whom I fear poverty, I
would go to kill Muhammad and rid you of him.’ ?” ‘Umair soon said: “I
do bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that you are His
Messenger!” That was because Allah is “Al-Muhaimin”! Such a secretly
woven evil conspiracy on the part of ‘Umair and Safwan was disclosed to
Prophet Muhammad, (PBUH), by Allah, “Al-Muhamimin”!

Khawlah bint Tha’labah came, one day, to complain to the Prophet, (PBUH),
saying: “O Allah’s Messenger! My husband, Aous bin As-Samit, married
me when I was young and of a good family, wealth and beauty. But
when my belly was deformed (due to several child-deliveries), my family
got dispersed, my wealth was made to perish, and I grew old, he told
me: ‘You are to me like my mother’s back (i.e. you are no longer my
wife)!’ And I have children from him: If I quit and leave them to him,
they will be lost; and if I join them to me, they will starve.” The Prophet,
(PBUH), couldn’t help crying out of mercy, sympathy and compassion,
saying: “I think that he has divorced you, for his words denote clear
divorce.” Soon, Allah, “Al-Muhaimin” sent down: “Indeed, Allah has
heard the statement of her (Khawlah bint Tha’labah) that disputes with
you (O Muhammad) concerning her husband (Aus bin As-Samit), and
complains to Allah. And Allah hears the argument between you both.
Verily, Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.” [LVIII; 1]

That was why whenever Omar bin Al-Khattab went by Khawlah bint
Tha’labah, he would dismount, stand before her in honor and respect and
listen to her most politely. And when he was one day asked: “You are the
Commander of the Faithful! So why do you listen to such a woman?!”,
he replied: “Why shouldn’t I listen to her and Allah has listened to her
from above seven heavens?!” This is one of the meanings of Allah’s Name
“Al-Muhaimin”: He, All-Mighty, hears and sees everything!

Also, Moses addressed Pharaoh: “I am Allah’s Messenger to you!”. And

Pharaoh was the greatest man of his time, whose state and civilization were
the greatest, who used to say to his people: “I am your all-high lord!”, and
who gathered all his sorcerers and promised them the most generous rewards
if they could defeat Moses and his so-called magic. Allah, “Al-Muhaimin”,
says, “He (Moses) said: ‘Nay! Throw you (first)!’ Then, behold! Their
ropes and sticks, by their magic, appeared to him as though they moved
fast. So Moses conceived fear in himself. We (Allah) said: ‘Fear not!
Surely, you will have the upper hand. And throw that which is in your
right hand! It will swallow up that which they have made. That which
they have made is only a magician’s trick; and a magician will never be
successful to whatever amount (of skill) he may attain.” [XX; 66-69]
Who was victorious in the end? Moses, (PBUH)! That is because Allah is
“Al-Muhaimin”, Who dominates over all things.

All the above-mentioned examples provide sufficient evidence of Allah’s

Beautiful Name “Al-Muahimin”: domination of knowledge, power,
endurance, compassion, love, care, protection and verification.

As for Abraham, (PBUH), Gabriel came to him after his people had kindled
a great fire for which they had gathered a great deal of wood, and after they
had placed him in a catapult and cast him into it. They seemed to be
dominant and superior, with everything under their control, saying: “Who is
more powerful than we are?!” “Have they not seen that Allah, Who
created them, is more powerful than they are!” Gabriel came to Abraham
asking him: “O Abraham! Do you need anything?” Abraham answered:
“From you: nothing.” Gabriel asked: “From Allah?” Abraham replied:
“His knowledge of the circumstances I am undergoing suffices me from
asking Him.” Suddenly, three Divine Commands came from the Lord, “Al-
Muhaimin”: “O fire! Be you coolness and safety for Abraham!” [XXI;
69] If Allah had not said: “coolness and safety” , Abraham would have been
found frozen-dead. If He had not said: “for Abraham”, fire would have lost
its property of burning at all. Three Divine Commands: “O fire! Be you
coolness and safety for Abraham!” Then Allah, “Al-Muhaimin” goes on to
say: “And they wanted to harm him, but We made them the worst
losers.” [ibid; 70]

Who is the Dominant?! It is the Almighty Allah!

Didn’t Abraham say: “His knowledge of the circumstances I am
undergoing suffices me from asking Him.”?

Also, Moses’ mother: Show me a mother, other than Moses’ mother, that can
put her most beloved baby in a box and cast it into the river! But she
received, from the Lord, All-Mighty, Most Merciful, a couple of Divine
Biddings, a couple of Divine Forbiddings, and a couple of Divine Promises:
“And We inspired Moses’ mother: ‘Suckle him! But if you fear for him,
cast him into the river! And neither fear nor grieve! Verily, We shall
bring him back to you and We shall make him one of (Our)
Messengers.” [XXVIII; 7]

The two Biddings are: “Suckle him!” and “cast him into the river!”. The
two Forbiddings are: “neither fear nor grieve!”. The two Promises are:
“We shall bring him back to you, and We shall make him one of (Our)
Messengers.” But who drove Moses’ box to Pharaoh’s palace?! It is Allah,
“Al-Muhaimin”, Who knows and dominates! And when they opened Moses’
box, who filled Pharaoh’s wife’s heart with love and compassion for
Moses?! It is Allah, “Al-Muhaimin”, Who knows and dominates!

The above-mentioned stories confirm Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names, one

of which is “Al-Muhaimin”. The holy Prophet Jonah: I do not think that any
hardship could ever be harder than being in three kinds of darkness and
loneliness as Jonah, (PBUH), was in: darkness of the whale’s stomach,
darkness of the sea and darkness of the night. If a whale opens its mouth it
devours three tons of fish for one meal. When still a baby, a whale suckles
three times a day: each time is nearly 1000 kg’s of milk. Just imagine: every
day, a baby whale needs a ton of milk. A full-grown whale weighs nearly
150 tons. Its interior is like a big room; and the great Prophet Jonah,
(PBUH), suddenly found himself inside the whale’s stomach in the darkness
of the night and that of the deep sea. To this effect, the Quranic Verses go:
“And (remember) Jonah: when he went off in anger and imagined that
We shall not punish him! But he cried out through the darkness,
(saying): ‘There is no god but You (O Allah!). Glorified and Exalted are
You! Truly, I have been of the wrong-doers!’ [XXI; 87]

How wonderful! Is there in the whale’s stomach a fax or a telex or even a

telephone or a telegraph or anything like that?! No, nothing like that at all!
But he cried out through the darkness: “There is no god but You (O
Allah!). Glorified and Exalted are You! Truly, I have been of the wrong-
doers!” Therefore, Allah, “Al-Muhaimin”, says, “So We answered his call
and delivered him from the distress (he was in). And thus do We deliver
the believers.” [ibid; 88]

Don’t you feel comfortable with such story, which ends up with Allah’s
Divine Promise to all believers: “And thus do We deliver the believers.”?!
Everywhere, at all times, and under all circumstances, Allah is Al-
Muhaimin”, Who hears and sees all things, and Who dominates over all
things. Therefore, you should always be with “Al-Muhaimin” if you desire
to be safe and secure.

Look at the little baby in his mother’s lab: It says nothing; nevertheless, his
father and mother strive to provide it with means of sustenance and survival.
When it grows older, they strive to provide him/her with all the necessary
things for success at school and university. If you are with “Al-Muhaimin”,
you are powerful over all things.

Now, we go on to talk about another holy Prophet, Zechariah, (PBUH), who

did not utter one single word, but rather: “He beseeched his Lord in
secret.” [XIX; 3]

Try to be silent and beseech your Lord secretly but honestly and truthfully of
the best things of this world and the world to come! You will certainly find
out that Allah has answered your call! This means that He, Most Gracious,
has heard you and has known your secrecy. In other words, your relationship
with Allah does not need a loud voice…“He beseeched his Lord in secret.”
[XIX; 3] His secret call crossed seven heavens and Allah, “Al-Muhaimin”,
answered him!

On the day of Hunain Battle, the Prophet’s Companions, who had fought
with him the battles of Badr, Uhud and Al-Khandaq, and who were his
sincere and devoted companions, felt proud and self-confident because they
noticed that they out-numbered their enemies. In this context Allah, Most
Gracious, says: “And on the day of Hunain (battle), you rejoiced at your
great number.” [IX; 25] In other words, they said to themselves: “We shall
never be defeated because of fewness of number!”, for they were ten
thousand Companions, and with them was Allah’s Messenger, after they had
conquered Mecca and subjected all of Arabia. Nevertheless: “But it
(your great number) availed you nothing; and the earth, vast as it is,
was straightened for you, and then you turned back in flight.” [ibid; 25]

Allah, “Al- Humaimin”, knew the self-conceitedness that filled Muslims’

hearts and minds, so He, All-Mighty, cast fear into their hearts, for their
hearts were in Allah’s Hands: and He could fill them either with security or
fear. This teaches us that people’s hearts are in Allah’s Hands: He changes
them as He desires, and that Allah is “Al-Muhaimin”: the whole matter is
His Hand and under His Dominion.

Yes, indeed. The whole matter is in Allah’s Hand: When he took refuge in
the cave of Hira’ on his migration to Medina, accompanied by his best friend
Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: “O
Messenger of Allah! If anyone of them looks at his foot-place, he will see
us!”, with utmost calmness and security, the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH),
replied: “O Abu Bakr! What do you think of two men the third with
whom is Allah?!” Afterwards, things were even more difficult, so Abu Bakr
said: “O Messenger of Allah! They have really seen me!” In other words,
the eyes of one of the chasers met Abu Bakr’s eyes. Nevertheless, Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), said: “O Abu Bakr! Haven’t you read Allah’s
Words: “And you see them looking at you, but they see not.” [VII; 198]

Allah, “A-Muhaimin”, protected the great Call for Islam with the weak lines
of a spider’s web. Such is Allah’s Infinite Divine Power: He, All-Mighty,
protects the greatest things even with the tiniest and most insignificant
things. He, “Al-Muhaimin”, protects man or causes him to perish with the
most insignificant causes. He does this just to show Perfection of His Divine
Power and Might!

On the Ahzab (Confederates) Expedition, the whole of Arabia gathered to

fight against Muhammad, (PBUH), the Jews of Medina breached their
covenants with him, and the Messenger’s Call to Islam seemed to have only
a few hours to survive. In other words, it seemed that Islam had only a few
hours to live before it was eradicated from the surface of the earth. One of
the men said: “Does your fellow (i.e. Muhammad) promise us that the
Roman and Persian Empires will be opened to us, while the one of us
can not safely go to answer the call of nature?!” But suddenly, Allah, “Al-
Muhaimin”, sent forth an incredibly strong wind that put off the enemies’
fires, uprooted their tents and upset their pots; and Allah, All-Mighty,
sufficed the believers the trouble of fighting back their enemies. This is
because Allah is “Al-Muhaimin”: everything is in His Hand; the wind is in
His Hand, and He speaks the truth as He says, “And none can know the
hosts of your Lord but He.” [LXXIV; 31]

A low pressure in the earth’s atmosphere makes visibility weak or

impossible: that is in His Hand. A strong wind makes movement of vehicles
impossible: that is in His Hand. People’s hearts are in His Hand: He casts
therein fear or security. Everything is in His Divine Hand. A gigantic ship
was built in 1912. Its outer walls were made double-sided so that it may
withstand extraordinary powers of nature. It did not have enough life-boats
because people were sure that it would never sink. A leaflet was published
about that gigantic luxurious ship. The leaflet read: “Fate can not cause this
ship to sink!” It was indeed one of the most luxurious ships in the world. It
was said to have the most expensive and luxurious furniture, silverware,
chandeliers, restaurants, saloons, rooms, swimming-pools, …etc. In other
words, it was a whole floating city. But on its very first voyage, on board of
which were Europe’s richest people – it is said that women’s jewelry on
board the ship was worth hundreds of millions of Pounds – it hit an ice-berg
that split it into two parts. Its crew-members sent S.O.S. messages, but they
were misunderstood as features of celebrations. However, almost all people
on board the ship were killed. About a year ago, I read in “Al-‘Arabi”
magazine that the shp was found and photographed in the sea-bottom. The
ship’s name was the Titanic. A priest said: “Such is heaven’s admonition to
earth.”

A few years ago, one of the developed countries, whose people say: “Who is
mightier than we are?!”, built a great space-ship that was supposed to stay
in outer space for a whole year. Seven male and one female astronauts were
on board. The plan was that the woman should have a sexual relation with
one of the male astronauts in order to become pregnant and then stay in
outer space for nine months. Then she was supposed to deliver in outer
space; and there was an obstetrician on board. That space-ship was called
“Challenger”. However, seventy minutes after it had been launched, it
became a ball of blazing fire. Who is “Al-Muhaimin”, who dominates?!
Didn’t they make the down-count?! Didn’t they examine each and every part
of the ship?! But where is “Al-Muhaimin”?! It is Allah, Glorified and
Exalted! Be with Allah, “Al-Muhaimin”, and fear nothing!

A friend of mine told me that he visited an orchard near Damascus. The

orchard consisted of two parts, each part belonged to either of two brothers.
The wheat of the first brother grew incredibly well, but that of the other did
not grow well at all. My friend, who was a true believer, and who knew the
Almighty Allah, came to the first brother and asked him about the secret of
the perfect growth of the trees in his orchard. The man answered: “I take
care of my own orchard just as my brother does. And we have the same
man to look after both orchards.” So what is the secret?! The man
explained: “I had a third brother, who had died and left behind helpless
orphans. I intended to give my brother’s orphans half of my orchard’s
harvest.” That is the secret! The other brother did not intend to give any of
his harvest to his dead brother’s children. This story confirms the fact that
Allah, All-Mighty, knew the first brother’s intention and, therefore,
increased his harvest for him just as He knew the other brother’s intention
and decreased his harvest for him. Hence, Allah, “Al-Muhaimin” knows and
does.
Also, another friend of mine told me about a group of farms around
Damascus. There were some shepherds who brought their sheep to be
watered from those farms. All farmers, except one, used to drive away the
sheep and prevent them from drinking. Only one farmer used to allow the
sheep to drink from his farm. A man swore to me that the water of the wells
of all of the seven farms dried out, except that of the farmer who used to
allow the sheep to come and drink from his farm. In fact, he did not only
allow the sheep to come and drink from his farm but also built for them
special basins from which they could drink comfortably. For whose sake did
that good farmer do all that?! For the sake of Allah, “Al-Muhaimin”: in
Whose Hand is the man’s well, in Whose Hand is “Challenger”, in Whose is
the Titanic, in Whose Hand are clouds, in Whose Hand are ships, in Whose
Hand are whales, in Whose Hand are all things. Sometimes, a true believer,
lost and exhausted in a remote place, is confronted by a snake. The snake is
made to stand still and even sneak away from him. And sometimes, a true
believer is confronted by a hungry mad dog that has not eaten for quite a few
days. The dog is made to stand still as if it had not seen anything. So who is
“Al-Muhaimin”, Who protects believers?! It is, surely, Allah, All-Mighty,
Most Gracious, Who speaks the truth as He says, “Allah is the Creator of
all things, and He is the Disposer and Guardian of all things.” [XXXIX;
62]

Therefore, Allah is “Al-Muhaimin” in the sense that He is the One Who

dominates over and disposes with all things. Everything is under His Divine
Control and nothing is left unheeded or neglected. That is why “Allah is the
Creator of all things, and He is the Disposer and Guardian over all
things.” [XXXIX; 62]

Fire is something horrible; and it attacks blindly. Fire might suddenly break
out in some markets of the city and devour everything in all shops except
one single shop that the fire surrounds but does not burn… Fire is in Allah’s
Hand!

Some fifty years ago locusts invaded this city and destroyed everything. A
man, who is now dead, and who was in charge of controlling the whole
matter and helping owners of orchards resist the locusts, told me: “When we
examined the trees, we found that the locusts devoured everything: their
leaves, fruits and even their outer crusts. But we were so surprised to see one
of the orchards safe and secure, and it looked as if it were a piece of
Paradise. We asked the owner about the reason why his orchard was safe and
secure. He replied that he used a certain kind of medicament. Very angrily
we said: “You have a good medicament that you refrain to give to other
Muslim farmers?!” “Yes, sir! They refuse to use the medicament that I
use to keep my orchard safe and secure. My medicament is simply the
Zakat (alms), for I always pay alms for the crops of my orchard at every
harvest of the year.” The man answered.

The above-mentioned stories are but a few daily examples of millions of

evidences of the fact that everything is in Allah’s Hand and under His Divine
Control. Therefore, it is wise to know that Allah is “Al-Muhaimin”, in
Whose Hand are all things. Such knowledge cuts off your hopes for anyone
but Him and makes you beseech none but Him. With Him you are most
submissive, humble and poor, and, therefore, most secure. But with people
you are most honorable and respectable because you know that they are
mere slaves of Allah and can do neither good nor evil except by His Leave,
for He is “Al-Muhaimin”, Who controls and dominates over all things.
Those who are ignorant of the fact that Allah is “Al-Muhaimin” in Whose
Hand is everything and nothing could ever escape His Divine Will and
Power wrongly think that other fellow humans can do them good or harm.
Therefore, they tend to over-estimate other human beings, who might seem
to be more wealthy or powerful, and humble themselves to them, which
makes those human beings disrespect and humiliate them. That is why: “He
who sits with a wealthy person to whom he humbles himself loses two
thirds of his religion.”

That was the third part of our lecture. The first part of the lecture included
theoretical definitions of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Muhaimin”:
Absolute Knowledge, Absolute Power and Endurance. This is because
Allah’s Domination is that of Love, Compassion, Mercy, Protection, and
Verification. The second part of the lecture dealt with subsidiary definitions,
three paragraphs that include the main definition and three subsidiary ones
highlighting the main definition. That was the theoretical part of the lecture.
And now, we go ahead to the third part, namely the practical one, which
includes actual evidences:

One of our brothers had a heart-disease and was strongly advised by doctors
to have a surgical operation in one of the foreign countries. He went there,
and when he was placed in bed to be examined, he invoked Allah, with eyes
filled with tears: “O Lord! It is You Who have made my heart! Don’t let
them open it!” And he cried sadly. After several tests, Allah, Most
Gracious, restored him to health by something that doctors call “self-
recovery”, i.e. without any surgical operation. But the question is: Who
unblocked that man’s arteries?! It is Allah, “Al-Muhaimin”, Who has full
control of man’s heart!

Sometimes a person’s kidney fails to work. Why does it fail? Who makes it
fail? And who makes it work? Allah, “Al-Muhaimin”! Make no mistake
about it: Your nerves, kidneys, heart, lungs, arteries, veins, stomach,
intestines, hearing, sight, tongue, and all other parts are in Allah’s Hand:
“Say: ‘O Allah, Owner of the Kingdom! You give the kingdom to whom
You will; and You take away the kingdom from whom You will. You
endue with honor whom You will; and You humiliate whom You will. In
Your Hand is the Good. Verily, You are Powerful over all things.” [III;
26]

Those human cells: who prevent them from growing in an evil cancerous
way?! Allah, All-Mighty, All-Majestic! So far, doctors have not been able to
find out any definite cause for cancer. And sometimes a person is healthy
and powerful: regular food, sports, movement, activity, and energy; but
suddenly cancerous cells begin to show somewhere in his body. Who
controls and governs these cells?! Who makes them grow, or prevents them
from growing, in such evil way?! Allah, All-Mighty, All-Majestic, “Al-
Muhaimin”!

Even your wife is in Allah’s Hand. To this effect, Imam Ash-Sha’rani says:
“I know my position with my Lord from my wife’s behavior (towards
me).” Sometimes, you find your wife an angel, sent down from the heaven;
and sometimes, you find her an evil frightful devil. Praised is the Creator,
Who has full power and control over your wife: He makes her heart soft or
hard; and He makes her obedient or obstinate. Her character and behavior
are in Allah’s Hand!

The same thing applies to your children, customers, bosses, subordinates, …

etc. Even your car: If you praise the company that has manufactured it and
forget Allah, it breaks down on the road and causes you a lot of trouble. It is
in Allah’s Hand. Earthquakes: man is completely helpless if afflicted with an
earthquake! Even germs: they cause illnesses only if Allah, All-Mighty,
permits them to do so.
That was the practical part of our lecture. Now we still have the last part of
the lecture, namely that which has to do with personal application.

If a believer desires to benefit from this Divine Name, he has to be

conscious and well-aware of himself. In other words, he should know the
reality of himself: does he suffer from any kind of deviation, arrogance, self-
deception, or self-conceit; does he desire to go beyond bounds or transgress
or go astray?! Is his belief in Allah firm enough?! He should know his
heart’s conditions, his psychic conditions. He should know about his
income: whether it is lawful or unlawful. He should know whether his
expenditure of money, dealings with others, deeds, attitudes, reactions, …
etc, are rightly guided and acceptable by Allah, All-Mighty. He should know
whether he is straightforward. He should know whether there is any
deviation in his relationships. He should know whether there is any
negligence on his part concerning the rights of others. He should know all
that. But he will never be able to know all that unless he attends religious
lectures, because such lectures teach him what is lawful and what is
unlawful, what is legal and what is illegal, what is legitimate and what is
illegitimate. Such lectures teach him whether such and such qualities are
laudable or illaudable. Through attending religious lectures he gets to know
so many good things; and once he has learned such good things, he attains
three quarters of the meanings of Allah’s Name “Al-Muhaimin”. He should
also strive to purify himself from all defects and imperfections, his deeds
from sins and wrong-doings, his heart from anything except Allah, his
intellect from all deviant ideologies, illusions, surmises, superstitions, tricks,
forgery, idle talk, …etc.

Yes, indeed! I reiterate: You should purify your mind from all deviant
ideologies, your deeds from sins and wrong-doings, your heart from
everything except Allah. This is an application of Allah’s Name “Al-
Muhaimin”: one should have full control of one’s heart as well as the secrets
and depths thereof, and one should have full control of one’s qualities and
traits.

Therefore, you should know your conditions, you should evaluate you
deeds, you should observe full straightforwardness, for you have covenanted
Allah, Most Gracious, to know yourself and reform it, to show enough
endurance, and , better still, to know conditions of your fellow humans, to
strive to reform them as much as you can, and to stick to your covenant with
Allah through your dealings and relationships with them.
Your self-reform is a part of the meanings of Allah’s Words, “So fear Allah
and adjust all matters of difference among you, and obey Allah and His
Messenger if you are believers.” [VIII; 1]

I emphasize once again: You should reform yourself. But how can you ever
reform yourself if you do not know the ailments, deviations, defects,
imperfections, negligence, problems, violations, …etc, that you suffer
from?! In other words, knowledge is the essence of each and every act or
behavior. Therefore, you need knowledge in order to know, a will in order to
reform, and truthfulness in order to endure. Unless you do that, you will
never be able to get any benefit from Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Muhaimin”.

Moreover, since Allah, All-Mighty, observes you and sees all the things that
you do, what is your attitude towards His Observing you?! You should be
shy with Allah. One application of Allah’s Name “Al-Muhaimin” is that you
should be shy with Allah, for He, All-Mighty, watches you. You should trust
in Him because He is the Almighty, the One and Only, Who has no partner.
Also you should be confident of your future if you entrust all your affairs to
Allah, All-Mighty All-Majestic: “For him (each person), there are angels
in succession, before and behind him: They guard him by Allah’s
Command. Verily, Allah does not change the condition of a people
unless they change their state themselves. And if Allah wills a people a
punishment, there can be none to resist it, and they find beside Him no
protector.” [XIII; 11]

The three applications of Allah’s Name “Al-Muhaimin” are: You should

check the conditions that your heart undergoes, the conditions you yourself
undergo, and the conditions your ideology and faith undergo. In other words,
you should set aright your conceptions and beliefs, you should attend
religious lectures, you should have a strong will to correct your deviations,
to obey Allah and to stick to His Divine Commands, you should always be
truthful and honest. In short, you should have knowledge, will, and
truthfulness. Such is the first application.

The second application: Since Allah is always watching you, you should be
shy with Him: “O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you
from a single person (Adam), and from Him (Adam) He created his wife
(Eve), and from them both He created a great many men and women.
And fear Allah, through Whom you demand (your natural rights), and
do not sever relations of kinship. Surely, Allah is Ever All-Watcher over
you.” [IV; 1]

Since Allah, All-Mighty, dominates over all things, you should trust in Him.
In other words, if you desire to be the strongest of all mankind trust in Allah.
And since Allah, the One and Only, Who has no associates or partners, tells
you: “For him (each person), there are angels in succession, before and
behind him: They guard him by Allah’s Command. Verily, Allah does
not change the condition of a people unless they change their state
themselves. And if Allah wills a people a punishment, there can be none
to resist it, and they find beside Him no protector.” [XIII; 11], you should
be confident of the future, you should be confident of Allah, All-Mighty, All-
Majestic. You should also be sure that unless you change your state, Allah
never changes your conditions, that so long as you obey Him, you move
from good to good, from a high position to a higher one, and from one
station to a better and nobler one. Such is Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name
“Al-Muhaimin”, whose definitions, meanings, applications, and evidences I
hope, I have made clear to you. I also hope that Allah, Most Gracious,
enables you to benefit from such Divine Name by way of both theory and
application.

* * *

I n the following pages we shall be dealing with the sixth of Allah’s

Beautiful Divine Names, “Al-‘Aziz”, which is often repeated at the end
of Quranic Verses: “And He is Al-‘Aziz (the All-Mighty), the All-Wise”.
I have previously made clear that it is not enough to believe that Allah
exists. You have to believe in His existence, His Oneness (in His Divine
Self, Attributes and Acts), and His Perfection. In fact, your belief in Allah’s
Perfection enables you to know His Beautiful Names and Attributes.

Narrated Abu Hurairah that Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said: “Verily,

Allah has ninety-nine Names, one hundred but one. Whosoever knows
each and every one of them enters Paradise.” [narrated by Al-Boukhari]

The word “knows” in the above Hadith means that you should know each
and every one of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes, that you
should know their exact meanings, that you should know how to react
towards each and every one of them, and that you should know the
denotations and connotations of each and every one of them. Therefore, our
topic in the following pages is going to be about Allah’s Beautiful Divine
Name “Al-‘Aziz”.

This Divine Name, “Al-‘Aziz”, occurs in a great many Quranic Verses, such
as Jesus’ words, “If You punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You
forgive them, verily, You, only You, are Al-‘Aziz (the All-Mighty), the
All-Wise.” [V; 118]

If the end of the above Quranic Verse were: “…and if you forgive them,
verily You, only You, are the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.”, does
this end suit the beginning of the Verse? The answer is: the Verse is ended as
follows: “…and if You forgive them, verily, You, only You, are the All-
Mighty, the All-Wise.” This is because if a human being, no matter how
high his social rank or position might be, forgives a person’s mistake, he
might be blamed or asked: “Why did you forgive that person’s mistake?”,
“Why did you not punish him?”, or “Why were you so lenient with him?”.
But when Allah, All-Mighty, forgives, He is never blamed or asked why, for
He, Glory to Him, is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise: “If You punish them,
they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, verily, You, only You, are
Al-‘Aziz (the All-Mighty), the All-Wise.”

That is the first Verse in our study. The second Verse is: “And His (Alone) is
the Majesty in the heavens and the earth, and He (Alone) is Al-‘Aziz
(the All-Mighty), the All-Wise.” [XLV; 37] And the third Verse is: “They
(the hypocrites) say: ‘If we return to Medina, indeed the mightier will
expel from it the less mighty.’ But ‘Izah (might, honor and power)
belongs to Allah, to His Messenger and to the believers, but the
hypocrites know not.” [LXIII; 8] A fourth Verse is: “Glorified is your
Lord, the Lord of ‘Izah (Might, Honor, and Power)! (He is Free) from
what they attribute to Him.” [XXXVII; 180] In the fifth Verse Satan says
to the Lord, All-Mighty, “(I swear by) by Your ‘Izah (Might, Honor, and
Power) that I will surely mislead them (mankind) all.” [XXXVIII; 82]

In fact, Allah’s Divine Name “Al-‘Aziz” occurs in a great many Verses of

the Holy Quran, some of which are mentioned above. But what does this
Name mean from the linguistic point of view?

First Meaning: “Al-‘Aziz” is He the like of Whom is none and equal to

Whom is none. He is Unique and nothing is like Him. This Name is
attributed only to Allah, the One and Only, the like of Whom there is nothing
and equal to Whom is nothing. This is the first meaning.

Second Meaning: “Al-‘Aziz” is the One Who overpowers and is never

overpowered. If a person is overpowered, he is by no means ‘Aziz (i.e.
mighty or honorable) but rather weak and humble. The one who overpowers
him is likely to over-humiliate him. In other words, “Al-‘Aziz” is one of
Allah’s Beautiful Names, which means “the One Who overpowers and is
never overpowered”. To this effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “And Allah has
full power and control over His Affairs, but most of men know not.”
[XII; 21]

In a Divine Hadith, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “You (O My slave) will

(something) and I will (something). If you surrender to Me concerning
what I will, I fulfill what you will; but if you do not surrender to Me
concerning what I will, I tire you out with what you will, and then there
will never be except what I will.” And in His Holy Quran He, Glory to
Him, says, “And Allah has full power and control over His Affairs, but
most of men know not.” [XII; 21] If all people knew that Allah has full
power over all things, they would obey Him, they would rely on Him, they
would trust in Him, they would turn to Him with love and devotion, and they
would turn away from others than Him.

Third Meaning: “Al-‘Aziz” is the Mighty and Forceful, as derived from the
Arabic word “’Azza”, which mans “reinforces and makes stronger”. To this
effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “When We sent to them two Messengers,
they belied them both; so We ‘Azzazna (reinforced them) with a third.
And they (the Messengers) said: ‘Verily, we have been sent to you as
Messengers.” [XXXVI; 14]
Therefore, the first meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-‘Aziz” is: the
One the like of Whom is nothing, rival to Whom is none, and equal to
Whom is nothing. This Name is one of Allah’s Names of Tanzeeh (i.e.
Names that denote His being free from any anthropomorphic elements). The
second meaning is: the One Who overpowers and is never overpowered.
This Name belongs to Names of As-Sifat (i.e. Names that are Attributes of
Allah, All-Mighty). The third meaning is: the All-Mighty, the All-Powerful.
This Name also belongs to Names of As-Sifat as mentioned above.

There is also a very delicate fourth meaning, which believers need to

understand most of all, namely that “Al-‘Aziz” is: the One Who grants
power and honor to His slaves. This Name belongs to Names of “Al-Af’al”
(i.e. Names that denote Allah’s Acts). To this effect, the Quranic Verse goes:
“Say: ‘O Allah, Owner of the Kingdom! You grant the kingdom to
whom You will, and You take away the kingdom from whom You will.
You endue with honor whom You will, and You humiliate whom You
will. In Your Hand is the good. Verily, You are Powerful over all things.”
[III; 26]

When the last of the Arab kings of ancient Spain left Spain, he cried sadly.
His mother, whose name was ‘A’ishah, addressed him sarcastically, “Cry
like women for a lost kingdom that you could not preserve like men!” So
what is man’s value if Allah forsakes him?! Allah, All-Mighty, says, “See
you not that whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth, and
the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the mountains, and the trees,
and all living creatures, and many of mankind, prostrate themselves to
Allah. But there are many (men) on whom the punishment is justified;
and whomsoever Allah disgraces none can ever honor him. Verily, Allah
does what He wills.” [XXII; 18]

A great part of your life has to do with your honor and dignity. Therefore, if
you are with Allah, the All-Mighty, He will certainly grant you honor and
dignity:
Make to your Lord all your honor,
It will be deeply rooted and firmly established.
But if you seek honor from those who die,
Your honor will similarly die.
Such are the linguistic meanings of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name
“Al-‘Aziz”. But there is another more beautiful and delicate meaning:
“Al-‘Aziz” is the One Who is too Rare, Who is so badly needed, and Who is
too difficult to reach. Something, a metal for example, might be too rare,
but, at the same time, it is not so badly needed. Such a thing is not called in
Arabic “’Aziz”. We call something “’Aziz” if it has three qualities: It is too
rare; it is so badly needed; and it is too difficult to reach. Something else,
like air for example, might be so badly needed, but it is not rare. Water is so
badly needed but it is not rare in most places.

Therefore, “Al-‘Aziz” is something that is too rare, so badly needed and too
difficult to reach. Such qualities, however, have to do with perfection and
non-perfection. In other words, the more available a certain thing is, the less
‘Aziz it is; the less badly needed it is, the less ‘Aziz it is; and the easier to
reach it is, the less ‘Aziz it is. Now, if something becomes so rare that it
becomes only one, i.e. unique, it becomes the most ‘Aziz, which is a
paramount quality of perfection and is given only to Allah, Alone, Who is
the One and Only Creator, Who is so badly needed by all things and Who is
too difficult to reach. Therefore, Allah, Alone, deserves to be called
“Al-‘Aziz” in Arabic.

A certain person might be needed by some, or even most, people. The more
needed he is, the more ‘Aziz he is. But no human being is needed by all
other people everywhere. A certain man might live in the kingdom of a
certain king, nevertheless, he does not need the king because he lives in a
tent in a remote place with his sheep that give him food and other things that
he needs.

Therefore, the more badly needed a certain thing is, the more ‘Aziz it is.
Moreover, perfection of this quality is attained when everything needs such
thing for everything. I might need a doctor when I am ill, for example, but I
do not need him for my sleep: I need a bed for my sleep. I might need a
certain teacher if my son is weak in mathematics, but a teacher is not needed
by all people and all things, living and non-living: people, animals, plants,
objects, substances, atoms, galaxies, …etc. In other words, no one, except
Allah, Alone, is needed by all things for all things. That is why He, Glory to
Him, is “Al-‘Aziz”.

Just deliberate what the words “everything for everything” mean. Hence,
Allah, Alone, is “Al-‘Aziz” because existence and survival of all things
depend on Him. For example, matter, which is made up of a nucleus around
which electrons move in orbits, would never have existed unless Allah, All-
Mighty, had granted it its own existence and enabled it to survive: “Be!”,
and it is; “Perish!”, and it perishes. Allah, All-Mighty, says, “Allah: there is
no god but Him, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all
that exists.” [III; 2] In other words, existence and survival of all things are
in Allah’s Hand, for He is the Source of life and survival for all things.

Therefore, we should not say that Allah is so badly needed but rather we
should say that everything needs Him so badly for everything. The retina,
for example, has more than 130,000,000 light receptors located in ten layers.
Vision nerves are more than 900,000 ones. What is that substance whose
composition changes whenever infringed by light, and in so doing it
generates an electric current that is carried to the brain where it is
perceived?! You are in bad need of Allah, All-Mighty, for your sight,
hearing, speaking, thinking, moving, and living, for your brain, arteries,
veins, and each and every single part of your body. Without Allah’s Grace
everything becomes nothing. You survive by Allah: your bones and muscles,
nerves and organs, all work by His Divine Grace. Without Allah’s Grace,
man, and everything else, can not possibly exist or survive. Yes, indeed,
everything needs Him for everything.

Hence, the first quality of Allah’s Perfection as being ‘Aziz is that He is One
and Only so that everything needs Him so badly for everything, that He is
too difficult to reach, none could ever encompass Him in knowledge, not
even Prophets, for no one knows Allah except Allah, Himself. You can only
reach Him as a created slave of His; therefore, you should comply to His
Commands and do deeds of righteousness if you desire to reach Him and be
intimate to Him. This is the only way to reach Him and be intimate to Him.

A young man got engaged to the daughter of a religious scholar. Her name
was “Wisal” (i.e. communion). The scholar addressed the young man: “My
daughter’s dowry is that you should attend the lectures that I deliver in
my council.” The young man attended the scholar’s lectures and was so
involved in them that he forgot his fiancée, the scholar’s daughter, who sent
him a message: “You have forgotten me!” He replied: “O Wisal! You were
the cause of the communion (i.e. my association with Allah), so do not be
the cause of disunion (dissociation with Him)!”
You can never reach Him except as a slave of His. Therefore, you should be
devoted to Him and do deeds of righteousness, you should constantly
remember Him and be conscious of Him, and you should serve His other
salves, your fellow humans, and do good to them. Yes, indeed. It is possible
to reach Him as a slave, but it is impossible to encompass Him in knowledge
or perception, for even holy Prophets and Messengers, most righteous and
pure as they are, fail to do so. This is because none can know Allah, All-
Mighty, except Allah, Himself.

If you ask yourself: “What does “Al-Aziz” mean?”, it means the Unique, the
One and Only, Whom everything needs for everything, Who is impossible to
be encompassed either by ones mental conception or sensual perception. It is
possible to reach Him only by being a slave to Him.

Some scholars say that “Al-‘Aziz” is He, All-Mighty, in the oceans of

Whose Majesty the minds get drowned, Whose Graces and Blessings can
not be properly enumerated or conceived, Whose Perfection and Beauty can
not be described by human tongues. Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), summed
up the whole thing as follows:
Narrated Abu Hurairah on authority of ‘A’ishah: “I missed Allah’s
Messenger from my bed one day. I searched for him, and my hand
touched the soles of his feet while he was on the floor prostrating himself
to the Lord, invoking: ‘O Allah! I seek refuge in Your Contentment
from Your Wrath, in Your Forgiveness from Your Punishment; and I
seek refuge with You from You. I can not praise you enough, for You are
as You praised Yourself.’” [narrated by Muslim in His “Sahih” Book of
Hadith]

I swear By Allah! It is an indisputable fact that he who knows Allah belittles

all others but Him. If you know Allah, it is impossible that you humble
yourself to any other human being or creature. If you know Allah, you see
no might or honor except with Him, you see no power except His, you see
no wisdom except His. That is why Allah, Most Gracious, in a Divine
Hadith, says: “O son of Adam! Seek Me, for if you find Me, you find
everything, but if you miss Me, you miss everything; and I am more
beloved to you than everything.”

If your eyes saw of Our Beauty that which they saw,

You would not turn away from Us to other ones.
And if your ears heard the Beauty of Our Speech,
You would take off the cloak of pride and come to Us.
And if you tasted of (Our) Love even a little,
You would excuse those who died of Our Love.
And if only a breeze from near Us blew to you,
You would die of alienation and eagerness to Our Nearness

Yes, indeed! Allah is Al-‘Aziz (the All-Mighty).

Those who naively fancy that by a couple of Rak’as of prayer and a couple
of pounds they can enter Paradise are mere idiots, for the price of Paradise is
much dearer. In this context, it has been rightly said: “He who seeks to
marry a beautiful lady should be generous enough to pay her dowry.”:

Narrated Abu Hurairah that Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said: “He who is
afraid sets off at nightfall; and he who sets off at nightfall reaches his
destination. Verily, Allah’s Commodity is priceless! Verily, Allah’s
commodity is Paradise! [narrated by At-Tirmithi]

Allah, Most Gracious, says, “By no means shall you attain piety unless
you spend (in Allah’s Cause) of that which you love; and whatever of
good you spend: Allah knows it well.” [III; 92]

Your precious time and power should be spent in Allah’s Cause, your wealth
that you have worked hard to earn should be spent in Allah’s Cause: “Verily,
Allah’s Commodity is priceless! Allah is All-Mighty! Very simply and
naturally, Allah is All-Mighty.

Now, in the light of the above-mentioned definition the question is: Who is
“‘Aziz” (i.e. mighty and honorable)? The answer is: Allah’s holy Prophets
and Messengers are! This is because all mankind are in need of them and of
their righteous work. Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), is “aziz (i.e.
mighty and honorable) simply because Allah, All-Mighty, has endued him
with His Divine Secret and His Divine Knowledge; and He granted him
Prophecy. Allah’s Messenger is the way to Allah and the gate that leads to
Him. In other words, Prophets and Messengers are mighty and honorable
because Allah, All-Mighty, has made them the gates to His Divine Mercy,
Grace, Bounty, and Light. That is why when you attain the Prophet’s
pleasure, you attain Allah’s Pleasure; and that is why Allah, Most Gracious,
associated His Prophet’s name with His own Name. Therefore, the holy
Prophet is ‘Aziz (mighty and honorable) because all people are in bad need
of him for both their secular and religious affairs.

A king is ‘Aziz (mighty and honorable): If he has all matters under his
control, and if all of his subjects, young and old, venerable and disreputable,
go to him for their affairs. In other words, the more needed you are, more
‘Aziz (the mightier and more honorable) you are. If a true believer is badly
needed, he is ‘Aziz (mighty and honorable), nevertheless, he is modest. But
if a disbeliever is badly needed, he is arrogant and tyrannical.

The venerable Imam and scholar Al-Hassan Al-Basri was one day asked:
“How did you attain such an eminence?” Before I give his reply, I would
like to whisper these words, from the depth of my heart, to my dear readers:
If you know Allah and obey Him, it is impossible for you to humble yourself
to anyone else. This is because Allah, All-Mighty, All-Majestic, says, “But
honor, might and glory belong to Allah, His Messenger and believers,
but the hypocrites know not. [LXIII: 8]

How come that you be with Allah, Al-‘Aziz (the All-Mighty), yet you
humble yourself to others than Him. That is impossible! Don’t you invoke at
dawn prayer everyday: “Glory to You, O Allah! Your friends are never
humble; and Your enemies are never honorable.”?

All true believers, who know Allah, All-Mighty, All-Majestic, stick to His
Divine Commands, and set their affairs aright with Him, receive special
Divine Care and Treatment from Him. Through such special Divine
Treatment and Care they are made to feel that they are so dear and beloved
to Him. To this effect, Allah addresses His Messenger, (PBUH), “So wait
patiently for your Lord’s Decision, for verily, you are under Our Eyes
(Divine Care, Love and Protection).” [LII; 48]

Very often you beseech Allah, Most Gracious, and He answers you, you pray
to Him and He repels evil from you, you invoke Him and He casts love for
you in the hearts of other people, you supplicate Him and He softens the
hearts of your enemies for you, you call to Him and He responds to you, you
beg Him and He gives you, and you swear by Him and He verifies your
oath.

We go back to the above question that was put forward to Al-Hassan Al-
Basri, the venerable Imam and scholar: “How did you attain such an
eminence among people?!” His answer was: “Because of two things: I do
not need them but they need my knowledge.”

You are by no means ‘Aziz (mighty and honorable) if you are greedy. This is
because when you are greedy you are humble and submissive; when you
aspire to the things that people have, you become humble, despised and
disrespected. But if you aspire to what Allah has, He loves you:

Never ask of a human anything,

But ask the One, Whose Gates are never closed.
Allah is angered if you refrain from asking Him,
But a human is angered if he is asked.

If you ask a human being for something, he gets angry with you, but the
Almighty Lord: if you refrain from asking Him, He gets angry with you.
That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “A believer should never
humble himself.” They asked, “How does he humble himself?” He,
(PBUH) replied, “By seeking burdens that he fails to bear.” [narrated by
At-Tirmithi]

Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), also says, “Seek things with self-respect, for
all matters run according to Divine Foreordainment.” And one day, he,
(PBUH), addressed a man who was humbling himself before the others,
“Raise up your head, O brother!” Then he, (PBUH), added: “He (the
man) has deadened our religion for us!”

One day, Imam Abu Hanifah entered upon Ja’far Al-Mansour for a certain
matter. Ja’far was very pleased to receive such a venerable scholar in his
palace and said: “O Abu Hanifah! Why don’t you always come to visit
us! It is a great honor for us to receive you! You are most welcome!” Abu
Hanifah said, “O Commander of the Faithful! Why should I visit you?! I
don’t have anything with you for which I fear you! Does anyone visit
you unless they have something with you for which they fear you?! I
have nothing with you for which I visit you!” This means that the less
aspirant you are after what other people have, the more honored Allah makes
you; and the more you prostrate yourself in veneration to Allah, the more
honored He makes you.

A Caliph once wanted to have a scholar brought to him for religious counsel.
The Caliph’s men went to Imam Malik, the venerable Imam and scholar,
saying, “O Malik! The Caliph wants you to come to him.” Malik replied,
“I do not need him! If he needs me, let him come to me!” Then he added:
“Knowledge is sought (come to)! It does not go to anyone!” When the
Caliph, whose name was Haroun Ar-Rasheed”, was informed about what
Imam Malik had said, he said, “He speaks the truth! I shall go to him!”
When the Caliph went to see Imam Malik, the latter said, “Let him sit
behind and wait until it is his turn to see me!” By the way, Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), used to sit behind, just like anyone else, and did not
have a throne or a special place to sit in. One day, when an Arabian came to
see Allah’s Messenger, who was sitting with his venerable Companions, he
could not recognize who was Allah’s Messenger, and, therefore, he asked,
“Who is Muhammad from among you?!” What modesty! He, (PBUH),
never distinguished himself in sitting from his Companions! However, when
it was the Caliph’s turn to see the Imam, he came to him and sat on a chair.
But the Imam addressed him: “He who humbles himself to Allah, Allah
honors him. And he who displays arrogance, He (Allah) humiliates
him.” The Caliph, Haroun Ar-Rasheed, stood up, saying, “Take away this
chair!” and sat down on the floor. If a scholar desires to be ‘Aziz (honored
and mighty), he should never aspire to what people have, he should
renounce their world, and he should have a job by which he earns a decent
living.

Someone asked: “How can I get to Allah?!” It was wisely said to him: “If
you know Allah, you will certainly know how to get to Him!” This is
because if you know Allah, you know, through your natural disposition, how
to please Him, how to get to Him, how to stick to His Divine Commands,
how to sacrifice yourself for Him, and how to prefer Him to anyone or
anything else. He asked: “How can I get to Allah?!”; and he was answered:
“If you know Him, you will certainly know how to get to Him!” He
asked: “I don’t understand what you mean. How can I worship someone
I do not know?” He was answered: “How come that you disobey Him
(Allah) after you have known Him?! You disobey Him!

You disobey the Lord wile you claim to love Him!

Such is indeed an amazing claim!
If your love were true, you would obey Him.
Verily, he who loves someone does obey him.
A man was once asked: “When did you get to know Allah?” He replied:
“(I swear) by Allah! I have never disobeyed Him ever since I knew
Him!”

Once again, I would like to whisper to my dear reader: I swear by Allah, the
One and Only God! Even if you acquire knowledge of all of the jinn and
humans whereby you attain respect and honor among people, but fail to
obey Allah, this means that you do not know Him, you do not know Him,
you do not know Him!

It has been wisely said: He who does not have enough piety that prevents
him from disobeying Allah in his privacy, Allah does not care about anything
good he does. Also, do not think of the size of sin, but rather think of Him
against Whom you have transgressed by committing such sin. Once you
disobey Allah, this means that you do not know Him.

If we imagine someone who has the highest university degree in religious

studies, who has written more than a hundred books, and who occupies an
important religious position: if a woman enters upon him and he keeps
gazing at her beauty, this means that he does not know Allah at all. On the
other hand, even a naïve illiterate porter, who can neither read nor write, but
has only heard Allah’s Words, “Tell the believing men to lower down their
gaze and protect their private parts. That is purer for them. Verily,
Allah is All-Aware of what they do.” [XXIV; 30], and, therefore, lowers
down his gaze at seeing such a woman for fear of Allah, this means that he
knows Allah very well. That is because Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says,
“It suffices man in knowledge that he fears Allah; and it suffices man in
ignorance that he boasts of his work.” [narrated by Ad-Darimi]

Keep these words in your mind: Once you disobey Allah, this means that
you do not know Him!

It was asked: What are the qualities that a true believer should have towards
this Name? Allah, All-Mighty, is “‘Aziz”, but what should a believer’s
attitude towards this Divine Name be?

The answer is: Once a true believer knows Allah, “Al-‘Aziz”, he should
never believe that any creature has the right to be over-esteemed or over-
dignified. It is true that as a human being a true believer should be so polite
and well-behaved towards other fellow humans, but he should by no means
believe that any one of such fellow humans, or anyone else, except Allah,
All-Mighty, Alone, has the right to be over-esteemed or over-dignified. In
other words, a true believer should belittle everyone and everything
compared to Allah, All-Mighty. He should by no means over-venerate
anyone but Allah, Creator of all things and Lord of all worlds. He should by
no means humble himself to anyone but Him. To this effect, Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), says, “He who humbles himself to a wealthy person
loses two thirds of his religion.” But why? The answer is: because belief in
Allah, All-Mighty, is something that is deeply rooted in the heart, confessed
by the tongue, and verified by work. In other words, belief in Allah consists
of three parts: ideology, verbal confession, and action. Therefore, if you
over-esteem a wealthy person for his wealth, you are apt to over-dignify
him, humble yourself to him and even praise him for merits that he does not
really have, and, hence, you lose two thirds of your belief, i.e. verbal
confession – when you praise him - and action - when you humble yourself
to him. Your act of over-esteeming or over-dignifying anyone besides Allah,
Lord of all worlds, reflects weakness of belief in Him, All-Mighty. That is
why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “A true believer attains honor by
standing up the night (in prayer to Allah) and dignity by being in no
need of people.”
A true believer has more dignity and self-esteem than the people of a whole
town. In this context, Allah, Glory to Him, says, “But honor, might and
glory belong to Allah, His Messenger and believers.” A true believer sees
that he is a mere slave of Allah’s and that Allah shall by no means let him
down; shouldn’t he, therefore, have more dignity and self-esteem than
anyone else?!

There is a golden rule: If man knows how Great and All-Mighty the Creator
is, he belittles all creatures; but if he fails to know how Great and All-
Mighty the Creator is, he over-esteems creatures. In other words, over-
estimation of the Creator leads to under-estimation of the created, and vice
versa. For example, someone may threaten: “I shall do so and so! I can do so
and so!” Such a person does not know at all who Allah is. And if you, as a
true believer, praise and glorify such a person, this means that you do not
know at all who Allah is. This is because if Allah, All-Mighty, causes blood
to clot in one of the arteries of his brain, he will soon be completely
paralyzed; and if Allah, Glory to Him, causes blood to clot in one of the
arteries of his heart, he will soon die. In fact, the more elevated man’s belief
in Allah, Most Gracious, is, the more sincerely and devotedly he turns to
Him. To this effect, Allah, All-High, says, “So We leave those who expect
not their meeting with Us in their transgression, wandering blindly in
distraction.” [X; 11]

If you believe that Allah, only Allah, is the One Who grants you honor and
dignity, and if you believe that even if all mankind gather together to raise
you up in rank without His Divine Leave, they will never be able to do so,
and if you believe that if Allah, All-Mighty, raises you up in rank, none
could ever degrade or humiliate you, you would never ask anyone but Allah
to grant you honor and dignity, and you would do that by turning to Him
with true love and sincere devotion and by showing complete obedience to
Him.

It has been rightly said: Even if all mankind gathered together to grant
someone honor, might or glory more than the honor and glory that he attains
by showing enough obedience and devotion to Allah, they would never be
able to do so. In other words, you can never attain honor, dignity, or glory
except by showing adequate obedience to Allah, All-Mighty. If you desire to
be granted honor, glory and dignity, you have to magnify and dignify Allah’s
Religion. Similarly, if all mankind gathered together to grant someone
disgrace or humiliation more than those that he incurs by sins and wrong-
doing, they would never be able to do so. That is to say, there is only one
thing that brings you honor or dishonor, explicitly, obedience or
disobedience. The more you obey Allah, All-Mighty, the more honored you
are; and the more negligent or disobedient you are towards Allah’s
Commands, the more insignificant you are to Him, and, hence, the more
disgraceful and lowly you are. In this context, it should be noticed that
Muslims today are negligent towards their Lord’s Commands and are,
therefore, insignificant to Him.

In this context, it might be wrongly thought that those millions of Muslims

of today are true believers or true Muslims. It should be noticed that a true
Muslim has certain essential qualities. Those who are negligent as regards
the Salat (prayer), those who are dishonest and untrustworthy, those who
transgress against the rights of others by way of injustice or tyranny, and
those who commit sins and misdeeds, are by no means true Muslims. In fact,
two things sum up the status quo of Muslims of today: They are heedless
and careless towards Allah’s Commands, and therefore, they are
insignificant to Him.

Individually, however, if you stick to Allah’s Commands and be committed

to His Religion, and if you put your trust in Him, Allah grants you special
Divine Care and Treatment. But if the whole Muslim nation disobeys Allah,
All-Mighty, He must necessarily punish them, for He, All-Majestic, says, “If
he who knows Me disobeys Me, I set on him those who do not know
Me.”

A prominent man went to perform the Hajj (pilgrimage) accompanied by

tens of servants who kept pushing other pilgrims away from him while he
was going round the Ka’bah. Anyway, he completed his Hajj rituals and
returned to his country. The narrator of the story said: After some years, I
came across a miserable poor man with shabby clothes, begging people for
money on one of the bridges of the city of Baghdad. The man looked much
like the above-mentioned rich prominent man. When I came forward to look
closer at him, he humbly asked, “Why are you looking at me.” I said in
amazement, “You look like someone whom I met on the Hajj one day,”
and gave him the man’s name. Very sadly, he said: “It is me!” In great
amazement, I enquired, “What made you in this miserable condition?!”
Very regretfully, he replied, “I displayed arrogance in the place where
people should be humble and deservedly incurred, therefore, such
horrible punishment.” This story teaches us that going round, Allah’s
House, the Holy Ka’bah, or standing before the Lord, All-Mighty, in the Hajj
or in prayer should by no means be done arrogantly or boastfully. Nay! It
should be done with utmost humbleness and submission to the Lord, All-
Mighty. In other words, that man showed arrogance where people are
supposed to show humbleness and submission. Therefore, Allah, All-Mighty,
punished him by placing him in a humble position in places where people
are usually respected.

The above-mentioned story teaches us that the more arrogant and self-
conceited man is, the more insignificant and lowly he is in Allah’s Sight.
Keep away from two evil qualities: arrogance and injustice. That is because
Allah, All-Mighty, easily forgives tens of sins and misdeeds, except two
unforgivable sins whereby sinners incur perdition: arrogance and injustice.
Keep away from two evil things: polytheism, which reflects arrogance, and
doing evil to other fellow humans, which is the token of injustice and
tyranny.

But we still have a problem, or at least something that I consider as a

problem: How does Allah, All-Mighty, All-Majestic, say, “Whosoever
desires honor and glory (should know that): to Allah, Alone, do belong
all honor and glory. To Him do ascend all the goodly words; and the
righteous work increases them (good words) in sublimity (and makes
them accepted by Allah). And those who plot evil things: theirs shall be
severe Torment; and the plotting of such shall be unsuccessful.” [XXXV;
10], while in another Verse He, Glorified and Exalted, says, “But honor,
might and glory belong to Allah, His Messenger and believers, but the
hypocrites know not.”?! The first Verse makes clear that all honor and
glory belong to Allah, Alone, while the second shows that not only Allah,
All-Mighty, but also His Messenger, (PBUH), and true believers can have
honor and glory. In other words, there seems to be a kind of contradiction
between both Quranic Verses. In fact, there is no contradiction at all. When
Allah, All-Mighty, says, “But honor, might and glory belong to Allah, His
Messenger and believers”, He means to say that He, All-Mighty, is the
Owner of honor and glory: If you seek them by being obedient, dutiful and
devoted to Him, He bestows upon you honor and glory and makes you
honorable and glorious. But if you seek honor and glory from other sources
than Allah, All-Mighty, you shall never be honorable or glorified. Nay! You
shall be dishonored and degraded unless you obey Allah, All-Mighty, seek
His Good Pleasure and Generous Recompense, strive for His Cause, stick to
His Divine Commands, commit yourself to His Religion, and turn to Him
with true love and sincere devotion.

The story of the holy Prophet, Joseph, (PBUH), is known to everybody. He

stayed in the palace of Egypt’s king as a slave, who had to obey his mater’s
orders. Then, he was put in prison for some time. And then, he became
Egypt’s king. One day, while he was in procession, one of the salves, who
had previously been with Joseph and known him very well cried out:
“Praised is He (Allah), Who has made slaves kings by their obedience to
Him, and Who has made kings slaves by their disobedience to Him!”
Perhaps he meant by the second part of his utterance Pharaoh’s wife, who
tried to seduce Joseph to indecent work and then unjustly accused him of
trying to do so, for she became as humble and lowly as a slave when the
truth was later unveiled.

Every now and then, we hear of people who built up for themselves the
highest ranks of might, honor and glory. But since they built up such might,
glory and honor on a sinful basis of disobedience to Allah, All-Mighty, He
caused them to be the lowest of the low, while the holy Prophet Joseph,
(PBUH), who said, “I take refuge with Allah! Truly, he (your husband) is
my master! He made my living good (So I shall never betray him)!
Verily, the wrong-doers shall never prosper.” [XII; 23], Allah made him
Egypt’s king in the end. So contemplate and deliberate!!

I swear by Allah! I have been told an old incredible story, which I would
never believe unless its narrator were still alive. A young man had a small
bookshop in one of the quarters of Damascus. He was seduced to indecent
work by a loose woman, so he closed his shop and followed her. While he
was following her to her place, he remembered that he had previously
performed the Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca and thought to himself: “No! I
shall not spoil my pilgrimage to Mecca because of that evil woman!” He
stopped and went back home. In other words, he feared Allah and obeyed
Him. The next day, a notable neighbor came to him asking: “Are you
married?” “No, I’m not.” The young man replied. The neighbor said: “I
have a suitable wife for you. Send your family to see her for you.” The
young man thought that there was something wrong with the neighbor’s
daughter so that he offered her to him to marry. Later on, however, the
young man sent his family to see her for him. She was a very beautiful
young girl. A few months later, the young man and the neighbor’s daughter
got married. The neighbor, who became the young man’s father-in-law made
him his partner in business; and the young husband closed his small
bookshop and joined his father-in-law in his business. After some time, the
wife’s father passed away, but the man is still alive and has become one of
the big businessmen in town. This reminds us of Joseph’s words when the
king’s wife tried to seduce him to indecent work: “I take refuge with Allah!
Truly, he (your husband) is my master! He made my living good (So I
shall never betray him)! Verily, the wrong-doers shall never prosper.”

If man quits something for the sake of Allah, All-Mighty, Allah recompenses
him something better in both his religion and life. Yes, indeed! Anything that
you forsake for the Cause of Allah, surely, Allah recompenses you
something better in both your life and religion. Don’t you like to be
honorable?! Don’t you wish to be glorious?! Don’t you like to be respected?!
Then, obey Allah, All-Mighty, Most Gracious, as much as you can! This is
because the more you obey Allah, Most Bounteous, the more honorable He
makes you; and the more you disobey Him, the more lowly and
dishonorable He makes you. The more heedless and negligent towards His
Divine Commands you are, the more insignificant and lowly you are to Him.
The more committed and devoted you are towards Him and His Religion,
the more honorable and glorious He makes you.

Those who go to Medina to visit the Prophet’s Mosque there know exactly
what my words mean, for no other human being has been granted more
honor and glory by Allah, All-Mighty, than Allah’s Prophet and Messenger,
Muhammad, (PBUH). Even kings and presidents seem so humble when they
enter the Prophet’s Mosque and stand before his sacred tomb. It is he,
(PBUH), who addressed moderately a humble slave that came to him
shivering of reverence and magnification: “Take it easy! I am but the son
of a (simple ordinary) woman who was from (the tribe of) Quraish and
who used to eat Al-Qadeed [dried meat (simple modest kind of food)] in
Mecca.”

A great many people come to Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), from all parts of
the word. Once they draw nearer to his tomb, they can not help weeping
although he, (PBUH), has been dead for more than 1400 years. What is the
secret of such love and reverence? Is there on earth a person upon whom
Allah, All-Mighty, bestowed honor, reverence and dignity more than Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH)? Take the Prophet’s venerable Companions as live
parables. Abu Bakr As-Sideeq, may Allah be pleased with him, had poor
neighbors whose sheep he used to milk. When he became Caliph upon the
Prophet’s death, his poor neighbors were very sad because they thought that
his becoming ruler of all Muslims would prevent him from helping them by
milking their sheep for them. But the next day after he became Caliph, there
was a knock on the door of his poor neighbors. The mother bade her
daughter to open the door. “Who is it?” The mother asked. The daughter
soon replied: “It is the man who milks our sheep for us.” What modesty!
In fact, no one of the Prophet’s venerable Companions was granted more
honor and dignity than Abu Bakr As-Sideeq, may Allah be pleased with him.

In short, it is a Divine Law of positive proportion: The more you obey and
glorify Allah, All-Mighty, the more honorable and dignified He makes you;
and the more you disobey Him and say: “Don’t be so strict! Allah is All-
Forgiving, Most Merciful! Our religion is a religion of facilitation and
ease! Don’t be so conformist! Do whatever you like and fear nothing!”,
the more disgraceful and lowly He makes you. In other words, the more
negligent and careless towards Allah’s Divine Commands, He degrades you
and makes you humble and unrespectable.

Those who used to admonish people: the great Imams, such as Abu Hanifah
and Ash-Shafi’i, and before them the Prophet’s venerable Companions, are
unforgettable, their names are on all tongues and their good fame is
everywhere. In other words, they glorified Allah, All-Mighty, so He, Glory
to Him, made their good names always remembered.

Similarly, the holy Prophet and Messenger, Moses, (PBUH), was granted
utmost honor and glory, while Pharaoh was made to drown and perish in
utmost humiliation. To this effect, Allah, All-Mighty, Most Gracious, says,
“And We took the children of Israel across the sea, and Pharaoh with
his hosts followed them in oppression and enmity, till when drowning
overtook him (Pharaoh), he said: ‘I believe that there is no god but He
(Allah), in Whom the children of Israel believe; and I am one of the
Muslims (those who submit themselves to Allah’s Will).” [X; 90] And He,
Glory to Him, speaks the truth as He says, “And whomsoever Allah
disgraces none can ever honor him. Verily, Allah does whatever He
wills.” [XXII; 18] Also, Abraham’s people plotted evil against him, but
Allah, All-Mighty, says: “We said: ‘O fire! Be you coolness and safety for
Abraham!” [XXI; 69]

Such is real honor; and such is real glory: Allah’s Honor and Glory to
Abraham, Moses and Joseph, (PBUT)! Also, Allah’s Messenger
Muhammad, (PBUH): Allah has granted no other human being more honor
and glory than him. This applies to Abu Bakr and Omar, who said: “I was
‘Umair (a young pre-mature person named Omar), then I became Omar
(i.e. a full-grown mature person named Omar), and then I became
Commander of the Faithful!” He, may Allah be pleased with him, was
committed to Allah’s Book, so Allah granted him honor and glory. The same
thing applies to the venerable Companions ‘Uthman and Ali, may Allah be
pleased with them.

On the opposite side are such bad people as Abu Jahl. How was his end?
What was his reputation like? What was his esteem like? Another example
of evil people was Abu Lahab. Such tyrannical disbelievers: what happened
to them? As for ‘Ikrimah bin Abi Jahl, when he showed repentance to Allah,
All-Mighty, Allah accepted his repentance, and he became one of the
venerable Companions of the Prophet, (PBUH), despite his former hostility
and evil stance against the Prophet, (PBUH).

In short, each and every human being loves and strives for existence, safety
of such existence, perfection of such existence, continuity of such existence.
One great part of your existence is to be honored, dignified and glorified,
and to be free from any kind of humbleness or humiliation; and nothing
could ever bring you more humbleness and humiliation than sins and
misdeeds.

A righteous virtuous abstinent modest person is honorable and dignified; but

when a person transgresses against other people’s chastity or looks
maliciously at their women , he becomes humble and dishonored. This is
because true faith is abstention from evil ambitions and unlawful things.

True faith is abstinence, modesty and abstention from other people’s

possessions and from doing evil to their reputation. That is why lowering
down of one’s gaze as regards unlawful women is necessary for a true
believer, who is immune from following his desires and caprices. The more
he lowers down his gaze at unlawful women, the more honor and dignity
Allah grants him, and the happier and more contented with his wife and
family he is. This is because happiness and contentment are in Allah’s Hand;
and He grants them to both man and his wife if they are believers and
obedient to Him. In other words, Allah, Most Gracious, makes them live a
happy contented married life if they obey Him in their relationship with each
other.
In fact, Honor and dignity are a common demand, for each and every human
being desires to be honorable and dignified. But honor and dignity are
attained only by obedience to Allah, All-Mighty, and His Messenger,
(PBUH). In this context, I would like to advise the young: Abstain from
unlawful things, and you will be granted lawful things. Never think of
committing sins or misdeeds, and you will be successful and happy with
your married life, Allah will grant you a way out of all troubles, and He will
provide you with a decent living and give you a respectable and honorable
social position.

When some people die, only one or two people go in their funeral because of
their being insignificant sinful wrong-doers. But when a venerable scholar
dies, a million people go in his funeral. This is because Allah, All-Mighty,
grants him a special honor, dignity and respect. But why does Allah grant
him such honor, dignity and respect? Because he magnifies and sticks to
Allah’s Commands. In other words, if you magnify and show enough respect
and commitment to Allah’s Commands, He, Glory to Him, will grant you
honor, dignity and respect.

Such are undisputable facts, dear reader; and whosoever seeks honor and
dignity from others than Allah, he attains only dishonor and lowliness. In
other words, if man takes Allah, All-Mighty, for a Friend and Guardian, he
will certainly prosper in this present world and the world to come. To this
effect, Allah, Glory to Him, says, “And incline not toward those who do
wrong lest the Fire should touch you; and you have no protectors others
than Allah, nor would you then be helped.” [XI; 113]

If you incline to a deviant person, if you think that he is powerful, if you

think that he has full command over this world, if you think that if you obey
him you will have a lot of good, and if you incline to him and forget Allah,
All-Mighty, you will receive nothing but humiliation and degradation from
such person:

Sometimes, a person seeks honor from some important relative, but he

suddenly finds out that such important relative has let him down. He goes to
him for help, but he neglects him, saying, “Sorry! I can’t violate laws at
all! I can’t help you!” Such is the punishment of those who incline to others
than Allah, All-Mighty. That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says,
“Seek to achieve your needs by self-respect, for things are run by
(Allah’s) Divine Decree.” To the same effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says,
“Whatever of mercy Allah may grant to mankind none can withhold it;
and whatever He may withhold none can grant it thereafter. And He is
the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.” [XXXV; 2]

In fact, events and incidents that can be narrated concerning the issue of
honor and dishonor are countless, for each and every one, through one’s
relatives and friends as well as the people around him, knows thousands of
stories. Such young man, who committed himself to Allah’s Commands, was
granted honor and dignity in this present world and the world to come. He
abstained from looking at unlawful or indecent women, so Allah granted him
a chaste pure woman: “And for him who fears the standing before his
Lord there are two Gardens (of Paradise). [LV; 46]

Most interpreters of the Holy Quran hold that the two Gardens (of Paradise)
mentioned in the above Verse are: “A Garden in this present world and
another in the Hereafter - in the present world before the Hereafter.”

In this context, Allah, All-Mighty, also says, “So wait patiently (O

Muhammad) for the Decision of your Lord, for verily, you are under
Our Eyes (Our Divine Care and Protection), and glorify the Praises of
your Lord when you get up from sleep.” [LII; 48]

It is very nice to wrap up this lecture about Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name
“Al-‘Aziz” with the following Prophetic Hadith, which may be the last
Hadith in this lecture: “Whosoever seeks to achieve something by
(committing) a sinful deed is too far from that which he desires and too
near to that which he fears.” In other words, if you desire to achieve
anything by committing a sin or misdeed, you have to know for sure that
such thing is unattainable for you; and if you desire to achieve anything by
showing obedience and commitment to Allah’s Commands and Religion,
you have to know for sure that it is very close and easily attainable for you:
“Whosoever seeks to achieve something by (committing) a sinful deed is
too far from that which he desires and too near to that which he fears.”
In business and trade: be honest and trustworthy, you gain a lot of profits,
and you are considered as honest and trustworthy in the sight of Allah, All-
Mighty. If you are a lawyer, be honest, and you will have a lot of income,
and not only Allah but also other fellow humans will consider you as honest
and trustworthy. Those who disobey Allah for the sake of the perishable
pleasures and enjoyments of this present world are mere idiots who do no
know Allah, All-Mighty, Most Gracious, and who will lose the never-ending
pleasures and enjoyments of the Hereafter. In this context, Allah, Glory and
Praise are all His, says, “He (Allah) will help you to do righteous good
deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allah and
His Messenger has indeed achieved a great achievement.” [XXXIII; 71]
This is because Allah’s Promise in True: “And after the Truth, what else
can there be except error.” [X; 32] It should be known that Allah has
promised true believers to protect them, He has promised to defend them, He
has promised to provide them with good sustenance, He has promised to
grant them honor and dignity. Here is the evidence: “But honor, power and
glory belong to Allah, His Messenger and believers, but the hypocrites
know not.” [LXIII: 8] This Quranic Verse shows beyond a shadow of doubt
that honor, power, glory and dignity are all in Allah’s Hands. So, if you seek
them, you have to be with Allah:
Be with Allah, and you will see Allah with you.
And leave all others (than Him) and beware of being greedy.
If He gives you, who can ever prevent Him?!
And who can ever give (you anything) if He withholds from you.

* * *
A l-Jabbar is one of the Beautiful Divine Names of Allah. It occurs in
the Quranic Verse: “He is Allah, beside Whom there is no god,
the King, the Holy, the One Free from all defects, the Giver of
security, the Watcher over His creatures, the All-Mighty, Al-Jabbar (the
Compeller, the Omnipotent, the Almighty, …etc.), the Supreme. Glory
be to Allah! (High is He) above all that they associate as partners with
Him.” [LIX; 23]

Sometimes, man’s qualities are confused with the Creator’s Attributes.

Therefore, it is necessary to make clear that if some qualities or attributes are
attributed to the Creator, they betoken His Divine Perfection, but if they are
attributed to human beings, they reflect human imperfection. For, example,
if we describe a human being as being jabbar (compeller, omnipotent,
almighty, …etc.), such quality denotes imperfection in him. But why? In
fact, man is not self-existent. In other words, he derives his existence and
survival from his Creator, Allah, All-Mighty. He is made weak, hasty,
vulnerable, and easily frightened. If we describe any person as being Jabbar,
the question is: can he guarantee to survive for one single second?! Tens of
people pass away because of a great many diseases, known or unknown,
although with the development of medical science, doctors may sometimes
know the cause and say: This is because of failure of the brain, kidney, liver
or heart, …etc. A great many people from among us have great expectations
that vanish because of a slight insignificant disorder in one of their organs or
parts of body.

A young man who was a genius student in the fourth year of the medical
school. He was the healthiest, most intelligent, and best looking of all
students. Also, he was well-off and handsome. Suddenly, he began to
develop physical weakness and paleness on his face. A doctor said: “This is
because of anemia.”, and another doctor confirmed the same diagnosis. But
no one could ever find the causes of such anemia. A young man of a well-off
family! What anemia?! In the end, however, it was found out that it was due
to hyper-activity in his liver.

Liver is a store of blood, a reserve factory of blood corpuscles and a

graveyard for dead corpuscles. In one second, 2.500.000 blood corpuscles
die in the human body. Such dead corpuscles are carried to the liver, where
they are broken into their component elements: iron and hemoglobin. The
iron is sent to factories of red corpuscles in the bones in order to be recycled,
while the hemoglobin goes to the liver in order to from bile. A cut was taken
from the liver of that young man and was sent to a medically developed
western country, and the result was as follows: When the liver is
hyperactive, it breaks not only the dead red corpuscles but also the healthy
living ones, which causes shortage in the number of the red corpuscles in the
blood. After some time, however, the young man passed away at a very
young age. If someone boasts: “I am who I am!”, he should be asked in
disdain: “Who are you?!” Quite often, hyperactive liver may be the cause
of man’s death.

Another person suffered from a rare kind of anemia in which factories of red
corpuscles suddenly stop producing them. The causes of such deadly disease
are still unknown. Also, a sudden drop in the function of kidneys is a deadly
disease that makes life unbearable or even impossible. A liver-ailment also
causes death simply because man can not survive more than three hours
without a liver. Furthermore, a tiny drop of blood may sometimes get clotted
in some part or another of the brain arteries, causing deafness, blindness,
loss of memory, paralysis, …etc, according to the place where the artery is
blocked. Those who boastfully say: “I am who I am!” are mere idiots! In
other words, if a certain person is described as being jabbar, it would be
disgraceful and imperfect for him. This is because man’s existence and
survival are subject to Allah’s Divine Power and Will; man’s strength is
bestowed upon him by Allah, Al-Mighty, and is subject to Allah’s Divine
Will; man’s intellect is subject to Allah’s Will; and man’s judgment and
reasoning are subject to Allah’s Will. If it is said that someone is jabbar, this
means that he is a mere fool, simply because he assumes to himself qualities
that are far beyond his human abilities. But if Allah, Creator of all worlds,
the Unique, the All-Mighty, the Living, the Self-Existent, the One Whose
Decision is Irresistible, if such Great Lord is described as being Al-Jabbar
(the Compeller, the Omnipotent, the Almighty, …etc.), such Divine Attribute
of Allah embraces praise, glorification and de-anthropomorphism in addition
to its being one of the Attributes of Allah’s own Self.

This applies to other qualities such as Mutakabbir (the Supreme, the

Sublime). If we describe someone as being Mutakabbir, this has a negative
connotation; but when we say that Allah, Glory to Him, is Mutakabbir, this
has a positive connotation and is a kind of praise to the Allah, All-Mighty,
because it denotes His Divine Perfection and Greatness. In other words, it is
not the right of a human being to claim for himself such a Divine Attribute
as Al-Mutakabbir simply because man is not only weak but also he derives
his powers and abilities from Allah, Who is really the Sublime, and the
Supreme. He, All-Mighty, is the Great, and the Powerful because He is the
Creator, the Lord and the Disposer of all worlds.

From the above introduction I meant to make clear that when a human being
is described as being Mutakabbir, this has a negative connotation, but when
Allah, All-Mighty, Creator of all worlds, is described as being Mutakabbir,
this has a positive connotation.

In our practical life, we do have something similar to this. A husband may

sometimes be described as being generous by way of praise, while a wife is
sometimes described as being generous by way of dispraise, simply because
if a wife spends of her husband’s money, without his permission of course,
she destroys her husband’s wealth. Such quality is not laudable but rather
illaudable. Sometimes a certain person is described as being daring by way
of praise, but sometimes in certain situations the word “daring” has a
negative connotation, specially when it reflects lightheadedness,
carelessness, irresponsibility or foolishness.

In fact, the word Al-Jabbar has several meanings in Arabic:

First Meaning: Al-Jabbar is someone or something that is gigantic and too

high to reach. When we describe a palm tree as being Jabbarah, this means
that it is so high that its fruits can not be picked. When we describe a camel
as being Jabbarah, this means that it is too hard to mount or ride. In the same
context, Allah, All-Mighty, says in His Holy Quran, “They said: ‘O Moses!
In it (the holy land) are a people Jabbareen (of great undefeatable
force), and we shall never enter it till they leave it; when they leave we
shall enter.” [V; 22] The word Jabbareen in the above Verse means: “too
strong to be defeated, relentless and merciless.”

But when we say that someone is Jabbar, this means that he is too haughty
and too arrogant, that he is by no means moderate or considerate. And make
no mistake about it! Those who describe themselves as being Jabareen or
behave as being Jabbareen, i.e. arrogant, tyrannical and unjust, do not listen
to anyone, are never moderate and are disobedient and rebellious: such
people must necessarily be destroyed by the Lord, All-Mighty. That is why
every now and then, you hear of such and such a tyrant has been destroyed
by Allah, All-Mighty, and has been made a deterrent example for those who
are prepared to get admonished. This is because Pride is one of Allah’s
Divine Attributes, and so are Might and Majesty; therefore, if a human
being, any human being, tries to compete with Allah concerning such Great
Divine Attributes, Allah will certainly destroy him and cause him to perish.

Al-Jabbar is Allah, All-Mighty, All-Majestic, Alone, because He is far above

human perception or conception. He can not be encompassed by the human
minds, nor can He be seen by the human eyes or perceived by the human
minds. Even if all mankind contemplate and deliberate Allah’s Beautiful
Divine Names and Attributes till the end of the world, they cannot possibly,
and will never be able to, encompass Allah’s Divine Holy Self. All that has
been so far written about Allah, All-Mighty, is mere simplification,
approximation or illustration, because it is impossible to encompass Allah in
knowledge. That is why Al-Jabbar is Allah, Glorified and Exalted, Who
cannot possibly be encompassed by the human minds, seen by the human
eyes, and the secrets of Whose Holy Divine Nature are impossible to unveil.

That is why it is ignorant and impolite to think that you can conceive or
understand everything about Allah. In other words, it is absolutely wrong to
think that you can know the reality of Allah, All-Mighty. Your being ignorant
of Allah means that you know Him; and your thinking that you know Him
means that you do not know Him. And if you admit your being unable to
know the reality of Allah’s Divine Self, this means that you know who Allah
is. In other words, if you say: “I know only too few things about Allah.”,
this means that you know Him. If you say “I do not know!”, this means that
you are knowledgeable enough. But if you naively desire to convince people
that you are able to know everything, this means that you are ignorant. Such
is the first meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Jabbar”: He,
Glorified and Exalted, cannot possibly be perceived by the minds, nor can
He be seen by the eyes; and the secrets of His Holy Divine Self cannot
possibly be attained by the minds. This Name, Al-Jabbar, belongs to Allah’s
Attributes of de-anthropomorphism.

Second Meaning: Al-Jabbar is someone who consoles and comfort others.

That is why it is rightly said: Allah is never worshipped on earth by anything
better than consoling other human beings, dealing with them kindly and
doing good to them. The word “Jabara” in Arabic also means “to set broken
things (bones for example)”. In this sense, Al-Jabbar is someone who sets
things aright: whenever there is a problem, something has been demolished,
a certain person has been impoverished, a certain person has been destroyed,
Allah, Creator and Lord of all worlds, is Al-Jabbar, Who sets things right,
who bestows His Divine Care upon the wrecked, Who enriches the poor,
Who consoles the weak, Who gives the needy, and Who graces the lowly.
That is why whenever you turn to Allah with submission, humbleness and
veneration, He, Most Gracious, comforts your heart, sets things right for
you, removes distress from you, strengthens you, enriches you, and bestows
His Honor and Grace upon you. Such is another meaning of Allah’s
Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Jabbar”: He always sets things right. That is
why the word “Jabara” means to set right a broken thing or a broken bone, to
comfort the heart of a poor person by giving him money, to comfort the heart
of a sick person by healing him, to honor and respect a lowly person, to
strengthen a weak person, to give security to a frightened person. Such is the
second meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Jabbar”: Allah, Most
Gracious, Who always sets things right for His slaves.

Therefore, it is wise to invoke the Lord, All-Mighty: “O Al-Jabbar!”, just

as businessmen and merchants do, because selling one’s goods is considered
as a great Grace from Allah. That is why when He speaks about business or
trade, Allah, says, “And commerce that you fear may be stagnant” [IX;
24]

In fact, the worst thing to a businessman is to see his merchandise stagnant

and kept stored in his warehouse with no demand at all. That is why when
Allah, Most Gracious, speaks about business or trade, He emphasizes the
most painful thing to a merchant, namely stagnation of commerce. Hence,
the words: “O Jabbar!” mean: “O Lord! Make my merchandise salable!
Make people like it and come to buy it!” In this context, Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), says, “O Jaber (Allah, Who sets things right for) all
those who are broken!” He, (PBUH), also says, “Verily, the broken are in
Allah’s Care. Verily, Allah loves every sad heart. And the sad are
enshrouded by (Allah’s) Mercy.”

Therefore, in disputes it is not considered as a win to use one’s power by

way of tyranny or injustice, because Allah, Al-Jabbar, will certainly destroy
the tyrannical and unjust. In “Al-Jami’ Al-Sagheer” book of Prophetic
Hadith, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), is quoted as saying, “An evil slave is
he who displays arrogance and pride, forgetting (Allah) the Great, the
Sublime. An evil salve is he who transgresses and is tyrannical,
forgetting (Allah) Al-Jabbar (the Almighty, the Omnipotent, the
Compeller, …etc.), the Supreme. An evil slave is he who is careless and
heedless, forgetting graves and death. An evil slave is he who is insolent
and exceeds proper bounds, forgetting the beginning and end.” If the
opponent is weak, Allah, Al-Jabbar, will certainly have mercy on him.

Al-Jabbar is He (Allah), Who destroys the unjust and tyrannical and has
mercy on the weak and wronged. So, if you are on the weak side of a
dispute, Allah is with you, for Allah is with the weak. And Allah is Al-
Jabbar, Who will console the weak; and He is Al-Jabbar, Who will destroy
the unjust and tyrannical.

A husband and wife may sometimes have a row, but one of them may go
beyond proper bounds: prosperous is the one who plays the role of the weak;
prosperous is the one who is wronged, for Allah is always with the wronged
whether in married life, in partnership or in any other kind of relationship.

A wealthy father died leaving a big fortune; and he had some children, one
of whom was older and more powerful than the others, who were young and
weak. By being more intelligent or tricky, the elder son was able to seize
unlawfully most of his dead father’s wealth, but he gave only a small part of
the heritage to his other brothers and sisters, which was not enough at all for
them. However, Allah, Al-Jabbar, Who sets things right and destroys the
unjust and wrong-doers, made powerful and successful one of the younger
brothers, and, in one way or another, Allah, Al-Jabbar, impoverished the
elder brother, who in the end had to sell to his younger brother all the things
that he had unlawfully and unjustly taken from his father’s wealth. He also
had to work as an accountant for the younger brother. Such stories are
numerous and can be found in all families.

Al-Jabbar is Allah, Who destroys the unjust aggressors and wrong-doers; Al-
Jabbar is He Who has mercy on the wronged. He is Jabbar, All-Mighty,
against the unjust and tyrannical just as He is Jabbar for the wronged. He is
Jabbar against the strong and powerful just as He is Jabbar for the weak and
powerless. He is Jabbar against he arrogant and haughty just as He is Jabbar
for the humble and lowly.

Al-Jabbar is Allah, Who sets all things right, gives victory to His Religion,
makes easy all difficult things, consoles and comforts the broken and
miserable. In fact, this Divine Name “Al-Jabbar” belongs to Allah’s
Attributes that have to do with His Divine Acts.
Third Meaning: Al-Jabbar is someone who compels another to do as he
(i.e. the compeller) pleases. Allah is Al-Jabbar (the Compeller) in the sense
that His Divine Will is Irresistible. In this context, it has been rightly said:
“You will and I will, but Allah does what He wills.” Also, in a Divine
Hadith, Allah, Al-Jabbar, says, “O My slave! You will and I will. If you
surrender to Me in what you will, I suffice you in what you will. But if
you do not surrender to Me in what you will, I tire you out in what you
will, and nothing will be except what I will.”

Pharaoh addressed his people: “I am your almighty lord! I know not that
you have a god other than me!” One day, he saw in a dream that a child
from among the children of Israel will destroy his kingdom, but instead of
turning to his Lord, Allah, All-Mighty, with repentance, and instead of
giving up his arrogance, injustice, tyranny and claim for godhood, he
stupidly thought of slaughtering all the baby-boys of the children of Israel;
and he did kill all the baby-boys of the children of Israel. No midwife could
do anything at Pharaoh’s time except to hide a newly born baby-boy of the
children of Israel from Pharaoh’s men, for if it was found out that she did not
kill him, she would be killed instead. Pharaoh was able to kill all the baby-
boys of the children of Israel except the one who would, later on, destroy his
kingdom, and whom he himself brought up in his own palace. Allah, Al-
Jabbar, the Almighty, overpowered Pharaoh and caused him to drown. To
this effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “And We took the children of Israel
across the sea, and Pharaoh with his hosts followed them in oppression
and enmity, till when drowning overtook him (Pharaoh), he (Pharaoh)
said: ‘I believe that there is no god except He (Allah), in Whom the
children of Israel believe, and I am one of the Muslims (those who
submit themselves to Allah’s Will).’” [X; 90-91]

In the same context, Joseph’s brothers plotted against him and put him in the
depth of a well in order to get rid of him. But what happened? In the end,
they entered upon him in his palace after he became the ‘Aziz (ruler) of
Egypt! He, (PBUH), said “I am Joseph! And this is my brother
(Benjamin)! Allah has indeed been Gracious to us. Verily, he who fears
Allah, is dutiful to Him and shows perseverance, then surely, Allah
makes not the reward of the good-doers to be lost.” [XII; 90] Explaining
the lesson behind Joseph’s story, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “And Allah
has full power and control over His Affairs, but most of them know
not.” [ibid; 21] Such is another story.
Therefore, Allah, Al-Jabbar (the Compeller, the Irresistible), foiled the plots
and efforts of Joseph’s brothers, who wanted to kill him and get rid of him
by putting him in the well. Not only so, but also Allah, the Compeller, the
Irresistible, made him the ‘Aziz (Ruler) of Egypt. Yes indeed! Allah is Al-
Jabbar, the Compeller, the Irresistible.

Also, Abraham’s people wanted to burn him and get rid of him. All things
seemed to be in their hands and under their control, for they were more
powerful. They kindled a great blazing fire and cast Abraham, (PBUH), into
it. He could have run away, he could have hidden in a place where they
could never have found him, there could have been heavy rain from heaven
to put off the fire, they could not have known that it was he who destroyed
their idols, but Allah, Al-Jabbar, desired that they should know that it was
Abraham who destroyed their idols and seize him, a weak young man as he
was, that he should admit destroying their idols, and that they should kindle
a great fire wherein they cast him. Despite everything, Allah, Al-Jabbar, said,
“We (Allah) said: ‘O fire! Be you coolness and safety for Abraham!’ And
they wanted to harm him, but We made them the worst losers.” [XXI;
69,70]

Similarly, the Holy Prophet, Muhammad, (PBUH): his people in Mecca

plotted against him and wanted to kill him. They boycotted him and tortured
his Companions. Nevertheless, in the end, he came back to them as a
conqueror, and they were put under his mercy. If he had given one single
sign to his victorious Companions, they would have killed them all. But all
that he, (PBUH), did was that he said: “What do you think I shall do to
you?!” They said: “(You are) A noble brother and the son of a noble
brother!” He, (PBUH), said: “Then, go! You are all free!” Yes, indeed.
Allah is Al-Jabbar, the Compeller, the Irresistible!

On Al-Khandaq (the Ditch) Expedition, things became so hard for Allah’s

Messenger, (PBUH), and his venerable Companions, that some of them
thought that everything was over and that they would inevitably be defeated
by the confederates. The ones who were possessed of firm belief from
among them said: “Does your companion (i.e. Muhammad) promise us
that the Roman and Persian Empires will be opened to us, while the one
of us can not go out to answer the call of nature?!” But what happened in
the end?! Allah, Al-Jabbar, the Irresistible, the Compeller,caused a strong
wind to blow, turning over the enemies’ pots, pulling off their tents and
putting out their fires. In this context, Allah, Al-Jabbar, says, “And Allah
drove back those who disbelieved in their rage: they gained no
advantage. And Allah spared the believers of fighting. Verily, Allah is
All-Strong, All-Mighty.” [XXXIII; 25]

Therefore, the first meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Jabbar”: is

someone or something that is too high to reach; and in this sense the Name
belongs to those Divine Names of Allah that have to do with de-
anthropomorphism. In other words, it is impossible for anyone, even holy
Prophets or Messengers, to encompass Allah, Al-Jabbar, in knowledge. No
one, except Allah, can possibly know the reality of Allah’s Divine Self. But
we can know some aspects or features of His Divine Perfection, or His
Divine Names or Attributes. No one knows the reality of Allah except Allah
Himself, Alone.

The second meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Jabbar” is: The One
Who sets things right: He consoles the weak, helps the broken, gives victory
to the wronged, and provides the poor.

The third meaning is: Allah is Al-Jabbar in the sense that He, All-Mighty,
compels all His creatures by His Irresistible Divine Will and Desire.

I have recently heard a very impressive story of a wealthy person who is

well-known for his fabulous richness. He has a very successful business
from which he earns fabulous amounts of money. An engineer came to
propose to his daughter. The engineer was a good righteous man who had a
moderate income. The rich man rejected the young engineer’s proposal
because he was not rich enough. But the problem was that he rejected the
engineer’s proposal most insolently and arrogantly. Afterwards, however, the
rich man’s business was suddenly stopped because of a certain law issued
and, therefore, he went bankrupt and was in need of someone to help him for
a living. The formerly rich, but now poor, man asked some people to
convince the engineer, whose proposal to marry his daughter he had
previously rejected, and the young engineer married the man’s daughter. The
amazing thing about this story is that the formerly rich man, who no longer
was rich, had to work as an employee for his son-in-law, the young engineer,
who became very rich. Yes, indeed! Allah is Jabbar!

A woman arrogantly and boastfully addressed her husband’s second wife,

who was barren and, therefore, did not have any children: “I have a baby in
my belly, another one in my lab and a third one in front of me! Three
children!” Who believes that afterwards, the three children died one after
another before their mother’s eyes, and the barren second wife, who did not
have any children, was granted by Allah, five male children?!

Yes, indeed! Allah is Al-Jabbar: He, All-Mighty, is always with the wronged
and oppressed, the weak and lowly, the miserable and wretched, the poor
and needy. He supports them, He provides them, He helps them, He makes
them victorious over their enemies, He makes them successful. I tell you that
I know who of the two partners is honest and trustworthy, and who is a
transgressor and wrong-doer. I know that from the future of the relationship
between them. The one who, later on and after their partnership is broken, is
helped by Allah and is made successful is the wronged honest and
trustworthy one, but the one who is, late on, destroyed by Allah, Al-Jabbar,
is, most often, the transgressor and wrong-doer.

A husband and wife got divorced, each claiming that the other is bad. In the
future, if the wife is granted another better husband who treats her well and
honors her, and if the husband is involved in another bad marriage with
another bad wife who badly treats him and causes him a lot of trouble, this
means that the husband was the transgressor and wrong-doer.

It is narrated that a husband was sitting with his wife eating chicken when
suddenly they heard a knock on the door. The wife went to see who it was
and opened the door to find a poor beggar whom she desired to give some
food, but the husband rebuked her saying, “Send him away! Don’t give
him anything!” The days went by and the husband divorced his wife.
Afterwards, she got married to another rich man. While the woman and her
new husband were sitting together eating chicken, they heard a knock on the
door. When she went to open the door, she was greatly shocked. The new
husband asked: “What’s the matter?! Why are you shocked?!” She said
in great astonishment: “Do you know who it is? It is my ex-husband!” The
new husband soon replied: “And I am the beggar!” Yes, indeed! Allah is
Al-Jabbar!

Everywhere and at all times people hear of such stories: a rich person who
suddenly becomes poor, a poor person who suddenly becomes rich, a weak
person who becomes powerful, a powerful person who becomes weak, and
so on and so forth. So many are those who were under the control of other
people who inflicted on them lots of humiliation and pain, but quite
suddenly, the formerly powerful people fall in the hands of the formerly
weak ones and under their control. A true believer should never be proud or
arrogant or unjust if he is made prosperous and powerful by the Lord, All-
Mighty, Most Gracious.

In fact, just as Allah, Most Generous, sometimes incredibly gives wealth to

some of His slaves, He also, sometimes, incredibly takes wealth away from
others.

Some seventy years ago, there used to be an unfair obstetrician who was the
only one in Damascus. He did not go out of his clinic to see a patient unless
he was given a gold pound even if the patient was poor and could not afford
it. He also did not go unless he was taken by a special cart, for there were no
cars at that time. Some patients even had to sell their own furniture in order
to pay to him. He became very rich and built a luxurious house in the richest
part of Damascus - By the way, the house still exists in Damascus. But
suddenly, he was semi-paralyzed and his wife had to take care of him for
some time. But then, he was put in the basement of his house, where food
was carried to him by one of the servants. Very seldom was he visited by
anyone, even his wife. When he used to ask the servant about his wife, the
servant would tell him: “I told her that you wanted her. I don’t know why
she did not come to see you.” He sent for his wife several times, but she did
not come to see him except very rarely; and when she came to see him, she
would say to him the hardest and most merciless words. He remained in that
unbearable condition for some eight years, with no one visiting him except
the servant who used to bring him food. Moreover, due to the bad smell that
used to come from him in the basement, his wife had him removed to
another remote place in order to keep the house tidy and safe from his bad
smell and annoying shouting, although it was he who had built that
luxurious house and decorated it by himself.

Yes, indeed! Allah is Al-Jabbar! The above-mentioned obstetrician did not

have mercy on his poor patients, some of whom had to sell their own
furniture in order to pay him his wages in gold pounds. Therefore, Allah, Al-
Jabbar, made him pay dearly for his non-humanitarian attitude to his
patients.

Those who are unfair, unjust, arrogant, or tyrannical, who dominate over
other fellow humans and subject them to their evil desires and caprices, have
to know that their Lord, Allah, All-Mighty, is Jabbar! He, Glory to Him, is
Jabbar with the weak against the powerful, with the wronged against the
unjust or tyrannical, with the poor against the arrogant and tyrannical rich,
for not all rich people are tyrannical.

Therefore, the third meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Jabbar” is that

He compels His slaves to whatever he pleases; He forces them to work,
willy-nilly, according to His Divine Will. In other words, nothing could
possibly happen in Allah’s Kingdom except what He wills. He is the
Compeller, the Omnipotent, the Irresistible. Praised and Glorified is He,
Who is Free from any imperfection! Praised and Glorified is He, in Whose
Kingdom nothing could ever happen except what He wills.

After such explanation of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Jabbar”, it

does not befit a true Muslim to fear or pray to anyone but Him, for no one
but Allah, Lord of all worlds, deserves to be feared, prayed to, or beseeched.

A knowledgeable religious scholar once said: “O Lord! I am amazed at

someone who knows You but beseeches someone else other than You! I
am amazed at someone who knows You but asks for help someone else
other than You! And I am amazed at someone who knows You but turns
to someone else other than You (in worship and devotion)!”

It has also been said: Al-Jabbar is He, (Allah), Whose Reality cannot be
conceived by the human mind or perceived by the human senses, Whose
Divine Command is Irresistible, Who compels all things but none could
possibly compel Him, Who sets things right and bids His slaves to obey
Him not because He needs their obedience.

If a certain person is described as being jabbar in the negative sense of the

word, he must necessarily be destroyed by Allah, All-Mighty. However, man
can be jabbar in one way only: if he is not captivated by the love for wealth
and social rank. This is because once man loves wealth and social rank, such
love becomes a point of weakness in him, i.e. he becomes weak and
vulnerable to wealth-and-rank allurement. That is why it is said: “You can
have access to that man by money!” Also, those who aspire after a
prominent social rank weaken when they are praised and glorified.
Therefore, those who are captivated by the love for wealth and rank are
weak people; and a person who is able to resist the love for wealth and rank
can be described as jabbar in the sense that befits a human being: he is not a
weak person whom you can have access to by wealth or flattery.
You can have access to a true believer only by the Truth, not by wealth or
flattery. Hence, a true believer can be described as being jabbar only in the
sense that he does not need to be praised or bribed, i.e. he is not influenced
by flattery or bribery. However, no human being can be described as jabbar
in the sense that befits the Lord, Allah, All-Mighty, i.e. the Compeller, the
Irresistible, the Omnipotent, the Sublime, or the Supreme, for such Divine
Names and Attributes belong to Allah, Alone, Lord of all worlds.

No matter how powerful a person may be, he has two points of weakness:
wealth and women. He is not seduced except through these two ways: either
by a beautiful woman who seduces him to indecent or unlawful work, and he
collapses thereby, or by money that he gets unlawfully, and he collapses
thereby. If man is immune from allurements of women and wealth, he is
immune and can never be defeated.

Therefore, a person can be described as being jabbar if he makes other

people follow his good example of being honest, trustworthy,
straightforward, decent, chaste, good-doing, righteous, pious, venerable, …
etc. Such is Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), who assumed an
unmatched standard of human perfection, for he, (PBUH), used to give
generously to other fellow humans and not take from them, he used to do
good to all human beings and not abuse them, he used to influence them and
not get influenced by them. He, (PBUH), was once asked by an Arabian
about a herd that belonged to him, “Who does that valley of sheep belong
to?” “It is yours!” He, (PBUH), soon replied. The man asked in
amazement: “Are you making fun of me?!” He, (PBUH), said: “No, not at
all. It is yours. Take it.” The man said: “I bear witness that you are
Allah’s Messenger, for you give (so generously), like someone who does
not fear of being impoverished!”

Therefore, Al-jabbar from among mankind is a person who is generous and

immune from the love for wealth, social rank or being praised or glorified.

* * *
N ow, we continue our trip with the eighth of Allah’s Beautiful Divine
Names: Al-Mutakabbir.
Dear reader, it is necessary for a true believer to know Allah; and to know
His Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes is part of knowing Him. He
exists and He is One and Perfect. Once again I repeat: it is indispensable for
believers to know Allah’s Beautiful Names and Attributes, for Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Verily, Allah has ninety-nine Names, one
hundred but one, Whosoever knows each and every one of them
(believes in them, and works according to them) enters the Garden (of
Paradise).” [narrated by Al-Bukhari]

The truth is, however, that no one knows the reality of Allah’s Divine Self
except Allah Himself, Alone. Such fact should be clear to everybody: No
one knows Allah except Allah Himself, Alone. If we desire to know Him, it
is like a drop of water in the ocean. To this effect, Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), says, “The present world does not take from the Hereafter
except that which a needle takes from the ocean if it is dipped therein
(i.e. compared to the Hereafter, the present world is just as tiny as a
drop of water in the ocean).”

If knowledge of the reality of Allah’s Divine Self is just like an ocean, man’s
knowledge of Allah’s reality is not more than the water that a needle holds
from the ocean if it is dipped therein. However, as Imam Ali, may Allah
honor his face, said, “Taking a little is better than leaving a lot.”

Now, is it possible to set a few examples that enable us to know Allah, All-
Mighty? But is it permissible to set examples derived from our daily life in
order to clarify some facts?

Yes, it is possible, although nothing is the like of Allah. Here is the evidence:
Allah, All-High, desires to introduce Himself to us by setting the following
example: “He (Allah) sets forth for you a parable from your own selves:
do you have partners among those whom your right hands possess (i.e.
your slaves) to share as equals in the wealth that We have bestowed on
you whom you fear as you fear each other? Thus do We explain the
Signs in detail to a people who have sense.” [XXX; 28]

In order to let us know that there is no god but Allah, Alone, that He has no
partners, and that He allows none to take part with Him in His Divine
Decision, Allah Glory to Him, sets such example as above-mentioned.
Therefore, it is possible that we set a few examples that enable us to know
Allah’s Beautiful Names, particularly because the Name that we are going to
study now is Al-Mutaabbir; and if the word “Al-Mutakabbir”(the Sublime,
the Supreme), is also used to describe a human being, it has an evil negative
connotation, simply because such an attribute belongs to Allah, All-Mighty,
Alone.

Let’s imagine that someone is in bad need of a hundred thousand pounds in

order to have a vital surgical operation. Doctors said: “Such surgical
operation is indispensable; and so is the amount of money needed for the
operation.” Since he does not have such amount of money, he goes to one of
his relatives asking him to lend him the money: “Do you have the money?”
The relative says: “Yes, I do.” But if he does not actually have the money,
he is a liar! He goes to another one asking him the same question: “Do you
have the money?”, and he truthfully answers: “Yes, I do.” Now, the one
who falsely claimed to possess the money, although he did not have it, is a
liar and is by no means perfect. The second one would also be imperfect if
he said humbly: “No, I do not have the money.”, although he is truthful. He
should say: “Yes, I do have the money! Here you are! Take it!” if he
desires to be perfect and truthful.

Therefore, At-Takabur (i.e. being Sublime and Supreme) reflects Divine

Perfection but human imperfection. This is because Allah, All-Mighty, is the
Creator of all worlds. In His Hand is the Dominion of all things. If He
desires a thing, His Command is: “Be!”; and it is. To Him all matters are
returned for judgment and decision. His Divine Glory and Might are Infinite.
His Divine Perfection is Infinite. His Divine Knowledge is Infinite. His
Divine Power is Infinite. If Allah is Al-Mutakabbir, this is because He knows
that He is All-Mighty. This notion takes us to another Divine Name of
Allah’s, namely Al-Mu’min, one of whose meanings is that Allah, Glory to
Him, knows Himself perfectly. To make things clear, we put forward the
following example: If you have a PH.D. in Arabic literature and language
and someone, who is a beginner, reads you a text in Arabic, making a lot of
mistakes and errors, don’t you certainly feel superior to him in your own
specialization and that his reading is full of mistakes? Of course you do!
Your knowledge is undisputable!

Therefore, if a coward says: “I am brave!”, this would be a false claim that

reflects a serious defect in him. If a mean person says: “I am generous!”,
this would be imperfect of him. If someone ignorant says: “I am
knowledgeable!”, it would also be imperfect of him. But if someone
knowledgeable says: “I know, and I will answer your question.”, and he
does answer the question, it would be perfect of him. If a brave person says:
“I am brave, and I shall defend you.”, and he really does, it would be
perfect of him. If someone generous sys: “I am generous. Here you are!
Take this money!”, it would be perfect of him.

When we say: Allah, All-Mighty, is Al-Mutakabbir (the Sublime, the

Supreme), it is in fact a Name that denotes Divine Perfection. But when we
say that a certain human being is mutakabbir, it denotes serious imperfection
because it means that he/she is an insolent arrogant person. This is the first
fact of this lecture.

Al-Mutakabbir is someone who sees that all others are little compared to
him; and he sees neither might nor glory but in himself. In other words, he
looks upon others just like kings do towards their slaves.

Allah, All-Mighty, is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. In His Hand is
the Dominion over all things. To Him do return all matters for judgment and
decision. If He desires anything, He says: “Be!”, and it is. If Allah, All-
Mighty, says about Himself that He is Al-Mutakabbir, this means that He,
Glory to Him, knows Himself perfectly. And this Name, Al-Mutakabbir, has
to do with another Divine Name of Allah’s, Al-Mu’min, which means that
He, Glory to Him, perfectly knows Himself.

In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Allah, All-Mighty, says:

‘Sublimity is My cloak, and so is Might: if anyone rivals with Me for
either of them, I shall cast him into the Fire.” [Sunan Abi Dawood]

In another narration of the Hadith: “…, I destroy him and do not care.”

Some scholars hold that: “The word “Al-Mutakabbir” is derived from Al-
Kibria’ (Sublimity, Pride); and he who has the right to claim for
Sublimity or Pride is the king.” To this effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says,
“They said (to Moses): ‘You have come to us to turn us away from that
(Faith) which we found our fathers following, and that you two may
have sublimity in the land? We are not going to believe you two!” [X;
78]

Al-Mutakabbir (the Sublime) is Allah, the King, Whose Sovereignty never

perishes, the Great, in Whose Kingdom nothing happens except by His
Leave, the One, the Omnipotent. Such is one of the meanings of Allah’s
Beautiful Name Al-Mutakabbir (the Sublime).

Another meaning is derived from the words Al-Kabeer (i.e. the Great).
Allah, All-Mighty, says, “So when she heard of their accusation, she sent
for them and prepared a banquet for them; she gave each one of them a
knife (to cut the foodstuff with); and she said (to Joseph): ‘Come out
before them.’ Then, when they saw him (Joseph), they exalted him
(because of his great beauty) and (in great astonishment) cut their
hands. They said: ‘How Perfect is Allah, (Who created Joseph)! This is
not a human being! This is none other than a noble angel!” [XII; 31] In
other words, due to Joseph’s great beauty, the women cut their fingers.

Allah, Glorified and Exalted, is also Mutakabbir in the sense that His Divine
Sublimity is Infinite, He is Great, Whose Divine Greatness is Infinite. This is
the second meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name Al-Mutakabbir.

A third meaning is: Al-Mutakabbir is Allah, Who is far Exalted above being
unjust or unfair to His slaves. A fourth meaning is that Allah, Most Gracious,
is Al-Mutakabbir in the sense that in His Hand is Beneficence and from Him
is Forgiveness. A fifth meaning of Al-Mutakabbir is that His Sovereignty,
Dominion and Greatness are imperishable.

Another meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name Al-Mutakabbir is: the Great and
Sublime. And sublimity comes from self-existence and self-guidance. Allah,
All-Mighty, has a Free Will. And Al-Mutakabbir is Allah, Who is far above
any kind of imperfection or defect that does not befit His Divine Perfection,
and Who is far Exalted above anthropomorphic qualities of His creatures.

Therefore, we have to know Allah, since if we know Him, we obey Him. To

this effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “And likewise of men and moving
living creatures, beasts and cattle, are of various colors (species). It is
only those who have knowledge from among His (Allah’s) slaves that
fear Allah. Verily, Allah is All-Mighty, Oft-Forgiving.” [XXXV; 28]

Our work is by no means proper and rightly guided unless we know Allah;
and we are never happy in this present world or the world to come unless our
work is rightly guided. Three things: we have to know Allah; if we know
Him, we obey Him; and if we obey Him, we attain happiness of intimacy
with Him in the present world and the Hereafter.

Therefore, Al-Mutakabbir is He, Allah, Who is far above all the

anthropomorphic qualities of His creatures, Who is Perfect in His own
Divine Self, in His Attributes, and in His Acts. To this effect, Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Verily, Allah revealed to me that you should
be modest so that no one boasts before another and so that no one
transgresses against another…” [Sahih Muslim]

Also, in a Divine Hadith, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “I love three, and My
Love for three is greater: I love the obedient, and My Love for a young
obedient one is greater. I love the modest, and My Love for a rich
modest one is greater. I love the generous, and My Love for a poor
generous one is greater. And I hate three, and My Hatred for three is
greater: I hate the disobedient, and My Hatred for an old disobedient
one is greater. I hate the arrogant, and My Hatred for a poor arrogant
one is greater. And I hate misers, and My Hatred for a rich miser is
greater.”

Do you believe, dear reader, that Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “He
who has the weight of an atom of arrogance shall never be admitted into
Paradise.” [Sahih Muslim]?!

Why? They said: Because arrogance clashes with man’s being a slave of
Allah, All-Mighty. In other words, you are a slave, and Allah is the Lord: if
you rival with Him concerning His Divine Lordship, He destroys you, as
afore-mentioned in the above Divine Hadith. That is why Allah’s Messenger
says, “He who humbles himself to Allah one degree, Allah raises him (in
honor) one degree, (and so on) until He makes him among the most
honorable; and he who shows one degree of arrogance to Allah, Allah
degrades him one degree, (and so on) until He makes him among the
lowest of the low.” [Sunan Ibn Majah]
When Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), conquered Mecca, he entered it with a
bowed head so that his hat almost touched the neck of his camel out of
modesty and humbleness to Allah, All-Mighty, Most Gracious. And when
once a man entered upon him, he was overtaken by his holy apparel and
started shivering. He, (PBUH), addressed the man in great moderation,
“Take it easy my brother! I am but the son of a (simple) woman - from
Quraish – who used to eat Al-Qadeed (simple food of dried meat) in
Mecca!”

In fact, Allah’s Divine Sublimity, Supremeness, Glory, Highness,

Praiseworthiness, Exaltedness, Beauty, …etc, all betoken the fact that He,
All-Mighty, Most Gracious, deserves all Attributes of Divine Majesty and
Perfection and is Free from all kinds of defects and imperfection.

A knowledgeable holy scholar supplicated Allah: “O my Lord! How can I

draw near to You (i.e. attain Your Love and Compassion)?!” So he felt in
his heart (as if Allah were addressing him): “O My slave! Seek My Love
and Compassion by things that are not found in Me.” He asked: “O
Lord! What are the things that are not found in You?!?” The Almighty
answered him: “Humbleness and lack of self-sufficiency.” That is why
showing both humbleness to Allah and bad need of Him is the shortest way
to attain Allah’s Divine Love and Compassion. Another most successful way
that leads to Him is to hasten to Him with faithful obedience and sincere
devotion.

Obey Our Command, and We unveil Our Veils for you,

For We grant with pleasure those who love Us.
And seek refuge in Our Protection and seek help from Us,
So that We may protect you from the evil ones from among Our creatures.
And let nothing divert you from remembering Us,
And be sincere to Us, and you will find happiness and contentment.
And surrender to Us the judgment of all matters,
For bringing near and casting away are but under Our Command.

Be with Allah, you find Allah with you.

And leave all others (but Allah) and beware of your greediness.
And put yourself in humble submission to Him,
Before your own self, by force, puts you.
One of the knowledgeable scholars who knew Allah said that one day, after
he had performed both the late night and dawn prayers but had not spent the
night standing in prayer, he said to himself: “I would rather spend the
night sleeping and get up with regret in the morning than spend the
night standing in prayer and be self-conceited in the morning.” In other
words, he entered a state of arrogance. In this context, Allah’s Messenger
was once quoted as saying, “If you did not commit sins, I would be more
afraid for you of something that is more serious, namely self-
conceitedness.”

Of course, only those who contemplate Allah’s Signs in the universe are able
to deliberate Allah’s Beautiful Name: Al-Mutakabbir (the Sublime, the
Supreme). Some astronomers say: “In the universe, there are more than a
million-million galaxies, in each of which there are more than a million-
million stars. Light needs one second in order to cross the distance
between the earth and the moon, eight minutes in order to cross the
distance between the earth and the sun, and four years in traveling to us
from the nearest of the fixed stars, taking into consideration that in one
single second, light crosses 300,000 km’s.” In other words, if we desire to
travel by car the distance between the earth and the nearest star, we need
about 50,000,000 (fifty million) years. So, what do you think of the Polar
Star, from which light needs 4,000 years in reaching us (i.e.
50,000,000X1,000: fifty billion years), or a galaxy called Super Nova, from
which light takes a million years in traveling to the earth, or even a newly
discovered galaxy from which light needs 16,000,000,000 (sixteen billion)
years in traveling to us. In this context, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “So, I swear
by the settings of the stars! And verily, that is indeed a great Oath if you
but know!” [LV; 75,76]

A human being may quite often boast: “I am what I am!” But who is a
human being in reality?! Contemplate such fabulously great cosmic
distances as above-mentioned! Such galaxy was in such place some
16,000,000,000 years ago. But where is it now?! No one but Allah, All-
Mighty, Alone, knows where it is now!

In a previous lecture I mentioned that the distance between the earth and the
sun is 158,000,000 km’s, that the sun is 1,300,000 times bigger than the
earth, and that a small brilliant red star in the Cancer Constellation is as big
as the earth plus the sun plus the distance between them. Therefore, Allah, is
Al-Mutakabbir, the Sublime, the Supreme! His Marvelous Creation bespeaks
His Infinite Divine Greatness and Majesty.

Once again, I repeat: The whole universe is a mere manifestation of Allah’s

Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes. He can not possibly be seen by the
human eye, but the universe, which is His Creation, is quite visible and
clearly substantiates His Infinite Divine Might, Majesty and Power. To this
effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “We shall show them Our Signs in the
universe and in their own selves until it becomes manifest to them that
this (the Quran) is the truth. Is it not sufficient in regard to your Lord
that He witnesses all things.” [XLI; 53]

Did you know that in a husband-wife sexual intercourse 300,000,000

seminal animalcules are ejected, on each of which there are millions of
programmed pieces of information called genes?! Such genes are only
visible under the microscope. In the human brain there are 140,000,000,000
brown cells whose job has not been yet found out. In the retina of the human
eye there are 130,000,000 cells to provide clear vision; and in each of the
optic sensors, there are 900,000 optic nerves.

Do you believe that if someone goes to the Arctic, where the temperature is
minus 70 degrees Celsius in winter, he can wear whatever heavy clothes to
protect himself from the excessively cold weather, but he can not cover his
eyes, because if he does, he will not be able to see?! That is why Allah, All-
Mighty, Most Gracious, has equipped our eyes with a special kind of anti-
freeze liquid, which protects the human eye from being frozen of the cold.
Without such marvelous liquid, man would soon go blind because of the
cold. Yes, in deed! It is Allah, Al-Mutakabbir, the Sublime, the Supreme, the
One Free from all kinds of imperfection in both His Own Divine Self and
Acts! Just deliberate Allah’s Words, “Verily, in the creation of the heavens
and the earth, and in the alternation of the night and day, there are
indeed Signs for men of understanding: those who (constantly)
remember Allah (while they are) standing, sitting and lying on their
sides, and contemplate the creation of the heavens and the earth,
(saying): ‘Our Lord! You have not created (all) this in vain! Glory to
You! Give us salvation from the Fire-Torment.” [III; 190,191]

Do you believe that in the human brain there is a most accurate organ that
measures the difference of the sound received by both ears?! This is because
the same sound reaches the ear that is nearer to the sound-source 1/1000 of a
second before the other. The brain measures such difference and determines
direction of sound-source. Without such organ direction of sound-sources
cannot possibly be perceived. Yes, indeed! Allah is Al-Mutakabbir, the
Sublime, the Supreme!

In fact, Allah’s Beautiful Names can not be known except by means of His
Divine cosmic Signs, which are wide-spread in the universe, and which
betoken His Infinite Divine Might and Power. All of us have stores of liquid
fuel for our heating systems; and it is known that five cubic meters of oil
make five barrels. Do you believe that the human heart pumps eight cubic
meters of blood in one single day, the size of the highest sky-scraper in the
world in the average life-span of a human being.

Do you think you are a tiny creature,

While in you is imbedded the greater world?!

Do you believe that the human liver performs more than 5,000 (five
thousand) jobs in the human body and that without a liver man can survive
only for three hours. The speech about Allah’s Divine Miracles in both man
and the universe is endless. In this context, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “And
also in your own selves (are Signs): will you not then see?!” [LI; 21]

Your own body, dear reader, is a teaching aid; the organs of your body,
different and numerous as they are, are the greatest teaching aid that leads
you to Allah, All-Mighty. If you spent all your life contemplating greatness
of the creation of man, you would never be able to know the reality of
Allah’s Divine Self. But Allah, Glory to Him, guides you to seek some
knowledge about Him through contemplation on His Divine Miracles that
He has imbedded in your own human body. That is why He, Most Gracious,
calls our attention: “And also in your own selves (are Signs): will you not
then see?!”

Those who display arrogance from among the children of Adam wrong
themselves! Just a few weeks ago, Allah, Most Gracious, had mercy on us
when a very mild earthquake hit our country. Had such earthquake been
stronger, we would have been completely destroyed. It would have been
possibly said: 80,000 killed and 70,000 injured would have been found
under the debris. There would have been complete destruction of houses and
buildings. Yes, indeed! It was a faint earthquake, less than 5 degrees on the
Rechter Scale! If it had been more than 5 degrees, we would not be here now
in this mosque. So, why should we ever display arrogance?! We live by
Allah’s Kindness and Care. A great many beautiful cities have been
completely destroyed in only a few seconds. Why should we ever be
arrogant?!

When rain was withheld and water became scarce, we felt that we would be
deprived of even a glass of water! Is there on the whole earth anyone who
could determine to send us rain?! But Allah, All-Mighty, Most Gracious, had
mercy on us and showed us that it is He, Who is Al-Mutakabbir. It is He
Who sends us rain out of His Divine Mercy! Who are we?! A space shuttle
that was given an arrogant name, “Challenger”, which was insolent to the
Lord, Allah, All-Mighty. On board of the shuttle were seven make astronauts
accompanied by a female one that was supposed to get pregnant from one of
the male astronauts and give birth to a baby in outer space. However, it burst
into blazing flames only seventy seconds after it had been launched. Why
should we be arrogant?! Who are we?! Our existence or extinction is but by
one Divine Word: “Be!” or “Perish!” That is why it has been rightly said:

I have nothing but my need of You as a means,

And because of my need of You I supplicate to You my need.
I have no means but knocking at Your Door,
But if Your Door is closed before me, at which other door shall I knock?!

Yes, indeed! You are in bad constant need of the Lord, Allah, All-Mighty! In
weal and woe, even when you are at your best in health, knowledge and
power, you are in bad need of Him! Therefore, whenever you desire to do
anything, you should invoke the Lord, All-Mighty: “O Allah! I have
forsaken my might and power to take refuge in Your Might and Power!
O You, Owner of Might and Power!

Do you believe (I put forward these examples in order to wake people from
their heedlessness and carelessness, for it does not befit man to be arrogant:
if he does show arrogance, it is most foolish of him) that if a drop of blood
were to clot in a certain part of the brain, man would be paralyzed. In other
words, after having been in a state of comfort and ease with all people
around him showing due respect, love and care, a microscopic blood-clot in
the brain suddenly renders him a feeble motionless semi-dead body lying in
bed with the most intimate relatives looking forward to his death. Why
should we be arrogant?! If such a blood-drop were to clot in another part of
the brain, man may, quite suddenly, lose his memory. A dear brother told me
that his father lost his memory before he died. He went back from work to
his home in Al-Muhamjireen quarter of Damascus, but he remained more
than half an hour in desperate search for his home. In what condition would
you be if you lost your memory?! If you lost your memory, you would lose
even yourself, you would be just like a feather in the wind.

A son once entered upon his old father, who used to be a chemist. The father
asked, “Who are you?” In great amazement, the son replied, “I am your
son!” The father said, “I don’t know you!” Therefore, a clot of blood in the
man’s brain caused him to lose his memory. If the clot were in a third part of
the brain, man would lose his sight, and all the beautiful scenes would be
gone: no colors, no green mountains, no blue seas, no beautiful son or
daughter. All the sense of visual beauty would be lost in the darkness of his
eyes.

I have heard that a famous writer’s blind father used to spend the summer in
a most beautiful place in Austria. I swear by Allah! Even if he was put in a
small air-conditioned room in his poor town, it would make no difference for
him, for he sees nothing!

Therefore, if man lowers his gaze at the things that Allah, All-Mighty,
determines as unlawful for him, and if, out of obedience and devotion to the
Lord, Most Gracious, he guards his eyes against indecent scenes, the Lord,
will most probably protect his sight and keep his eyes safe and healthy for
him. In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), say, “The best ones from
among you are those who learn the Quran and teach it.” [Sahih Al-
Bukhari] One of the venerable religious scholars of Damascus taught the
Holy Quran to three consecutive generations. Whenever he met any one of
his students, he would tell him: “O son! You were my student, and so were
your father and grandfather!” He started teaching when he was eighteen
and continued until he was ninety-eight; and he used to have an upright
healthy body with sharp eyes and delicate ears. He was also granted a happy
married life until his death. Whenever he was asked, “O Master! To what
do you attribute your good health!”, he would humbly say, “O son! I
have guarded my senses in my youth (against unlawful or indecent
things), so Allah protected them for me in my old age. He who lives in
righteousness and piety lives in strength and good health.” Don’t you
wish, dear reader, to be in good health and great honor when you are old?! It
has been rightly said: “If you desire to be dear to Allah, be dutiful to Him.
If you desire to be the most powerful of all mankind, put your trust in
Allah. If you desire to be the richest of all mankind, be more confident
in what is in Allah’s Hands than what is in your own hands.”

Just contemplate factories of the red blood corpuscles inside the bones!
There is a disease that affects the production of such corpuscles. These
factories of the red corpuscles produce 2,500,000 corpuscles per second.
Sometimes they stop working for no known reason. So, should you be
arrogant?! A million dangers threaten you! So, what can you do?!

I know someone who was well-off and had a good social position in this
country. He lost his sight; and when a friend of his came to visit him, he
said: “I swear by Allah! I wish I had no Ph.D. or such a prominent social
rank. I wish I were a poor beggar asking people for money in the streets
if Allah, All-Mighty, gave me back my sight!” The bliss of eye-sight can
be preserved by showing faithful obedience and sincere devotion to our
Lord, Allah, All-Mighty.

Where does an evil tumor come from?! A healthy person may suddenly
suffer from a kind of disorder in the growth of the cells of his body!
Sometimes, for no known reason, man’s kidneys fail to work, and therefore,
he has to go to hospital for artificial cleaning of his kidneys at least twice a
week, which is unbearable… So why should you be arrogant?! Do you have
control over your kidneys?! Do you have control over your heart?! Do you
have control over the valves of your heart?! Do you have control over the
main artery that carries blood into your heart?! Can you guarantee to keep
blood-vessels inside your brain unblocked?! Can you keep your sensory
nerves well and in good order?! Can you guarantee the good functioning of
the joints between your bones and that your body does not become one
unmovable tough block of flesh?!

There are countless illnesses and diseases, so why should you be arrogant?!
Do you have control over your tongue?! While you are asleep, saliva
increases in your mouth, and therefore, a warning is sent to your brain,
which, in turn, commands the uvula to open the way to your esophagus, into
which the saliva flows automatically while you are soundly asleep. Also,
while you are soundly asleep, Allah, All-Mighty, causes you to turn over
from side to side more than 38 times a night, so that you may not fall off
your bed. Such are Allah’s Graces and Blessings upon you! Contemplate
them and turn to your Lord, Allah, Most Gracious, with true love and sincere
devotion! Do not belittle sins but rather think of Him, against Whom you
transgress when you commit such sins!

If upon birth, Potall Opening in the baby’s heart does not close
automatically, a great amount of money is needed for a surgical operation in
order to close it. It is an opening between both auricles of the heart. And as I
have been informed by some doctors, a clot is sent to close it. Whose Hand
is inside the heart?! Whose Hand comes and closes Potall Opening?! If it
remained unclosed, the baby’s color would be blue, simply because blood
would not be carried from one auricle of the heart to the other or refined
through the lungs.

When someone has a healthy baby, he invokes: “O Lord! Praise is all

Yours!” But if the baby were to be born blue, it would need a costly surgical
operation. What can we do?! Why should we be arrogant?!

Allah, All-Mighty, is Able to force you to sell both your home and store in
order to pay for a single surgical operation! Why should you be arrogant?!

I repeat once again: Allah, Al-Mutakabbir, the Sublime, the Supreme, Alone,
has the right to be Arrogant, for Arrogance reflects Divine Perfection as
much as it reflects human imperfection.

A friend of mine died because of an illness that resulted from lack of blood
plates. Without such blood plates, man would bleed to death at the slightest
wound. This is because in the human blood there are special hormones for
both liquefaction and coagulation of the blood. Due to the balance between
both kinds of hormones blood remains in a good condition and runs
smoothly through the blood-vessels. Who regulates such hormones?! It is the
Lord, Allah, All-Mighty, Most Gracious, the Sublime, the Supreme! While
you are soundly and comfortably asleep, who controls breathing for you?! It
is the Lord, Allah, All-Mighty! If anything goes wrong with your breathing
due to reflexive nervous failure, a very expensive medicine is needed, a
tablet of which has to be taken every single hour during the night. In other
words, a person who suffers from such disease has to wake up every hour to
take a tablet and then go back to sleep! He has to keep more than one alarm
clock beside him if he desires to survive during the night! What a life! Due
to Allah’s Infinite Divine Grace, your breathing goes on, quite smoothly and
comfortably, for long hours, while you are soundly asleep. In fact, the
speech about man’s miraculous nature is almost endless. The more
knowledgeable man is the more humble and submissive to Allah, All-
Mighty, Most Gracious, he is. To this effect, Allah, Most Merciful, says, “It
is only those who have knowledge among His (Allah’s) slaves that fear
Allah.” [XXXV; 28] Yes, indeed! Only the knowledgeable ones, and no
other human beings, fear Allah, All-Mighty. Therefore, it has been rightly
said: “One should be a knowledgeable person, a learner, a listener, or a
lover of learning; otherwise one would be a great loser.”

In the same context, Imam Al-Ghazali said: “Knowledge does not lend you
some of itself unless you lend it all of yourself. If you lend it some of
yourself, it lends you nothing.” Moreover, knowledge is the only value
that Allah, All-Mighty, considers as a distinguisher between His slaves. In
other words, people may excel one another in a great many things: wealth,
health, beauty, power, intelligence, …etc, but knowledge is the only thing
that make people excel in the sight of Allah. To this effect, He, Glory to
Him, says, “Is one who is obedient to Allah, prostrating himself or
standing (in prayer) during the night, fearing the Hereafter and hoping
for the Mercy of his Lord (like one who disobeys)?! Say: ‘Are those who
know equal to those who know not?!’ It is only men of understanding
who will remember.” [XXXIX; 9] Also, a religious relic goes: “Blessed is
He (Allah), who allotted intelligence differently among His Slaves, for
two men may be equal in righteous work, piety, fast and prayer but
differ in intelligence like an atom compared to a mountain. No better
thing has Allah allotted to His slaves than intelligence and true Faith.”

That is why it has been rightly said: “Every new-born dawn calls out, ‘O
son of Adam! I am the dawn of a new day and a witness of your work!
Avail yourself of me, for I shall never return until the Resurrection
Day!” Also, the venerable devoted worshipper, Rabi’ah Al-Adawiyah, may
Allah have mercy on her, was once asked, “What is a human being?” She
answered, “He is but a few days; whenever a day passes away, a part of
him (man) passes away.”

To wrap up, Al-Mutakabbir, the Sublime, the Supreme, is one of Allah’s

Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes, which reflect His Divine Perfection.
But no human being should ever assume such Divine quality, for that would
reflect not only great insolence and arrogance but also serious ignorance and
imperfection. Be careful! Be careful! Allah has mercy on those who know
their human limitations and abide by them!
 * * *

O ur trip with Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes is very

long. So, we should have a short rest; and in our garden, as it were,
is a blooming tall tree with many branches under which we shall
have some shade with the ninth of Allah’s Beautiful Names, Al-Ghaffar,
which comes in the Holy Quran under three forms, first of which is
“Ghafir”. Allah, All-Mighty, says, “Ghafir-I-Thamb (the Forgiver of sin),
the Acceptor of repentance, the Severe in punishment, the One Who
Bestows (Favors). There is no god but He, to Him is the Final Return.”
[XL; 3] The second form is “Al-Ghafour”, as in Allah’s Words, “And your
Lord is Al-Ghafour (the Oft-Forgiving), the Owner of Mercy. Were He
to call them to account for what they have earned, then surely, He would
have hastened punishment for them; but they have their appointed time,
from which they will find no escape.” [XVIII; 58], in His Words, “And He
(Allah) is Al-Ghafour (the Oft-Forgiving), the Compassionate.”
[LXXXV; 14], in His Words, “Declare (O Muhammad) unto My slaves
that truly, I am Al-Ghafour (the Oft-Forgiving), the Most Merciful.”
[XV; 49], and in His Words, “Say to My salves who have transgressed
against themselves: ‘Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy. Verily, Allah
forgives all sins. Truly, He is Al-Ghafour (the Oft-Forgiving), the Most
Merciful.” [XXXIX; 53], among other Quranic Verses in which we read
Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Ghafour”.
The third form of this Divine Name is “Al-Ghaffar” as in Allah’s Words,
“And verily, I am Al-Ghaffar (the All-Forgiving) for him who repents,
believes and does righteousness and is moreover rightly guided.” [XX;
82], in is Divine Words, “I said: ‘Ask forgiveness of your Lord, (for)
verily, He is Ghaffar (All-Forgiving). He will send rain to you in
abundance, and give you increase in wealth and children, and bestow on
you gardens and bestow on you rivers.” [LXXI; 10-12]

In short, “Ghafir”, “Ghafour” and “Ghaffar” are all used to the same purport
in the Holy Quran, for they are derived from the same root, “Al-Maghfirah”
(i.e. Forgiveness).

Some scholars said: “A person who disobeys Allah, All-Mighty, is described

in the Holy Quran as being “Thalim”, “Thaloum” or “Thallam”. For
example, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “Then We gave the Book (the
Quran) as inheritance to such of Our slaves whom We chose. Then, of
them are some who are Thalimun Linafsih (i.e. wrong themselves), and
of them are those who follow a middle course, and of them are some
who are, by Allah’s Leave, foremost in good deeds. That is indeed a
great Grace.” [XXXV; 32] Another example is Allah’s Words, “Truly, We
did offer the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but
they declined to bear it and were afraid of it. But man bore it; verily he
was Thalouman (i.e. unjust to himself) and ignorant.” [XXXIII; 72] A
third example is Allah’s Words, “Say to My slaves who Asrafou (have
transgressed) against themselves: ‘Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy.
Verily, Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is All-Forgiving, Most
Merciful.” [XXXIX; 53]

Hence, Al-Musrif, as in the above Verses, means “Thallam” (i.e. someone

who does a lot of injustice to himself, or wrongs himself).

If man is “Thalim” (i.e. a wrong-doer), Allah, Most Gracious, is “Ghafir”

(i.e. the Forgiver); if man is “Thaloum” (i.e. does a lot of injustice to
himself), Allah, Glory to Him, is “Ghafour” (i.e. the All-Forgiving); and if
man is “Thallam” (frequently does wrong to himself), Allah, Most Merciful,
is “Ghaffar” (i.e. the Oft-Forgiving). In other words, the way man commits
sins or does wrong to himself determines the Way in which Allah, Most
Gracious, responds and forgives such sins or wrong-doings.
The delicate point in this context is that man’s sins and wrong-doings are by
no means infinite, but Allah’s Divine Forgiveness is really Infinite.
Therefore, only those who disbelieve in Allah, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful, despair of His Infinite Divine Forgiveness! Only those who are
ignorant despair of Allah’s Infinite Divine Mercy! Only those who are
ungrateful despair of Allah’s Infinite Divine Grace!

If your sin is finite but Allah’s Divine Forgiveness is Infinite, then it is most
unwise, most ignorant, and most ungrateful to despair of Allah’s Infinite
Divine Mercy. Therefore, a desperate person is an ignorant ungrateful
disbeliever.

Another delicate point with regards to this Divine Name “Al-Ghaffar” is that
the Verses in which this Name is mentioned include verbs in the past form,
as in Allah’s Words, “He (David) said: ‘He has wronged you in
demanding your ewe in addition to his ewes; and verily, many partners
oppress one another, except those who believe and do righteous good
deeds – and such are few.’ And David guessed that We have tried him
and he sought Forgiveness of his Lord, and he fell down prostrate and
turned (to Allah) in repentance. So, We forgave him that, and verily, for
him is a near access to Us and a good place of (final) return (Paradise).”
[XXXVIII; 24,25] They also include verbs in the present form, as in Allah’s
Words, “Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with
Him, but He forgives other than that to whom He wills. And whoever
sets up partners with Allah has indeed invented a tremendous sin.” [IV;
48], and also, “And those who, when they have committed an evil deed
or wronged themselves, they remember Allah and ask forgiveness for
their sins – and no one forgives sins but Allah – and do not persist on
what they have done (of evil deeds) while they know…” [III; 135] They
also come in the imperative form, as in Allah’s Words, “Our Lord! Verily,
we have heard the call of one (Muhammad) calling to Faith: ‘Believe in
your Lord!’, and we have believed. Our Lord! Forgive us our sins and
expiate from us our evil deeds, and make us die as pious and righteous.”
[III; 193] They also come as verbs in the root form, as in Allah’s Words,
“The Messenger (Muhammad) believes in what has been sent down to
him from his Lord, and so do believers: each one believes in Allah, His
Angels, His Books, and His Messengers, saying, ‘We hear, and we obey.
(We seek) Ghufranaka (i.e. Your Forgiveness), our Lord! And to You is
the Final Return.’” [II; 185], and, “They ask you to hasten the evil before
the good, while (many) exemplary punishments have indeed occurred
before them. But verily, your Lord is Full of Forgiveness to mankind in
spite of their wrong-doing. And verily, your Lord is (also) Severe in
punishment.” [XIII; 6]

This means that Allah, Most Gracious, forgives you your previous, present
and future sins, for He is the Oft-Forgiving. Whenever you commit sins, He
is Oft-Forgiving. He, Most Gracious, also forgives all kinds of sins. In other
words, for any sin or misdeed, He is the All-Forgiving. If you wrong
yourself or others, He forgives you, but of course, after you have turned to
Him with true repentance and sincere devotion. He, Most Merciful, forgives
all kinds of sins everywhere and at all times, for He, Glory to Him, is the
Oft-and-All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.

In fact I say such words so that brother believers may not despair of Allah’s
Infinite Divine Mercy, for only ignorant desperate disbelievers despair of
Allah’s Infinite Divine Mercy.

Now the question is: why does this Divine Name come in such different
forms? This is a very reasonable question.

The answer is: Linguistically speaking, such variation of word-forms of

Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Ghaffar” denotes differences in both quantity,
quality and frequency of occurrence, for Allah is Ghaffar in the sense that
He is both Oft-Forgiving and All-Forgiving. In other words, whatever sins
mankind commit, regardless of quality or quantity of such sins, or time or
place of their occurrence, Allah forgives such sins, except for one
unforgivable sin, namely associating other gods with Him in worship, which
is by no means forgivable, as He, All-Mighty, says, “Verily, Allah forgives
not that partners should be set up with Him, but He forgives other (sins)
than that to whom He wills. And whoever sets up partners with Allah
has indeed invented a tremendous (unforgivable) sin.” [IV; 48]

In this context, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “Whosoever does deeds of

righteousness, it is for (the benefit of) his own self; and whosoever does
evil, it is against his own self. And your Lord is by no means unjust to
His slaves.” [XLI; 46] In other words, Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful,
never does injustice to any of His slaves, all of whom enjoy being under His
Infinite Divine Justice.
Another thing: Linguistically speaking, the Arabic word “Ghafara” means
“to cover or hide”, but when Allah speaks about Moses, (PBUH), “He
(Moses) said: ‘My Lord! I have wronged myself, so forgive me!’ Then,
He (Allah) forgave him. Verily, He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most
Merciful.” [XXVIII; 16], and also about His Messenger, Muhammad,
(PBUH), “That Allah may forgive you your sins of the past and the
future, and complete His Favor on you, and guide you on the Straight
Path.” [XLVIII; 2], He, Glory to Him, means that He pardons and forgives,
i.e. He, Most Gracious, does not punish His holy Prophets and Messengers
but rather forgives them.

The problem is that when we read one part of the Holy Quran, we forget
another. For example, when we read Allah’s Words, “Say to My salves who
have transgressed against themselves: ‘Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy.
Verily, Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is the All-Forgiving, the Most
Merciful.’” [XXXIX; 53] Here, we should not stop but rather continue
reading, “And turn you in repentance and in obedience with true Faith
to your Lord and submit yourselves to Him before the Torment comes
upon you, and then you will not be helped.” [ibid; 54] In other words,
Allah, is Ghafour (All-Forgiving) for those who turn to Him, for those who
repent, for those who abstain from committing sins and misdeeds, for those
who reform, for those who ask for Forgiveness, not for those who insist on
their sins and misdeeds and never think of repenting from them, thinking,
wrongly and naively, that Allah, All-Mighty, is Oft-and-All-Forgiving, Most
Merciful. To this effect, Allah, Glorified and Exalted, says, “Declare (O
Muhammad) unto My slaves that, truly, I am the Oft-Forgiving, the
Most Merciful, and that My Torment is indeed the most painful
torment.” [XV; 49,50] In other words, either you come to Him willingly or
He forces you to do so. To this effect, Allah, All-Mighty, Most Gracious,
says, “Then, He (Allah) made them repent so that He may accept their
repentance.” and, “They repented (to Allah), and He accepted their
repentance.” This means that if sinners and wrong-doers do not repent
willingly of their sins, Allah forces them to do so. To this effect, religious
scholars say: “If a sinner delays his repentance to the Lord, All-Mighty,
the Lord drives for him/her hardships and disasters that make him/her
turn to the Lord with sincere repentance. A great many are those
sinners who turn to the Lord with repentance after having been inflicted
with a disaster or hardship.” And when Allah, All-Mighty, said, “Leave
Me, Alone, (to deal) with the one whom I, Alone, created and granted
resources in abundance, and children to be by his side, and for whom I
made life smooth and comfortable.” [LXIV; 12-14], He addressed His
Messenger Muhammad, (PBUH): “O Muhammad! If so and so does not
respond to you, leave him to Me! I shall drive to him hardships and disasters
that will force him to repent to Me.” In fact, the above Verses are very
delicate, for due to His Infinite Divine Mercy, Allah, Most Gracious, makes
a gentle kind person give you a piece of advice in a gentle kind way
supported by Quranic Verses and Prophetic Hadiths as well as stories and
parables. But if you do not respond, Allah has other hard methods and
treatments that drive you to His Door. So, which is better for you: to come to
Him willingly and gently or by the stick?! In this context, Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Your Lord is amazed at some people who are
driven to Paradise with chains. All of the children of Adam will enter
Paradise except those who refuse to do so.” They asked, “And who
refuses (to enter Paradise), o Messenger of Allah?!” “Those who obey
me enter Paradise, but those who disobey me refuse to do so.” He,
(PBUH), replied.

The thing of which you have to be afraid most is that you are called to Allah,
All-Mighty, Most Gracious, gently and kindly by a loving believing brother,
who advises you to lower down your gaze, to make your income lawful, to
shun transgression or injustice, to shun aggression, …etc, but you do not
respond to such kind gentle call, and, therefore, Allah, All-Mighty, drives to
you hardships and disasters that cause you to repent to Him, i.e. He forces
you to repent to Him: “Then, He (Allah) made them repent so that He
may accept their repentance.” It is wise to repent to Allah willingly:
“They repented (to Allah), and He accepted their repentance.”

In fact, Allah is Full of Forgiveness. He is both All-Forgiving and Oft-

Forgiving. In a Divine Hadith, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “O My slaves! I
have forbidden injustice for Myself, and I have made it forbidden
amongst yourselves; so, do not do injustice to one another! O My slaves!
All of you are astray, except those for whom I provide Guidance;
therefore, beseech Me for Guidance, and I shall provide you Guidance.
O My slaves! All of you are hungry, except those for whom I provide
sustenance; so, beseech Me for sustenance, and I shall provide you with
sustenance. O My slaves! All of you are undressed, except those for
whom I provide dresses; so, beseech Me for dresses, and I shall provide
you with dresses… O My slaves! If the first and last from among you,
and if the jinn and humans from among you, stood up in one line to
beseech Me, and I gave each and every one of you whatever they may
ask for, that would not take from that which I have except as much as a
needle would take (water) from the ocean if it were dipped therein. O
My slaves! It is only your deeds that I count for you in order to repay
you for them; therefore, he who finds goodness should thank Allah, but
he who finds otherwise should have only himself to blame.” [Sahih
Muslim]

The above Divine Hadith means that if man willingly turns to Allah in
repentance, he guarantees Allah’s Protection, Honor and Support to himself.
But if he refuses and fails to respond, he will be afflicted by torment from
where he does not reckon. That is why our Lord, All-Mighty, says, “O you
who believe! Answer Allah and the Messenger when he calls you to that
which gives you life, and know that Allah comes in between a person
and his heart, and verily, to Him you shall be gathered.” [VIII; 24], and,
“O you who believe! What is the matter with you?! When you are asked
to march forth in the Cause of Allah, you cling heavily to the earth! Are
you pleased with the life of this present world rather than the
Hereafter?! But little is the enjoyment of the life of this world as
compared to the Hereafter. If you march not forth, He punishes you
with a painful torment and replaces you by another people; and you can
not harm Him at all, and Allah is Powerful over all things.” [IX; 38,39]

If you do not come to Him, He drives you to His Door by force.

Some scholars said: “When once he turned to his Lord (in invocation),
Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), said, ‘O you (Allah), Who
unveils that which is beautiful and veils that which is ugly!’”

Just contemplate the above invocation: ‘O you (Allah), Who unveils that
which is beautiful and veils that which is ugly!’ What does he mean by
“ugly”? He means your evil thoughts, for lots of ugly thoughts visit man’s
mind: thoughts of evil things, thoughts of committing sins. A thought that
does not please the Lord, All-Mighty, may occur to you, but don’t you see
that Allah, Praised and Glorified, covers all your evil thoughts and does not
unveil them to other fellow humans. You may think of whatever things you
like, and you may intend to do whatever you desire, nevertheless, you are
respected by people, for Allah does not allow them to know your innermost
thoughts and intentions unless you speak them out yourself. That is why
some poets rightly said:
By Allah! If they knew my ugly thoughts,
Those who meet me would never greet me,
But rather they would turn away from me and get bored with my company.

If either partner were to know what goes on in the mind of the other, they
would both break up. If a husband were to know what goes on in his wife’s
mind, he would divorce her; and if she were to know what is in his mind, she
would leave him. If a father were to know what goes on in his son’s mind
concerning his death, he would hate him. Sometimes, a son says to his
father: “O father! Give me your hand so that I kiss it!” But in his mind is
another different thought. If the father were to know what is in his son’s
mind, he would not only hate him but send him away as well. Yes, indeed!
Allah, Most Gracious, is the Coverer, Who veils your evil thoughts and
intentions from others. This is the meaning of the Prophet’s invocation: ‘O
you (Allah), Who unveils that which is beautiful and veils that which is
ugly!”

Therefore, your innermost feelings, intentions, thoughts and ambitions are

well-protected and well-covered. This is another meaning of Allah’s
Beautiful Divine Name Al-Ghaffar, i.e. He keeps your innermost thoughts
and intentions hidden from other fellow humans. Another meaning is that
without an outer skin man’s body would look very ugly. In other words,
man’s inner muscles and innermost parts would look horrible if they were on
the surface of his body. But by Allah’s Grace, the outer skin makes man’s
face and body look beautiful. This is another meaning of Allah’s Beautiful
Divine Name Al-Ghaffar, i.e. He, Most Gracious, covers man’s ugly inner
body with a nice-looking skin. This is also the meaning of the Prophet’s
invocation: ‘O you (Allah), Who unveils that which is beautiful and veils
that which is ugly!” Also, Allah unveils man’s face, which is beautiful and
veils his private parts, which are ugly.

A third meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name Al-Ghaffar is that Allah, Most

Gracious, veils a believer’s sins and misdeeds and does not show them. In
other words, if a believer were to see the evil things that he formerly did
when he was ignorant and heedless, he would get burnt of regret. When a
believer turns to Allah with repentance, Allah forgives him his sins. But if he
were to remember the evil things that he did in times of ignorance, he would
bite his fingers of regret. Therefore, due to His Infinite Divine Mercy, Allah
covers all the believer’s sins and misdeeds. This is, as some scholars say, the
secret behind the decay of the human body upon death. The images are kept
in man’s memory, and when the body perishes, there remains the soul, which
is pure, holy and perfect because it is linked with Divine Perfection. When a
true believer, who has previously committed sins and misdeeds, repents to
Allah, what happens? If he were to remember his times of ignorance, the evil
things that he has committed and the indecent conditions he has undergone,
the lowly moral standard at which he has been, and the illogical intellectual
condition in which he has been, he would get burnt of regret: his present
perfection would burn him. This is in the present world, in which, as it is
said, a believer is made to suffer humiliation, poverty or illness. But what is
meant by humiliation? In fact, it is humiliation entailed by one’s former
ignorance before one has repented to Allah, Most Gracious. This is because
when man repents of his sins and misdeeds and is completely cured of them:
if he were to remember such sins and misdeeds, he would get burnt of regret
resulting from his previous carelessness and heedlessness. Therefore, due to
His Infinite Divine Mercy upon believers in Paradise, Allah, Most Gracious,
veils all their sins and misdeeds, so that neither they nor anyone else can see
any of such sins or misdeeds. That is why Allah, Most Merciful, says, “The
Forgiver of sin, the Acceptor of repentance, the Severe in punishment,
the Bestower of Favors, there is no god but He, to Him is the Final
Return.” [XL; 3]

In interpretation of the above Quranic Verses, some scholars said: “Allah

forgives sins out of His Bounty; He accepts repentance out of His Grace;
He is Severe in punishing disbelievers; and He bestows His Favors upon
those whom He loves.”

In the above Verses there are three of Allah’s Divine Names for believers
and one Name for disbelievers. He is the Forgiver of sin, the Acceptor of
repentance, the Bestower of Favors, the Severe in punishment. It is said that
He is the Forgiver of sin for those who wrong themselves, the Acceptor of
repentance for those who are lukewarm and follow a middle course, the
Bestower of Favors for those who excel in good deeds. This is because some
believers are negligent and commit sins, others are straightforward and
honest, and some others are excellent. Therefore, Allah, Most Gracious, is
the Forgiver of sin for negligent believers, the Acceptor of repentance for
lukewarm believers, the Bestower of Favors for excellent believers, the
Severe in punishment for disbelievers. But why is it only one Name for
disbelievers? This is because Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Disbelief
is but one and the same creed. So, beyond the Truth, what is there
except Falsehood?” In other words, disbelief is only one, but belief has
ranks and degrees.

Scholars said: Consider Wahshi, who killed Hamzah, the Prophet’s

venerable uncle and Companion. Do you believe that there could ever be a
dirtier, uglier, more horrible, or more disgusting deed than what Wahshi, the
slave, did in return to his emancipation? He killed Hamzah and stabbed his
abdomen with his spear. After having killed Hamzah, he regretted his evil
deed and flew away to At-Ta’if, a town near Mecca. Then, he sincerely
wrote to Allah’s Messenger: “Is it possible for me to repent” He was the
one who killed one of the most beloved persons to Allah’s Messenger,
Hamzah - and you can visit his tomb, dear reader, when you visit Medina,
for it is near Mount Uhud. He wrote to Allah’s Messenger, “Is it possible
for me to repent?” Therefore, Allah, Most Gracious, sent down this Verse:
“Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him (in
worship), but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He wills;
and whoever sets up partners with Allah in worship has indeed invented
a tremendous sin.” [IV; 48] Wahshi thought to himself, “I might not be
included in Allah’s Will as mentioned in this Verse.” Therefore, Allah,
Most Gracious, sent down: “And those who invoke not any other gods
along with Allah nor kill such person as Allah has forbidden, except for
a just cause, nor commit illegal sexual intercourse – and whoever does
this shall receive a (painful) punishment. The Torment shall be doubled
to him on the Day of Resurrection, and he shall abide therein in
disgrace, except for those who repent and believe and do righteous
deeds: for those Allah shall change their sins into good deeds; and Allah
is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [XXV; 68-70] But Wahshi still thought
to himself, “My work might not be righteous enough in the sight of Allah
to accept my repentance.” So, Allah sent down: “Say to My slaves who
have transgressed against themselves (by committing sins): ‘Despair not
of Allah’s Mercy! Verily, Allah forgives all sins!’” In other words, even if
you turn to Allah with sincere repentance from as many sins as would fill the
heavens and the earth, Allah forgives you and does not care, for He, Most
Merciful, is happier with His slave’s repentance than a lost one who finds his
way, a barren father who suddenly has a baby, or a thirsty one who finds
water.

We have some delicate points concerning the above Verse: “Say to My

slaves who have transgressed against themselves (by committing sins)”.
In this Verse Allah, Most Gracious, does not say, “Say to My slaves who
have committed sins and misdeeds, who have committed adultery, who
have drunk wine, or who have committed genocide, …etc.” He, Most
merciful, said, “Say to My slaves who have transgressed against
themselves…”, which means that due to His Infinite Divine Mercy, Allah
does not unveil the different grievous sins and misdeeds that sinners and
wrong-doers have committed. He, Most Gracious, desires to cover them so
that they may turn to Him with sincere repentance and faithful devotion.

Another delicate point is found in Allah’s Word “My”, which denotes that
Allah, Most Gracious, still affiliates such sinners and wrong-doers to
Himself, i.e. He does not dismiss them from His Infinite Divine Mercy, but
rather reassures them that He accepts their repentance if they turn to Him
with sincere repentance. He also desires to comfort them and give them
hope: “Say to My slaves who have transgressed against themselves:
‘Despair not of Allah’s Mercy.’ …” Therefore, they should be happy with
Allah’s affiliating them to Himself, and they should love Him and hasten to
turn to Him with true faith and sincere repentance. They should never
despair of His Infinite Divine Mercy and Love for His slaves.

A third delicate point is that in the above Verse Allah does not say overtly,
“Say to My slaves who have transgressed against themselves by
committing sins and misdeeds towards other fellow humans…”, because
when they commit such sins and misdeeds and transgress against other
fellow humans, they actually transgress against themselves, they actually do
harm to their own selves. None could possibly do harm to Allah, All-Mighty,
for His Divine Self is far Above being done harm to. To this effect, He, All-
Mighty, says, “O My slaves! Even if the first and last, the jinn and
humans, from among you, were as profligate as the most evil one from
among you, that would by no means decrease a thing from My
Kingdom.” Hence, “Say to My slaves who have transgressed against
themselves” means that Allah’s Divine Self is far Above being done harm
to, and “Despair not of Allah’s Mercy! Verily, Allah forgives all sins.
Verily, He is the All-and-Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” Means that
whether you commit sins or not, and whether your sins are grievous or
insignificant, it is His Infinite Divine Name and Attribute, everywhere and at
all times, that He is Al-Ghaffour and Al-Ghaffar (the All-and-Oft-Forgiving).

As for Allah’s Words, “Declare unto My slaves that I am, truly I am, the
All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” [XV; 49], scholars said that Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), once passed by some of his Companions. Having
noticed that they were laughing, he addressed them, “Are you laughing and
the Fire is ahead of you!”, which made them very sad and depressed.
Therefore, he, (PBUH), reassured them: “There has come to me Gabriel,
(PBUH), revealing to me Allah’s Words ‘Declare unto My slaves that I
am, truly I am, the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.’”

It is impossible for man to be in a good sound psychological state unless he

combines equally both fear and hope in himself. If fear is stronger than
hope, it is psychologically improper; and so is the case if hope is stronger
than fear. Therefore, you have to be careful to keep both feelings in due
balance. In the human blood there is a special hormone for coagulation and
another for liquefaction. They should both be in a state of complete balance,
otherwise human life would be impossible. If the first hormone overcame
the second, blood would stagnate in the blood-vessels; and if the second
overcame the first, man would bleed to death at the slightest wound. In your
relationship with Allah, Most Gracious, All-Mighty, there should always be a
kind of balance between both fear and hope. A great many people wrongly
say, “Do not be so strict! Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful!” Such
naïve kind of hope is foolish, for if you read the Holy Quran you quite often
find that Allah, Glory to Him, says, “Then verily, your Lord - for those
who do evil out of ignorance and afterward repent and do righteous
deeds – verily, your Lord, thereafter, is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
[XVI; 119] If you search for the Quranic Verses that have to do with the
issue of Divine Forgiveness, you find a great many of them go like this:
“And those who committed evil deeds and then repented, afterwards,
and believed, verily, your Lord, after all that, is indeed All-Forgiving,
Most Merciful.” [VII; 153]

In other words, hope without repentance and reform is a mere stupid kind of
optimism; and fear to the degree of misery and utmost despair of Allah’s
Divine Mercy is nothing but deadly pessimism. You shall never be happy
with Allah, Most Gracious, unless you combine both fear and hope. Allah,
Most Merciful, All-Mighty, says, “And We answered his (Zechariah’s)
call, and We granted him John and cured his wife (to bear a child) for
him. Verily, they used to hasten to do good deeds, and they used to call
upon Us with hope and fear and used to humble themselves before Us.”
[XXI; 90], and, “Say: ‘Who rescues you from the darkness of the land
and the sea (as) you call upon Him humbly and secretly, (saying), ‘If He
(Allah) only saves us from this (danger), we shall truly be of those who
are grateful.’” [VI; 63]
Allah, Most Gracious, says, “Declare (O Muhammad) unto My slaves
that I am, truly I am, the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” The Verse is
addressed to Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), who is commanded to reassure
sinners and wrong-doers that Allah is All-and-Oft- Forgiving and that He is
Most Merciful. A Caliph was once visited by two of his grandsons, one was
the son of his son and the other the son of his daughter. “Whose sons are
you?” The Caliph asked. His daughter’s son affiliated himself to his own
father, while his son’s son affiliated himself to the Caliph himself. So, the
Caliph filled the lap of his son’s son with jewels, simply because he
affiliated himself to him (i.e. the Caliph), while that of the daughter’s son
with sweats. The lesson behind such story is that if man invokes his Lord:
“O Allah! You are my Lord! There is no god but You! I have none but
You!”, such invocation is sure to bring him nearer to the Lord, Most
Gracious, as he affiliates himself to Him, All-Mighty. Therefore, Allah, Most
Merciful, honors you by affiliating you to Himself, as He says, “Declare
unto My slaves who have transgressed against themselves….” That is
why those who read the Holy Quran should deliberate how Allah affiliates
mankind to Himself: “Declare unto My slaves that I am, truly I am, the
All-and-Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” Also, there is repetition of the
words “I am” in order to reassure His slaves that He surly is the All-and-
Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.

Some scholars said: Allah’s Name “Al-Ghafir” means that He forgives you
your sin in the sense that He obliterates it from the Scrolls of your deeds, His
Name “Al-Ghafour” means that He obliterates your sins from the Records of
the Scribes (i.e. Angels who record man’s deeds), and His Name “Al-
Ghaffar” means that He makes you forget such sins altogether. It is most
Generous of Allah that on the Day of Judgment, you find that all your sins
and misdeeds have been obliterated altogether: from the Scrolls of your
deeds, from the Records of the Angels, and from your own mind. That is
why you are made to live in utmost never-ending Bliss in Allah’s Paradise,
the breadth of which is the heavens and the earth.

It is wise that a sinner repents at a young age, but it is also alright if he/she
repents at an old age, for Allah, Glory to Him, is Bounty Abounding. In this
context, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “O My slave! You have grown old,
your back has grown bent, your sight has grown weak, and your hair
has grown gray, so you should feel ashamed before Me, for I feel
ashamed before you!”
The story that I like most and never forget speaks about an illiterate fifty-
five-year-old man who admired a young Sheikh (religious scholar) and
wished he could be like him. Remember in this context that Allah’s High
Ranks are granted only to those who are truthful and sincere. Any way, the
elderly man mounted his donkey and headed for Cairo, where Al-Azhar
university is located. He spent years at Al-Azhar university studying the
Holy Quran and disciplines of religious knowledge until he was ninety-nine.
But he did not pass away until he had assumed the highest degree at Al-
Azhar, Namely Seikh Al-Azhar (The Chief Scholar of Al-Azhar university).
At the age of fifty-five, he turned to the Lord, Most Gracious, with sincere
repentance and set off on his trip of study and education, which he achieved
most successfully. Every now and then, he used to invoke his Lord: “O
Allah! I have been late in coming to You! I have been very late! …”. But
due to Allah’s Grace, he was not too late!

If man repents to the Lord, Most Gracious, and tastes sweetness of such
repentance, he says, “My heart is burning with regret for the great many
years that I have spent in disobedience to Allah!” In other words, after
having tried the taste of purity, the taste of intimacy with Allah, the taste of
turning to Allah, the taste of righteous work, the taste of knowledge, and the
taste of honor, man says, “I wish I had known Allah before this age!” That
venerable scholar of Al-Azhar university used to invoke the Lord: “O Lord!
I have been late in coming to you!” But Allah, Most Gracious, inspired
him: “O My slave! Do not say that! Verily, those who are late in coming
to Me are those who pass away before they repent of their sins!” This
means that if you still have only one day to survive, you can repent to the
Lord. So long as your heart is still beating, there is great hope. But the
sooner the better.

Now, the question is: What is our relationship with Allah’s Beautiful Name
Al-Ghaffar (the All-and Oft-Forgiving)? The answer is: Allah, Most
Gracious, is Al-Ghaffar (the Oft-and-All-Forgiving)! And you, as a human
being, can’t you forget mistakes of other fellow humans?! Don’t you forgive
them?!

Scholars said: A believer’s share of this Name is that he should cover

mistakes of other fellow humans, believers and non-believers, just as Allah
covers his own mistakes. Such is the first and foremost thing a believer has
to do towards Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name Al-Ghaffar (the Oft-and-All-
Forgiving).

At the time of the venerable Companion and Caliph Omar bin Al-Khattab,
may Allah be pleased with him, a woman committed adultery. After having
been punished, she repented sincerely. Later on, a man came propose to her
for marriage. Her brother came to Omar, saying, “O Commander of the
Faithful! A man has come to propose to my sister for marriage. Shall I
inform him about her previous sin and punishment?” Omar, may Allah
be pleased with him, said angrily: “If you had informed him, I would have
killed you! Allah, Most Gracious, has covered her! Do you want to
uncover her?!”

Therefore, if you, as a true believer, know that a friend of yours has

committed a sin or a misdeed, you should cover it for him. You should never
mention it to any other person if you are a true believer who believes in
Allah’s Name Al-Ghaffar (the Oft-and-All-Forgiving). Just as Allah, Al-
Ghaffar, has forgiven you your sins and misdeeds and accepted your
repentance, you should forgive your friends and cover their mistakes. In this
context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “A sin is a misfortune for
others than the one who has committed it, for if they speak about it,
they slander him.”

If a friend of yours commits a sin and you speak about it to the others, you
slander him. If you blame him for it, you will be made to commit the same
sin. And if you accept such a sin from him, you share with him the state of
being sinful. If we are informed that a friend of ours has earned some money
unlawfully, it is enough to say: “Well done! He has done this for a better
living.” to be as sinful as he is. Praising such a wrong-doer and trying to
justify his evil deed makes us as sinful as he is; blaming him for committing
such unlawful earning of money makes us fall in the same trap; and
speaking about his sin to others means that we slander him. All of this
happens to those who have not committed the sin, so what about the one
who has committed it?!

A person who overlooks other people’s mistakes is a noble bounteous

person. So, always try to be a positive person. Always try to mention other
people’s merits. While dealing with other people, try to overlook their faults
and shortcomings and highlight their merits and good deeds if you really
want them to love you. Unfortunately, some people are always inclined to
forget all of the good things of others.

In the same context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “O Allah! I take

refuge with You from an evil neighbor who: if he sees something good,
he conceals it; but if he sees something evil, he reveals it. O Allah! I take
refuge with You from an evil Imam (leader) who: If you do something
good, he does not accept it; but if you do something bad, he does not
forgive (it).”

It is indeed most horrible to conceal people’s merits and reveal their

demerits. Therefore, a true believer is someone who overlooks people’s
faults and shortcomings and highlights their good deeds. In this context,
Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Honor is helpful.”

If you have a son whom you know is trustworthy, try to praise him for being
trustworthy. Some fathers are so critical about their sons, and they under-
estimate their work. Doesn’t your son have a merit?! Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), was once asked, “O Allah’s Messenger! What saves man from
the Fire?” He, (PBUH), replied, “Belief in Allah.” “Should there be any
work together with belief?” He, (PBUH), was asked. “He should give
from that which Allah has given him.” He, (PBUH), answered. “What if
he does not have anything to give?” He, (PBUH), was asked. “He should
help a helpless person.” He, (PBUH), replied. “What if he can not?” He,
(PBUH), was asked. “He should bid for a good thing.” He, (PBUH),
answered. “What if he can not do (that) well?” He, (PBUH), was asked.
“Don’t you wish to leave for your fellow one good thing?!” He, (PBUH),
asked.

No human being is deprived of all merits. If you have an employee who is a

little negligent but honest, try to tell him: “I am pleased with your
honesty.” A man entered upon Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), while he was
performing prayer. Being very careful to catch up with Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), and his venerable Companions in prayer, the man made much
noise and disturbance and spoiled their prayer. Allah’s Messenger did
nothing but gently addressed the man: “May Allah make you more
careful! Do not do that again.” [Sahih Al-Bukhari] In other words, he,
(PBUH), praised the man’s carefulness to catch up with Allah’s Messenger
and his venerable Companions in prayer and bade him gently not to do that
again.
Ibn ‘Abbad, one of the Princes of Andalus (ancient Muslim Spain), was a
poet. One day, in the garden of his palace, he began composing a verse
saying, “The breeze has spread on the water Zarad (Chains of which an
armor is made).”, but he could not complete the verse. A maid of his, who
was standing behind him, completed the verse saying, “What a strong
armor it would be if it got frozen!” The prince greatly admired his maid and
got married to her. Later on, he became king of Andalus and lived happily
with her. One day, she desired to remember former days of poverty. She
wanted to walk on mud, so he brought musk and camphor, mixed them with
rose-water and said: “Here is some mud for you to walk on!” Days went
by and someone called Ibn Tashifeen came from Africa to defeat all the
kings of Andalus and put them all in jail. When things became so bad for Ibn
‘Abbad, his wife, who had previously been a maid of his and upon whom he
had bestowed a great honor by making her a queen, reproached him saying,
“I have never seen anything good of you!” He reminded her, “Not even
the day of the mud?!”

If you have a wife, do not always blame her. If you have a son, do not
always reproach him. Doesn’t he have any merits?! If you keep reproaching
him, you destroy him. Doesn’t your wife have any merits?! Isn’t she chaste
and noble?! When you leave home for work, aren’t you sure of her chastity
and honesty?! A true believer does not forget merits of other people. On one
of his battles against the infidels of Mecca, namely Badr Expedition, Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), saw ‘Ikrimah, his daughter’s husband, among the
captives. ‘Ikrimah had come with the infidels of Mecca to fight against his
father-in-law, Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), who did not forget
that he was his son-in-law, but praised him saying, “By Allah! We have
never known him to be a bad son-in-law!” and set him free.

The best and most noble thing for you with Allah is to be fair to other fellow
humans around you. If you have a wife, children, brothers, neighbors,
friends, subordinates, employees, …etc, whose merits you know quite well,
try, every now and then, to praise them for such merits. If you do, they will
love you and accept your advice and even criticism. Remember what Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), said to the man who made great disturbance in the
mosque, as above mentioned: “May Allah make you more careful! Do not
do that again.”
As a true believer, you should be fair to others. There is an amazing story in
this context: When ‘Ikrimah Ibn Abu Jahl came to declare his conversion to
Islam, what did Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), say?! He, (PBUH), addressed
his venerable Companions: “Here comes ‘Ikrimah to declare his
conversion to Islam. Never speak badly of his father!” But who was
‘Ikrimah’s father?! His father was Abu Jahl, one of Allah’s Messenger’s
worst enemies. However, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), went on saying,
“This is because speaking badly of the dead injures the living but does
not reach the dead.”

As a true believer, you should always highlight merits of others and cover
their demerits. Hunting for mistakes and shortcomings of other fellow
humans is by no means a believer’s job.

One day, the holy Prophet Jesus, (PBUH), came past a stinking decaying
cadaver – and I don’t think there is, in the whole world, anything that looks
or smells more horrible than a stinking decaying cadaver. His companions
said “How horrible it smells!” He, (PBUH), said: “Do not say that, but
rather say: ‘How white and beautiful its teeth are!” Maybe, the lesson we
get from such wise words of the holy Prophet, Jesus, (PBUH), is that you
can never be a good father, a good teacher, a good preacher, a good
merchant, a good factory or hospital director unless you know merits of
those who work with you and appreciate and highlight such merits. Once
you have done that, you may expect them to accept your advice. If, however,
you forget or neglect such merits, and if you hunt for mistakes and
shortcomings, they will surely turn away from you.

Any way, this is all I can say about Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-
Ghaffar”; and I pray to Allah for success. As dear readers know, no one can
ever know the reality of Allah except Allah Himself. In this lecture I
mentioned some Quranic Verses and Prophetic Haiths that have to do with
this Divine Name, “Al-Ghaffar”, which should always motivate us all to ask
Him for forgiveness, for He, glory to Him, is the All-and-Oft-Forgiving.

“O Allah! You are All-and-Oft-Forgiving, Most Generous! You like to

forgive, so forgive us, o You, Most Generous!” This was one of the most
favorite supplications of Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH). Therefore, we should
always supplicate Allah with it.
 * * *

B efore starting with a new Divine Name of Allah’s, namely “Al-

Qahhar” (the Irresistible Subduer), it is necessary to stop at an
unchangeable fact about man, explicitly that he has been granted by
Allah, Most Gracious, a cognitive power substantiated by his senses, mind,
and heart. The senses feel, the mind thinks and the heart feels. The five
senses are something common among mankind and other living creatures.
For, example, there are animals that see, hear, and perceive outer
environment by some senses that Allah, All-Mighty, has bestowed upon
them. But man, alone, has been granted an intellect, which is called “mind”
by some people, and to which Allah, All-Mighty, refers: “And follow not
(i.e. do not say, do or witness) that of which you have no knowledge.
Verily, man is held responsible for his hearing, sight and heart.” [XVI;
36] In this Quranic Verse the word “heart” means “the mind”, i.e. man is
held responsible for his sight, hearing and thoughts. In other words, Allah,
Most Gracious, has granted man a heart (i.e. a mind) whereby he conceives
things. To this effect, Allah, Glory to Him, says, “Have they not traveled
through the land with hearts whereby they understand, ears whereby
they hear?! Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but rather, it is the
hearts, which are in the breasts, that grow blind.” [XXII; 46]

Now what is the difference between sense perception, mental conception and
understanding?

Sense Perception is to perceive light with your own eyes, hear sound with
your ears, smell with your nose or feel heat with your skin. This is sense
perception.
But a young child may sometimes put his hand on a snake that feels smooth
and looks nice although it is very dangerous. If he were older and knew what
a snake is, he would have another different attitude towards it. In other
words, a young child may quite often see a snake and touch it with his hand,
but he does not know its reality.

Therefore, there is a great difference between sense perception and mental

perception. Mental conception takes place by way of the mind. You may
read an article about dangers of smoking but you still smoke. In other words
mental conception is not enough to make you abstain from doing things. But
in some cases mental conception reaches a certain degree that makes the
mind understand the reality of something and drives us to keep away from it.

The accurate difference between understanding and mental conception is

that if there is something detrimental and, therefore, you keep away from it,
this means that you understand its reality. You may conceive something but
do not have a certain definite attitude towards it. But if you understand its
reality, you must necessarily have a certain attitude towards it. In other
words, there is always a practical attitude with understanding and mental
conception with thinking; and mental conception makes knowledge.

Sometimes man is driven by his desires and not by his knowledge. In other
words, most people know what is lawful and what is unlawful, for, as Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), says “Lawful things are evident and so are unlawful
things.” They know that by both their minds and pure original human
nature. They also know that by the admonition they receive through
religious preaching. But why do they still do unlawful things?! Simply
because they do not understand their danger.

The senses feel and perceive, the mind conceives and the heart understands.
The important thing is the heart. When you take a definite practical attitude
towards something, this means that you have understood its reality. To this
effect, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “And as to those who believed but did
not emigrate, you owe no duty of protection to them until they emigrate;
but if they seek your help in religion, it is your duty to help them, except
against a people with whom you have a treaty of mutual alliance; and
Allah sees well all that which you do.” [VIII; 72] He, All-Mighty, also
says, “But if they answer you not, then know that they only follow their
own desires; and who is more astray than one who follows one’s own
desires without guidance from Allah?! Verily, Allah guides not the
people who are transgressors.” [XXVIII; 50]

Both of the above Verses make clear that true believers understood certain
obligations and had definite attitudes towards them.

A person is not described as understanding unless his mental conceptions are

translated into actions, attitudes, and behavior. And the thing that saves man,
on the Day of Judgment, is not his knowledge but rather his behavior,
attitudes, commitment, straightforwardness, obedience, devotion and
adherence to Allah’s Commands.

Once again, we reiterate that we perceive by our senses, conceive by our

minds, and understand by our hearts. The senses, the mind and the heart
constitute cognitive power in man. And if we neglect the cognitive aspect in
man, he becomes a mere brute animal. In other words, without knowledge
man is a mere animal, for knowledge enhances intellectual power and makes
the mind more mature. Also, knowledge is the means whereby we achieve
paramount and noble ends.

The second fact that I hope you understand is that in Islam knowledge is not
an end in itself but rather a means to an end. To this effect, Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Learn whatever you desire (to learn), for you
shall never be rewarded unless you work by that which you learn.” He,
(PBUH), also says, “Knowledge is disastrous to those who acquire it
unless they work by it.”

In the light of the above two introductory parts, it can be said that man has a
cognitive power manifested by the senses, the mind and the heart; and in
Islam knowledge is not an end in itself but rather a means to an end, namely
application of Allah’s Religion of Islamic Monotheism.

The third fact is that in man there is an emotional aspect, an intellectual

aspect, and a material physical aspect. The material physical aspect is
common among both human beings and animals: Human beings eat, and so
do animals; and human beings get tired and sleep, and so do animals.
Moreover, a lot of animals excel human beings in some of these physical
qualities.

Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Qahhar”:

We have already mentioned that Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names do not
differ in regards to their levels. A doctor may sometimes have certain
knowledge according to which he treats a patient. But later on, he may
acquire more knowledge and experience that make his treatment more
effective. In other words, the more knowledge a doctor acquires, the better
treatment he gives to his patients. Such change and improvement can be
applied to human beings, but with Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names, things
are completely different. There is no difference between Allah’s Beautiful
Divine Names. Then, how does an ordinary neutral (non-emphatic) Name
such as “Al-Qahir” occur in the Quranic Verse, “And He (Allah) is Al-
Qahir (the Irresistible Sunduer) over His slaves, and He sends guardians
(Angels) over you, until when death approaches one of you, Our
Messengers (Angel of death and his assistants) take his soul, and they
never neglect their duty.” [VI; 61], while an emphatic form of the same
Name, “Al-Qahhar”, occur in another Verse, “The Day when they will (all)
come out, nothing of them will be hidden from Allah. Whose is the
Kingdom today?! It belongs to Allah, Alone, the One, Al-Qahhar (the
Irresistible Subduer).” [XL; 16]?!

How can we reconcile the non-emphatic Name “Al-Qahir” with the

emphatic one “Al-Qahhar”, taking into consideration that Allah’s Beautiful
Divine Names do not differ as regards their significance?! This seems
problematic.

Previously, while we were explaining Allah’s Name “Al-Ghaffar”, I said

that if someone eats food, he is called in Arabic “Akil” (i.e. someone eating
food), but he is not called “Akoul” (i.e. someone who eats too much or too
often) unless he eats a lot or too often. Emphasis is placed either on number
or quality.

When Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names come in the emphatic form, they
mean repetition and not difference in quality, because the level of Allah’s
Names is always the same. In this context, the well-known scholar and
Imam, Al-Ghazali, said: “It is not possible to have better than that which
has been” He means to say, “I can not have anything better than that
which He (Allah) has given me.”

Allah, All-Mighty, is Wise in creating both an ant and a galaxy. He is Wise

to the same degree in creating both the tiniest and the most gigantic
creatures. He is All-Knowing. His Wisdom and Knowledge are both
Infinite and Absolute. If His Names change, this is because of the change
of the creatures not because of the change of the Creator. If a Divine
Name occurs in the emphatic form, this is only for emphasizing repetition
and not change of quality, for Allah’s Qualities are Absolute and
Unchangeable.

Sometimes a person fights an enemy and defeats him, but he might not be
able to defeat a second or third enemy. But when we say that our Lord,
Allah, is the One, the Irresistible Subduer, this means that all creatures are
constantly subdued by His Infinite Divine Power and dominated thereby.

“Whose is the Kingdom today?! It belongs to Allah, Alone, he One, Al-

Qahhar (the Irresistible Subduer).”… “And He (Allah) is Al-Qahir (the
Irresistible Subduer) over His slaves,”

And Allah, All-Mighty, also says, “And Allah has full power and control
over His Affairs, but most of them know not.” [XI; 21] Yes, indeed! Allah
has full power over His Affairs. To this purport does go the story of the holy
Prophet Joseph, (PBUH).

Another story in which Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Qahhar” is

clearly manifested is that of the holy Prophet Moses, (PBUH), with Pharaoh,
who wanted to slaughter all the male infants of the children of Israel in order
to prevent fulfillment of a dream that he saw, namely that a male infant from
among the children of Israel would destroy his kingdom. Allah, the
Irresistible Subduer, defeated him by making him bring up, in his own
palace, the same infant who would destroy his kingdom. In fact, all of
Allah’s Divine Acts stem from, and manifest, all of His Beautiful Divine
Names and Attributes. This is why the Quranic Verses that speak about
Allah’s Divine Self include the personal pronoun “Ana” (“ I ” in English),
while those that speak about His Divine Acts include the personal pronoun
“Nahnou” ( “we” in English): “Verily, it is We Who give life and cause to
die; and to Us is the Final Return.” [L; 43],
“Verily, it is We Who have sent down the Quran to you by stages.”
[LXXVI;23], and
“Verily, I am Allah! There is no god but Me. So, worship Me and
perform prayer for My remembrance.” [XX; 14]
As clearly seen in the above Verses, when the first person singular pronoun
“Ana” (I) is used, it refers to Allah’s Divine Self; but when the first person
plural pronoun “Nahnu” (We) is used, it refers to the fact that all of Allah’s
Beautiful Names are included in His Divine Acts. And when we say that
Allah is Al-Hearing, All-Seeing, Kind, All-Powerful, All-Mighty, All-Wise,
we do this only for academic study and analysis, for all of Allah’s Divine
Names and Attributes are included in one another. And sometimes, Allah,
All-Mighty, gathers together all of His Divine Names in Collective Names,
as in His Words, “Blessed is the Name of your Lord (Allah), the Owner of
Majesty and Honor.” [LV; 78]

Majesty is a quality that gives the sense of Divine Greatness; bestowing

honor is another quality that gives the sense of Generosity and Bounty. In
your daily life, you may deal with someone whom you glorify but do not
love, and you may deal with someone whom you love but do not glorify. In
your relationship with Allah, All-Mighty, the ideal thing is to combine both
glorification and love towards Him. This is because our Lord, Glory to Him,
is Most Merciful, Kind, Gentle, Friendly, Compassionate, Generous, All-
Pardoning and All-Forgiving as much as He is Majestic, Great, Sublime,
Supreme, Powerful, Mighty, Exalted, Irresistible, Omnipotent, and Self-
Existent. In other words, some of Allah’s Divine Names and Attributes have
to do with His Divine Majesty and some have to do with His Divine Honor,
which are both found in a couple of Verses: “And the Face of your Lord
(Allah) full of Majesty and Honor will remain forever.” [LV; 27], and,
“Blessed is the Name of your Lord (Allah), full of Majesty and Honor.”
[ibid; 78]

In both Names, Majesty and Honor, all of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names
and Attributes are included and manifested.

Sometimes, in the question of straightforwardness, the Lord, Glory to Him,

mentions only two of His Divine Names. For example, Allah, Most
Gracious, says, “It is Allah Who has created seven heavens and of the
earth the like thereof. His Command descends between them (the
heavens and the earth), so that you may know that Allah has power over
all things, and that Allah encompasses all things in (His) Knowledge.”
[LXV; 12]

In the above Verse Allah, Praised and Exalted, mentions only two of His
Divine Names and Attributes, explicitly, His Divine Knowledge and Power.
This is because you will never obey His Divine Commands unless you
firmly believe that both His Divine Knowledge and Power encompass you.
In such an issue as straightforwardness you need to believe in Allah’s two
Attributes: Knowledge and Power. In order to be straightforward and
magnify the Lord, you also have to believe that He is full of Majesty and
Honor.

As mentioned above, Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Qahhar” (the

Irresistible Subduer) comes in a non-emphatic form such as “Al-Qahir”, as
in the Quranic Verse, “And He (Allah) is Al-Qahir (the Irresistible
Subduer) over His slaves, and He sends guardians (Angels) over you,
until when death approaches one of you, Our Messengers (Angel of
death and his assistants) take his soul, and they never neglect their
duty.” [VI; 61], and in an emphatic form, “Al-Qahhar”, as in another Verse,
“The Day when they will (all) come out, nothing of them will be hidden
from Allah. Whose is the Kingdom today?! It belongs to Allah, Alone, he
One, Al-Qahhar (the Irresistible Subduer).” [XL; 16]?!

There is a very delicate Quranic Verse in which Allah, All-Mighty, says,

“The Path of Allah, to Whom does belong all that which is in the
heavens and all that is in the earth. Verily, all matters, in the end, go to
Allah (for decision).” [XLII; 53]

It might be surprising!! These are Allah’s Divine Words!! But why does
Allah say, “Verily, all matters, in the end, go to Allah (for decision).”?
Where are all matters now?! Aren’t they with Allah?! In whose hand are they
now?! Allah’s Words in the above Verse may seemingly mean that all
matters, before and now, in the past and present are not in Allah’s Hand, but
they will be in His Hand in the end. In fact, most people are heedless of the
truth, for they wrongly think that matters are in the hands of other humans,
that such and such decision is in the hand of such and such person. They,
quite often, say, “If so and so desires to grant you honor, he can raise you
up to the utmost; but if he gets angry with you, he makes you lowest of
the low.” This is mere polytheism! This is mere illusion! On the Day of
Resurrection, all mankind will definitely get to know that the Kingdom and
Dominion do belong, everywhere and at all times, to Allah, the One, the
Omnipotent, the Irresistible Subduer. But now, in the present world, only
true believers and knowledgeable holy scholars know such an indisputable
truth, which all mankind will get to know in the Hereafter.
Allah, All-Mighty, says, “And He (Allah) is Al-Qahir (the Irresistible
Subduer) over His slaves, and He is The All-Wise, the All-Aware.” [VI;
18], and, “The Day when they will (all) come out, nothing of them will be
hidden from Allah. Whose is the Kingdom today?! It belongs to Allah,
Alone, he One, Al-Qahhar (the Irresistible Subduer).” [XL; 16] This
Name also comes implicitly, as in Allah’s Words, “And Allah has full
power and control over His Affairs, but most of mankind know not.”
This means that His decision is the Dominant Irresistible one. To this effect,
A Divine Hadith goes, “O My slave! I have created, for you, the heavens
and the earth; and I have not been tired out by their creation. Can I be
tired out by a piece of bread that I bestow upon you every now and
then?! O My salve! I have (ordained) for you an obligation; and you
have provision (to receive) from Me. Even if you disobey Me concerning
My Obligation (that I have ordained for you), I do not deprive you of
your provision (that you receive from Me). By My Might and Majesty!
If you are not contented with that which I allot for you, I shall set on
you this present world, in which you shall be made to run as wild
animals run in the wilderness. Then, you shall get from it (the present
world) nothing except that which I have already decreed for you; and I
shall not care; and you shall (then) be dispraised by Me…”

In another Divine Hadith, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “O My slave! You will,

and I will. If you surrender to Me in what I will, I suffice you in what
you will. But if you do not surrender to Me in what I will, I tire you out
in what you will, and then, nothing shall be except what I will.”

The above Divine Hadith makes clear Allah’s Beautful Divine Name “Al-
Qahhar” (the Irresistible Subduer): Allah’s Decision is Irresistible. Things
may seem to turn and turn, but Allah’s Decision dominates despite all
things.

Some people who read some books that speak about the evil plots of the
Jews say, “Such a plan is Jewish.” But Jews are mere human beings. They
plan and plot, for they are the most evil treacherous of all mankind.
Nevertheless, what they do is not theirs; it is Allah’s. If you think that they
are the doers and that what goes on in the world is out of their plans and
plots, you are grievously mistaken. You should believe that Allah’s Divine
Plan contains their human plan, for Allah, All-Mighty, Most Gracious, may
exploit their evil plots for admonishing and deterring some of His slaves. To
this effect, Allah, the Irresistible Subduer, says, “And thus do We set the
wrong-doers on one another because of that of which they have earned.”
[VI; 129]

If you say, “So and so does what he does.”, you unknowingly fall easy prey
to polytheism. The right thing to say is: “Allah has full power and control
over His Affairs, but most of mankind know not.” You should the Divine
Hadith: “You will, and I will. If you surrender to Me in what I will, I
suffice you in what you will. But if you do not surrender to Me in what I
will, I tire you out in what you will, and then, nothing shall be except
what I will.”

Linguistically speaking, “Al-Qahr” means subduing, oppressing or

overcoming, as in Allah’s Divine Command: “Therefore, do not oppress
an orphan!” [XCIII; 9]

By the way, there are always Divine Names and Attributes, which, if given
to a human being, they bear a negative connotation and denote dispraise, but
if they are attributed to Allah, All-Mighty, they denote Divine Perfection.

Let’s have the following parable: Someone is in need of financial help and,
therefore, he goes to two people, one is very rich and has a lot of money,
while the other is poor and has nothing. If the poor person says, “I shall give
you the money.”, this would be imperfect of him and would mean that he is
a mere liar. If, however, he says, “I’m sorry! I am poor. I have nothing to
give you.”, this would be truthful and perfect on his part. In other words,
perfection for the poor person is to be truthful and not to claim what he
cannot do or does not own. As for the rich person, if he says, “I am poor! I
have nothing to give you!”, while he is rich and can help the man, it would
be imperfect of him. Therefore, “Al-Mutakkabir” (the Sublime, the
Supreme) is one of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes; and it
denotes praise and glorification of Allah, All-Mighty: if anyone takes refuge
with Him, He will certainly grant him all that he asks for. The same word
“Mutakabbir” denotes imperfection and dispraise to the poor person in the
above-mentioned parable, who did not have anything to give to the man, or
the rich person, who, due to his being niggardly, did not give the man any
money. In this context, Allah, “Al-Mutakabbir” (the Sublime, the Supreme),
says, “And He (Allah) found you poor, and so He enriched you.
Therefore, do not oppress an orphan, nor repulse a beggar. And
proclaim the Grace of your Lord.”[XCIII; 8-11]
Allah’s Name “Al-Qahhar” is the emphatic word for His Name “Al-Qahir”;
and it has a quantitative rather than qualitative emphasis, since qualitative
emphasis does not befit Allah’s Divine Perfection.

It may be known to you, dear reader, that Allah’s Divine Names are of three
types: Those that describe Allah’s Divine Self, those that describe His
Divine Attributes, and those that describe His Divine Acts. In this context,
scholars said that Allah is “Al-Qahir” in the sense that He is Able to prevent
anyone else from doing anything against His Divine Will and Desire, i.e. His
Divine Will is Irresistible. That is why it has been rightly said, “You will
and I will, but Allah, Alone, does what He wills.”, and “Whatever Allah
wills is, and whatever Allah wills not is not.” Moreover, Allah’s Name
“Al-Qahhar” is strongly connected with Islamic Monotheism; and mankind
can never learn anything better than Monotheism.

If we say, “Allah’s Name “Al-Qahhar” denotes Divine Ability in a certain

form.”, it is one of the Names that have to do with Allah’s Divine Self. But if
we say that it is a Divine Act that prevents others from doing what they
desire, then, it is one of the Names that have to do with Allah’s Divine Acts.

Some scholars say that Allah’s Name “Al-Qahhar” (the Irresistible

Subduer) means that He, All-Mighty, subdues non-existence, which is
anything except Allah, All-Mighty. In other words, All things, except Allah,
were non-existing, and it is Allah Who brought them all into existence.
Furthermore, the existence of all things does not continue without Allah’s
Divine Will and Power. To this effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “Verily!
Allah grasps the heavens and the earth lest they should move away from
their places; and if they were to move away from their places, there is
none that could grasp them after Him. Truly, He is Ever Most
Forbearing, Oft-and-All-Forgiving.” [XXXV; 41]

In the above Verse the heavens and the earth refer to the whole universe,
with its planets, stars and galaxies, which are all in constant motion, without
which it would be one single mass of matter. This is because the power of
gravitational pull that exists between all of the heavenly objects causes them
to attract one another in positive proportion with their masses. By His
Infinite Divine Wisdom Allah, All-Mighty, has put such gravitational pull,
which is invisible to the human eye, between all the heavenly objects in
order to keep them moving; otherwise the whole universe would become an
immense mass of matter. This is because the bigger heavenly object would
attract the smaller one, and so on and so forth. Centrifugal force, which is
the outcome of motion and is equal to the power of gravitational pull, keeps
all of the heavenly objects in constant motion and prevents them from
becoming one solid block of matter.

The earth has been moving round the sun for millions of years; nevertheless,
it has never been attracted to it. Once again, we repeat Allah’s Words
mentioned above, “Verily! Allah grasps the heavens and the earth lest
they should move away from their places; and if they were to move
away from their places, there is none that could grasp them after Him.
Truly, He is Ever Most Forbearing, Oft-and-All-Forgiving.” [XXXV; 41]

The words “lest they should move away from their places” mean that the
One Who compelled the heavenly objects and kept them in orbit is Allah,
All-Mighty. Thus, Allah, All-Mighty, is the One Who subdued non-existence
and brought it into existence. All things that He created had been originally
non-existing. Therefore, the origin of all things, except Allah, is non-
existence and shall perish in the end. Also, all things that are preceded by
non-existence and shall be made to perish are incidental and not self-
existent, but Allah, Glory to Him, is Self-Existent. He has neither a
beginning nor an end. He is the First with no beginning and the Last with no
end.

The Lord, Allah, All-Mighty, is Al-Qahhar (the Subduer) of non-existence

in the sense that by His Irresistible Divine Power and Will He, Glory to Him,
brought all things into existence after they had been non-existing. They are
made to maintain their existence only by His Divine Sustenance and
Protection. At any moment, Allah is Able to cause any existing thing to
perish and to become non-existing. To this effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says,
“Allah! There is no god but Him, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains
and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes Him. To
Him does belong whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the
earth…” [II; 255] In other words, existence of all things is in Allah’s Hand.

Therefore, one of the meanings of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-

Qahhar” is that He, All-Mighty, subdued all things and brought them into
existence by His Irresistible Divine Power. To this effect, Allah, Most
Gracious, says, “He (Pharaoh) said: ‘Who, then, O Moses, is the Lord of
both of you (Moses and Aaron)?’ He (Moses) said: ‘Our Lord is He
(Allah), Who gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it
aright.’” [XX; 49,50]

Before they were brought into existence by Allah’s Irresistible Will and
Power, all existing things were non-existing. Therefore, non-existence is the
original state of all things; and without Allah’s Irresistible Will and Power
they would have never been brought into existence. It is Allah’s Word “Be!”
and things are, and “Perish!” and things perish.

You, dear reader: Your existence and survival are both by Allah and under
His Irresistible Divine Power and Will. Organs and systems of your body
provide clear evidence of such fact: your brain, with its 140,000,000,000
cells, your perception and senses, your memory, your mental judgment, your
imagination, your glands, …etc. have been bestowed on you by the Lord,
Allah, All-Mighty, Most Gracious, and they will be made to perish upon
death.

Compare an active living person, who is in full power and energy, moving,
thinking, judging, acting, seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, feeling, taking
attitudes, running businesses, and building up human civilization, to a
motionless dead body! The difference between a dead body and a living
person full of energy and power is simply such Divine Grace from Allah, Al-
Qahhar (the Irresistible Subduer), Who compels non-living matter to
become a living human being that thinks, sees, hears, smells, moves, makes
decisions, gets angry, gets delighted, …etc. If a human being is weighed just
a few moments before and after his death, it will be found out he loses
nothing of his weight upon death. It is Allah’s Divine Power that grants him
his soul, which is the secret of his life. Should his soul be taken away from
him, he would be a mere dead mass of matter.

Some scholars say that Allah, All-Mighty, is Al-Qahhar (The Irresistible

Subduer) in the sense that He, Alone, is the One Who subdues non-existence
and turns it into existence, and then He subdues existence by His Irresistible
Divine Power and Will.

The sun, for example, is 500,000,000 years old and seems to be an endless
source of energy for us on earth, whose resources are too tiny compared to
the sun. The tank of a car has to be refilled with fuel after running for a
certain number of kilometers, and so has a fuel tank of a building’s heating
system after a cold winter. All natural resources will certainly run out, even
the sun, which seems to be an endless source of energy. Their existence and
survival are both in Allah’s Hand and under His Irresistible Divine Power
and Will. It is Allah, All-Mighty, that brings things into existence and makes
them survive for a pre-decreed term.

Another meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Qahhar” is that all

the heavenly objects, some of which are many times bigger than both the
earth and the sun, are held and kept in orbit by Allah’s Irresistible Divine
Power. To this effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “Verily! Allah grasps the
heavens and the earth lest they should move away from their places;
and if they were to move away from their places, there is none that
could grasp them after Him. Truly, He is Ever Most Forbearing, Oft-
and-All-Forgiving.” [XXXV; 41]

Some scholars say: In life, there are four basic elements: water, air, fire, and
soil. Such elements are non-congruent, but by His Irresistible Divine Power,
Allah united them together in perfect harmony. Therefore, one of the
meanings of Allah’s Name “Al-Qahhar” is that He, Most Gracious, unites
incongruent things together in perfect harmony. In other words, you can not
make the sea burn, but Allah, All-Mighty, can. In this context, He swears:
“By the sea that will be set on fire!” How can water, which is used to put
out fire, be made to burn? Water is made up of Hydrogen and Oxygen.
Hydrogen is one of the most burning elements, and Oxygen is one of the
most burn-augmenting elements. When you roast meat, why do you use a
fan? In order to provide more Oxygen to the burning charcoal to augment
fire. In other words, when Hydrogen, which is a burning element, combines
with Oxygen, which helps augment burning, they both make water, which is
used to put out fire. By His Irresistible Divine Power, Allah, All-Mighty, is
Able to make the ocean burn. Therefore, one of the meanings of Allah’s
Name “Al-Qahhar” is that He unites incongruent things together in perfect
harmony. Water, air, fire, and soil are incongruent things, yet they are united
in perfect harmony in creatures. This is the third meaning of Allah’s Name
“Al-Qahhar”.

Another thing: the soul is a weightless luminary non-material thing, while

the human body is a massy material thing. Between them both there is a kind
of incongruity, nevertheless, Allah, All-Mighty, by His Irresistible Divine
Power has made the soul dwell in the body.
An example: If you have a metal that you want to stick to another, you are
told that it cannot be welded except by using a special kind of weld.
Aluminum can not be welded by the weld that we use for iron, because both
metals are incongruent. Allah, All-Mighty, made the soul non-material
luminary weightless and heavenly just as He made the body massy, material
and earthly. Nevertheless, He, All-Mighty, united them both together in man.
In other words, man is made up of both a body and a soul. Sometimes, his
soul brightens, which appears clearly on his face. But sometimes, his soul
darkens, which also appears clearly on his face. This means that man is a
creature made up of a heavenly element and an earthly one; and quite often
he clings himself heavily to the earth. To this effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says,
“O you who believe! What is the matter with you?! When you are asked
to march forth in the Cause of Allah, you cling heavily to the earth! Are
you pleased with life of this world rather than the Hereafter?! Little is
the enjoyment of the life of this world compared to the Hereafter.” [IX;
38] In other words, you direct yourself towards the earth, you direct yourself
towards the perishable pleasures and enjoyments of the present world.

The fourth meaning of Allah’s Name “Al-Qahhar” (the Irresistible

Subduer) is that sometimes He, All-Mighty, humiliates tyrants and
oppressors by diseases and illnesses. Quite often, you see a great king who
loves his wife, but he is made barren and, therefore, has to pay lots and lots
of his wealth to have a baby, but all goes in vain. Another king suffers from
an incurable disease of which he would not be cured even if he spent all his
wealth.

Another meaning of Allah’s Name “Al-Qahhar” is that He, All-Mighty,

subdues all His slaves by death: Prophets, Messengers, the powerful, the
weak, the rich, the poor, the healthy, the ill, kings, princes, common people,
…etc, all human beings are inevitably made to pass away by Allah, All-
Mighty. To this effect, Allah, All-Mighty, says, “You will certainly be made
to pass away, and they (all mankind) will certainly be made to pass
away.” Even the Angel of Death himself will be made to pass away by
Allah, Al-Qahhar (the Irresistible Suduer). Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), also
says, “Glorified is Allah! Verily, death has its own agonies.”

Yes, indeed! Allah, Al-Qahhar (the Irresistible Subduer) does humiliate

tyrants and oppressors sometimes by diseases and illnesses, sometimes by
disasters and eventually by death.
The fifth meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name Al-Qahhar is that He subdues
the human minds and prevents them from knowing the reality of His Holy
Infinite Divine Self, which has neither a beginning nor an end. He, All-
Mighty, prevents the human minds from encompassing the Glamour of His
Divine Majesty. Beware of saying, “I realize how Great Allah is.”, for this
would mean that you encompass Him in knowledge just as you do when you
hold a small thing and know its dimensions and weight. Your mind leads you
to Allah, His Existence, His Infinite Divine Might and Power, but it can by
no means get to know the reality of His Divine Self. In other words, no one
can ever know Allah, except Allah, Himself. To this effect, Allah, All-
Mighty, says, “And of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only a
little.” [XVII; 85], and, “And they encompass none of His Knowledge
except that which He wills.” [II; 255]

Yes, indeed! Your mind can lead you to Him and helps you to know about
Him only as much as He wills to allow you. This is because man’s mind is
limited and can by no means know the reality of Allah’s Infinite Holy Divine
Self. Therefore, a wise person does not aspire to answer all the questions
about Allah, All-Mighty; and such lack of knowledge on his part does not
mean that he is ignorant.

Someone asked another about the sea: “How many liters does it make?”.
The latter looked at him saying, “That is very simple. It makes one
million, seven hundred and sixty-six liters.” This answer is mere
ignorance because it gives numbers. If someone asks you, “How big is an
ocean?” but you do not have any means or standards whereby you can
measure the size of the ocean, if you give a certain definite number, this
means that you are ignorant, but if you say, “I do not know.”, this means
you are knowledgeable. This is because in answer to such a question the
words, “I do not know” reflect real knowledge, but the words, “I know”
reflect mere ignorance. That is why it has been rightly said: “Claiming that
one knows the reality of Allah’s Divine Self is mere ignorance. But
admitting that one does not know the reality of Allah’s Divine Self is real
knowledge.” In other words, if you say, “I know. I have answers to all of
the questions. I know everything about Allah.”, this provides clear
evidence that you know nothing, for no one can ever encompass in
knowledge the reality of Allah’s Divine Self.

The sixth meaning of Allah’s Name Al-Qahhar (the Irresistible Subduer) is

that He kept the knowledge of the secrets of a great many natural
phenomena only for Himself. Therefore, whenever a certain natural
phenomenon takes place, one should say, “Glorified and Praised is Allah! I
do not know the wisdom behind such incident.”

A country was visited by an earthquake that claimed the lives of 90,000

people. There is wisdom underlying such a natural phenomenon, because my
mind is unable to understand the wisdom behind it. Every time I see a
natural disaster taking place before me, I am not supposed to give a simple
explanation of it. This is because my explanation might be naïve. If I say,
“They have been afflicted by such a natural disaster because of their
sins and misdeeds.”, such an explanation is fairly acceptable, but
sometimes, even true believers are inflected with disasters as a kind of trial
and spiritual enhancement. Therefore, the ideal thing to do in this concern is
to admit that you do not know everything and that you do not the secrets of
such phenomenon. Another example, if you say that the AIDS is a kind of
Divine Punishment for ethical deviation and illegal sexual relations. Such an
explanation is fair enough, but there are other phenomena that are too hard
to explain. For example, it is not easy to find an answer to the question:
“Why is a certain nation or people poor?” However, it may be attributed to
Allah’s Divine Wisdom.

The seventh and all-embracing meaning of Allah’s Divine Name Al-

Qahhar (the Irresistible Subduer) is that He, All-Mighty, has subdued all His
creatures to His Irresistible Divine Will. To this effect, He, All-Mighty, says,
“And they encompass none of His Knowledge except that which He
wills.” [II; 255]

An example: You have a hundred electrical appliances at home; and you

have a special switch to work them all. If you turn the switch off, all of the
appliances stop working: the fridge, the washing machine, …etc. All driving
powers are in Allah’s Hand, i.e. no human being could ever move one single
inch or do one single thing except by Allah’s Irresistible Divine Will and
Leave. Therefore, Allah, All-Mighty, is Al-Qahhar (the Irresistible
Subduer). Once again, we repeat Allah’s Words, “And they encompass
none of His Knowledge except that which He wills.” [II; 255]

In short, all things other than Allah, All-Mighty, are subdued by His Infinite
Divine Power and Might and are in bad humble need to His Infinite Divine
Provision and Sustenance.
However, there are other meanings of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-
Qahhar”. For example, some scholars say: “Al-Qahir is He (Allah), Who
subdued the selves of worshippers.” In interpretation of such meaning -
and to Allah does belong the Supreme example - the following example can
be put forward: A very beautiful young girl whose fiancé is up to his ears in
love with her, so she has full power and command over him. The same thing
applies to a powerful wealthy person who has full power and control over
the poor and weak. That is why Allah, All-Mighty, says, “If only those who
do wrong could see, when they will see the Torment, that all Power
belongs to Allah and that Allah is Severe in punishment.” [II; 165]

Allah, All-Mighty, is the Source of all kinds of power: if you turn to Him
with love, obedience and devotion, He bestows on you far more happiness
and peace than whatever happiness and peace human beings can ever give
you. If you turn to Allah, Most Gracious, with love, obedience and devotion,
He grants you much more happiness and contentment than that which the
wealthiest people can ever feel. If you turn to Allah, Most Merciful, with
love, obedience and devotion, you feel far more powerful than those who
affiliate themselves with the most powerful of all mankind. That is why it
has been rightly said: “If you desire to be the most powerful of all
mankind, put your trust in Allah; if you desire to be the richest of all
mankind, be more confident in what is in Allah’s Hands than that which
is in your own hands; and if you desire to be the noblest of all mankind,
fear Allah and be dutiful to Him.”

Therefore, Al-Qahir is Allah, Who subdues, and has full command over,
the selves of His worshippers so as to keep them committed and devoted to
Him. In other words, those who turn to Allah, Most Gracious, are helped
to get to know the real Truth and live in real happiness. That is why they
keep showing faithful obedience and sincere devotion to Him. In other
words, Allah, fascinates them with His Infinite Divine Beauty, Perfection
and Compassion to an extent that makes them desire nothing of the
perishable enjoyments and pleasures of the life of the present world.

Their ultimate goal is not the Gardens of Aden

Nor the Beautiful virgin Houris or Tents of Paradise.
They seek to The Most Beloved (Allah): such is their Utmost Goal,
And such is the desire of the noblest and most honorable.
A young man once fell in love with a young woman in Damascus. His
parents were afraid that he would be fascinated by her, so they sent him to
a distant foreign country to study at one of its universities. They gave him
a lot of money, but he spent it all on phone-calls with his beloved girl in
Damascus. In other words, his beloved girl fascinated him and subdued
him by her beauty and love.

If you know Allah, Most Gracious, Most Beautiful, you will certainly be
fascinated and subdued by His Infinite Divine Beauty and Perfection.
Therefore, Allah, All-Mighty, is Al-Qahir, Who fascinates His worshippers
and keeps them devoted to Him and Who subdues the hearts of those who
seek Him by His Infinite Divine Kindness.

A believer’s share of Allah’s Name “Al-Qahhar” (the Irresistible Subduer):

A true believer who knows Allah, knows for sure that He, All-Mighty, is Al-
Qahhar (the Irresistible Subduer). But when does this happen? When he
knows the reality of his being a slave of Allah’s. This is because it has been
rightly said that he who knows himself knows his Lord; and he who knows
his Lord knows himself. Such words as, “I shall do so and so.” And “I
shall give so and so.” Are never used by a true believer, because they clash
with his Lord’s Name “Al-Qahhar” (the Irresistible Suduer).

Nevertheless, a true believer can be a “qahhar” (a subduer) in a special

sense of the word, i.e. when he subdues his lusts and desires, which they are
his worst enemies. If he so does, this means that he has full command over
his own self. This is exactly the meaning of Allah’s Words, “But as for him
who fears standing before his Lord and restrained himself from impure
evil desires and lusts, verily, Paradise will be his abode.” [LXXIX; 40]

A human being who follows his evil lusts, caprices and desires commits
countless sins and misdeeds that displeases the Lord, Allah, All-Mighty. He
backbites and slanders other fellow humans, he transgresses against the
rights of others, and all his actions and movements are away from Allah’s
Divine Guidance and Religion. In other words, he follows his own evil
desires and lusts and, hence, he fails to be “qahhar” over such desires and
lusts, i.e. he fails to subdue his lusty desires and caprices but is rather
subdued by them.
Therefore, as a true believer, you have to subdue your own lusts and desires,
which are your worst enemies. If you so do, you achieve in yourself this
great name “Al-Qahhar”, whereby you know your Lord and attain, by
showing adequate obedience and devotion to Him, His Divine Love,
Compassion and Pleasure.

* * *
N ow, we move on to the eleventh of Allah’s Beautiful Divine
Names, “Al-Wahhab” (the All-Giver). O Allah! Give us from You
Mercy that overwhelms us in this present world and the world to
come. Verily You are “Al-Wahhab” (the All-Giver)!

First of all, man is made up of both a mind and a heart. With his mind, he
gets to know Allah; and with his heart, he loves Him. As scholars see it,
this Divine Name is related to love, but before we set out to explain the
meaning of the Arabic word “Al-Wahhab”, I would like to give an
example from our daily life. If a poor young man, who lives a poor
miserable wretched life, is chosen by a wealthy person to be the husband
of his dutiful, obedient, good mannered, chaste, believing, well-educated
daughter, and if he is granted not only a house but also a shop and a car
as well, isn’t the heart of this young man filled with love, praise,
thankfulness and gratitude to the man who bestowed on him all such
favors? This is the case of a human being towards another human being
who does him a favor, so what would the case be if Allah, Lord of all
worlds bestows on one of His slaves His Divine Favors?

In this context, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “O David! Remind My slaves

of My Favors to them, for people are predisposed to love those who do them
favors and hate those who do them disfavors.”

The purpose of knowing Allah’s Name “Al-Wahhab” (the All-Giver) is to

love Allah, Most Gracious, for love is the essence of faith. In fact, Islamic
religion is not only facts to understand and learn but also feelings and
emotions to live. A Muslim’s mind should believe not only in Allah’s
existence, Might and Majesty but also in His Beautiful Divine Names and
Attributes. At the same time, a Muslim’s heart should abound in love for
Allah, Most Gracious. I would like to put forward the following fact before
my dear readers: What motivates man is his love more than his mind.
Driven by his love man sacrifices everything, but by using his mind, he
may be convinced, he may believe, and he may be certain, but he does not
move.
Therefore, preachers and callers for Allah have to address both people’s
minds and hearts at the same time. If they effect in man mental
convincement, they achieve only one half of success, but if, in addition to
mental convincement, they make in him an attitude based on love, they
achieve complete success. In other words, you are, above all, a human
being with both a mind and a heart. If you use your mind to contemplate
the universe, you get to know Allah, the Almighty. If you realize the Great
Divine Favors that Allah, Most Gracious, bestows upon you, you love Him
with all of your heart. Moreover, if you love Allah, this means that you are
rightly guided. A human being is not a real human being unless he/she
loves.

While we were at the university, a professor of psychology retired and his

colleagues and students held a party in honor of the occasion. He
delivered a speech that I shall never forget: “A person who does not feel
desirous to love and be loved is not a human being.” In other words, you do
not deserve to be called “a human being” if you are hard-hearted.

Therefore, love is indispensable for human life. The remarkable thing

about the Prophet’s venerable Companions, may Allah be pleased with
them, is that they did many feats. Why did they achieve the impossible?
Why did they purchase themselves for the Cause of Allah? Why did they
sacrifice everything? If the finger of one of us is wounded, he cries out,
bandages it, excuses himself from meetings and even has a sick leave.
Consider what the venerable Companion, Ja’far, may Allah be pleased
with him, did! He received a blow of a sword that chopped off his right
hand, so he held the flag with his left hand. Another blow came to chop off
his left hand, so he managed to hold the flag with his upper arms and to
keep holding it until he fell dead. What love could drive him to sacrifice
his life?

Another example is Al-Khansa’. Before she embraced Islam, she filled the
world with her wailing and lamentation when her brother Sakhr was
murdered. However, after she embraced Islam, her four sons died as
martyrs in the battle of Al-Qadisiyah. The only thing she did was that she
said: “Praise to Allah, Who honored me by their martyrdom, and I beseech
Allah to join me with them in the shade of His Mercy.”
A third example is the venerable Companion Khubaib bin 'Udai, whom
the infidels had seized and tied up to a tree in order to kill him. When Abu
Sufian, the head of disbelievers, came to him, asking, “Would you like that
Muhammad be in your place?” In this context, the words that common
people usually say are: “Let a thousand mothers cry except mine.” Abu
Sufian repeated his question, “Would you like that Muhammad be in your
place?” Most bravely and confidently, Khubaib, may Allah be pleased with
him, answered, “I swear by Allah! I would not like to be with my family and
children, prosperous and healthy, while Muhammad be hurt with a prick.”
What a great love! Read biographies of the venerable Companions, and
you find incredible fabulous feats based on love, for they sincerely loved
their Lord, Allah, Most Gracious, and His Messenger, Muhammad,
(PBUH).

I would like to tell all dear readers: Love does stand behind every
sacrifice, commitment, obedience and surmounting hardships and
difficulties. Similarly, love stands behind all kinds of happiness, for one is
never happy unless one loves Allah, Most Merciful, Whose Door is
constantly open.

The door of some human celebrities is open for some people but closed for
others; they accept some people but reject others; and they are never
pleased once they have been angered. However, Allah’s Door is constantly
open to everyone… “If a disobedient slave turns to Allah, Most Gracious,
with repentance, it is called out in the heavens and the earth, ‘Congratulate
so and so, for he has become reconciled with Allah!”

If we look upon Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Wahhab” from the

perspective of our original pure nature and disposition, our heart will be
filled with love for our Maker, Allah, Most Gracious. As soon as our heart
is filled with love for Allah, we find out our Lord’s Infinite Divine Care,
Love, Help, and Guidance to us, and we feel ultimate success and
prosperity.
In the light of the above-mentioned facts, we understand that love is the
basis of Faith. To this effect, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “He who
has no love has not Faith.” However, when does man’s heart get into a
state of unrest? The answer is: It is the token of a true believer that when
Allah is mentioned, his heart gets into a state of unrest. To this effect,
Allah, Glory to Him, says, “The believers are only those who, when Allah is
mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts, and when His Verses are recited unto
them, they increase them in Faith, and they put their trust in their Lord
(Alone).” [VIII; 2]

Such is the token of the heart of someone who believes in his Lord, Allah,
Exalted and Glorified. This is because man does not adorn or be courteous
towards his own self nor does he flatter his own self. On the contrary, he
constantly takes care of, and examines, his heart, asking himself the
embarrassing question, “Whom do I really love?” This is because love is
more easily claimed than proved true. To this purport, Allah, the Almighty,
says, “Say (O Muhammad): ‘if you really love Allah, then follow me,
Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Oft-
Forgiving, Most Merciful.’” [III; 31]

We are overwhelmed with Allah’s Innumerable Divine Favors. Notice what

you do when someone pays for you the fare of a public means of transport.
You thank him/her heartily and profoundly; and you may even invite them to
your own home, just because they have paid for you the fare. Just notice
yourself! If someone gives you a gift, you become very thankful and hurry
to express your gratitude and love to him/her. You may invite him/her to
your own home and even promise to pay him/her a visit. All of this is only
because he/she has given you a gift! Such is man!

In a Divine Hadith, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “O David! Remind My

slaves of My Favors that I bestow upon them, for humans are
predisposed to love those who do Favors to them and to hate those who
do disfavors to them.”

However, what is the difference between a believer and a disbeliever? A

disbeliever is someone who lives with his Lord’s Divine Favors but does not
remember Him, while a true believer is someone who is always thankful to
the Lord for His Divine Favors that He, Most Bounteous, confers upon him.
Is it polite or grateful of you, when someone invites you to a great banquet
with different kinds of delicious food and drink, to leave before you express
your due thanks to the host? When a fellow human gives you something
valuable or does you a favor, you are very thankful to him/her! Then, why
are you not thankful enough to the Lord, Allah, Most Gracious, when He
confers His Innumerable Divine Favors upon you?

Allah, Most Gracious, says, “Have We not made for him a pair of eyes?”
[XC; 8] You see your small child, you see your family, you see your
brothers, you see forests, trees, and flowers, you see those whom you love,
you see the nature around you, you see colors and people, you walk in the
street comfortably and safely with things clearly seen around you, you read,
you go sight-seeing. You should remember Allah’s Words, “Have We not
made for him a pair of eyes, a tongue and a pair of lips?” [XC; 8,9]

Once, I went to see someone who was a furniture painter. When I spoke to
him, he signaled to me to speak to his assistant, for he was deaf-mute. As
soon as I spoke to the assistant, a kind of sign language began to take place
between the painter and his assistant. I remembered Allah’s Divine Words,
“Have We not made for him a pair of eyes, a tongue and a pair of lips,
and shown him the two Ways (of virtue and of evil)?” [XC; 8,9,10]

You speak out, expressing your own feelings, emotions and ideas. You say,
“Today, I have read an article in the newspaper.” You talk about the
interpretation of a certain Quranic Verse or an interesting story. You sit with
people and talk to your family and children. You should remember Allah’s
Divine Words, “Have We not made for him a pair of eyes, a tongue and a
pair of lips, and shown him the two Ways (of virtue and of evil)?” [XC;
8,9,10]

At the faculty of education of Damascus university, they taught us that when

a baby is born, it has nothing to guarantee its survival except for a single
reflex, namely that of sucking. Such is the Make of the Almighty Allah, Who
has perfected the Make of all things! If someone touches the burning end of
a cigarette, he immediately, and without thinking, pulls his hand off. The
well-known scientist, Pavlov, called this “reflex action”. Anyway, without
the suck-reflex, with which Allah, Most Merciful, endues the baby, it would
have been impossible for humankind to survive. Most amazingly, as soon as
the mother gives her breast to her newly born baby, the latter firmly fixes its
lips to it and begins sucking, allowing no air to pass through its lips into its
mouth, otherwise it would be impossible for it to suck. Without such reflex
action, complex as it is, no baby could ever survive.
At this stage of growth, the baby has no other reflexes or knowledge
whatsoever. A baby describes any man it sees as its father. Later, it begins to
distinguish its own father from other men. How does a baby attain such
knowledge? When someone says “a tree”, the baby conceives the meaning
of a tree and not an orange or a nut. The formation of conceptions through
perceptions is a marvelous human ability! How does man think? How does
he make symbols and conceptions? It is a whole world of its own!

The function of 140 billion brown cells in the human brain is still unknown.
In other words, the human brain is still unable to understand its own self.
The difference between believers and disbelievers is that the former know
the Benefactor through the Benefaction, while the latter, and similarly those
who are profligate and irreligious, enjoy the Benefactions but are completely
heedless of the Benefactor. Their heedlessness will certainly lead them to
never ending chastisement in Hell-Fire. Believers contemplate Benefactions
and their Originator. Every one of us goes home to find his wife, who has
her own wisdom, feelings and emotions. He finds his meal ready and his
home tidy. A true believer always remembers that these are Valuable
Benefactions from the Lord, Allah, Most Gracious.

In time of heedlessness, one might say, “I have got married, worked hard,
established this house and furnished it. I have collected enough money
for the dowry and chosen my good wife.” He says all such things,
forgetting the One Who bestowed upon him all such Favors. This is
heedlessness of Allah, All Mighty. You should always remember that your
good wife is given to you as a gift from the Lord, Allah, Most Gracious.
Who has made your baby, who fills your life with happiness and delight, so
beautiful and good tempered? Who has made it innocent and naïve? If it
dealt with you like an adult, you would not love it. If it were like adults, one
word from you would make it angry with you for a long time. You rebuke
and reproach your baby, but soon afterwards, it comes to you and even
kisses you. Who has endowed the baby with such nice lovable character?
Who has endued the baby with such love for his mother and father? It is the
Lord, Allah, Most Gracious, “Al-Wahhab” (the All-Giver)!

In the field of psychology, specialists carried out an experiment to prove that

the brain is the essence of human psychic life. However, they found a baby
with a liquid brain, which was very rare. The baby began crying, but when
its mother came, it stopped crying. This means that in a human being there is
a Self whose reality no one has ever been able to discover. A well-known
book entitled “Man: That unknown Thing” confirms that man has been so
far able to discover only too few things about the nature of is own body but
nothing about his own Self, which is still very much of a mystery. In this
context, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And they ask you concerning the Spirit.
Say: ‘The Spirit is one of the things the knowledge of which is only with
my Lord.” [XVII; 85]

The above-mentioned information was just an introduction by which I meant

to show that when we speak about Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-
Wahhab” (the All-Giver), seeing all His Divine Favors that He, Most
Gracious, bestows upon us, we must necessarily love Him; and obedience is
the token of love. In this context, the verses go:
You disobey Allah, claiming that you love Him!
Such is, upon my life, a shameful fake claim!
Were your love true, you would obey Him!
Verily, a true lover obeys his beloved!

The Quranic Verses in which Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Wahhab”

(the All-Giver) are:
“Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after You have guided
us, and give us mercy from You. Truly, You are Al-Wahhab (the All-Giver).”
[III; 8]
“To Allah does belong the kingdom of the heavens and the earth. He creates
what He wills. He gives female (offspring) to whomever He wills, and He
gives male (offspring) to whomever He wills.” [XLII; 49]
“And verily, I fear my relatives after me, and my wife is barren. So give me
from You an heir.” [XIX; 5]
“At that time, Zechariah invoked his Lord, saying, ‘O my Lord! Give me
from You a good offspring! You are, indeed, the Hearer of invocation!” [III;
38]

In the above Quranic Verses, the use of the imperative “give” denotes
invocation, since it is addressed by an inferior slave to the Superior Lord,
Allah, All Mighty.

In Arabic, the imperative has different denotations. If someone of a certain

status asks another of the same status to do something, this is a request. If a
person of a higher status tells another of a lower status to do something, it is
an order or command. The use of an imperative may give the meaning of
permission as in Allah’s Words: “And eat and drink until the white thread
(light) of dawn appears to you distinct from the black thread (darkness
of the night), then complete the fast till the nightfall.”[II; 187] If someone
gets up before daybreak in the month of Ramadan but does not feel hungry
and, therefore, he does not have As-Sohour (the last meal before daybreak
during the month of Ramadan), is he disobedient? Scholars say he is not,
because the use of the imperatives: “eat” and “drink” does not denote
obligation but rather permission. The same thing applies to Allah’s Words,
“But when you doff the Ihram (the state of ritual consecration of a
Mecca pilgrim), hunt.” [IV; 2] The imperative “hunt” here denotes
permission, i.e. it is permissible for you to hunt after you have doffed the
Ihram.

The imperative may sometimes signify recommendation, as in Allah’s

Words, “And marry those among you who are single and the righteous
from among your slaves, male and female. If they are poor, Allah will
enrich them out of His Bounty. And Allah is All-Sufficient for His
creatures’ needs, All-Knowing.” [XXIV; 32] By virtue of the above Verse,
Allah, Most Gracious, recommends Muslims to marry those among them
who are single and the righteous ones from among their slaves.

The imperative may even indicate obligation, as in Allah’s Words, “And

perform Salat (Prayer), give Zakat (Alms), and obey the Messenger that
you may receive mercy (from Allah).” [XXIV; 56] The above Verse means
that Muslims are obliged to perform Prayer, give Alms, and obey Allah’s
Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH).

In certain cases, the imperative is used to stand for threat, as in Allah’s

Words, “And say, ‘The truth is from you Lord.’ Then, whosoever wills,
let him believe; and whosoever wills, let him disbelieve. Verily, We have
prepared for the wrong doers a Fire, whose walls will be surrounding
them; and if they ask help, they will be given water like boiling oil that
will scald their faces. Terrible is the drink and an evil resting place!”
[XVIII; 29] The above Verse means that it is up to people to believe or not,
providing that they bear consequences of their belief or disbelief.

In order to understand the meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-

Wahhab” (the All-Giver), we should ask ourselves: What has Allah, Most
Gracious, given us?
The first thing that Allah, Most Gracious, has given us is our existence. In
other words, each one of us has his/her existence that Allah, All Mighty,
Most Gracious, has given him/her. Each one of us enjoys his/her existence,
good health, food and drink, marriage, a dwelling, a job, a social status, …
etc. Who has given you your existence? It is Allah, Glory to Him, Who has
given you existence and provided you with sustenance and means of living.

For example, how can we deal with rock and iron? We desire to place a bolt
into rock to fix a metal lock. If we make a hole in the rock and insert the
bolt, it goes down but remains loose. Allah, All Mighty, has created for us a
metal, lead, which melts at a low temperature. If we pour the molten lead
into the hole and leave it to cool down, it expands and fixes the bolt into the
rock, and the bolt becomes part of the rock.

Once, I noticed some workers trying to dismantle a metal fence of a garden.

The fence was fixed to a rock basis, and the workers were trying to cut the
metal fence with a saw. “Why don’t they uproot the fence instead of cutting
it into pieces?” I thought. When I asked the workers, they said, “It is a
thousand times easier to cut the fence into pieces than to uproot it, because it
is fixed with lead.” If Allah, All Mighty, had not created lead, how would it
be possible to fix such a metal fence into a rock basis?

A dentist puts a special lead fill into your tooth. The fill is firmly fixed in
your tooth as soon as the lead expands when it cools down. Allah, Most
Gracious, also created gypsum to help you fix a wedge into a wall. You
insert a piece of wood together with some gypsum into a hole in a wall; the
gypsum expands as soon as it cools down and firmly fixes the wedge into
the wall. All things contract as their temperature goes down. Nevertheless,
Allah, All Mighty, has made certain substances and metals, such as lead and
gypsum, which expand as their temperature goes down.

Allah, All Mighty, has created water with no color, smell or taste. If water
were pink, human life would be unbearable. If water were sweet, food and
all things would be sweet. If water were sticky, how would man wash his
body and things? Imagine how things would be if water were made sticky!
However, Allah, Most Gracious, has made water fluid, colorless, odorless
and tasteless. If water did not evaporate, except at 100° C., the floor of your
room would remain wet forever if you spilt water thereon. However, water
begins to evaporate at 14° C., and therefore, as soon as you spill some water
on the floor of your room, it evaporates. In addition, water boils at 100° C. If
it boiled at 500° C., as oil does, food would burn during cooking.

Who has given water its properties? It evaporates at 14° C. It has an amazing
fluidity that enables it to flow through the narrowest pores. It has no color,
taste or odor: “Verily, You are the All-Giver.”

Shall we talk about the whole universe? Shall we talk about the eye or the
ear? In a medical experiment, scientists poured some wax into the outer part
of a person’s ear. Therefore, he lost the ability to determine direction of the
sound-source. Allah, All Mighty, has endowed the outer part of the ear with
the ability to receive sounds from all directions and reflect them into the
ear’s interior.

Who has given you a sound-memory whereby you distinguish different

sounds and voices even through the telephone? Who has made you get
annoyed when you hear noise but get amused when you hear bird singing?
Surely, it is Allah, “Al-Wahhab” (the All-Giver): “Verily, You are the All-
Giver.”

Who has given the food a nice smell? If Allah, Most Gracious, made the
good food smell bad while the bad food smell good, what would human life
be like? As soon as food, such as meat for example, gets rotten, it smells
horrible: “Verily, You are the All-Giver.” All things around you, your
existence, your senses, and the substances and materials around you are all
Divine Favors from the Lord, “Al-Wahhab” (the All-Giver)!

Who has created the Sun for us? You pay hundreds of thousands of pounds
more for a house that looks out on the Sun. The Sun, which has been burning
more than five thousand million years, is the source of life on the Earth. It
will remain ablaze for another five thousand million years. Who has given us
the Sun? Surely, it is Allah, “Al-Wahhab”, (the All-Giver): “Verily, You are
the All-Giver.”

Who has made the Moon as a calendar in the heaven? It is He, Allah, Most
Gracious, Who has made the Moon to help you know the number of years
and the reckoning: “Verily, You are the All-Giver.”

Who has made the wind blow in order to renew the air and refresh man? The
weather changes due to its movement, which removes pollution, dust or bad
smell. Undoubtedly, movement of the wind is one of Allah’s Great Favors.
Moreover, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “And We send the winds
fertilizing, then cause the water to descend from the sky, and We give it
to you to drink, and it is not you who are the owners of its stores.” [XV;
22]

Once, we calculated the amount of water that a person needs for a whole
year. We found out that he needs about 100 cubic meters. We should take
into consideration that a reservoir of 100 cubic meters is equal to a flat in
which one can dwell. Allah, Most Gracious, says, “…and it is not you who
are the owners of its stores.”

Storage of water in springs is both remarkable and amazing. Who stores

water in springs and wells? “Verily, You are the All-Giver.”

In Arabic the word “Wahhab” is derived from the verb “wahaba”, which
means “to give someone something as a gift, i.e. without getting anything in
return.”

If someone has a son that is dutiful, obedient, religious, righteous, polite,

well behaved, and kind, is it correct to claim, “I have done my best to
make my son as such!”? The answer is: No, of course not! It is clear that
such father has forgotten Allah, “Al-Wahhab” (the All-Giver), Who granted
him such good righteous son. In this context, Allah, “Al-Wahhab”, says,
“And We granted him (Abraham) Isaac and Jacob, each of whom did
We guide; and before him, We did guide Noah, and among his progeny,
David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses and Aaron. Thus do We reward the
good-doers.” [VI; 84] The verb “granted” in the above Quranic Verse
means that Allah, Most Gracious, gave His Prophet Abraham, (PBUH), his
sons Isaac and Jacob as a gift, i.e. without anything in return. In other words,
if Allah, “Al-Wahhab”, gives you a son, it is a gift from Him. It is not up to
you to make your son a good righteous person or not. It is all in Allah’s
Hand. You might be the most powerful, influential and knowledgeable
person in the whole world, but have a son who gets you in trouble and
makes your life unbearable. A great many good righteous people have bad
deviant disobedient children. I have heard, for example, that the son of the
Imam of the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina is an evil deviant irreligious
person. Therefore, if Allah, “Al-Wahhab”, gives you a righteous dutiful
obedient child, you should be most grateful to Him, Most Gracious. Do not
attribute your child’s righteousness, dutifulness or obedience to your own
intelligence and good upbringing. Do not say, “I am an intelligent person. I
am a successful father. I always take care of my child and follow
him/her step by step.” If he/she is a bad person, your care and upbringing
are in vain. Hence, Allah’s Words “And We granted him (Abraham) Isaac
and Jacob” should be understood that the holy Prophets Isaac and Jacob,
(PBUT), were both given to their father, Abraham, (PBUH), as a gift from
the Lord, Allah, “Al-Wahhab”, and not anyone else.

In the light of the above-mentioned definition of the word “wahaba” (give or

donate), is it correct to say that a human being gives another something as a
gift, i.e. without getting anything in return? Is it believable that a human
being, in the whole world, gives another something gratis? Even when a true
believer gives anything gratis, he/she does so seeking good recompense
from his Lord, Allah, “Al-Wahhab”. Does he/she give anything for nothing?
Does he/she hasten to serve other people for nothing? Does he/she rescue a
patient for nothing? Does he/she teach or preach for nothing? Does he/she
serve Allah’s House for nothing? Is it believable that he/she seeks nothing in
return?

If a wealthy person asked a teacher: “I’d like you to give my son private
lessons, and I shall give you one million pounds for each lesson. But do
not take any money from my son, because if you do, I shall give you
nothing”, would it be wise of the teacher to take only one hundred pounds
for each lesson from the son and, hence, lose the large amount of money that
the father promised to give him?

A wise person is someone who does not seek recompense from people but
rather from the Lord of people, Allah, All Mighty. Do you believe that a
human being does anything for no reward or recompense? Utmost reward is
to ask for Allah’s Good Pleasure, to ask for His Paradise, to ask for His Most
Generous Recompense, to ask for His Help, because no human being could
ever give you anything for nothing in return.

In the light of the above mentioned, it is only metaphorically correct to say

that a human being gives anything for nothing in return. Sometimes, a
person gives something in order to be praised and thanked. Such praise is the
reward he looks for. Sometimes, someone gives generously to a charity
seeking public gratitude. He boasts, “I have given such and such amount
of money!” He desires to have his name inscribed on a marble plate
showing his generous contribution. In other words, he desires to have a
reward in return for his good deed. I reiterate: No human being gives
anything for nothing in return; the only One Who gives for nothing in return
is Allah, “Al-Wahhab”, Most Gracious.

Furthermore, if a human being gives you anything, who is the Real Donor?
It is Allah, Most Generous, Who inspired him to give you what he has given
you!

A venerable religious scholar lived in a rented house in Tripoli, Syria. The

property owner wanted to send him out of the house. The law was on the
owner’s side, therefore, he brought an action against the scholar and won the
case. As a result, the scholar was about to be homeless. However, something
very strange took place. One of the wealthy people of that town dreamed of
Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), telling him to buy a house for the
scholar. The wealthy person looked for the scholar everywhere until he
found him and bought him a good house, just for the sake of Allah, “Al-
Wahhab” (the All-Giver) and His Generous Reward and Recompense.

No human being could ever give anything unless Allah, Most Gracious,
inspires him to do so. Sometimes an official gives you permission to do
something. In fact, it is Allah, Who inspires him to do so. However, if Allah,
All Mighty, desires to punish you, He creates thousands of obstacles before
you. A businessperson once told me that 38 lorries loaded with goods were
no allowed to cross the Syrian Customs because they had not been verified
by the Syrian Embassy in the country of origin.

If someone offers you help or does you a favor, you should firmly believe
that Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, has inspired him to do so.

At any rate, should I not thank the person who does me a favor? Of course, I
should! If anyone offers you help or does you a favor, but you do not thank
him/her, it would be ungrateful of you, because he does so willingly. To this
effect, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “He who does not thank people
does not thank Allah.”

Therefore, you must show adequate thankfulness and gratitude to a person

who willingly offers to help you or does you a favor, although it is Allah, All
Mighty, Who inspires him to do so. However, you should thank Allah first
for inspiring people to help you or do you favors, and then you should offer
thanks to people for helping you willingly. In this context, Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), says, “If someone seeks refuge with Allah, give him
refuge. If someone asks you to give him something for the sake of Allah,
give him (what he asks). If someone asks Allah for help, help him. If
someone does you a favor, reward him (for his favor); but if you do not
find (anything to reward him), invoke Allah for him until you make sure
that you have duly rewarded him.”

In order to make things clear, I would like to say that in case someone does
Muslims a favor, they usually say, “May Allah well reward you!” or “May
Allah increase you in good!” Such sayings are not sufficient. If someone
does you a favor, you should do him/her a favor in return. However, if you
are unable to do so, it is acceptable of you to thank him by using the above
sayings.

In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), sets a perfect example of this in

a situation with the venerable Companion Rabi’ah, may Allah be pleased
with him. After Rabi’a had served Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), for some
time, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), addressed him, “O Rabi’ah! Ask me
anything you need.” I wondered, “Does not Allah’s Prophet and
Messenger deserve to be served for nothing in return!” Nevertheless, due
to his perfect noble human nature, He, (PBUH), felt indebted to Rabi’ah for
serving him. In this context, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “Indeed in the
Messenger of Allah you have a good example.” [XXXIII; 21]

Beware of mentioning the favors that you do to others, but do not forget the
favors that they do to you! If you do anyone a favor, it is perfect of you not
to mention it and to forget all about it, since you have done so just for the
sake of Allah, Most Gracious. Allah describes true believers who do favors
to other fellow humans as saying, “We feed you seeking Allah’s
Countenance only. We wish for no reward nor thanks from you.”
[LXXVI; 9]

However, if anyone does you a favor, it would be most ungrateful of you to

forget such favor. This is because if you do not show adequate gratitude to
people, you do not show adequate gratitude to Allah, even though you
believe that the favor that a fellow human does you is in fact from Allah,
Most Gracious. First, He, Glory to Him, inspires him; second, He allows
him; and third, He enables him. If He inspired him but did not allow him, he
would simply say, “I am sorry! I can do nothing for you.” Sometimes,
someone desires to help you, but he simply cannot. Although he is very
desirous to help you, he apologizes to you, saying, “I simply can’t help
you.” This is because Allah, All Mighty, has inspired him to help you, but
He has not allowed him. I reiterate: If someone does you a favor, you should
never forget it. In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “He who
embraces Islam thanks to someone’s help, he should be loyal to him.”

If a human being gives you something or does you a favor, the effects of
such thing or favor end by the end of life. However, if Allah, Most Gracious,
grants you a Favor of His through some human being’s good offices, this
means that the effects of such Favor will last forever. To this effect, Allah,
Most Merciful, says, “That is (Paradise), of which Allah gives glad
tidings to His slaves who believe and do righteous good deeds. Say (O
Muhammad): ‘No reward do I ask of you for this except to be kind to
me for my kinship with you.’ And whosoever does a good righteous
deed, We shall give him an increase of good in respect thereof. Verily,
Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Ready to appreciate (the good deeds of
those who are obedient to Him).” [XLII; 23]

If you drink water form a spring, beware of spitting therein, for that would
be very ungrateful of you! To the same purport, the verses go:
I taught him shooting everyday,
But when he learned well enough, he shot me!
And I taught him to write poems;
But when he made a poem, he defamed me!

Undoubtedly, the One Who inspires other fellow humans to help you or do
you favors is Allah, All-Mighty, Most Gracious; and the one who enables
other fellow humans to help you or do you favors is Allah, Most Merciful. In
other words, the Inspirer is Allah, and the Doer is Allah!

It is called out in the universe: “We do love him!”

And all that in the universe hear of Our Love!

Has not anyone done you a favor for no reason or former acquaintance?
Have not you wondered why he/ she did you such favor? Has not anyone
been lenient and tolerant to you? Has not anyone helped you and made
things easy for you? Have you not had such experiences? The answer is, of
course, “Yes!” Therefore, you should remember that Allah, Most Gracious,
has inspired him to do so, for Allah, Glory to Him, is the One Who inspires,
allows and enables. Hence, the proper thing to do is, first of all, to thank
Allah, saying, “O Lord! All Thanks and Praises belong to You!”

When Allah, Most Gracious, sent down Quranic Verses that declared
‘A’ishah, the Prophet’s wife, may Allah be pleased with her, innocent of
accusations made against her, her father bade her, “Go to Allah’s
Messenger (in order to thank him)!” She replied, “No! (I swear) by
Allah, I shall thank none but Allah!” That was because she believed that
Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), did not do or say anything for her, but it was
Allah, All Mighty, Who revealed her acquittal. After she paid tribute to
Allah, Most Gracious, for her acquittal, she went to Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH). In the same context, a man once addressed Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), “As Allah and you (both) will.” Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH),
angrily said, “Do you make me equal to Allah? Say, ‘As Allah, Alone,
wills!’”

Some scholars say: Al-Wahhab” (the All-Giver) is the Benefactor, Who is

Bounty Abounding and Most Generous, Who grants Favors without
measure, Who is Most Kind, Who gives without being asked, and Who
never withholds His Favors from His slaves.

“Al-Wahhab” (the All-Giver) is He Who gives you with no means and

bestows His Favors upon you with no reason or cause.

“Al-Wahhab” (the All-Giver) is He Who gives for nothing in return and

causes to die for no purpose.

We are all Allah’s slaves, and all the good things that we have or enjoy are
from Allah, Most Gracious. Therefore, we should know for sure that every
Blessing or Favor is from Allah, Most Generous.

However, gratitude is of three ranks. The first rank is to recognize that

blessings and favors are all from Allah, Most Gracious. The second rank is
that your heart should abound in gratitude to Him. The third rank is to hasten
to help and serve Allah’s slaves, other fellow humans. Undoubtedly, the third
rank is the best, for Allah, Most Generous, says, “Is there any reward for
good other than good?” [LV; 60] In this Quranic Verse, Allah addresses
every human being: “O My salve! If you stick to My Commands, serve
My slaves, guide them to Me, act in good faith towards them, offer them
adequate help, and be generous to them. If you do this, you do well to
My slaves. Is it reasonable that I do you evil in return? Is there any
reward for your good doing other than My good doing to you?” This is
because Allah is the Most Thankful.

If a believer fails to recognize that Allah’s Good Treatment to him is a kind

of Divine Honor that Allah confers upon him and wrongly thinks that such
Good Treatment is due to his own honesty, devotion or good righteous work,
this reflects weakness of faith. This is because the token of true faith is to
believe that all blessings and favors that you enjoy bespeak Allah’s Divine
Grace to you. If you hasten to offer adequate help to other fellow humans,
who are also Allah’s slaves, Allah provides you with His Divine Help, for
Allah helps a slave as long as the slave helps his fellow slave.

There is another Quranic Verse: “For him (each person) there are angels
in succession, before and behind him. They guard him by Allah’s
Command. Verily, Allah will not change the condition of a people unless
they change their state themselves. But if Allah wills a people’s
punishment, there can be no turning back of it, and they will find
against Him no protector.” [XIII; 11]

In fact, examples of Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Wahhab” (the All-Giver) are

plentiful in all places and times. However, what happened to one of our good
brothers, who worked in a shop where he earned only three thousand
pounds. One of his brothers, who had lost his job and become penniless,
came to him complaining. Without the least hesitation, he told him, “Come
and work with me, and I shall give you half of my income.” As I have
just said, the man’s income was only three thousand pounds. He swore to me
truthfully that in the following month, his income increased ten folds. Yes,
indeed, his income increased ten folds! “Verily, You are Al-Wahhab (the
All-Giver)!”

In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), bade the venerable Companion,

Bilal, may Allah be pleased with him, “O Bilal! Expend and do not fear
narrowness (of provision) from the Owner of the Throne!”

However, beware of unlawful expenditure! Do not neglect Allah’s

Commands concerning expenditure for the sake of other human beings, for
none should be given preference to Allah and His Religion.
A scholar called Ash-Shibli asked a companion of Abi ‘Ali Ath-Thaqafi’s:
“Which of Allah’s Divine Names do you remember and mention most?”
He replied, “Al-Wahhab (the All-Giver), for the First of Allah’s Divine
Favors that He bestows upon you is that He has brought you into
existence.”

To wrap up, a person’s share of this Divine Name is that he should give
generously for Allah and His Cause, out of that which Allah has given him:
his knowledge, experience, time, power, effort, and social status. Such is a
person’s share of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Wahhab” (the All-
Giver)!

* * *

I n His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, Allah, Glory to Him, says, “Is
there any creator other than Allah, Who provides you from the
heaven and the earth? There is no god but He. How, then, are you
turning away (from Him)?” [XXXV; 3] The above Quranic Verse leads us
to the twelfth of Allah’s Divine Names, namely “Ar-Razzaq” (The All-
Provider). This Name occurs in the Quranic Verse, “Verily, Allah is the All-
Provider, Owner of Power, the Most Strong” [LI; 58]
In Arabic, the word “Ar-Razzaq” is an emphatic epithet of Allah that means
that He, Most Gracious, provides all of His slaves no matter how numerous
they might be. If He so desires, He provides any of them abundantly and
without limits. In other words, Allah, All Mighty, is “Ar-Razzaq” (the All-
Provider), Who provides all of His slaves with sustenance regardless of their
number or quantity of provision. That is why it is rightly said: “If Allah
gives, He astonishes.”

In this context, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “And so many a moving

(living) creature carries not its own provision! Allah provides for it and
for you. And He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.” [XXIX; 60]

The holy Prophet, David, (PBUH), used to invoke the Lord, “O Allah, Who
grants provision to Al-Bughath (the baby raven)! Grant us provision!”
A baby raven is one of the weakest kinds of birds; and the Arabic proverb
goes, “Even a baby raven becomes like an eagle in our land”, which
means that because of our weakness and lack of power, even a baby raven,
which is the weakest of all birds, is too strong compared to us.

The Bughath (baby raven) has a very strange story. When it hatches, it looks
white, just like a piece of fat, and, therefore, its mother, whose color is black,
denies it and does not recognize it. But Allah, Most Gracious, sends it some
insects to feed on until its feathers grow and become black. Only then its
mother recognizes it.

The strange thing about the baby raven is that it is left forsaken and helpless,
but Allah, Most Merciful, sends it its provision from Him. That is why
people follow David’s tradition of invocation, “O Allah, Who grants
Provision to the baby raven in its nest! Grant us provision!”

However, it is not only wrong but also naïve to beseech Allah only for
material provision, i.e. food and drink. To this effect, Allah, Most
Gracious, says about the chaste holy woman, Mary, “So her Lord (Allah)
accepted her with goodly acceptance. He made her grow in a good manner
and put her under the care of Zechariah. Every time Zechariah entered Al-
Mihrab (her private place of prayer) to (visit) her, he found her supplied
with provision. He said, ‘O Mary! Where did you get this from?’ She said,
‘This is from Allah.’ Verily, Allah grants provision to whomever He wills,
without limit.” [III; 37] In interpretation of the above Quranic Verse,
scholars say that the word “provision” refers to spiritual more than
material provision. In this context, they say: “provision of the body is food
and drink, but provision of the spirit is knowledge.” This means that
spiritual provision, i.e. knowledge is nobler and more sublime than
material provision, i.e. food and drink. If Allah provides you with good
income whereby you have the most delicious kinds of foods and drinks,
but He provides another person with knowledge, this means that He likes
him/her more than you, because He provides him/her with spiritual
provision, knowledge. To this effect, Allah, Glory to Him, says about the
holy Prophet Moses, “And when he attained his full strength and was
perfect (in manhood), We bestowed on him Al-Hukm (i.e. Prophecy and
good judgment) and religious knowledge. And thus do We reward the good
doers.” [XXVIII; 14] Such is real provision!

In the same context, Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), says, “I

stay with my Lord (Allah), and He provides me with food and drink.” He,
(PBUH), uses the words “food and drink” metaphorically to mean
spiritual provision, which is the noblest and most sublime of all kinds of
provision.

Dear reader! Here is a good piece of news: One of the things that enlarge
one’s provision is Salat (Islamic Prayer). To this effect, Allah, Most
Gracious, says, “And enjoin Prayer on your family and be patient in
offering it (Prayer). We ask not of you a provision. We provide for you. And
the good end is for the pious.” [XX; 132] In other words, if you desire to
have your provision enlarged, you are not demanded to perform Salat
(Islamic Prayer), as you already do, but rather to perform it properly, i.e.
with solemnity and submissiveness. This is because solemnity and
submissiveness are not merely a merit of Salat but rather an essential part
thereof. To this effect, Allah, Praise belongs to Him, says, “Successful
indeed are believers who offer their Prayer with all solemnity and full
submissiveness.” [XXIII; 1,2]

Of the decorum of man’s servitude towards his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, is
to turn to Him in all issues, whether important or trivial. This is because
the Lord, Allah, Glory to Him, likes His slave to ask Him even if the strap
of his shoe is cut off. If you lose your door keys, for example, He likes you
to invoke Him, “O Allah, Who will gather up all people on the Day of
Resurrection, help me find my keys!” I reiterate that Allah likes you to
invoke Him for all your things, whether important or trivial. If you
suddenly forget how to get to a certain place of appointment, make use of
the following story:

Someone went to Medina to visit the Prophet’s Mosque there. But he

forgot the address of the place he was heading for. On the way, he invoked
Allah, Who helped him find his way easily. Another person who forgot to
invoke remained lost for more than ten hours.

Therefore, you should ask Allah, Most Gracious, for both serious and
paltry things, for this reflects your complete servitude to Him, All Mighty.

The holy Prophet, Moses, (PBUH), asked Allah, All Mighty, a very serious
thing. He invoked, “O my Lord! Help me to see You!” But when he was
hungry, he invoked, “My Lord! I am in need of whatever good that You
bestow on me.” [XXVIII; 24] Moses’ attitude provides clear evidence that
a slave should ask his Lord for everything.

In this context, the venerable Companion and Caliph, Ali, may Allah be
pleased with him, said, “You are not demanded to ask for provision, but you
are demanded to ask for the Garden (of Paradise).” In other words, when
you neglect the things that you are demanded to ask for and ask for the
things that you are not demanded to ask for, this means that you deviate
from the right way due to lack of confidence in the Lord, All-Mighty, Who
guarantees to grant you provision in many Quranic Verses. He, Most
Gracious, says, “Verily, Allah is the All-Provider, Owner of Power, the Most
Strong” [LI; 58], “Allah is He Who created you, then provided food for you,
then will cause you to die, then (again) will give you life (on the Day of
Resurrection). Is there any of your (so-called) partners (of Allah) that do
anything of that? Glory is to Him! And far Exalted is He above all that (evil)
they associate (with Him).” [XXX; 40], “Kill not your children because of
poverty. We provide sustenance for you and for them. Come not near
shameful sins, whether committed openly or secretly. And kill not anyone
whom Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause. This has He commanded
you that you may understand.” [VI; 151] and, “And kill not your children
for fear of poverty. We shall provide for them as well as for you. Surely, the
killing of them is a great sin.” [XVII; 31], among many other Quranic
Verses, such as, “And also in yourselves (are Signs for those who have
Faith with certainty). Will you not see? And in the heaven is your provision
and that which you are promised. Then by the Lord of the heaven and the
earth it is the truth, just as it is the truth that you can speak.” [LI; 21-23]…
By virtue of the above Quranic Verses, our Lord, Allah, Most Merciful,
reassures us that He has undertaken to grant us provision. Nevertheless,
people strive and purchase their religion for the sake of provision. In a
Divine Hadith, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “O My salve! I have created the
heavens and the earth, but I have not got tired of creating them. Do I get
tired if I send you a dough of bread every now and then?!” The Lord has
undertaken to provide us with sustenance, but He has commanded us to
strive for the Hereafter. He, Glory to Him, says, “And that man can have
nothing but what he does (good or evil).” [LIII; 39] But what happens is
that people, due to ignorance and lack of Faith, neglect the things that
Allah has commanded them to do and strive for those that He has
undertaken to provide for them.

Therefore, it is wise to strive for the things that Allah has commanded you
to strive for and do not waste time seeking the things that Allah has
undertaken to provide for you. The holy Prophet Jesus, (PBUH), says,
“Do not worry about your bellies!”

Someone’s brother passed away leaving him five orphans but no money at
all. He felt desperately helpless and began to lament his bad luck. Later,
he met his Sheikh (religious scholar), who asked him, “What is the matter,
my son?” ”My brother passed away leaving me five orphans.” he replied
sadly. The Sheikh asked, “Hasn’t he left anything for them?” The answer
came, “Yes, he has. He has left provision that suffices them for a year.” The
Sheikh said, “Good! When this provision is over, start crying?” The story
goes on to say that the man, who went to the Sheikh complaining about
the five orphans his brother had left him, passed away before the provision
left by the dead father was over.

I knew someone whose house was to be brought down due to some

municipal arrangements. He got furious and began raging and roaring.
He became helplessly desperate and began crying and asking for help.
Despite all good truthful promises that he would be given another house
instead, he remained worried and miserable; and he passed away several
months before his house was brought down.

Man should not worry more than necessary about worldly things, for
Allah, “Ar-Razzaq” (The All-Provider) is always there.
Some scholars say, “Ar-Razzaq” (The All-Provider) is He (Allah), Who
provides people’s bodies (with sustenance) by His Grace, and adorns the
hearts of the elite with true Faith.” In other words, provision is of two
kinds, material and spiritual, the former is for physical bodily needs while
the latter is for spiritual ones. In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH),
says, “If the soul finds its provision, it feels secure.”

Some scholars interpret the word “provision” in the above Prophetic

Hadith as spiritual provision. In other words, if you perform prayer with
true solemnity and submissiveness, if you cry while performing prayer, if
your heart is filled with humility and veneration while reading Allah’s
Book, the Holy Quran, if you feel secure and tranquil for being near to
Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious. Other scholars interpret the word
“provision” as material bodily sustenance. However both interpretations
are acceptable.

Some scholars say, “Ar-Razzaq (The All-Provider) is He (Allah), Who

singles out the rich for material provision, while poor true believers for
recognition of the Provider.” In other words, rich people enjoy the
perishable pleasures and enjoyments of the present world. They have lots
of money. They eat whatever they like. They buy the most beautiful
palaces. They buy the best furniture. They travel wherever they desire.
They choose the most beautiful cars and the very best clothes. On the
other hand, poor but believing people enjoy incredible spiritual
enhancement for being near to their Lord, Allah, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful and intimate to Him. Being linked with the Upper World, they do
not care about ephemeral mundane enjoyments. In other words, either
you dwell in material provision or witness the All-Provider. Either you get
indulged in the perishable enjoyments of this present life or live in the
bliss of intimacy and nearness to the Lord, Allah, the Most Gracious, the
Most Merciful, the All-Provider.

In fact, there is a kind of justice and balance in what Allah, the All-
Provider, gives to all of His human slaves. Materialistically calculated, all
the things that Allah gives to His human slaves reflect His Infinite Divine
Justice. If we give one mark for every thing human beings are given, the
final result will be one and the same for each one of them. If we give one
mark for each of the following: wife, house, income, job, health, beauty,
…etc, we find out that most people get equal marks despite certain
individual differences. In other words, the total number of marks is always
the same for all people. The rich who have big income lack peace of mind
which poor believers enjoy. Someone has a good health but is poor while
another is rich but lacks good health, … and so on and so forth. In this
context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Take from this world whatever
you desire, and get worry as much as you take (from it). Whosoever takes
from this world more than he needs, he unconsciously brings about his own
destruction.”

Here is another thing about provision: “Provision”, dear reader, can be

accurately defined as “something that you make use of”. In this sense,
provision includes such things as wealth, knowledge, good manners,
security, peace of mind, spiritual enhancement, …etc.

A man asked Hatim Al-Assam, “Where do you get your food from?” “From
His (Allah’s) Stores.” He replied. “What! Does Allah send down bread to
you from the heaven?” The man asked in amazement. Hatim answered,
“Unless the earth is His, He would send down bread to me from the heaven.
He provides me from the earth.” In other words, when man asks Allah for
provision, Allah sends it to him one way or another. Quite accidentally,
someone may meet another who is unemployed and offer him a good job.

In fact, such issue as provision is multi-sided, and there are thousands of

examples and evidences thereof. You might be provided from where you
have never reckoned and for a very silly reason: a look, a message that
you receive by mistake, certain merchandise that is selling badly, …etc.

In this context, I heard that during World War II, one of the merchants of
Al-Buzouriah market in Damascus City sold sugar at a price higher than
that determined by the authorities. Therefore, his shop was kept closed
and sealed until the war ended a few months later. During that period of
time, the price of sugar went up a hundred times, and thus he became a
very rich person in a period of few months during which he was forced to
close his shop. You might be provided by means of something that seems
unpleasant to you. This is because Allah, All-Mighty, is “the All-Provider,
Owner of Power, the Most Strong.”

The remarkable thing is that when you know that Allah is “the All-
Provider, Owner of Power, the Most Strong”, you beseech Him, Alone, for
provision. Due to weakness of Faith, ignorant people usually ask other
fellow humans for provision. If they beseeched the Lord, Allah, Alone, for
provision, knowing that He, Most Gracious, is “the All-Provider, Owner of
Power, the Most Strong”, they would attain honor, dignity, security, and
intimacy with Him.

Someone was asked, “Where do you get your food from?” He replied,
“From the Stores of the King, Whose Stores are never robbed or
devoured by worms.” Yes, indeed! Allah’s Stores are always open and full.
To this effect, He, All Mighty, says, “And there is not a thing but with Us
are the stores thereof. And We send it not down except in a known
measure.” [XV; 21]

One of the silliest theories of the materialistic scientists of the West and
the like of them says that natural resources of the earth are becoming
scarcer and scarcer, that the earth is threatened with a great famine, and
that world population is increasing according to a geometric series.
Someone called Maltus claims that such huge increase in world
population will inevitably cause a great famine. These words come from
someone who does not know Allah, the All-Provider. This is because any
kind of straitening or decrease of provision on the part of Allah is meant
to deter people and bring them back to piety, for Allah’s Divine Stores are
constantly abundantly open in all places and times. And when He, All
Mighty, straitens provision for people, He does so not due to disability, as
is the case with human beings.

A righteous knowledgeable woman was once asked, “Where does your

husband get provision for you?” Most wisely, she replied, “My husband
is not a provider; he is a mere consumer.” She meant that the Provider is
Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious.

Among the common ideological mistakes committed by ignorant people is

that they say that someone is the guardian of the family. This is only
metaphorically true, because the real Guardian is Allah, the All-Provider.
In other words, all human beings are dependents on Allah, the Most
Merciful.

As afore-mentioned, Allah, the All-Provider, singles out the rich for

material provision but believers, poor as they might be, for spiritual
provision, i.e. the ability to be conscious of the All-Provider. If you are
conscious of the All-Provider, it does not do you any harm to lose material
provision. In other words, those who know Allah and are always conscious
of Him do not care about material provision, i.e. the perishable pleasures
and enjoyments of this present world. On the contrary, those who are very
careful about material provision, i.e. the ephemeral pleasures and
enjoyments of this present world, do not know Allah, the All-Provider. In
this context, the venerable Companion and Caliph, Abu Bakr, may Allah
be pleased with him, never regretted anything he missed from the material
provision of this present world. Another type of people is someone who
regrets profoundly everything that he loses from the perishable pleasures
and enjoyments of the present world. For example, he feels most miserable
if he sells a piece of land at a certain price, but afterwards, its price rises a
hundred times. In fact, most of the diseases and illnesses that are
widespread today are those related to the heart, stomach, nerves, and
blood vessels, which are mainly caused by psychological and emotional
problems such as depression, stress, disorders, feelings of regret and
sorrow, …etc. If you believe in Allah, as the All-Provider, the Most
Gracious, and are constantly conscious of Him, no loss of material
provision can ever bring you misery or depression.

He who knows that Allah is the Only Provider turns only to Him. Consider
the following well-known story: The Umayyad Caliph, Soulaiman bin
Abdul Malik sent for a venerable scholar. They both met at the Ancient
Sacred House in Mecca. In order to honor the scholar, the Caliph told
him, “You may ask me for anything you need.” In reply, the scholar said,
“In Allah’s Ancient House I never ask anyone but Allah. This is Allah’s
House, and I feel ashamed to ask anyone but Him in His House.” Later,
when they met again outside Allah’s Ancient Sacred House, the Caliph
repeated, “You may ask me for anything you need.” The scholar replied, “I
did not ask the One Who owns my needs. How come that I should ask the
one who does not own them?” However, when the Caliph insisted that the
scholar should ask him for anything he needed, the scholar said, “Alright!
I ask you to admit me into Paradise.” The caliph said in amazement, “Such
a thing does not belong to me!” The scholar said, “Then, I need nothing of
you!”

Such is real honor of modesty and abstinence! It is very nice if a rich

person gives to the poor, but much nicer it is when a poor person, out of
modesty, abstains from the wealth of a rich person, saying, “Praised be
Allah.”
Some religious scholars say: “Just as Allah has no partners in His
Creation, He has no partners in His Provision. Just as there is no god but
Allah, there is no Provider but Allah.”

People always say, “If He (Allah) gives, He astonishes.” And the verse
goes:
And if provisions were granted due to knowledge,
Brute animals would die because of ignorance.

Quite often, you find that someone’s provision is straitened although he is

very intelligent, while the provision of another is enlarged although he is
very stupid or naïve. This is because provision is governed by other factors
than intelligence or labor. Make no mistake about it! Provision has to do
with honesty and uprightness. Common people understand that provision
is something pre-decreed and that none could ever earn or withhold it
except by Allah’s Leave. This is partly true, as Allah, All-Mighty, says,
“And if they had believed in Allah and gone on the Right Way, We would
surely have bestowed on them water in abundance.” [LXXII; 16] He, Glory
to Him, also says, “And if the people of the towns had believed and had
been pious, certainly, We would have opened for them Blessings from the
heaven and the earth. But they belied (Our Messengers), so We took them
(with punishment) for what they used to earn (of evil deeds).” [VII; 96]

Nevertheless, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “A person might be

deprived of some provision due to a sinful deed.” To make this point clear,
we put forward the following example:

If you think that your son is not yet well qualified to possess money, you
give him the minimum, i.e. only the amount necessary for his basic needs.
However, if your son is not only righteous and intelligent but also
trustworthy, you give him as much money as he desires. To the same
effect, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “And if Allah were to enlarge the
provision for His slaves, they would surely rebel in the earth. But He sends
down by measure as He wills. Verily, He is, in respect of His slaves, the
Well-Aware, the All-Seer (of the things that benefit them best).” [XLII; 27]

This is a very serious and important issue. When Allah Straitens provision
for His slaves, He does so only for punishment or deterrence or, more
precisely, it is out of Allah’s Divine Wisdom rather than lack of power or
ability.
It is narrated that the holy Prophet, Moses, (PBUH), asked his Lord,
Allah, Most Gracious, “O Lord! Sometimes, I need a paltry thing. Shall I
ask You, or shall I ask someone else, for it?” Allah, Glory to Him, revealed
to Moses, “Never ask anyone but Me!” This means that a human being
should ask his Lord for all the things he needs, whether they are small or
big, for there is no Provider but Him.

A junior physician who had just opened a clinic in the countryside needed
money for his mother who was seriously ill in Damascus city. He prayed
sincerely to the Lord to provide him with such amount of money. Quite
unusually, the young doctor’s clinic was soon filled with patients, and
Allah, the All-Provider, provided him with the money he needed for his ill
mother.

Whenever you are in debt or have to discharge certain financial dues, you
should turn to Allah with sincere invocation, “O Allah! I am in need of
Your Generous Provision! So provide me!” Make it your habit to beseech
Allah, the All-Provider, for everything. If your wife is obstinate, ask Allah
to make her compliant. If your partner is unbearable, pray to Allah to
make him manageable. If your son is deviant, ask Allah to bring him back
to the Right Way. If your job is hard, beseech Allah to make it easy and
comfortable or provide you with another better one. Make it your habit to
beseech Allah for everything. Once again, I repeat that the holy Prophet,
Moses, (PBUH), asked his Lord, Allah, Most Gracious, “O Lord!
Sometimes, I need a paltry thing. Shall I ask You, or shall I ask someone
else, for it?” Allah, Glory to Him, revealed to Moses, “Never ask anyone
but Me!”

Sometimes, in order to honor a dear friend, a person may tell him, “Never
ask anyone but me for anything you need. Whenever you need anything,
come and take it from me.” This is utmost intimacy and compassion. If you
love someone sincerely, you try hard to protect him from sacrificing his
honor before other fellow humans. Therefore, you tell him, “Please, never
ask anyone else. If you need anything, please come to me and take it.” In
the same context, when Allah, Most Gracious, bade Moses never to ask
anyone but Him, He, Most Gracious, meant to honor Moses and show him
His Divine Care for him.
A righteous man, Hammad bin Muslimah, was quoted as saying, “One of
my female servants was a widow who had orphans. One rainy night, I
heard her invoking the Lord, Allah, Most Gracious, ‘O Most Kind! Be kind
to me!’ I thought that she was in bad need of money. I waited until the rain
stopped, took a good amount of money and went to her. When I knocked
on her door, she asked, ‘Is it Hammad bin Muslimah?’ ‘Yes, it is. How are
you?’ I asked. ‘Very well! The rain has stopped and the children are warm.’
She replied. ‘Here is some money for you. Take it. You might need it.’ Said I.
Her little daughter interfered, ‘O Hammad! We do not want you to be
between Allah and us.’ Then she turned to her mother saying, ‘Why did you
speak out and unveil our secret? You know that Allah punishes us by
showing His Kindness to us on the hand of a creature!’”

Sometimes, Allah’s Bounty comes to you directly from Him, and you owe
none but Him such Divine Favor. Sometimes you complain to another
fellow human, and he feels sorry for you and tries hard to help you. This
means that Allah’s Favor does not come to you directly from Him but
rather on the hand of such fellow human. However, if you complain to a
disbeliever, he gloats over this and may, or may not, offer you adequate
help. This is most humiliating for you. Yes, indeed! It is most humiliating
when Allah grants you something by the hand of a disbeliever. It makes
me most unhappy to see a believer cringe, humble himself, complain, or
sacrifice his honor before a disbeliever.

Man is motivated to act by his love more than his mind. Love drives man
to sacrifice everything even his own self for those he loves. Man’s mind
helps him to be convinced, to believe, to conceive, but it does not make him
move or act.

Therefore, preachers and callers for Allah are advised to address both
people’s minds and hearts. If they realize mental convincement in people,
they accomplish only one half of success. But if they create in people, in
addition to mental convincement, an attitude based on love, they achieve
full success. This is because man is endued with a mind and a heart. If he
uses his mind properly, contemplating the universe, he gets to know Allah,
All Mighty; and if he recognizes Allah’s Divine Favors, he gets to love
Him with all of his heart. If he loves Allah, he is rightly guided. Moreover,
man is not called as such unless he loves.
While we were at the university, a professor of psychology retired and his
colleagues and students held a party in honor of the occasion. He
delivered a speech that I shall never forget: “A person who does not feel
desirous to love and be loved is not a human being.” In other words, you do
not deserve to be called “a human being” if you are hard-hearted and do
not desire to love and be loved.

Therefore, love is indispensable for human life. The remarkable thing

about the Prophet’s venerable Companions, may Allah be pleased with
them, is that they did many feats. Why did they achieve the impossible?
Why did they purchase themselves for the Cause of Allah? Why did they
sacrifice everything? If the finger of one of us is wounded, he cries out,
bandages it, excuses himself from meetings and even has a sick leave.
Consider what the venerable Companion, Ja’far, may Allah be pleased
with him, did in one of the battles! He received a blow of a sword that
chopped off his right hand, so he held the flag with his left hand. Another
blow came to chop off his left hand, so he managed to hold the flag with
his upper arms and to keep holding it until he fell dead. What love could
drive him to sacrifice his life?

In spiritual affairs, true believers always invoke, “O Lord! Enter me into

Your Paradise! O Lord! Help me to know You! O Lord! Do not let me die
before You are well pleased with me! In other words, their requests have to
do with such sublime issues as Paradise, knowledge, understanding
Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran, reading Quranic interpretations …etc,
while others remember their Lord for trivial worldly issues. For example,
they invoke, “O Lord! Get such a tenant out of my house!” Therefore, in
respect to their relationship with the Lord, Most Gracious, people are of
two kinds: Those who ask for noble paramount things, and those who seek
paltry trivial things. O Allah! Grant us wisdom, which is also a kind of
provision!

However, some people say, “I do not ask anything of my Lord except my

Lord. As for paltry things, I ask them of those who are paltry.” In other
words, they do not ask of Allah but Allah Himself. For insignificant
things, they ask other fellow humans.

It is narrated that the wife of Yahya bin Mou’ath once told him, “I was
greatly amazed when my daughter asked me for some bread to eat. I told
her, ‘Ask Allah for that.’ She said, ‘I feel ashamed to ask the Almighty Allah
for something to eat.” In this context, however, Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), says, “Let the one of you ask his Lord for all his needs, even for
salt or the strap of his shoes if it is cut off.”

Consider though, dear reader, this paradox: That young girl in the above
story felt ashamed to ask Allah for something permissible, bread, while a
very old man is not ashamed to disobey Allah. A man in his sixties might
be sometimes seen playing trick-track in a café when it is time for prayer.
Another boyish old man in his fifties might be seen showing off before
girls or standing on a balcony, in a café or on a sidewalk, watching them.
Such behavior is not only strange but amazing as well. To this effect,
Allah, All Mighty, says in a Divine Hadith, “I hate the disobedient; but My
Hatred for an old disobedient one is even more.”

Undoubtedly, Allah, Most Gracious, provides both man’s spirit and body. I
reiterate that if you perform prayer properly, if you perform the Hajj
properly, standing at Mount ‘Arafat to pray to the Lord and invoke Him,
and crying in humility and veneration, if you observe the fast in the month
of Ramadan properly so as to abstain from any sins or misdeeds, if you
stay up the nights praying to the Lord and invoking Him with true love
and sincere devotion, and if you seek Allah’s Good Please and nearness to
Him, this is not only real spiritual Divine Provision but also the fountain
of success and prosperity.

Scholars say, “Verily, Allah provides people’s souls and hearts just as He
provides their bodies. Provision of the hearts is knowledge and revelation,
while provision of the body is food and material sustenance.” In other
words, a true believer recognizes things that others cannot recognize. He
has a special understanding and awareness. He knows the essence of life.
He knows where he came from, and where he shall go. He knows the most
Valuable things in human life.

A person may spend his time either on trivial paltry things or sublime
valuable ones. This is also a kind of provision. Another point with regards
to provision is that it is sometimes made easy or uneasy to earn. In this
context, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “As for man, when his Lord tries him
by giving him honor and bounties, then he says (in exultation), ‘My Lord has
honored me!’ But when He tries him by straitening his means of living, he
says, ‘My Lord has humiliated me!’ Nay! But you treat not the orphans with
kindness and generosity, and urge not one another on feeding the poor, but
you devour the inheritance all with greed, and love wealth with much love.”
[LXXXIX; 15-20]

Sometimes you find someone who is very intelligent and educated, yet his
income is low and he has no good job or work. This is all by Allah’s Divine
Decree. Just as Allah, All Mighty, straitens for a person his provision, He
straitens for him his spiritual provision. He performs prayer but with no
humility, submissiveness or veneration. An accountant once told me that
he did not remember how to solve problematic accounts except while
performing prayer. In other words, there is a barrier between him and his
Lord. This is because Allah, All Mighty, straitens for man his spiritual
provision just as He straitens for him his Material one. Spiritual
straitening means two things. The first thing is that there must be a sin, a
deed of disobedience, a breach, non-discharged rights, and deviation from
the Right Path, …etc. All of these make a barrier between man and his
Lord, Allah, Most Gracious. We take refuge with Allah from falling in
such felonies. Each sinful deed has its own barrier. However, there is
another interpretation: You might be committed to Allah’s Commands and
Religion, yet He, Glory to Him, straitens your provision for you. This kind
of straitening is meant to help you ascend to a higher spiritual state, i.e. to
provide you with more spiritual enhancement. You might be in a certain
spiritual state in which you desire to remain for long because you think
that it brings you spiritual comfort and peace. Nevertheless, Allah, Most
Merciful, desires to promote you to a higher more sublime spiritual state.
Therefore, He straitens not only material but also spiritual provision for
you, which makes you feel worried, uncomfortable and afraid. Such
feeling drives you to do more righteous good deeds and work harder to
please the Lord, Most Gracious, and thus, you go up another step and get
yourself promoted to a higher state of spiritual enhancement. In this
sense, straitening your provision is meant to provide you with spiritual
promotion and to help you ascend to a better spiritual state than that in
which you have dwelled for some time. In this kind of straitening, you may
feel that your prayer is not adequate enough, nor is your reading of the
Holy Quran or your remembrance of the Lord. You may feel that your
heart has become like a lifeless desert and your life unbearable.

Someone might be straightforward and honest, yet he does not feel any
spiritual comfort. This motivates him to hasten to do more righteous work,
which helps him ascend to a higher and better spiritual state that Allah,
Most Merciful, due to His Divine Love and Mercy, desires him to reach.
Before I put forward the following story, I would like to tell you
something. You, as a believer, if you feel happy for being near to Allah and
intimate to Him, this means that you are a true believer; and if you find
utmost happiness and delight in being near to Him, this means that you
are a true believer. However, if you feel happy and delighted for some
financial profits or material achievement, this is something else. So who
are you? Where do you belong? Do you belong to this present world or the
Hereafter? If you are delighted with people’s donation, you belong to this
present world; but if you are delighted with Allah’s Donation, you belong
to the Hereafter.

By the way, if a believer denies his heart, and if his connection with Allah
weakens, he becomes as miserable as an orphan. You find him most
unhappy. If you ask him, “What is the matter?” he replies, “Nothing.” In
other words, he feels unwell, but he does not know what is wrong with
him. In this context, Al-Hassan Al-Basri says, “If you read the Holy Quran
and remember Allah, Most Gracious, yet you do not feel happy or delighted,
you should know that you are barred from the Lord.” To this effect, Allah,
All Mighty, says, “Nay! Surely they (the evil doers) on that Day will be
veiled from seeing their Lord.” [LXXXIII; 15] The veil in this Quranic
Verse is meant to be in the Hereafter. But there is another kind of veil in
this present world. If you feel that you are being veiled from the Lord,
Most Gracious, go and search for the reason. You might be negligent, you
might be self-conceited, and you might feel that you are in no need of
Allah, you might be unconsciously thinking badly of Allah, Most Merciful,
or His Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH). If you feel that you are being
barred from Allah, Glory to Him, you should strive to find the reason. Be
careful not to allow the barrier to get thicker, because if it does, the
problem will be so serious. In this context, the venerable Companion and
Caliph, Omar bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him says, “Take
care of your heart.” In other words, you should look after your heart, you
should be well aware of your spiritual condition and your peace of mind.
If someone gets up after sunrise, i.e. when time for the Dawn Prayer is
over, but does not feel anything wrong with him, this means that his
spiritual condition is seriously bad. However, if he feels most unhappy and
miserable, if he feels disgraceful and ashamed of the Lord, All Mighty,
and if he feels lost, this reflects true faith and righteousness. If one says,
“It is alright. It does not matter. I have done nothing wrong”, it is a really
serious problem.
The story that I would like to tell you goes as follows: Someone entered
upon Dawood At-Ta’i and found him happy and delighted, which was
unusual, because whenever he had entered upon him, he had found him
unhappy and discontented. He asked him, “What is the matter with you?”
Dawood At-Ta’i answered, “Yesterday, He (Allah) gave me to drink the
nectar of His Intimacy. Therefore, I want to make this day a celebrated
anniversary.” This means that he is connected with Allah, he is conscious
of Allah, and he feels the ecstasy of intimacy with Allah. Therefore, he felt
so happy and delighted that he decided to make that happy day a
celebrated anniversary. In this context, it is said that when a slave turns to
the Lord in true faith and sincere repentance, it is called out in the
heavens and the earth, “Congratulate so and so, for he has been reconciled
with Allah!”

Such is a true believer’s great ecstasy of being near to Allah and intimate
to Him. If someone is delighted with this present world, this is a serious
negative sign, so he must be very careful. The far better and happier
feeling is to be delighted with Allah, which is a positive good sign that
reflects real happiness and prosperity. Another very important fact that I
find necessary to remind you of is that man cannot be happy and delighted
except with Allah. If man seeks happiness or delight with anyone but
Allah, he attains only misery and loss. To this effect, Allah, All-Mighty,
says in His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, “But whosoever turns away from
My Reminder: verily, for him is a life of hardship; and We shall raise him
up, on the Day of Resurrection, blind. He will say, ‘O my Lord! Why have
You raised me up blind, while I had sight (before)?’ He (Allah) will say:
‘Like this: Our Signs came to you, but you disregarded them. Therefore, this
Day you shall be neglected.” [XX; 124-126]

A man once asked: “Why do kings and wealthy people have the whole
world in their hands? They have everything!” The answer is: The anxiety,
depression, stress, discontentment, and distress that they have suffice a
whole people. Allah, All Mighty, may give you the whole world but deprive
you of peace of mind and heart comfort, or He may give you heart comfort
and peace of mind but deprive you of the world. However, the latter case is
far better and happier. In other words, spiritual provision, as manifested
by heart comfort, tranquility, and peace of mind, which are the fruit of
one’s good relationship with Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, is far
better and more enduring than the perishable pleasures and enjoyments of
this present world.

Any way, let us continue our story. When Dawood said, “Yesterday, He
(Allah) gave me to drink the nectar of His Intimacy. Therefore, I want to
make this day a celebrated anniversary.” The man asked, “Shall I get you
some food to celebrate this anniversary?” Dawood soon replied, “I did not
mean material nectar. A big difference is there between material nectar,
drunk by the hand and spiritual nectar of Allah’s Divine Kindness and
Revelation!”

Therefore, “Ar-Razzaq” (the All-Provider) is Allah, All Mighty, Most

Gracious. But what should man’s attitude towards this Divine Name be?
First and foremost, you should be contented with Allah’s Provision that
He, Most Merciful, allots for you. You should be contented with your
mother and father, whom Allah has allotted for you by His Divine Decree.

It is wisest, dear Muslim brother, to be contented with your own mother

and father. You should also be contented with your shape, which Allah has
given to you: tall, short, handsome, beautiful, ugly, healthy, ill, strong,
weak, …etc. This is the way Allah, Most Gracious, has made you. If you
show any objection or dissatisfaction towards Allah, Most Merciful, this
means that you are not a true believer. You should be contented with
Allah’s Choice of your being born of whichever father and mother, your
shape and form, your provision, your wife, your children, …etc. This is
because it is Allah Who has chosen for you such wife or children,
provision, …etc. Most unbelievers spend their lives in agony and
dissatisfaction. A disbeliever says, “I have not been successful in choosing
my wife! It was a bad choice!” You should firmly believe that it is Allah
Who has chosen your wife, whether she is good or bad, for you. He knows
that you are a good believer and, therefore, gives you such a bad wife so
that you may guide her to the right way and help her know the Lord,
Allah, Most Gracious.

A true believer thinks well of Allah. If, for example, Allah gives him a bad
wife or child, he never complains but rather says, “This is what Allah,
Most Merciful, has chosen for me.” In other words, a true believer should
always be well contented with what Allah has allotted for him. This is the
first attitude that man should have towards his Lord’s Divine Name “Ar-
Razzaq” (the All-Provider).
The second attitude that man should have towards this Divine Name of
Allah’s is that he should be very careful and trustworthy of the Provision
that Allah, Glory to Him, gives him, i.e. whatever things Allah provides for
him. This is because all the things that man has belong in reality to Allah,
All Mighty. Allah, Most Gracious, describes true believers as, “And those
who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor niggardly, but hold a
medium (way) between those (extremes).” [XXV; 67]

To sum up, man’s attitude towards Allah’s Divine Name “Ar-Razzaq” (the
All-Provider) should be: first to be contented with Allah’s Provision to him
and second to be honest and trustworthy of Allah’s Provision that He,
Most Gracious, the Real Owner, bestows on him.

* * *

I n this lecture we will be dealing with the thirteenth of Allah’s

Beautiful Divine Names, “Al-Fattah”, an emphatic Epithet of Allah,
Glory to Him, which means that Allah, All Mighty, is the One Who
opens all of the gates that no one but Him can open. The emphasis that
this Name denotes can be both qualitative and quantitative, i.e. He opens
all of the gates of profit and sustenance for His slaves no matter how
difficult to open, or how numerable, such gates might be.

Someone may suddenly suffer from an incurable disease. All doctors may
determine that such disease is incurable, that there is no remedy or hope
whatsoever, and that the patient will inevitably die in a few days. No surgical
operation is helpful even if carried out in the most advanced countries in the
world. All doctors say there is no hope for recovery. No medicament could
avail him anything.

A friend of mine had a baby, whose birth was so difficult that it was pulled
out of its mother’s womb by a special machine that caused a great injury to
the brain. Every now and then, the baby gave certain convulsive movements,
as its brain was seriously injured. A doctor said that it would certainly suffer
from blindness, mental retardation, or paralysis. The baby was taken to
another more experienced doctor who gave the same diagnosis. Two or three
more doctors were consulted for the same purpose, but they were of the
same opinion. The baby was taken to hospital for more accurate
examination. However, all of the diagnoses carried out showed that the baby
suffered from a serious incurable damage to the brain. In fact, the damage
was untreatable because cells of the brain do not grow, nor do nerve cells.

In this context, it should be noticed that if nerve cells were to grow, man
would die of pain. But due to Allah’s Mercy upon humans, particularly those
who suffer from such damage to their brain, nerve cells do not grow.
Anyway, all doctors confirmed that the baby would grow up to be mentally
retarded, paralyzed or blind. And believe me! His father really wished that
his baby had died, because the baby’s death was far better than its growth
that way. Later, the baby was taken to another doctor who was a true
believer and had good faith in Allah, Most Gracious. In the hope that Allah,
Most Merciful, would heal the baby, this doctor made a scanning of the brain
and gave it some medicament. Six months later, the baby was restored to
health and became like other normal healthy babies. The baby is now 12
years old, and he not only moves and plays but excels other students at
school as well. Is there a secret in such issue? Yes, there is. The One Who
opened the gate for this baby’s recovery is Allah, “Al-Fattah”, the Opener of
the gates of recovery. Yes, indeed! After all doctors had despaired of the
baby’s recovery, Allah, “Al-Fattah”, opened for it the gate of recovery.

The simple meaning of this Divine Name of Allah is that He opens all gates:
if He so wills, He opens to you the gate of provision and sustenance, He
opens to you the gate of work, He opens to you the gate of marriage, He
opens to you the gate of tranquility and peace of mind, He opens to you the
gate of success, He opens to you the gate of righteous work, He opens to you
the gate of the Call for Him and His Religion. He also opens the gates that
no one else, but Him, can open. To this effect, Allah, Al-Fattah (the Opener),
says, “Whatsoever mercy Allah opens to mankind, none can withhold;
and whatsoever He withholds, none can loose after Him. And He is the
All Mighty, the All-Wise.” [XXXV; 2]

If Allah so wills, He, Glory to Him, opens the door of His Mercy; but if He
so wills, He withholds it. If He withholds His Divine Mercy, no one else can
grant it after Him. If He withholds His Divine Mercy, no power in the whole
world could ever award it. If He opens the gate of His Divine Mercy, no
force or power in the whole world could ever withhold it. If all forces and
powers in the whole universe unite together to open what Allah closes or to
close what Allah opens, they will never be able to do so. Allah, All Mighty,
“Al-Fattah” (the Opener of the Gates of profit and sustenance) says,
“Whatsoever mercy Allah opens to mankind, none can withhold; and
whatsoever He withholds, none can loose after Him. And He is the All
Mighty, the All-Wise.” [XXXV; 2]

Therefore, the whole matter is in Allah’s Hand and under His Divine
Control. If you believe that the whole matter is only in Allah’s Hand, you
must necessarily turn to Him, Alone, and no one else. In fact, this Quranic
Verse has a very good impact on true believers. Whatsoever mercy Allah
opens to mankind, none can withhold. All of your relationships are confined
by your relationship with Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious. All other things
than Allah are mere illusions and can do nothing for you. Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), who is the first and foremost human being, who is the one most
beloved by Allah, All Mighty, who is Allah’s Prophet and Messenger, who
received Divine Revelation from Allah, and who is the most honorable
creature with Allah, was commanded by Allah, “Say (O Muhammad): ‘I
possess no power over benefit or harm to myself except as Allah wills,”
[VII; 188] If Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), possesses no power over benefit
or harm to himself, then, it is more proper that he has no power over benefit
or harm to others! Yes, indeed, Allah is “Al-Fattah” (the Opener of the gates
of profit and sustenance)!

A god-wish that our righteous ancestors used quite often to say to someone
who was energetic, open-minded, or enthusiastic was, “May Allah open to
you as He does to the knowledgeable!” Such god-wish has various
connotations: may Allah open to you the gate of sustenance, may Allah open
to you the gate of being near and intimate to Him, may Allah open to you the
gate of moral exaltation, …etc. This is because Allah is “Al-Fattah”, Who
opens the gates of all good things.
In this context, the first and foremost Quranic Verse is, “Whatsoever mercy
Allah opens to mankind, none can withhold; and whatsoever He
withholds, none can loose after Him. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-
Wise.” [XXXV; 2]

Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Fattah” has another meaning derived from the
Quranic Verse, “We should have invented a lie against Allah if we
returned to your religion after Allah rescued us from it. And it is not for
us to return to it unless Allah, our Lord, should will. Our Lord
comprehends all things in His Kingdom. In Allah (Alone) we put our
trust. Our Lord! Judge between us and our people in truth, for You are
the Best of those who give judgment.” [VII; 89]

Things might get confused, forces might clash, someone might claim that
he/she is on the right side of a conflict, someone might heap charges against
others or vice versa, someone might speak badly of another, someone might
fight against another, someone might say that a certain Sheikh (religious
scholar) is the most holy man ever, someone else might say that the same
Sheikh is the most evil disbelieving human ever, and so on the so forth. Who
is the judge? Who has the just judgment? Who knows reality of people? It is
Allah, “Al-Fattah”, i.e. the Just Judge. To this effect, the Quranic Verse goes,
“Our Lord! Judge between us and our people.”

Everyone claims that he/she is right, everyone heaps accusations against

others, everyone believes that he/she is a true believer while others are not,
he/she is honest and trustworthy while others are not, he/she is so near to
Allah, All-Mighty, and so intimate to Him while others are not. This
happens among adherents of the same religion, but what would the case
be among adherents of different religions? Everyone accuses other
religions as being forged and not god-sent, or deviant and not rightly
guided. The irreligious accuse the religious of folly, foolish talk,
falsehood, and weakness, while the religious accuse the irreligious of
profligacy and immorality. But who is the judge? Who has the decisive
word? Who is the one who determines whether this or that party is right or
wrong? It is Allah, “Al-Fattah” (the Just Judge). This is the second
meaning of Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Fattah” (the Just Judge), which is
derived from the Quranic Verse, “Our Lord! Judge between us and our
people in truth, for You are the Best of those who give judgment.”
However, what should your attitude towards this Divine Name of Allah
be? If you are on the right side, do not be afraid, because Allah is ‘Al-
Fattah” (the Just Judge). People may speak badly about you, and they
may heap false accusations against you. If you are right, do not be afraid,
do not forget Allah’s Words, “So put your trust in Allah; surely, you are on
manifest truth.” [XXVII; 79] and “Say, ‘Allah (sent it down).’ Then leave
them to play in their vain discussions.” [VI; 91]

If you believe that Allah is “Al-Fattah”, the Just Judge, the One Who
exalts and debases, the One Who unveils all facts and brings all things to
light, the One Who removes all misunderstandings and misconceptions,
and the One in Whose Divine Hand is the Absolute Good, if you believe
that Allah is the Just Judge, you should never worry or be anxious even if
people misunderstand you or think badly of you or even heap false
accusations against you for trivial reasons, do not be afraid, because he
who knows himself is not harmed by what people say about him.

But what worries man these days? In fact, what causes man great anxiety
nowadays is that he does not know where to go or whom to please. Just
imagine, for example, an employee in a company or factory that has ten
partnership owners. Different controversial orders might come from such ten
partners; and the employee does not know whom to obey or please. A
partner orders him to come, another to go a third to travel, a fourth to come
in the afternoon, a fifth to leave early, …etc. Life would be unbearable or
even impossible under such different controversial orders coming from
several masters, who might, or might not, be in harmony with one another.

The same thing applies to a polytheist, a disbeliever or someone whose faith

is weak. He/she does not know whom to obey or to please. His life is totally
confused and even disrupted. Shall he obey or please his boss or
subordinate? Shall he obey his wife? If he obeys his employers, his wife
would be angry with him; and if he pleases his wife, his partners would be
displeased with him. If he pleases his neighbors, he displeases Allah, All
Mighty. If he does not attend a certain meeting or party, his relatives or
friends would be angry with him. His life is unbearable. He is torn up and
confused. He does not know whom to please or obey! A true believer,
however, knows that “Al-Fattah”, the Just Judge is Allah, All Mighty. In
other words, he is happy and comfortable because he strives to please only
one Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious. Do not forget Allah’s Words,
“So call not upon another god with Allah, lest you should be one of those
that are chastised.” [XXVI; 213]

One of the most grievous kinds of tortures is to be a polytheist, i.e. to call

upon other gods with Allah. However, to call upon other gods with Allah
does not mean to say that someone is a god besides Allah, but rather to obey
him just as you obey Allah, to deal with him just as you deal with Allah, to
put your trust in him just as you do with Allah, to rely on him or hope for
him just as you do with Allah, to obey him and disobey Allah for him. Such
is the meaning of polytheism. This is the third meaning.

The first meaning is: “Whatsoever mercy Allah opens to mankind”: the
closed gates are innumerable. You might be told that all of the gates are
closed and that all of the ways are blocked. Wherever you go, doors might
be closed in your face, as common people usually say. But who is “Al-
Fattah”? It is He, Allah, Who opens all of the closed gates, no matter how
numerous or hard to open such gates might be. Yes, indeed! It is Allah, “Al-
Fattah”, Who opens all gates. Once you purify yourself, once you have a
pure sacred soul, and once you deserve Allah’s Divine Honor, the whole
world is made to come to you. This is because the Lord, All Mighty, has
commanded the world: “He who serves Me, serve him; and he who serves
you, enslave him.” In another Divine Hadith, He, Glory to Him, addresses
man, “O My slave! I created for you the heavens and the earth; and
creating them did not tire me. Does a loaf of bread tire me to send you
every now and then? You owe me an obligation and I undertake to grant
you provision. If you fail to fulfill the obligation that you owe Me, I shall
not withhold My provision to you. (I swear) by My Divine Might and
Majesty! If you are not contented with that Which I allot to you, I shall
give power to the present world over you: you run therein as brute
animals run in the wild, but you get not from it except that which I have
allotted to you, and I do not care, and you will be worthy of dispraise in
My Sight!”

If you are in a noble condition that makes you worthy of Allah’s Divine
Honor and Mercy, the whole world is forced to come to you.

I shall never forget the following Prophetic Hadith, in which Allah’s

Messenger, (PBUH), says, “He whose care is for this present world, Allah
makes (all) his matters hard for him and makes his poverty right before
his eyes; and he gets nothing from this world except that which has been
decreed for him. And he whose intention is the Hereafter, Allah makes
(all) his matters easy for him and makes his richness in his heart; and
the whole world is forced to come to him.”

Once a person is overwhelmed with love for this present world, he is

afflicted with three things: labor that is constantly toilsome, hope that is
unattainable, and poverty that never ends. However, a true believer is
included in Allah’s Words, “And seek forgiveness of your Lord and turn
to Him in repentance that He may grant you good enjoyment, for a term
appointed, and bestow His abounding Grace to every owner of grace.
But if you turn away, then I fear for you the torment of a Great Day.”
[XI; 3]

A true believer’s mundane enjoyment is rightly guided. He is overwhelmed

with complete psychological comfort, and he hopes for his Lord’s Garden of
Paradise, whose width is as great as the heavens and the earth. But a
disbeliever’s worldly enjoyment is full of worry and discomfort. He is
constantly afraid of an unknown future, deadly afraid of something
unknown, particularly death that lurks in ambush for him. In this context,
Allah, Glory to Him, says, “And remember when Abraham said, ‘My
Lord! Make this city (Mecca) a place of security, and provide its people
with fruits, such of them as believe in Allah and the Last Day.’ He
(Allah) answered, ‘As for him who disbelieves, I shall leave him in
contentment for a while, then I shall compel him to the torment of the
Fire, and worst indeed is that end.” [II; 126] When He heard Abraham’s
invocation, Allah, Most Gracious, said, “As for him who disbelieves, I
shall leave him in contentment for a while, then I shall compel him to
the torment of the Fire, and worst indeed is that end.”

Then, what is the difference between the worldly enjoyment of a true

believer and that of a disbeliever? The worldly enjoyment of a true believer
is filled with comfort and peace of mind mixed with a laudable feeling that
Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, keeps for him great enjoyment in the
Hereafter, whereas a disbeliever, while being in utmost worldly enjoyment,
is filled with worry and discomfort mixed with fear of something unknown
coming, namely death, which puts an end to all his worldly pleasures and
enjoyments. That is why I always like to invoke the Lord, Allah, Most
Merciful, “O Allah! We take refuge with You from an incurable disease,
from the enemies malicious joy, and from deprivation after donation!” It
is indeed something that breaks the back if you are deprived of something
that Allah, Most Gracious, has given you. Because He likes to honor a true
believer, Allah, Most Gracious, makes the best part of his life its end. He
tires him at the beginning of his life but makes him comfortable and
contented at its end. As for those who love this present world, He grants
them honor at the beginning of their lives but then they are afflicted with
punishment, debasement, disgrace, humiliation, and poverty. That is why
Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), used to invoke, “O Allah! Make the best
(part) of our life its end and the best (day) of our days the day on which
we encounter You while You are well pleased with us.” Similar Quranic
invocations go, “Our Lord! Judge between us and our people in truth,
for You are the Best of those who give judgment”, “Whatsoever mercy
Allah opens to mankind, none can withhold; and whatsoever He
withholds, none can loose after Him. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-
Wise”, and, “And with Him (Allah) are the keys of the Unseen, none
knows them but He. And He knows whatever there is in the land and in
the sea: no leaf falls down without His knowledge thereof, and no grain
in the darkness of the earth nor anything fresh or dry is but written in a
Clear Record.” [VI; 59]

Now, what is your relationship with this Divine Name of Allah? A true
believer should understand the above Verse properly, just as Allah desires. If
Allah said “And the keys of the Unseen are with Him”, instead of “And
with Him are the keys of the Unseen”, would the meaning be different?
Yes, of course. It would mean that the keys of the Unseen could be with
another one besides Allah, All Mighty. However, the way the Verse is
composed shows that the keys of the Unseen are only with Allah, Alone, and
not with anyone else. In other words, no one knows the Unseen or how to
get to the Unseen except Allah, Alone. That is why it is commonly said,
“What is with Allah is not with any of His slaves.” Some time ago, it did
not rain for quite a long time. Therefore, people said in despair, “There will
be no more rain! There will be permanent drought.” But then suddenly, it
began to rain so heavily that rivers and streams flooded with water. That is
because “With Him (Allah) are the keys of the Unseen”. If a doctor tells
you, “There is no more hope for recovery”, don not believe him, but say,
A doctor has knowledge whereby he helps people
So long as there is a respite in their lives.
But as soon as one’s life trip is over,
The doctor is baffled and his medicines betray him!
It depends on man’s lifetime decreed by the Lord, All Mighty. As soon as
man’s lifetime is over, and the doctor says, “There is no more hope for
recovery”, this means hat the doctor is right. But if there is still a respite in
man’s lifetime, it is wrong for the doctor to say that there is no more hope
for recovery.

I remember a doctor who told one of his patients that his life would end in
only four hours. The patient’s people bought special mourning clothes and
had death announcements published. But then, suddenly, Allah, Most
Gracious, cured the patient, who lived for thirty more years. The funny thing
is that the patient outlived the doctor, who passed away after only twenty
years. This is because “With Him (Allah) are the keys of the Unseen”. I
do not want to belie doctors but rather to confirm that doctors speak
according to their knowledge. But no one except Allah, All Mighty, Alone,
knows both the Unseen and the future. For example, a country in the Far
East was in complete security and peace: prosperity, wealth, oil, …etc. No
one ever thought that a terrible war would break out to destroy the whole
country!

In the year 1974, Lebanon was a real Paradise on the earth: peace, security,
prosperity, luxury, extravagance, …etc. All good things in the world existed
in that beautiful country. No one ever thought that in a few years of civil
war, it would be completely ruined.

“With Him are the keys of the Unseen” There are always Divinely
interpretations although people understand only the earthly
interpretations: conflicts, civil wars, troubles, problems, …etc. But there
is always a religious interpretation. Allah, All-High, says, “And Allah
puts forward the example of a township that dwelt secure and well-content:
its provision coming to it in abundance from every place, but it denied the
Favors of Allah. Therefore, Allah made it taste extreme of hunger and fear
because of that which they used to do.” [XVI; 112]

As for myself, I always adopt the Quranic interpretation of events

although there is always a certain earthly one: Arabic, foreign,
international, political, economic, …etc. Always, the right thing to do is
to adopt the Quranic interpretation. Once again I repeat Allah’s words,
“And Allah puts forward the example of a township that dwelt secure and
well-content: its provision coming to it in abundance from every place, but it
denied the Favors of Allah. Therefore, Allah made it taste extreme of hunger
and fear because of that which they used to do.”

Lebanon and other countries in the east, west, north, and south: “And
with Him are the keys of the Unseen, none knows them but He. And He
knows whatever there is in the land and in the sea: no leaf falls down
without His knowledge thereof, and no grain in the darkness of the earth nor
anything fresh or dry is but written in a Clear Record.” If you understand
this Quranic Verse properly, you never believe swindlers, imposters,
fortunetellers, diviners, soothsayers, magicians, sorcerers, witches,
astrologers, or liars. In our modern age, you hear that even in developed
countries, there are astrologers, fortunetellers and diviners who are
consulted by remarkable personalities, concerning, for example, their
financial, economic, administrative, or political future. If such officials
read this Quranic Verse, they would never believe such fortunetellers or
astrologers: “And with Him are the keys of the Unseen, none knows them
but He. And He knows whatever there is in the land and in the sea: no leaf
falls down without His knowledge thereof, and no grain in the darkness of
the earth nor anything fresh or dry is but written in a Clear Record.”

Everything is quite clear: Once you consult a diviner or astrologer to

ask him about the Unseen, this means that you do not know Allah, All
Mighty. To this effect, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “He who
consults a diviner and believes him is a disbeliever in that which was sent
down to Muhammad.” You turn away from Allah’s Book, the Holy
Quran, with all its truthfulness, clarity, and right guidance, while Allah,
Glory to Him, says, “Say (O Muhammad), ‘I do not tell you that with me
are the treasures of Allah, nor that I know the Unseen; neither do I tell you
that I am an angel. I only follow what is revealed to me.’ Say (O
Muhammad), ‘Are the blind and those who can see equal?’ Will you not then
take thought?’” [VI; 50], “Say (O Muhammad), ‘I possess no power over
benefit or hurt to myself except as Allah wills. If I had the knowledge of the
Unseen, I would have secured for myself an abundance of wealth, and no
evil would have touched me. I am but a man who brings warnings and glad
tidings to people who believe.’” [VII; 188], “Say (O Muhammad), ‘I know
not whether (the punishment) which you are promised is near or whether my
Lord will appoint for it a distant term. (He is) the (only) One Who knows the
Unseen; and He reveals to none His Unseen, except to a Messenger whom
He has chosen, and then He makes a band of watching guards (angels) to
march before him and behind him.’” [LXXII; 25-27], and, “And with Him
are the keys of the Unseen, none knows them but He. And He knows
whatever there is in the land and in the sea: no leaf falls down without His
knowledge thereof, and no grain in the darkness of the earth nor anything
fresh or dry is but written in a Clear Record.” Such is a true believer’s
attitude. This Quranic Verse is very important, because quite often, you
read an article in which a journalist or thinker writes about what will
happen in the next year or years. Such articles should never be read
because, “And with Him (Allah) are the keys of the Unseen, none knows
them but He.” Unless such predictions are not meant to be definitive but
mere expectations based on present phenomena or scientific data, they
should be rejected, simply because all keys of the Unseen are with Allah,
Alone. Such an idea helps you feel secure and comfortable.

It has been rightly said, “What has passed belongs to the past, what is
hoped for belongs to the Unseen, but you own only the hour in which you
are now.” In other words, you own nothing but your present time,
wherein you can turn to the Lord, Most Gracious, with faithful
repentance and sincere devotion. Some sixteen years ago, a dear sister
who used to attend these lectures, in An-Nabulsi Mosque, had a son-in-
law who was far from being religious and even denied the existence of
Allah, All Mighty, altogether. She bade her daughter to invite her
husband to attend even one, only one, of these lectures; and the
daughter kept inviting her husband for more than two years, but it was
all in vain. Once, the mother was very pleased when her daughter told
her that her husband accompanied her to attend one of the lectures.
However, the husband attended only two lectures, but then he had a
sudden heart attack and was taken to hospital. While on the stretcher,
he addressed his children, “All the things that I have told you about are not
true. The truth is that which is in Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran.” Soon later,
he passed away. I shall never forget the words that he told to his
children just before his death. He had brought up his children to be just
like him, atheists who did not believe in the existence of Allah. He
attended only two lectures in our mosque and then passed away. While
on his deathbed, he addressed his children, one of whom was an
engineer, “All the things that I have told you about are not true. The truth is
that which is in Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran.” We pray to Allah, Most
Gracious, to forgive him. “And with Him are the keys of the Unseen, none
knows them but He. And He knows whatever there is in the land and in the
sea: no leaf falls down without His knowledge thereof, and no grain in the
darkness of the earth nor anything fresh or dry is but written in a Clear
Record.”

Yes, indeed! What has passed belongs to the past, what is hoped for
belongs to the Unseen, and you own only the present hour in which you
are now. Why did scholars say that a Muslim should perform the Hajj
(Pilgrimage to Mecca) as soon as possible? They said so simply because
man does not know when he will die. Since the Hajj is a religious
obligation enjoined on those who are able to perform it, you should
perform the Hajj the moment you are able to do so, simply because your
life is not in your hand. To this effect, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says,
“Make haste to perform the Hajj, as the one of you does not know what
happens to him.” In other words, he might suddenly be ill, he might have
a problem that prevents him from performing the Hajj, and he might
even pass away.

Allah, All Mighty, says, “Say (O Muhammad), ‘Our Lord will assemble us
all together (on the Day of Judgment), then, He will judge between us with
the truth. And He is the Just Judge, the All-Knowing.” [XXXIV; 26]

In Arabic, the word “Fataha” means, “to open something closed”. Your
relationship with Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Fattah” (the
Opener of the gates of profit and sustenance) is that whenever a gate is
closed in your face, you should remember this Divine Name of Allah and
ask Him to open it for you. This avails under all circumstances, whether
serious or insignificant: even if your key-holder, wallet, or anything else,
valuable or not, is lost.

A brother once told me that he was going to the seaport of Lattakia to

remove a shipment of expensive goods; and he had a lot of documents
that he was supposed to submit to the authorities there. When he got to
the bus station, he suddenly found out that he had left such
indispensable documents in the taxi. As he did not know the taxi’s plate-
number, he turned pale and desperate: goods worth millions could not
be removed from the Customs without those documents. He stood
helpless for more than an hour invoking the Lord, “O Al-Fattah, Who
opens the gates of all things! Help me find my bag!” He kept invoking the
Lord most faithfully and sincerely. All of a sudden, he saw the same taxi
coming towards him. It stopped and the driver asked him, “Aren’t you
the man who was in my car an hour ago? It seems you’ve left your bag in the
car. Here it is!” Thanks to the man’s sincere invocation to the Lord, Most
Gracious, his bag was returned to him. He just could not remember the
plate-number of the car or the car itself. But the driver was in Allah’s
Divine Hand; and since Allah wanted the driver to return, in due time,
to bring back the man’s bag, He, All Mighty, Most Gracious, cast
kindness in the driver’s heart, or perhaps fear of Him, and inspired him
to bring back the bag to the man. Most happily and gratefully, the man
got back his bag, which brought him back to life.

Therefore, the Arabic word “fataha” means, “to open something

closed”, and hence, Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Fattah” means that He, All
Mighty, Most Gracious, opens all the gates of mercy, profit and
sustenance to His slaves. The gate of the solution of every difficulty can
be easily opened by the Lord, Allah, Most Merciful. In this context,
Allah, Glory and Praise belong to Him, says, “So We opened the gates of
the heaven with water pouring forth.” [LIV; 1] This means that the gates
of the heaven were closed and then Allah opened them. The weather
forecast may or may not come true, i.e. the gates of the heaven are
opened with rain only when Allah, the Opener of all gates, opens them:
“So We opened the gates of the heaven with water pouring forth.” In other
words, the heaven is closed and its gates are in Allah’s Hands. In wars,
conquest comes when Allah, All Mighty, opens the gates for it. The
countries conquered by Muslims were strongly closed and fortified with
armies and forces, but when Allah, All Mighty, opened the gates of
victory to Muslims, such countries became Muslim countries. The
Romans had occupied them before Allah opened them to Muslims.

Another meaning of Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Fattah” is that He is the

Just Judge, Who judges among His human slaves, i.e. every time a
dispute arises among them, He opens the gates for its solution and
settlement.

Also, another meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Fattah” is

that He, Most Gracious, opens the gates of His Mercy to true believers
and casts His Divine Light into their hearts and knowledge into their
minds. This is what scholars usually call “Al-Kashf” (Unveiling), i.e.
Allah unveils their insight whereby they see the truth as it really is and
falsehood as it really is. Other scholars call it “Ira’ah” (Showing). In this
context, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “Thus did We show Abraham the
kingdom of the heavens and the earth that he be one of those who have Faith
with certainty.” [VI; 75]

Sometimes, you feel that you see nothing, but then, suddenly, you find
yourself able to see, I mean in your mind’s eye. Sometimes, a
salesperson sees that if he lies to customers concerning his goods, he will
sell more, and earn more. Such a salesperson has no good sight unless he
sees that honesty is the only way to safety and unless he sees that
honesty is the best policy. Some people tell lies, cheat and play tricks on
other fellow humans. They wrongly think that this is clever of them.
They are, indeed, blind and can not see the truth. What does Allah’s
Name “Al-Fattah” mean in this context? It simply means that Allah,
Most Gracious, opens your sight to the truth. In other words, He, Glory
to Him, unveils the truth to your mind and helps you see good things as
they really are and evil things as they really are.

Therefore, some scholars say, “ ‘Al-Fattah’, is He, Allah, Who opens the
hearts of true believers by His Divine Knowledge, Who opens the gates of
His Forgiveness to the disobedient and wrong-doers. If one is disobedient,
Allah not only opens the door for him/her to repent but also accepts his/her
repentance; and if one is a true believer, Allah opens for him/her the door of
His Knowledge.”

You should compare your present condition with that some five years
ago. You should ask yourself whether your emotions now are the same
as they were five years ago, or whether you have now a new vision, a
deeper insight, a more mature understanding, and more firmly
established values? If you have changed to the better, this means that
Allah, Most Gracious, has opened to you the gate of development and
knowledge. He, Glory to Him, has unveiled to you some strategic facts
about the universe and your own self. He has opened to you the gate to
obeying Him and being dutiful to Him.

In fact, believers differ in view of their wakefulness or heedlessness.

Some of them are most of the time heedless, i.e. they believe in Allah,
but are heedless and careless. Other better ones are constantly conscious
of Allah and are always in a state of full wakefulness, praying to Allah,
beseeching Him, invoking Him, seeking His Divine Guidance, and
committing themselves to His Religion. On His Part, Allah, Most
Gracious, confers His Blessings upon such devoted believers and casts
His Divine Light into their hearts and Knowledge into their minds. This
is another meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name, “Al-Fattah”. And
this is real opening.

Religious scholars quite often use the word “Al-Fatih” in the above
meaning. They usually say, “May Allah open to you (i.e. gates of Good).”
They also say, “So and so has received an Opening [(of Good) from the
Lord]. In the same context, Allah addresses His Messenger, Muhammad,
(PBUH), “When there comes (to you) the Help of Allah and the Opening
(i.e. of victory and conquest over disbelievers), …” [CX; 1]

The strange, yet funny, thing in this context is that a lot of common
people, when they start a new business or a shop, they, in the hope of
success and profit, have certain Quranic Verses posted on their walls,
such as, “Verily, We have given you a manifest Opening (of the gate of
success and profit),” [XLVIII; 1] although the things that they deal in
might be indecent or irreligious, and although they themselves, or their
employees, might be deeply involved in sins and misdeeds.

Is such kind of business an Opening by Allah?! Is it an Opening to sell

indecent things to indecent women, for example, and to have impolite
talk to them?! Is it a manifest Opening of the gates of Good to them?!
Such ignorant businesspeople purchase Allah’s Quranic Verses for a low
price!

Such ignorant salespeople do not know that Allah, All Mighty, revealed
the above Quranic Verse to His Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), when
He opened to him the gate of victory over disbelievers of Mecca and
made people come in groups to Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), to announce
their conversion to the religion of Islam. Such is real Opening!

Therefore, Al-Fattah is Allah, Who opens the hearts of true believers to

His Divine Knowledge, and opens the Gates of His Forgiveness to the
disobedient. Also, Al-Fattah is Allah, Who helps you in distress and
grants you His Divine Favors and Blessings. In case of hardship, He,
Praise belongs to Him, helps you; and in case of ease, He, Glory to Him,
grants you more and more. Hence, He is All-Fattah, the Opener of the
gates of profit and sustenance.
Some religious scholars say that Al-Fattah is Allah, Who opens the gates
of Good to His human slaves and makes difficult things easy for them.
Such Opening might sometimes be in religious affairs. In other words,
someone might tell you, “I have a book to read, but I understand nothing of
it. It is too difficult to understand.” But after some time, Allah, Most
Gracious, opens the gates of understanding to his mind, and he reads
and understands, reads and goes deeper, reads and enjoys, reads and
contemplates, reads and commits to memory, and reads and speaks out.
Allah, Most Gracious, causes wisdom to run on his tongue, after he
helps him follow the way of learning and acquisition of knowledge.
First, he says, “I can not understand this book. It is as though I were digging
in a rock!” “What is this book?” “I read the Holy Quran, but I do not
understand a thing of it!” and “I read a Prophetic Hadith, but I do not
understand it.” But after some time, he begins to understand, he begins to
go deep and ask questions, he begins to seek answers, he begins to
commit to memory, he begins to enjoy, and he begins to preach.

Therefore, Allah is Al-Fattah: He opens to you the gates of knowledge,

He opens to you the gates of wisdom and makes it run on your tongue. If
you are truthful and sincere to Allah, He makes wisdom run on your
tongue. The first kind of Opening is that Allah opens to you religious
knowledge. Then, He opens to you gates of worldly affairs: you are poor,
but He enriches you; you are weak, but He empowers you; you are
oppressed or defeated, but He grants you victory over your enemies;
you are depressed, but He removes depression from you and replaces it
with happiness and delight. Therefore, if man turns away from Allah, he
can never attain happiness. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty, says, “But
whosoever turns away from My Reminder: verily, for him is a life of
hardship, and We shall raise him up, on the Day of Resurrection, blind.”
[XX; 124]

Yes, it is depression! Ask those who cleave to the life of this present
world, ask those who have millions or thousands of millions of pounds,
ask those who have super powers, ask the richest people in the world,
ask them all, dear reader! They will probably say, “We are the most
miserable of all.” Once again, I repeat Allah’s Words, “But whosoever
turns away from My Reminder: verily, for him is a life of hardship, and We
shall raise him up, on the Day of Resurrection, blind.”
What does Allah’s Name “Al-Fattah” also mean? It means that Allah,
Most Gracious, opens to you the gate to be intimate to Him; He opens to
you the gate to turn to Him with love and devotion; He opens to you the
gate to His Good Pleasure; He opens to you the gate to contentment,
whereby you are contented to live even in a single room in the basement,
saying, “Praise belongs to Allah.” Sometimes, you enter a flat 500 square
meters big, which is worth 30,000,000 Pounds, yet its owner tells you in
great discontentment that the marked is stagnant, that losses are so
heavy this year, and that profits went down greatly. Although he has
such great amounts of money that suffice his children and
grandchildren, he is always discontented and unhappy. However, Allah,
Most Gracious, may open to a poor person the gate to contentment,
thankfulness, and peace of mind. In full gratitude to the Lord, Most
Gracious, he says, “Praise belongs to Allah. I am very well. I am very
happy.” A person who does not know Allah, is always unhappy and
discontented even if he were the richest person in the world.

Allah opens to you the gate to His Religion by opening to you the gate to
knowledge. If you are poor, He opens to you the gate of riches. If you are
weak, He opens to you the gate of strength and power. If you are ill, He
opens to you the gate to good health. If you are depressed, He opens to
you the gate to happiness. Some poets invoked the Lord, Allah, Most
Gracious:

O Allah, Who opens to me every closed gate!

I seek Your Forgiveness to my sins!
So bestow on me that which brings me happiness!

Allah, All Mighty, opens all closed gates. He also opens to His slaves the
gates to success and Divine Help. To this effect, the Quranic Verse goes,
“And my guidance (and success) cannot come except from Allah. In Him I
trust, and unto Him I repent.” [XI; 88]

Some scholars said: “Nothing can ever happen in the whole universe except
by Allah’s Divine Help and Leave.” In the West, they wanted to build a
spacecraft, which they called “Challenger”, in order to carry out a
unique experiment. They sent seven men and a woman out into space so
that the woman get pregnant and give birth in outer space. They
prepared everything perfectly and made for each apparatus or machine
two other control ones to guarantee complete success. All apparatuses
and machines were checked most accurately. They called the spacecraft
“Challenger”. However, seventy seconds after it had been launched, it
turned into a big mass of blazing matter. In other words, Allah, Al-
Fattah, did not open to them, i.e. He closed to them, the gate to success.
Therefore, “And my guidance (and success) cannot come except from
Allah.”

If you open a new shop, or establish a factory or school, if you want to

get married, or if you desire to do anything, you should ask Allah, Al-
Fattah, for help and success. You should deny yourself. Do not say, “I
have a great experience and talent. I am an expert, and I shall make use of all
of my expertise. I shall consult other experts. I shall consult a lawyer.”

I knew a man who was always discontented and dissatisfied. After a

great deal of thinking and calculation, he thought that if he sold his
enormous wealth, which consisted of a big factory, a huge store and a
luxurious home, which were all very expensive, and that if he invested
his great wealth in a bank in Europe, at an interest of 18%, he would
live there, in Europe, like a king. After long consideration and
calculation, he put his plan into action. He sold all his possessions in
Syria and traveled to Sweden, one of the most developed and
comfortable countries in the world, thinking that he would buy a
luxurious house and a big car, and then deposit all his money in the
bank and live, happily and extravagantly, on the high interests that he
would get on his money. But what happened? Being unable to provide
the bank with the necessary documents, as the amount was so large, he
had to deposit the money under someone else’s name, maybe a friend or
a relative residing there, until he provided such documents. The very
next day after he had deposited all his money under the other person’s
name, he went to him to reclaim his money. The other person denied the
whole matter and claimed hat he owed him nothing. Thus, in only a few
hours, all his wealth was completely lost. What intelligence!

Keep this in mind: In your relationship with Allah, no intelligence or

smartness on your part can ever avail you anything. That is why it is
wisely said, “No care could ever avail against something Divinely decreed.”
However, prayer and invocation to Him do avail, “And my guidance (and
success) cannot come except from Allah”. Nothing can avail except by
Allah’s Leave!
To sum up, your attitude towards Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name, Al-
Fattah, should be to strive sincerely so that Allah, Most Gracious, may
open to you the gate of knowledge. Also, you should open to other fellow
humans the gates of your own good work and benefaction in the best
moderation and wisdom.

* * *

N ow, we go on to deal with the fourteenth of Allah’s Beautiful Divine

Names, “Al-‘Aleem” (the Omniscient). Allah, All Mighty, says,
“And over all those endowed with knowledge is the Omniscient
(Allah).” [XII; 76]

First of all, it should be noticed that all of Allah’s Divine Names are
Beautiful and that each Name stands alone and does not depend on any of
the other Names. Nevertheless, some of Allah’s Divine Names have more
impact on people than other Names. Concerning Allah’s Beautiful Name,
“Al-‘Aleem” (the Omniscient), He, Glory to Him, says, “It is Allah Who
created seven heavens and of the earth the like thereof (i.e. seven). His
Command descends between them (heavens and earth) that you may
know that Allah has power over all things and that Allah encompasses
all things in Knowledge.” [LXV; 12]

While speaking about His Divine Creation and Revelation, Allah, Praise
belongs to Him, mentions only two of His Beautiful Divine Names,
“Al-‘Aleem” (the Omniscient) and “Al-Qadeer” (the Omnipotent). This is
because man does not obey Allah’s Divine Commands unless he firmly
believes that both Allah’s Divine Knowledge and Power encompass him.
Moreover, Allah’s Name, “Al-‘Aleem” (the Omniscient) plays first fiddle in
regard to man’s belief in Allah. In other words, if you know that Allah, the
Omniscient, knows all things, both secret and open, that He knows your
publicity and secrecy, that He sees you while you are in seclusion and in
other people’s company, and in your travel and settlement, that He knows all
of your secret thoughts and intentions, all that you wish or desire, and all
that you hope for, if you firmly believe that Allah knows all things, you stick
to His Divine Commands.

Therefore, Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names “Al-‘Aleem” (the Omniscient)

and “Al-Qadeer” (the Omnipotent) have the most impact on man’s
uprightness and obedience. The above Quranic Verse reiterates this meaning:
“It is Allah Who created seven heavens and of the earth the like thereof
(i.e. seven). His Command descends between them (heavens and earth)
that you may know that Allah has power over all things and that Allah
encompasses all things in Knowledge.”

Knowledge can be defined in terms of a stable relationship between two

things. Such stable relationship must be indisputable, i.e. definitive,
provided with sufficient authentic evidence, and in conformity with the
actual and real state of things. However, Allah’s Divine Knowledge differs
completely from that of human beings. His Divine Knowledge encompasses
all things, overt and covert, inner and outer, micro and macro, seen or
unseen, …etc. It also encompasses the beginning and end of all things.

In order to make things clear, I give the following example: If a genius

invents a machine, and then other following generations come to study such
machine and know everything about it: its parts and the relationships
between them, the laws that govern its work, and the laws on the basis of
which it was made. Knowledge of the following generation differs from that
of the genius who invented the machine. Knowledge of the genius brought
this machine into existence, for he existed before the machine; while
knowledge of later generations who study the machine came after it had
been invented and brought into existence. Imam Al-Ghazali gave this
example in his book Revival of Religious knowledge, showing that our
human knowledge is derived from the universe and the laws that govern it,
i.e. from the laws that Allah, All Mighty, has put for the universe. In other
words, Human knowledge is acquired from the universe in which man lives:
its laws, relationships governing its components, properties of such
components, …etc, which have been brought into existence by Allah’s
Divine Knowledge. It is Allah, Who has given things their properties or
qualities; it is He Who has made cosmic laws. Great is the difference
between Allah’s Divine Knowledge and that of human beings! Great is the
difference between discovery of relationships among existing things and the
creation of such things from nothing. This is the difference! Human
knowledge is post-existence and acquired, while that of the Creator, Allah,
All Mighty, is pre-existence and creative.

Here is another example: When man first constructed bridges or buildings,

he did not realize that they would collapse as soon as iron expanded in hot
weather. But later, after discovery of the property of expansion of metals,
man took laws of expansion into consideration while constructing bridges or
buildings. Hence, man’s knowledge is something acquired, while Allah’s
Knowledge is Original and has no beginning.

Man’s acquired knowledge also led him to make a double-isolation system

for oil tankers in order to prevent fire in hot weather.

Each and every fact man gets to know is acquired through experiment and
by way of a miss-and-hit process. A 1912 car is by no means comparable to
a 2000 one. The former has no pneumatic wheels. Its headlights are oil
lamps. It has no speed gearbox but only one speed. Its engine is started
manually. Just compare a car made a hundred years ago to one made only a
year ago! This provides evidence that human knowledge is acquired, while
Allah’s Divine Knowledge is has no beginning or end.

Once again, I reiterate that Allah’s Divine Knowledge, Power and Will are
the essence of all existing things. In other words, Allah’s Divine Knowledge
not only existed before all things but also caused them to exist. This fact
includes human beings, whose knowledge comes later and is acquired…
Mountains, rivers, lakes, …etc, helped us know properties and laws of water,
such as law of Archimedes, through which we made ships, just as the
atmosphere helped us know properties of the air, through which we made
airplanes. Therefore, all human knowledge is derived from Allah’s Divine
Laws and Norms that He, All Mighty, has decreed for the universe in which
we exist. Hence, it is absolutely wrong to believe that Allah’s Divine
Knowledge is similar to our human knowledge.
As a human being, you are governed by dimensions of place and time,
where you move from one place to another, at some time or another. In other
words, dimensions of place and time confine you. But Allah, All Mighty, is
the Creator of both place and time. We should not ask, “Where is He?”
because He is the One Who created place, nor should we ask, “When did
He come into existence?” because He is the One Who created time. He
knows what was, what is, what will be, and what is not: if it were to be, how
it would be… This is one thing.

By the above-mentioned I intend to show the essential difference between

human and divine knowledge. I want to show that Allah’s Divine
Knowledge is infinitely old, and it caused all things to come into existence.
In other words, whenever Allah’s Divine Knowledge, Will, and Power
necessitate that something come into existence, it does really come into
existence. If Allah’s Divine Knowledge, Will and Power necessitate that
such thing assume a certain shape, it does really assume such shape. In fact,
Divine Decree, in its reality, means that Allah’s Divine Knowledge
necessitates that something exist, and it does exist just as Allah, All Mighty
wills.

In fact, this issue is multi-sided and cannot be made clear in only a few
pages. But we can say in short that the whole universe is but a manifestation
of Allah’s Divine Knowledge. Consider, for example, a man-made spacecraft
whereby man was able to fly to the moon. It goes without saying that all
human knowledge, ever since mankind first appeared on the earth, took part
in making such spacecraft. How did scientists know that the spacecraft
should move at a certain speed in order to get off the earth’s gravity? How
did they study the moon’s movement and the angel according to which the
spacecraft should move in order to get to the moon in its new location after
three days that the spacecraft needs to reach the moon? Such disciplines of
knowledge as mathematics, astronomy, physics, among many others, took
part in the trip of that spacecraft to the moon, in addition to a careful study
of life conditions on the earth in comparison to those existing on the moon’s
surface. The special suit that astronauts wore in outer space cost 16 million
Dollars; and it provided them with the proper air, pressure, temperature and
communication. I just desire to emphasize that if you see such spacecraft
being launched into outer space and then landing on the moon’s surface, you
should know for sure that all the science of mathematics, ever since it was
first established, and in its most advanced form, has taken part in the sending
of such spacecraft to the moon; and, similarly, the science of physics, in its
most advanced form, including such notions as, “theory of relativity, the
bent space theory, bent lines theory, and laws of motion, gravity and
acceleration,…etc,” has also taken part in the sending of such spacecraft to
the moon. Other branches of science, such as chemistry, physiology, and
medicine, including such notions as, “the proper blood pressure, the proper
heart-beat, the proper condition of blood vessels, how is it possible for man
to live in a state of weightlessness where there is no gravity”…etc, also took
part in such an enterprise, which, undoubtedly, reflects great advanced
human knowledge accumulated all through human history.

Similarly, if you see an oil field in the middle of the Northern Sea
discovered, you might wonder, “How was such oil field discovered?” “What
instruments or methods were used?” “Did they use the laser, magnetic or
wave method?” “Which principle did they use?” “And when the oil-field had
been discovered, how could they reach it?” “How could they dive 5,000
meters deep into the sea?” “How could they reach the sea-bed?” “How could
they dig for another 5,000 meters below the sea-bed?” “How did the sea’s
salty water not get into the pipes?” “How did they insert the pipes into the
sea-bed” “How did they empty sea water from these pipes?” “How did they
inject molten cement?” They constructed a platform on the sea for the
helicopters to land on; they built a small city with houses, offices, and
headquarters, all floating on the surface of the sea. They studied the power,
height and depth of waves as well as sea-currents, the rate of salt in the
seawater and its relationship with metals. Nevertheless, on a stormy night,
strong waves come to destroy the whole base. This is because the study was
no adequate enough.

They build an airplane, but it suddenly falls down with no reason. There
must be something wrong with its construction.

In fact, I put forward the above examples to incite dear readers to

contemplate Allah’s Perfect Divine Knowledge and Creativity, which
brought the whole universe into existence. You might also see a small watch
that is programmed for two hundred years to show times for the five prayers
in all countries of the world. If you are in Damascus, you set it so as to show
you times of all prayers (dawn, midday, afternoon, evening and late evening
prayers) in Damascus. The watch, which is of normal size, gives the times
for prayer for two hundred years to come. Doesn’t such watch provide
evidence of a great scientific development?
I have been shown a small computer as big as the palm of the hand. It can
hold 35,000 pieces of information and 10,000 phone numbers. You can
instantly retrieve any of these numbers by pressing the first letter of the
person’s name. Don’t you feel the great ability of the human mind, which is
one of the things that Allah, All Mighty creates? Once again, I reiterate that I
give such examples not in order to draw attention to human inventors or
manufacturers, but rather to Allah, All Mighty, Who creates and originates.
In fact, the greatest and most developed apparatuses or machines that you
might be shown or told about (examples of this are: such apparatus or
machine is electronic, such apparatus is automatic, such electronic
microscope magnifies things 5,000 times and helps you see an ant as big as a
large elephant, pores of the skin as big as caves, and a piece of human skin
as big as an Amazon jungle, such highly sophisticated computer can hold
5,000,000,000 pieces of information), show clearly greatness of the human
mind and the Infinite Divine Wisdom and Power of its Creator and Maker,
Allah, All Mighty.

Once, I was shown a computer on which the whole Quran is recorded. The
person who showed me the computer told me, “You may ask it whatever
question you like.” I asked the computer, “How many times does the
word ‘Lakum’ occur?” It immediately answered, “118 times.” I asked it to
display the Verses in which this word occurs, and it soon displayed them in
succession and asked me if I would like to have them printed out, which can
be most easily done. I asked the computer, “Which is the letter that is most
repeated in Surat ‘Qaf’?” It soon replied, “The letter ‘Kaf’ and not
‘Qaf’.” It is all but a small disc as big as the palm of a hand. In front of a
computer, an oil derrick, an airplane, or a spacecraft, you stand fully
amazed!!

However, did you know that all such highly sophisticated machines and
inventions are but simple primitive things compared to your human body?
Consider the human brain: ten billion cells that have to do with mental
judgment, reasoning, imagination, memory and remembrance, vision,
hearing, smell, touch, feeling of pressure, among lots of other functions. If I
go on talking about wonders of the human body, dear readers will certainly
find out that the most developed and sophisticated man-made machine is too
simple and primitive compared to the human body.

You may, sometimes, be amazed at the sight of a certain machine or

instrument because of its tiny or gigantic size or amazing function. Aren’t
you amazed at the sight of a galaxy that is 16 billion light-years away from
the earth, or of the fact that light travels at a speed of 300,000 km/second?
Aren’t you amazed when you know that in your human head there are
300,000 hairs, each of which has a nerve, an artery, a vein, a fat gland, and a
dye gland? Aren’t you amazed when you know that in your brain there are
140 billion cells whose function is not known yet? Aren’t you amazed when
you know that in the retina there are 130 million cells and that 900 nerves
run through the optic nerve? Aren’t you amazed at the brain, the nerves, and
the heart, which pumps eight cubic meters of blood a day without any
cessation, the kidneys, through which the blood of the whole body runs five
times a day crossing a distance of 100 km’s, the pituitary body, which, in
case of any danger, gives orders to the supra-renal gland, which, in turn,
gives four orders: one to the heart in order to increase its beating, another to
the lungs in order to increase breathing, a third to all blood vessels in order
to narrow their inner walls to provide more blood for movement and attack,
and a fourth to the liver in order to send more sugar into the blood vessels?
Have you contemplated the different parts of your human body, which conforms to the most advanced up-to-date theories of
mechanics? Did you know that the upper part of the thighbone can bear more than 250 kg’s on either side or that man can bear 500
kg’s before his ribs are broken? If I kept talking about the human body for hours and hours, I would never give it its due study or
analysis. The same thing applies to plants. For, example, I once read amazing things about the leaves of plants. Scientists say that the
most developed man-made factory is simply too primitive compared to a leaf, which is, indeed, a whole factory on its own. It takes 18
minerals from the rising sap. In the leaf there is the chlorophyll; in the leaf there is the photon of the solar energy; in the leaf there is
nitrogen; and in the leaf there is iron compounds. Together with the rising sap, the leaf makes the falling sap, which, in turn makes
.flowers and fruits

Does man, for example, have the ability to inject a liquid with something that turns it into wood, iron or sponge? Is this possible?! The
liquid is one and the same but it gives different forms of matter. I once read that the rising sap of a tree runs along special vessels or
pipes. If a tree grows wide wise, the pipes may get narrowed and the flow of the liquid becomes improper. Therefore, the pipes are
.provided with spiral fibers to prevent narrowness of pipes as the tree grows

This is the case with plants, but what about birds? A bird’s vision is eight
times stronger than human vision. Further more, the sense of smell is a
million times stronger in dogs than in man.

What shall I say about fishes? There are more than a million kinds of fishes.
What shall I say about whales, some of which weigh more than 150 tons and
have more than 50 tons of flesh, 50 tons of fat, and 90 barrels of oil? A baby
whale needs more than 300 kg’s of milk for one sucking, i.e. one ton of milk
per day. An average small meal for a grown-up whale is more than four tons.

What shall I say about god fish that you see in aquariums?!
All of the above mentioned facts manifest clearly Allah’s Infinite Divine
Knowledge: laws, relationships, and marvelous most accurate things and
phenomena. Like all other liquids, water expands as temperature rises. What
happens if it is cooled down below 4 º C.? It begins to expand! How does
this happen? Who has made water behave like this? Certainly, it is Allah, the
All Mighty, the Omniscient! It is well known that man’s survival on earth is
conditional on this odd property of water. In other words, if water went on
contracting down to the freezing point, human life would be impossible on
the earth, simply because rivers, seas, and oceans would become solid
blocks of ice, evaporation would cease to be, and so would rain, plants
would die, and so would animals and human beings.

Before people talk about whether Allah, All Mighty, knows or not, there are
so many things that have to be considered and contemplated. The whole
universe is but a manifestation of Allah’s Infinite Divine Knowledge. Once
again, I remind my dear readers of the gigantic oil derrick in the Northern
Sea. If you fly there, you will see a whole integrated city: houses, offices,
communication systems, an airport, …etc, all floating on the surface of the
sea, pipes 5,000 meters long down to the sea-bed, and then other pipes 5,000
meters long underneath the sea-bed. How could they get to the oil there, and
how could they pump such oil out? When you see all this, don’t you feel that
great genius minds have designed and constructed such a site?

If you fly on board one of the biggest and most developed airplanes, don’t
you feel as if the five hundred passengers on board were in a beautiful city,
sitting in one of its restaurants, on luxurious comfortable chairs, and the food
brought to them hot and delicious, while they are flying at a height of more
than 43,000 feet? How does the air carry the plane? How can the air carry
such a gigantic body? The question is so complicated, although very
important. How complicated are the laws that govern an airplane? Common
people might think that the plane’s wing, in which the plane’s fuel is stored,
is a simple hollow structure. If it were so, the plane would dive down the
moment it inclined to the right or left. In fact, the plane’s wing has a great
many chambers separated with special barriers or walls with lots of openings
and pumps that pump fuel to the opposite direction. Moreover, the plane’s
wings had to withstand high moisture and very low temperatures in the high
layers of the atmosphere, sometimes even minus 50 degrees Celsius.

Once a pilot told me about the incredible accuracy and precision with which
the different parts of an airplane are made. This provides clear evidence of
the great intelligence and knowledge of its makers and inventors. A gigantic
ship, which can sometimes carry more than a million tons of goods or oil
and the engines of whose helm or rudder are more than 4,000 horsepower,
also manifests such great intelligence and knowledge of the part of its
makers and inventors. What would you say about Allah’s Infinite Divine
Knowledge, Which created the whole universe?! In this context, Allah, All
Mighty, says, “So I swear by the settings of the stars. And verily, that is
indeed a great oath, if you but know.” [LVI; 75,76]

Poor indeed are those who do not know about Allah’s Infinite Divine
Knowledge except the question whether He knows or not. They know
nothing, or too little, about His Great Divine Name “Al-‘Aleem” (the
Omniscient), whose meanings and innumerable manifestations, most
delicate as they are, can be encompassed by no human knowledge. The only
thing that common people know in this respect is that Allah knows, but they
never contemplate the marvelous manifestations or substantiations of His
Infinite Divine Knowledge in the universe.

However, before we go into details of this Divine Name, “Al-‘Aleem”

(the Omniscient), I would like to remind my dear readers that Allah’s
Beautiful Divine Names are all Revelation-specific. In other words, we
cannot derive a name by ourselves and then claim that it belongs to
Allah. For example, Allah, All Mighty, says, “Verily, they are plotting a
plot (against you, O Muhammad). And I (Allah) am planning a plan.”
[LXXXVI; 15] and, “And (remember) when the disbelievers plotted against
you (O Muhammad) to imprison you, or to kill you, or to get you out; they
were plotting; and Allah (too) was plotting; and Allah is the Best of those
who plot.” [VIII; 30]

It is not permissible to derive from the verb “plot” or “plan” a name and
claim that Allah is a “Plotter” or “Planner”. I reiterate that all of Allah’s
Divine Names and Attributes are Revelation-specific, i.e. we do not accept
or use any of Allah’s Names except those that are mentioned in Allah’s
Book, the Holy Quran or Prophetic Sunna and Tradition. For example, can
we say Allah is a “Teacher”? No! Can we say that Allah is a “Scholar”?
No! The whole Islamic nation does not accept the Name “Teacher”
although Allah, All Mighty, says, “He has been taught by the One, Who is
Mighty in power.” [LII; 5] and “He (Allah) has taught you that which
you did not know…”
Is it possible to say that Allah is “’Arif” (i.e. the One Who is Able to know)?
No! This is because this Arabic word means “someone who gets to know
something after having been ignorant thereof”. It means that before
knowledge there was ignorance, which does not befit Allah’s Divine
Knowledge, which has no beginning. Allah’s Knowledge is not acquired but
rather comes even before existence.

Similarly, can we say that Allah is “Fatin” (Clever) or “Thaki” (Intelligent)?

No, of course not! Allah’s Divine Names are definitely Revelation-specific.
No one is permitted to invent a name and then attribute it to Allah. No Name
is acceptable unless it is mentioned in the Holy Quran or Prophetic Sunna
and is, therefore, accepted by the whole Islamic nation.
However, there is a great difference between Allah’s Infinite Divine Knowledge and human knowledge. Allah’s Divine knowledge is
not derived from things, but, the opposite is true, i.e. things are derived from His Knowledge, whereas human knowledge is derived
.from things and is based thereon

I would like to tell you this: Allah honors knowledgeable humans when He
attributes knowledge to them, but their human knowledge is, definitely,
unlike His Infinite Divine Knowledge. In this context, Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), says, “Allah is All-Knowing; and He loves those who are
knowledgeable.”

But here we have a question: Which branch, or branches, of knowledge are

the noblest and most sublime? Where does a certain branch of knowledge
get its eminence and honor? What makes a certain branch of knowledge
more honorable than another?

If someone has knowledge of how to break locks of shops and rob them, is
such knowledge honorable? No, of course not! Such a person is a robber,
and his knowledge, great as it might be, is by no means honorable!

If someone has great knowledge of forging banknotes, i.e. he has a highly

sophisticated equipment, great copiers, special paper, and he has acquired
great knowledge and made a lot of study and research, is his knowledge
noble or honorable? No!

Is knowledge of ways of trafficking drugs, which some traffickers most

intelligently acquire, an honorable or noble kind of knowledge? No, of
course not!
However, if someone acquires knowledge about heart diseases because
people are in bad need of it, you certainly feel that such knowledge is noble
and honorable. Hence, the question is: what makes a certain branch of
knowledge noble or honorable? The answer is simply: The kind of
information and its importance make knowledge honorable and noble or not.
In other words, the more noble and honorable the information and its uses
are, the more honorable and noble knowledge of such information is.

If someone has a lot of accurate and detailed information about singers, male
and female: when they get up or go to bed, their kind of food, the massages
and holidays they have, …etc, do you feel that such kind of knowledge is
noble or honorable?

I would like to reiterate that knowledge is not noble or honorable unless its
subject matter is as such. On the basis of this principle, one may ask: what is
the noblest and most honorable branch of knowledge? The answer is
theology, i.e. knowledge about Allah and the foundations of religious beliefs.
This is because superiority of Allah’s Words over those of His human slaves
is like superiority of Allah, Himself, over His human slaves. We have known
lots of disciplines of knowledge, such as physics, chemistry, math, medicine,
engineering, physiology, morphology, …etc, and we have known Allah. The
former kind of knowledge has to do with things created by Allah, while the
latter has to do with Allah, the Creator, Himself. Therefore, the noblest and
most honorable knowledge is theology, i.e. to know Allah, His Beautiful
Divine Names and Attributes, His Religion, …etc. Such is the noblest and
most honorable knowledge!

To know the way that leads to Allah is honorable knowledge; to know

Allah’s Religion is honorable knowledge; to know Allah’s Commands and
Laws, as derived from His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, is honorable
knowledge; to know how to be near to Allah and how to attain spiritual
enhancement is honorable knowledge. Hence, the noblest and most
honorable knowledge is, first, to know Allah, and, next, to know the way
that leads to Him and His Divine Love.

Make no mistake about it! There is one, only one, Truth in the whole
universe, namely Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious. Anything that leads you
to Him is noblest and most honorable. To learn Arabic, for example, in order
to understand Allah’s Words, is noblest and most honorable.
In this context, Imam Al-Ghazali, may Allah have mercy on him, says,
“There are three kinds of knowledge: knowledge about Allah,
knowledge about His Divine Commands, and knowledge about His
creatures.” The second and third kinds of knowledge, i.e. those that have to
do with Allah’s Commands and Creatures, need to be acquired by means of
the usual methods of learning, such as reading books, attending lessons or
lectures, committing pieces of information to memory, …etc.; and they are
usually stored in one’s mind and memory. But the first kind of knowledge,
i.e. that which has to do with Allah, All Mighty, is completely different. This
kind of knowledge conduces to spiritual enhancement and moral
transcendentalism, i.e. it makes one nearer and more intimate to his Lord,
Allah, Most Gracious. It does not need the usual above-mentioned methods
of learning but rather persistent strife to come near to Allah and attain His
Divine Love. Also, it is not merely something stored in the mind but also an
active spiritual and emotional state that is conducive to both spiritual and
emotional transcendentalism. It is by no means easy to attain, nevertheless,
its consequences are magnificent.

Once again, I reiterate that the noblest and most honorable branch of
knowledge is to know Allah, His Religion, and His Beautiful Divine Names
and Attributes. The noblest and most honorable thing to do is to know Allah
and that He is the All Mighty, the Omnipotent, the Omniscient, the All-Wise,
the Irresistible Compeller, the Sovereign, the All-Holy, the Peace Giver, the
All-Forgiver, the Security Giver, the All-Preserver, and so on and so forth.

The best thing to do is to be, from the viewpoint of character and behavior,
as Allah pleases: to be faithful, sincere, devoted, committed, honest,
trustworthy, pious, dutiful, truthful, …etc. Such noble character and
behavior are attainable only by Allah’s Divine Grace and Help.
Explanation of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes has to do with both Allah Himself and man’s heart. It also has to do
with how man’s heart should be: aware, sincere, loving, confident, truthful, honest, straightforward, pious, dutiful, …etc. Moreover,
.explanation of Allah’s Beautiful Names and Attributes comprises all disciplines of knowledge

:Here are some elaborations

First, whenever the Holy Quran speaks about knowledge, it confirms that knowledge belongs to Allah, and that human beings acquire
knowledge only if Allah so wills. To this effect, Allah, the Omniscient, says, “Verily, Allah: with Him (Alone) is the knowledge of
the Hour, He sends down the rain, and knows that which is in the wombs. No person knows what he will earn tomorrow, and
[no person knows in what land he will die. Verily, Allah is All-Knower, All-Aware (of things).” [XXXI; 34
“And they shall never encompass anything of His Knowledge except that
which He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and He
feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High,
the Most Great.” [II; 255]

“But Allah bears witness to that which He sent down to you; He sent it down
with His Knowledge; and the angels bear witness. And Allah is All-
Sufficient as a Witness.” [IV; 166]

“And Allah did create you from dust, then from a sperm drop, then He
made you pairs (male and female). And no female conceives or gives
birth but with His Knowledge. And no aged man is granted a length of
time, nor a part is cut off from his life but is (recorded) in a Book.
Surely, that is easy for Allah.” [XXXV; 11]

Therefore, lots of Quranic Verses pivot round the fact that all knowledge
belongs to Allah. To the same effect, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says,
“Verily, Allah is All-Knowing; and He loves those who are
knowledgeable.” This Prophetic Hadith is in full conformity with the
above-mentioned Quranic Verse, “And they shall never encompass
anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills.”

An old traditional scholar once wanted to disparage Imam As-Shafi’i in front

of his students. He asked disparagingly, “Young man! We have never
heard of that which you say. Where did you get it? No one, except you,
claims this.” Most wisely, Imam Ash-Shafi’Ii said, “Master! Do you claim
that you know all things?” If the old scholar had answered that he had
known all things, it would have been foolish of him, as Allah, All Mighty,
says, “And they ask you (O Muhammad) concerning the Spirit. Say,
‘The Spirit is one of the things the knowledge of which is only with my
Lord. And of knowledge, you (mankind) have been given only a little.”
[XVII; 85] Therefore, he soon replied, “No.” The intelligent young Imam
replied, “Then, this is simply one of the things that you do not know!”

Who can encompass all knowledge?! Who knows everything?! No one,

except Allah, the Omniscient, can encompass all knowledge and knows all
things. That is why it is rightly said: A person is considered as
knowledgeable as long as he is still learning. The moment he thinks that he
is knowledgeable; this means that he is a mere ignorant person. In other
words, if you claim that you are knowledgeable, you are definitely ignorant
and self-conceited. Therefore, those who have an ardent desire for
knowledge and strive to attend religious lectures in order to properly
understand Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran, and Prophetic Hadith and
Tradition, are strongly recommended to say always, “We are mere
learners”, because such statement reflects politeness and modesty. In fact, I
have heard such statement from great well-known scholars.

Some time ago, someone wrote a book in which he claimed to be one of the
great scholars of Damascus. It seems that he forgot the fact that whenever
our venerable righteous ancestors had to speak about themselves, they would
simply say, “May Allah forgive me my sins,” or “I am but someone who
is in bad need of his Lord, Allah, Most Gracious.”

As above mentioned, a great many Quranic Verses confirm that knowledge

belongs only to Allah, and that He grants it to whomever He desires. By the
way, some people claim that Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), was
illiterate. A highly placed person in a university was once asked to open a
faculty for an M.A. post-graduate degree in religious studies. He said, “Why
should we open such faculty? The Holy Prophet (Muhammad) was
illiterate.” The dean of the faculty, however, most cleverly answered, “But
Prophet Muhammad used to receive Divine Revelation from the Lord,
Allah, All Mighty. The moment we receive Divine Revelation, we will
give up learning and leave the university.” That is why religious scholars
usually say: “The holy Prophet’s illiteracy reflects perfection, while
illiteracy of other people reflects imperfection.” In other words, if you say
that someone is illiterate, this means that he is ignorant; but if you say that
Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH) was illiterate, this means that he
was in no need of human knowledge or education, as he, (PBUH), received
knowledge directly from the Lord, Allah, Most Gracious.

Sometimes, university graduates may claim boastfully that they have the
highest degrees from such developed countries as America, England, or
France. Others may boast of having studied under a well-known scholar or
scientist. In other words, people usually feel proud of having received
knowledge at one famous university or another, or under a certain famous
scientist or scholar. But I would like to ask, “Who taught Allah’s
Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH)?” The answer is: Allah, the Almighty,
the Omniscient, Himself, taught him; and this suffices him in honor and
knowledge. To this effect, the Verse goes:
O illiterate (Prophet)! It suffices you in rank
Of knowledge that savants are indebted to you.

Moreover, quite often, a genius scholar takes some fifty or more of the
Prophetic Hadiths of Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), studies and analyzes them
as regards their composition, formation, eloquence, content, denotation,
connotation, ...etc; and for this he is awarded a Ph D in religious studies. All
his study and research is about only fifty Prophetic Hadiths of Allah’s
Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH); yet he says boastfully, “I have a Ph D in
Religious Studies!” in the hope of attaining due appreciation and respect
from other fellow humans.

Once again:

O illiterate (Prophet)! It suffices you in rank

Of knowledge that savants are indebted to you.

Therefore, the holy Prophet’s illiteracy is the token of perfection on his part,
while illiteracy of other people reflects imperfection. To this effect, Allah,
All Mighty, says, “Neither did you (O Muhammad) read any book before it
(the Quran), nor did you write any book (whatsoever) with your right hand.
In that case, indeed, the followers of falsehood might have doubted.”
[XXIX; 48]

Other Quranic Verses confirm that Allah, All Mighty, is the All-Knower.
To this effect, He, Glory to Him, says, “Say (O Muhammad), ‘I know not
whether (the punishment) which you are promised is near or whether my
Lord will appoint for it a distant term. (He Alone is) the All-Knower of the
Unseen, and He reveals to none His Unseen, except to a Messenger whom
He has chosen, and then He makes a band of watching guards (angels) to
march before him and behind him.” [LXXII; 25-27]

“Verily, Allah is the All-Knower of the Unseen of the heavens and the earth.
Verily, He is the All-Knower of that is in the breasts.” [XXXV; 38]
In the first place, the Verses confirm that Allah, All Mighty, is “’Aleem” (Omniscient), i.e. all knowledge belongs to Him. In the
second place, they describe Him as “’Alim” (All-Knower), i.e. He knows all things, irrespective of their quantity or quality. In the
third place, the Verses describe Allah as being “’Allam” (The One Whose Knowledge is Infinite), i.e. His Divine Knowledge is
Absolute and Infinite. In other words, when you say that Allah is “’Allam” of the Unseen, this means that He knows all of the unseen
things, i.e. His Knowledge is Absolute and All Embracing. He knows how each creature will end, He knows when and how each leaf
falls off a tree. In this context, He, Glory to Him, says, “And with Him are the keys of the Unseen, none knows them but He. And
He knows whatever there is in the land and in the sea; not a leaf falls but He knows it. There is not a grain in the darkness of
[the earth nor anything fresh or dry but is written in a Clear Record.” [VI; 59
 .Allah knows what was, what is, what will be, and what is not: if it were, how it would be

In the fourth place, the Verses describe Allah, All Mighty, as being “Al-A’lam”, i.e. the One Who knows more than anyone else. To
this effect, He, Praise belongs to Him, says, “And thus We made their case known (to the people), that they may know that the
Promise of Allah is true and that there can be no doubt about the Hour. (Remember) when they (the people of the city)
disputed among themselves about their case, they said, ‘Construct a building over them. Their Lord knows best about them.’
[(Then) those who won their point said, ‘We verily shall build a place of worship over them.’” [XVIII; 21

The venerable Companion and Caliph, Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq, may Allah be pleased with him, was once praised by people. Let’s listen
to what he said. He, whose firm belief in Allah overweighs that of all people, said, “O Allah! You know me more than I know
myself; and I know myself more than they know me. O Allah! Make me better than they say, forgive me what they do not
know (about me), and do not blame me for that which they say (about me).” Such was Abu Bakr’s attitude whenever he was
.praised
Therefore, Allah, the Omniscient, attributes Knowledge to Himself, and
describes Himself as being “’Aleem”, “’Alim”, “’Allam”, and
“Al-‘A’lam”, as above mentioned, but it not permissible to say that
Allah is “Mu’alim” (i.e. Teacher). In this context, Allah, Most Gracious,
says, “They (angels) said, ‘Glory to You! We have no knowledge except that
which You have taught us. Verily, it is You, Who are the All-Knowing, the
All-Wise.” [II; 32]
“The Most Gracious (Allah) has taught (mankind) the Quran, created man
and taught him eloquent speech.” [LV; 1-4]
“And He (Allah) taught you that which you knew not. And Ever Great is the
Grace of Allah unto you.” [IV; 113]
“Then they found one of Our slaves, on whom We had bestowed mercy from
Us, and whom We had taught knowledge from Us.” [XVIII; 65]

A Marginal note:
Allah, All-High, says, “Thus Adam disobeyed his Lord.” Scholars say that
it is impermissible to say that Adam is a “disobedient”. In other words,
you do not have the right to derive from the above verb “disobey” a
name for Adam. Similarly, when Allah, All Mighty, says, “And one of
them (the two women), ‘O my father! Hire him (Moses)! Verily, the best of
men for you to hire is the strong and trustworthy.” [XXVIII; 26] Scholars
say that it shouldn’t be said that Moses, (PBUH), was a “hireling”. Of
course, there are minute reasonable justifications for Allah’s use of such
attributes in His Holy Quran. Allah’s Command to Adam in Paradise
was by way of advice more than obligation; and real disobedience comes
only when there is a command that denotes obligation. Therefore, when
the great holy Prophet, Adam, (PBUH), ate the apple in Paradise, he did
not disobey an obligatory command of Allah but rather an advisory one.
Allah, Most Gracious, clarifies what happened, as He, Glory to Him,
says, “And they both ate of the tree, and so heir private parts became
manifest to them, and they began to cover themselves with the leaves of
Paradise for their covering. Thus Adam disobeyed his Lord, and so he went
astray.” [XX; 121]

Hence, it shouldn’t be said that Adam was disobedient or Moses was a

hireling. What is said about Allah’s holy Prophets and Messengers
should by no means undergo any change, alteration or derivation.
To end up, “Al-‘Alim”, “Al-‘Allam”, “Al-‘A’lam” and “Al-Mu’alim” all
occur in the Holy Quran, but they do not occur as Beautiful Divine
Names of His. The only Name that comes as one of Allah’s Beautiful
Divine Names is “Al-‘Aleem” (the Omniscient), an emphatic Name
which denotes Absolute and Infinite Divine Knowledge as regards both
number and kind of the things known.

Now, I would like my dear readers to consider the following question:

What benefit can we get from Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name
“Al-‘Aleem” (the Omniscient)? In some religious books it is mentioned
that Allah, the Omniscient, addresses His human slaves, “If you do not
know that I see you, there is something wrong with your faith. But if you
know that I see, why do you make me the most inconsiderable of those who
behold you?!”

If you do not know that Allah, the All-Seeing, sees you, this means that
there must necessarily be something wrong or weak with your faith; but
if you know that Allah, the All-Seeing, does see you, why do you make
Him the most inconsiderable of all those who see you. To this effect,
Allah, the All-Seeing, says, “They may hide (their crimes) from men, but
they cannot hide (them) from Allah, for He is with them (by His
Knowledge), when they plot by night in words that He does not approve.
And Allah ever encompasses what they do.” [IV; 108]

Therefore, you should worship Allah as if you saw Him, for even if you do
not see Him, He sees you. And some religious scholars say, “The state of
consciousness (in which a true believer should always be as regards his
relationship with his Lord, Allah, Most Gracious) means ‘to feel that
Allah is always with you’. And such feeling makes you both afraid of
Him and dutiful to Him.” Once again, we go back to the first Quranic
Verse that we mentioned at the outset of our lecture: “It is Allah Who
created seven heavens, and of the earth the like thereof (i.e. seven). His
Command descends between them (heavens and earth) that you may
know that Allah has power over all things and that Allah encompasses
all things in Knowledge.” You will never stick to Allah’s Divine Religion
and Commands unless you firmly believe that His Divine Knowledge and
Power encompass you.

* * *
I n the following pages, Allah will manifest Himself to us through His
Beautiful Divine Names, “Al-Qabid” (the Withholder) and “Al-Bassit”
(the Extender); and the study will be both elaborate and ample if Allah
so wills.

In fact, a great many brothers who have turned to Allah, Most Gracious, in
sincere repentance and reformed their relationship with Him always ask this
question: Sometimes we feel happy, delighted, satisfied, and relaxed, as if
we were in Paradise; and sometimes, we feel so wretched and miserable that
we wish we were dead. What is the explanation of these two opposite
conditions? That is why I will try to give a brief but sufficient answer to
such question, which a great many believers ask.

Among Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names are “Al-Qabid” (the Withholder)

and “Al-Bassit” (the Extender). The first thing I would like to say is that
these two Names of Allah are inseparable, i.e. it is not permissible to
mention either without the other. This is because if you say that Allah is “Al-
Qabid” (the Withholder), it would mean that you describe Allah as being
niggardly or miserly; and Allah, All Mighty, is far above such evil qualities.
However, when you say that Allah is “Qabid, Bassit” (Withholder,
Extender), you describe Him as being Powerful and Wise. This is because
Allah, All Mighty, says, “And it is Allah that withholds or extends (your
provisions for you), and unto Him you shall return.” [II; 245]

Therefore, if you desire to say that Allah, Most Gracious, withholds in order
to extend, does harm in order to do good, decreases in order to increase, or
abases in order to exalt in honor, you are on the right way.

Linguistically speaking, the first Name denotes decrease while the second
denotes increase; and these two actions embrace all things in existence, i.e.
if Allah decreases something, this means that He withholds it; and if He
increases something, this means that He extends it.

Now, we have to speak about fields of withholding or extension. The first

meaning of Allah’s Divine Names “Al-Qabid” and “Al-Bassit” has to do
with people’s provision or sustenance. In this context, Allah, Most Gracious,
says, “Allah extends provision for whom He wills of His slaves, and
straitens it for whom (He wills). Verily, Allah is the All-Knower of all
things.” [XXIX; 62]

“Do they not see that Allah extends provision for whom He wills and
straitens (it for whom He wills)? Verily, in that are indeed Signs for a
people who believe.” [XXX; 37]

As regards people’s provision, do not say that someone is intelligent or

talented, another has a great experience in business, a third is a good planner,
a fourth is proficient, a fifth is well aware. This is because it is Allah, All
Mighty, Who withholds or extends provision for people. It is He Who gives
or withholds sustenance for people. It is He Who makes people rich or poor.
If He desires to provide you with sustenance, He inspires you and enables
you to have the necessary ways and means to earn money and make your
living. On the contrary, if He desires to withhold sustenance from you, even
though you might be rich, you, quite unknowingly, go bankrupt and
penniless. If, for some reason or another, He desires to withhold provision
from you, He blocks all ways in your face, even though you might be so
smart or brilliant. Quite often, one might be forced to quit a certain business
or break a partnership.

When Allah, All Mighty, says, “Allah withholds and extends (provision),
and unto Him you shall be returned,” or “Allah extends provision for
whomsoever He wills and straitens”, you should firmly believe that Allah
is the All-Provider, and that He, only He, is the One Who withholds or
extends provision for His human slaves. That is why it is usually said: If He
(Allah) gives, He astonishes; but if He desires to settle accounts (with one of
His slaves), He leaves nothing unheeded. However, dear reader, do not think
that extension of provision on Allah’s part is a kind of extravagance or
prodigality, or straitening of provision a kind of avarice or niggardliness.
Such evil thoughts should never occur to you. Nay! When Allah, All Mighty,
withholds, He does so not due to avarice; and when He enlarges provision,
He does so not due to extravagance. He withholds due to His Infinite Divine
Wisdom, Might, Power, Knowledge, and Ordainment; and He extends when
He desires to honor or to try. In other words, Allah’s Extension of provision
is for honor or trial; and His Withholding of provision is for treatment or
protection. To this effect, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “And if Allah were to
enlarge provision for His slaves, they would surely rebel in the earth,
but He sends down by measure as He wills. Verily, He is, in respect of
His slaves, the Well-Aware, the All-Seer (of things that benefit them).”
[XLII; 27]

Hence the first meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name, “Al-Qabid” (the
Withholder) has to do with people’s provision. The second meaning of this
Divine Name has to do with clouds. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty, says,
“It is Allah Who sends the winds so that they raise clouds and spread
them along the sky as He wills, and then break them into fragments
until you see rain drops come forth from their midst! Then when He has
made them fall down on whom He wills of His slaves, lo, they rejoice!”
[XXX; 48]

Clouds are spread along the sky as Allah, All Mighty desires. He might
withhold them from some people and provide them to others. At the same
time, in some places the rain would be much heavier than in others. This
means that Allah withholds rain from some and provides it to some.

The third meaning of these two Divine Names has to do with light and dark.
In this context, Allah, All Mighty, says, “Then We withdraw it (daylight)
to Us a gradual concealed withdrawal.” [XX; 46]

Where is the day when the night is made to come, and where is daylight
when the dark is made to fall? And where is the night when the day is made
to come? You might feel lonely, worried, or afraid in the dark, but then,
suddenly, the sun is made to rise, and you feel comfortable and peaceful.
Hence, it is Allah, All Mighty, Who withholds, i.e. conceals, daylight and
then brings it back.

The fourth meaning of these two Divine Names is that Allah, All Mighty,
withholds, i.e. seizes, people’s souls and causes them to die, or releases
them, i.e. brings them back into life. Hence, provision, clouds, light, dark,
and souls are all under Allah’s Divine Control; and He, All Mighty, either
withholds or extends them.

The fifth meaning of these two Names has to do with the earth, as Allah, All
Mighty, withholds it, that is to say, He grasps it by His Divine Power. To this
effect, Allah All Mighty, says, “They made no just esteem of Allah such as
due to Him. And on the Day of Resurrection, the whole of the earth will
be in His Grasp, and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand.
Glorified is He and far Exalted is He above all that they associate as
partners with Him!” [XXXIX; 67]

Allah, Most Gracious, also extends the earth in the sense that He stretches it
and makes it suitable for human life. He also withholds the earth in the sense
that He terminates it or causes it to perish, as He, All Mighty, has made it an
abode for a certain limited appointed term.

The sixth meaning of Allah’s Divine Names, “Al-Qabid” and “Al-Bassit” is

that Allah, Most Gracious, takes, i.e. accepts alms and charities. In this
context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “If a slave (of Allah) gives a
good charity, Allah accepts it from him, and He takes it in His Right
Hand and breeds it as the one of you breeds his colt or young camel.
And if a slave (of Allah) gives a mouthful, it grows in Allah’s Hand until
it becomes as big as a mountain. Therefore, you should give alms.”
[Narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad]

These two Divine Names of Allah also have to do with a very delicate and
important thing that we all need badly, namely that Allah, Glory to Him,
straitens and widens people’s hearts in the sense that He, All Mighty, fills
them with both fear and hope. You are always either fearful of Allah or
hopeful of Him. This has to do with your present condition. You should
always ask yourself which condition you are in for the time being. You
should make sure whether you are in a state of fear or hope in your
relationship with your Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious. If you do not
know, this means that you are careless and heedless, i.e. outside Allah’s
Divine Care, just like a negligent student who does not care about his grades
or exam results and knows nothing about them. In other words, a true
believer should always be in either of two states: dispirited with fear or
spirited with hope.

In fact, if Allah withholds spiritual enhancement from you, you feel lonely,
dispirited, unhappy, deprived, miserable, and even outcast or rejected. This
is because Allah, All Mighty, withholds spiritual enhancement from you.
You read the Holy Quran, but you do not feel dully responsive towards it,
you perform prayer, but you do not enjoy any feeling of veneration or
submissiveness, you desire to sit down to contemplate Allah, Most Gracious,
and His Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes, but you feel distracted from
so doing. What do we call this state? It is simply a state of “Qabd”, i.e.
withholding or straitening, which makes you feel dispirited or miserable
because Allah has withdrawn His spiritual Enhancement from you. He
makes you feel that He is the All Mighty, the All-High, the Exalted, while
you are a mere slave of His and too insignificant to deserve His Divine Love
or intimacy. This is because Allah is the best educator. If He, All Mighty,
extends to His human slave such good feelings and conditions as happiness,
delight, gaiety, and intimacy, and if such good conditions and feelings
continue for long, the salve, after some time, may become negligent as
regards his worship, devotion, prayers, or performance of good righteous
deeds. Therefore, Allah, Most Gracious, withdraws such good feelings and
conditions from him and causes him to feel miserable and dispirited, which
makes him hasten to turn to his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, in
sincere repentance and faithful devotion, and, hence, he is restored to his
good condition from which he was deprived for some time. Therefore,
Allah’s withholding of good feelings and conditions from His believing
slave is meant to make him feel afraid and worried and in order to motivate
him to turn to Allah in sincere repentance mixed with good hope.

Therefore, our Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, treats true believers
with the above-mentioned treatment. But this kind of Divine Treatment does
not apply to disbelievers or atheists, whose feelings of depression and
misery come as a natural result of their sins and misdeeds and their deviation
from their original pure nature in which Allah has created them, since every
human being is created in a pure original nature. Once he blemishes such
pure nature by transgressing against the rights of other fellow humans,
making his glory on their destruction, and committing sins and misdeeds, he
will certainly feel miserable and dispirited. However, disbelievers and
atheists are not our concern in this lecture; our concern is pious righteous
true believers, who are singled out for a very special kind of treatment by the
Lord, Allah, Most Gracious. Such true believers sometimes undergo the
above-mentioned conditions of distress and unhappiness, which are meant to
be a kind of treatment and remedy from the Lord, Allah, Most Gracious,
Who fills their hearts sometimes with depression and worry and sometimes
with hope and happiness. True believers are sometimes optimistic, happy,
fluent, eloquent, good looking, spirited, confident, hopeful, positive, bright,
hopeful and cheerful. Such good condition is called in Arabic “Al-Bast”
(gaiety), which Allah, Most Gracious, bestows upon a true believer’s heart.

However, there is a treacherous pitfall here: when a believer feels that he is

nearer and more intimate to Allah, that he is successful and prosperous, that
other people are miserable, negligent, and weak, their determination and will
are weak, they are drowned in sins, they are disconnected, cast away,
dismissed and damned, and that he, alone, is happy, such a feeling may
conduce to a state of arrogance, pride, haughtiness, vanity, and conceit. The
proper treatment for such case is called in Arabic “Al-Qabd”, i.e. Allah’s
withholding of such good feelings and conditions from believers by way of
punishment and in order to make them turn to Him with sincere repentance
and true devotion. That is why a true believer is sometimes found miserable
and depressed although he does not know what has happened to him. When
asked why he is in such bad spiritual condition, he only says, “Praised
belongs to Allah,” but he does not know the reason lurking behind such bad
condition, as he has not committed a sinful deed.

This applies only to true believers; unbelievers undergo a completely

different condition. We tell them: since you have disobeyed Allah, All
Mighty, He casts feelings of depression into your heart, and since you have
deviated from your pure original human nature, you are made to suffer such
melancholy and downheartedness.

Once a true believer commits a sin or misdeed, he feels that the whole earth,
vast as it is, is straitened for him. To this effect, Allah, Most Gracious, says,
“And (He did also forgive) the three who failed to join in (Tabouk
Expedition) until the earth, vast as it is, was straitened for them and
themselves were (also) straitened for them, and (until) they perceived
that there was no fleeing from Allah and no refuge but with Him. Then,
He forgave them and accepted their repentance that they might beg for
His Pardon. Verily, Allah is the One Who forgives and accepts
repentance, the Most Merciful.” [IX; 118]

Those Companions, whom Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), commanded his

venerable Companions not to talk to, felt that the earth, vast as it is, was
straitened for them, and they realized that there was no fleeing from Allah
nor was there a refuge but with Him. Sinners, deviants and the negligent
are made to undergo such state of depression.

Suppose your mother asked you something, to get her a drug from a
drugstore at midnight, for example, but you said, “Sorry Mum! I can’t! I
feel I need to go to bed,” or “There is no drug-store open at such late
hour,” Such a behavior on your part makes you feel guilty and depressed.
This is something else. If someone neglects as regards his duties and
responsibilities, if someone commits a sinful deed, deviates from the Right
Path, slanders another fellow human or speaks badly about him, if he
transgresses against rights of other fellow humans or looks at indecent or
unlawful things, and if someone commits a sinful deed or deviation, he
will certainly feel depressed. However, such kind of depression resulting
from sinful deeds or deviations is not our concern in this lecture.

I would like to say that if man obeys Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious,
and, therefore, he feels superior and prosperous or that Allah loves him
and bestows his Divine Favors upon his heart, he might slip into a
dangerous condition in which he might become arrogant, hyper-confident
and self-conceited. The proper Divine Treatment or such an illness is “Al-
Qabd”, i.e. Allah’s Withdrawal of such good spiritual condition from him
and replacing it with feelings of depression and misery. Therefore, you
might sometimes find a true believer unhappy and depressed: he reads the
Holy Quran, but he does not feel any tranquility or peace of mind, he is
not so eloquent or fluent in speech as he usually is, he stands to perform
prayer, but he does not feel due submissiveness or veneration to the Lord,
Most Gracious. This is a kind of Divine Treatment for those who become
self-conceited or arrogant, or feel superior to other fellow humans. This is
a state of “Qabd”, as mentioned above.

However, when a true believer feels lonely, depressed, uncomfortable,

dispirited or downhearted, he might slip into a very serious condition,
namely despair, which is, in turn, followed by a state of “Bast”, i.e. Divine
Extension of good feelings of happiness, gaiety, and contentment.
Therefore, as a true believer, you should know that you are always in a
state of either “Qabd” or “Bast”. This is because Allah, All Mighty, is “Al-
Qabid” (the Withholder) and “Al-Bassit” (the Extender). If the state of
“Qabd” (Withholding of good feelings) suits you best, Allah, Most
Gracious, causes you to be in a state of “Qabd” by straitening the world
for you and making you feel lonely, depressed, dispirited and
downhearted. But once you reach a state of despair, there comes the state
of “Bast”, in which Allah, Most Merciful, fills your heart again with such
great feelings as nearness, intimacy, happiness, and spiritedness. As a true
believer, you are between either of two cases: “Qabd” or “Bast”. But what
is the proper treatment? The treatment is, simply, that if Allah deservedly
puts you in a state of “Bast”, you should never become self-conceited, self-
confident, or arrogant; and you should beware of the feeling that you are
superior to other fellow humans or better than they are.
Once again, I reiterate that with “Bast” there is the danger of slipping into
self-conceitedness. That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “If you
were not to commit sins, I would be afraid for you of something more
serious.” What is that thing which is more serious than committing sins?
It is self-conceitedness. However, if you are befallen by a state of “Qabd”,
you should never slip into despair.

Allah, the Lord of all worlds, is also the Lord of the human race. He, Most
Gracious, breeds their bodies with material sustenance and their souls by
causing them to shift from one spiritual condition to another. In this
context, Allah, All Mighty, says, “So invoke not with Allah another god lest
you should be among those who receive punishment. And warn your tribe of
near kindred. And be kind and humble to the believers who follow you. Then
if they disobey you, say, ‘I am innocent of what you do.’ And put your trust
in the All Mighty, the Most Merciful, Who sees you when you stand up
(alone for prayer at night), and your movements among those who prostrate
themselves (to Allah in prayer). Verily, He, only He, is the All-Hearer, the
All-Knower.” [XXVI; 213-220]

As a true believer, you are made to shift from one spiritual condition to
another, from a state of “Bast” to another of “Qabd” and then again from
the latter state to the former, and so on. This is because you are under
Allah’s Divine Care and Education; and, therefore, you should surrender
yourself to Him.

However, if you are rendered into a state of “Qabd”, after having committed
a sinful deed or an act of deviation, transgression, or disobedience, you
should be certain that such state of “Qabd” comes after each and every sinful
deed that one commits, and, therefore, has nothing to do with our lecture. In
other words, man is naturally predisposed to feel depressed after each sinful
deed that he commits. This is “Al-Fitrah”, i.e. the pure original human
nature.

Why does Allah, Most Gracious, grant us our mind? The answer is: so that
we know Him thereby! Why does He grant us our pure original human
nature? The answer is: so that we know our mistakes thereby!

With our mind we know our Lord; and with our pure original human nature
we know our mistakes, by feeling unhappy and depressed.
Narrated An-Nawas bin Sam’an: I asked Allah’s Messenger concerning “Al-
Bir” (piety) and “Al-Ithm” (sin), and He, (PBUH), said: “Piety is good
character, and sin is something that clashes in your breast and you do
not like other people to see (it).” [Sahih Muslim]

You should also know that you are equipped with a special scale or criterion,
“Al-Qabd”, whereby you feel depressed and dispirited as soon as you
commit a sinful deed: when you tell lies to others, when you transgress
against others, when you betray others, when you look at indecent or
unlawful things, when you calumniate or slander others, …etc, which you
feel only if your heart is sill alive and you are sensitive.

Sometimes, man’s pure original human nature is obliterated and the

criterion, whereby he distinguishes right from wrong and good from evil, is
destroyed; and man becomes another creature that does not know what
goodness is. To this effect, the venerable Companion, Abu Hurairah, may
Allah be pleased with him, quotes Allah’s Messenger as saying, “If a
believer commits a sinful deed, a black mark grows in his heart. If he
repents, gives up (sins), and asks for forgiveness, his heart is polished
again; but if he adds more (sins), it (the black mark) increases: and this
is the ‘Ran’, which Allah mentions in His Book (the Quran), ‘Nay! But
on their hearts is the Ran (covering of sins and evil deeds) which they
used to earn.’” [Sunan At-Tirmithi]

Consecutive sins and misdeeds, deep involvement in the perishable

pleasures and enjoyments of the present world, transgression against other
fellow humans, shunning worships and devotional services, and forsaking
remembrance of Allah, are all conducive to a sealed, wrapped up, heart:
“Allah has set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing; and on their
eyes there is a covering. And theirs will be a great torment.” [II; 7]

If man’s heart is filled with love for this present world, there is no room left
for other things. Therefore, if the Lord seals the heart, there is “Qabd”, i.e.
depression, downheartedness, and loneliness resulting from sins and
misdeeds. This can be cured with acts of devotion and obedience. However,
the state of “Qabd”, which true believers incur but for no overt reason, is
definitely a kind of Divine Treatment to such believers. In this case, scholars
say: “A believer has to endure until such state is removed by Allah’s
Will.”
There is another delicate meaning of Allah’s Divine Name, “Al-Qabid”,
namely that “He is the One Who controls everything.” Another meaning is
the “All-Powerful”. Sometimes, you cannot implant sadness in the heart of
a happy person. If you speak to him, he does not listen to you. But our Lord,
Allah, All Mighty, is Powerful over all things, and He withholds or extends,
as He pleases. He withholds good thinking from you and causes you unable
to understand a thing.

An old friend of mine, who was a self-conceited student, was taking an

exam in which he was asked about Berlin Conference. He sat for a whole
hour trying to remember where the conference was held, although the name
of the conference itself shows clearly that it was held in Berlin! Sometimes,
in critical situations, we see things contrary to what they really are.
Therefore, if man feels proud of his mind and intelligence, he is made to
commit the silliest mistakes that even the most stupid people never do. This
is just because Allah, All Mighty, desires to show him that He, the Almighty,
is “Al-Qabid”: He, Glory to Him, withholds understanding from you and
makes your mind unable to understand a thing. He, All Mighty, withholds
happiness from your heart and makes you feel depressed and dispirited,
although there is no apparent reason for such bad state in which you are put:
your house is vast, your wife is more than excellent, your children are
healthy and your income is quite good. This is because your heart is in
Allah’s Divine Hand and under His Divine Control. It is He Who makes you
happy or withholds happiness from you. Not only that, but also He has full
command over your heart and mind: He withholds understanding from your
mind just as he withholds happiness from your heart.

Hearts are of two kinds: one that is full of happiness, contentment, and
Divine Enlightenment, and another that is hard, desolated, petrified, dead,
senseless, and merciless. If Allah withholds happiness from someone’s heart,
he is by no means happy; if He withholds magnanimity from someone’s
heart, it will never be magnanimous; and if He withholds provision from
someone, he will never be provided. Quite often, you meet people who
sorrowfully say, “Things are never as I desire.” In the same context, an
emigrant Lebanese poet wrote:

I go after provision westwards, while it is going eastwards,

And, I sear, if I went eastwards, it would go westwards!
If Allah, All Mighty, desires to withhold provision from you, you will be
poor even if you travel to the richest countries in the world. But if He so
wishes, He makes you well off in your own poor country and under the
worst circumstances. This is because He is the All-Provider. Such is true
Faith!

They also say: Allah also withholds happiness from the soul, and hence, it
does not taste of happiness but is invaded by pessimism and melancholy.
And He withholds delight from the spirit, and, hence, it does not taste of
delight. None of Allah’s creatures could ever escape from His Divine
Judgment and Ordainment. And He is Most Wise in His Divine Work and
Decree. That is why our Lord, Allah, Glory to Him, says, “And I respite
them: certainly, My Plan is Strong.” [VII; 183] In this Quranic Verse
Allah, All Mighty, describes His Divine Plan as being Strong, like a tough
unbreakable cable whereby a disbeliever is tied. But Allah, All Mighty,
usually leaves this cable loose; and a disbeliever, due to his ignorance,
wrongly thinks that he is free and, therefore, he moves around, does harm to
other fellow humans, does mischief in the earth, boasts, displays arrogance
and insolence, challenges, philosophizes, goes beyond bounds, transgresses
against other human beings, and wrongly thinks that he is powerful over all
things. But suddenly, in one single instant, Allah, All Mighty, pulls the cable
and seizes him. Hence, Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Qabid” is manifested in
this Quranic Verse, “And I respite them: certainly, My Plan is Strong.”

Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Qabid” also means that He, All Mighty, can
block your mind for you, make your heart desolated and your soul
melancholic and pessimistic. There are extreme cases of depression that
drive people to commit suicide. However, a true believer is safe from such
bad psychological disorder.

Here is another opinion proposed by Al-Qushairi, who says, “ ‘Al-Qabd’

and ‘Al-Bast’ are two conditions whereby Allah educates those who are
conscious of Him.” In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “My
Lord has educated me, and He has educated me (perfectly) well.”

One of our mosque brothers had a small factory for making clothes. The
factory did not sell by retail but only by hundreds of dozens. However,
another brother went to the factory to buy some clothes - only six pieces
actually. Feeling rather humiliated, the owner of the factory answered
arrogantly, “We do not sell by retail here.” Having been shocked by the
factory owner’s answer, the other brother said good-bye and left the
factory with much embarrassment and shame. The factory owner said: “I
swear by Allah! No customer, or any other human being, entered my factory
to buy anything for twenty-three days! I have taken the lesson and now I sell
even one piece to anyone who enters my factory.” Such is Allah’s Divine
Education! You utter one word out of its proper place, and hence, you are
barred from the Lord for a whole week and your heart is filled with
loneliness, sorrow and depression. If there is any kind of negligence or
indifference, “Al-Qabd” (withdrawal of the good laudable feelings and
conditions) comes from the Lord. Such withdrawal provides clear evidence
that Allah is rejecting you, rejecting your bad work, and rejecting your bad
behavior. Therefore, He withdraws happiness from your heart and
replaces it with depression. Only sensitive believers conceive such delicate
notion!

The scale that is designed for measuring the weight of heavy cars does not
weigh a kilo of coffee, five grams of gold or a small piece of diamond. In
other words, it is insensitive to small weights. Some people are just like
this scale, i.e. they are not sensitive enough. They are totally heedless of
their Lord. Such heedless people are not our concern in this lecture.

However, after having received Allah’s Divine Kindness, Care and

Guidance, a true believer is highly sensitive in his relationship with his
Lord, Allah, Most Gracious. Once he feels that, while performing prayer,
his heart is not comfortable or submissive enough, he realizes that there is
something wrong with his behavior: perhaps he has uttered an unpleasant
word, perhaps an evil thought has occurred to him, perhaps he has
thought badly of Allah, perhaps he has hurt someone’s feelings, perhaps
he has broken an innocent heart, or perhaps he has made a guilty sign, …
etc.

That is why in His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, Allah, Most Gracious,
swears by the self-reproaching self, i.e. the self that is constantly
reproaching itself. In fact there are three kinds of selves: a peaceful self
(that of the holy, righteous, good-doing, pious, dutiful Prophets and
saints), a self that incites to evil (that of disbelievers and the disobedient),
and a self-reproaching self (that of believers). Therefore, a true believer’s
self is of the third kind, i.e. a self-reproaching self that is constantly
reproaching itself: perhaps I have uttered a bad or improper word,
perhaps I have withheld a charity, perhaps I have misbehaved, perhaps I
have not been good mannered. In other words, the self of a true believer is
constantly blaming and reproaching itself, i.e. it is self-reproaching.

Religious scholars say that “Al-Qabd” and “Al-Bast” are two conditions
whereby Allah, Most Gracious, refines His slaves who are conscious of
Him, and whereby He opens to them gates of knowledge and wisdom. If
“Al-Qabd” befalls them, it comes from the gates of Divine Majesty and
Wisdom of the Almighty Allah, the Most Great, the Most High. Thoughts
come abundantly and fear gets stronger, and the slave tastes of the Divine
Majesty of his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious. Allah’s Divine Self
is withheld from the slave, who feels his Lord’s Majesty. If this condition
gets harder for the slave, Allah treats him with kindness, and, at a certain
extent, which he can bear, his heart is relieved by “Al-Bast”. If he is
befallen by a state of “Al-Qabd” and, hence, he feels afraid, Allah, the All-
Wise, the Most Merciful, does not crush him, but rather gives him an
amount of “Qabd” that he bears, and then causes a state of “Bast” to
befall him. Such words are said to people who have great experience in
their relationship with Allah, who have their own purity, kindness,
delicacy, truthfulness, faithfulness, dutifulness, devotion, piety, and
carefulness, and whose hearts are so sensitive and responsive. We beseech
Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, to endue us with such hearts and such
feelings!

As we mentioned above, there are scales that are insensitive to light

weights because they are designed to weigh only heavy things such as cars
or lorries, but there are scales that are highly sensitive to very light
weights such as milligrams of gold, for example, or a tiny piece of thin
paper. The same thing applies to scales of people’s sensitivity: the more
faithful a believer is, the more accurate the scale of his sensitivity is. In
other words, tell me at what level your scale of sensitivity is, I tell who you
are and how much faith you have.

Moreover, an accurate scale should always give the same reading, i.e. it
should never give different or wrong readings. The same thing applies to
scales of people’s sensitivity: the more sensitive a person is, the fewer
mistakes he makes, and the fewer sins and misdeeds he commits. The
more faithful a believer is, the more accurate the scale of his sensitivity is
and the stricter reckoning he gives to himself. The thing that I always like
to say is: “He who gives himself a hard reckoning in the present world will
receive an easy reckoning on the Day of Judgment; and he who gives
himself an easy reckoning in the present world will receive a hard reckoning
of the Day of Judgment.”

As regards Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names “Al-Qabid” and “Al-Bassit, the

Prophet’s venerable Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, asked
him, “O Messenger of Allah! Prices have risen. So set prices for us” He,
(PBUH), said, “Verily, Allah is the Creator, the ‘Qabid’ (the Withholder),
the ‘Bassit’ (the Extender) and the Price Setter.”

Those who bought apricots on the basis of “Daman” (i.e. purchase of fruits
when they are still on the trees and before they are ripe) paid 20 pounds for
each kilo. Upon harvesting, they sold them at only 5 pounds per kilo. This is
because the yield was abundant, and, therefore, prices of apricots went
down. When Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says that the One Who sets prices
is Allah, Alone, this means that the yield is in His Divine Hand and under
His Divine Control. Once, in Al-Jazeerah province, one sack of wheat
yielded 80 sacks, while it had usually yielded 10-15 sacks. Remarkably,
every year, the harvest of one of the plants yields extraordinarily abundant
harvests: sometimes olives, sometimes potatoes, sometimes onions, …etc.
Therefore, the prices of such vegetables or fruits go down remarkably. This
provides clear evidence that Allah, All Mighty, is the only One Who sets
prices: He withholds land production, and, thus, makes quantities decrease
and prices go up, or He extends land production, and, hence, makes
quantities increase and prices go down. Once again, I reiterate that Allah, All
Mighty, is the Withholder, Extender and Price Setter.

Some scholars said that “Al-Qabid” (the Withholder) is He (Allah), Who

reveals things to you in order to protect you, and “Al-Bassit” (the Extender)
is He, (Allah), Who manifests His Divine Beauty and Majesty to you in
order to preserve you. Thus, you are either protected or preserved by Him,
Most Merciful. Also, Allah, All Mighty, is “Al-Qabid” and “Al-Bassit” in the
sense that He receives charities from philanthropists and increases them, or
extends His Divine Favors in abundance to His slaves and enables them to
enjoy such Favors.

“Al-Qabid” is also He (Allah), Who makes you feel afraid of being

separated from Him, and “Al-Bassit” is He (Allah), Who makes you feel
secure with His Divine Pardon and Forgiveness. In this context, Imam Al-
Ghazali says: “ ‘Al-Qabid’, ‘Al-Bassit’ from among human beings is
someone who has great wisdom and eloquent speech.” For example, a
preacher quite often tells people about Allah’s Divine Mercy, Love,
Generosity, Bounty, Pardon, Forgiveness, …etc. He reassures them that
Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Compassionate, Most Gracious, Most Merciful,
…etc, that His Divine Mercy and Love embrace all of His righteous dutiful
slaves, and that they should not worry at all since Allah is All-Pardoning and
Most Generous. Such is great wisdom!

By the way, Imam Al-Ghazali was once writing a book when a tiny insect
suddenly perched on his pen to drink some ink. He stopped and waited until
it finished drinking. When he passed away, one of his students saw him in a
dream. He asked him, “O Master! What did Allah do to you?” The Imam
answered, “He had mercy on me because I waited for that tiny creature
to drink.” Now, the question is: Is all his other righteous work of no value?!
Certainly, such words on the student’s part are not wise enough!

We have already mentioned that Allah, All Mighty, seizes people’s souls just
as He brings them to life, that He withholds provisions or extends them, and
that He fills peoples’ hearts with depression or happiness.

Now, the question is: As a true believer, what is your relationship with these
two Divine Names? The answer is: If you call people to Allah, you should
always keep balance between reassuring people of Allah’s Divine Mercy and
making them despair of His Paradise. This is because despair is an illness
and so is extra-ambitious desire. If you speak only about Allah’s Divine
Mercy, Pardon, Forgiveness, Generosity, and Forbearing, and if you do not
speak about His Divine Punishment, Torment, and Chastisement, your are
not wise enough. In this context, Abdullah bin Omar, may Allah be pleased
with him, quoted Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), as saying, “A woman was
chastised for a cat that she kept imprisoned until it died of starvation;
and therefore, she entered the Fire for it (the cat). She did not feed it,
nor did she let it go to eat from the vermin of the earth.” [Sahih Al-
Bukhari] It is quite clear that Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), desires to frighten
us by this Prophetic Hadith.

Narrated Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him: A man said, “O
Messenger of Allah! So and so (he mentioned a woman’s name) is said to do
lots of praying, fasting, and almsgiving, but she injures her neighbors with
her tongue.” Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said, “She will be in Hell-Fire.”
The man continued, “So and so (he mentioned a woman’s name) is said to
do little praying, fasting, and almsgiving, but she does not injure her
neighbors with her tongue.” He, (PBUH), said, “She will be in the Garden
(of Paradise).” [Musnad of Imam Ahmad]

Narrated Abu Hurairah: A man came to Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), and

said, “O Allah’s Messenger! If someone comes to take my money, (what
shall I do)?” “Do not give him your money!” replied Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH). “What (shall I do) if he fights me?” The man asked. He (PBUH)
said, “Fight him back!” “What if he kills me?” The man asked. “You will
be in the Garden (of Paradise).” He (PBUH) replied. “What if I kill him?”
The man asked. “He will be in Hell-Fire.” He (PBUH) answered. [Sahih
Muslim]

When you read the Prophetic Hadiths of Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), you
wonder that they make you sometimes very frightened and worried and
sometimes delighted and calm. In fact, they put you in a state that comprises
both fear and hope. Such is wise method!

As a preacher, you should follow the good example of Allah’s Messenger.

Unfortunately, the speech of some preachers is focused only on Hell-Fire
and the horrible things therein, while that of others only on Paradise and the
good things therein. Both parties are wrong, and both methods are incorrect.
Just as Allah, All Mighty, is simultaneously “Al-Qabid” (the Withholder)
and “Al-Bassit” (the Extender), you, as a preacher, should also
simultaneously warn people of disobeying Allah and encourage them to
obey Him.

Here is another example: In a Divine Hadith, Moses speaks to the Lord, “O

Lord! Which one of Your slaves is more beloved to You, so that I love
him with Your Love?” Allah, Most Gracious, replies, “O Moses! The most
beloved one of My slaves to Me is he who has a pure heart and clean
hands: he does not walk to anyone with evil, he loves Me, and loves
those who love Me, and makes Me beloved to My creatures.” Moses
says, “O Lord! You know that I love You, and that I love those who love
you, but how can I make You beloved to Your creatures?” Allah, Most
Gracious, says, “O Moses! Remind them of My Favors, Blessings and
Trials to them.”

This is very delicate: “Remind them of My Favors, Blessings and Trials”

means “remind them of such Great Signs of Mine as make them glorify Me,
of such Favors of Mine as make them love Me, and of such Trials of Mine as
make them fear Me”. In other words, three things must always be dwelling
together in the heart of a true believer, namely glorification of Allah
(through contemplation on the miraculous universe), love for Allah (through
contemplation on Hid Divine Favors), and fear of Him (through
contemplation on His Irresistible Wrath and Punishment).

Sometimes, Allah shows you someone suffering from an incurable disease

that makes his life unbearable or from great poverty and deprivation that
make him search in rubbish for food. By Allah! I have seen, with my own
eyes, people searching in rubbish for something to eat. Is it not said, “If He
(Allah) gives, He astonishes; and if He calls to account, He leaves
nothing unheeded”?! Behind Allah’s Divine Withholding or Giving, does
lurk Allah’s Marvelous Divine Wisdom, which we may recognize or not.

“O Moses! Remind them of My Favors, Blessings and Trials.” Means

“remind them of My Favors that they may glorify Me (as it is only those
who have knowledge among Allah’s slaves that fear Him), remind them of
My Favors that they may love Me, and remind them of My Trial that they
may fear Me”.

There are a great many cases in which man goes beyond proper bounds and
does harm to one of Allah’s creatures; therefore, Allah, All Mighty, makes
him pay dearly for that, and punishes him severely in order to deter not only
him but also other transgressors, who are usually frightened with such
punishment. This punishment is meant to be a kind of deterrence, jut as
Allah’s honor, which He confers upon His good righteous slaves, is meant to
be a kind of encouragement. Final and full punishment and reward will be
on the Day of Judgment. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious,
says, “Every self shall taste of death. And it is only on the Day of
Resurrection that you shall be paid your wages in full. Whosoever is
removed from the Fire and admitted to the Garden (of Paradise), he,
indeed, is successful. And the life of this present world is only the
enjoyment of deception.” [III; 185]

To wrap up, when Allah, Most Merciful, honors anyone of His slaves in
this present world, this is a kind of encouragement to him as well as his
other fellow humans. Similarly, when He, All Mighty, punishes anyone,
this is a kind of deterrence to him as well as his fellow humans. Therefore,
our human hearts must always be filled with love for Allah, Most
Gracious, fear of Him, All Mighty, and glorification of Him, All-High!
 * * *

(The One Who honors and abases)

I n the vastness of this sixteenth Divine Name of Allah, Most Gracious,

we seek happiness. The Name is “Al-Mu’iz, Al-Muthil” (the One Who
honors and abases). However, before we set out in our study and
analysis of this Beautiful Divine Name of Allah, I would like to put forward
the following introduction:

When Allah, All Mighty, originated man, He equipped him with certain laws
that govern his life. For example, He created in him the instinct, or motive,
of hunger, which is the cause of his survival. Without such motive, man
would not feel the need for food, and he shun food and drink and fade away.
In other words, man’s appetite for food motivates him to search for it in
order to survive. Such human motive, with which Allah, All Mighty, has
endued mankind, is well known to everyone.

As for the survival of the human race, Allah, Most Gracious, has provided
man with another motive, namely the sex motive, with which Allah has
endued both males and females and which motivates them to meet together.
That is why Allah, Most Gracious, has legislated marriage for mankind. In
other words, food and drink guarantee survival of man as an individual,
whereas sexual need guarantees survival of the human race.
However, psychologists confirm the existence of a third motive in man,
which is by no means less important than the motives of food and sex
mentioned above. This motive can be called the motive for “self-
importance”, “self-achievement” or “self-confirmation”, which can be
classified under what people call “dignity” or “self-esteem”. In addition to
food, drink and women, man needs to feel important, needs to be admired
whether for his body, wealth, family, experience, job, or even, sometimes,
his tyranny or ability to do mischief. In other words, man is pre-disposed to
feel proud of himself, to confirm himself, and to make others feel that he is
important, excellent, mighty, or even dangerous.

Now, the question is: Why does Allah, All Mighty, implant in man the
motive for food and drink? The answer is simply: in order to enable him to
survive as an individual. Why does Allah implant in man the need for sex?
The answer is simply: so that the human race survives.

But why does Allah implant in man the motive of self-esteem, self-respect,
or self-importance? The answer is simply: This is a kind of Divine Help
from Allah, Most Gracious, to man in order to protect him from deviation or
going astray.

Quite often, man feels worried about his good name, his honor, his dignity,
his social status, his respect, his reputation, or his prestige, …etc. He feels
afraid that people may speak badly about him or find out anything
disgraceful or humiliating about him. Without such motive of self-esteem, it
would be easy for man to commit grievous sins and misdeeds and, hence, to
fall into the swamp of vice. Of course, this does not mean that no human
being is lowly or disrespectable, as man’s pure nature may, sometimes, be
deformed and his dignity violated. However, this is not the common thing
but rather an exception to the rule; and there are always exceptions.

An example: Suppose that a child at school saw a pen, liked it and put it in
his pocket. The student to whom the pen belonged went to the teacher and
complained to him that his pen was stolen. The teacher asked who stole the
pen, but no one answered. Therefore, he kept the students in class and began
searching them, one by one. Suddenly, he found the pen in the student’s
pocket. Now, even if the student was in the first primary class, or perhaps
even in kinder garden, he would certainly feel not only embarrassed but also
most shameful before other students. Why does one feel so ashamed or
disgraceful? The answer is: because of the feeling of self-esteem, or self-
respect, with which Allah, Most Gracious, has endued all human beings.

Once again, Allah, Most Gracious, has implanted in man the feeling of self-
esteem, or self-respect, in order to help him avoid committing sinful evil
deeds. Therefore, I would like to reiterate that Allah, All Mighty, Most
Gracious, has implanted in man the motive of food and drink, the motive of
sex, and the motive of self-respect. Such motive can be given such names as
the feeling of “self-importance”, “self-confirmation”, “self-fulfillment”, or
“self-respect”.

Quite often, you hear people boastfully and proudly say: “I took an
unforgettable stance!” “I did such and such great deed!” “I am the very best
in my job!” “My work is perfect!” “I am the best!” …Etc. In fact, you find
none that is not proud of his job, wealth, health, strength, family, status, …
etc.

Once again, I reiterate that Allah, Most Gracious, implanted in man such
motive of self-respect only to protect him from falling into vice, to protect
him from deviation, and to protect him from defamation. Here is a story in
support of our argument; and I hope that my dear readers find admonition
therein:

A frivolous deviant profligate libertine married young man bought a video

camera whereby he filmed himself with his wife in very shameful sexual
postures. By mistake, he put the video in the case of another one that he had
previously rented at a video-rental center. Later, also by mistake, he gave the
video to the video-rental center. The owner of the video-rental center was
surprised to find a new video among his old ones. So he made a lot of copies
and put them in circulation. Quite accidentally, the man’s brother went to the
center and borrowed the same video. When he went home to play the video,
he was greatly amazed and embarrassed to see his brother and sister-in-law
in such indecent shameful postures. He immediately went to inform his
brother, who felt so embarrassed and disgraceful that he sold his house and
fled with his scandal to another city, where none of his relatives or friends
could see him. What made the man flee? The answer is: his feeling of self-
respect! It was indeed a grievous scandal that destroyed not only the man’s
reputation but his whole life as well.
In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Prosperous is he who is
confined by my Sunna and is not allured by innovation.” Such a grievous
mistake as to film oneself while having sexual intercourse with one’s wife or
husband is manifest deviation from Prophetic Sunna and Tradition, which
confirm that such married relationships must by all means be kept top secret.
However, the question is: what made the man in the above story flee away
from his home city? The answer is: fear of scandal! Unveiling of scandalous
indecent affairs may sometimes even lead to committing suicide.

Therefore, we should by no means belittle or underestimate the motive of

self-respect, self-esteem, self-confirmation, or self-importance, for it is very
important and dangerous. Allah, Most Gracious, implanted it in man only to
protect him from falling easy prey to scandal and disgrace.

Now, one of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names is “Al-Mou’iz” (the One Who
honors) and another is “Al-Muthil” (the One Who abases). In fact, you are
honored as long as you are committed to Allah’s Divine Commands: as long
as you lower down your gaze at things that Allah considers unlawful, as long
as you do not stay alone with a woman who is unlawful to you, as long as
you do not tell lies, as long as you do not commit open or secret sins, as long
as you do not place yourself is dubious or suspicious situations where people
may accuse you of indecency or immorality. In other words, once you stick
to Allah’s Divine Command, you acquire such good qualities as being
chaste, honest, religious, decent, …etc, and attain honor of Allah’s Religion.
This is the first point: you are honorable so long as you devotedly commit
yourself to Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, and sincerely stick to His
Divine Religion of Islam, which safeguards your reputation.

In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), who does not speak out of his
own desire but most honestly communicates Divine Revelation from the
Lord, All Mighty, says, “Let no man stay alone with a woman (that is
unlawful to him).”

So long as you are committed to the above Prophetic Hadith, no one in the
whole world could ever slander, accuse or defame you, simply because you
stick to Allah’s Divine Commands, which guarantee your good fame,
dignity, honor and respect.

Hence, the first point in this lecture is that if you adhere to Allah’s Divine
Commands with sincere devotion, if you are obedient and dutiful to Allah,
and if you take a religious stance towards all your affairs, you are honorable.
In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), gave us a lot of lessons. For
example, he was once walking with his wife, Safiah, may Allah be pleased
with her, when he came across two of his venerable Companions. He
suddenly stopped and addressed them, “Hold on! This is my wife, Safiah!”
He, (PBUH), desired to teach us that making things clear expels Satan, i.e.
prevents Satanic insinuations and suspicions. Having realized that such a
thing is lawful or unlawful, such a thing is permissible or impermissible, you
may be asked, for example, to enter a house where there is only a woman in
order to fix something therein, like plumbing or anything else, you, as a true
believer, should never enter such a place, no matter how much money you
may lose by not entering such a house. If you do not enter a house where
there is only a woman, you protect your reputation, honor, and dignity. This
is the first meaning: you should be honorable and honest, because an honest
person is chaste and honorable, a chaste person is honest and honorable, and
a truthful person is also honest and honorable. Imagine that you told a lie in
a place where someone who knew the truth suddenly came in to disprove
publicly what you said and to show that you were a mere liar. You would
certainly be greatly embarrassed and ashamed.

Therefore, you will never be honorable unless you are truthful and honest,
you will never be honorable unless you are chaste, and you will never be
honorable unless you are trustworthy. An example: if your son asks you to
answer the phone and say that he is not there, while you know for sure that
he is there, if you do as he asks, your son will not show adequate respect to
you after that, because he thinks that you are not honest enough. The right
thing to do, however, is to tell your son’s friends that he is there but he is too
busy and, therefore, cannot see them or speak to them. This is the right thing
to do. In other words, you will never be honorable or dully respected unless
you stick to Allah’s Divine Commands. I reiterate: A chaste person is
honorable, an honest person is honorable, an upright person is honorable, a
trustworthy person is honorable, a truthful person is honorable, a sincere
person is honorable, and a frank person is honorable.

However, deviation from the right way is conducive to scandal. If anyone

knows that you are dishonest, you are humiliated and degraded, if anyone
knows that you are not wise enough, you are reproached, if anyone knows
that you are dishonest, you are distrusted, and if anyone knows that you are
unchaste, you are suspected and censured.
Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Mou’iz” (the One Who grants Honor)
means that He, All Mighty, Most Gracious, sent down to his Messenger,
Muhammad, (PBUH), His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, which includes His
Divine Religion of Islam, including His Commands, Laws, Systems, and
Legislations. If you stick to His Divine Laws and Legislations and adhere to
His Commands, the first fruit you reap is to live among people with honor
and respect: no one can ever slander or defame you, no one can ever raise
false accusations against you, and no one can ever tell bad lies about you,
simply because there is no evidence against you. However, if there are
deviations, if there is co-mingling with women, if there are suspicious
places, if there are notorious relationships, or if there are dubious
transactions, you fall easy prey to slander and calumniation, even though
you might be innocent. This is the first meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine
Name, “Al-Mou’iz” (the One Who grants Honor): He grants you Honor
once you stick to His Divine Religion and Commands. It suffices you to
adhere to His Religion and Commands if you desire to be honorable and if
you desire to be happy and prosperous. If you are honorable, you achieve
one third of your existence. The first part of man’s existence is food and
drink, the second part is marriage and regeneration, and the third part is self-
fulfillment, self-confirmation, self-respect, and self-honor. It is not
permissible, as mentioned above, to say that Allah is “Al-Mouthil” (the One
Who abases) without saying that He is also “Al-Mou’iz” (the One Who
grants Honor), for these two Names are inseparable. The right thing to say is
that Allah, Most Gracious, abases in order to honor.

For example, one of our noble brothers had a shop, wherein he employed an
assistant who was not honest enough. Being most of the time alone in the
shop, the latter would, every now and then, secretly pilfer some of the
master’s money, as he was newly married and had to fulfill his wife’s
numerable requirements. After some time, the master got suspicious and felt
that something was going wrong in the shop. He asked one of his friends to
come to the shop and buy some things at nine in the morning and then to
return them in the evening under certain excuses. The master’s friend came
and bought the things in the morning. At eleven, the master came to the shop
to ask his assistant, “Haven’t you sold anything so far today?” The assistant
claimed that he hadn’t sold a thing. In the evening, however, while the
master and assistant were both in the shop, the master’s friend came in to
return the things that he had bought in the morning. The assistant was so
shocked and embarrassed that he almost fainted with disgrace and
humiliation that he brought upon himself due to his dishonesty and
disloyalty.

Didn’t Allah humiliate the shop assistant by putting him in such terrible
situation? Why did Allah disgrace him? The answer is: in order to make him
repent. If he does repent and stick to Allah’s Commands, he becomes
honorable. In other words, Allah does not put anyone in a shameful or
disgraceful situation except to treat him and bring him back to honor and
self-respect. We should know for sure that Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious,
is both “Al-Mou’iz” and “Al-Mouthil” (the One Who grants Honor and
abases), i.e. if He abases someone, He does so in order to help him to be
honorable. But a true believer is already honorable, i.e. he does not have to
undergo humiliation in order to be honorable.

As I mentioned above, a person may discover facts by himself in due time,

just as he may discover such facts after it is too late. He may also discover
the facts after having paid a dear price, his life perhaps, or after having
destroyed his whole family or married life.

A married man once forced his wife to go out to work and co-mingle with
other men just for the sake of money and under the fake pretext of being
open-minded, modern and liberal. He claimed that he was confident of his
wife’s chastity and honesty although he pushed her to mingle with other
men, to wear the most up-to-date clothes, and to look attractive and
beautiful. However, after only a short period of time, the wife began to be
negligent and careless about her husband, to be absent from her home for
long hours, and to have suspicious communications and relations. The great
shock came when the husband knew that his wife suddenly bought another
house for herself, from her own special income of course, and even gave him
up altogether. The only thing that he said was: “I should have been killed for
what I did to my wife!” In other words, he loved her and, therefore, foolishly
pushed her to be free, which he foolishly thought was the right thing to do,
but she got to love someone else and forgot all about him. I would like to say
that if such man had had the least honor or self-respect, he would have
known that he was wrong from the very beginning, and he wouldn’t have
destroyed his married life or lost his wife, mother of his children. Such man
discovered the truth, but only after it was too late!

I would never desire that you have such a horrible experience. I would never
desire that you become wise after it is too late or after you have paid so
dearly. I reiterate that if you follow Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran, and His
Messenger’s Prophetic Sunna and Tradition, you will be rightly guided by
the One Who is All-Aware of the things that befit His human slaves. It is all
like an important machine that you desire to use. If you use it according to
your own unqualified desire, it will certainly break down. It will cost a lot to
repair and will not be productive enough. If, however, the manufacturer’s
instructions are followed properly, the machine will work perfectly and most
productively. It is not wise to know the truth after it is too late; it is wise to
know the truth in due time.

Therefore, you can be honorable if you willingly follow Allah’s Words, or

you can be honorable after Allah disgraces you because of your deviation or
negligence. In other words, you can attain honor either after being
humiliated or after knowing the truth on your own. The difference between
both cases is both great and remarkable. Hence, you should strive to know
the truth before you pay dearly for it. Strive to be honorable from the start
and save yourself humiliation or disgrace. Get the lesson from the beginning
and be honorable, and beware of paying a dear price for honor by being
humiliated, debased, or distressed.

It has been said: The Names “Al-Mou’iz” and “Al-Mouthil” are two of
Allah’s Divine Names and also two of His Divine Attributes that are derived
from His Divine Acts. This is because Allah, All Mighty, has a Self,
Attributes, and Acts. Hence, He has Names derived from His Own Self,
Names derived from His Attributes, and Names derived from His Acts. Most
religious scholars confirm that “Al-Mou’iz” and “Al-Mouthil” are of Allah’s
Names that are derived from His Divine Acts. He honors his slave in both
abodes: the present world and the Hereafter. Beware of being deceived by
honor of this present world, as it may be a kind of gradual allurement. That
is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Verily, many a self is nourished
and made to dwell in luxury in this present world but will be starving
and naked on the Day of Resurrection; and many a self is hungry and
naked in this present world will be nourished and made to dwell in
luxury on the Day of Resurrection. Many a person honors his own self
while he humiliates it; and many a person humiliates his own self while
he honors it. Many a person is indulged luxuriously in (the Blessings)
that Allah has conferred upon His Messenger, but he has no good share
with Allah. Verily, the work of the Garden (of Paradise) is (as hard as
climbing) a hard ground in a hill; and verily, the work of the Fire is easy
and done inattentively. Many an hour’s lust entails long sorrow.”
Sometimes, you find someone whose life is very comfortable and luxurious:
a vast house furnished with the most beautiful furniture, air conditioning,
heating systems, ornaments and decorations, chandeliers, …etc. Everything
he has is unmatched in beauty and elegance: his car, office, income,
business, social position, clothes, …etc. He lives in absolute comfort and
luxury in this present word, but his final end may be in Hell-Fire. On the
other and, you may find someone whose clothes are shabby, whose food is
simple, whose house is small, and whose life is of the fifth grade, but he is
dutiful and obedient to his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, and, consequently, his
final end will be in Paradise. What really matters is one’s final end: “Verily,
many a self is nourished and made to dwell in luxury in this present
world but will be starving and naked on the Day of Resurrection; and
many a self is hungry and naked in this present world will be nourished
and made to dwell in luxury on the Day of Resurrection.”

However: “Many a person honors his own self while he humiliates it;
and many a person humiliates his own self while he honors it.” Driven
by his fake dignity, man may sometimes disobey his Lord, Allah, All
Mighty, in order to preserve his status or prestige. If you were among
profligate irreligious people and desired to show yourself willing to please
them by doing the same things that they do in order to preserve your position
with them, this may please them and make you agreeable to them, but, by so
doing, you will bring yourself a lot of unbearable humiliation and disgrace
on the Day of Resurrection: “Many a person honors his own self while he
humiliates it; and many a person humiliates his own self while he
honors it.”

You may humiliate yourself in this present world for the sake of your
religion and honesty, and in order to please the Lord, All Mighty, and win
His Generous Recompense in the world to come. You may put yourself in
very difficult or embarrassing situations just for the sake of Allah and His
Religion. You may relentlessly resist both pressures and allurements and
endure punishments, mockery, ridicule, comments and accusations: “And
many a person humiliates his own self while he honors it.”

You might be a member of a committee and reject an alluring offer of

bribery or refuse to do something that blemishes your religious beliefs, and,
consequently, you might be made to resign under a lot of pressure, reproach
and disdain. You might be described as being foolish or stupid for rejecting
such a tempting never repeated offer of becoming rich: “Many a person
honors his own self while he humiliates it; and many a person
humiliates his own self while he honors it.”

In the same context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “If you desire to do
something, think of its consequences.” By the way, I have read an
interesting questionnaire with which a hundred husbands were asked, “Why
do you not betray your wife?” i.e. “What prevents you from betraying your
wife?” Surprisingly, one of the answers was, “Because we are always
together!” In other words he desires to betray his wife but simply he cannot.
Sometimes, a person cannot endure pain resulting from a sinful deed, even if
it has been done in complete secrecy and nobody knows about it. He faces
himself with bitter self-reproach; he faces internal self-censure; he faces
internal self-humiliation; and he faces internal collapse. Therefore, another
answer came: “Because I cannot bear such an evil sin.” In other words, if he
bore it, he would do it. This means that he seeks self-comfort. A third answer
came, “I hate disloyalty.” However, it goes without saying that the first kind
of answer is the silliest, but the last one is the best.

Anyway, a wise person is someone who places himself in hard situations for
the sake of his future happiness and honor; a stupid person is someone who
lives for his present moment. That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says,
“A clever person is someone who condemns himself and works for the
Afterlife; and a helpless person is someone who follows his own desires
and raises (false) hopes to Allah.”

In the Abbaside times, a writer, called Ibn Al-Mouqaffa’, translated a book

entitled “Kaleelah Wa Dimnah” from Persian. The book told fables about
animals. The fables included a lot of lessons for human beings. A fable was
about three fishes: a clever one, a cleverer one, and a helpless one. They all
lived together in a stream that was linked to a river with a small opening.
One day, two fishermen came past the stream and saw the fishes. They said
to each other, “We shall come back tomorrow to catch the fishes.” The fishes
heard what the two fishermen said and were so afraid and worried. The
cleverest one thought, “A wise person is someone who bewares of things
before they happen,” and hastened away to the river. The less clever one
remained in the stream and naïvely thought, “It is still early! I shall swim out
when they come.” But when the two fishermen came, it wanted to escape
from the opening through which the cleverest fish escaped, but it suddenly
found out that the fishermen had blocked it. It thought to itself: “I have been
careless! Such is the bad end of carelessness!” But it did not surrender. It
said, “A wise person does not despair of good thinking.” In fact, it was
clever, but not as clever as the first one. However, it feigned to be dead,
floating with no motion on the surface of the water. One of the fishermen
took it and put it on the ground between the stream and the river. Suddenly,
the fish jumped up into river and swam away. It managed to escape but only
after it had been frightened to death because of being careless. The third,
least clever, fish remained helplessly in its place and did nothing until it was
caught and eaten by the two fishermen. Such is the attitude of desperate
helpless people who do nothing but wait hopelessly for their end. Cleverer
people are those who start work after danger is come. The cleverest are those
who work before danger is come. In fact, we need to be like the cleverest
fish, which thought, “A wise person is someone who bewares of things
before they happen.” We need to work before danger is come.

Undoubtedly, Allah, All Mighty, quite often gives honor to someone by way
of trial and gradual allurement. Quite often, one faces serious allurements in
one’s life: a high income or social position, a huge amount of money
whereby one solves all one’s financial problems, an expensive car, a
magnificent villa, a great power or hegemony, ...etc, but all at the expense of
one’s good morals and religious beliefs. Such worldly honor is by no means
real, and it avails you nothing against the Almighty Allah on the Day of
Judgment. Therefore, you have to be very careful! It is a million times better
for you to be obedient and dutiful to the Lord, All Mighty, even though you
might live in the shadows and lead a life of simplicity and plainness.

They said: As for the life of the present world, honor can be manifested in
wealth or good circumstances: wealth, beauty, power, family, supporters,
children, wives, high social rank, worldly pleasures and enjoyments, houses,
gardens, …etc. One may have a beautiful resort or a shady verdant orchard,
to which one may invite one’s friends to receive their praises and phrases of
admiration: “How Great!” “How magnificent!” “What beauty!” “Fantastic!”
One may feel proud of such a worldly glory, but forget that the Lord, Allah,
All Mighty, Most Gracious, has granted it to him. We should never be
deceived by such fake perishable worldly glory or honor. To the same
purport, the verses go:

Make all your glory for your Lord,

It is deeply rooted and firmly established.
If you seek glory with that which perishes,
Your glory will similarly perish.

Glory or honor sought in the perishable ephemeral enjoyments and

ornaments of this present world are mere illusion. It is mere illusion to feel
proud of perishable worldly odds and ends or dead celebrities. That is why
one of the portents of the Day of Judgment is that a person is valued by
virtue of the wealth or property that he has: his house, clothes, furniture, …
etc! Does vastness or location of your house really make you glorious or
honorable?! Those who derive their glory and honor from worldly values are
indeed great losers.

Some knowledgeable scholars said: “Honor of the present world is

(attained) by wealth, but honor of the Hereafter is (attained) by (good
righteous) status.” In other words, If you have a good status of purity,
morality, innocence, chastity, uprightness, piety, righteousness, devotion,
sincerity, love for Allah and nearness to Him, you attain honor in the
Hereafter. Wealth is honor of this present world and is just as perishable.

In the same context, it is narrated that Fatih Al-Maousili was once asked,
“What is someone who runs covetously after his desires like?” Some boys
were playing around. One of them had only a small piece of bread while
another had a piece of bread with some food. The former asked the latter to
give him some of the food that he had. The latter said, “I agree to give you
some food provided that you be my dog!” The former agreed, and the latter
tied a robe round his neck. Every time he gave him a piece of food, he pulled
him by the robe like a dog. Having seen the boys doing that, Fatih Al-
Maousili said, “If that boy was contented with his own piece of bread, and if
he didn’t crave for his friend’s food, he wouldn’t become his dog.”

It is indeed an excellent story. The holy Prophet, David, (PBUH), narrated

that Allah, Most Gracious, revealed to him, “O David! Warn your friends
of desires and caprices, for the hearts that crave for pleasures of this
present world are barred from Me.”

It is also narrated that a student came to his teacher with some bread with
nothing to be eaten with it. The teacher noticed that the student wished that
the bread had contained anything eaten with it. He desired to teach the
student a lesson, so he took him to a prison where there were some
prisoners. He said, “Look at all those prisoners! They were not contented
with bread alone! What happened to them? They stole and caused
themselves to be put in prison.”

Another story goes that a prisoner came out of prison with cuffs on his feet
asking people for a piece of bread. One of the people addressed him, “Had
you been contented with pieces of bread, cuffs would not have been put
on you feet.”

Here is another symbolic story: A man stood at the door of a prince’s palace.
He noticed that one of the prince’s servants entered upon the prince without
asking for permission. When he asked about the reason, he was told that
honesty and chastity made the servant so favored by the prince and intimate
to him. Make no mistake about it! Nothing brings people destruction and
humiliation more than greed.

Yes, indeed! Allah is “Al-Mou’iz” (the One Who gives honor) provided that
you stick to His Religion and that you seek none but Him. That is why Abu
Hurairah quoted Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), as saying, “It is unlawful for
a believer to humiliate himself.” They asked, “How does he humiliate
himself?” “He puts himself to distress for that which is not up to him.”
He, (PBUH), also said, “Seek (your) needs with self-respect, as things are
run by Divine Decree.”

Narrated At-Tabarani in his “Al-Awsat” book of Prophetic Hadith, on

authority of Sahl bin Sa’ad: Gabriel came to Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH),
saying, “O Muhammad! Live as long as you desire, you shall pass away.
Do whatever you desire, you shall be dully rewarded for it (that which
you do). Love whomever you desire, you shall part with him/her. And
know that a believer’s honor is (attained) by his standing up the night
(in prayer, invocation and reading the Holy Quran); and his dignity is
(attained) by his being in no need of (other) people.”

Honor, which belongs only to Allah, All Mighty, is also one of the qualities
of true believers. To this effect, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “They
(hypocrites) say, ‘If we return to Medina, indeed the more honorable
will expel from it the more dishonorable.’ But honor, power and glory
belong to Allah, His Messenger and believers, but hypocrites know not.”
[LXIII; 8]
If you are a true believer, you are honorable because you are with the
Almighty, because you follow the Almighty’s Religion, because you are in
need of the Almighty, because you rely on the Almighty, and because the
Almighty will never let you down.

Some said: Allah honors his believing slaves by making them contented,
because all humiliation is imbedded in greed.

To wrap up, “Al-Mou’iz” (the One Who grants Honor) and “Al-Mouthil”
(the One Who abases) are two of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names. They are
derived from His Divine Acts. Man’s relationship with these two Names is
that if he sticks to Allah’s Religion and Commands, he is made honorable
and wise, because Allah’s Religion and Commands include utmost wisdom
and honor. By His Divine Cosmic Command, He grants you honor and
wisdom if you seek honor from Him, put your trust in Him, devote yourself
to Him, turn to Him, Alone, and associate none with Him in worship. The
two Names are inseparable; and it is better and more adequate to say that
Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, humiliates in order to honor.

* * *

(The Creator)

A ll Praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all worlds. Now, we start with the
seventeenth of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names, “Al-Khaliq” (the
Creator). First of all, Allah, All Mighty, says, “O mankind!
Worship your Lord (Allah), Who created you and those who were
before you, so that you may attain self-protection.” [II; 21]

The above Quranic Verse shows clearly that you should worship “Al-
Khaliq” (the Creator), Allah, Alone, and no one else. If you call upon
another god than the Creator for worship and service, you will go far astray
from the Right Way. This is because only the Creator guarantees happiness
and prosperity to you if you worship Him. If you worship Him, you are safe
from His Torment. If you worship Him, you are successful in the life of this
present world and the world to come. If you worship Him, you will be
admitted into His Garden of Paradise, wherein you will be happy forever.
That is why the Creator, Allah, All Mighty, says, “O mankind! Worship
your Lord (Allah), Who created you and those who were before you, so
that you may attain self-protection.”

In the sense that is common these days: The maker is the only one who can
provide ways for using a certain machine or apparatus. Who has the right to
issue instructions for the proper use or operation of a certain apparatus or
machine? It is certainly the maker or producer of such apparatus or machine.
If you follow the instructions of other parties than those of the maker, you
will not be able to operate the machine properly, and you may even destroy
it completely. Very simply, the mind tells you: Only the Maker should be
worshipped, i.e. none except the Maker should be worshipped, none but the
Maker should be obeyed, none except the Maker should be followed: “O
mankind! Worship your Lord (Allah), Who created you and those who
were before you.” Why? The answer is: does not the One, Who has created,
know? Yes, indeed, because He is the Omniscient, the All-Aware, the All-
Wise, the One Who knows man’s human nature and needs, Who knows what
makes him good or evil, what makes him happy or miserable, what makes
him high or lowly, what makes him peaceful or frightened. Yes, indeed! He,
Allah, is the All-Aware, the All-Knowing. To this effect, He, All Mighty,
says, “If you call upon them, they hear not your call; and if they were to
hear, they could not grant it to you. And on the Day of Resurrection,
they will disown your worshipping them. And none can inform you like
Him, Who is the All-Knowing.” [XXV; 14]

Therefore, if you have a very expensive machine, and if you are very careful
about its safety and proper work, the wise thing to do is to go to specialized
experts and no one else. If you desire to buy a car, the first thing you should
do is to go to experts in order to be informed of its price, engine power,
price, color, make, safety, maintenance, …etc. In other words, in your daily
affairs you always go to experts and specialists for advice and you always
seek help from those who are knowledgeable and aware. In this context,
Allah, the Omniscient, the All-Aware, the Creator, says, “If you call upon
them, they hear not your call; and if they were to hear, they could not
grant it to you. And on the Day of Resurrection, they will disown your
worshipping them. And none can inform you like Him, Who is the All-
Knowing.” [XXV; 14]

As regards married life, for example, Allah, the Creator, says, “O Prophet
(Muhammad)! If you divorce women, divorce them at their prescribed
periods (‘Iddah); and count accurately such periods; and fear Allah,
your Lord. And turn them not out of their homes, nor should they
(themselves) go out except in case they are guilty of some open illegal
sexual intercourse. Such are the set limits of Allah; and whosoever
transgresses the set limits of Allah, then indeed he has wronged himself.
You know not! It may be that Allah will afterward bring some new thing
to pass.” [LXV; 1]

In the above Quranic Verse, Allah first forbids men to sent their wives out of
their homes in case they are divorced. Similarly, He forbids women to go out
without their husbands’ permission in case their divorce is revocable. This is
because He, the All-Knowing, knows human nature. Man and woman are
naturally inclined to each other; and anger may calm down after some time.
If they were separated from each other, things would get worse and many
parties would interfere in their marriage and would probably spoil it. When
the woman stays in her husband’s home, things will most probably get
better, and disputes will be settled in a couple of days. But if the woman left
her husband’s home angrily to her family’s home, things would get worse
and marriage would be disrupted. Such Law has been ordained by the One
Who is All-Knowing, the All-Aware Maker, the All Mighty Creator, Who
also says, “Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because
Allah has made some of them more adequate than some, and because
they (men) spend from their means. Therefore, the righteous women are
devoutly obedient (to Allah and to their husbands), and guard, in the
husband’s absence, what Allah orders them to guard (their chastity,
their husbands’ property, …etc.). As to those women on whose part you
see ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (next) refuse to share their beds,
and (last) beat them (lightly if it is useful); but if they return to
obedience, seek not against them means (of annoyance). Surely, Allah is
Ever Most High, Most Great.” [IV; 34]

If you are more adequate in knowledge, character, piety, righteousness, and

manners, and if you spend of your money on your wife, you are a good
protector and maintainer of your wife. And if you desire to set things right
with your wife, go to Allah’s Divine Book, the Holy Quran, wherein you
find goodness, prosperity and happiness. To this effect, Allah, Most
Gracious, says, “Verily, this Quran guides to that which is most just and
right. And give glad tidings to believers who work good righteous deeds
that they shall have a great reward.” [XVII; 9]

For anything, even your health, private relationships, livelihood, work, or

old age, you should resort to Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran, for guidance and
success. In this context, in his book “Al-Kamil” Ibn ‘Adi, on authority of
Anas, quotes Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), as saying, “He who learns the
Quran, Allah keeps his mind sound for him until he passes away.”

Once, I noticed a doctor who was treating a patient with narrowness of brain
arteries, which made his motion slow. The doctor addressed the patient’s
people, “You should speak to him.” When I asked the doctor about that, he
answered, “If you speak to him, he has to answer; and in order to answer, he
has to use his mind. This reactivates cells of the brain and widens the arteries
of the brain.” In great amazement, I said, “Glory to Allah! Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), speaks the truth as he says, “He who learns the
Quran, Allah keeps his mind sound for him until he passes away.”

In fact, the mind of someone who is reading the Holy Quran, performing
prayer, or worshipping Allah, All Mighty, is constantly working: Is it time
for prayer? Has “Az-Zuhr” (the noon prayer) been called for? How many
Rak’as have I performed? The first, second, or third Rak’a, the first Rak’a
includes recitation of the Quran, but the third does not…. His mind is in
constant work and activity. When he reads the Quran, he comes across the
rules of Tajweed: here there is “Idgham”, and there is “Izhar”, here is
“Ikhfa’” and there is “Qalqalah”, here is “Madd Tabee’i” and there is “Madd
Muttassil”, …etc. His mind is always working. He tries to understand
meanings of Quranic words and verses. In other words, a person who is
reading the Holy Quran is in a constant mental activity. Hence, “He who
learns the Quran, Allah keeps his mind sound for him until he passes
away.” In this context, Allah, All Mighty, says, “He (Allah) said, ‘Get you
down from it (Paradise), both of you! Some of you are an enemy to
some. Then, if there comes to you Guidance from Me, whosoever follows
My Guidance shall neither go astray (i.e. his mind shall not go astray)
nor be distressed.’” [XX; 123] He, Most Gracious, also says, “We (Allah)
said, ‘Get down from it (Paradise), all of you! Then, whenever there
comes to you Guidance from Me, whoever follows My Guidance: there
shall be no fear on them, nor shall they grieve.’” [II; 38]

In the next pages we shall be dealing with the above Quranic Verse, “O
mankind! Worship your Lord (Allah), Who created you and those who
were before you, so that you may attain self-protection.” [II; 21]

You should by no means follow someone who is aloof from Allah, All
Mighty, Most Gracious. Beware of seeking guidance from someone who is
aloof from Allah and barred from Him. To this effect, Allah, Glory to Him,
says, “And keep yourself patiently with those who call upon their Lord
in the morning and afternoon, seeking His Face. And let not your eyes
overlook them, desiring the pomp and glitter of the life of this present
world. And obey not him whose heart We have made heedless of Our
Reminder, who follows his own lusts, and whose affair has been a
complete loss.” [VIII; 28] He, Praise belongs to Him, also says, “And
follow the path of him who turns to Me (in repentance and obedience).”
[XXXI; 15]

Therefore, the only One, in the whole universe, Who deserves to be obeyed
and worshipped, is the Creator, All Mighty, All-High, Who says, “O
mankind! Worship your Lord (Allah), Who created you and those who
were before you, so that you may attain self-protection.” [II; 21]

I have already mentioned that if man follows other parties than Allah, the
Almighty Creator, he will be greatly shocked and disappointed, because such
parties may, quite often, not give him the real truth that enables him to live
in peace and tranquility. This is because man’s happiness and tranquility are
achieved only when his beliefs conform to authentic religious texts, logic,
pure human nature, and reality. This means that in order to be happy man
needs four things: reality, authentic religious texts, logic, and pure human
nature. This is the Truth! If you base your life and daily activities on
authentic religious texts, logic and good reason, objective reality, and pure
human nature, you are rightful, happy and prosperous, i.e. you are with the
Truth; and whosoever is with the Truth is rightly guided and suffers no
shocks, disappointments, frustrations, despair, or loss.

Among the Quranic Verses that speak bout Allah’s Divine Name, “Al-
Khaliq” (the Creator), is, “He is Allah, the Creator, the Inventor, the
Shaper, to Whom do belong the Most Beautiful Names. All that is in the
heavens and the earth glorify Him; and He is the All Mighty, the All-
Wise.” [LIX; 24]

The word “Allah” is a proper Divine Name that refers to the One, Who is
Self-Existent, Unique, and Perfect. Although numerable, Allah’s Beautiful
Divine Names stem from three basic notions: Allah is Self-Existent, Allah is
Unique, and Allah is Perfect. The first notion refers to the fact that Allah
must necessarily be Existent, i.e. no one brought Him into existence, but it is
He Who has caused the whole existence to be. Moreover, Allah is Unique,
i.e. there is none like Him: He is Unique in His own Divine Self, He is
Unique in His own Divine Attributes, and He is Unique in His own Divine
Acts. Furthermore, Allah is Perfect in His Own Divine Most Beautiful
Names and Attributes. Therefore, it is not strange to invoke, “O Lord!
There is no distress so long as you are the Lord!”

It is most grievous and painful for man to have two masters or lords: one
bids him to do something, while the other bids him to do another. A friend of
mine once told me about a factory owned by three partners. Workers of the
factory were torn among the three partners and did not know what to do or
whom to please. The first partner would suddenly give an order that had to
be accomplished, the second would give another contradictory order and the
third still another. Things got confused and the whole project was a great
failure. In this context, Allah, All Mighty, says, “Allah puts forth a
similitude: a man (slave) belonging to many partners disputing with one
another and a man (slave) belonging entirely to one master. Are those
two men (slaves) equal in comparison? All Praises and Thanks are to
Allah! Nay! Most of them (mankind) know not.” [XXXIX; 29]

Why do lots of people incur misery and wretchedness in the life of this
present world? The answer is: simply because they are torn among several
parties. The one of them does not know whom to please. He has to please his
wife, his mother, his boss, someone threatening him, …etc. He is dispersed
and confused. However, a true believer strives to please only one party,
Allah, the One and Only, Who is the All Mighty, and in Whose Hand are all
other parties. That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Work for one
party (Allah), Who suffices you all other parties.”

Medical scientists and doctors confirm that most diseases and illnesses are
caused by psychological problems and disorders; and it is common sense
that ulcer is caused by psychological problems, and so are most diseases of
the heart and nervous system. Psychological problems stem from life
problems that man has in his daily life. Moreover, most up-to-date medical
studies show that most organic diseases are caused by psychological
disorders. Therefore, it is wrong to separate organic disorders from
psychological ones. In this context, a friend of mine told me that he went to
a foreign country for a surgical operation to his heart. As soon as he was
admitted into hospital, a good experienced nurse came in with some flowers
that she put in a beautiful vase. While arranging the flowers, she kindly
asked, “What is the matter?” “I need a heart operation.” He replied. “Who is
going to do the operation?” She asked. “Dr. so and so.” He said. “Oh!” she
said encouraging, “This is the best doctor! And he has so far done thousands
of successful operations similar to yours!” Her nice words made him feel
very comfortable and safe. Later on, he found out that the nurse was actually
a psychiatrist who was employed by the hospital to make him feel safe and
comfortable before the operation. This is because the good psychological
and spiritual condition of the patient helps a lot in making the surgical
operation successful.

The close link between man’s body and spirit is one of the most up-to-date
discoveries of modern medical science. But why is a true believer happy?
The answer is: simply because all his relationships are confined by only one,
namely his relationship with his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious,
Who knows and sees all things. In fact, the whole issue can be put in only a
few words: True faith is good health; and a true believer looks healthy just
because he is a monotheist. In this context, Allah, Glory to Him, says, “So
invoke not with Allah another god lest you should be among those who
are tortured.” [XXVI; 213]

Only Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, deserves your worship, love,
devotion, work, and sacrifice of your effort and life. To this effect, Allah,
glory to Him, says, “And they will not receive admonition unless Allah so
wills; He (Allah) is the One, deserving that mankind should be afraid of,
and should be dutiful to Him, and should not take any god along with
Him, and He is the One Who forgives.” [LXXIV; 56]
The above Quranic Verse shows clearly that Allah, Alone, deserves that you
should spend all of your life for Him, that you spend all of your efforts
serving Him, that you spend all of your money for His Cause and sacrifice
all that you own for His Good Pleasure. In short, it is, indeed, a sincere yet
rewarding sacrifice.

That is why when man cheaply consumes himself and becomes old and at
the threshold of an unknown life while he possesses nothing for it after
having spent his life in trivial things that avail him nothing for the Hereafter,
he will find himself in complete loss. Therefore, I would like to reiterate
Allah’s Words, “O mankind! Worship your Lord, Who created you.”

The only one who deserves your obedience, love, sincerity, and worship is
Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious. In this context, I do not think that two
men, in the whole world, loved one another as much as Abu Bakr As-
Siddeeq and Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), did. Nevertheless, Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), said, “If I were to take an intimate beloved friend,
from among all mankind, I would take Abu Bakr as one; but he is only a
brother and a companion. However, (my) relationships are all with
Allah, Alone.”

Make no mistake about it: The secret behind your happiness is to work for
only one party, to strive to please only one party, and to devote yourself only
to one party, namely your Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious. In this
context, Allah, Glory to Him, says, “He is Allah, the Creator, the Inventor,
the Shaper, to Whom do belong the Most Beautiful Names. All that is in
the heavens and the earth glorify Him; and He is the All Mighty, the All-
Wise.” [LIX; 24]

Therefore, the Creator is Allah, and the One Who has the Most Beautiful
Names and Attributes is Allah, Who says in His Divine Book, the Holy
Quran, “Such is Allah, your Lord! There is no god but Him, the Creator
of all things. So worship Him (Alone). And He is the Disposer of all
things.” [VI; 102]

Undoubtedly, everything needs Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, for

everything. So, you should worship Him. The remarkable thing about the
Holy Quran is that the command therein to worship Allah always comes
after mentioning that Allah is the Creator of all things: “worship your Lord,
Who created you”, “the Creator of all things, so worship Him (Alone).”

The Verses also reiterate another fact, namely that Allah is the Only Creator.
To this effect, Allah, All-High, says, “O mankind! Remember the Grace
of Allah upon you! Is there any creator other than Allah who provides
for you from the heaven and the earth? There is no god but Him. How
then are you turning away (from Him)?” [XXXV; 3]

When the holy Prophet Abraham, (PBUH), disputed with Namroud,

Abraham, (PBUH), said, “My Lord is He Who gives life and causes
death.” Namroud boasted, “I give life and cause death.” To this effect, the
Verses go, “Have you not looked at him who disputed with Abraham
about his Lord (Allah), because Allah had given him the kingdom?
When Abraham said, ‘My Lord is He Who gives life and causes death.’
He said, ‘I give life and cause death.’ Abraham said, ‘Verily! Allah
causes the sun to rise from the east; then cause it to rise from the west.’
So the disbeliever was utterly defeated. And Allah guides not the people
who are wrong-doers.” [II; 258]

In the above dispute, Namroud symbolizes utmost stupidity, misguidance,

loss and infidelity.

At times of drought, I usually address those around me, “Is there, in the
whole world, a party, other than Allah, that can meet together and
determine to have the rain fall down?” And the answer always comes,
“No! Of course not!” No one can do anything in such case except to roar
with sincere invocation to the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, to
send down His Divine Mercy. Hence, Allah is the Creator: “Such is Allah,
your Lord! There is no god but Him, the Creator of all things. So
worship Him (Alone). And He is the Disposer of all things.” [VI; 102] “O
mankind! Remember the Grace of Allah upon you! Is there any creator
other than Allah who provides for you from the heaven and the earth?
There is no god but Him. How then are you turning away (from Him)?”
[XXXV; 3] “Is not He Who created the heavens and the earth Able to
create the like of them? Yes, indeed! He is the All-Knowing Khallaq
(Supreme Creator).” [XXXVI; 81]

The word “Khallaq” (the Supreme Creator) in the above Verses is an

emphatic Divine Attribute that denotes both quality and quantity. For
example, one of the galaxies is 16,000,000,000 km’s away from us, and one
of the stars, called Antares, is as large as the sun, the earth and the distance
between them; the seas and oceans constitute 4/5 of the surface of the earth,
and some oceans are more than 10,000 meters deep; some mountains, like
the Himalayas, are horribly high; some fish, like the blue whale, weigh 150
tons and contain 90 barrels of oil, 50 tons of flesh, 50 tons of fat, and 50 tons
of bowels! Is there a creator other than Allah?! That is impossible! “Yes,
indeed! He is the All-Knowing Khallaq (Supreme Creator).”

Amplitude of the Amazon is 3,000 cubic meters per second, and its
stream goes more than 85 km’s deep into the ocean without getting
mixed with ocean water. Such is Allah’s Creativity. So show me what
others than Him have created?! A small man-made water pump fills the
air with noise, but Allah-made Mountains, incredibly enormous as they
are, move along most smoothly and quietly. To this effect, Allah, All
Mighty, says, “And you see the mountains and think them standing still, but
they pass away as clouds do. (Such is) The Work of Allah, Who perfected all
things. Verily, He is Well-Acquainted with what you do.” [XXVII; 88]

Great masses of clouds are loaded with thousands of tons of water, yet
they move along most smoothly and quietly bringing with them glad
tidings of good rain. To this effect, Allah, Glory to Him, says, “And
among His Signs is that He sends the winds as glad tidings.” [XXX; 46]

He, Praise belongs to Him, also says, “Then We made the semen into a
clot, then We made the clot into a little lump of flesh, then We made out of
that little lump of flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh, and
then We brought it forth as another creation. So Blessed is Allah, the Best of
Creators.” [XXIII; 14]
The above Quranic Verse embraces a great many meanings. When man
makes something, he starts by making it very simple, but then, as his
knowledge and experience improve, his work becomes better and more
developed. Look at a car made in 1900, for example and another made
in 1999. They are incomparable. The former had a couple of oil lamps
for the headlights, which had to be lit by matches. Its wheels had no
pneumatic tires; and its engine was started manually. Its gearbox had
only one speed, and its horn was manually blown. Such car is not at all
comparable to a modern one. This means than man’s knowledge and
experience has developed so much during these hundred years. In other
words, man’s knowledge and experience are something acquired. Look
at the creation of a human being. Is there a human being that is made in
a more developed or more experienced way that another? Is there a
person whose model or make is more modern or more developed than
another? Can we say that such man is of the 1900 model and another is
of the 2000 model? The answer is: Of course not! In other words,
human beings are all alike from the viewpoint of creation. This is
because the Creator’s Knowledge is not acquired and has no beginning
or end. His Divine Make is Perfect. To the same effect, Allah, All Mighty,
says, “Such is Allah’s Creation! So show me that which those (whom you
worship) besides Him have created!” [XXXI; 7]

“Yes, indeed! He is the All-Knowing Supreme Creator.” [XXXVI; 81]

Yes, indeed: “Blessed is Allah, the Best of Creators.” If you desire to make
a comparison between man-made things and those made by Allah, All
Mighty, you will certainly find out that they are incomparable. When a
dentist, for example, wants to pull a child’s tooth out, he has to give him
an anesthetic injection in his gum, which causes the child a lot of pain.
But when Allah, Most Gracious, causes a child’s tooth to come out, it is
made to come out smoothly and painlessly, as its root is made to melt
and the nerve is disconnected so smoothly and easily that the child feels
no pain whatsoever. Yes, indeed: “Blessed is Allah, the Best of Creators.”
Just make a comparison between the things that man makes and those
made by Allah, All Mighty! A man-made camera, for example, needs
film processing, while you see things with your eyes, without any
processing, in their right size, color and motion! At one look, you can see
a hundred people in their different features and colors. In fact, the
human eye can distinguish 800,000 shades of the same color. In other
words, if we graduate green into 800,000 different shades, our human
eyes can differentiate between any of these shades.

Yes, indeed: “Blessed is Allah, the Best of Creators.” Great, indeed, is the
difference between a man-made camera and the human eye! The human
eye does not need to be set at a certain distance, aperture or speed. It
does all that automatically, spontaneously and most easily. Quite
spontaneously, the eye measures the distance between itself and an
object, and its tiny muscles make its lens contract or expand so as the
picture is rightly reflected on the retina. This process is called vision
congruence and is, I think, one of the most complicated operations in
the human body. Yes, indeed: “Blessed is Allah, the Best of Creators.”

“Indeed your Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in six
days, and then He established Himself on the Throne. He brings the night as
a cover over the day, seeking it rapidly, and (He created) the sun, the moon,
and the stars: (they are all) subjected to His Command. Surely, His is the
Creation and Commandment. Blessed is Allah, the Lord of all worlds.” [VII;
54]
When a factory sells an aircraft to a certain country, the manufacturer
is no longer responsible for the way the country is going to use such
aircraft. It may be used to bomb another country, to carry passengers,
or whatever other purposes the country may use the aircraft for. But
when our Lord, Allah, All Mighty, creates something, all its affairs,
work, and functions remain in His Divine Hands and under His Divine
Control. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty, says “Indeed your Lord is Allah,
Who created the heavens and the earth in six days, and then He established
Himself on the Throne. He brings the night as a cover over the day, seeking
it rapidly, and (He created) the sun, the moon, the stars subjected to His
Command. Surely, His is the Creation and Commandment. Blessed is Allah,
the Lord of all worlds.” [VII; 54]
In fact, Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran, is man’s life book. It is the Book
prescribed by Allah to all mankind. Therefore, when they read the Holy
Quran and come across the word “creation”, I would like my dear
readers to search for the relationship between this word and the other
words that come before or after it.

“It is Allah, Who is the Creator.” Yes, indeed! The Creator of all things is
Allah, All Mighty, Lord of all worlds, to Whom do belong all the Most
Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes, Creator of all things. None
except Allah created anything. He, Alone, is the Creator of all things. So
worship Him. This is the positive meaning. As for the negative meaning,
it is deduced from Allah’s Words, “Is there any creator other than Allah?”
“Nay! And He is the All-Knowing Khallaq (Supreme Creator).” This means
that it is He, (Allah), Who has created the mountains and galaxies and
all other things, irrespective of their numbers or qualities. This is the
meaning of “Al-Khallaq” (the Supreme Creator): “Blessed is Allah, the
Best of Creators.” This means that you have to make a comparison
between man-made things and those made by Allah, the Great Creator.

“Surely, His is the Creation and Commandment” What reassures man is

that the things that Allah creates remain in His Divine Hands and under
His Divine Control.

Now, let us go into more details, beginning with the meaning of the word
“create”. Linguistically speaking, the word “create” means: “cause
something to exist”, which includes invention, origination and bringing
things from non-existence to existence.
First Verse: “Then We made the semen into a clot, then We made the clot
into a little lump of flesh then We made out of that little lump of flesh bones,
then We clothed the bones with flesh, and then We brought it forth as
another creation. So Blessed is Allah, the Best of Creators.” [XXIII; 14]
Although this Verse refers to the existence of more than one creator, it
does so only metaphorically. The Only Real Creator is Allah, All Mighty,
the Lord of all worlds. Others are only metaphorically said to create. In
other words, when you create a chair of leather and wood, the only thing
you do is that you determine the amount, kind and quality of wood, and
the kind, quality and color of leather, and you make them into a chair.
This means that you do not create a chair from nothing but rather from
certain things that are already in existence. This meaning is deduced
from Allah’s Words, “So Blessed is Allah, the Best of Creators.”
Second Verse: “The likeness of Jesus is the likeness of Adam. He (Allah)
created him (Adam) from dust, then He said to him: ‘Be!’ And he was.” [III;
59] This Verse shows clearly that dust existed before creation of Adam.
In this sense, the word “create” means “decree”, i.e. Allah decreed the
amount of dust, its qualities, and the way it should be formed.

The first Verse goes, “So Blessed is Allah, the Best of Creators,” and the
second one, “The likeness of Jesus is the likeness of Adam. He (Allah)
created him (Adam) from dust, then He said to him: ‘Be!’ And he was.” It is
well known that Allah’s Words “Be! And he was” mean that Allah, All
Mighty, brought Adam into existence from non-existence. In other
words, He created him from dust and said to him “Be!” and he was.
Hence, bringing something into existence differs from creating it.

Some religious scholars even go further to interpret Allah’s Words, “So

Blessed is Allah, the Best of Creators,” to mean that Allah, All Mighty,
created, i.e. decreed, and then commanded: “Be!” and it was, i.e.
brought it from non-existence into existence.

The third Verse shows that creation is “Decree”. There is a reason for this, as
Allah, All Mighty, says, “He is Allah, the Creator, the Inventor, the
Shaper, to Whom do belong the Most Beautiful Names. All that is in the
heavens and the earth glorify Him; and He is the All Mighty, the All-
Wise.” [LIX; 24]
Although nothing can be likened to the Creator, Allah, All Mighty, the
process of creation may be likened to an engineer who designed a
building on paper, on which he put all his knowledge and experience.
The plan includes the bases, and then the first, second and third floors,
together with cement supports and balconies…etc. Creation is Decree:
“the Creator, the Inventor,” but invention is to bring something from
nonexistence into existence: i.e. “Be!” and it is. Next, there comes the
builder’s turn: digging the bases, pouring cement, constructing the first,
second, and third floors, and so on, until the building is completely
constructed. Hence, creation is Decree while invention is bringing
something from nonexistence into existence.

But the building still needs extra ornamentation and decoration from
both outside and inside in order to look beautiful. Here comes the work
of the Shaper. Once again, “He is Allah, the Creator, the Inventor, the
Shaper” Allah is the Creator in the sense that He decrees, i.e. sets the
plans, then He is the Inventor in the sense that He constructs the
building and brings it into existence, and then He is the Shaper in the
sense that He ornaments it and makes it good looking. Look at a human
being, for example! He has lots and lots of muscles, bones, nerves, blood
vessels, …etc, which look horrible without the skin which covers them
all and makes the human body look beautiful. The skin not only holds
all of the body systems together but also covers them and makes the
body look beautiful. It is our Lord, Allah, Who gives the human body its
beautiful shape: “He is Allah, the Creator, the Inventor, the Shaper”
However, if Allah so wills, we shall deal with this issue more elaborately
when we explain Allah’s other two Names: “Al-Bari’” (the Inventor),
and “Al-Mousawir” (the Shaper) in the forthcoming lectures. Now it is
enough to say, in short, that the Creator is He Who decrees, the Inventor
is He Who brings into existence, and the Shaper is He Who gives proper
shapes to the things that He creates. But we still have another question:
what is the difference between “Al-Khalq” (creation) and “Al-Fatr”
(origination) in Allah’s Words, “Praise belongs to Allah, the Originator of
the heavens and the earth!” [XXXIV; 1] Notice what a young girl usually
does. Irrespective of the structure of her body, organs, tissues, shape, or
look, she has a special kind of psychological setting up: she is naturally
predisposed to bring up children, as she quite often holds a doll in her
hands and tries to imitate her mother, looking after the doll. A boy has
another different psychological setting up: he quite often imagines
himself riding horses or fighting wars. Why does a girl choose looking
after a doll while a boy prefers riding a horse? The answer is: each has
his/her own different human original nature and psychological setting
up. Such psychological setting up may be called “Al-Fitrah” (original
nature).

Man has his own “Fitrah” (i.e. original human nature): “Verily, man was
created very impatient; irritable when evil touches him; and niggardly when
good touches him.” [LXX; 19-21]

“And man invokes (Allah) for evil as he invokes (Allah) for good; and man
is ever hasty.” [XVII; 11]

“Man is created of haste. I will show you My Signs; so ask Me not to hasten
(them).” [XXI; 37]

“Allah wishes to lighten (the burden) for you; and man was created
weak.”[IV; 28]
Such are manifestations of man’s original human nature and
psychological setting up. In this context, a Divine Hadith goes, “O David!
Remind My slaves of My Favors (that I do) to them, for the human selves
are predisposed to love those who do them favors and to hate those who do
them disfavors.”

Such psychological setting has certain qualities and characteristics. A

lamb, for example, has special physical qualities of its body, muscles,
skin and wool. But a lamb also has psychological setting up of being, for
example, obedient and easily subdued. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty,
says, “And We subdued them (cattle) to them (mankind), so that some of
them they have for riding and some they eat.” [XXXVI; 72]

A lamb is naturally predisposed to obey its master and follow him

wherever he goes. Sheep are also naturally predisposed to gather
together, while dogs are not. Camels are said to be malevolent while
horses are reliable and foxes cunning. There are domestic tamable
animals and wild untamable fierce ones. In other words, each creature
has its own physical stature and psychological setting up. This is “Al-
Fitrah” (original nature). As for mankind, Allah, All Mighty, says,
“(Such is) Allah’s Fitrah (original nature) with which He has created
mankind. Let there be no change in Allah’s Creation.” [XXX; 30] As for
domestic animals, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And We subdued them (cattle)
to them (mankind), so that some of them they have for riding and some they
eat.” [XXXVI; 72]

To wrap up, the Quranic Verse that goes, “Praise is to Allah, Originator of
the heavens and the earth” shows clearly that Allah, Glory to Him, has
created all things and has given each one of these things a special
original nature and psychological setting whereby it deals with other
creatures. Creation is Decreeing, Invention is bringing into existence,
Shaping is giving each creature its own shape, and Origination is giving
each creature its own psychological setting and natural disposition.

* * *
 (The Inventor, The Shaper)

A nd now, we go ahead to the eighteenth of Allah’s Beautiful Divine

Names, “Al-Bari’, Al Mousawir” (the Inventor, the Shaper). In fact,
our previous speech about Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-
Khaliq” (the Creator) included some hints about this new Name of our
lecture of today, as it is mentioned in the Holy Quran accompanied by this
Name “Al-Bari’, Al-Mousawir(the Inventor, the Shaper). This is because
books speaking about Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names usually explain the
three Names together. However, before we set out to elaborate Allah’s Name
“Al-Bari’, Al-Mousawir”, we had better stop for some time with His Divine
Name “Al-Khaliq” (the Creator).

It might be asked: how does Allah, All Mighty, say, “So Blessed be Allah,
the Best of creators.” [XXIII; 14], while in another Verse, He says, “O
mankind! Remember the Grace of Allah upon you! Is there any creator
other than Allah who provides you from the heaven and the earth?
There is no god but He. How, then, are you turning away (from Him)?”
[XXXV; 3]
In the former Quranic Verse, Allah, All Mighty, confirms the existence of
multitude of creators but Allah is the best of them all. In the latter Verse,
however, He says, “Is there any creator other than Allah?” which means
clearly that He negates completely the existence of another god besides Him.
A primary premature reading might display a certain contradiction between
Verses of the Holy Quran. That is why some Western people or orientalists
who studied eastern religions and cultures concluded naively that there is a
kind of contradiction between different Verses of the Holy Quran.
Knowledgeable religious scholars, however, maintained that when Allah
says, “Blessed is Allah, the Best of all creators”, He does so only
metaphorically. If a human being takes certain substances from the earth, for
example, and makes of them a certain thing, he is not a real creator, as he
has not created the substances from which he makes things. Therefore, when
you say, “Blessed be Allah, the Best of creators”, it is correct only
metaphorically. Those who make certain statues as fashion models on which
they exhibit clothes, such models are made of wax, gypsum, …etc. They are
by no means comparable to a real human being that has a mind, feelings, and
a heart, that thinks and carries out mental judgment and reasoning, that
reacts and becomes happy or displeased, that fears and hopes and has a brain
and a nervous system. A man-made statue is by no means comparable to a
real human being, of flesh and blood, that has been created by Allah, All
Mighty. That is why you should say, “Blessed be Allah, the Best of
creators.”

When you see a natural fragrant rose, you like it, and its sight makes you
feel comfortable and delighted. Similarly, a bunch of flowers fills the room
with pleasure and happiness. When someone is invited to a wedding, he sees
such beautiful flowers and roses of different odors and colors that reflect the
Great Make of the All-Wise Lord, Allah, Glory to Him. In fact, flowers,
roses and butterflies are teachers of color designers. When you see a new
car, you notice that its color is derived from that of a rose or a butterfly; and
it is a common thing to say: “Such yellow is not beautiful” or “such color is
very beautiful”. In fact, the human eye can differentiate between 800,000
shades of one color. If you have some artificial flowers at home, you feel
bored with them after only one or two weeks, which makes you cast them
away, despite their beautiful appearance, big size or bright colors. Great is
the difference between artificial and natural flowers. Look at a man-made
eye that has been made as a teaching aid and a real human one, which has
130,000,000 optic nerves – and an optic nerve is made up of 900,000
particles. Just compare between a man-made camera and Allah-made human
eye, which can see successively tens of things in one second. The first image
has to be eliminated in order to be replaced by another. If the first image
remained on the retina, vision would be impossible. The human eye can also
see things while they are moving or stopping. The cinema is based on
exposing successive pictures one after another at a certain speed that makes
one feel as if objects were moving, because the first image vanishes and is
replaced by another. In short, man-made cameras are by no means
comparable to a real Allah-made eye, nor are artificial flowers comparable to
natural Allah-made ones or a statue of wax to a real human being. If you
desire to see more of Allah’s unmatched Make, listen to a deafening water
pump and the quiet smooth downfall of rain. In this context, Allah, All
Mighty, says, “And you see the mountains: you think they are standing
still; while they are passing away as the clouds do. (Such is) the Make of
Allah, Who perfected all things. Verily, He is Well-Acquainted with
what you do.” [XXVII; 88] Yes, indeed, mountains move as fast as clouds
but quite noiselessly and smoothly.

Therefore, when you read Allah’s Words, “So Blessed be Allah, the Best of
creators.” [XXIII; 14], it is not surprising that man is metaphorically called
“a creator”, as he makes things from existing substances. But when you read
Allah’s Words, “Is there any other creator than Allah?”, you should
understand that there is no real creator other than Allah, All Mighty, Who
creates things from nothing and according to no former model. Great is the
difference between creation of things from nothing and according to no
former example or model and making things on the basis of a former
original model or example.

There is no one but Allah, Who can create anything from nothing and
without a former model. But when you say that man can create something,
the reality of your words is to be found in Allah’s Words about the holy
Prophet, Jesus, (PBUH), “…that I design for you, out of clay, a figure like
that of a bird…” [III; 49]

Yes, indeed! Jesus, (PBUH), designed something like a bird and not a real
one, from clay, and not from flesh, blood and soul. Hence, there is no
contradiction between Allah’s Words, “So Blessed be Allah, the Best of
creators” and His Words, “Is there any creator other than Allah?”

However, the remarkable thing, which I have previously made clear, is that
the Holy Quran includes certain words that have certain meanings if they
come individually and another different meaning if they are combined with
other words. Take, for example, the words “Al-Fouqara’” (the poor) and “A-
Masakeen” (the needy). When these two words come together, each one has
a different meaning, but when they come separately, they both have one and
the same meaning. Hence, when the word “Khaliq” (creator) is used to refer
to Allah, it means that He, All Mighty, is the One Who brings things into
existence from non-existence and without a former model; but when it is
attributed to human beings, it means that they make things from materials
that have already been created by Allah, All Mighty. Moreover, when Allah,
All Mighty, says about Himself, “He is Allah, Al-Khaliq (the Creator), Al-
Bari’ (the Inventor), Al-Mousawir (the Shaper),” the word “Khalq”
(creation) means Allah’s Divine Decree to create something, the word
“Bar’” (invention) means His Divine Act of bringing such thing from non-
existence into existence, and the word “Tasweer” (shaping) means His
Divine Act of giving such thing a certain shape or form.

Now, someone might ask: What do we have to do with such study and
analysis of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes? I think it is now
the proper time to answer such question. The answer is: If you know that
Allah, All Mighty, is only a Creator, you add nothing new to what common
people believe and say. In other words, if you ask an ordinary person, “Who
created the whole universe?”, he immediately says, “Allah!” But if you ask
him, “What do you now about Allah?”, he has nothing to say. That is why it
is necessary to study Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes. We do
need to know more about them! It is not enough to bear witness that Allah
has created the whole universe. Even Satan confessed such fact when he
swore by Allah’s Might, as the Quranic Verse confirms, “He (Satan) said,
‘By Your Might! I will surely mislead them all.” [XXXVIII; 82]

Satan did confess that Allah, All Mighty, is the Almighty Lord, Who created
all worlds, but such confession is by no means sufficient. The important
thing is: what else do you know about Allah? Such a question brings to light
your belief in Allah and the degree or momentum of such belief. Here we
have a very accurate and unfailing criterion: if your belief in Allah is firm
enough to make you obey Him and stick to His Divine Religion, this means
that you are safe and secure; but if your belief in Him is not strong enough to
make you obey Him or stick to His Religion, you are a great loser. I tell you
what Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said, “Your Lord (Allah), All Mighty,
said: ‘If My slaves obeyed Me, I would water them with rain in the night
and would cause the sun to rise unto them in the day, and I would not
make them hear the sound of thunder.’” He, (PBUH), said, “Thinking
well of Allah is part of good worship to Him (Allah).” He, (PBUH), also
said, “Renew your faith!” They asked, “How can we renew our faith?”
He, (PBUH), said, “Repeat constantly the words: ‘There is no god but
Allah.’” [Narrated by Ahmad]
Therefore, mere theoretical knowledge of Allah is by no means sufficient;
what is important is the fruits of such knowledge, namely to obey Allah and
be dutiful to Him. That is why some religious scholars said about Allah’s
Words, “To Him (Allah) ascend the goodly speech; and the righteous
work exalts it (him).” [XXXV; 10]

“To Him (Allah) ascend the goodly speech”: what makes the goodly
speech ascend to Allah, All Mighty? The answer is: good righteous work. In
other words, if goodly speech is not accompanied by goodly righteous work,
it is not made to ascend to Allah, All Mighty.

Therefore, what exalts your position with Allah is your good righteous work,
which is based on how much you know Allah, All Mighty, and His Beautiful
Divine Names and Attributes. If (as it were) we put man’s faith on a scale
and his desires and caprices on another: if the scale of man’s desires and
caprices overweighs the scale of his faith, this means that his faith is not
adequate enough; and the conflict between both scales is always there.

When our Lord, Allah, All Mighty, described His Messenger, Muhammad,
(PBUH), He said, “And verily! You are (O Muhammad) are on an
exalted (standard of) character.” [LXVIII; 4] In other words, Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), had firmly established exalted character that contained
no conflict between true faith and desires. And you, as a true believer: if the
size of your faith is equal to that of your desires, there will certainly be a
conflict between both; but if the size of your faith is greater that that of your
desires, this means that you are secure from conflicts between your faith and
desires and, consequently, successful and quite near to have an exalted
character.

If, however, the size of man’s desires is more than that of his faith, he gets
involved in another thing, which brings about the following question: why
does Allah implant in us desires? In order to answer this question, let us first
imagine that Allah did not implant in man any desires or lusts, but gave him
only a mind that bids him to turn to his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, with full
obedience. Where would man’s servitude to his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, be?
Undoubtedly, all man’s servitude, love, faithfulness, obedience, and even the
whole reality of his life in this present world – which is based on trial –
would certainly be meaningless. Hence, it is due to Allah’s Infinite Divine
Wisdom that He, Most Gracious, implants in us desires and lusts and endues
us with an intelligent mind: the mind has its own call, and, similarly, desires
and lusts have their own call. If the call of man’s desires and lusts
dominates, then man falls into a most serious situation, which Allah, All
Mighty describes: “Until, when death comes to one of them, he says, ‘My
Lord! Send me back, so that I may do good in that which I have left
behind!’ No! It is but a word that he speaks; and behind them is a
barrier until the Day when they will be resurrected. Then, when the
Trumpet is blown, there will be no kinship among them, that Day, nor
will they ask one another. Then, those whose scales (of good deeds) are
light: they are those who lose their own selves; and in Hell will they
abide. The Fire will burn their faces, and therein they will grin with
displaced lips (disfigured). (The Lord Will say):‘Were not My Verses
(this Quran) recited to you, and then you used to deny them?’ They will
say: ‘Our Lord! Our wretchedness overcame us, and we were an erring
people. Our Lord! Bring us out of this. If ever we return (to evil), then
indeed we shall be wrong-doers.’ He (Allah) will say: ‘Remain in it
(Hell-Fire) with ignominy! And speak not to Me!’” [XXIII; 99-108] In
other words, desires and lusts of such people overcome them and bring them
a lot of misery and wretchedness in the life of this present world and the
world to come. On the Day of Resurrection, they will invoke, “Our Lord!
Bring us out of this. If we return (to evil), then indeed we shall be
wrong-doers.” Allah, All Mighty, will say: “Remain in it (Hell-Fire) with
ignominy! And speak not to Me! Verily, there was a party of My slaves,
who used to say: ‘Our Lord! We believe; so forgive us, and have mercy
on us, for You are the Best of all who show mercy!’ But you took them
for a laughing stock, so much so that they made you forget My
Reminder while you used to laugh at them! Verily, I have rewarded
them, this Day, for their patience: they are indeed the ones that are
successful.” [Ibid; 109-111]

Therefore, it must necessarily be known that in man there is the power of his
desires and that of his mind. If his mind overpowers his desires and lusts, he
is safe and happy; but if his desire and lusts overpower his mind, he is
completely lost and destroyed. Due to Allah’s Infinite Divine Wisdom, you
are in constant testing and trial. You are tried whether to remain in bed or to
get up to perform prayer: your mind bids you to get up and perform prayer,
while your body allures you to stay in bed and have some rest. You hear the
Azan (Call) for the Dawn Prayer: your mind bids you: “Get up! It is time for
prayer! Prayer is better than sleep!” Your body tells you: “Stay in bed! You
are tired! You have to get up strong and powerful in the morning! You can
perform prayer later on!” You should notice that you are always in a conflict
between the call of desire and that of mind. If your mind dominates, you are
safe and happy; but if your desire does, you are lost and destroyed.

That is why Imam Ali, the venerable Caliph and Companion, may Allah
honor his face, said, “An angel is made up of a mind with no desire; an
animal is made up of an instinct with no mind; and man is made up of
both (mind and desire). If his mind dominates over his desire, he is
exalted above angels; but if his desire dominates over his mind, he is
abased lower than animals.”

What we see in this present world of people’s deviations, evil deeds and
indulgence in unlawful worldly pleasures and enjoyments is all but a
substantiation of a battle wherein desire is victorious. In this context, Allah,
Most Gracious, says, “But as for him who feared standing before his
Lord and restrained himself from impure evil desires and lusts, verily,
the Garden (of Paradise) will be his abode.” [LXXIX; 40,41]

So, why are Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes there? The
answer is: in order to make us sense greatness of Allah’s Command through
greatness of His Divine Majesty. If you were a soldier and received an order
form a corporal, you would react in a certain way towards it. But if the order
came to you from a high-ranking officer, your reaction towards it would be
completely different. In other words, the higher the rank of the commander,
the more seriously and respectfully the order is taken. If you received and
order from the General Commander of the army, you would carry it out as
soon as possible and as best as possible, for fear of punishment and
responsibility. The problem is that Allah’s Divine Commands are available
to all people, His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, is also available, and
religious scholars are also there to explain Allah’s Divine Commands, but
why do people disobey Allah, All Mighty? The answer is: simply because
they do not know the reality of the Commander. Did they know the
Commander really well, they would stick to His Commands. In other words,
if we get to know Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes, and if we
get to know the Majestic Divine Greatness of Allah, All Mighty, Most
Gracious, we will certainly magnify and duly respect His Divine
Commands. And if we magnify Allah’s Divine Commands, we will hasten to
stick to them. That is why the wisest and most knowledgeable ones of
mankind are those who love Allah Most.
Narrated Muslim on authority of Masrouq that Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH),
said: “It suffices man in knowledge to fear Allah; and it suffices man in
ignorance to feel proud of his work.”

When we read Allah’s Words, “O mankind! Worship your Lord (Allah),

Who created you and those who were before you, so that you may attain
self-protection.” [II; 21] we wonder: Why should we worship Allah? The
answer is: simply because He is the One Who created us, and because He is
the Creator, the Lord, and the Disposer of all things. Therefore, we should
believe that Allah is the Creator, the Lord, and the Disposer, and we should
believe that He is One and Only in His Creativity, One and Only in His
Lordship, and One and Only in His Disposition. Hence, monotheism, as
regards Allah’s Creation, Lordship, and Disposition, is sure to guarantee
safety and happiness to you, provided that you believe therein and comply
thereto.

By the way, understanding Allah’s Name is one thing and living it is another.
In other words, if you understand that Allah is the Creator in the sense that
He, All Mighty, created all things from nothing and according to no former
model, this should make you lead a life in which you believe that all things
that take place around you are all by Allah’s Divine Act and Will.

Some of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names are emphatic Names that denote
exaggeration of multitude, frequency or number. But in your daily life, you
see people and things, actions and incidents, and forget that Allah is the One
Who creates and does all these things and that His Divine Will runs along
them all, then, you know the theoretical meaning of Allah’s Name “Al-
Khaliq” (the Creator) but you do not live or deliberate it. In short, great
happiness does not lurk in knowing theoretically Allah’s Beautiful Divine
Names and Attributes but rather in living them, which you cannot achieve
except by striving against your desires and caprices and by performing deeds
of righteousness and sacrificing everything. Only then you will be able to
turn to Allah with love and devotion; only then Allah, Most Gracious, will
bestow upon your heart security, peace, enlightenment and tranquility; and
only then you will see Allah in all things.

In fact, I would not like to make the whole lecture of today an academic one,
as they say, i.e. mere theoretical information and definitions whereby I fill
the pages of this book, but I would like every one of us to live such Divine
Names. This leads us to another topic, namely the difference between a
teacher and an educator. A teacher, or lecturer is someone who gives people
facts, evidences, and organized, classified, and arranged pieces of
information supported with textual, mental, theoretical and practical
evidences; and the topic, from this view-point is well organized, well
programmed and well arranged, as it is a very nice topic. But an educator is
someone who strives to help people live such Divine Names and Attributes
in their actual life, and not only to fill their heads with theoretical
information about them. Great is the difference between knowing the
theoretical definition and explanation of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-
Khaliq” (the Creator) and living it in our daily life as long as we live. In this
context, I have already given the example of someone who reads Allah’s
Words, “And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger indeed achieves
a great achievement” [XXXIII; 71] and claims to believe therein, yet he
feels jealous of an irreligious friend who is better off. If he feels jealous of
his irreligious friend’s good condition, this means that he does not live
Allah’s Words, “And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger indeed
achieves a great achievement” nor does he understand their meaning or is
influenced by them.

Great is the difference between knowing Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names –

their meanings, limitations, definitions, differences between them and
sayings of religious scholars concerning them – and living such Names. If
you contemplate the universe, get to know its Maker, Allah, All Mighty, and
strive to obey Him and come nearer to Him, this will certainly bring you a
lot of good, as Allah, Most Gracious, will fill your heart with comfort and
happiness, your mind with enlightenment and guidance. Then, you will be
able to see what others cannot see and hear what others cannot hear.
Therefore, I reiterate: We should not only acquire theoretical knowledge
about Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes and their definitions,
meanings, and limitations, but also live them in our actual daily life.

There must always be a kind of constant contact with Allah, All Mighty, so
that one lives Allah’s Divine Names and feels that he is always with Him;
and if Allah is with you, who can be against you?! This is what Imam Al-
Ghazali said. Also, we should know that human knowledge is of three types:
Knowledge of Allah’s Commands, knowledge of Allah’s Creatures, and
knowledge of Allah Himself.

The first two kinds of knowledge, namely those of Allah’s Commands and
creatures, require study and research: books that we read, study and
understand, and then we take tests and exams and receive certificates and
degrees. But where is such kind of knowledge kept? It is simply kept in the
mind!

But such good righteous deeds as suppressing desires and lusts, abstention
from unlawful things, expenditure of wealth in the Way of Allah, dutifulness
and obedience to parents, charities and almsgivings, standing up the night in
prayer and invocation, performing prayer adequately, constant remembrance
of Allah, calling out His Beautiful Divine Names, and reading the Holy
Quran, are all kinds of both spiritual and moral transcendentalism and acts
of obedience and devotion to the Lord, Allah, All Mighty. Also if you abstain
from going on a trip that displeases Allah, attending a party that displeases
Allah, or eating delicious food but in evil company that displeases Allah, and
refuse, saying, “No! I take refuge with Allah!”, such is real strife against
your desires and lusts and real suppression of them; and this is what makes
you connected with Allah and rightly guided by His Divine Guidance and
Enlightenment. This is what makes the Lord, Most Gracious, confer upon
you enlightenment, tranquility and peace of mind, happiness, and deep
insight. In other words, a true believer is someone who has a unique
character because he has a special insight that enables him to see things as
they really are and to see the secrets and real dimensions of things, which
other fellow humans cannot see. Such deep insight is a special characteristic
of only true believers, because of the Divine Light that Allah, All Mighty,
casts into their hearts. To this effect, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “O you
who believe! Fear Allah, and believe in His Messenger! (If you do), He
will give you a double portion of His Mercy, and He will give you a
Light whereby you shall walk (straight), and He will forgive you (your
sins and misdeeds). And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [LVII;
28]

Yes, indeed! Such deep insight into the reality of things is singled out for a
true believer, for Allah gives tranquility and peace of mind to the elite of His
believing slaves, who have unique characters. Moreover, no sooner does
someone suppress his desires and lusts for the sake of his Lord than the good
results of his holy strife come to him: a light in his heart and deep insight of
the reality of things. His heart is firmly established in faith in Allah, Most
Gracious; his speech is rightly guided; his thoughts are rightly guided; and
his attitudes are balanced. He has a special strong undefeated character that
reflects great confidence in Allah and firm belief in Him, simply because he
has gained the good fruits of his strife for his Lord, All Mighty, Most
Gracious, and enjoyed them.

Therefore, knowledge of Allah is attained by strife against one’s desires and

lusts for the sake of the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious; while
knowledge of both Allah’s Religion and creatures is attained by study. Great
is the difference between study and strife! Study needs only a book, a table
and a pen, even though the learner might be somewhere and the material
under study somewhere else. That is why people might get the highest
degrees while they are drowned in the lowest desires and lusts. However,
someone who strives against his own desires and lusts for the sake of the
Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, is colored by His Divine Color, i.e.
he enjoys a unique feeling of moral and spiritual enhancement away from
his desires and lusts, just as he enjoys honor in his noble intentions and
inclinations, accuracy and sobriety in his mind, eloquence in his speech, and
honor and dignity in his principled attitudes.

Hence, all of the good fruits of religion come from knowledge of Allah; and
knowledge of Allah is attained by strife against one’s desires and lusts. In
other words, those who desire to live the reality of Allah’s Beautiful Divine
Names and Attributes, and not only to acquire theoretical knowledge about
them, have to live them practically in their daily life. A true believer should
see Allah’s Divine Hand and Power in everything; and he should always feel
that Allah is the Creator and Maker of all things and that He is with him in
all places and times.

In fact, from the above talk about Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and
Attributes I intend to make a short analysis of the benefit gained from the
knowledge of Such Names and Attributes. In this context, I would like to
emphasize that mere theoretical knowledge of such Beautiful Divine Names
and Attributes of Allah is fairly easy and can be acquired by anyone, even a
non-Muslim, but fighting against one’s desires and lusts for the sake of the
Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, is by no means easy yet highly
rewarding, for once you are connected with Allah a lot of goodly things visit
you. That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), was quoted by Anas, the
venerable Companion, as saying, “Envy devours good deeds just as fire
devours wood. Charity puts out sinful deeds just as water puts out fire.
Prayer is Light for a believer. And the Fast is protection from the Fire.”
[Narrated by Ibn Majah] Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), also says, “Prayer is
purification,” and, “Prayer is joy.”
Yes, indeed! Prayer is purification, as it purifies a believer’s heart from such
evil qualities as grudge, hatred, arrogance, selfishness, transgression,
injustice, and tyranny. In this context, I always say that turning away from
Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, has certain symptoms! Among symptoms
of turning away from Allah are the above-mentioned evil qualities. Once you
are properly connected with the Almighty Lord, Allah, you assume your
normal position, namely that of modest servitude to Him and love for his
fellow slaves, simply because you feel that He is always with you as a
Watcher and Protector. In the same context, Abu Hurairah, the venerable
Companion, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), was, one day, out with people when (the holy Angel)
Gabriel came to him asking, “What is Faith?” He, (PBUH), answered,
“Faith is to believe in Allah and His angels, Books, the Encounter with
Him, His Messengers and the Resurrection.” He (Gabriel) asked, ”What
is Islam?” Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said, “Islam is to worship Allah,
Alone, and associate none with Him, to perform prayer, give the
ordained Zakat (alms) and fast (during the whole month of) Ramadan.”
Gabriel asked, “What is good (perfect) work?” He, (PBUH), answered, “It
is to worship Allah as if you saw Him, for even if you do not see Him, He
sees you.” [An agreed-up Hadith] And whenever Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), looked at mirror, he used to invoke, “O Allah! You have perfected
my creation, so perfect my character!” [Narrated by Ahmad]

Man should always thank his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, for
granting him a perfect stature and a head provided with eyes, ears, a nose
and a tongue, for such things are of Allah’s Infinite Divine Favors. And
when we have a perfect healthy newborn baby, we should also remember
that this is of Allah’s Infinite Divine Favors. This is part of the meaning of
Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Mousawir” (the Shaper), i.e. the One
Who gives things their nice shapes. If a good-looking face were a man – as
Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says – it would be a good man; and if an evil-
looking face were a man, it would be an evil man.

Once again: mere theoretical knowledge of Allah’s Beautiful Names and

Attributes is one thing and living with these Names and Attributes and being
in good terms with Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, is another. In other
words, when you live these Divine Names, you feel greatness of this religion
of Islamic Monotheism. Remember that time is priceless and that your short
human life cannot bear so many mistakes and errors! In this context, Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), once asked Zaid, one of his venerable Companions,
“How are things with you, Zaid?” Zaid answered, “I love Allah and His
Messenger… It is (as it were) that I see people of Paradise living in
utmost Bliss and people of Hell-Fire reproaching one another, and (as it
were) I see my Lord’s Throne outstanding.” Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH),
said, “(You are) a slave whose heart Allah has enlightened with faith!
You have known (the truth)! So stick (to it)!”

Man should see with his own eyes that the whole universe is of Allah’s
Creation, that Allah, All Mighty, is its Maker and Disposer, and that nothing
happens except by Allah’s Divine Will and Power, which bespeak His
Infinite Divine Wisdom. However, disbelievers are completely unaware of
such fact. To this effect, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “Else, did an affliction
visit them for that their own hands have forwarded, then they might say,
‘Our Lord! Why did You not send a Messenger to us that we might
follow Your Signs and so be among the believers?’” [XXVIII; 47]

In fact, Allah’s three Beautiful Divine Names “Al-Khaliq” (the Creator),

“Al-Bari’” (the Inventor) and “Al-Mousawir” (the Shaper) are both coherent
and inseparable, as they all elaborate the process of Allah’s Creation of
things: creation, invention and shaping. The Name “Al-Mousawr” (the
Shaper) means that Allah gives all things not only their external shape but
also their full stature. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty, says, “It is Allah,
Who has made for you the earth as a stable dwelling place and the
heaven as a canopy, and has given you shape, and made your shapes
good looking, and has provided you with good things. Such is Allah,
your Lord! Blessed is Allah, Lord of all worlds!” [XL; 64] He, Most
Gracious, also says, “Verily, We have created man in the best stature.”
[XCV; 4]

In this context, Shaping means that Allah gives things full shape: width,
length, tallness, and depth. An ant, for example, has a certain shape, and so
do a whale, a human being and every other creature. Allah is the Shaper,
Who, Glory to Him, says, “It is He (Allah), Who shapes you in the wombs
as He wills. There is no god but Him, the All Mighty, the All-Wise.” [III;
6]

This is one of the meanings of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-

Mousawir”. And also, an embryo in his mother’s womb: when its eyes and
ears are opened and its head and body are given certain sizes, and when it is
given skin, organs and movement, this is also of Allah’s shaping of things.
However, the two processes of creation and shaping are only theoretically
separable, because they practically take place at the same time.

* * *

(The Subtle, the All-Kind, the Most

Gentle)

N ow, we move on to the nineteenth of Allah’s Beautiful Divine

Names, “Al-Lateef” (the All-Kind), but before we start defining the
Name it is necessary to have a short introduction. When someone
intends to deal with a certain topic or study, he has to go back to the main
goals of such study and points them out. For example, he has to mention the
general and particular purposes of his study, simply because a researcher
may sometimes deviate from the main purpose and get distracted by
unnecessary details, and consequently, the reader may miss the main point of
the topic. Moreover, our subject matter today is very important and delicate,
and the purpose is noble and paramount. Therefore, by Allah’s Help, we
shall not deviate from the main topic or indulge in unnecessary details.

Undoubtedly, honor of knowledge is derived from honor of its subject

matter. This is a fact that I always like to reiterate in my book. In other
words, if you study a trivial insignificant issue, all of your study and
research will also be trivial and insignificant. Why? The answer is: simply
because the topic in itself is trivial and insignificant; and the more honorable
the subject matter is, the more honorable knowledge is.

Now, a constantly persistent question goes: Is the Creator comparable to the

created? Is the One Who has no beginning or end by any means comparable
to someone who has a beginning and end? Is the Perfect comparable to the
imperfect? The answer is: Of course not! Therefore, when one gets to know
Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names, he gets to know the Creator and Maker of
the universe. However, someone might ask, “What do I have to do with
Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names?” The answer is simply: Religion comes
originally from knowing the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious. In this
context, Allah, Glory to Him, says, “And (remember) when your Lord
said to the angels, ‘Verily, I am going to place in the earth a vicegerent.”
[II; 30]

You, as a human being, are Allah’s vicegerent in the earth; and you will
never be Allah’s vicegerent in the earth unless you color yourself with His
Divine Color. Hence, when we get to know one of Allah’s Beautiful Names,
we should ask: what is a believer’s share of knowing such Name? What is
his share of knowing Allah’s Name “Al-Aziz” (the One Exalted in Might
and Honor)? The answer is: he should strive to be “aziz”, i.e. exalted in
might and honor. In this context, Huthaifah quoted Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), as saying, “A believer should not humble himself.” They said,
“And how does he humble himself?” He, (PBUH), said, “He puts himself
to trial that he cannot bear.” [Narrated by At-Tirmithi, Ibn Majah, and
Ahmad]

Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), also says, “Seek to attain (your) needs with
self-respect, as things run with Divine Decree.”

In the following pages, we will be dealing with Allah’s Beautiful Divine

Name “Al-Lateef” (the All-Kind, the All-Subtle); and the fact that I would
like everyone to understand clearly is that Allah, All Mighty, has subjected
the whole universe for man for two main purposes: first, to help man know
his Lord’s Infinite Divine Wisdom, Might and Power, among all of His other
Divine Names and Attributes, and, second, to honor man by creating for him
such great universe. When you drink a glass of water, you quench your
thirst; but water has been created for another more sublime purpose than
quenching thirst. It has been created to help you know Allah through it,
wondering, “Who has made water as such: colorless, odorless and
tasteless?” “Who has given it the quality of permeation?” “Who has made it
evaporate at a very low temperature?” “Who has made it dissolve a lot of
substances?” “Who has made it the essence of a living cell?”…etc?

If you know Allah by contemplating water, you achieve the major purpose of
its creation. But if you drink a glass of water whereby you quench your thirst
but fail to contemplate it, you achieve only the minor purpose of its creation.
In other words, the major purpose of creating water is to help you know its
Maker and Creator and not only make use of it. The same thing applies to
the air, food, and all others things around you. This is because you are
supposed to know your Lord by contemplation on your own self, your child,
and everything around you. Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), made
this fact clear whenever he saw the moon. Qatadah narrated that whenever
Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), saw the moon, he would say, “A moon of
goodness and guidance! A moon of goodness and guidance! A moon of
goodness and guidance! I believe in the One Who created you! I believe
in the One Who created you! I believe in the One Who created you!
Praised be Allah, Who took away the month of so and so and brought
the month of so and so.” [Narrated by Abu Dawood]

When you stand before a florist’s and contemplate Allah’s Divine Name “Al-
Jameel” (the Most Beautiful) through the flowers and roses, their fragrance,
colors, you know for sure that such flowers and roses have not been created
to be eaten but rather to please your eyes and nose; and, therefore, you know
how Generous and Kind your Lord, Allah, is and, hence, you turn to Him
with glorification and gratitude.

When you read a book about honey and wonder at the marvelous creation of
those tiny insects, bees, with their wonderful social relations and well-
organized societies, which are far more advanced than those of human
beings, and in which each and every citizen bee knows perfectly their duties
and rights and sticks to them. Tell me: which human community is so well
organized as that of a beehive? No human community is as socially
advanced as that of bees or ants!

Yes, indeed! When you read a book about bees, you feel humble and
submissive before the Creator, All Mighty, Most Wise, Who has perfected
their creation. You may even cry in amazement at such wonderful sight as a
beehive. By so doing, you achieve the major purpose of Allah’s creation of
bees, even though you might not afford to buy any of their honey; while
another person might be fed up with lots and lots of honey but fails to
contemplate its Maker’s Divine Might and Generosity.

Therefore, let us all agree that the whole universe is but a substantiation and
manifestation of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes. And since
we are now dealing with Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Lateef” (the
All-Kind), do you see things in the universe that bespeak Allah’s being All-
Kind? Yes, of course. Take, for example, the air, which surrounds us from all
sides: we breathe it, and if we move it, we feel that it exists. It carries an
airplane that weighs even 350 tons: 150 tons of the body of the airplane
itself, 150 tons of fuel, and 150 tons of passengers and their luggage. The air
is a really marvelous thing!

When a spaceship enters the earth’s atmosphere, it becomes a blazing mass

of flames because of fraction with the air. However, on the surface of the
earth, the air cannot be seen and is noiseless when it is calm. In other words,
it is there as if it were not, for it does not eclipse vision and allows sound to
travel through it. Hence, the air manifests Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-
Lateef” (the All-Kind). In this context, Allah, All-Kind, says, “Allah is Ever
All-Kind to His slaves. He gives provision to whom He wills; and He is
the All-Strong, the All Mighty.” [XLII; 19] “Should not He, Who has
created, know? And He is the All-Kind, the All-Aware.” [LXVII; 14]

In Arabic, the word “Lateef” has a lot of meanings, one of which is

“something that is too tiny or too subtle to feel.” For example, your radio set
receives radio waves that you cannot see or feel. Such waves are weightless
and have no smell. Therefore, a thing that is like a radio wave is said to be
“Lateef”, i.e. too subtle to be seen, smelled, or felt. In order to make things
clear, let us have some more examples.

Radio waves exist but in a subtle way; and the air also exists but in a subtle
way. But if the air is made to move at a speed of 800 km/h, it destroys
everything on the earth’s surface. I have read about a hurricane that took
place in USA and destroyed a great many houses and buildings. After the
hurricane, one of the people there found the engine of his big car 15 km’s
away, but his house or car could not be found anywhere. Movement of the
air caused such disastrous hurricane. But when calm, the air is too subtle to
feel, hear, see or smell.
Therefore, linguistically speaking, the Arabic word “Lateef” means
“something that is too tiny or too subtle to feel”. Another example is water.
If you look at a tiny drop of water under a microscope, you see countless
microscopic living creatures that are invisible to the unaided human eye.
Such microscopic living creatures are “Lateefah” i.e. “too tiny to be seen or
felt”.

Therefore, the air is “Lateef” in the sense that radio waves are as such, i.e.
they cannot be smelled, heard, felt or seen. This is another meaning.
Similarly, the microscopic living creatures in water are “Lateefah” in the
sense that they are too tiny to be smelled, heard, felt or seen by the unaided
human eye.

When we say that Allah is “Lateef” (Subtle) with His slaves, it means that
He, All Mighty, is always with you. He hears your voice, and knows what is
in your mind and heart of ideas, thoughts, ambitions, conflicts, opinions,
beliefs, imaginations, and conceptions. He also knows what is in your heart
of troubles, pains, worries, hardships, pressures, distresses, fears, …etc.
Nevertheless, His being with you is not at all obvious or heavy. Imagine that
someone keeps another company all the time. Whenever he sits, he sits just
like him; whenever he walks, he walks just like him; whenever he enters his
home, he enters with him; and whenever he eats, he eats with him. If this
went on for only five or six days, it would be unbearable; and the former
would address the latter, “Go away from me!”, “Get lost!”, even though the
latter would not utter one single word or criticize or even object to any of the
former’s deeds or ask him anything whatsoever. Such an inseparable
companion is an unbearable nuisance. However, you, dear reader, know for
sure that Allah is always with you, yet you do not feel that He is with you. In
other words, Allah’s Being with you is not obvious or heavy. In this context,
Allah, the Subtle, the All-Kind, says, “And He is with you wherever you
may be; and Allah is the All-Seer of what you do.” [LVII; 4] He, Glory to
Him, also says, “There is no secret counsel of three but He (Allah) is
their fourth, nor of five but He is their sixth, nor of fewer than that or
more but He is with them wherever they may be. And afterwards, on the
Day of Resurrection, He will inform them of what they did. Verily, Allah
is the All-Knower of everything.” [LVIII; 7]

The word “Lateef” here means that Allah, All Mighty, is too Subtle to be
heard or seen although we feel that He is always with us. In the same
context, Abu Hurairah, the venerable Companion, may Allah be pleased with
him, narrated that Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), was, one day, out with some
people when (the holy Angel) Gabriel came to him asking, “What is
Faith?” He, (PBUH), answered, “Faith is to believe in Allah and His
angels, Books, the Encounter with Him, His Messengers and the
Resurrection.” He (Gabriel) asked, ”What is Islam?” Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), said, “Islam is to worship Allah, Alone, and associate none with
Him, to perform prayer, to give the ordained Zakat (alms) and to fast
(during the whole month of) Ramadan.” Gabriel asked, “What is good
(perfect) work?” He, (PBUH), answered, “It is to worship Allah as if you
saw Him, for even if you do not see Him, He sees you.”

“O Allah! Make us fear You as if we saw you!”

Therefore, the first meaning of the Arabic word “Lateef” is “something that
is too tiny or subtle to be seen or felt”. And since Allah, All Mighty is far
Exalted above any physical incarnation or anthropomorphic elements or
qualities, since nothing is the like of Him, since it is impossible to have Him
confined in a certain place or time, because He is the One Who created both
place and time, and since Allah is Free from all qualities and properties of
His creatures, where is Allah? He, All Mighty, Most Subtle, is everywhere
with all things, but not like a thing in a thing. He encompasses in knowledge
all things. He is with all things, above all things, beside all things. But He
cannot be confined in a certain place, direction or volume. But what does the
word “volume” here mean? This glass of water, for example, occupies a
certain space and has a certain weight, height, and diameter. It occupies a
certain space on the table or anywhere else. Our Lord, Allah, All Mighty,
does not occupy a space, and cannot be confined by a certain direction, place
or time or anything else. Therefore, when we read Allah’s Words, “And
your Lord comes with the angels in rows” [LXXXIX; 22], we should
understand that Allah does not come in Himself; but what comes is His
Divine Command and Punishment. Sometimes, someone is profligate and
deviant, yet his days are as usual: Every morning, he gets up in good health
and has his normal food and drink. He still enjoys his high social rank,
power, affluence and tyranny. But suddenly, he is inflicted with a serious
incurable disease, or suffers great pains in his chest or any other part of his
body. Here we say, “Your Lord has come”, i.e. “Your Lord’s Command
or Punishment has come.”

Therefore, when we say that Allah is “Lateef” (Subtle), this means that He
does not occupy a certain space and cannot be confined by a certain
direction, place or time. He cannot be incarnated in a certain physical body
or image, nor is He divisible or confined by anything.

Since Allah, All Mighty, is far Exalted above being incarnated or confined,
He is described in Arabic as being “Lateef” in the sense that He is too subtle
to be felt or seen.

Hence, Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Lateef” is one of the de-

anthropomorphic Names in the sense that Allah is with you all the time, but
you do not see or feel Him, because He is too Subtle to be seen or felt.

Sometimes, you do something that displeases Allah, and are, therefore, soon
punished for it. This means that He sees you. Sometimes, you intend to do
something that displeases Allah, and you find that He soon punishes you.
This means that He knows your intentions. He is so Subtle that you do not
feel His Existence, because His Existence is not heavy on you although He
exists and even stands between man and his own heart and knows all secrets
and what lurks behind such secrets. He knows what was, what is, what will
be, and what is not: if it were, how it would be. He knows all about you,
while you do not feel or see Him. This is because He is Subtle and knows
your innermost feelings, emotions, ambitions, intentions, conflicts, and
sorrows. Yes, indeed! He knows all about you while you do not feel or see
Him.

As long as a true believer worships Allah and believes that He sees him in
all places and times, he is well behaved even when he is by himself. He does
not see Allah with his eyes, but he sees Him with his mind. True believers
always watch their steps with their Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious,
simply because they believe that He is constantly watching them.

The stronger your faith in Allah is, the more conscious of Him you are. In
this context, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, addressed Moses in a Divine
Hadith, “O Moses! Do you like me to be your Sitter?” Moses, (PBUH),
asked, “O Lord! How can this be?” Allah, Most Gracious, said, “Don’t
you know that I sit with those who remember Me and that wherever My
slave seeks Me, he finds Me.”

Now, while performing prayer Muslims say, “Allah hears whosoever extols
praises to Him”. But do they know what this sentence means? It means that
the Lord addresses you, “O My slave! I hear you! So extol praises to Me!”
But where is Allah?! Therefore, whenever you stand to perform prayer, you
should know that you stand before Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious. In this
context, ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said, “Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), would be speaking to us, and we would be speaking to him, he
would be sitting with us, and we would be sitting with him; but when it
was time for prayer, it would be as if he had never known us and we had
never known him.” This is how a true Muslim should be!

A person usually takes great care of his apparel when he is invited to meet
and official or an important one, who is a human being just like him: he gets
hungry, gets thirsty, gets tired, gets angry, and even dies. What should he do
when he stands to perform prayer before the Almighty Lord, Allah, the One,
the Judge?! He should know that Allah is “Lateef” (Subtle): He is there, but
He is Subtle. His non-material Divine Existence cannot be perceived by
senses. Such is the first meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-
Lateef”.

The second meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Lateef” is that

He, All Mighty, knows secrets and minute details of all things. The word
“Lateef” can also be used to describe someone who is proficient and skillful
in his job, and can do what others cannot do. In this sense, when we say that
Allah is “Lateef”, it means that He is Omniscient or All-Knower of all
things.

You may understand something only from outside, but fail to understand its
deep secrets or the hidden intentions lurking behind it. In fact, the more
knowledgeable and experienced you are, the more you understand secrets of
things and intentions behind them.

In this context, I would like to give an example of an irreligious man. In

winter, one of his wife’s female friends came to visit her. He invited both his
wife and her friend to come and sit with him in the living room where it was
warmer, as he claimed. In fact, he desired to introduce himself to his wife’s
friend and make friends with her. Now, who knows the real intention behind
the man’s invitation? It is, indeed, Allah, All Mighty, Who knows secrets of
all things, including the real intentions of this man!

In this sense, Allah is “Lateef”, i.e. He knows the real motives lurking
behind your deeds and intentions. It is He Who knows all secrets and
realities of all things, including people’s innermost ambitions and intentions,
which other fellow human do not know.

Therefore, it is Allah, Alone, Who knows all secrets and realities of all
things as well as their causes and effects. This is the second meaning of
Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Lateef”, i.e. “the One Who knows
everything about all things”.

The third meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Lateef” is that He

is Ever All-Kind to His slaves. He is infinitely Kind to them although they
do not feel or know that. He disposes of their affairs in the most beneficial
way while they are heedless. For example, in hot summer days, while people
are completely unconscious, He makes fruits ripe for them. He alternates
conditions and circumstances for the benefits of His slaves while they are
completely heedless and unconscious. In this context, Allah, Most Gracious,
says, “Allah is Ever All-Kind to His slaves. He gives provision to whom
He wills; and He is the All-Strong, the All Mighty.” [XLII; 19] This is the
third meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Lateef”, i.e. He, All
Mighty, Most Gracious, is Ever All-Kind to His slaves.

The fourth and greatest meaning of this Divine Name is that proposed by
Imam Al-Gjazali: Allah, Most Gracious, is “Lateef” in the sense that He,
Glory to Him, knows minute details of things and takes his slave from one
condition to another most gently.

A small child has to have new teeth instead of first deciduous ones, for if it
had permanent teeth from the beginning and while its mouth were still too
small, its apparel would be unacceptable, and its teeth would be too big for
its small mouth. If it had teeth while still suckling milk from its mother’s
breasts, it would harm her thereby. Therefore, in its first year, an infant has
no teeth, but then it develops primary deciduous teeth that are afterwards
changed into permanent ones. But this change goes on most easily and
smoothly. In other words, Allah, Most Gentle, causes an infant’s milk teeth
to change into permanent ones most gently and painlessly. No dentist in the
whole world can take out a tooth for a small infant without making it cry.
Even an anesthetic injection causes a lot of pain that makes an infant cry
pitifully. But our Lord, Allah, the Most Kind, causes an infant’s milk teeth to
melt away little by little while the infant feels no pain at all. Therefore, as
Imm Al-Ghazali says, “Al-Lateef (the All-Kind and Subtle) is He Who
knows realities and secrets of interests and grants them to those who
deserve them gently, without any violence.”

Sometimes, you love something that is improper or dangerous for you.

Therefore, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, imposes on you a certain
solution gradually, in a period of five years, for instance. He afflicts you
with some troubles whereby He removes 5% of His Love, and after a couple
of weeks, He afflicts you with some other troubles whereby He removes
10% and then, after another couple of weeks, 15%, …etc. After two or three
months, you say, “That’s enough! I can’t stand that any more!” In other
words, there is something improper that you love, but Allah removes from
you your love for it most gently and gradually.

This is how wine was first prohibited in Islam. The Arabs loved wine and
were strongly attached to it. If Allah had bidden Muslims to give up wine
altogether by one Quranic Command, some, or perhaps, half of them would
have rejected Islam. But Allah is Most Gentle and Kind! He, Most Gracious,
sent down, an indirect reference to wine, saying, “And from the fruits of
date-palms and grapes: you derive strong drink and a goodly provision.
Verily, in that is indeed a Sign for people who have wisdom.” [XVI; 67]
In this Verse, Allah, Most Kind, gives an indirect reference to the fact that
although wine may be a kind of provision, and although some people might
think that it is goodly provision, it is by no means good, because it is an
intoxicant. This is the first reference, but then Allah, All Wise, says, “O you
who believe! Approach not the prayer when you are in a drunken state,
until you know what you utter, nor when you are in a state of major
ritual impurity – except when traveling on the road – until you wash
your whole body.” [IV; 43] This means that if they desired to drink wine, it
was okay, but they had to avoid it when they stood up to perform prayer.
Later on, Allah, Most Gracious, sent down: “They ask you (O
Muhammad) concerning alcoholic drink and gambling. Say, ‘In both of
them is a great sin and (some) benefits for men; but the sin of them is
greater than their benefit. And they ask you (O Muhammad) concerning
what they should spend. Say, ‘That which is beyond your needs.’ Thus
Allah makes clear to you His Laws in order that you may give thought.”
[II; 219] The above Quranic Verse shows clearly that benefits of wine are
only for those who deal in it and earn their living from it. Afterwards, Allah,
Most Kind, prohibited wine altogether, saying, “O you who believe!
Intoxicants (all kinds of alcoholic drinks), gambling, Al-Ansab (animals
that are sacrificed for idols), and Azlam (arrows for seeking luck or
decision) are an abomination of Satan’s work, so avoid it in order that
you may be successful.” [V; 90]

Therefore, the gradual and most wise way in which Allah, Glory to Him,
prohibited wine shows clearly that He is Most Kind and Most Gentle.
Another example is when a young man goes to the mosque to attend a
religious lecture or preaching. He thinks, “It is a really nice lecture, and I
would like to attend more other lectures!”, although he might be sinful in
many ways. However, due to His Infinite Divine Kindness, our Lord, Allah,
does not cause him to remember his numerable former sins all at once.
Every now and then, Allah, Most Kind, reminds him of one of his former
sins and misdeeds. He causes him to think, “Such a thing is unlawful. I feel
most regretful. I was so ignorant.” This helps him give up his sins and
misdeeds. If he were given an immediate list of all of his sins and misdeeds,
he would reject the whole religious affair altogether. However, Allah, Most
Kind, gradually reminds him of his former sins and helps him quit such sins
one by one. After six or eight months of gradual treatment, he gives up all
his sins. Allah, Most Gentle, may also cause another human being to remind
him kindly, saying, “Dear brother! Such a deed is unlawful! You should not
do such a thing! You should not attend such a meeting! You should not sell
such illegal merchandise! Do you sell backgammon? Listen to Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), who says, “He who plays backgammon is like
someone who dips his hand the flesh and blood of a pig.”[Narrated by
Muslim, Abu Dawood, Ibn Majah, and Ahmad]!”

Allah, All Mighty, manages all things in a smooth gradual way, for He is
Most Gentle in dealing with His slaves. Someone might be more hopeful
than fearful, and therefore, Allah, Most Kind, frightens him; and someone
else might be more fearful than hopeful, therefore, Allah, Most Kind,
reassures him and makes him more hopeful.

“Accurate knowledge combined with gradual work”: this is the most

accurate and most comprehensive meaning of the word “Lateef”; and the
one who deserves to be described by this word is someone who knows the
realities and secrets of interests and then, once he has got such knowledge,
he conveys such interests to those who deserve them gently and smoothly
without any violence. For example, if a father’s son commits a religious or
moral misdeed, he may punish him severely and violently, but it is better for
the father to observe his son step-by-step, and to direct him by constant but
compassionate punishment and encouragement, and sometimes even by
turning away from him. After two or three months, the son willingly and
freely returns to the straight path. In this way the father takes his son from
the state of sinfulness to that of reform and repentance but all in a smooth
gentle way that does not destroy him, hurt his feels or cause him great pain.
Hence, a believing educator is “Lateef” in the sense that he teaches and
brings up people from one condition to another most tenderly and gently.

An Arabian once entered the mosque while Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), and
his venerable Companions were performing prayer, and because he desired
to hurry up and catch up with them in prayer, he made a lot of noise and
disturbance. When prayer was over, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), turned to
the man, saying gently, “May Allah increase you in care! But do not do
this again.” He, (PBUH), showed utmost tenderness to the man and
counseled him gently. This is because Allah is Gentle, and He loves those
who are gentle. To this effect, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Verily
Allah grants (in return) for gentleness that which He does not grant (in
return) for violence. Teach and do not reproach, for someone who
teaches is better than someone who reproaches.”

Of Allah’s Gentleness and Kindness to His slaves is that He, Most Generous,
gives them more than what they need and imposes on them things that are
within their abilities. For example, He imposed on them five prayers a day,
each prayer takes about only 20 minutes. This means that all prayers take
only one hour forty minutes a day. If He imposed on you to perform fifty
prayers a day instead of five, you would not be able to be committed to
them. Similarly, He enjoins on you the fast for the whole month of Ramadan
every year. If He enjoined on you to fast for six continuous months, you
would not be able to fast for that long period of time.

Allah is Most Kind in His Divine Commands and Creation. If you needed
special sophisticated equipment to eat an apple, for example, it would be too
hard to eat. But you need only a small knife, or even nothing, to eat it. If you
needed a special key to open an egg, and if you had to look for the key,
which you may not find, life would be unbearable. All you have to do is
simply to hit it at a hard thing, like the side of a plate, peel it, and then eat it.

Allah’s Divine Kindness makes a peach, an orange, or a bunch of grapes so

easy for you to pick and eat. Each fruit has it own different taste, shape,
composition and stature. If an apple were as hard as a rock, how would you
eat it? You would need a special stone-mill in order to eat an apple or make
some apple juice. But due to His Infinite Divine Kindness, Allah has made
an apple so easily eaten.

He Who disposes of all things is the Most Wise; He Who brings them into
existence is the Most Generous; He Who gives them their forms and statures
is the Most Wise Shaper; He Who puts all things in their proper places is the
Most Just; He Who knows everything about all things is “Al-Lateef” (the
Subtle); “Al-Lateef” (the All-Kind) is He Who gives His slaves more than
they need and less than they can bear; “Al-Lateef” (the Most Gentle) is He
Who makes hard things easy, helps His slaves to do good things and accepts
such good things from them; and “Al-Lateef” is He Who has full power over
His slaves, yet He does not disclose their secret sins and misdeeds, Who
gives His slaves and suffices them, Who bestows His Favors in abundance
upon His slaves, and Whose Knowledge bespeaks His Perfection.

As for man’s share of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Lateef”, it is to be

kind to other fellow humans and to be gentle with them when calling them to
Allah, Most Gracious. In this context, Allah, Most Kind, addressed his two
holy brother Prophets, Moses and Aaron, (PBUT), “Go, both of you, to
Pharaoh! Verily, he has transgressed. And speak to him mildly perhaps
he may accept admonition or fear (Allah). They said, ‘Our Lord! Verily,
we fear lest he should hasten to punish us or lest he should transgress.’
He (Allah) said, ‘Fear not! Verily, I am with you both, hearing and
seeing.’” [XX; 43-46]

It happened once that a man entered upon a king, saying, “I shall admonish
you harshly.” The king said, “Why harshly, brother? Verily, Allah sent
someone who was better than you to another who was worse than I am.
He sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh, and commanded them: ‘Speak to
him mildly.’”

Therefore, if you know anything bad about your fellow humans, try to veil it
and be kind to them. If you intend to do anything, try to be kind and gentle.
If you desire to have someone do something, try to make such thing easy
and achievable. Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), was once in the midst of
devoted prayer to the Lord, All Mighty, with some of his venerable
Companions when he suddenly heard a baby cry. Therefore, he hurriedly
finished his most enjoyable prayer for the sake of the baby, whose mother
was among the worshippers. When you call other fellow humans to Allah,
try to be kind, gentle, and merciful. Religious scholars say that
knowledgeable preachers should invite people to good things gently and
kindly, not violently or harshly, simply because they are enlightened by
Allah’s Divine Light.

To wrap up, since Allah is Subtle and Most Kind in His Knowledge,
Existence and Acts, you, as a true believer, should assume such great
qualities for your own self.

* * *

(The All Just)

N ow, we go on to the twentieth of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names,

namely “Al-‘Adl” (the All-Just), which the whole Muslim nation
agrees to attribute to Allah, All Mighty, and which is, therefore, one
of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names.

In fact, Allah, Most Gracious, is All Just in His Creation just as He is All-
Just in His Legislation, Cosmic Laws and Acts. In other words, whenever He
creates something, bids to something, or does something, He is All Just.

Allah is All Just in His Creation: consider location of your arm! It is located
in a very suitable place: in the middle of the body. And things are said to be
right and just if they stand between two controversial extremes. An electric
switch, for example, is usually located in a place where all members of the
family can easily use it. We describe such location as being right and just. If
it were located in an excessively high place, we would need a special ladder
in order to switch it on or off; and if it were put in a low place, we would
also find difficulty in turning it on or off. However, when a switch is
properly located, we say that such location is right and just, as it does not
lend itself to extremism.

In this context, we should notice that if man were made to see all living
microscopic creatures that exist in water, he would abstain from drinking it.
If the human eye were given the power to see all things, our life would be
not only miserable but also unbearable; and if the human eye were made too
weak to see dangerous things around us, we would not be able to survive.
Both cases symbolize improper deviation from the right and just work of the
human eye. Therefore, Allah, Most Gracious, is All Just in His Creation not
only of the human eye but all other things as well.

Another example is the human ear, which is specially designed by the Lord,
Allah, the All Just, to hear only the sounds that befit the human life on earth.
There are a great many sounds that exist in the world, but we do not hear
them. If we did, human life would be unbearable. Ordinary sound waves
fade away, while electro-magnet ones do not. By the way, a spacecraft was
launched to Jupiter at a speed of 40,000 m/h. As soon as it reached Jupiter
after six years of continuous travel, it sent radio messages to the earth. Radio
waves do not fade away, while those of ordinary sound do. That is why
electro-magnet waves are used for radio transmission and communication.
Now, if ordinary sound waves were like electro-magnet ones that do not
weaken or fade away, you would hear, in this mosque in Damascus, all
sounds existing in the whole world. All at once, you would hear the sounds
of the sea-waves, factories, and volcanoes, and life would be impossible.
Hence, creation of the human ear and the nature of sound in such a way as to
fit each other is right and just. In this context, Allah, All Mighty, All Just,
says, “Verily, We (i.e. Allah) have created all things in due measures.”
[LIV; 49]

In other words, your sight is made in due measures and so is your hearing. If
your sense-nerves were made to grow more than they do, your life would be
impossible. The same thing applies for your pressure-nerves as well as
nerves that have to do with your vision, hearing, and movement. Joint of the
elbow is most properly located in the human body. It helps you eat and drink
most easily. If it were located somewhere else in your body, you would have
to put a plate on the ground and lie down in order to eat food with the help
of your tongue as animals do. Therefore, location of the joint of your elbow
is right and just.

Location of the arm on the shoulder is also right and just. If it were located
on the hip and made to hang down to the feet, life would be unbearable. If
the eye were located on top of the head, on the back, or in the palm of the
hand, your life and work system would get confused. In the same context,
Allah, the All Just, says, “O man! What has made you careless about
your Lord, the Most Generous, Who created you, fashioned you
perfectly, and gave you due proportion? In whatever form He willed, He
put you together.” [LXXXII; 6-8] In other words, Allah, the All Just, has
created you - your senses, parts, organs, apparatuses, and systems - in a right
just way and in due measures and proportions.

Allah’s Rightness and Justness are also manifested in the fiber used in
textile. If a piece of clothes were to get worn out from the very first time we
wore it, life would be too hard for people. It is totally unreasonable and even
unbearable for people to buy new clothes or have them made every day.
However, fiber is usually strong enough to endure at least one or two years
before it is worn out. Hence, the fiber that we use in textile shows clearly
that the Lord, Allah, has created it in a right just way.

A hen usually lays one egg a day. This is right and just, for if it laid one egg
a month or a year, eggs would be too expensive. If fodder cost more than the
milk that cows would produce, no one would keep cows. But the quantity of
milk that a cow produces is right and just compared to the cost of fodder a
cow needs.

We can go on for a hundred years giving innumerable examples of the

Quranic fact that goes, “Verily, We (i.e. Allah) have created all things in
due measures.” [LIV; 49] This Verse means that Allah, the All Just, has
created all things in due measures and in a right just way. In Allah’s Creation
there is no extremism, immoderation or contradiction.

The earth is most rightly and justly spaced apart from the sun. If the earth
were closer to the sun, it would be a blazing furnace; if it were farther, it
would be an ice grave. Distances between the sun and the earth, and between
all of the heavenly objects are most rightly and justly designed.
An embryo remains in its mother’s womb for nine months. If it remained for
five years, it would be intolerable. If it remained for only one week, one
mother would have hundreds of children, which is also unbearable. But the
period of time that an embryo has to stay in its mother’s womb is most
rightly and justly designed. If a woman’s ovulation went on till the end of
her life, she would have babies even when she were eighty or more years
old, which would be really unbearable. Due to Allah’s Mercy upon women,
He, Most Gracious, makes ovulation usually goes on until they are only
forty-five or fifty. In other words, ovulation in women is most rightly and
justly designed.

The foregoing examples are spontaneous unprepared ones derived from the
creation of the heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon, and the night
and day. If the day were fifty hours long, while your power were only eight
hours, you would, for example, open your shop for eight hours and then
close it, go home to sleep and have some rest during the day while other
fellow humans would be working. Then, you would come back to resume
work in the shop while others were asleep. If the day were made fifty hours
long, human life would be unbearable. In this context, Allah, the All-Just,
says, “Say (O Muhammad): ‘Tell me! If Allah made the night
continuous for you till the Day of Resurrection, which god besides Allah
could bring you light? Will you not then hear?’ Say: ‘Tell me! If Allah
made the day continuous for you till the Day of Resurrection, which god
besides Allah could bring you night wherein you rest? Will you not then
see?’” [XXVIII; 71,72]

Hence, you should believe that the length of the day and the night, the
distance between the sun, the moon and the earth, and the size of the moon
and the earth are all most rightly and justly designed.

If the earth were five times as greater as it actually is, your weight would be
five times greater than it is, and your movement on the surface of the earth
would be unbearable. This is because man’s weight is proportional with the
size of the earth; and man’s weight on the moon’s surface is 1/6th of his
weight on the earth.

Therefore, the size of the earth, its density, its power of gravity, and its
distance from the sun and the moon while going round the sun in orbit, are
all most right and just. Praised is Allah, Who has created all things most
rightly and justly.
As for crops: if wheat were made to get ripe successively like melons, for
example, we would need to check spikes of grain one by one in order to see
if they have ripened or not. However, all spikes of grain need three months
to ripen and are harvested altogether at one time. As for fruits, they ripen
successively. Hence: “O man! What has made you careless about your
Lord, the Most Generous, Who created you, fashioned you perfectly,
and gave you due proportion? In whatever form He willed, He put you
together.” [LXXXII; 6-8]

Allah, Most Gracious, is All Just in His creation, as He, Glory to Him,
creates all things with Utmost Divine Wisdom and Justness. This is what the
foregoing Quranic Verse tries to reiterate: Allah is All Just in His Creation.

If you get up early in the morning in order to perform the Dawn Prayer, and
then sit down to contemplate and deliberate, this will help you to know Allah
better and to realize particularly that He, Most Gracious, creates and controls
all things with utmost rightness and justness!

Imagine that a melon’s crust were as soft and thin as that of a tomato! You
would never be able to eat a melon, as it would be impossible to carry from
one place to another. And imagine that the peel of a tomato were as thick as
the crust of a melon! It would be nothing but mere crust. However, the size,
outer cover, stature, taste, and sweetness of the different kinds of fruits are
most rightly and justly designed, for our Lord’s Creation is really marvelous.

Man may make mistakes in making sweets by using improper quantities of

ingredients, but our Lord, Allah, the All Just, makes all kinds of fruits, such
as apples, pears, grapes, apricots, figs, dates, …etc, with utmost rightness
and justness.

Therefore, the first meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-‘Adl”

(the All Just) is that He, All Mighty, Most Gracious, is Most Just in His
Creation; i.e. He creates all things most rightly and justly, and with Utmost
Wisdom. To this effect, the Quranic Verse goes, “And it is He, Who has
created the heavens and the earth in the truth, and on the Day (of
Resurrection) He will say: ‘Be!’ and it will be.” [VI; 73] The word “truth”
in this Verse means “Utmost Divine Wisdom, which is Most Right and Just”.
Just contemplate your own body and food, and then contemplate camels and
other animals! In this context, Allah, the All Just, says, “Then let man look
at his food.” [LXXX; 24] “So let man see from what he is created! He is
created from a liquid gushing forth, proceeding from between the
backbone and the ribs. Verily, He (Allah) is Able to bring him back (to
life).” [LXXXVI; 5-8] “Do they not look at the camels: how they are
created, at the heaven: how it is raised, at the mountains: how they are
deeply rooted (and firmly established), and the earth: how it is
outspread?” [LXXXVIII; 17-20]

The foregoing facts are about Allah’s Divine Name “Al-‘Adl” (the All Just)
as manifested by His Creation. Let us now speak about His Name “Al-‘Adl”
(the All Just) as manifested by His Divine Command.

Allah, the All Just, commands you to fast for thirty days, i.e. the whole
month of Ramadan, every year. If He commanded you to fast for six months,
it would be unbearable. This is because the last days of the month of
Ramadan seem so long and hard, as if each day were a whole month. The
fast in Islam is only for thirty days, which is right and just. Allah, the All
Just, commands you to perform prayer only five times a day. If prayers were
fifty, and each one were made up of fifty Rak’as, it would also be
unbearable. In this context, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “Allah burdens not
a self (person) beyond its scope.” [II; 286]

Therefore, the fast is right and just and so is the Zakat (almsgiving), which is
only 2.5% of man’s wealth. The Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca) is also imposed
on Muslims only one time in man’s lifetime. Hence, Islamic Religion is all
right and just. Consider, in this context, laws legislated by human beings.
Some man-legislated taxes are 80-93% of a person’s wealth, which makes
him feel defrauded, wile Islamic Zakat (almsgiving) is only 2.5%, which is
fair and just. In other words, Islamic rituals, such as Salat (prayer), Zakat
(almsgiving), Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), …etc, are all right and just. Not
only Islamic rituals but also Islamic commandments and teachings are all
right and just. Consider Allah’s Command: “Tell the believing men to
lower some of their gaze (from looking at forbidden things).” [XXIV; 30]
If Allah, the All Just, commanded us to lower all of our gaze, altogether, it
would be unbearable, as sometimes we are unintentionally taken by sudden
surprise at seeing something indecent or unlawful, which makes us lower
our gaze after 1/10th of a second. This is most fair and just.

Allah’s Divine Command as regards lowering our gaze is fair and just, and
so is Allah’s Command of Zakat (almsgiving) or the fast. If you are
traveling, it is permissible for you to break the fast. To this effect, Allah, the
All Just, says, “(Observing the Fast is) for a fixed number of days; but if
any of you is ill or on a journey, the same number (should be made up)
from other days.” [II; 184]

Similarly, if you are traveling, you can shorten the Four-Rak’a prayers into
only two-Rak’a ones. According to some Islamic doctrines, such as the
Hanifites, this shortening of prayer is not only permissible but also
obligatory in order to guarantee safety and comfort of travelers. While
traveling, you have to deal with cars, airplanes, trains, airports, schedules,
timetables…etc, which makes you so confused. Therefore, it is permissible
for you to perform prayers both shortened and coupled (the Noon with the
Afternoon Prayers, and the Evening and Late-Evening Prayers). In other
words, Allah, All Mighty, is All Just in both His Divine Creation and
Commands.

Before we go on, we would like to ask: what should man’s attitude be

towards this Divine Name? In our study of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names
we have two main purposes: to get to know Allah, which is the most sublime
and paramount of all human issues. It is most sublime for mankind to know
their Lord, Allah, All Mighty, All Just, Who is the Perfect One with Whom
you can be forever. The second purpose is to obey Allah and be happy by
being intimate to Him and by attaining His Divine Love and Paradise.

If someone desires to get married, he spends quite a long time looking for a
good wife with whom he can live happily all the rest of his life. Someone
said that his wife was born when his mother first began to look for a suitable
wife for him to marry. People also say that the wife is man’s life-long friend
and companion, and has therefore to be chosen very carefully. However, you
live with Allah and in His Divine Company and Mercy forever. Does any
one in the whole existence deserve that you should know him better than
Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious?! Is there any issue that is more serious
than to know Allah, the All Just?! To Him, Alone, do belong the Most
Beautiful Names, so call Him thereby. When you invoke: [“O Allah, the
Most Merciful!”, “O Allah, the All-Rich!”, “O Allah, The All Mighty!],
should you not know the meanings of such Divine Names of Allah, with
which you invoke Him?!

A great many people are inflicted with some diseases, and if doctors address
one of them: “There is no hope for recovery!” he collapses, simply because
he does not know that Allah is Able to cure him no matter how incurable his
disease might be, and no matter how definitive doctors’ opinions might be. It
is Allah Who creates strength from weakness, ease from difficulty, and hope
from despair. When man invokes: “O Allah, the All-Powerful!” but feels
desperate, this means that he does not know what Allah’s Beautiful Divine
Name “the All-Powerful” means. What I would like to reiterate in this
context is that if you firmly believe that Allah, All Mighty, is Able to cure
you, even without any substantial means, of the most serious diseases or
illnesses, this means that you are a true believer, as true faith knows no
despair. Knowledgeable religious scholars invoke: “O Lord! There can be
no distress so long as you are the Lord!” In other words, man should never
suffer so long as Allah is there, he should never fear anything so long as
Allah is there to help him and provide him with power and good health.
Consider what the holy Prophet, Abraham, (PBUH), said to his people: “He
(Abraham) said: ‘Do you see that which you have been worshipping –
you and your ancient fathers? Verily, they are enemies to me, save the
Lord of all worlds, Who has created me, Who guides me, Who provides
me with food and drink, Who – when I am ill – cures me, Who will
cause me to die and then will bring me to life (again), and Who, I hope,
will forgive me my faults on the Day of Recompense. My Lord! Grant
me good judgment and join me with the righteous! Grant me an
honorable mention in later generations! And make me one of the
inheritors of the Garden of Bliss (Paradise)!” [XXVI; 75-85]

Yes, indeed! It is He, Allah, and none but Allah, Who creates, guides,
provides, cures, brings to life, causes to die, and forgives. Such is the Lord
of all worlds! And therefore: “O Lord! There can be no distress so long as
you are the Lord!” Once again, I reiterate that a true believer in Allah
should never be distressed, simply because the Almighty Lord, Allah, is
always with him. He should think well of Him and put all his trust in Him.
In this context, the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And Allah said: ‘I am
with you if you perform prayer, give alms, believe in My Messengers,
honor and assist them, and lend a good loan to Allah, verily, I will
expiate your sins and admit you into Gardens, underneath which rivers
flow (in Paradise). But if any of you, after this, disbelieves, he has indeed
gone astray from the Straight Path.” [V; 12]

It happens sometimes that a powerful and influential person promises

another: “I am with you! Don’t be afraid! I’ll help you! Here is my phone
number!” Such a promise provides the latter with a feeling of confidence
and security although the former may, for some reason or another, fail to
help him. But with the Almighty Lord, Allah, Glory to Him, things are
different and His Divine Promise of Help and Security will certainly come
true. Once again, I repeat Allah’s Words, “Indeed, Allah took the covenant
from the children of Israel, and We appointed twelve leaders among
them. And Allah said: ‘I am with you if you perform prayer, give alms,
believe in My Messengers, honor and assist them, and lend a good loan
to Allah, verily, I will expiate your sins and admit you into Gardens,
underneath which rivers flow (in Paradise). But if any of you, after this,
disbelieves, he has indeed gone astray from the Straight Path.” [V; 12]

Now, why should you study Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes?
The answer is simply: in order to attain happiness by them, in order to know
that Allah is Most Merciful, in order to know that Allah is All-Knowing and
watch your steps with Him, in order to know that Allah is Powerful over all
things, in order know that Allah is the Rich, …etc. Therefore, when you get
to know that Allah, All Mighty, is Able to cure you of your disease, you are
never desperate or hopeless.

Why is the rate of suicide so high in some western countries? The answer is:
simply because people of those countries do not know Allah through His
Divine Names and Attributes. However, in most Islamic countries, where
life is not so comfortable or luxurious, the rate of suicide is remarkably
low!! The reason is, of course, belief in Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious!

At the university, our professor of psychology, who had attended a

conference in Europe about psychological disorders, told us: “During the
conference, I delivered a speech in which I mentioned that the rate of
psychological disorders in our countries is very low, simply because we
believe in Allah and are contented with His Divine Decree and
Foreordainment.” In fact, a true Muslim is someone who surrenders himself
to his Lord, Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, saying, “This is what
Allah wills. This is Allah’s Will. Whatever Allah wills is, and whatever He
does not will is not.” This protects him from all kinds of psychological
stresses or disorders. The most beautiful Prophetic Hadith in this context is
that narrated by the venerable Companion, Ussamah, may Allah be pleased
with him, who said: I was with the Prophet, (PBUH), together with Sa’ad
and Ubai Bin Ka’ab, when a messenger from one of his daughters came to
inform him that her son was dying. Therefore, the Prophet, (PBUH), sent
her, “To Allah does belong whatever He (Allah) takes, and to Allah does
belong whatever He (Allah) gives. Every one has an end appointed (by
the Lord). Therefore, she should be patient and seek Allah’s Good
Recompense (in the Hereafter for her son’s death).” [A true Hadith that is
agreed upon] Yes indeed! All things belong to Allah. Whatever He takes
away is definitely His, and whatever He gives, out of His Grace, is also
definitely His. If you firmly believe in this fact, you have no problems in the
life of this present world.

The death of a young child in a family whose faith in Allah is weak and
inadequate causes unbearable pains and sorrows, while a venerable
Companion whose son was seriously ill came back home worriedly to ask
about him. He asked his wife anxiously, “How is the child?” She answered
calmly, “He is very quiet and peaceful. Don’t worry.” The father’s anxieties
subsided, and he understood from her words that the child was very well.
She prepared food for him and, as some narrations go, adorned herself well
enough to please him and allow no fear or worry to creep onto him that
night. Next morning, she told him, “If our neighbors lend us something and
then get it back, do you get angry with them?” “No! Of course not!” He
replied. “This is exactly what Allah did with our child.” Of course she meant
to tell him that the child was dead, but she did so with utmost care, wisdom
and faith in the Lord, Allah, Most Gracious. The man, of course, received
the news with true faith and contentment. He went to Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), and told him what happened and what his wife did. Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), said, “May Allah make your night (which you spent
with your wife) a blessed one.” And it is related that after that he had
another son, whose ten children were all reciters of the Holy Quran.

Such is the death of a child in a Muslim family, while the death of a child in
an unbelieving family may quite often drive the mother crazy or mad.

Therefore, knowledge of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes is

meant to provide us with happiness. Moreover, you are actually with the
Lord, Allah, and will be forever and, therefore, it is most wise to know Him
before it is too late, it is most wise to know him while you are still healthy
and wealthy in this present world, and before the Resurrection Day is come.

Another thing: What should your attitude be towards this Divine Name? You
are a believer, so what benefit should you get from Allah’s Divine Names?
In fact, your share of this Divine Name is to be moderate, just and right, i.e.
to beware of going to extremes as regards affairs and enjoyments of the life
of this present world. In other words, as a true believer, you should have a
balanced stance between exaggeration and negligence.

We might quite often find someone who is a Don Juan, or a so-called

philanderer, who is involved up to his ears in illegal sexual relations, who is
extremely aggressive against other people’s honor and dignity, and who is
completely irreligious and immoral. On the other hand, we might, also quite
often, find someone like the man whose wife came to complain about him to
the venerable Companion and Caliph, Omar Bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be
pleased with him, saying: “O Commander of the Faithful! My husband is
constantly fasting and standing up the night in prayer.” Unnoticing that the
woman was actually not praising her husband but rather complaining about
him, Omar Bin Al-Khattab said, “May Allah bless your husband!” But
someone drew Omar’s attention saying, “O Commander of the Faithful! She
is not praising her husband but rather complaining about him.” Therefore,
Omar summoned the man and advised him, “Verily, your wife has a right on
you.”

Books of history also relate another story about a woman who entered upon
the Prophet’s venerable wife, ‘A’isha, may Allah be pleased with her. The
woman was so miserably and carelessly dressed that ‘A’ishah asked what
was wrong with her. The woman said that her husband was so religiously
devoted that he forgot about her altogether and never thought of or cared for
her. In the day, he would be fasting and in the night standing up for prayer.
Also, the Prophet, (PBUH), summoned the woman’s husband and asked
him, “Do you not take me for your good model? You should give your
wife her due rights.” The next day, the woman came to “A’ishah with a
good apparel and nice smell; and when “A’ishah asked her what had
happened between her husband and her the night before, she answered
happily, “Well, We did what all other married people should usually do.”

Therefore, when we get to know Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-“Adl”

(the All Just), we know how to color ourselves with such good qualities and
manners that please our Lord, Allah, in the light of this Divine Name of
Allah’s. That is why religious scholars say that we should beware of
extremes of both exaggeration and negligence. We should always be
moderate. We should always be right and just. In this context, Allah, the All-
Just, praises those who are moderate and just, saying, “And those who
guard their private parts (i.e. chastity from illegal sexual acts), except
for their wives or (the slaves) that their right hands possess – for then,
they are free from blame; but whosoever seeks beyond that, then those
are the transgressors.” [XXIII; 5-7] Such is the right, moderate and just
attitude as regards your relationship with your wife.

As for your relationship with your children, beware of giving them things
that spoil them or deprive them of things in such a way as to make them hate
you. Give each and every one of them their due financial, social and
emotional rights. In this context, Hind Bint ‘Utbah told Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), “Verily, Abu Soufian is a niggardly man, and he does not give me
enough money for me or for my son to spend, but I take some of his money
without his knowing that. Am I sinful about that?” Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), answered, “Take only what suffices you and your son with
justice.”

In times of anger, you should be careful of both reckless courage and weak
cowardice, as they are both illaudable extremes. You should stand
somewhere in between recklessness and cowardice. You should also be
careful not only of being cunning, malicious, tricky, or sly, but also of being
naïve, stupid, or idiotic. You should be confined by Omar’s saying, “I am
not an imposter, but an imposter can never deceive me.” You should not
be stupid enough to be deceived nor malicious enough to deceive others. In
this context, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And thus, We have made you a
moderate nation”, i.e. in a right and just position between illaudable
extremes of exaggeration or negligence.

As regards bringing up your children, it is easy to be too authoritarian and

dictatorial or too lenient and tolerant. The right and just thing to do is stand
in between both extremes. In this context, Abu Hurairah, may Allah be
please with him, quoted Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), as saying, “Teach, but
do not reproach. Verily, someone who teaches is far better than someone
who reproaches.”

Also, you should not give your children free reign or allow them to go
beyond proper bounds. The right and just thing is to keep your children in a
balanced state of fear and hope with you. This is very accurate as it stands
between two illaudable extremes. In other words, you should not be too
lenient, lest you should be squeezed, nor too hard, lest you should be broken.
The right and just thing is to leave the rope between you and other people
loose and flexible. You should be lenient or hard when it is both necessary
and proper to be as such. People around you should have adequate fear and
hope towards you. In this context, Allah, Most Gracious, addresses Muslims,
saying, “And thus, We have made you a moderate nation, that you may
be witnesses over mankind, and that the Messenger (Muhammad) be a
witness over you.” [II; 143]

Now, after having spoken about Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-‘Adl”
(the All Just) as manifested in His Divine Creation and Commandment, we
have to consider this Name as manifested in His Divine Acts. In this context,
you should know for sure that Allah’s Absolute Divine Justice dominates the
whole universe. However, you might be asked: someone is honest,
trustworthy and straightforward in his business. His prices are right and just
and so is quality of his goods. But suddenly, he might be unjustly fined, his
goods might be confiscated and he might be even taken to jail. Is not this
apparently both unjust and unfair?!

The answer to this question is: This particular incident is, on the face of it,
unjust and unfair. But if you go deeper into the man’s life with his family,
children, neighbors, those who are inferior or superior to him, if you take all
things into consideration, you will certainly find absolute justice in that
which has happened to him.

A seemingly strange incident took place about ten years ago. Two men had a
row in one of the markets of Damascus city. One of them shot the other with
a gun, but the bullet missed him and hit another innocent man, who had just
looked out his shop to see what the matter was, in his backbone and caused
him immediate paralysis.

A man stopped me saying, “O master! You teach us about Allah’s Justice,

but what wrong has such innocent person done? He is a righteous man who
has opened his shop in order to earn a living. He has done nothing wrong.
He heard people quarrel and stretched his head out only to see what was
wrong when suddenly the bullet penetrated his backbone and caused him
immediate paralysis. Where is Allah’s Justice?” I answered: “I swear by
Allah that I firmly believe that Allah is All Just, but you have told me only
one part of the man’s story. Neither you nor I know the whole story. There
must be something that neither you nor I know about the man. I surrender to
Allah’s Infinite Divine Justice.”
I swear by Allah All Mighty! I was later to know the whole story about the
man, for a friend of mine told me the following story: We once had a
neighbor who was the custodian over the wealth of his dead brother’s orphan
children. When they grew up, he refused to pay them a big amount that had
been under his custody: twenty thousand Pounds, which was at that time
enough money to buy a big house. The children went to a religious scholar,
whose name was Sheikh Houssain Khattab, to complain about what their
uncle had done. The Sheikh summoned the uncle to ask him about his dead
brother’s children’s complaint. The latter denied the whole story and refused
to give them back their due rights. However, the Sheikh advised the children
not to call their uncle to court, as it would not be fitting for them to do so.
He said, “My children! He is your uncle, and it does not befit you to call him
to court. Just invoke Allah against him.” It was eight o’clock in the evening
when the Sheikh told the orphan children to invoke Allah, All Mighty,
against their uncle; and it was the very next morning when the uncle put his
head out of his shop to see what was going on and when he was shot and
paralyzed.

Another symbolic story goes: A kite once requested the holy Prophet,
Solomon, (PBUH), “Ask your Lord, Allah, whether He is Slow or Hasty (in
punishment). We want to move and act.” Solomon asked the Lord, and the
Lord said, “Tell the kite that I am Slow, not Hasty.” Some time later, the
kite saw some people grilling some meat on a fire. It seized a piece of meat
and flew with it back to its nest. But a piece of live coal stuck to the meat
and set the kite’s nest on fire. The kite went to Solomon, complaining, “O
wise Solomon! Did you not tell me that Allah is Slow (in punishment). This
is not true. He is Hasty.” Solomon told Allah about what the kite said, but
Allah said, “Tell her that this was an old account!”
A man told me: “Is it reasonable that Allah should punish me for a sin that I
have not so far committed?” I answered: “Such punishment might be for an
old sin. You must believe in Allah’s Infinite Divine Justice!”

In the same context, Qatadah quoted Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), as saying,

“A person is not afflicted with a prick, a slip of foot, or tremor of vein,
except for a (certain) sin (that they have committed); and that which
Allah forgives is much more (than that for which He punishes).”

I was once with a friend of mine in his car. While he was driving he had an
accident in which he caused a lot of damage to another car. I expected the
owner of the damaged car to be furious and quarrelsome, but all he did was
that he got out of the car, examined it, and then said quietly, “It is alright. I
don’t want anything of you.” I was greatly surprised, as I had not expected
the man to be so calm and polite, because the accident caused a lot of
damage to his car. When my friend came back to his car, he had some
teardrops on his cheeks, as he was apparently touched by the other man’s
gentle attitude. I asked, “What’s the matter? Why are you so touched?” He
said affectedly, “About a year ago, I had a car accident with someone who
did a lot of damage to my car. When I got out of my car to see what had
happened, I noticed that some respectable veiled women were in the car, and
because I did not desire to put the man and the women with him into any
trouble, I said quietly and politely, ‘It’s alright. I don’t want anything of
you.’ In other words, our Lord, Allah, made this man treat me as kindly and
politely as I treated the other man a year ago. Allah dealt with me in the
same way as I dealt with others.” In this context, I would like to reiterate that
we should believe in the saying: “Do as you like, because as you do so shall
you be rewarded.”

Righteous work is never made to waste, a sin is never forgotten, and the
Judge, Allah, never passes away. Do whatever you like, and you will be duly
rewarded. If you are obedient and dutiful to your parents, Allah, Most
Gracious, inspires your children to be obedient and dutiful to you. If you
serve other fellow humans, they will also serve you. In this context, Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), bade the venerable Companion, Bilal, may Allah be
pleased with him, “O Bilal! Spend (of your wealth) and do not fear
straitening of the Owner of the Throne (Allah).” He, (PBUH), also said,
“Spend (of your wealth), and Allah will spend on you (i.e. provide you
more).” By the way, I am sure that my dear readers know lots of stories,
similar to those mentioned above, which confirm the fact that whatever you
do will be duly recompensed by the Lord, All Mighty, and that do whatever
you like, as you will be duly rewarded for it.

Here is another story that I always like to relate: A man and his woman were
deeply in love with each other. One day, while they were eating chicken,
they heard a knock on their door. When the woman opened the door, she
found a beggar standing at the door begging for some food. She was about to
give him some of the chicken she and her husband were eating but her
husband reproached her violently and prevented her from giving the poor
man anything, saying, “Send him away!” The woman did as her husband
bade her to do. Years passed, and things went wrong between the rich man
and his wife, and they got divorced. Some years later, the woman married
another man and lived happily with him. While she was with her second
husband eating chicken one day, the same thing happened again: there was a
knock on their door. When the woman opened the door, she was greatly
shocked. Her new husband asked her, “What’s the matter?” “It is a beggar!”
She answered. The husband asked, “What’s wrong with that?” “Nothing!
But do you know who it is? It is my ex-husband!” The woman replied. “Do
you know who I am?” The second husband said, “I am the beggar who came
to ask you for food long ago!”

Of course, the foregoing stories are meant to teach us lessons; and I am sure
that nothing could ever happen in the world except by Allah’s Divine Will
and according to His Infinite Divine Wisdom and Justice. If you sometimes
listen to a story or an incident that may seemingly include any injustice, it is
advisable to think, “Well, I know only one chapter of the story; there still
remain other chapters that I do not know. If I knew the whole story, I would
find out Absolute Divine Wisdom and Justice lurking behind it. In other
words, you should know all the details of incidents and not be too hasty in
making judgments. You should always say, “Allah knows best. Allah is Fully
Aware of the affairs of His slaves. Allah is the One Who sees all things.
Allah is the One Who knows, but we do not.”

You have to know for sure that Allah is All Just in His Creation, Commands,
and Acts. All His Divine Acts are Right and Just. I reiterate: “A person is
not afflicted with a prick, a slip of foot, or tremor of vein, except for a
(certain) sin (that they have committed); and that which Allah forgives
is much more (than that for which He punishes).” Another thing:
“And whatever of misfortune befalls you, it is because of what your
hands have earned; and He (Allah) pardons a lot.” [XLII; 30] “And
those towns: We destroyed them when they did wrong; and We
appointed a fixed time for their destruction.” [XVIII; 59]

Sometimes, you hear about an earthquake that hits a certain place. Such
earthquake could be materialistically understood as a kind of disturbance in
the crust of the earth. The Richter scale can measure its strength. Aghadeer, a
city in North Africa, for example, used to be one of the most beautiful places
on the Atlantic Ocean in North Africa. But it was a place for indecent and
immoral practices: nude clubs, nightclubs, prostitution and fornication,
among lots of other sinful things and activities. In only a few seconds, a big
earthquake turned the whole city into mere ruins. In this context, I firmly
believe that earthquakes are all subject to Allah’s Divine Wisdom. To this
effect, Allah All Mighty, All Wise, says, “And Allah puts forward the
example of a township that dwelt secure and well-content: its provision
coming to it in abundance from everywhere; but it denied the Favors of
Allah, so Allah made it taste extreme hunger and fear because of that
which they (its people) used to do.” [XVI; 112]

To wrap up, Allah is All Just in His Creation, Commands, and Acts; and we,
as true believers, should stand in the middle between two illaudable
extremes, exaggeration and negligence, in all of our attitudes and deeds.

* * *

(The Most Forbearing)

N ow, we go ahead to the twenty-first of Allah’s Beautiful Divine

Names, “Al-Haleem” (the Most Forbearing). It is well known that
some of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names cannot be attributed to any
of His human slaves, such as “Al-Khaliq” (The Creator), while others, such
as “Ar-Raheem” (the Merciful), “Al-Haleem” (the Forbearing) and
“Al-“’Afou” (the Pardoner), can be attributed to them. It is remarkable that
Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), confirms that: “Forbearance is the best of all
manners.” And it has also been said: “A forbearing person is almost a
Prophet.”

But what is such quality that makes a person almost a Prophet? It is

undoubtedly forbearance, which is the best of all manners. And Allah, All
Mighty, is also “Haleem” (i.e. Most Forbearing). To this effect, the Quranic
Verse goes, “And if Allah were to punish people for that which they
earned, He would not leave a moving living creature on its (the earth’s)
surface; but He gives them respite to an appointed term; and when their
term is come, then verily, Allah is Ever All-Seer of His slaves.” [XXXV;
45]

This Quranic Verse shows clearly that Allah, All Mighty, is “Haleem” (i.e.
Most Forbearing). The words “And if Allah were to punish people for that
which they earned” means that people are wrong doers and that they should
be punished, so how can this Divine Name be defined? There is a wrong
doer, and there is a punishment for such wrongdoing, but how is Allah’s
Forbearance manifested? There is a wrong doer or a disobedient, and there is
a certain punishment for such wrongdoing or disobedience. But Allah is
Most Forbearing in the sense that He delays punishment. But why does
Allah, All Mighty, delay punishment? This is a very good question! If Allah
were to hasten punishment for every sinner or wrongdoer, there would be no
forbearance. Also, if Allah, All Mighty, delays punishment for wrongdoers in
order to punish them later on, that would be a kind of rancor, which does not
befit Allah, Most Gracious, because someone who harbors feelings of hatred
or rancor may delay punishment for some reason or another. He might be
weak, and his weakness might fill his heart with rancor or hatred. He might
be strong and powerful, but he would like to delay punishment in order to
allow the wrongdoer to do more wrongdoing and hence to deserve the
severest punishment. In other words, when someone delays punishment for
wrongdoers because he is weak and unable to punish them for the time
being, this means that he is rancorous; and when he delays punishment in
order to make the wrongdoer fall in more grievous wrongdoing and in order
to increase punishment for him, this is also rancorous. This means that there
are two types of rancorous people: weak and strong ones.

But delay of punishment on Allah’s part has nothing to do with rancor at all.
When Allah cancels punishment altogether, He does so because He is
Forgiving and Pardoning. When He delays punishment in order to give the
wrongdoer a respite to reform and repent, He does so because He is
Forbearing.

In order to make things clear, let us have the following example: Schools are
usually meant to be establishments for education and teaching good manners
and values. They have certain regulations that maintain discipline and good
order. But an intolerant authoritarian principal will probably lose a lot of his
students. In other words, since the purpose of establishing schools is noble
and sublime, principals have to be understanding, tolerant and forbearing;
otherwise schools will be a great failure. A principal should by no means be
authoritarian, hasty or conformist if he really desires his school to be
successful. That is why Allah, All Mighty, Most Forbearing, says, “And had
it not been for a Word that went forth, before, from your Lord, and a
term appointed, (their punishment) must necessarily have come (in this
present world).” [XX; 129] But what is such Word, without which Allah
must necessarily have hastened punishment for wrongdoers and destroyed
them? What is the Word for which Allah delays punishment and destruction
for sinners and wrongdoers? What is it? It is Allah’s Divine Mercy! Allah
desires to mercy them! To this effect, in a Divine Hadith, Allah, Most
Forbearing, says, “My Mercy overrides My Anger! My Mercy embraces
all things!” In His Holy Quran, Allah, Most Gracious, also says, “And My
Mercy embraces all things, but I shall ordain it for the pious who give
the alms and those who believe in Our Signs.” [VII; 156] “Except him on
whom your Lord has bestowed His Mercy; and for that did He (Allah)
create them (mankind). And the Word of your Lord has been fulfilled:
‘Surely, I shall fill Hell with jinn and mankind all together.” [XI; 119]
“Say (O Muhammad): ‘My Lord pays attention to you only because of
your invocation (to Him). But now, you have indeed denied (Him), so the
torment will be yours for ever.” [XXV; 77]

Unless there is hope that you may know your Lord, Allah, and invoke Him,
unless there is hope that you may repent and reform, and unless there is hope
that you may evade punishment, your Lord, Allah, would never care for you
but, rather, He would punish you and cause you to perish.

Therefore, one of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names is that He is “Al-Haleem”

(the Most Forbearing). It is well known to all Muslims that Al-Hudaibiyah
peace treaty seems, on the face of it, a kind of humiliation to Muslims, as it
included a lot of concessions on the part of Muslims despite their strong
position. Some of the Prophet’s venerable Companions considered such
concessions as a kind of humiliation and surrender, and they were greatly
amazed at the Prophet’s attitude of accepting the treaty. When he noticed his
Companions’ rejection of the treaty, the Prophet, (BPUH), said, “I do what
my Lord commands me to do: to accept this peace treaty.” Soon Later,
Divine Revelation came down from the Lord, All Mighty: “And were it not
for believing men and women, whom you did not know, that you may
kill them and hence, because of (killing) them unknowingly, may
commit a (horrible) sin.” [XLVIII; 25]

In Mecca, there were men and women who believed in Islam but kept their
belief secret as they were living among pagans of Mecca and, therefore,
could not announce their conversion to Islam, lest they should be persecuted
or even killed. It was Allah, Alone, Who knew about such secret Muslims in
Mecca, so He, Most Gracious, desired to delay the conquest of Mecca by
Muslims and bade His Messenger, (PBUH), to accept the peace treaty
offered by pagans of Mecca, although such treaty seemed to be humiliating
to Muslims. Allah did so in order to give those Muslims who concealed their
Islam in Mecca the chance to announce their conversion to Islam. Hence,
Allah is Most Forbearing.

In this context, in a Divine Hadith, Allah, Most Forbearing, says, “O My

slave! You have an obligation to fulfill for Me, and I have provision to
provide for you. Even if you fail to fulfill your obligation for Me, I never
fail to provide provision for you.” He, Most Gracious, also says, “If they
(My slaves) repent, I am their Lover, but if they do not repent, I am
their Physician: I afflict them with disasters in order to purify them
from sins and defects.”

Some of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names have t do with His Divine Self,
some with His Divine Attributes, and some with His Divine Acts. Which
type does Allah’s Name “Al-Haleem” (the Most Forbearing) belong to?

Since Allah delays punishment for wrongdoers, his Name “Al-Haleem” (the
Most Forbearing) has to do with His Divine Acts. This is because Allah,
Most Gracious, loves all of His slaves. To this effect, a Divine Hadith goes,
“If those who turn away from Me knew how earnestly I wait for them
and look forward to their repentance of their sins, they would turn to
pieces in Love for Me, and they would die of eagerness to (meet) Me.”
To the same effect, Jesus addresses his Lord, Allah, saying, “You know
what is in my inner-self, but I do not know what is in Your inner-Self.
Verily, You are the All-Knower of all that is hidden (and unseen).” [V;
116]

Sometimes a person does not punish a wrongdoer, but he burns with anger
from inside, saying “I wish I could tear him up into pieces!” This is by no
means forbearance. Forbearance is manifested clearly when one’s heart is
filled with peace and tranquility and has no rancor or hatred against his
enemies or wish to destroy them.

An ordinary believer who is forbearing has a heart that is pure, peaceful and
free from rancor or hatred. So how would it be with Allah, Lord of all
worlds?! Therefore, when you hear or read in Prophetic Hadith or the Holy
Quran that Allah is Angry with or curses someone, you should know that
Allah does not actually hates His slave but only his sins and misdeeds, and
curses only His slave’s sins and misdeeds. Allah loves His slaves just like a
mother loves her son when he returns to the right way. I once told the story
of a knowledgeable scholar, called Thun-Noon Al-Masri, who felt depressed,
confused and lost. He asked, “Where is my heart gone? Where is my heart
lost?” While he was wandering in his hometown, he suddenly saw a door
open and a mother beating her son severely, throwing him out of the house,
and closing the door behind him. The boy sat crying, as he felt desperate and
helpless. When his mother sent him away, he did not know where to go, who
to ask for food or shelter, or where to sleep. All he could do was sit at his
mother’s door crying and beseeching her to open the door for him. The boy’s
compassionate mother, who was watching him from a hole in the door,
suddenly opened the door and took her boy in her arms saying, “My love!
My love! It was you who forced me to do this to you! Had you obeyed me, I
would have never done you any harm!” When the scholar saw the
compassionate mother embrace her son and kiss him lovingly, he said, “I’ve
found my heart! I’ve found my heart!”

Hence, “Al-Haleem” (the Most Forbearing) is one of Allah’s Names that

have to do with His Divine Acts. It means that He delays punishment for the
sinners and wrongdoers. It can also be used to refer to Allah’s Divine Self or
Attributes in the sense that He, Most Forbearing, does not have any initial
rancor or hatred against any of His slaves.

In the same context, in a Divine Hadith, Allah says, “O My slaves! I have

forbidden injustice for Myself, and I have made it forbidden among you.
O My slaves! If the first and last and the jinn and humans from among
you had the heart of the most pious and dutiful one of you, this would
increase nothing in My Kingdom. O My slaves! If the first and last and
the jinn and humans from among you had the heart of the most
profligate one of you, this would decreases nothing from My Kingdom.
O My slaves! If the first and last and the jinn and humans from among
you stood in one line to ask Me and I gave each and every one what they
ask for, this would not decrease a thing of that which I have except as a
needle would take from the ocean if it were dipped therein.” [Narrated by
Muslim on authority of Abu Thar] In His Holy Quran, Allah says, “And
Moses said: ‘If you disbelieve, you and all those on earth together, then
verily, Allah is Self-Sufficient (Free from all needs), Owner of all
Praise.” [XIV; 8] He, All Mighty, also says, “He (Allah) likes not disbelief
for His slaves; and if you are grateful (by being believers), He is pleased
therewith for you.” [XXXXIX; 7]

Allah, Most Forbearing, desires to make Himself known to us, so He has

made the family system that overtly consists of father, mother, children, and
bringing up, but is covertly meant to know Allah by way of similitude. Let’s
have another more general example: How does Allah make the food that we
eat, i.e. meat? Due to His Divine Wisdom, He makes the animal’s stature
similar to that of a human being. Not every one of us is a physician, and not
every one of us can see what is inside a human being: stomach, liver,
intestines, lungs, heart, veins, arteries, muscles, nerves, glands, kidneys,
brain, eye, bladder, ureter, …etc. But we see all of these parts of body every
day at a butcher’s shop, where we can see and buy all of these things. At a
butcher’s, we can see the different parts of the body. We buy a brain in order
to eat it, but we should remember that it is the factory where the red blood
corpuscles are made. It is due to Allah’s Infinite Divine Wisdom that He has
made animals’ bodies like the human body. Those who do not go to a faculty
of medicine can see the human body at a butcher’s.

Let’s go back to the parental system of the family. The father sometimes
neglects himself for the sake of his children and in order to satisfy their
needs, and so does the mother. Although the children are, quite often,
impolite, rude, and disobedient to their parents, the parents’ hearts are so
strongly attached to their children. Whenever a disobedient child returns to
his father or mother with repentance, he/she is most warmly accepted and
welcomed.

I think that the parental system in the family has another purpose than only
bringing up of children. It is meant to help us know Allah, All Mighty, Most
Gracious, by way of similitude. A father or mother does not have any rancor
or hatred towards their children. On the contrary, parents are ready to
sacrifice everything for their children and their happiness. In this context,
someone was asking Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), “How is it possible for
Allah, the Most Merciful and Most Gracious, to cast a human being into
Hell-Fire?” At that moment, a woman was standing aside with her beloved
baby, kissing it tenderly. Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), asked the man, “Is it
possible for that woman to cast her baby into the fire?” “Of course not!”
The man replied. Allah’s Messenger said, “I swear by the One Who has
Muhammad’s soul in His Hand! Allah is more Merciful to His slave
than that woman is to her baby!”

A loving father does not forsake his child, nor does a loving mother whose
heart is full of love and compassion. But who has imbedded such amazingly
great mercy and tenderness in the heart of the mother, who gets up several
times in the night for the sake of her little baby, who cries earnestly if
anything goes wrong with it, and who desires to give it her food, health and
life? Hence, the family system has two goals, to bring up children and, more
importantly, to know something about Allah’s Infinite Divine Mercy.

Sometimes, you see a horrible accident in which Allah’s Infinite Divine

Mercy and Care are manifested clearly, for everybody is safe and well. Quite
often, Allah’s Infinite Divine Mercy and Care make difficult things easy and
turn distress into happiness and despair into hope. To this effect, the verses
go:
Many a catastrophe a fellow may fail to bear,
With Allah is the way out thereof.
It had befallen, but after its rings had been so tightly wrought,
It was so easily, though so unexpectedly, unwrought.

Al-Khandaq Battle (the Ditch Battle) is not unknown to you, dear reader. In
this battle, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, desired to test truthfulness,
perseverance, endurance and sincerity of true believers. To this effect, the
Quranic Verses go, “O you who believe! Remember Allah’s Favor to you:
when there came against you hosts, and We sent against them a wind
and forces that you saw not. And Allah is Ever All-Seer of what you do.
When they came upon you from above you and from below you, and
when the eyes grew wild and the hearts reached the throats, and you
were harboring doubts about Allah. There, the believers were tried and
shaken with a mighty shaking. And when the hypocrites and those in
whose hearts is an ailment (of doubts) said: ‘Allah and His Messenger
promised us nothing but delusion.” [XXXIII; 9-12] But afterwards, Allah,
Most Forbearing, was Most Merciful to true believers, as He, All Mighty,
honored them and granted them His Divine Help and Victory, although it
seemed to believers that Islam was about to be eradicated from the surface of
the earth, because that battle was not a matter of victory or defeat but of
existence, i.e. to be or not to be, as is the case with all decisive battles.

I reiterate that Allah, All Mighty, is Most Forbearing; and it is well known
that He loves perfection, that He is Good and accepts only good things, that
He loves laudable things. In this context, dear readers should not understand
from my words that Allah likes to be praised. Nay! He only loves perfection.
He loves work that makes man praiseworthy. He loves forbearance He loves
mercy. He loves equity. And He loves justice.

It is also well known that Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), is the

best human being and the most beloved to the Lord, Allah, All Mighty.
During his lifetime, a woman committed adultery and, therefore, had to be
punished by stoning. Her people came to the most beloved man to Allah’s
Messenger, Usamah Bin Zaid, may Allah be please with him, asking him to
intercede with him for her. Usamah came shyly to Allah’s Messenger asking
him to have mercy on the woman. Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), turned red
with anger and said, “O Usamah! Do you intercede in one of Allah’s
Divine Punishments?!” Another story goes:
Narrated ‘A’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that the tribe of Quraish
were concerned about the woman, from Makhzoom, who had stolen, and
wondered who would talk to Allah’s Messenger for her. They said, “Who
dare do so except Usamah Bin Zaid, whom he loves so much?” They went to
Usamah, who, in turn, went to Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), and talked to
him for the woman. Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said angrily, “O Usamah!
Do you intercede in one of Allah’s Divine Punishments?!” Then, he
(PBUH), stood up among his Companions saying, “Verily, those who were
before you were destroyed because when an eminent person from
among them stole, they would leave him go (unpunished); but if an
insignificant one stole, they would punish him. I swear by Allah! Even if
Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad, were to steal, I would cut her hand
off!” [Sahih Al-Bukhari]

Allah does love work that entails praise to its doer. He loves good noble
manners. “Verily, Allah is Most Generous; and He loves generosity. He
loves Sublime issues and abhors lowly ones.” [Narrated by Al-Khara’iti on
authority of Talhah Bin ‘Ubaidillah Bin Kuraiz]

In fact, Allah loves you to be noble and highly respected by people.

Allah, All Mighty, loves those who are forbearing, because He is Most
Forbearing, i.e. the Forbearing loves those who are as such. That is why our
relationship with this Divine Name, “Al-Haleem” (the Most Forbearing), is
that we should always be forbearing. But how can we be forbearing? This is
a very important question.

Since Allah, All Mighty, loves all good qualities, one of which is
forbearance, how can I be forbearing? In fact, contemplation on this Divine
Name, “Al-Haleem” (the Most Forbearing), enables us to be forbearing.
Another way is to feign forbearance, i.e. to simulate being forbearing.

Each and every one of us has got a certain status with Allah. Suppose a low-
status person had to face a provocative situation: for example, after a long
day of hunger, toil and trouble, he entered his home to find that his wife had
gone to visit her family without his permission and had made no food for
him. An ordinary person may reproach his wife severely, call her bad names
and even beat her. But what does a true believer do? Allah, Most Gracious,
says, “…and those who repress anger and pardon (other) people; and
verily, Allah loves the good-doers.” [III; 134] In this Verse, Allah, the Most
Forbearing, praises repression of anger and encourages His slaves to it.
Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), also encourages Muslims to simulate
forbearance even though they might not really be forbearing. He invites
them to control themselves at times of anger and to simulate forbearance
even though they might be burning from inside like a volcano. They should
feign being forbearing and show adequate patience. This is simulated
forbearance. But if you ask yourself, “Why did I suppress my anger?” you
answer yourself, “For the sake of Allah and because I love Him and seek His
Divine Love, because I would like to be intimate to Him, because I would
like to obey His Messenger. One time after another, you feel that Allah, Most
Gracious, loves you and is pleased with you if you covenant Him to be
forbearing.

Moreover, once you get connected with Allah, All Mighty, you realize that
good manners are only His and that once He loves a slave of His, He grants
him good manners.

In fact, there are two kinds of forbearance, one that is real and another that is
simulated. The latter kind of forbearance is attainable by suppressing one’s
anger and controlling oneself, despite the great anger and resentment
burning inside.
In this context, the venerable Companion, Abuddarda’, may Allah be pleased
with him, was quoted as saying, “knowledge is acquired by learning, and
forbearance (is also acquired) by simulation of being forbearing.
Goodness is given to those who seek it, and protection is also given to
those who seek it.”

The above saying means that real forbearance is attainable by simulation of

forbearance. In other words, after affecting forbearance one time after
another, you become really forbearing. In this context, it has been rightly
said, “A hero is not someone who commits highway robberies but someone
who is pious and dutiful to the Lord, Allah, All Mighty. To this effect, Abu
Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, quoted Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), as saying, “A strong person is not someone who fights others; a
strong person is someone who controls himself in anger.” Anas Bin
Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, also narrated that Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), passed by a woman crying at a grave. He, (PBUH), addressed her,
“Fear Allah and be patient.” The woman, not knowing who the speaker
was, said, “Leave me alone! You don’t have a disaster as mischievous as
mine!” When she was told that the speaker was Allah’s Messenger, she went
to him and found no gatekeepers. She apologized, “I’m sorry! I did not know
it was you!” He, (PBUH), said, “Patience is but at the first shock.” [Sahih
Al-Bukhari]

A few days ago, a man passed away, and one of his relatives uttered some
angry words that do not befit Allah, All Mighty. After some time, he came
round from his shock and sorrowfully regretted uttering such bad words. In
other words, he failed the test. Yes, indeed! He failed the test, even if he had
apologized a thousand times to the Lord. This is simply because patience is
at the first shock. Upon receiving the painful news of his relative’s death, he
should have said contentedly, “O Lord! Praise belongs to You. We are
content with Your Divine Decree.” Such words reflect real Faith in Allah and
contentment with His Infinite Wisdom and Divine Decree. Such good words
reflect knowledge that Allah is All Wise and that all His Divine Acts bespeak
His Absolute Divine Perfection, Justice and Mercy.

Therefore, forbearance is attained by constant simulation of being forbearing

under all circumstances. Simulated forbearance, which is that of beginners,
leads in the end to real forbearance. In other words, long sincere honest
faithful strife to be forbearing is inevitably conducive to real forbearance. If
you were to open the heart of a true believer, you would find it filled with
peace and forbearance. When once a man addressed one of the Prophet’s
venerable Companions with severe provocative words, the latter said calmly,
“If what you say about me is true, I beseech Allah to forgive me. But if
what you say about me is not true, I beseech Allah to forgive you.”

A lot of people destroy their future with their severe irrational reactions
when they are enraged. Someone divorced his wife, from whom he had three
children, and, thus, committed a terrible crime.

A businessman had a row with one of his employees, so he sacked him. In

the employer’s warehouses, there were some smuggled goods. Therefore, the
employee informed the authorities, who confiscated the goods and fined the
employer 600,000 in the year 1970, i.e. more than six million pounds these
days. The employer, who got furious with what the employee did to him,
shot the employee with his gun and had to spend 30 years in prison. That
was all because of anger and irrationality. Such irrational actions that lack
forbearance are really too serious. A great many families, companies, and
businesses have been destroyed due to lack of forbearance, which protects
people from foolish irrational deeds and fill their hearts with peace and
tolerance. I reiterate: if you were to open the heart of a true believer, you
would find it filled with peace, tolerance and forbearance.

I have heard of a man whose wife was ignorant of the regulations of Islamic
religion, particularly those concerned with the way women should speak to
foreigner men in public places. While she was buying some things at a shop,
ad while she was speaking to the shopkeeper, she unintentionally used
certain words from which the shopkeeper misunderstood that she intended to
invite him to her house for an indecent relationship. So, he waited until her
husband was out, went to the woman and rang the doorbell. When the
woman came to open the door, he tried to force himself into the house. The
woman was greatly surprised and tried to stop him, but he rudely pushed her
in and began to seduce her to indecent work. The woman shouted to her little
son, who was in the house, and told him to go to his father for help. The boy
went to his father and told him, “O Dad! There is a man in our house, trying
to attack my mother!” The father furiously rushed to the house, and when he
saw the man with his wife, he locked the door and called the police, who
arrested both his wife and the shopkeeper and took them to the police
station. Then, the man unjustly accused his wife publicly and even divorced
her. Later on, he found out that she was innocent and pure although she was
not careful enough with her words to the immoral shopkeeper, who tried to
force her to an indecent relation. He felt regretful and came to me in order to
help him reclaim his wife. Undoubtedly, the wife committed a foolish naïve
mistake by not being careful enough with her words to the shopkeeper, but
the husband committed an even more foolish and serious mistake when he
defamed his wife by accusing her publicly and even divorcing her. He was
completely ignorant of the teachings of Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), when a
similar thing happened to him, when his innocent holy wife, ‘A’ishah, may
Allah be pleased with her, was unjustly and unfairly accused of indecency.
When Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), heard the evil painful slander against his
chaste wife, ‘A’ishah, he remained for a whole month in a state of utmost
forbearance and self-control, until Allah, All Mighty, revealed the truth and
put an end to such false accusation. In short, without forbearance, anger may
turn people into erupting volcanoes that devastate everything in their way. In
this context, it has been rightly said, “Forbearance is acquired by
simulation of being forbearing, generosity is acquired by simulation of
being generous, and knowledge is acquired by learning.”

You simulate forbearance, you suppress your anger, you endure patiently,
and you strive until you establish a kind of real connection with the Lord,
Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious. You fight against your own desires and
caprices, and you remember Allah’s Messenger’s words that he said after he
returned from one of his holy battles: “We have returned from the minor
strife to the major strife, namely that against our own desires and
caprices.”

You turn to Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, in order to color yourself with
His Divine Name “Al-Haleem” (the Most Forbearing). Then, you really
become forbearing, i.e. Allah, Most Gracious, makes you forbearing. What
does Allah say in this context? He, Glory to Him, says, “And seek help in
patience and prayer; and truly it is extremely heavy and hard except for
those who obey Allah with full submission.” [II; 45]

By virtue of the above Verses, Allah, Most Gracious, bids you first to be
patient and then to perform prayer, which brings you a lot of good:
forbearance, mercy and equity.

In the battle of Al-Khandaq (the Ditch), the holy Prophet, (PBUH), was
accompanied by three thousand venerable Companions. It was very cold,
and there was hunger and fear. The pagan army was more than 10,000
fighters who came in order to eradicate Muslims from the face of the earth.
The holy Prophet was with his venerable Companions in the ditch, digging
and fortifying their places, although they were stricken by starvation. One of
the Prophet’s Companions, who could not stand the situation any more,
stood up and asked permission to go back home in order to make some food
for the Prophet. By the way, due to their great love for the holy Prophet, his
venerable Companions would never feel like eating without him. However,
after some time, the man came back with a slaughtered sheep and some
bread of ground barley, but the food was not enough for all of the
Companions to eat. Could the holy Prophet eat alone or with a small group
of his Companions, leaving the others to starve? Of course not! So what did
he do? He called out: “Your brother so and so invites you all to have food
with him.” The man was so embarrassed, because he had made food that
was enough only for the Prophet and three or four other men, but there were
thousands of hungry warriors. The holy Prophet, who was most
compassionate and merciful to everyone, did not eat one single piece of food
alone, but invited everyone to take part in the meal. He was, as Allah
described him, “He (Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad) is full of pity, kind,
and merciful to believers.” [IX; 128]

In our modern times of hypocrisy, you find a great many people cunningly
feign to be merciful and forbearing. When the electric current was cut off in
one of the American cities for only one hour one night, more than two
hundred thousand robberies were committed despite all of the stern security
measures taken. This shows clearly that greatness of religion lies in the fact
that it creates in man an inner moral self-deterrence rather than a fake
external compulsory deterrence imposed by laws or authorities. Laws are
meant to deter people by force. For example, so long as roads are under
radar control, no one exceeds the speed limit, but when roads are not under
control, people usually exceed the speed limit, unless they have an inner
self-deterrence. In other words, without such moral and value-based self-
deterrence that religion creates in people, no one would obey man-made
laws and restrictions. In fact, moral and religious values make people as pure
and holy as angels.

Two days ago, I attended a party celebrating the Prophet’s birthday, and I
delivered a speech that I began like this: Abdullah Bin Omar, may Allah be
pleased with them, desired to test a shepherd, so he asked him, “Give me
that sheep and I’ll give you some money for it.” The shepherd said, “It
does not belong to me.” Abdullah said, “Tell its owner that it died or was
eaten by a wolf.” The shepherd said, “By Allah! I am in bad need of the
money that you shall give me for the sheep! And if I said to its owner
that it died or was eaten by a wolf, he would believe me, because he
trusts me and thinks I am honest and trustworthy. But man! Where is
Allah?!” Such shepherd knew the essence of religion.

I think it is hard these days to find believers who say, “Where is Allah?”
when they buy or sell, when they speak to others, when they describe, or
when they praise. Very often these days, merchants praise and over-estimate
badly selling goods in order to persuade customers to buy them. But what
does Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), say in this respect?

Narrated Al-Asbahani on authority of Mou’ath Bin Jabal: Allah’s Messenger,

(PBUH), said: “Verily, the best earning is that of merchants who do not
tell lies when they speak, who do not fail to keep their promises when
they make promises, who do not betray when they are trusted, who do
not dispraise things when they (desire to) buy them, who do not praise
things when they (desire to) sell them, who do not delay discharging
their debts when they are in debt, and who do not put pressure on their
debtors when they are creditors.”

It was related that when Abraham, (PBUH), once saw someone who was
involved in a sinful deed, he invoked, “O Allah! Cause him to perish!” But
Allah, Most Gracious, revealed to Abraham, “If We (Allah) were to destroy
all sinful slaves, there would remain only a few. Nay! if the one of them
commits a sinful deed, We give him a respite (to reform and repent). If
he repents, We accept him. But if he insists (on committing sinful deeds),
We delay punishment for him, as We know that he cannot get away
from our Dominion.”

After one of the Prophet’s Companions had converted to Islam and

persuaded his parents and wife to do, he went to his people and found them
indulged in adultery. He went back to the holy Prophet, (PBUH), saying, “O
Allah’s Messenger! Beseech Allah to destroy them!” The compassionate
holy Prophet, (PBUH), said, “No my brother! I shall beseech Allah to
forgive them and have mercy on them. A Prophet is not meant to be a
curser.”

Of course, if things were left up to people, they would destroy one another.
But Allah is Most Merciful.
It is related that a young man committed a lot of sins, but he did not insist on
them, as every now and them, he would repent and regret. When Satan
noticed this, he whispered to him, “How long will you be still doing this:
committing sins and then repenting, repenting and then committing
sins?” In fact, Satan desired to make the young man despair of Allah’s
Mercy. But when the night came, the young man performed ablution and
stood up to perform prayer. Then, he looked up, invoking the Lord, Most
Gracious, “O You, Who have safeguarded those who are safeguarded,
Who have protected those who are protected, Who have reformed those
who are reformed! If You safeguard me, You shall find me safeguarded!
If You neglect me, You shall find me desperate! My forelock is in Your
Hand! My debts are in Your Hand! O You, Who cause the hearts to
fluctuate (between belief and disbelief)! Let my heart cling firmly to
Your Religion!” Allah, Glory to Him, addressed His angels, “O My angels!
Don’t you hear what he is saying? Bear witness that I have forgiven him
all of his foregoing sins!” To the same effect, in His Divine Book, the Holy
Quran, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “Say (O Muhammad) (to) My slaves
who have transgressed against themselves: ‘Despair not of Allah’s
Mercy. Verily, Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most
Merciful.’” [XXXIX; 53]

Joseph, the holy Prophet, (PBUH), set an amazing example of truthful

modesty and sincere servitude to the Lord, Allah, All Mighty. He, (PBUH),
said, “O my Lord! Prison is more desired for me than that to which they
(the women) invite me. And unless You turn away their plot from me, I
will feel inclined to them and be one of the (sinful) ignorant.” [XII; 33]

A dear brother, whom I knew was an enthusiastic repentant believer, once

came to me crying sorrowfully. “What’s the matter?” I asked. “I can’t lower
my gaze! I can’t help looking at indecent women!” He said regretfully.
“Why don’t you repent to Allah?” I asked. “I’ve done, many times!” He
replied, “But I keep breaking my promise over and over again! I can’t help
it!” While the man was complaining to me, it suddenly occurred to me that
when he repented to the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, for the first time, which
was long ago, he felt so proud of himself and looked upon sinners and
wrongdoers disdainfully and accused them of profligacy and infidelity.
Therefore, Allah, All Mighty, desired to punish him and made him weak
towards women and unable to lower his gaze. This soon drove him to turn to
Allah with repentance most weakly and humbly. That man might have
forgotten that none could ever safeguard man from sins except Allah’s
Divine Might and that nothing could ever help him obey Allah except His
Divine Power. He might have forgotten the basic and most important Verse
of the first Surah of the Holy Quran: “You, (Alone), (O Allah) we worship,
and You, (Alone), we ask for help.” [I; 5] He seems to have remembered
“You, (Alone), (O Allah) we worship” but forgotten “and You, (Alone),
we ask for help.” Undoubtedly, the feeling of being in bad need of Allah,
All Mighty, is very helpful.

Abu Hanifah, the knowledgeable venerable religious scholar, had a noisy

troublesome drunkard neighbor, a singer whose loud songs used to disturb
the whole neighborhood. His most favorite song was:
They have ruined me , and what a great man they have ruined!
To a day of mischief and a secret plague!

One night, Abu Hanifah didn’t hear any noise coming from the neighbor’s
house, so he asked about him, and soon learnt that for some reason or
another the governor had imprisoned him. Being highly respected by the
governor, Abu Hanifah helped his neighbor, the young profligate singer, to
get out of prison, although the governor did not expect that Abu Hanifah, the
venerable religious scholar, would himself come to intercede for such
profligate man. However, Abu Hanifah took the young man by the hand and
asked him, “O man! You say ‘they have ruined me, and what a great
man they have ruined!’ Did we really ruin you?!” Such noble
compassionate attitude on the part of Abu Hanifah towards his irreligious
neighbor made him repent and reform. This means that if you are forbearing
with a deviant irreligious person, that may be the cause of his repentance and
reform, but if you reproach him and consider him as a profligate irreligious
person, and if you curse him, you may make him even worse than he is. In
this context, we should follow the good example of our Prophet,
Muhammad, (PBUH), who never cursed anyone. We should never curse
anyone. We are not judges, and we are not meant to judge people or call
them for accounting. We are only preachers and callers for the Lord, Allah,
Most Gracious.

Undoubtedly, forbearance safeguards us from committing a great many

foolish irrational destructive deeds. Forbearance is also very helpful in
guiding people and calling them to Allah, Most Forbearing, and His
Religion. Forbearance is something desirable, as it makes one almost a holy
Prophet. That is why it is rightly said: “Forbearance is the best policy.”
By forbearance you are greatly admired and highly respected by people.
That is why Malik Bin Dinar, a well-known religious scholar and Imam,
said: One of our neighbors was a profligate irreligious man who did a lot of
trouble and mischief to his neighbors, who detested him and were so
desirous to get rid of him. One day, the neighbors came to me, complaining
about him. I summoned him and told him either to repent and reform or to
go away. When he refused to comply with our wishes, we threatened to
complain to the Sultan, but he said, “The Sultan knows about me.” We said,
“We shall invoke Allah against you.” He replied, “Allah is more Merciful to
me than you are.” His stubborn rude rejection made me very angry; and
when it was the night, I stood up to perform prayer and invoke Allah against
the man. Suddenly, a secret voice came from inside me, “Do not invoke
Allah against him! Invoke Allah to help him repent and reform!” However,
the man repented and reformed and turned to Allah with true faith and
sincere devotion. Later, when it was time for the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca),
Imam Malik saw the man going round the Ka’bah wailing sincerely.

Imam Malik Bin Dinar also related another similar story in which he said
that while he was walking down town, he saw a drunkard lying
unconsciously on the ground with foam on his lips, saying “Allah, Allah”.
The great holy religious scholar, Imam Malik, was shocked to hear Allah’s
Name on the defiled mouth of a drunkard. So, he came to him gently and
began to wipe his mouth for him tenderly. The Imam was very kind to the
man although he was in a miserable repulsive state. When the man came
round later, he was told that the venerable Imam Malik Bin Dinar took care
of him while he was lying unconsciously on the ground. The man was so
impressed by the Imam’s compassionate attitude that he began to cry both
thankfully and regretfully. By the way, most sinners and wrongdoers have
delicacy of feeling that, very often, makes them cry. However, the Imam
went to bed that night; and in his sleep he dreamed of a voice coming from
the Lord, Allah, Most Gracious: “O Malik! You purified the man’s mouth
for Us, so We purified his heart for you.” And when the Imam went out to
perform Salat Al-Fajr (the Dawn Prayer) in the mosque, he saw a man
standing alone praying and wailing. The Imam asked the man, “Who are
you, may Allah have mercy on you?” The man answered, “The One Who
rightly guided me (i.e. Allah) told you about me.”

You cannot imagine how great is a true believer’s feeling when he guides to
Allah a deviant profligate person who wrongly believes that Allah is not Just
or Merciful. If you can convince someone who is far astray and gradually
help him obey Allah and stick to His Right Path, you are a real hero.

A knowledgeable religious scholar once told his disciple, “O son! A good

righteous person is not in need of your preaching, but a deviant
profligate is.” You are a hero when you can admonish and help not the
righteous and virtuous but the disobedient and deviant. And the prostitute
who saw a dog that was dying of thirst and hastened to offer it water to drink
and whose sins were, therefore, forgiven by the Lord, Allah, the Most
Forbearing, is a good example of sincere repentance and faithful righteous
work, even if it were to a brute animal.

In Allah’s Book, the Glorious Quran, the holy Prophet, Abraham, (PBUH),
invoked the Lord, “My Lord! Grant me good judgment and join me with
the righteous.” [XXVI; 83] And Allah, Most Forbearing, answered
Abraham’s invocation by granting him a forbearing son.

Religious scholars say, “The Forbearing One is He Who forgives all sins
and covers all faults.” It is also said: “The Forbearing One is He Who
forgives after He covers. The Forbearing One is He Who maintains love,
keeps promises, and fulfills covenants. The Forbearing One is He Who
forgives the disobedient and rebellious. And the Forbearing One is He
Who is not angered by disobedience of the disobedient or transgression
of transgressors.”

Whenever a true believer meets a sinful deviant person, he treats him gently
and tenderly and is never arrogant or haughty to him. Whenever a true
believer sees a sinful person, he thinks to himself, “Such a sinful person
may, one day, turn to the Lord, All Mighty, Most Forbearing, with sincere
repentance and truthful devotion, and, thus, become better and dearer to
Allah than I am.”

I reiterate: Never belittle or disparage a sinful person, but beseech Allah to

rightly guide him and help him repent and reform. Be kind and merciful to
sinners and wrongdoers. Remember what the venerable Companion,
Habashi, did before he embraced Islam. He killed the venerable Companion,
Hamzah. But when he returned to Allah with sincere repentance and truthful
devotion, Allah accepted his repentance and joined him with the righteous.
Also, remember Souhail Bin ‘Amr, whose head the venerable Companion,
Omar Bin Al-Khattab, wished to chop off with his sword, because when
Allah’s Messenger asked Souhail to write: “This is what Allah’s Messenger,
Muhammad, has agreed upon,” the latter refused to write down or
acknowledge that Muhammad, (PBUH), was Allah’s Messenger, but rudely
said, “Had we believed in you, we would never have rejected your call. I
shall write down ‘Muhammad son of Abdullah.’” In fact, Souhail was so
rude and impolite to Allah’s Messenger that Omar Bin Al-Khattab was on
the point of killing Souhail with his sword. But Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH),
stopped Omar, saying, “O Omar! You may, one day, hear from him (i.e.
Souhail) words for which you praise him.” In fact, upon Allah’s
Messenger’s death, Souhail said excellent praiseworthy words.

Also, ‘Umair Bin Wahab was more detested to Omar than a pig when
‘Umair entered upon Allah’s Messenger in order to kill him and rid pagans
of Mecca of him. But when ‘Umair got out of Allah’s Messenger’s place
after having embraced Islam and become a truthful devoted Muslim, he
became dearer to Omar than some of his own children.

To wrap up, we do beseech Allah to grant us forbearance, as it is a most

laudable attribute, and since we are studying Allah’s Beautiful Divine
Names and Attributes in order to color ourselves with them.

* * *

(The Most Thankful)

I n His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, Allah, All Mighty, says, “If you
give thanks, I will give you more; but if you are thankless, verily My
Torment is indeed severe.” [XIV; 7] This Quranic Verse takes us to the
twenty-first of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names, “Ash-Shakour” (The Most
Thankful).

In fact, it is not enough to know that Allah is the Creator of the heavens and
the earth, simply because such knowledge is common among all people. To
this effect, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And if you (O Muhammad) ask
them: ‘Who has created the heavens and the earth?’ They will certainly
say: ‘Allah.’ Say: ‘All Praise belongs to Allah!’ But most of them know
not.” [XXXI; 25] Even those who worship idols: “And those who take
deities besides Him (say): ‘We worship them only that they may bring
us near to Allah.’ Verily Allah will judge between them concerning that
wherein they differ. Truly, Allah guides not him who is a liar
disbeliever.” [XXXIX; 3]

If you acknowledge the existence of Allah, All Mighty, you are still a
common person, because knowledge of Allah and His Existence necessitates
knowledge of His Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes. Such knowledge
is closely linked to your life in the present world and the world to come. The
more you know Allah, All Mighty, the more loving to Him you become, the
more committed to His Divine Commandments you become, the more
righteous your work becomes, and the more happy in the Hereafter you will
be.

Therefore, it is most important to know Allah through His Beautiful Divine

Names and Attributes. One of Allah’s Beautiful Names is “Ash-Shakour”
(the Most Thankful), which is found in several places in the Holy Quran. For
example, in Surat Fatir, Allah Glory to Him says, “And they will say: ‘All
Praise is to Allah, Who has removed from us (all) grief. Verily, our Lord
is indeed Oft-Forgiving, Most Thankful.’” [XXXV; 34] And in Surat Al-
Isra’, He also says, “And whosoever desires the Hereafter and strives for
it with its due strife while he is a believer, then such are the ones whose
strife shall be thanked (and rewarded).” [XVII; 19] And in Surat An-
Nisa’, He, Glory to Him, also says, “And Allah is Most Thankful, All-
Knowing.” [IV; 147]

In Arabic, the word “Shakour” (Most Thankful) is an emphatic name that is

derived from the word “Shakara” (to thank); and whenever emphatic names
are attributed to Allah, Glory to Him, they emphasize either quantity or
quality, which means that, from the viewpoint of quality, Allah is Most
Thankful in the sense that He grants His righteous slaves infinite happiness,
in the Hereafter, in return for a limited number of years of devotion and
dutifulness on their part in this present world. By the way, you have to
remember that any number, no matter how great it might be, is nothing if
compared to infinity. In other words, if you live for a limited number of
years during which you obey Allah, Most Gracious, suppress you lusty
desires and caprices, perform righteous good deeds, earn an honest living,
attend religious lectures, read and understand Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran,
call for Allah and His Religion, spend your money for the Cause of Allah
and His Religion, all of this is nothing compared to Allah’s Infinite
Recompense and Reward. This means that He gives too much in return for
too little.

Is it reasonable or possible, for example, that you buy a shop, village, town,
city or country for only a quarter of a Syrian pound?! But I reiterate that all
of man’s righteous good work is less than that compared to Allah’s Infinite
Divine Recompense and Reward. I swear by Allah! It is far less than a
quarter of a Syrian pound as in the above example!

Consider great companies in the world. I have heard that one of these
companies has a surplus of profits that amounts up to more than a billion
Dollars and that the administration does not know what to do with that
surplus. The budgets of some companies exceed those of the total budgets of
a number of countries. Is it possible that you can buy any one, or all of, such
great companies for one Syrian Pound? I still reiterate that what Allah has
prepared for true believers in reward for their righteous good work and
dutiful obedience to Him is exactly like buying any of such fabulously great
companies for only one Syrian Pound.

This is the meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Ash-Shakour”: He,

Glory to Him, gives that which is infinite in reward for man’s limited good
righteous work that he does in his short-termed human life.

In this context, I have learned that in a certain country some judges do not
have any definite salaries, i.e. they can get whatever amounts of money they
desire, provided that they do their job properly. Allah, All Mighty, is
“Shakour” (Most Thankful) in the sense that He, Glory to Him, gives
infinitely for people’s good work. To this effect, Abu Hurairah, may Allah be
pleased with him, quoted Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), as saying, “Allah, All
Mighty, says, ‘I have prepared for My righteous slaves good things that
no human eye has ever seen, no human ear has ever heard of, and no
human mind has ever thought of.’” [Sahih Al-Bukhari]

In fact, we always hear and repeat such Divine Words, but we do not
deliberate their real meaning. In his life, each one of us has seen a number of
things. For example, if someone asks you, “Where have you been?” you
answer, “I’ve been only to Lebanon, Jordan, Mecca, Egypt, and Cyprus.”
Another person might say that he/she has been to America, a third to Japan,
a fourth to Russia, a fifth to Australia, a sixth to the Moon, …etc.

The circle of the things that you see is much smaller than that of those that
you hear of. For example, you have heard of a lot of things or places that
you have never been to, such as Mars, Jupiter, The Polar Star, Alaska,
Siberia, the North Pole, …etc. The circle of the things that you hear of is far
greater than that of those that you see. However, the things that you think of
are far more numerous than those that you hear of. You might think of or
imagine a mountain as high as the sun or a man that is 3000 km’s tall.
Thoughts and imaginations are almost infinite.

When Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), quotes his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, as
saying, “I have prepared for My righteous slaves that which no human
eye has ever seen, no human ear has ever heard of, and no human mind
has ever thought of,” he, (PBUH), clarifies to us Allah’s Beautiful Divine
Name “Ash-Shakour” (the Most Thankful). In return for a period of sixty
years, or perhaps a little more or less than that, of good righteous work you
deserve Allah’s Infinite Divine Generous Recompense. To this effect, Allah,
Most Thankful, says, “And when you look there (in Paradise), you see
bliss and a great kingdom.” [LXXVI; 20] Allah, the Most Thankful, calls
that which He has prepared in Paradise for His righteous slaves “a great
kingdom”. This is the meaning of “Ash-Shakour” (the Most Thankful):
Allah, Most Generous, Most Thankful, grants you something priceless for
something little you offer to Him.

The quantitative meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Ash-Shakour”

(the Most Thankful) is that whatever good and righteous things you do for
the sake of Allah, He thanks you and rewards you for them.
Right after Prophet Muhammad’s mission, Abu Jahl came to the Prophet’s
house and knocked on the door. When the Prophet’s daughter, Fatimah Az-
Zahra’, who was a little girl at that time, opened the door, Abu Jahl asked her
where her father, Muhammad, was. When she answered that her father was
not there, Abu Jahl, without any reason, smacked her on the face. However,
when Abu Sufian heard that Abu Jahl had smacked Fatimah on the face only
because she told him that her father was not in the house, Abu Sufian went
to the Prophet’s house, carried Fatimah and took her to Abu Jahl’s house. He
knocked on Abu Jahl’s door, and when the latter opened the door, Abu
Sufian bade Fatimah: “Smack him on the face, just as he did to you!” In
fact, Abu Sufian wanted to retaliate for Fatima’s dignity and honor although
he was a disbeliever at that time. However, when the Prophet, (PBUH),
heard of what Abu Sufian had done, he, (PBUH), raised his hands up
towards the heaven, invoking, “O Allah! Do not forget this for him (Abu
Sufian)!’ And Allah indeed did not forget that good deed on the part of Abu
Sufian, for although Abu Sufian fought against the Prophet for twenty years;
he converted to Islam in the end. When Abu Sufian converted to Islam, the
Prophet was so kind and generous to him that Abu Sufian addressed the
Prophet, “O my good nephew! How forbearing you are! How wise you
are! How duly you maintain kinship ties! And how merciful you are!”

In some books of history, it is narrated that when Abu Lahab knew of the
Prophet’s birth, he set free one of his female slaves in honor of that happy
occasion. Since it was Monday when Abu Lahab did such a good thing as
setting a slave free, it is said that punishment is decreased for him in Hell
every Monday. Everything is kept and preserved with Allah, Glory to Him,
even if you rescue an ant. To this effect, Allah, Most Thankful, says, “Why
should Allah punish you if you have thanked (Him) and believed (in
Him)? And Allah is Ever Most Thankful, All-Knowing.” [IV; 147]

You might do someone a favor for which he cannot thank you unless he
knows it. For example, you may buy a present and go to visit a sick person
at home, but instead of giving the present to the patient himself, you give it
to his son at the door before you get in. Does the patient thank you for the
present even though he does not know about it? The answer is: of course,
not. If he does not know about the present, how can he thank you for it? That
is why Allah, the Most Thankful, says, “Why should Allah punish you if
you have thanked (Him) and believed (in Him)? And Allah is Ever Most
Thankful, All-Knowing.” He, All Knowing, knows all the good things that
you do. If you rescue a butterfly, if you have mercy on someone, if you
secure someone frightened, if you calm down the feelings of someone
anxious, if you reassure someone worried, or if you feed someone hungry, it
will be kept preserved with Allah, Most Thankful, for you, no matter how
numerous the good things that you do are. This is the quantitative
connotation of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Ash-Shakour” (the Most
Thankful).

Linguistically, the word “Shakour” is derived from the Arabic word “Ash-
Shukr”, which means “increase”. In Arabic, someone is said to be “Shakeer”
if he has young children; a tree is said to be “Shakeerah” if it has originally
grown from small stalks; a female camel is said to be “Shakeerah” and
“Shakra” if she has a full udder; a piece of land is said to be “Shakeerah” if
it has a lot of plants; an animal is said to be “Shakour” if it grows more than
the fodder it is given; and a plant is said to be “Shakour” if it needs only
little water.

As for “Ash-Shukr” (thankfulness) of a human being, is of two kinds, verbal

and virtual, neither of which can be achieved except by knowledge, which is
the essence of thankfulness. In other words, you know and then you become
thankful, i.e. you cannot be thankful unless you know.

Virtual thankfulness, which is manifested by practical work, can be made

clear by the following example: Someone grants you a house or does you a
great favor. When you see his little son in the street, you offer him some
sweats to eat. This is a kind of thankfulness to the father. In other words, you
desire to express your gratitude to the man who did you a favor by offering
his child something.

Therefore, when a true believer does favors to other fellow humans: when he
has mercy on them, when he honors them, when he secures them, when he
provides them with food and drink, when he provides them with clothes,
when he is compassionate to them, or when he does a favor to any creature,
whatever it might be, a cat or a small dog for example, this means that he is
thankful to Allah. In other words, you express your gratitude to Allah by
doing good to His creatures. If you desire to know the secret behind good
righteous work in this present world and why a true believer does righteous
good things, you should know that it is only an expression of thankfulness
and gratitude to the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, by doing favors
to His creatures. If you are honest with your customers, this means that you
are thankful to Allah, All Mighty. If you have mercy on other fellow
humans, if you are compassionate to them, if you are fair to them, if you
relieve them of their sorrows, if you heal their wounds, if you make them
secure, if you make them happy, if you lend them your hand, or if you do
anything good to them, this means that you are thankful to the Lord, Allah,
Most Gracious. It is common sense to honor a father by honoring his son. If
you see someone you love accompanied by his son or daughter, you try to
express your love for the father by showing love to his child, by offering
him/her a candy, a pen, or any other good thing that you have and by
speaking to him/her gently and kindly: what’s your name? How are you?
How are you doing? What grade are you in? …Etc. This is commonly very
practical and normal.

In other words, you desire to comfort your heart and to express your
gratitude and thankfulness to someone who has done you a favor; therefore,
you honor his child. Allah, Glory to Him, is Self-Sufficient and is in need of
no one: He feeds and does not need to be fed; therefore, it is impossible to
offer a direct gift or present to Him; but you can express your gratitude to
Him by doing good to His creatures. You have Allah’s creatures to do well
to; you have your fellow humans, even disbelievers or atheists, to do well to.
If you do well to all your fellow humans, who are Allah’s creatures, it is a
good thing that Allah will keep preserved for you. If you are a doctor, you
should strive to help all people, even those whom you know are irreligious
or disbelievers. You should take into consideration that all people are Allah’s
slaves and that you should offer them all your help.

Another example as regards animals: if you provide a hungry animal with

food – as some people enjoy feeding birds and buying seeds for them –
because you know that animals are Allah’s creatures, this means that you are
thankful to Allah, All Mighty. A true believer is very careful not to run over
an animal with his car or do harm to any animal because it is one of Allah’s
creatures. If he unintentionally runs over a dog or a cat, he hastens to offer
charities so that Allah may pardon him.

Such is real thankfulness: to be thankful to Allah by performing good

righteous deeds and by being kind to all of Allah’s creatures, both human
and non-human. I reiterate that it is better and more favored by the Lord,
Allah, All Mighty, that you do favors to all of His slaves, and not only to
Muslims or those who belong to the same mosque or Islamic group.
Someone told me that while a rich man was driving his car, he met a young
man trying to fix his old bike. He stopped the car and got out to help the
young man fix his bike. Such good helpful deed on the part of the rich man
was the cause behind the young man’s repentance and reform.

Such is real thankfulness! The religion of Islam is meant for all mankind,
and not for a certain tribe, race or nation. In Islam, there are no such narrow-
minded notions as: “Such one is a Muslim, but such one is not”, “Such one
is a believer but such one is not” or “Such one belongs to our group but such
one does not”. According to the teachings of Islam, all human beings are
Allah’s slaves, and the best ones from among them are those who are the
most pious and dutiful to Allah.

I swear by Allah, the One and Only God! Allah, the Most Thankful, will
certainly thank you for each and every good thing that you do to any of His
creatures, human or non-human. It is related that a prostitute once saw a dog
that was dying of thirst, so she hurriedly fetched some water for it to drink
and, thus, saved its life. In recompense for such good deed on the part of the
prostitute, Allah, the Most Thankful, forgave all her sins for her. In the same
context, Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, quotes Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), as saying, “While walking, a man felt very thirsty, so
he went down a well, drank from it and came out. He suddenly saw a
dog panting and eating the earth because of thirst. He thought, ‘Such
dog is suffering from what I have suffered from!’ He went down the
well, filled his boot (with water), held it with his mouth, came up the
well, and offered the dog the water to drink. Therefore, Allah thanked
him and forgave his sins for him.” They asked, “O Messenger of Allah!
Are we rewarded for doing good to animals?” He, (PBUH), answered,
“There is a reward for (each good deed to) every living thing.” [Sahih
Al-Bukhari]

Once, in a farm near Ya’four village (a village near Damascus), I saw some
people catching fish. They did not wait until the fish they caught were dead
and motionless, but began to deal with them the moment they caught them. I
said, “Why don’t wait for some time until they are dead and motionless?!
You are tormenting the fish!” I also saw some chicken sellers slaughter the
chickens and throw them immediately into boiling water to strip them off
their feathers before they are dead. That is something for which Allah
punishes you! Be careful! Allah, All Mighty, says, “And the Budn (cows,
oxen, or camels driven to be offered as sacrifices by the pilgrims at the
sanctuary of Mecca): We have made them for you as among Allah’s
symbols, wherein you have much good. So mention the Name of Allah
over them when they are drawn up in lines (for sacrifice). Then, when
they are down on their sides (after slaughter), eat thereof and feed the
poor who does not ask (for money or food) and the beggar who asks (for
money and food). Thus have We subjugated them to you that you may
be thankful.” [XXII; 36]

Why is religion necessary? That creature gives you its body to eat, so in
return to this favor, you cast it alive in boiling water! This is unfair and
inhuman! In this context, Shaddad Bin Aous quoted Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), as saying, “Allah has ordained good doing to all things. So if
you desire to kill (an animal), you should carry out the killing properly;
and if you desire to slaughter (an animal) you should carry out the
slaughtering properly. And let the one of you sharpen his knife and
comfort his animal.” [Sahih Muslim]

Such is real thankfulness!

If you know Allah, All Mighty, and recognize His Divine Grace to you, you
know how to deal with His creatures. For example, consider this Verse:
“And Ever Great is the Grace of Allah unto you.” [IV; 113]

Allah brought you into existence from non-existence; you are now thirty;
open a book that was printed in the year 1958, when it was printed, where
were you? Did you have any existence? Did you have any name? Did you
have any size? Did you have any body? Did you have any importance or
prominence? At that time, you did not have any existence. Allah, All Mighty,
says, “Has there not been over man a period of time when he was not a
thing worth mentioning?” [LXXVI; 1]

Allah, All Mighty, brought you into existence and gave you a shape. He,
Glory to Him, says, “Allah: it is He Who has made for you the earth as a
stable dwelling place and the sky as a canopy, and has given you shape
and made your shapes good looking and has provided you with good
things. Such is Allah, your Lord. So Blessed is Allah, Lord of all
worlds.” [XL; 64] He, Praised and Exalted, also says, “Have We not made
for him a pair of eyes, a tongue and a pair of lips, and shown him the
two Ways (of good and evil)?” [XC; 8-10]
If man obeys his Lord and the Lord rewards him for such obedience, this
means that the Lord thanks him. So how would it be with Allah’s Due
Reward to His slaves on the Day of Judgment? Undoubtedly, Allah is Most
Thankful!

Divine Thankfulness as manifested by reward means that if you do

righteous good deeds, yours will be Paradise: You spend of your wealth,
and, therefore, yours will be the Garden of Paradise, whose breadth is as
great as the heavens and the earth. You spend of your time, experience, or
knowledge, you help other fellow humans, you are sincere and honest, you
do your work properly, and you deal with other people honestly and
faithfully: this means that you do the minimum, just like when you have a
certain job and you do it properly, getting a reasonable wage in return. In
other words, the minimum thing to do is to do good to other people, one
way or another.

Hence, the minimum thing to do is to do your job properly and to receive a

reasonable wage in return; but the maximum is unlimited: you may give
food to the poor and needy, you may help the weak and helpless, …etc. In a
Divine Hadith, Allah, All Mighty, says, “Not all those who perform prayer
really do (perform prayer). Nay! I accept prayer (only) from those who
are humble towards My Greatness, suppress their desires for the things
I forbid, do not insist on disobeying Me, those who feed the hungry,
clothe the deprived, have mercy on the wrecked, and give refuge to
strangers: all for My sake.”

A friend told me a story that happened during the civil war in Lebanon some
20 years ago. He said: I was driving from a village called Al-Hamah, a
village near Damascus, one cold winter evening, when I saw a man standing
with his wife in the suburb of Doummar. The man was holding a little boy,
whom he had wrapped in his own coat to protect him from the cold. I
thought, “I’ll give them a lift to their home.” But I noticed that the boy was
feverish and his temperature was 41 degrees Celsius. I also noticed that they
were Lebanese, running away from the war there, and that they rented a flat
in Doummar but did not know anyone in Damascus. I drove them to a
hospital where a boarding practitioner took good care of the boy. Then, we
went to a pharmacy and bought some medicine for the boy. After that, we
went to another hospital in order to give the boy an injection. When we the
whole thing was over, it was 4 a.m. During the next two or three weeks, I
was overwhelmed with incredible ecstasy for helping such people out of
their trouble.

I tell those people who claim seeking happiness, “Happiness is at your

hands: if you desire to be happy strive to make other fellow humans
happy.” All of us enjoy the pleasure of taking. For example, we rejoice at
receiving money or gifts. But only a few of us enjoy the pleasure of giving,
which is far greater and more enjoyable than that of receiving. While
giving, you feel that you are doing something very important: helping
other fellow humans, healing the wounds of a wrecked family, helping
someone get married, providing a home for someone homeless, helping an
ill person to receive adequate medical treatment, or helping someone in
trouble find a good honest lawyer.

I reiterate: You shall never know the taste of real happiness unless you strive
to help people.

Once, I heard someone invoking the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, during the
night, “O Lord! The night is not enjoyable without talking to you; and
the day is not enjoyable without serving your slaves (other fellow
humans).”

A true Muslim should always visit patients or offers help to other fellow
humans. To this effect, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Walking with a
brother in order to fulfill his needs is better for me than fasting and
remaining in devotional seclusion in my mosque for a whole month.”
This Prophetic Hadith constitutes one of the fundamental aspects of Islamic
religion.

The second kind of thankfulness, i.e. verbal thankfulness, is to extol praises

and glorifications of the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, saying: “O Lord! You are
the Most Kind! You are the Most Merciful! You are the Most Powerful!
You are the All Mighty! You are the Self-Sufficient! You are the Most
Compassionate! You are the Most Gracious in the present world, and
the Most Merciful in the Hereafter! You are the One Who forgives all
sins and covers all faults! You are the One Who grants but does not ask!
You are the Most Forbearing, Who is never hasty (in punishment)!”
When your tongue goes: “There is no god but You, Praised and Glorified!
I have been one of the wrongdoers! Praise belongs to Allah! Gratitude is
all to Allah! There is no god but Allah!” this means that you are extolling
praises of Allah, which is also a kind of thankfulness.

Thankfulness, in this sense, means that your tongue should always go:
“O Lord! It is You Who have created me; and I am Your slave, and I shall
remain committed to Your Covenant and Promise as much as I can. I take
refuge with You from the evil of that which I have done! I confess Your
Grace unto me and I confess my sins! Forgive me, for no one forgives sins
but You! O Allah! You are the One Who pardons generously and Who loves
to pardon, so pardon me! O Allah! I ask You things that deserve Your
Mercy!”

Thankfulness, in this sense, means that your tongue should always extol
praises of Allah, All Mighty. You should supplicate: “O Allah, the Most
Gracious in both the present world and the world to come! I take refuge
with the Light of Your Face, whereby the heavens and the earth have
been enlightened and matters of the present world and the Hereafter
have been set aright! I take refuge with You, lest you should afflict me
with Your Divine Wrath or visit me with Your Anger! And I will remain
standing at your gate supplicating and seeking your Good Pleasure until
You are pleased with me! However, Your providing me with pardon and
good heath makes things easier and more comfortable for me!”

If you do not love all righteous pious believers, even if they belonged to
other mosques or Islamic groups, you are not a true believer, but rather a
mere narrow-minded sectarian. You should love all people, since the Call
for Allah is public and not restricted.

Abdurrahman Bin ‘Amr As-Soulami narrated that he heard Al-‘Irbad Bin

Sariah say: Allah’s Messenger admonished us an admonition that caused our
eyes to shed tears and filled our hearts with fear. We said, “O Messenger of
Allah! This admonition is that of someone bidding farewell (i.e. leaving).
So, what would you command us?” He, (PBUH), said, “I have left you
White clear evidence, whose night is (as bright) as its day; none deviate
from it except those who will be made to perish…”

Islam is meant for all mankind. Therefore, you should work in the sun and
not in the dark. There are no obscurities in Islam. Everything is very clear.
Allah, All Mighty, is the Creator of the universe, and this is the Holy Quran,
His Divine Book, this is His Religion, and this is His Prophet’s Sunna and
Tradition. I reiterate that your good righteous work should not be directed
only to those who belong to you or whom you know. Nay! Your good work
should be directed towards all people; and you do not know when faith
shines in the heart of the person to whom you do a favor. Allah may rightly
guide someone through your good efforts while you are not aware.

For example, Abu Hanifah, the knowledgeable venerable religious scholar,

had a noisy troublesome drunkard neighbor, a singer whose loud songs used
to disturb the whole neighborhood. His most favorite song was:
They have ruined me, and what a great man they have ruined!
To a day of mischief and a secret plague!
One night, Abu Hanifah didn’t hear any noise coming from the neighbor’s
house, so he asked about him, and soon learnt that for some reason or
another the governor had imprisoned him. Being highly respected by the
governor, Abu Hanifah helped his neighbor, the young profligate singer, to
get out of prison, although the governor did not expect that Abu Hanifah, the
venerable religious scholar, would himself come to intercede for such
profligate man. However, Abu Hanifah took the young man by the hand and
asked him, “O man! You say ‘they have ruined me, and what a great
man they have ruined!’ Did we really ruin you?!” Such noble
compassionate attitude on the part of Abu Hanifah towards his irreligious
neighbor made him repent and reform.

Your efforts and heroism should not be in doing favors to believers,

because they are believers like you are, and they are, therefore, in no need
of your help. Your good efforts and heroism should be exerted in order to
rightly guide those who are astray and to persuade them to repent and
reform. Your heroism is manifested when you add someone new to the
community of believers, and when you convince someone who has
suspicions about Allah, All Mighty, or persuade someone to perform
prayer. You are a hero when you sit with someone who is inimical to
religion due to certain dubieties, who does not have any respect for
religious scholars or religion, and convince him of the validity of religion
by being forbearing towards him, providing him with adequate evidence,
showing good manners towards him, and spending months until Allah
opens his breast for Islam, until he repents and reforms, and until he
performs prayer and gets used to attending religious lectures in mosques.
Such is real heroism! It is by no means heroic to seed dissension between
religious scholars and their disciples. Your job is to introduce new ones to
the community of believers. In short, heroism is in positive proportion with
labor and good positive work.

I once told my companions what a preacher said to one of his disciples. He

advised him, “O my son! Those who are healthy are not in need of you,
but the patients are. It is meaningless to speak to those who are intelligent,
excellent, superior, pious, Allah-fearing, righteous, and pure, or make
them cry. Such people already have good truthful feelings, so they are
easily touched by the words you say about Allah, Most Gracious. If you sit
with those who are far astray from Allah and His religion, or those who
are suspicious about Him, if you give them your knowledge and provide
them with authentic evidence, if you remove all dubieties and help them
step by step, and stage by stage, if you stand by them and be generous to
them, if you help them and be kind to them until they love you, if you
strive to cure those who are ill and make them happy and contented, this is
good laudable work.”

In short, verbal thankfulness is expressed by praise; and when the Lord,

Glory to Him, praises His slave, this means that He, Most Gracious, thanks
him. When you extol praises of Allah in your councils, Allah makes people
love you and praise you in your absence. This is how Allah, the Most
Thankful, thanks you. If you do well to other fellow humans, He does well
to you. In this context, Allah, the Most Thankful, says, “Is there any
reward for good other than good?” [LV; 60]

In this context, Imam Al-Ghazali, the Well-known Muslim scholar, says, “If
the one who takes and then thanks is called ‘thankful’, but the one who
gives and thanks is more properly called ‘thankful’.”

Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, Who bestows His Divine Favors upon
you, and after He has bestowed His Divine Favors upon you, He hears
your praises of Him and thanks you for that. Who deserves more to be
described as being thankful? The answer is: the one who gives and then
thanks. The One Who gives is Allah, All Mighty, and, therefore, He is
most deservedly called “Ash-Shakour” (the Most Thankful). Also,
someone who receives Allah’s Divine Favors and then praises Allah for
them is thankful, but the One Who gives and praises twice is Allah, the
Most Thankful. In other words, Allah bestows His Divine Favors upon
His slaves, and then He makes those who praise Him and are thankful to
Him praised by their other fellow humans.
Therefore, in a Divine Hadith, Allah, All Mighty, Most Thankful, says, “He
who remembers me to a host, I remember him to a better host.” [Sahih
Al-Boukhari]

You may remember Allah and praise Him to five or six students of yours,
and, in return, Allah, the Most Thankful, makes your name remembered and
spoken well of among hundreds of people, who praise you and speak well of
you. Yes, indeed! Allah is Most Thankful! You praise Allah among five
common people, but He, in return, praises you among prominent people. In
another Divine Hadith, Allah, the Most Thankful, says, “If My slave
remembers Me to himself, I remember him to Myself; and if My slave
remembers Me to a host of My slaves, I remember him to a better host.”

Therefore, Allah is Most Thankful in the sense that if you do well, He,
Glory to Him, most generously rewards you; and if you praise Him and
speak well of Him, He makes people praise you and speak well of you. Yes,
indeed! Allah is Most Thankful!

Now the question is: When you are thankful, who are you thankful to? The
answer is: You are thankful either to the Creator, Allah, All Mighty, or to His
creatures, your fellow humans. However, it is impossible for you to be
thankful enough to Allah, because in order to thank Allah for each and every
Divine Favor of His, you have to know all of His Divine Favors that He
bestows upon you; and since it is impossible for you to know all of Allah’s
Divine Favors upon you, your being fully thankful to Him is also
impossible. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And if you would count
Allah’s Favors, never could you be able to count them. Truly! Allah is
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [XVI; 18]

Contemplate Allah’s Divine Favors that He bestows upon you! If you

desire to count them, that would be impossible. Consider Allah’s Favors in
your own parts of human body: the liver, kidneys, spleen, supra-renal
gland, balance center, liquid-balance center, …etc. In short, if you would
count Allah’s Favors to you, you could never be able to count them.

Since it is impossible for you to know Allah’s Favors to you as they really
are, it is impossible for you to be thankful enough to Him. That is why
Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), used to invoke, “Glory to You (O Allah)! We
could never praise you enough! You are just as You have praised
Yourself.”

The first thing I would like to reiterate is that it is impossible for you to be
thankful enough to Allah. It is just impossible!

Another thing is that thankfulness is, in itself, a Divine Favor, since Allah,
enables you to be thankful. In other words, you thank Allah for a certain
Divine Favor that He bestows upon you; and thankfulness is, in itself, a
Divine Favor of His. This means that you are constantly overwhelmed with
the Lord’s Divine Favors. You should always invoke the Lord, All Mighty,
“O Lord! How can I be thankful enough, and thankfulness to You
cannot be offered except with another Favor from You.” Yes, indeed!
You are in bad constant need of being thankful to the Almighty Lord, Allah,
Glory to Him.

There is a very delicate point that I would like to make clear to you:
recognizing any of Allah’s Divine Favors is, in itself, a Favor. Allah, Most
Generous, bestows His Divine Favors upon you although He is in no need of
you; but you thank Him while you are in bad need of Him; and the
difference between both cases is too great. In fact, there are innumerable
proofs and evidences that you can never be thankful enough to Allah.
However, it is wiser and more profitable for you to be thankful than to be
unthankful. And since it is impossible for you to be thankful enough to
Allah, as you should be, you should invoke Him, “O Lord! Glory to You! I
could never praise You enough! You are just as You have praised
Yourself! O Lord! It is impossible for me to thank you enough, but I
thank you as much as I know and as best as I can.”

One last thing I would like to call my dear reader’s attention to is this
question: When a fellow human being does you a favor, whom should you
thank? The answer is: You should thank Allah, Alone. This is because the
fellow human being who does you a favor is but one of Allah’s creatures. It
is Allah Who has given him life and power and then inspired and enabled
him to do you such favor. And what kind of favor does a fellow human being
offer you? He offers you food, for example. But who has created food? It is
Allah, All Mighty. Allah has given such fellow human money to buy such
food and then inspired and enabled him to offer it to you. Who creates all
favors? It is Allah, All Mighty! Someone may offer you some food, but how
can you eat it? You need a digestive apparatus that has been created for you
by Allah, All Mighty. In other words, the Creator and Benefactor is Allah,
All Mighty. He creates Favors and bestows them upon you, either directly or
by means of another fellow human, whom He gives such Favors, inspires
and enables to offer to you. In other words, the One Who creates Favors is
Allah, All Mighty; and the One Who enables you to benefit from such
Favors is also Allah, All Mighty. Therefore, thanks should be given to Allah!
Nevertheless, such fellow human being, who offers you any of Allah’s
Divine Favors, chooses, out of his own free will, to do so. Therefore, he also
deserves your thanks. But you should not say, “Thanks to both Allah and
such fellow human”. You should say, “Thanks to Allah and, then, to such
fellow human”. This word “then” is very important, because all thanks
should be given to Allah for His Divine Favor that He has bestowed upon
you, and, then, you should thank such fellow human through whom you
have received Allah’s Favor. That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), sys,
“He who does not thank people does not thank Allah”

If, as it were, you receive a Favor from an object, a balcony, for example,
which protects you from a falling stone that was coming to hit you on your
head and cause you injury or even kill you, would you thank such
balcony, which is but a dead solid body that understands nothing? If
anything good comes to you from non-living things or from animals, you
should thank Allah, Alone; but if anything good comes to you from a
fellow human, who is free to make his own choices, it would be most
impolite and ungrateful to say, “I owe him nothing! It is Allah who
inspired him to do such Favor to me.” If you receive anything good from a
fellow human, you should first thank Allah for creating, inspiring,
allowing and enabling him to do you such Favor, which He has bestowed
on him. But since such fellow human has chosen, all willingly, to do you
such Favor, you should thank him but only after having thanked Allah,
All Mighty.

One final delicate thing in this context is the question: what is the difference
between a favor that Allah does to you and a favor that another fellow
human does to you? You may need something and ask someone to offer such
thing to you, but he may be in need of it and, therefore, cannot give you such
thing. But Allah, All Mighty, is Self-Sufficient and Free from all needs.
Therefore, when you ask Him for anything, He gives it to you most easily.
This is the first point of difference.
More importantly, a fellow human may be able to give you something, but
he may not be available when you need him. He may be somewhere else
and, therefore, cannot offer you such thing. But Allah is always with you
wherever you are. This is the second point of difference.

A third point of difference is that if you are not thankful enough to a fellow
human, he may immediately withhold such thing from you. But Allah, All
Mighty, says, “O My slave! You have an obligation to fulfill to Me; and I
have provision to provide you. If you fail to fulfill the obligation (you
have to fulfill) to Me, I do not fail to provide you with your provision.”

Moreover, if a human gives you or lends something, he may very often

remind you, either privately or publicly, of such thing.

In other words, a human being may fail to do you a favor because he is

unable to do so or he is not available and, therefore, cannot be reached. Also,
if you fail to be thankful enough to a human being who does you a favor, he
may withhold such favor from you or boastfully remind you, whether
privately or publicly, of such favor. This is by no means the case with Allah,
the Most Generous and Most Thankful.

To wrap up, the Thankful is He, Allah, Who gives most generously. When
He is obeyed, even though inadequately, He accepts. He accepts that which
is little and gives much in return. He accepts good deeds of obedience, even
though only a few, and repays most generously. That is why it has been
rightly said: Reality of thankfulness is to see the Benefactor through His
Benefactions.

People in irreligious communities see only Allah’s Divine Favors and live
with them, but unfortunately, they fail to see the Benefactor. In such
communities, everything is only materialistically valued. True believers,
however, see Allah, the Benefactor, through His Infinite Divine Favors. In
short, if you are able to go beyond Favors to see the Benefactor, you are
really thankful. When we hear the weather forecast, we should be thankful to
the Lord, Allah, the Benefactor, for the rain and good weather. We should
always extol praises of the Lord, Most Gracious, for His Infinite Divine
Favors.

* * *
 (The All Laudable)

N ow, we go ahead to the twenty-third of Allah’s Beautiful Divine

Names, “Al-Kareem” (the All Laudable). This Name embraces
great meanings, and, therefore, people should adopt it for
themselves, as it is one of the Names that can be assumed by everyone who
desires to occupy a laudable position with the Lord, Allah, Most Gracious.

You know that Allah’s Divine Names are of two kinds: those that are
attributed only to Allah, All Mighty – such as “Al-Khaliq” (the Creator) and
“Al-Qadeem” (the Infinitely Pre-Existent) – and those that can be, and
should be, attributed also to human beings, one of which is “Al-Kareem”,
which has a lot of meanings: “the Generous”, “the Holy”, “the Noble”, “the
Glorious” …etc, as will be made clear in this lecture.

The Name “Al-Kareem” is mentioned in Allah’s Book, “Al-Qur’an Al-

Kareem”, which also means (the Holy, Noble, Glorious Quran) as will be
made clear in this lecture. However, this Divine Name “Al-Kareem” is
confirmed by Allah’s Words: “O man! What has made you careless about
your Lord, Al-Kareem (the All Laudable), Who created you, fashioned
you perfectly and gave you due proportion? In whatever shape He
willed, He put you together.” [LXXXII; 5-8] This Quranic Verse addresses
both man’s mind and heart at the same time.

Allah’s Divine Name, “Al-Kareem”, is also used in the emphatic form “Al-
Akram” (the Ever Most Generous) in the Holy Quran. To this effect, the
Quranic Verse goes, “Read in the Name of your Lord, Who has created
(all that exists), Who has created man from a clot! Read! And your Lord
is Al-Akram (the Ever All Laudable), Who has taught (the writing) by
the pen, Who has taught man that which he knew not.” [XCVI; 1-5]

Before we explain the various meanings of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name

“Al-Kareem”, let us talk about the different meanings of this word,
“Kareem”, in everyday language, as it is very often used. Linguists say:
“Each and every laudable thing is described as being ‘Kareem’.” This
adds a lot more meanings to the word “Kareem” than that commonly
understood as “generous” (giving, or ready to give, freely).

In fact, the Arabic word “Kareem” embraces a great many meanings,

including such laudable qualities as: forbearing, generous, kind, gentle,
patient, self-possessed, manly, noble, pure…etc. In other words, the Arabic
word “Kareem” includes all laudable and admirable human qualities,
contrary to “La’eem”, which embraces all illaudable qualities, such as:
miserly, mean, arrogant, tyrannical, ungrateful, selfish…etc. In short, the
word “Kareem” includes all laudable qualities and attributes; just as the
word “La’eem” includes all lowly illaudable ones. In this context, the verses
go:
If you are noble to a noble, you own him.
If you are noble to a vile, he is ever ungrateful.

Other verses also go:

I taught him shooting every day.
But when he became a good shooter, he shot me.
And I taught him how to write poems.
But when he learnt how to write poems, he defamed me.

Reality proves that people are of two kinds: pious laudable ones and
impious illaudable ones. This is what Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says.

Therefore, the word “Kareem” does not only mean “generous” but also
“forbearing”, “kind”, “merciful”, “compassionate”, “pure”, “honest”,
“friendly”, “fair”, …etc. Precious stones, such as diamonds, rubies, and
pearls are described in Aabic as “Kareem” (i.e. precious).

A poet once praised Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), saying:

Muhammad is a human but not like any human.
He is a ruby, while other humans are stones.
Rubies are stones, but they are precious stones; and diamonds are also
stones, but they are precious stones.

Another meaning of the word “Kareem” is “of noble birth”. But who was the
noble son of the noble father of the noble grandfather? It was the holy
Prophet, Joseph, (PBUH). To this effect, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says,
“Joseph is the noblest of all mankind.”

Some people are also described as being “noble from both sides”, i.e. from
both his father and mother’s sides.

The word “Kareem” also means, “good looking”. To this effect, the Quranic
Verse goes: “Then, when they (the women) saw him (Joseph), they so
admired him that they cut their hands, saying, ‘May Allah save us! This
is no mortal! This is but a Kareem (i.e. most beautiful) angel!’” [XII; 31]

As mentioned above, the word “Kareem” is used to mean “of noble birth”,
but according to the teachings of Islam nobility of birth or kinship is not
spoken of aloof from piety and righteousness, without which it is mere
vainglory. For example, Abu Lahab Bin Abdul Muttalib was one of the
Prophet’s uncles, but all of us know how evil Abu Lahab was. Allah, All
Mighty, sent down Quranic Verses reproaching him: “Perish the two hands
of Abu Lahab; and perish he! His wealth and children will not benefit
him!” [CXI; 1,2]

Therefore, kinship is of no merit unless accompanied by true faith,

righteousness and nobility of character. If both nobility of kinship and true
faith combine together, they make a wonderful combination. To this effect,
the verse goes:
A beautiful face with a vicious character
Are like a lantern at a Magian’s grave.
This verse means that it is not good enough for a person to be good-looking.
He needs to have a good character and an authentic religion in order to be
really beautiful.

As for the expression “Al-Maqam Al-Kareem” (the Laudable Station), it

means Paradise, where there is no fatigue, fear, worry, sadness, envy, hatred
or any other troublesome thing whatsoever. Those who attain the Laudable
Station on the Judgment Day are really prosperous.
Another meaning of the word “Kareem” is “something that is very scarce,
badly needed and cannot be done without.

The word “Kareem” also means, “dear, most beloved, and most honorable”.
Allah, All Mighty, says, “O mankind! We have created you from a male
and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know
one another. Verily, Akramakum (i.e. the dearest and most honorable of
you) with Allah, are the most pious and dutiful. Verily, Allah is All-
Knowing, All-Aware.” [XLIX; 13]

Also, the word “Kareem” means “full of benefits and uses”. To this effect,
the Quraic Verse goes: “She (the Queen of Sheba) said: ‘O chiefs! Verily,
here is delivered to me Kitabon Kareem (a letter full of benefits).”
[XXVII; 29]

Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran, is “Kareem” in the sense that it is full of
benefits, facts, and guidance, it is full of good things and blessings, no
falsehood could ever creep into it, it includes no mistakes or errors, it
includes no contradictions or controversies, it conforms to reality, its style is
perfect and most coherent, it does not tackle issues hastily or off-handedly, it
is perfect in every sense of the word, and it is free from any defect or
imperfection. It is “Kareem”, i.e. “perfect and free from any defect or
imperfection”.

A female camel is said to be “Kareemah” if she produces a lot of milk. Also,

when Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), sent the venerable Companion, Mou’ath,
may Allah be pleased with him, to Yemen, he addressed him, “You shall
come upon a people who have a Book (Revealed Scripture). Therefore,
once you have got to them, invite them to bear witness that there is no
god but Allah and that Muhammad is Allah’s Messenger. If they obey
you in that, tell them that Allah has enjoined on them five prayers every
day and night. If they obey you in this, tell them that Allah has enjoined
on them a charity that is taken from the rich ones among and given to
the poor ones among them. If they obey you in this, be careful not to
take any of Kara’imu Amwalihim (i.e. the dearest and most beloved
things to them from among their possessions). And beware of the
invocation of a wronged person, as there is no barrier between him and
Allah.” [Narrated by Al-Boukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, An-Nasa’i, Ibn
Majah, and Ahmad]
The expression “Kara’imu Amwalihim” in the above Prophetic Hadith
means: if someone has a cow that he loves so much, do not take it from him
as charity. Leave it to him and take another one that he chooses for you to
take. Taking from a rich person his dearest and most beloved things as
charities clashes with Prophetic Sunna and Tradition, which confirm the
Prophet’s words: “be careful not to take any of Kara’imu Amwalihim
(i.e. the dearest and most beloved things to them from among their
possessions)

Grapes are also called “Karmah” because they are full of benefits: They
provide people with shade and delicious nutritive wholesome fruits.

Also, the expression “Makarim Al-Akhlaq” means “the very best, purest and
most noble manners and characters”. Hence, there are “Makarim Al-Akhlaq”
(the best and most noble manners), “Al-Karm” (i.e. grapes), “Naqatun
Kareemah” (i.e. a camel that gives a lot of milk), “Al-Kitab Al-Kareem” (i.e.
a book that is full of interests and benefits), “Al-Ahjar Al-Kareemah” (i.e.
precious stones), “Al-Kareem” (i.e. something that is very rare and badly
needed, “Al-Maqam Al-Kareem” (i.e. the laudable station in Paradise), and
“Malakun Kareem” (i.e. a most beautiful angel): “So when she heard of
their accusation, she sent for them, prepared a banquet for them, gave
each one of them a knife, and then she said to Joseph: ‘Come out before
them.’ Then, when they saw him (Joseph), they so admired him that
they cut their hands, saying, ‘May Allah save us! This is no mortal! This
is but a Malakun Kareem (i.e. a most beautiful angel)!’” [XII; 31]

When we say “Qur’anon Kareem”, we mean, “Allah’s Book, the Holy

Quran”; and since Allah, All Mighty, is Perfect and Absolute, His Words are
perfect and faultless. In other words, Allah’s Words, i.e. the Holy Quran, are
far exalted above, and incomparably superior to, words of humans, just as
Allah is Far Exalted and Incomparably Superior to His creatures. In this
context, the verse goes:
It is impolite to carry one’s food
If one is coming unto the Generous!

Now, when we describe Allah, All Mighty, as being “Kareem”, this means
that He is All Laudable, as He, Glory to Him, described Himself: “O man!
What has deceived you as to your Lord, the All Laudable?” LXXXII; 6]
Notice the words “What has deceived you” in the above Verse. What is
deception? And how can man be deceived? In fact, deception happens when
you see a box, for example, and think that it is valuable. You hurry to pick it
up, but suddenly you find out that it is empty. When you hastened to pick it
up, you imagined that something precious could be found in it. But then, you
suddenly discovered that it was empty. This is deception. In other words,
you were deceived as regards the box. However, this meaning does not apply
to the above Verse: “O man! What has deceived you as to your Lord, the
All Laudable?” The meaning that befits this Verse is the following: If you
think that a certain judge can be bribed and can be on your side, even if you
are on the wrong side, provided that you give him some money. But then
you find out that such a judge is honest and trustworthy and, therefore, can
never be bribed. In other words, the judge is really honest and trustworthy
although you wrongly imagined that he is not. In this sense, the Verse “O
man! What has deceived you as to your Lord, the All Laudable?” means
that as a human being, you may think of Allah improperly or in a way that
does not befit His Divine Perfection. You may be deceived as regards your
Lord, Allah, Glory to Him. You may wrongly think that He is not All Just,
Most Merciful, or Omnipotent, for example, i.e. you deny Him such Divine
Names and Attributes: you deny that He is Omnipotent, Most Merciful, All
Just, Most Kind, you deny that He never forgets His believing slaves and
generously rewards them, that He shall never let down those who spend all
their lives obeying Him, or you wrongly think that He will reward with
Paradise those who are inimical to Him or deny His Existence altogether. In
other words, if you think of Allah unrealistically and unduly, this means that
you have been deceived as regards Him, because He is All Laudable, and
you should never be deceived as to Him.

The accurate definition of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name, “Al-Kareem” is:

“His Existence is definitive. He, Glory to Him, is Free from any defect or
imperfection. He is the All Mighty. And no one but Him deserves to be
worshipped.” This can be summed up in three notions with regards to Allah:
His Existence, Oneness, and Perfection. In this sense Allah is “Kareem”, i.e.
He exists, He is One, and He is Perfect. These three accurate Divine
Attributes that have to do with Allah’s Name “Kareem” can be explained as
follows:

Allah is “Kareem” in the sense that He initiates His Divine Favors to His
slaves, even though they do not deserve such Favors. Out of His Divine
Grace, He brings us into existence even though He is not obliged to do so. In
other words, we do not have any right to oblige Allah, All Mighty, to bring
us into existence; but He bestows His Divine Favor upon us by bringing us
into existence. To make this point clear, let us have the following example:
You may have an employee who is both honest and hardworking. So you
reward him for his honesty and hard work. Such a reward does not come
before you make sure that he is a good employee who should be deservedly
rewarded. This does not mean that you are really “Kareem” (i.e. generous).
Real absolute generosity is clearly manifested when it comes before one
should be deservedly rewarded. It comes out of the donor’s good will and
generous free choice, without being requested or required to be generous.

When we invokeAllah, “Ya Kareem Al-‘Afou” (O All Pardoning!), what

does this mean? To make this point clear, let us have the following example:
Someone may pardon you, but every now and then, he reminds you, “Don’t
forget! You have done so and so, and I have pardoned you.” And you say,
“Yes, may Allah recompense you well for that. You really did pardon me!”
But when you invoke the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, All Pardoning, “Ya
Kareem Al-‘Afou” (O All Pardoning!), this means that Allah’s Divine
Pardon does not mean only canceling His Punishment for you but also
making people forget your sin and making you, yourself, forget it. This is a
very delicate meaning: Due to Allah’s Infinite Pardon, He, All Pardoning,
makes you forget the sin you have committed: “If a believer returns to
Allah with true sincere repentance, Allah makes him, the angels and the
whole world, forget his sins and misdeeds.”

Due to Allah’s Infinite Divine Grace, if a believer commits a certain sin and
then, for some reason or another, forgets it, Allah deals with him generously
and makes him live happily and comfortably. This is what “Kareem
Al-‘Afou” (the One Who pardons most generously) means.

Another meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al Kareem” is that He, Praised
and Exalted, covers His slave’s sins, and faults. Human beings never do. You
may do millions of favors to someone, nevertheless, at the very first mistake
than you make, he forgets all such favors, which you have done him, and
speaks badly of you. That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “O
Allah! I seek refuge with You from an evil neighbor: if he sees anything
good (of me), he conceals it; but if he sees anything evil, he reveals it. O
Allah! I seek refuge with You from an evil Imam (master): if I do well,
he does not accept; but if I do badly, he does not forgive.”
Allah, All Mighty, is “Al-Kareem” (the All Laudable) in the sense that He
veils sins and faults. In this context, a knowledgeable holy modest religious
scholar said, “By Allah! If people knew my evil secrecy, they would not
greet me, but they would shun me and become bored of my company.”

Therefore, Allah, the All Laudable, unveils His slave’s good deeds and
qualities and veils his evil ones. When you invoke, “O Coverer of sins and
faults!” your skin and your heart should soften with the words of this
invocation, because when Allah, Most Gracious, covers one’s sins and faults,
He really does, not like human beings, who never keep secret a mistake one
commits. Yes, indeed, it is Allah, Who covers sins and keeps them secret!

One of the beautiful meanings of Allah’s Name “Al-Kareem” is that He,

Most Gracious, overlooks His slave’s sins and misdeeds although the latter
is never unaware of them. To this effect, He, Glory to Him, says, “Think
you not that Allah is unaware of that which the wrong-doers do. It is
only that He gives them a respite up to a Day when the eyes will stare in
horror.” [XIV; 42]

I have heard of someone who was a Mufti and a judge in this good city some
forty or fifty years ago. While a woman was coming upstairs to him, she
made an unpleasant noise and, therefore, was greatly embarrassed when she
saw him. When she came nearer to him, he pretended to be deaf or his
hearing was weak, saying, “What’s your name, dear sister?” When she gave
him her name, he said, “Speak louder! I can’t hear you! My hearing is
weak.” And she had to repeat her name several times. She turned to her
sister saying, “He did not hear us!”

A generous noble person is someone who overlooks mistakes and errors but
a mean lowly person is someone who tries hard to unveil each and every
mistake other people make. Allah, the Most Generous and All Laudable,
forgives and pardons when His guilty slaves beseech Him to do. He, Most
Gracious, forgives all their sins and misdeeds; He veils their mistakes and
never reminds them of them.

I was once standing somewhere that overlooks Damascus: a great many

houses and buildings inhabited by more than five million people. I
remembered Allah’s Words: “And Sufficient is your Lord as an All-
Knower and All-Beholder of the sins of His slaves.” [XVII; 17]
No one knows the great many things, whether good or evil, committed
inside all those great many homes, except Allah, All Mighty. Nevertheless,
He provides them all with sustenance and maintains their health for them. To
this effect, in a Divine Hadith, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “My slave! You
have an obligation to fulfill to Me, and I have provision to provide you.
Even if you fail to fulfill the obligation you have to fulfill to Me, I do not
fail to provide you with your provision.”

Also, Allah is “Al-Kareem” in the sense that if His slaves turn to Him with
little sincere acts of devotion, He rewards them generously. If a person offers
someone just a little piece of food, this piece of food will be as big as the
mount of Uhud on the Day of Judgment. I don’t think that it is reasonable in
this present world that someone offers only a Syrian Pound and receives in
return 5,000,000,000 Pounds. In the Hereafter, you are recompensed far
more than that. In your present life, you offer to Allah only a limited number
of good righteous deeds: you help the poor and needy, you offer some
prayers and acts of devotion, you spend of your wealth for the Cause of
Allah, you suppress your lusty desires and caprices, you commit yourself to
the truth, but in the Hereafter, Allah rewards you with the Garden of
Paradise. To this effect, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “And make haste to
(attain) forgiveness of your Lord, and to (attain) a Garden (of Paradise),
as wide as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the pious and
dutiful.” [III; 133]

Quite often, the All Laudable Lord, Allah, makes a weak lowly person
powerful and respectable. Yes, indeed! He grants him power and dignity! In
this respect, Allah Most Gracious, says, “And fulfill your covenant with
Me, I fulfill My Covenant with you, and fear none but Me.” [II; 40]

But do we really have a covenant with Allah, as if we were equal to Him?

The answer is: Of course not. But Out of His Infinite Divine Generosity, He
speaks to us; when He speaks to us, He justifies His Commands to us; and
when He justifies His Divine Commands to us, He honors us most
generously. In this context, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “Recite (O
Muhammad) what has been revealed to you of the Book (the Quran),
and perform prayer. Verily, prayer prevents from sinfulness and evil
deeds; and remembering Allah is greater; and Allah knows what you
do.” [XXIX; 45]
Very often, a strong powerful person gives unjustified and non-vindicated
orders to another weak one. But this is not the case with Allah, Most
Gracious. Out of His Infinite Divine Generosity, whenever Allah gives us
any command or order, He justifies and vindicates such command or order
to us. For example, He, Glory to Him, says, “O you who believe!
Observing the fast is enjoined on you as it was enjoined on those before
you that you may attain self-protection.” [II; 183] “Take (O
Muhammad) from their wealth alms whereby you purify and sanctify
them, and invoke Allah for them. Verily, your invocation is a source of
security for them; and Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower.” [IX; 103]
Moreover, it is He Who makes us worthy of making covenants with Him:
“And fulfill your covenant with Me, I fulfill My Covenant with you, and
fear none but Me.” [II; 0]

Also, out of His Infinite Divine Generosity, Allah, All Mighty, All Laudable,
makes us worthy of His Divine Love: “He (Allah) loves them and they
love Him (Allah).” [V; 54] “Verily, those who believe and work deeds of
righteousness: the Most Gracious (Allah) shall bestow love upon them.”
[XIX; 96]

Out of His Infinite Divine Generosity, Allah, All Laudable, gives us the
whole world. To this effect, He says, “It is He (Allah) Who created for you
all that is in the earth. Then, He directed His Divine Power to the
heavens and made them seven heavens; and He is the All-Knower of all
things.” [II; 29]

The air: Do you consider the air as included in the list of Divine Favors to
you? Yes, indeed you should! It is a gratis Divine Favor: you breathe the air
everywhere. The same thing applies to water. Also the price you pay for food
is not its real value. Who of you believes that the price they pay for an apple
is its real value? What they pay is only for the services that farmers and
sellers offer. Apples are priceless, but those who cultivate farmland, water it,
provide it with the necessary fertilizers, and then pluck ripe apples, put them
in boxes and carry them to markets, where you buy them, receive money
only for the efforts they make; but apples are priceless, as they are granted
gratis to mankind from the Lord Allah, Most Gracious.

The Hereafter: On the Judgment Day, Allah will make believers own the
Hereafter, just as He, Glory to Him, has made all that is in the heavens and
the earth subjugated to mankind by way of both honor and guidance.
Allah is “Al-Kareem” (the All Laudable) in the sense that He grants without
a reminder, which human beings never do. When human beings do favors to
one another, they usually remind them of such favors. They quite often
address those to whom they do favors, “The flesh of your body is of my
benefaction! I have bestowed my favor upon you! I have rescued you from
danger! I made you from nothing! You were nothing before I helped you! …
Etc.” A reminder never follows Allah’s Divine Favor, however.

Also, Allah, Most Gracious, is “Al-Kareem” in the sense that He does not
make you need any means to get His Divine Favors. Sometimes, people do
not give each other anything until they have exhausted all their efforts and
powers. They require them, for example, to apply for a donation, to submit
their identification card, wait until last week, come back after two days, wait
until investigation is carried on, …etc. They make them hate the donation
because of the great many investigations, delays, complications,
documentation, …etc. But Allah, Most Gracious, does not make you need
any means, nor does He make the disobedient despair of repentance. To this
effect, He, Most Merciful, says, “Say (O Muhammad) to My slaves who
have transgressed against themselves: ‘Despair not of Allah’s Mercy!
Verily, Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most
Merciful.” [XXXIX; 53]

Also, Allah, All Mighty, is “Kareem” in the sense that whenever He gives,
He gives most generously; and when He is disobeyed, He forgives most
forbearingly. In this sense, He is Most Forbearing.

Allah, Most Gracious, is also “Kareem” in the sense that He never lets down
His slaves or fails to fulfill their hopes. Sometimes, someone offers you
something humbly and beseeches you to accept it. But if you reject his offer,
he becomes disappointed with you and forgets all about you, simply because
you let him down. But Allah never lets down anyone who asks Him for
anything. It is impossible that you beseech Him for anything and He fails to
fulfill it for you. In other words, Allah is “Kareem” in the sense that He
never fails to fulfill hopes of His slaves. He bestows His Divine Favors upon
His slaves and never reminds them of such Favors. When a human being
lends you his suit, for instance, he may tell you before people, “It’s alright.
You can use it.” In other words, he makes you embarrassed before other
people. This is commonly seen among people who lend or give away things
to other fellow humans: they boastfully remind them of such things and
quite often make them greatly embarrassed.

Another meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Kareem” is that His

Infinite Divine Favors never end and His Benefactions are innumerable.
Also, He is All Mighty and Most Munificent; His Hands are always
stretched, i.e. He is Most Generous, and He spends as He pleases. Such
Divine Attributes are all mentioned in the Holy Quran.

Allah, Most Gracious, is also Shy and Most Generous. Out of His Shyness
and Generosity, He is ashamed to let His slave down when he beseeches
Him for something. In this context, Allah addresses His old slaves, “O son
of Adam! You have become old, your back has become bent down, and
your hair has turned gray, so you should be shy towards Me, for I am
shy towards you.” In another Divine Hadith, Allah, All High, says, “My
slave is unfair to Me: I am ashamed to punish him, but he is unashamed
to disobey Me.” In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “If a
slave invokes, ‘O Lord!’ three times, Allah will respond: ‘Here I am, My
slave!’”

Allah, Most Generous, is also “Kareem” in the sense that He gets angry with
those who do not ask Him or pray to Him. In this regard, Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), says, “Allah, All Mighty, is “Kareem” (All Laudable); and He
loves noble manners and hate lowly ones.”

Allah hates to see His slave a lowly person, i.e. a silly person whose
interests are trivial and who is mean, selfish, niggardly, or self-centered. He
loves those whose interests are sublime and noble. Allah, All Mighty, does
not look at people’s outer appearances but rather deep into their hearts. To
this effect, Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, quotes Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), as saying, “Verily, Allah does not look at your forms
and properties, but He looks at your hearts and deeds.” [Sahih Al-
Boukhari] In other words, the heart is the place where Allah looks.

They also say: “Al-Kareem” is someone who does not care how much he
gives nor to whom he gives; and “Al-Kareem” gets angry if people ask
anyone other than Him.

Sometimes, you seek the help of a generous person who says, “Don’t ask
anyone else other than me. The thing you need is guaranteed with me.” This
is the highest rank of generosity: “I’ll get angry if you ask anyone else but
me.”

Now, imagine someone who is in need of something but does not know that
the whole matter is totally in Allah’s Hand. He goes to another fellow
human, weak and helpless as he is, and beseeches him humbly, but, quite
often, the latter sends him away disparagingly. You should always go to the
Most Generous, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, “Al-Kareem”, Who gets
angry if you ask anyone but Him.

They also say: “Al-Kareem” is someone who, if people treat him badly or
turn away from him, blames but does not investigate. For example, if
someone promises to pay you a visit, but he fails to keep his promise. You
blame him, and he says, “My daughter was sick.” Then, you ask his
neighbor to make sure whether his daughter really was sick or not. This
investigation is not generous of you at all. It is generous to accept his
apology with no further investigation, because such a thing might make him
embarrassed. Whenever someone apologizes to you and puts forward an
excuse, you should accept his excuse, thinking to yourself, “Well, he is a
nice person as he has apologized.” And you should accept his excuse
whether it is true or not. There are some inquisitive people who seek to
investigate all things, which is not generous at all. Once again, “Al-
Kareem”, i.e. a generous person is someone who accepts excuses with no
further investigation.

Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), once confided something to some of his wives;

but when one of them spoke it out, and Allah revealed that to him, He,
(PBUH), disclosed only some of it and kept some as secret. This means that
you shall never be “Kareem”, i.e. generous, unless you overlook nine, out of
ten mistakes, and disclose only one. In other words, you should overlook the
mistakes committed by other people, because too much reproach breeds
hatred. Being generous, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), mentioned only one
part of that which Allah revealed to him concerning the mistake committed
by his wife but kept the other part secret.

“Al-Kareem” is also someone who does not let down those who seek his
help or seek refuge with him.

However, the foregoing definitions and explanations of the Arabic word “Al-
Kareem” are very accurate. They all lead one simple fact, namely that if you
really desire to be happy and prosperous in this present world and the world
to come, you should rely on Allah and put all your trust in Him. You should
seek help from Him, Alone; and you should seek refuge with Him, Alone.
You should put all your trust in Him, Alone, and be hopeful to none but Him.
If you put your trust in, or rely on, other fellow humans, they will inevitably
let you down.

A man was in need of something, so he went to a friend of his who had

recently assumed a prominent position in the government. When he came to
his friend’s office, the latter received him coldly, as if he had never seen him
or known him, and refused to offer him any help. That act on the part of the
friend was by no means generous. “Al-Kareem” does not make you in need
of any means or intercessors; and you should know that generosity
necessitates that you should help others out of your own free will and
generosity, without any reminder or obstacles that you put forward before
them.

Also, “Al-Kareem” is someone who does not forsake you even if you do
forsake him.

Sometimes, you find someone who becomes so weak, confused and poor
that he loses all hope and shuns religion altogether: he no longer offers
prayers or attends religious lectures. But Allah, the Most Generous, does not
let him down. He soon consoles him by solving his problems for him and
brings him back to the right way. In other words, when he is in trouble, man
may turn away from Allah, but Allah, “Al-Kareem” never does.

“Al-Kareem” is someone who maintains ties with you even if you forsake
him, who consoles you when you are ill, who visits you when you are back
from travel, and who helps you when you are broke. Among the most
accurate meanings of the word “Kareem” as to human beings is that
someone who is “Kareem” blames himself if you ask him for a certain favor,
because he has not hastened to offer it to you before you have to ask it of
him. This is a very accurate meaning.

Sometimes, a brother or a dear friend may suddenly get broke. Due to his
self-consciousness and self-respect, he may hesitate to ask you for help,
although he suffers miserably but secretly. In the end, he may ask you for
help. Then, you should know for sure that you have not been kind or fair
enough to him because you have failed to find out about his trouble and
hasten, out of your own initiative, to offer help. If you are “Kareem” i.e.
generous enough, you should inquire about conditions and circumstances of
your relatives, neighbors and friends, and hasten to lend them a hand before
they ask you to do so. Therefore, “Al-Kareem” is someone who blames
himself if a dear friend or relative asks him for help, simply because he did
not inquire about their problem, take the initiative or hasten to offer them
help before they asked him to do so.

Now, what is man’s share of this Beautiful Divine Name? Religious scholars
say: A person may be described as being “Kareem”, i.e. generous and noble,
but if someone keeps asking him for something or visits him and stays more
than reasonable, say for three hours, for example, he may mutter in
complaint, feel displeased but keep silent for some time. But then he might
say, “Sorry! I have an appointment.” If the visitor does not leave but keeps
asking him for things, he may get fed up and address him with angry words,
and sometimes severely. In other words, a human being cannot be infinitely
“Kareem”; he can be relatively “Kareem”. But the One Who is Infinitely
“Kareem” is Allah, Alone, because He loves those who are earnest and
insistent in prayer and supplication. Just get me one human being who loves
others to be insistent to him. Nay! After only a short time of patience, man
will say, “O brother! You have made me bored! I am fed up with you! Leave
me alone! Go away!”

Such is human generosity, but Allah, Most Generous, “loves those who are
insistent in their supplication to Him”. He is angry with those who abstain
from invoking Him. If a human desires to be “Kareem”, he should overlook
mistakes of other fellow humans, and he should do favors to them all. Very
often, developed countries provide a decent comfortable living for their
people: different kinds of enjoyments, entertainments, foods, drinks, houses,
…etc. But they do this only at the expense of other peoples. Therefore, those
- so-called - developed countries are by no means “Kourama’”, i.e. generous
or noble. They are selfish, simply because they establish their glories,
civilizations and prosperity of their peoples on destruction of other nations
and extortion of their resources. I reiterate: such countries are by no means
“Kourama’”! You shall never be a “Kareem”, i.e. a noble and generous
person, unless your good work reaches all creatures, human and non-human.

In Europe, if poultry men have more chickens than they need, they burn
them. Yes, they burn them! Do Muslims do such an unfair thing: burn
chickens that extol Praise of their Creator, Allah, Most Gracious? Let
chickens grow, and then slaughter and eat them. Make use of them instead of
burning them, and Allah will reward you for this. It is unfair to burn them!

Once again, I reiterate: You shall never be “Kareem”, i.e. noble and
generous, unless your good work engulfs all mankind. I would like to tell
you something: By Allah! If you do evil even to a Magian, an idolater, or an
atheist, you will be punished a thousand times more than if you evil to a
Muslim, because a non-Muslim understands from your bad work that Islam
means evil work and aggression. In other words, when you transgress
against a non-Muslim, you distort the image of Islam to him.

A human being is “Kareem” if he overlooks other people’s mistakes and

covers their faults, if he does not retaliate for himself, and if he overwhelms
other fellow humans with his favors.

I have recently heard the following story: While he was putting a rubbish
sack in the rubbish bin, a man found something moving in a sack. He opened
the sack to find a newborn baby in it. He took it home, and then to hospital,
where they took good care of it. He looked after the baby; and when it grew
up he took him to school. However, the story ends here. Now, suppose the
man helped the foundling to complete his education until he became a
specialist medical doctor, opened a clinic for him, gave him his own
daughter to marry, and gave him money to spend. What would the
foundling’s attitude be towards such a philanthropist?

This story reminds me of the venerable Companion, Abdullah Bin Rawahah.

When he noticed that his two other Muslim brothers, who were fighting
along with him in the battle of Mu’tah, had been martyred in battlefield and
that he would soon be, he hesitated a bit, addressing himself:
O soul! If thou are killed, thou shalt die.
Such is the fate of death thou shalt meet.
If thou do like them both, thou shalt be blissful.
But if thou flee, thou shalt be disgraceful.

I would like to relate the event as Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), did: “Your
brother Ja’far took the flag and fought for it until he was killed
(martyred); and I can see his station in Paradise. Then, your brother
Zaid took the flag and fought for it until he was killed (martyred); and I
can see his station in Paradise.” Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), kept silent
for some time, which made the venerable Companions ask, “O Messenger of
Allah! What did Abdullah do?” He, (PBUH), answered, “After that,
Abdullah took it (the flag) and fought for it until he was killed
(martyred); but I see some difference between his station and that of his
two brothers (Ja’far and Zaid) (i.e. his station in the Garden of Paradise
is lower that that of his two brothers, just because he hesitated).”

Now, we go back to the foundling, whom the philanthropist found in a

garbage bin. Let’s imagine him, after having become a rich specialist
physician, driving his own car, when he suddenly sees the philanthropist,
who picked him up from the garbage bin, in the street, and the latter asks
him to give him a lift or to drive him home. If the foundling hesitates for one
single moment to offer immediate help to the philanthropist, it would be a
terrible crime. It is most ungrateful to fail to repay the one who does you
such a great favor or to hesitate for one single moment to answer him. This
is the case among human beings, but how would it be with the Lord, Allah,
All Mighty, Creator and Lord of all worlds?!

Undoubtedly, Allah’s Right upon His slaves is infinitely Great. That is why
Allah says of hypocrites, “And never pray (funeral prayer) for any of
them (hypocrites) who dies, nor stand at his grave. Certainly, they
disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger, and they died while they were
disobedient.” [IX; 84]

When Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), was on the verge of death, he confided

secretly names of seventeen hypocrites to Huthaifah, and bade him, “Do not
pray for any of them when they die, for Allah, has forbidden us to pray
for them.” That was in compliance with Allah’s Words, “And never pray
(funeral prayer) for any of them (hypocrites) who dies, nor stand at his
grave. Certainly, they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger, and they
died while they were disobedient.”

In fact, Huthaifah was Allah’s Messenger’s secret-keeper. After Allah’s

Messenger’s death, Abu Bakr became Caliph, and after Abu Bakr, Omar Bin
Al-Khattab, the rightly guided Caliph and giant of Islam. Omar came to
Huthaifah and asked him earnestly, “I implore you by Allah! Is my name
mentioned among them (i.e. hypocrites)?” I am one hundred per cent sure
that Omar was most honest and earnest in his question. In other words, he
really desired to know if his name was among those of hypocrites, i.e. he
was afraid that perhaps he had unwittingly committed some mistake or a
sinful deed. He was conscious of Allah’s Great Right upon him, and due to
his great piety and sincere devotion, he thought, “I might have neglected
something. I might be a hypocrite. If a mule trips in Iraq, I fear that Allah
will question me about it.” Once, a messenger from Atherbaijan came to
him. Because it was late night, the messenger did not go to Omar’s house.
He went to the mosque for the night. In the mosque, he found someone
offering prayer in great veneration and lamentation, invoking, “O Lord! Did
you accept my repentance so that I may congratulate myself, or did you
reject it so that I may console myself?” The messenger came nearer to see
who the man was, and asked him, “Who are you?” The man answered, “I
am Omar Bin Al-Khattab.” The messenger asked in great amazement,
“Don’t you sleep in the night?” Omar replied, “O Brother! If I spend my
night sleeping, I ruin myself as regards my Lord; and if I spend my day
sleeping, I ruin my people.” The next morning, Omar asked the messenger,
“Would you like to eat with poor Muslims, for they eat meat, or with
me?” The messenger answered, “I would like to eat with you, for you are
the Caliph.” Omar took the man to his house, where he found only bread and
salt. Then, Omar asked the messenger, “Why did you come to us?” “I came
to deliver this gift from Atherbaijan.” It was a box of delicious sweats of the
best quality. Omar asked, “Do common Muslims eat such sweats in your
country?” The messenger answered, “No. These are only for the elite.”
Omar addressed the messenger angrily: “Give these sweats to the poor
Muslims of Medina. I do not eat things that poor Muslims do not eat.”
Then, he sent a message to his ruler over Atherbaijan reproaching: “Eat of
what common Muslims eat!”

One day, Omar saw fat camels on the road. He asked, “Whose camels are
those?” “They are your son Abdullah’s camels.” Was the answer. Omar said,
“send him to me!” When Abdullah came to Omar, the latter asked him
scornfully, “Whose are those camels?” Abdullah answered, “They are
mine. I bought them with my own money, and I sent them to graze and grow.
What’s wrong with that? I bought them with my own money; and I graze
them to make them grow and then to sell them and get some money for
them. Did I commit a sin in doing such a thing?” Omar said scornfully, “You
want people to say, “Graze those camels, for they belong to the son of
the Commander of the Faithful. Water those camels, for they belong to
the son of the Commander of the Faithful.’ Is this the way you grow
your camels, O son of the Commander of the Faithful! Go and sell them!
And take back only your capital, and return the rest of the money to the
Muslim treasury!”
Once, while Omar was sitting with his companions, one of them said, “By
Allah! We have not seen anyone better than you after Allah’s Messenger.”
The man desired to praise Omar with his nice words; and Omar could have
thanked the man for his kind flattery, but he looked round most angrily at the
men until one of them said, “No! By Allah! We have seen someone who is
better than you are.” “Who is it?” Omar asked. “Abu Bakr!” The man said.
Omar looked around and said scornfully, “All of you lied, but he, alone,
spoke the truth.” In other words, he considered their keeping silent as
lying. Then, he said, “By Allah! I was more astray than my camel when
Abu Bakr was sweeter than the smell of musk.”

Yes, indeed! It was Omar, who asked one of his vicegerents, “What will
you do if people bring you someone who is a thief or robber?” “I will
chop off his hand.” The man replied. Omar said, “Then, if any of your
subjects comes to me hungry or unemployed, I will chop off your hand!
Verily, Allah has given us power over His creatures in order to allay
their hunger, cover their bodies and provide them with good jobs (i.e.
provide them with adequate food and clothing and help them make a
decent living). If we fulfill that for them, we deservedly receive their
gratitude and obedience. These hands have been created in order to
work. If they do not find something good to do, they will seek a lot of
evil things to do. Therefore, you should keep them busy with good things
before they keep you busy with evil things.”

Such was Omar, the venerable Companion and Caliph, who came to
Huthaifah imploring him earnestly, “I implore you by Allah! Is my name
mentioned among them?” However, Huthaifah’s answer was, “No! By
Allah! You are the most noble and generous of us all, and you are the
most merciful of us all.” In fact, Huthaifah, may Allah be pleased with him,
was not only greatly surprised but also really embarrassed at Omar’s
question, as he knew how venerable and devoted the latter was. Such is “Al-
Karam”, i.e. nobility and generosity!

Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), bade us to adopt Allah’s Beautiful Names and

Attributes and to color ourselves with them; and Allah’s Beautiful Name
“Al-Kareem” necessitates that we should maintain ties and relationships
with those who sever them, forgive those who wrong us, and give those who
deprive us. It also necessitates that our silence should be contemplation, our
speech a reminder, and our sight an admonition.
Now, I would like to tell you a couple of stories: When Moses spoke to His
Lord, he said, “O Lord! Sometimes, I need something, but I feel ashamed
to ask You (for it). Shall I ask someone other than You?” Soon, Allah,
Most Gracious, revealed to Moses, “O Moses! Do not ask anyone but Me.
Ask Me as to the salt of your dough and fodder of your ewe.”

Our Lord, Allah, Most Generous, loves those who are insistent, so why don’t
you beseech Him when prostrating in prayer in the early morning? Why
don’t you ask Him for all your needs?

Whenever a man would come to Ali Bin Abi Talib, the venerable
Companion and Caliph, may Allah be pleased with him, for something, Ali
would put out his lantern and then ask the man to tell him what he needed.
When Ali was asked why he did this, he answered, “In order not to see
humility of beseeching on the man’s face, and in order that he may not be
embarrassed and refrain from asking me his need. Such was Ali’s “Karam”,
i.e. nobility and generosity!

A venerable religious scholar never used to give money to a poor person by

the hand. He would put the money on a table and then ask him to take it. He
used to do this because he did not like to see his hand over that of the poor
man.

Abban Bin ‘Ayash, one of the Prophet’s venerable Companions, said: “I

went out of Anas Bin Malik’s place, one day, to find a funeral escorted only
by four Negroes who were carrying the dead man’s body. I thought to
myself, ‘Glory to Allah! This is the marketplace of Al-Basra, yet no one
escorts a Muslim’s funeral! I’ll join them!’” By the way, if someone sees a
funeral, it is wise and well rewarded if one escorts it, even though one might
not know who the dead person is, because when they open the bier, one sees
what happened to the dead person, how they put him into his grave and how
they pour soil onto his dead body; and one may hopefully be is deterred and
admonished. However, Abban’s story goes on: “I went along with the
funeral; and when they reached a prayer place, they laid the body down and
asked me to step forward to lead prayer for the dead man. I said, ‘You are
more entitled to do this.’ They said, ‘We are all alike. We do not know the
man!’ However, after I had lead prayer for the dead man’s soul and the men
had buried him, I asked in amazement, ‘What’s the matter?’ ‘Ask that
woman, over there.’ They said. I went to a woman who was standing aside
watching, and asked her what the matter was. She answered, ‘that was my
son, a big sinner, who had committed a lot of sins. Before his death, he
asked me, ‘O Mum! When I die, do not tell any of our neighbors of my
death, lest they should gloat over that. But inscribe on my ring: ‘there is no
god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah’ and put it in my
shroud so that Allah may have mercy on me; and put your foot onto my
cheek and say, ‘such is the recompense of those who disobey Allah!’ And
after you have buried me, raise up your hands to Allah and say, ‘O Lord! I
am pleased with my son!’

The son told his mother exactly what to do: not to tell anyone of his death,
and to put her foot on his cheek, saying: “Such is the recompense of those
who disobey Allah!” However, the mother said, “When I raised my hands up
and began invoking, I heard a voice coming from the sky, “It is alright
Mum! I have come unto the Most Generous Lord!” This is the lesson we get
from the whole story!

It is a great virtue to fear Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, and feel
ashamed towards Him; but it is more adequate and more virtuous to be
obedient and dutiful to the Lord in all times, for the Gate to Allah’s Infinite
Divine Mercy is always widely open.

I beseech the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, to enshroud us with
His Divine Mercy and to inspire us to be laudable, for He is the All
Laudable!

To wrap up, the word “Kareem” in Arabic has a lot of laudable meanings,
including: “being free from all kinds of defects”. That is why we say,
“Kitabun Kareem”, Maqamun Kareem”, “Rabbun Kareem”, “Insanun
Kareem”, and “Mu’minun Kareem”, as above-mentioned.

Opposite to this laudable word, do stand such illaudable things as lie,

falsehood, slander, and calumny, …etc, which render man lowly and
disgraceful.

* * *
 (The All Wise)

I n His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, Allah, the All Wise, says, “And
whosoever is granted wisdom is indeed granted abundant good.” [II;
269] This holy Quranic Verse takes us to the twenty-fourth of Allah’s
Beautiful Divine Names, “Al-Hakeem” (The All Wise).

Dear reader! Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names are quite numerous, ninety-
nine, as mentioned in authentic religious relics. And Allah’s Divine Names
are all Beautiful, because Allah, Glory to Him, is Existent, One and Perfect.
In fact, All of Allah’s Divine Attributes can be summed up in three main
notions, namely that He, Glory to Him, exists, that He is One: in His own
Self, Attributes and Acts, and that He is Perfect. However, some of Allah’s
Divine Names are nearer than others to human beings; and the nearest of all
of Allah’s Divine Names to human beings is “The Lord”, simply because
He, All Mighty, is their Lord. To this effect, the Lord, Allah, All Mighty,
says, “So wait patiently for your Lord’s Decision, for verily you are
under Our Eyes; and glorify the Praises of your Lord when you get up
from sleep.” [LII; 48]

This Quranic Verse shows clearly that decision of all issues and matters
belongs only to Allah, the Lord, Who knows everything, Who is Most
Gracious, and Who is All Wise.

Also, Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Hakeem” (the All-Wise) is nearest to human

beings.
Why did I put forward the foregoing introduction? The answer is: because
sometimes, man sees or meets things that he does not like, i.e. unpleasant
things, as Allah, All Mighty, sometimes afflicts man with things that seem to
be unpleasant to him, i.e. things that he does not like. However, it is most
unwise and ignorant of man to get angry or discontented with his Lord; it is
wise for man, under all circumstances, to be contented with his Lord, and
with His Foreordainment and Divine Decree.

It is necessary for man to know that nothing has happened, happens, or will
happen, since the beginning of creation of the universe until its end, except
by Allah’s Divine Will and Power. In other words, if anything in existence
happened against Allah’s Will, He would cease to be the Omnipotent, the
Irresistible, the All Powerful, and the Self-Sufficient. If anything in the
whole universe happened against Allah’s Divine Will, all His Beautiful
Divine Names and Attributes would be rendered void and meaningless.
Therefore, nothing in the whole existence, which is Allah’s Dominion,
happens except by His Divine Will.

Now, I would like my dear readers to excuse me for repeating the foregoing
fact over and over again. This is because Allah, the All-Wise, very often
repeats Quranic facts; and we repeat Surat Al-Fatihah (the first Chapter of
the Holy Quran) in each and every prayer, tens of times everyday, till the end
of our lives: “In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most
Merciful. All the Praises and Thanks belong to Allah, Lord of all
worlds.” [I; 1,2]

I reiterate: all things in the world happen only by Allah’s Divine Will, i.e. if
Allah wills that something should happen, it happens. Moreover, there is no
other Dominator of the whole universe except Allah. This is Islamic
monotheism: in the whole existence, there is only one Hand that controls
everything, namely the Hand of Allah, the Irresistible, the Omnipotent, the
All-Wise, the All-Powerful, Who is Free to honor or dishonor, give or
withhold, provide or deprive, exalt or disparage.

Also, I would like to emphasize the following facts: Everything happens by

Allah’s Divine Will; everything that Allah wills happens; and Allah’s Divine
Will is associated with His Absolute Divine Wisdom. To make this point
clear, let us have the following example: Sometimes, someone says
something that he does not really believe in. He does this because of a
certain pressure or allurement. His words might be unwise simply because of
pressure or allurement. This is the case with weak people: they fall under
either pressure or allurement, i.e. they are sometimes forced and sometimes
allured; and in both cases, they lose wisdom. In other words, a person might
behave irrationally if he is subjected to pressure or allurement. Also, he
might behave unwisely because of ignorance. In other words, irrationality,
foolishness, and clumsiness may also come from ignorance. In short, there is
no wisdom with pressure, ardent desire, or ignorance.

Now, ignorance, compulsion, and allurement are impossibly attributed to

Allah, for there is no other god to compel Allah; and Allah is far Exalted
above, and Free from, any such imperfection as ignorance or allurement.

Once again: all of Allah’s Divine Acts are associated with His Absolute
Divine Wisdom, which is, in turn, associated with the Absolute Good. This
is the golden motto of human happiness.

Everything has its own reality; and no human can ever attain the reality of
true faith until he believes that what afflicts him is impossible to miss him,
and what misses him is impossible to afflict him. Mistakes and errors are
only human qualities; they are by no means possible for the Creator, Allah,
the All Wise. The seemingly wrong, unjust or unfair things are not really as
such; they are under Allah’s Absolute Divine Wisdom. To make this point
clear, let us have the following example:

A young woman, who had got the high school grade, applied for a teacher’s
job, and was, therefore, required to carry out some medical tests, which,
unluckily for her, showed that she had Tuberculosis. She suffered a lot and
had to go into medical quarantine and complete isolation. This made her turn
to the Lord, Allah, Most Gracious, with sincere devotion and faithful
repentance. She began to offer prayers and practice Hijab (Islamic Veil).
Some time later, her brother consulted the hospital and was greatly surprised
when they apologized to him that the results of the medical analysis, which
showed that his sister suffered from Tuberculosis, belonged to someone else.
They told him that his sister was perfectly healthy and had no Tuberculosis
and that she was given the results of someone else’s analysis. In other words,
Allah, Most Gracious, caused the people working in that hospital to commit
such seemingly horrible, but unintended, mistake so that the young woman
may return to Him.
Another Muslim sister, who attends lectures in this mosque, An Nabulsi
mosque, was sent to one of the Arab oil countries in order to teach math
there. However, the school headmistress asked her to teach Fiqh (Islamic
jurisprudence) and Quranic interpretation instead of math. When she
apologized for not being able to teach such subjects, as they were not her
specialization, the headmistress threatened to cancel her application and
send her back to Syria. In other words, she had no other choice but teach
Fiqh and Quranic interpretation. She had to read religious books in order to
prepare for the lessons she had to give. By the way, that teacher did not
believe in Hijab (Islamic Veil). However, while she was reading the Quranic
Verses that had to do with Hijab (Islamic Veil), she suddenly burst into tears
because she was greatly touched by them. In other words, that teacher’s
repentance came when she was forced to read such Quranic Verses and teach
them to her students. Allah, Most Gracious, made the headmistress’
insistence a means to the teacher’s sincere repentance.

The foregoing examples show clearly that all things happen by Allah’s
Divine Will, that whatever Allah wills will inevitably come to pass, that
Allah’s Divine Will is associated with His Absolute Divine Wisdom, and that
His Divine Wisdom is associated with Absolute Good. No leaf of a tree
could ever fall down except by Allah’s Absolute Divine Will and Wisdom.
Too many seemingly evil things turn out good in the end; and in Allah’s
Kingdom, there is no injustice, in the real sense of the word. Even unjust
tyrannical rulers or leaders are, as it is said, Allah’s Sword in the earth: He
retaliates by them and then He retaliates from them. Therefore, whenever we
hear of an incident that seems to have any kind of injustice on Allah’s part,
we should not give hasty judgments or think that Allah is unjust or unfair,
since we do not know the whole story. If we knew the whole story, we would
firmly believe that Allah is All Just and All Wise.

Hence, the nearest of Allah’s Divine Names to you are “The Lord” and “The
All Wise”. You may ask: Then why do some people suffer from diseases?
The answer is: You should say: This belongs to Allah’s Absolute Divine
Wisdom. This is because if you had enough time and power to trace all the
facts as they really are, you would inevitably find out that things are best as
they are.

In this context, people may ask: Why is such person barren? Why did such
person die so early of age? Why did such one live long? Why is such one
rich? Why is such one poor? The answer is always: This belongs to Allah’s
Absolute Divine Wisdom. I reiterate: You should attribute all things that you
see or hear to Allah’s Absolute Divine Wisdom. It is the same whether such
things are seemingly pleasant or unpleasant. That is because it is impossible
that Allah, Glory to Him, acts unwisely, for He is The Omniscient, the One,
the Existent, the Perfect and, hence, the All Wise. Allah is Infinitely Pre-
Existent; and if you ask, “Where is Allah?” your question means that He
does not exist. Nay! Allah, All Mighty is Pre-Existent. To this effect, He,
Glory to Him, says, “Think not that Allah is unaware of that which the
wrong-doers do. Nay! He only gives them respite up to a Day when the
eyes will stare in horror.” [XIV; 42]

Once again, Allah is Pre-Existent; and He is One and Only. No existence is

like His Infinite Divine Existence. He is Absolute and Perfect, and hence, He
is All Wise.

The foregoing facts are only an introduction to our main topic, namely
Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Hakeem” (The All Wise).

Now, the word “Hakeem” (The All Wise) is mentioned thirty-three times in
Allah’s Divine Book, the holy Quran. Some examples are:
“And if all the trees on the earth were pens and the sea (were ink
wherewith to write), with seven seas behind it to add to its (supply), yet
Allah’s Words would not be exhausted. Verily, Allah All Mighty, All
Wise.” [XXXI; 27]
“Allah is Ever All-Sufficient, All Wise.” [IV; 130]
“…and abundant spoils that they will capture. And Allah is Ever All
Mighty, All Wise.” [XLVIII; 19]
“And Allah is Ever All Mighty, All Wise.”
“And Allah is All-Knowing, All Wise.” [LX; 10]
“Verily, your Lord is All-Knowing, All Wise.” [XII; 6]
“Alif Lam Ra: A Book, the Verses thereof are perfected and then
elaborated from the Him (Allah), Who is All Wise, Well-Acquainted
(with all things).” [XI; 1]
“And had it not been for the Grace of Allah and His Mercy on you, and
(had it not been that) Allah is All-Pardoning, Most Merciful.” [XXIV;
10]
“Falsehood cannot come to it (the Quran) from before it or behind it; (it
is) sent down by the All Wise One, the One Worthy of all Praise
(Allah).” [XLI; 42]
There is something delicate I would like to call the readers’ attention to:
When Allah’s Names come in couples, such as “Verily, Allah is All Mighty,
All Wise”, we should be very careful not to understand that Allah is All
Wise simply because He is All Knowing. In Islamic theology, it is wrong to
consider any of Allah’s Divine Names dependent on another. For example, it
is wrong to say that Allah is All Wise because He is All Knowing, or that He
is All Mighty because He is Most Merciful, …etc. In other words, Allah’s
Names are by no means interdependent. Allah is All Wise just because He is
All Wise; and He is Praiseworthy just because He is as such.

Also, Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran is described as being “Hakeem” (i.e. a
Book full of wisdom”. To this effect, Allah, the All Wise, says, “Alif Lam
Ra’: Such are the Verses of the Book, “Al-Hakeem” (i.e. full of
wisdom).” [X; 1] “Ya Seen. By the Quran, “Al-Hakeem” (i.e. full of
wisdom)!” [XXXVI; 1] “Verily, Allah conferred a great Favor upon
believers when He sent to them a Messenger from among themselves,
reciting unto them His Verses (the Quran), purifying them, and
instructing them (in) the Book (the Quran) and wisdom (Prophetic
Sunna), while before that they had been in manifest error.” [III; 164]
“Our Lord! Send among them a Messenger from among them who shall
recite unto them Your Verses and instruct them in the Book (the Quran)
and wisdom (Prophetic Sunna) and purify them. Verily, You are the All
Mighty, the All Wise.” [II; 129]

In this context, scholars of Quranic interpretation hold that whenever the

word “Hikmah” (i.e. wisdom) comes together with the Holy Quran, it
means Prophetic Sunna and Tradition, because the Prophet’s Hadith and
Tradition are the best interpreters of the Holy Quran.

Also, “Al-Hikmah” (wisdom) should be used in the Call for Allah and His
Religion. To this effect, Allah All Mighty, says, “Invite to the Way of your
Lord with wisdom and fair preaching and argue with them in a way that is
better. Verily, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and
He is the Best Aware of those who are rightly guided.” [XVI; 125]

“Al-Hikmah” (wisdom) can also be granted to people. I would like to say

here that if Allah, All Mighty, gave you the best woman in the world, but He
did not give you wisdom, you would make the worst woman of her. If Allah
gave you the wealth of Korah, but He did not give you wisdom, you would
soon waste it and make of it a source of sorrow and regret for you on the
Day of Judgment. If He gave you good health, but He did not give you
wisdom, you would use your health in trivialities and foolish things. And if
He gave you good children, but He did not give you wisdom, your own
children would be the cause of your entering Hell-Fire. In other words, if
you lack wisdom, everything leads you to endless sorrows and losses on the
Day of Resurrection. That is why Allah, Most Gracious, says, “He (Allah)
grants wisdom to whomsoever He pleases; and he who is granted
wisdom is indeed granted abundant good. But none remember except
those possessed of understanding.” [II; 269]

With wisdom, you can be the happiest person in the world although your
income might be little; and with foolishness, you incur misery with your big
income. With wisdom, you are happy with your wife, ordinary and simple as
she might be; and with foolishness you are miserable even with the best and
most beautiful woman in the world. With wisdom, you help make your
children happy and successful; and with foolishness, you make them
unhappy and unsuccessful. Yes, indeed! Wisdom is the source of every
success and happiness, just as foolishness is the fountain of misery and
wretchedness.

I reiterate: Allah, All Mighty, may give you the wealth of Korah although He
does not like you. To this effect, Allah Most Gracious, says, “Verily, Korah
was of Moses’ people, but he behaved arrogantly towards them. And We
gave him of the treasures whose keys would have been a burden to a
body of strong men. Remember when his people said to him: ‘Do not
exult. Verily, Allah likes not those who exult.” [XXVIII; 76] Allah, All
Mighty, gave Korah great wealth although He did not like him.

Also, Allah might give you power although He does not like you. To this
effect, He, Glory to Him, says, “Verily, Pharaoh exalted himself in the
land and made its people sects, oppressing a group from among them,
killing their sons and sparing the lives of their females. Verily, he was of
those who do mischief.” [XXVIII; 4]

Therefore, Allah may give you wealth and power although He does not like
you. But if He loves you, He gives you both knowledge and wisdom. He,
Praise belongs to Him, says, “And when he (Moses) attained his full
strength and was perfect in manhood, We bestowed on him wisdom and
religious knowledge; and thus do We reward the good-doers.” [XXVIII;
14]
As a true believer, you should consider what Allah has conferred upon you:
If He has conferred upon you wisdom and knowledge, you are beloved to
Him, just as holy Prophets and righteous people are. If, after that, He endues
you with wealth and good health, or increases you in power, you should
praise Him and be thankful to Him. The first and foremost thing is that Allah
provides you with wisdom and knowledge.

In this context, the venerable imam and scholar, Al-Ghazali, says, “He who
knows all things but fails to know Allah is not called ‘a wise person’.”

Once, I met a person who had two Ph.D. degrees, in both education and
physics. I thought he was a great man. Then, I knew that he did not offer
prayers to Allah although he was fifty years old. By Allah! He dropped in
my estimation! All this knowledge yet, he does not offer prayers to Allah!
Doesn’t such Great Creator deserve our worship and gratitude?!

Once again, I repeat Al-Ghazali’s words: “He who knows all things but
fails to know Allah is not called ‘a wise person’.”

I would like to express that as follows: There are two kinds of intelligence:
partial and total. Partial intelligence is manifested when one is, for example,
a doctor who is well versed in science and has a great experience and
understanding. Nevertheless, he disobeys his Lord, Allah, All Mighty,
because he does not think of what will be after death, because he does not
think of the One Who created him, because he does not heed the Creator’s
Religion, because he does not aspire to attain His Lord’s Good Pleasure, and
because he does not see the Majestic Greatness of such Lord. Therefore, he
is unintelligent, even if he were the most intelligent of all mankind.

Hence, there is partial intelligence that has to do with the different

disciplines of human knowledge, such as medicine, physics, math, …etc,
and there is total intelligence that has to do with totalities and fundamentals
of human life in the present world and the world to come. In other words, if
you are heedless of your Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, if you
deviate from His Religion, and if you get indulged in sins and misdeeds, you
are stupid even if you were the best and most experienced in your scientific
or professional specialization, and even if you had the highest scientific
degrees.
Also, people usually congratulate one another on having bought a house,
occupied a prominent social position, having got a high scientific degree,
having got a baby, having got married, having bought a new expensive car,
having been dispatched for a mission abroad, …etc. But I reiterate that
congratulations are deservedly offered only to those who have known the
Lord, Allah, Most Gracious, and are in good terms with Him.

Some religious scholars used to congratulate their disciples most sincerely if

they saw sincere repentance and devotion of them.

In His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, Allah, All High, says, “…(Allah) Who
created you, fashioned you perfectly, and gave you due proportion.”
[LXXXII; 7]

How come that you forget your Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Who created you,
fashioned you, and gave you due proportion?! Some knowledgeable
religious scholars used to invoke, “O Lord! What does he who finds you
miss? And what does he who misses you find?” They also used to invoke,
“If Allah is with you, who can ever be against you? But if He is against
you, who can ever be with you?” Such invocations undoubtedly bespeak
great wisdom!

Now, a learner’s honor is determined by the kind of knowledge he acquires.

If knowledge is honorable, the learner is. Imagine someone who studies a
book about how to rob banks, for example! Even when you see him study
such a book hard, would you have any respect for him? Of course not! If
someone reads and studies carefully a book that teaches people how to forge
money, does he deserve any honor or respect?! Of course not! Such things
are not only evil but also criminal!

Therefore, honor of the learner is derived from the kind of knowledge he

acquires. The more sublime and noble knowledge is, the more honorable and
respected the learner is. Some people study such branches of knowledge as
physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, history, psychology, sociology,
atomics, …etc, all of which can help man attain sublimity and nobleness.

A person can attain more respect so long as the knowledge that he acquires
is rare and needed. But what will the case be with those who get to know
Allah, All Mighty? This is a very good question. The answer is: Those who
acquire knowledge about some of Allah’s creatures attain a noble and
respectable status in the sight of people. For example, those who acquire
knowledge about poetry: imagery, metaphors, simile, style, ideas, …etc, are
highly respected by a great many people. So how would the case be with
those who acquire adequate knowledge about Allah, Lord, of all worlds, and
study His Divine Words and analyze them? They are indeed the wisest,
while those who do not acquire adequate knowledge about Allah, Glory to
Him, are by no means wise.

I always reiterate that knowledge is of several kinds: knowledge that is

interesting, knowledge that is both interesting and useful, and knowledge
that is interesting, useful, and conducive to happiness. A rare specialization
is knowledge that is both interesting and useful. Any kind of knowledge is
interesting, i.e. any book that you read is usually interesting, because
knowledge is interesting; and spread of knowledge is a holy job.
Furthermore, the more sublime and noble your knowledge is, the more
respected and honored you are.

Some religious scholars say, “He who knows Allah’s Words, uses words
that differ from those of other humans.” Does a person who knows Allah
stay up until 1 a.m. talking about kinds of food, for example? Does he spend
five hours of his life playing trick track or chess, or slandering people? That
is impossible except for the silly and foolish-minded! Those who get to
know Allah, Praised and Exalted, and His Divine Book, the Holy Quran,
speak out wisdom and their words are sublime and noble. It is rightly said,
“Every pot gushes out the liquid it has.”

I have always given the following example: some vessels are filled from the
top and have a tap at the bottom. The liquid that comes out of the tap must
be the same liquid that exists in the vessel. If you fill the vessel with water,
you get water from the tap. If you fill it with milk, you get milk from the tap.
If you fill it with lemon, you get lemon from the tap. If you fill it with
brackish water, you get brackish water from the tap. In other words, each
human being has his own fountain from which he gets his knowledge; and
man usually speaks out what is inside his mind, which he fills just like a
vessel.

A person whose knowledge is derived from indecent magazines, love stories,

and low TV series and programs is inclined to speak about trivial silly
things. This is what he knows about life. This is what he has filled his mind
with.
A person whose mind is filled with knowledge about Allah, Most Gracious,
His Messenger, (PBUH), and his venerable Companions, speaks about noble
sublime things. He speaks out wisdom and admonition. He speaks about
facts and basics of human life. He speaks about noble human behavior and
character. This is what he knows about life. This is what he has filled his
mind with.

The most important thing in this regard is where to get knowledge from.
From where should you drink? What should enter your ears and then your
heart? What should enter you eyes and then your heart? This is because your
ears and eyes are your gates to the world. What you read bespeaks your own
personality. What you hear influences your own character. Tell me whom
you sit with and whom you accompany, I tell you who you are. Tell me
whom you befriend, I tell you who you are. This is because, as it is rightly
said, birds of a feather flog together. Tell me who is your preacher, I tell you
who you are.

Undoubtedly, there are lots of sources of knowledge, some of which are pure
and clean, while others are dirty and brackish. A person’s thoughts and
words reflect clearly the source from which he received his knowledge and
experience. If a person’s speech is indecent, his interests are crude and
sexual, his words are biting, and his criticism is hurting, this means that the
source of his knowledge is evil and the fountain from which he drinks is
stinky. It smells of adultery, treason, treachery, disloyalty, selfishness,
arrogance, tyranny, aggression and brutality. That is why it is forbidden in
Islam to speak about deviant profligate people, because the speech about
them is evil and breeds nothing but discomfort and misery. However, the
speech about the righteous and pious people breeds comfort and happiness.

Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “The zenith of wisdom is to fear

Allah.” This Hadith shows clearly that if you do not fear Allah, you possess
no knowledge or wisdom. In other words, a wise person is someone who
condemns himself and works for the Afterlife, and a desperate helpless
person is someone who follows his own desires and caprices and raises false
hopes as to Allah. A helpless desperate person is someone who lives his
present moment and indulges in the perishable pleasures and enjoyments of
this ephemeral worldly life. A wise person, however, is someone who gets
ready for the Hereafter.
To have a few things that suffice one’s needs is better than to have too may a
thing that distracts one from one’s main mission in life. I asked someone,
“How are you?” He answered, “Very well. Praised be Allah! We have been
afflicted with the invocation of him who invoked against us.” I wondered,
“May Allah forbid! Who invoked against you?” The man said, “Haven’t you
heard that Allah’s Messenger invoked, “O Allah! Make provision for those
who love me sufficient only for their living!” I answered, “Yes, I have.
Allah’s Messenger invoked his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, to provide those
who love him only with that which they need for a decent living, and
nothing more.” Yes, indeed! By virtue of the foregoing Prophetic Hadith,
Allah’s Messenger invokes Allah, Most Gracious, to provide true believers
with money that helps them make a decent living and not distracts them
from their Lord. It is sufficient for a believer to be healthy and to earn a
decent living in a simple lodge with his entire essential needs fulfilled. This
is real richness! Real richness is not to waste your life multiplying your
wealth and property.

In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “He who is healthy as to

his body, secure with his people, and has his food (that suffices him) for
one day, (this means that) the entire world has been granted to him.”
He, (PBUH), also says, “Try to be pious if you desire to be the most
devoted of all mankind, and try to be contended with what Allah as
allotted to you if you desire to be the most thankful.” “It is of a person’s
good Islam to leave things that are none of his business.” “Happy are
those who get admonished by that which happens to others.” “Silence is
wisdom, and too few are those who are silent.” “Contentment is a never-
ending treasure.” And: “Patience is one half of Faith; and certitude is
the entire Faith.”

All the foregoing wise Prophetic Sayings are available to everyone; and
everyone can buy a book, or books, that contain such wise Sayings.
However, there is a great difference between buying and reading a book and
adopting the things therein in one’s daily life. You are a real hero not when
you buy or read the Prophet’s Sayings, but when you adopt them for yourself
and put them into reality and practical behavior.

Now, let us go back to Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Hakeem” (The

All Wise), which has three essential meanings:
First meaning: The Arabic word “Hakeem” means “someone who is well
experienced and whose work is perfect, i.e. faultless”. It also means
“someone who calculates and measures things most accurately and
properly”.

For example, if a carpenter fails to cut a piece of wood accurately, his work
is not satisfactory enough. In this case, we could say, “If his calculations
were accurate, his work would be perfect and faultless.” And the more
accurate calculations are, the better and more faultless work is.

Expensive machines are usually perfect and faultless, while bad cheap ones
are full of faults and defects. In fact, accuracy and faultlessness are essential
elements in good machines. This is what makes them more valuable and
more expensive.

A friend of mine, who worked in textile, once told me that a whole roll
produced by a certain cloth machine that we have imported to our country is
sold at the price of only 200 Syrian Pounds, while we buy one meter, only
one meter, of the production of the same machine in another foreign country
for 700 Syrian Pounds. This is because accuracy and perfection of work
makes a big difference.

Therefore, the word “Hakeem” means “someone who does his work most
accurately and perfectly, because he knows how to calculate, measure and
design perfectly well.” And the Lord, Allah, Praise to Him, is “Hakeem” in
the sense that He, All Mighty, All Wise, creates all things in perfect faultless
measurements. To this effect, He, Glory to Him, says, “Verily, We (i.e.
Allah) have created all things with due measurements.” [LIV; 49]

Consider your human body: The blood that runs through your veins and
arteries contains a very accurate amount of salt, 0,7%/8. If this very accurate
amount of salt decreased, blood corpuscles would shrink and cause
immediate death. If it increased, the corpuscles would burst and also cause
immediate death. Who has made the ratio of salt in the human blood fixed?
It is Allah, Most Bounteous, Who makes the kidneys maintain such fixed
ratio of salt in the blood!

Blood viscosity is determined by special hormones of both coagulation and

delusion, which are produced at a most accurate ratio. If the ratio of the
hormone of coagulation increased more than that designed by the Lord,
Allah, All Mighty, blood would stagnate in the blood vessels and cause
immediate death. And if the ratio of the hormone of delusion increased, man
would bleed to death even if slightly wounded.

Once, I visited a friend of mine in hospital; and I was greatly surprised to

find a big mass of bandage on his mouth, about eight centimeters thick. I
asked, “What’s matter?” “I suffer from a deficiency in the number of blood
platelets!” He answered. In fact, these blood platelets are exactly like stones
of which a wall is made: whenever a hole is made in the wall, they block it.
The man suffered from a deficiency in the number of blood platelets in his
blood. Usually, there are nearly 700,000 platelets in each cubic millimeter of
blood. These special blood cells are there in order to block any opening in
the blood vessels.

What a Great Divine Wisdom! Our brother specialist doctors know many
more amazing things about the human body. It is, indeed, Allah’s Infinite
Divine Wisdom!

Also, there are 2,5 billion types of tissues in the world. This means that only
one human being in the whole world has a type of tissue similar to yours.
Also, in the nucleus of the human cell, there are lots of programmed genes,
only 800 of which have been so far known. So, what does “Hakeem” mean?
It means “someone who does his work most accurately and perfectly,
because he knows how to calculate, measure and design perfectly well.” In
this context, Allah, All Mighty, All Wise, says, “He (Allah) has created
everything and has measured it exactly according to its due
measurements.” [XXV; 2]

Therefore, “Al-Hakeem” is He Who perfects all the things that He creates.

To this effect, the Quranic Verse goes: “It is He (Allah) Who has created
seven heavens, one above another; you can see no fault in the creation of
the Most Gracious. Then, look again: can you see any rifts?” [LXVII; 3]

Consider creation of an ant, a fly, an elephant, a galaxy, an atom, or any

other creature! They are all perfect, and they bespeak the Creator’s Absolute
Divine Wisdom! This is the first meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name
“Al-Hakeem”. The following Quranic Verses make this meaning clear:
“It is He (Allah) Who made everything that He has created perfect, and
began the creation of man from clay.” [XXXII; 7]
“Then, a person will know what he has sent forward and left behind. O
man! What has made you careless about your Lord, the Most Generous,
Who created you, fashioned you perfectly, and gave you due
proportion? In whatever shape He willed, He put you together.”
[LXXXII; 5-8]
“Verily, We created man in the best stature.” [XCV; 4]
“He has created everything and has measured it exactly according to its
due measurements.” [XXV; 2]
“Verily, We have created all things in due measurements.” [LIV; 49]

Someone might ask you: Have you tested your eye-pressure? This gives rise
to the question: What is eye-pressure? It is really something amazing! In the
eye, there is a fluid that has to be constantly renewed. But how is the fluid
renewed? The fluid comes into the eye through a special canal that has an
opening at its end. If the end is blocked, the eye becomes congested as the
pressure of the fluid increases, and, therefore, less blood flows to it.
Ophthalmologists measure eye-pressure to make sure the eye is all right.

Such things are very accurate. A doctor once told me that they give patients
undergoing surgical operations certain accurate amounts of Potassium.
Should there be any mistake in the amount of Potassium given, the patient
soon dies.

In the human body, there are most accurate and most amazing secrets and
miracles that go beyond human imagination. This is one meaning of Allah’s
Beautiful Name “Al-Hakeem” (The All Wise).

Second meaning: “Al-Hikmah” (Wisdom) is to possess the best knowledge;

and Allah’s Divine Knowledge is Infinite, while man’s human knowledge is
limited. To this effect, Allah, the All-Wise, says, “And over all those
endowed with knowledge is the All-Knowing.” [XII; 76]

No matter how much knowledge he acquires a true believer always says, “I

still know nothing.” And the remarkable thing about real knowledgeable
scientists is modesty, i.e. the more knowledge they acquire, the more modest
they become. Imam Ash-Shafi’i, may Allah have mercy on him, says, “The
more knowledge I acquire, the more I find out how ignorant I am.” But
who is the Omniscient? The answer is: Allah, Alone. And the word “Al-
Hakeem” is attributed to the One Who is Omniscient, Allah, Whose Divine
Knowledge is Infinite, All-Embracing and Free from all kinds of ignorance,
imperfection or defect. No human being can ever claim to have acquired all
knowledge or experience, not even doctors, engineers or scientists. They
often make mistakes. But Allah, Alone, is the One Who is the Omniscient.
That is why Imam Al-Ghazali says, “No one knows Allah except Allah
(Himself).”

Third meaning: “Al-Hakeem” (The All Wise) is He Who is far above doing
things that should not be done. In other words, He does the proper thing in
the proper way in the proper place and the proper time. This is the third
meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Hakeem” (The All Wise). As
human beings, we sometimes do the proper thing but not in the proper way.
Sometimes, we do the proper thing in the proper way but not in the proper
place. And sometimes, we do the proper thing in the proper way in the
proper place but not in the proper time. A wise person is someone who does
the proper thing in the proper way in the proper place and the proper time.
Such is a “Hakeem” (a wise person).

Now, what is your share of this beautiful Divine Name “Al-Hakeem” (The
All Wise)?

In fact, this Divine Name “Al-Hakeem” (The All Wise) is one of Allah’s
Names that can be adopted by human beings, according to the saying that
goes, “Adopt Allah’s Names and Attributes” In other words, a true
believer should be wise. But where should his wisdom come from? Where
should he derive his wisdom? The answer is: He should derive his wisdom
from his knowledge of Allah. Let’s have the following example: If you have
a very complicated and sophisticated machine, and you have the operation
instructions, it is wise to follow such instructions because they come from
the manufacturer. This is very clear and easy. If you read and understand
Allah’s Divine Book, the Holy Quran, and Prophetic Sunna and Tradition,
and if you commit yourself to Allah and His Messenger’s Commands, then,
you are a wise person. For example, lowering one’s gaze at indecent or
forbidden things is most wise; and if you lower your gaze at women, Allah
will help you have only one woman (i.e. your wife) in your life, and, as
wisdom necessitates, you will be more loving and compassionate to her than
if you have other women in your life.

There is a very delicate point that I would like to make clear: In logic, it is
said, “Making use of something is not part of knowing it.” In other
words, we may give a most developed and sophisticated car to a Bedouin,
someone from the desert, who knows nothing about cars, and teach him how
to drive it until he becomes a perfect driver. He will certainly get full benefit
of the car: its speed, air-conditioning, low noise, luxurious furniture, …etc,
although he knows nothing about how it was made or who made it. Most
people, nowadays, have, and use, lots of sophisticated machines such as
TV’s, air-conditioners, washing machines, dishwashers, fridges, hi-fi stereo
sets, cars, airplanes, …etc, but it is not necessary for them to know how they
were made or the laws that govern their work. It is enough for them to push
certain buttons, and they enjoy all the benefits of such machines, very
complicated as they are. Once again: “Making use of something is not part
of knowing it.” Now, once you carry out Allah’s Divine Commands, no
matter whether you know the Infinite Divine Wisdom behind them or not, no
matter whether you study them deeply or not, you get all the benefits of such
Divine Commands. This is what I would like to make clear to you. Allah
commands you to lower your gaze at taboo or indecent things, He
commands you to be honest and trustworthy, it is most wise to obey Him;
and if you do obey him, you reap all the good fruits of decency and honesty.

I would like to retell the story of the handsome young taxi driver who was
allured by a beautiful young woman who invited him to have an indecent
and forbidden sexual relation with her, offering him a big amount of money.
The man disobeyed his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, and slept with her. Before
leaving, she gave him the money and an envelope. When he opened the
envelope, he was greatly shocked to read: “You are welcome to the AIDS
club.” By the way the money was also forged, and when he went to the bank
to change it, he was arrested and taken to prison. The woman had the AIDS,
and she just wanted to retaliate from other people by transferring it to them.
Now, I would like to ask: Could a true believer fall in such a trap? It is
impossible! A true believer obeys Allah’s Commands and never commits
such an indecent sinful deed!

When you obey the Divine Commands of Allah, the All Wise, you are wise.
You need no justifications or excuses. You should say: I shall never cheat
anyone simply because Allah bids me to be honest. I shall never tell lies
because Allah forbids me to tell lies. By the way, some developed countries
give loans to poor ones. By such loans, poor countries are caught up in big
loans that put them under the mercy of such strong developed countries. This
act on the part of rich countries is dishonest, and such economic laws and
relationships are unfair. The system of Zakat (Alms Tax) in Islam prevents
such unfair and unjust relationships and loans. Rich Muslims have to pay a
certain amount of Zakat (Alms Tax) to the poor and needy. The money they
pay enables the poor Muslims to buy the things they need without
humiliation incurred by asking the rich ones for help. Also, when the rich
Muslims give the Zakat to the poor, they do not strip the poor of their money
or make them poorer, but rather enable them to be more powerful; and when
the poor are powerful and happy, the rich are. The system of Zakat in Islam
makes the entire society prosperous and powerful.

A western writer, called Alexy Carlil, wrote a book, “Man: that unknown”,
in which, after long study and research, he confirms that human life does not
work well unless the sexual relationship between men and women is done
under the umbrella of married life. Even if you have not read the book, it is
enough for you to obey Allah’s Command of lowering your gaze and
abstaining from any sexual relation except with your own wife. In other
words, you have to be wise. And how can you be wise? The answer is: It is
enough to obey Allah and His Messenger.

A doctor may keep telling you for long hours about the danger of bad food
habits. Irrespective of the doctor’s long advice about food habits, it suffices a
true believer to stick to the Prophet’s Hadith: “We are a people who do not
eat unless we are hungry; and when we eat, we are never full.” That is
all. This is preventive medicine. I reiterate: You can reap the fruits of all
human knowledge when you apply Allah’s Commandments. Hence, the
question: who is a wise person? A wise person is someone who applies the
Maker’s instructions!

Sometimes, however, there is no relevant Quranic or Prophetic text

relevant to a certain sudden situation. In this case the Almighty Lord,
Allah, Glory to Him, inspires wisdom to you. In other words, Allah, Most
Gracious, grants you wisdom either by a certain Quranic or Prophetic text
or by Divine Inspiration. Since you seek Allah’s Good Pleasure, He,
Praise to Him, helps you be wise in all of your deeds and attitudes,
particularly under circumstances for which there are no relevant Quranic
or Prophetic texts, by His Divine Inspiration, through His angels. To this
effect, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And We inspired Moses’ mother: ‘Suckle
him! But when you fear for him, then cast him into the river! And fear not,
nor grieve; verily, We shall bring him back to you and we shall make him
one of (our) Messengers!” [XXVIII; 7] This Verse refers to a kind of
Divine Inspiration that Allah gave to Moses’ mother. It was not Divine
Revelation such as that given to Prophets and Messenger but rather mere
Divine Inspiration. While you are unaware, Allah, Most Gracious, drives
to you lots of good things and protects you from lots of bad ones.
Therefore, wisdom necessitates that you should always be with Allah.
Whenever you face a situation for which there is no relevant Quranic or
Prophetic text, Allah, All Mighty, inspires you to do the right thing. This is
exactly what Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), meant when he invoked the
Lord, Allah, Glory to Him, “Help us see the truth as it really is and help us
to adopt it. And help us see falsehood as it really is, and help us to shun it.”

Hence, you are wise when you follow the Commands of Allah, All Wise,
and His Messenger, (PBUH). As a true believer, whenever you feel
comfortable, or uncomfortable, towards something, you should know that
such a feeling is a kind of inspiration from the Lord, Allah, All Mighty.
And the more believing a person is, the wiser he/she is. Moreover, Allah’s
Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), was the wisest of all mankind because
he was the nearest and most devoted to Allah, the Fountain of all Wisdom.
A person may sometimes have to walk along a dark rough way that is full
of pits, obstacles and harmful insects. But on both sides of the way, there
are fruitful trees. If he has a lamp or a torch, does he make mistakes? No!
With his lamp or torch, he can see the pits and obstacles and avoid them,
he can see the insects and kill them, and he can see the ripe fruits and eat
them. Where does foolishness come from? It comes from blindness! Allah,
All Mighty, addresses this issue, “Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind,
but it is the hearts, which are in the breasts, that do (grow blind).” [XXII;
46]

Sometimes, a man may foolishly and unreasonably divorce his wife. Such
is real blindness! In other words, foolishness, which is very dangerous, is
the fruit of blindness, while wisdom is the fruit of Divine Inspiration. In
this context, Allah, All Mighty, says, “But whosoever turns away from My
Reminder: verily, for him is a life of hardship, and We shall raise him up, on
the Day of Resurrection, blind. He will say: ‘O my Lord! Why have you
raised me up blind, while I had sight (before)?’ He (Allah) will say: ‘Like
this: Our Signs did come to you, but you disregarded them, and so, this Day,
you shall be disregarded.” [XX; 124-126] Yes, indeed! He was blind to
Allah’s Commands, which symbolize Absolute Divine Wisdom, in the life
of this present world, and turned away from them. Therefore, he was
forgotten and neglected. As true believers, we derive our wisdom from
Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran, and Prophetic Sunna and Tradition. The
more devoted and committed we are, the wiser and more rightly guided. O
Allah! Grand us wisdom and guide us to the Right Path!

Finally, I would like to tell you a story that might be already known to you.
The story took place some fifty years ago, and its hero is the imam and
orator of Al-Ward mosque in Damascus. One night, this imam dreamt of
Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), telling him, “Tell your neighbor, so and so,
that he will be with me in the Garden of Paradise.” Just imagine! The
neighbor was a mere grocer, but the imam was a knowledgeable religious
scholar and orator! However, The imam went to the grocer’s house and
told him, “I have good news for you. But I’m not going to tell it to you
unless you first tell me your secret and what you have done in order to be
so beloved by Allah and His Messenger.” At first, the man refused to tell
the imam his secret, but upon the imam’s great insistence, the man told
the following story: “Five months after I had got married to a woman, I
suddenly found out that she had been pregnant for nine months and that
she had committed adultery before we got married. However, most
regretfully and sorrowfully the woman, who had recently become my wife,
beseeched me to keep that secret and not to tell it to anyone. At first, I
thought that I had all the right to defame her publicly and to destroy her
reputation and that I could divorce her. But then, after she had profoundly
and sincerely asked for forgiveness, I felt sorry for her and decided to wait
and give the whole matter a second thought. I waited until she gave birth
to the child, which was a male baby. When it was time for the Dawn
Prayer, I wrapped the baby with a blanked, put it under my ‘Aba (woolen
wrap) and took it to the mosque. I waited outside until prayer began and
everybody stood behind the imam to perform prayer, and then I put the
baby behind the door and joined in prayer. When prayer was over, the
people noticed a baby crying behind the door. Everybody went over to see
what it was, and I went with them, asking, “What’s that?” as if I really
knew nothing. “It’s a newborn baby!” They said. “Give it to me! I’ll take
care of it!” I said; and I took the baby and told everybody that I would
adopt it. I took it back to its real mother, my wife, and took it as my son.”
In other words, instead of punishing his wife for a sin that she had
ignorantly and naively committed before their marriage, the man was so
tolerant and merciful. He did not only forgive the woman and keep her sin
secret, but also adopted her baby and took him for a son. This is how he
deserved Allah and His Messenger’s love! This is how good righteous
people act! This is how wise people behave! Such simple grocer is really a
wise man!
 * * *

(The Truth)

N ow, we go on to the twenty-fifth of Allah’s Beautiful Names, “Al-

Haqq” (The Truth), which is very frequently and commonly used by
people. This is because Allah, All Mighty, is the Truth; His Divine
Words are the truth; His Divine Promise is the truth; His Divine Threat is the
truth; and His Divine Acts are the truth.

Before we start the talk about this word “Al-Haqq” (The Truth), let us have
the following examples: If you have an electrical machine that needs
electrical energy in order to work, and if you plug it into a certain socket, but
you find out that it does not work, this means that the socket does not have
any electrical current. In order to make the electrical machine work, you
have to look for another socket where there is an electric current. In this
case, we say that the former socket is untrue, or false, while the latter is true.
So, what does the word “True” here mean?

We say that a certain thing exists only if it really does exist. And in fact,
Allah, All Mighty, is “Al-Haqq” (The Truth) in the sense that if you seek
another one instead of Him, you shall find only a mirage and nothing else:
false promises and void meaningless words. In other words, if you seek
Allah, All Mighty, you find everything. Hence, the first meaning of the word
“Al-Haqq” (the truth) is “something or someone that exists”, which is the
opposite of “Al-Batil” (falsehood), which means “something or someone
that does not exist”. If someone promises you something and keeps his
promise, this means that his promise is true, but if he fails to keep his
promise, this means that his promise is untrue or false. If you fancy that Jinn
can do a certain thing, this is mere illusion, because Allah, All Mighty, did
not give Jinn any power. Therefore, your belief that Jinn can do anything
good or harmful to people, or that they can exalt someone and debase
another, is absolutely wrong, because it simply clashes with the truth. If you
say that someone has super powers, you are wrong, simply because he is a
mere human being, just like you, and cannot do anything unless Allah, All
Mighty, gives him adequate power. In other words, if something really exists
and you believe, and confess, that it exists, this is the truth; while if
something does not really exist, but you misbelieve that it exists, this is
falsehood. If you misbelieve that something exists while it does not really
exist, this is a false belief; and if you say that something exists while it does
not really exist, this is a false saying. I reiterate: the truth is something that
really exists; while falsehood is something that does not really exist. Also,
when your belief conforms to reality, it is true; but if it clashes with reality, it
is false. When you say something that is in conformity with reality, your
saying is true; but when you say something that clashes with reality, your
saying is false.

The most serious and sorrowful thing in life happens when you seek
someone who owns nothing, when you believe in something that falls in
contradiction with reality, when you say something that lacks conformity
with reality. In fact, falsehood stands behind the loss of the majority of
people: They believe in something for lots of years, but then, suddenly, they
find out that such thing is false. They believe that a certain principle is good,
but then, they suddenly find out that it is no good at all and that it brings
only misery and wretchedness to humanity.

Therefore, if you are with the truth, you are happy and prosperous. Why?
The answer is: because you stand on firm grounds, as you are with things
that really exist. This is the whole idea, or perhaps its main outlines.

Now, existence is of two kinds: certain and probable. The only certain kind
of existence is that of Allah, All Mighty, the Creator, Who is Infinitely Pre-
Existent, and Whose Existence is certain and undisputable, simply because
the human mind does not accept that all such accuracy of creation of the
universe can ever be without a Creator, a Maker, or Originator, Who is All-
Wise, Omnipotent and Omniscient. All other existing things, including
mankind, have a probable existence. For example, as human beings, our
existence is probable, i.e. we may, or may not, exist. Also, our existence is
subject to the Maker’s Divine Will. That is why it is rightly said: whatever
Allah, All Mighty, wills is, and whatever He, Glory to Him, does not will is
not. In this context, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “And Satan will say, when
the matter has been decided: ‘Verily, Allah promised you a promise of
truth; and I, too, promised you, but I betrayed you. I had no authority
over you, except that I invited you and you responded to me. So blame
me not, but blame yourselves. I cannot help you, nor can you help me. I
deny your former act in associating me as a partner with Allah. Verily,
there is a painful torment for the wrong-doers.’” [XIV; 22]

Satan’s promise is false: sometimes, he frightens you, but his frightening is

false; and sometimes, he promises you poverty, but his promise is untrue.
This is not a mere theoretical or fancied issue; it is really something serious
and decisive. Suppose you were told that you had to go to Aleppo, for
example, to receive a big amount of money that would help you solve all
your financial problems, and that you should be there at a certain hour on a
certain day. Now, if you took the right train, you would achieve your goal
although you might commit tens of mistakes while being on the train during
the trip to Aleppo. So long as the train was going to Aleppo, everything
would be all right, because you would be on the right train, on the true train.
But if you, by mistake, took the wrong train that was going to another city,
Dar’a for example, you would be on the wrong train, on the false train
because it would never take you to your destination. The first train
symbolizes the truth, while the second symbolizes falsehood.

Allah, All Mighty, is The Truth; and the universe is also the truth only
because Allah, All Mighty, has created it. Moreover, existence of the
universe, or anything else except Allah, All Mighty, is probable, i.e. it may
or may not exist. Also, Allah, All Mighty, is Infinitely Pre-Existent, so if you
believe that He exists, your belief is true; and if you confess that He exists,
your confession is true. If you believe, or say, that a certain human being can
do you good or harm, your belief, or saying, is false. This takes us to another
idea, namely that the truth in the universe is not numerable, i.e. there is only
one truth in existence. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty, says, “Such is
Allah, your Lord, the Truth. So after the truth, what else can be save
error? How then are you turned away?” [X; 32]
If someone’s beliefs contradict with Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran, this
means that he is by all means wrong, and that he has to correct his
misconceptions.

If someone, for example, believes that man’s life is totally dependent on

health care, and nothing else, his belief is wrong, because man’s life goes on
until it is caused by Allah, All Mighty, to end, one way or another.

One of our brothers told me the following story:

“Some forty-five years ago, I was born in a house where my family lived
together with the families of my two uncles. At that time, my uncle’s wife
was seriously ill, and four doctors said that she would not live for more than
one hour. But tens and tens of years have passed, and she is still all right.
Only a few days ago, she came to pay me a visit in my new house.”

We learn from this story that although the four doctors told the woman that
she would die in only one hour, the woman has been alive for forty-five
years! The doctors’ words were by no means true; they were false!

Verily, a physician has knowledge whereby he cures people,

So long as there is a respite in their lives.
But should the days of their lives end,
The physician is baffled, and his drugs betray him.

Dear reader! Do you know who the real hero is? The real hero is someone
whose beliefs are in conformity with reality, whose words are in conformity
with the truth, whose deeds are in conformity with Allah’s Religion. If, for
example, you have a very complicated, but very expensive and useful,
machine, you should be very careful about it. So, what would the case be
with you: the first and foremost creature?!

Hence, the word “Al-Haqq” (the truth) is a very important word; and I
would like each Muslim brother to settle accounts with himself and
reconsider his beliefs and conceptions about religion in order to make sure
such beliefs and conceptions are true and conform to reality. I would like
each one to check whether his conceptions about Allah, All Mighty, and His
Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), are true. I would like each one to check
whether his opinions about modern issues are true. But some people might
ask: What is the importance of our individual opinions?
I mentioned once that a civil war broke out in a neighboring country and
lasted for fourteen years. Due to Allah’s Grace and Mercy, it finally ended.
However, the war can be explained as a kind of conflict between Arab
countries, or sectarian or even international conflicts. But it can also be
explained in terms of Allah’s Divine Book, the Holy Quran, in which Allah,
All Mighty, says, “And Allah puts forward the example of a township
that dwelt secure and well-content: its provision coming to it in
abundance from everywhere. But it denied Allah’s Favors, so Allah
made it taste extreme of hunger and fear because of that which they (its
People) used to do.” [XVI; 112] This is a religious explanation. It is the
explanation of the Creator of the universe, Allah, All Mighty. But which
explanation is true? The answer is: Definitely the religious one! And if you
opt for other explanations than that of Allah’s Divine Book, the Holy Quran,
you are wrong, and your explanation is untrue.

An earthquake might take place in a certain city and bring complete

destruction to it. This can be naively attributed to disturbances in the earth’s
crust. This so-called scientific explanation, however, does not clash with the
religious one that is to be found in Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran, which
goes, “And your Lord would never destroy the towns wrongfully while
their people were right-doers.” [XI; 117]

Therefore, you shall never be a real hero unless you are able to discern the
truth and unless your beliefs, words and actions conform to the truth.

If you have any problems, it is wrong and untrue to attribute such problems
to bad luck or to envious people. No one can ever do you any harm unless
you are careless or you deserve it. The proper true thing to do is to say, “No
stumbling, convulsion of vein, or scratch of a prick, can ever happen except
due to what people’s hands earn; and that which Allah overlooks is far
more.” Every day, you encounter thousands of false sayings; therefore,
wisdom necessitates that you should know and say the truth. And you shall
never be on the side of the truth unless you know, and believe in, it; and you
shall never say the truth unless you know it. That is why Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), says, “The essence of religion is to know Allah.”

Other examples can be derived from vocations. If a professional person does

something wrongly, we say that his method is wrong or untrue. If a builder
constructs a wall properly in an upright position, we say that such wall is
true and sound because it will last for a long time; but if he constructs the
wall improperly, we say that it is untrue and unsound because it will soon
collapse. So, what is the truth? In this sense, the truth is “something that
really exists and endures”. But here we have to add something: In His
Divine Book, the Holy Quran, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And We created
not the heavens and the earth and all that is between them except with
the truth; and the Hour is surely coming, so overlook (O Muhammad)
their faults with gracious forgiveness.” [XV; 85]
“Do they not contemplate their own selves? Allah has created not the
heavens and the earth and all that is between them except with the truth
and for an appointed term. And indeed, a great many people deny the
Meeting with their Lord.” [XXX; 8]
“And We created not the heavens and the earth and all that is between
them without purpose (in falsehood)! Such is the ill thought of those
who disbelieve! Then, woe to those who disbelieve from the Fire.”
[XXXVIII; 27]

From this point of view, falsehood is “something that does not exist or is
perishable”; while the truth is “something that exists and is imperishable”.

Now, let us add another thing: Allah, All Mighty, is Infinitely Pre-Existent.
He is Everlasting in the sense that nothing can out-live Him. He, Glory to
Him, is Ever-Existing, Unique in His Existence, and Perfect in His
Existence. If you know Him, you know everything; but if you fail to know
Him, you fail to know anything. Even if you are the richest, most important,
and most knowledgeable person in the world, and if you achieve all your
ambitions in life, but fail to know your Lord, Allah, the Absolute Truth, you
are nothing. This is so simply because you are not self-existent, i.e. your
existence depends on Allah, the Pre-Existent. If He, Glory to Him, so
desires, He puts an end to your entire existence and, hence, in just one single
instant, you become nothing.

I was once invited to a celebration in one of the mosques of Damascus city.

At the entrance to the mosque stood a number of men to receive the guests. I
shook hands with them and went forward into the mosque. On the way, I
asked the person who invited me to the celebration, “Who sponsors the
celebration?” “My father-in-law.” He said. “Where is he?” I asked. “He is
inside.” The man replied. When I entered the mosque, the man’s father-in-
law, a handsome good-looking healthy stout man, welcomed me warmly and
took me with great respect to my place. A religious scholar was delivering a
speech, and I was listening carefully, when suddenly there was some
disturbance and a couple of men hurried out. I did not understand why they
suddenly got out. However, when the scholar’s speech was over, I stood up
to deliver my speech, which took 20 minutes. As soon as I finished my
speech, someone came to me and whispered, “The man has just died!” Of
course he meant the handsome stout good-looking man who sponsored the
celebration. In other words, the man who invited me to deliver a speech at
the celebration did not live long enough to listen to my speech!

That is not surprising, since man is by no means immortal, and Allah, the
Pre-Existent and Immortal, may, at any moment, put an end to his entire
existence. The man was waiting to listen to my speech when Allah, All
Mighty, suddenly took his soul, and he simply could not listen to the speech
I was about to deliver. Therefore, the celebration was cancelled, and we went
to hospital to see the man lying dead in the intensive care room. As a human
being, you are by no means immortal, you are by no means the truth; Allah,
Alone, is the Truth. If you were the Truth, the following Quranic Verse
would be applicable to you: “Then, why do you not – if you are exempt
from the reckoning and recompense – bring back the soul (to its body) if
you are truthful.” [LVI; 86,87] Yes, indeed! We are by no means exempt
from the reckoning and Recompense!

When it rains, everyone rejoices; but if Allah, All Mighty, were to withhold
rain from us, what would happen to us? What would happen to our entire
existence? If wells and rives were made to dry up, plants would die, and so
would we. Therefore, the self-imposing question is: Are we self-existent?
The answer is: Of course not! Our whole existence is conditional on Allah’s
Irresistible Divine Will, and this is the case with all things in existence.

How stupid it is for man to think that he is self-existent or immortal, or that

he earns his living by his own abilities and talents! This is by no means true!
This is mere falsehood! Therefore, the more knowledge you acquire about
Allah, the more you know how tiny and insignificant you are, and how
Great, Mighty and Majestic Allah is. So, who is a true believer? It is
someone who sees none but Allah. To this effect, the Verses go:
“Verily, those who are giving pledge to you (O Muhammad) are (in fact)
giving pledge to Allah. His Hand is over their own hands.” [XLVIII; 10]
“I was not you who killed them, but it was Allah Who killed them. And
it was not you who threw, but it was Allah Who threw, that He might
test the believers by a fair trial from Him. Verily, Allah is All-Hearer,
All-Knower.” [VIII; 17]
“And to Allah belongs the Unseen of the heavens and the earth; and to
Him return all affairs (for decision). So worship Him and put your trust
in Him. And your Lord is not unaware of what you do.” [XI; 123]

You might ask: Why does so-and-so say things that he does not really
believe in? The answer is: simply because he does not see that Allah is
Supreme. He sees that other fellow human beings are really powerful and
can do him good or harm, exalt or debase him. In other words, the less you
believe in Allah’s Oneness, the more astray from the truth you are. The holy
Prophet, Abraham, (PBUH), knew this fatal fact. Therefore, he (PBUH)
addressed his polytheist people, “So plot against me, all of you, and give
me no respite. I put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord! There is
not a moving living creature but He has the grasp of its forelock. Verily,
my Lord is on the Straight Path (the truth).” [XI; 55,56]

The issue we are talking about is far more serious than mere listening to
lectures, impressive and purposeful as they might be, and then everyone
goes home. The issue we are talking about has to do with our everlasting
forthcoming life in the Hereafter! Are you on the side of the truth? Do your
beliefs conform to the truth? Do your conceptions conform to the truth? Do
your deeds conform to the truth? Do your attitudes conform to the truth? Do
you give or withhold in conformity with the truth? And do you get pleased
or displeased for the truth?

Your contentment or discontentment, donation or withholding, and

maintenance or severance of ties or relationships with others, should always
be in conformity with the truth. When you know that Allah, the All Mighty,
the Truth, is Pre-Existent, Everlasting, Unique in His Existence, and Perfect
in His Existence, and that unto Him is the Final Return, you disconnect all
relationships with anyone else but Him, and turn to Him with sincere love
and faithful devotion. Such issue is far more serious and important than just
to attend a few lectures, perform a few prayers or give out a few pounds. It is
really a decisive issue. It is a matter of truth or falsehood! In this context,
Allah, the Truth, says, “Such is Allah, your Lord, the Truth. So after the
truth, what else can there be save falsehood? How then are you turned
away?” [X; 32]
Furthermore, you should know, dear reader, that if your belief is not
definitive – like when someone asks you, “Do you believe in Paradise?” and
you answer, “Well, I most probably do.” – this kind of belief is false and by
no means true; and it avails you nothing. If someone asks you, “Do you
believe that Allah will ask you about everything you do?” and you answer,
“Well, I think He is not going to be so strict. I think He will be tolerant and
lenient. He will not recompense us except according to our mental abilities.”
This is also false and by no means true. Do you believe in Allah’s Words: “Is
then one against whom the Word of torment has been justified? Will
you (O Muhammad) rescue him who is in the Fire?” [XXXIX; 19]?

By virtue of the above Quranic Verse, Allah, All Mighty, addresses His
Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH): “O Muhammad! You shall not rescue
from Hell-Fire those against whom the Word of torment has been justified.”

You might say, as some usually do: “Someone told us that Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), shall not enter Paradise until he makes all wrongdoers
and sinners of his nation enter with him. So, our end is safe and secure by
Allah’s Grace.” This is also false and by no means true. Therefore, you
should reconsider truthfulness and validity of your beliefs and conceptions.
This is because sometimes, after attending a few lectures or hearing a few
inadequate sermons here and there, falsehood may creep into one’s mind
and, hence, his deeds may be rendered erroneous and sinful. For example,
when you ask someone, “Why do you cheat?” he might says, “Well, I have
children, and things are too expenses, so what shall I do?” Such answer does
not conform to the truth and is, therefore, false, because those who utter such
words, seem to have forgotten that Allah, All Mighty, is the Provider of
sustenance and the One Powerful over all things, and that each and every
good deed has its own reward and each and every sin has its own
punishment. Therefore, it is better for you to purify your beliefs from all
kinds of misconceptions, whereby holy Prophets were accused: “And
indeed she did desire him and he (Joseph) would have inclined to her
desire unless he had seen the evidence of his Lord. Thus it was that We
might turn away from him evil and illegal sexual intercourse. Surely, he
was one of Our chosen (rightly guided) slaves.” [XII; 24]

You should say, “Well, Joseph, (PBUH), was a holy Prophet, and he would
never have inclined to commit adultery.” In other words, you should never
think badly of Allah’s Holy Prophets but rather defend them. What really
happened, however, is that the woman tried to seduce Joseph, but he
(PBUH) pushed her away. Such is the true interpretation that befits holy
Prophets, (PBUT).

Allah, All Mighty, casts light into a true believer’s heart; and this light helps
him see the truth as it really is and falsehood as it really is.

“And if We had so willed, surely, We would have given every self its
guidance, but the Word from Me (Allah) took effect (about evil doers)
that I shall fill Hell with both jinn and mankind.” [XXXII; 13]

You should understand the Holy Quran in a way that conforms to the truth
and not falsehood; and you should also understand the words of Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), in a way that conforms to the truth:

Narrated Abu Hurairah that Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said: “By Him
(Allah), in Whose Hand is my soul! If you did not commit sins, Allah
would cause you to perish and bring other people who would commit
sins and beseech Allah, and He would forgive them.” [Narrated by
Muslim]

What does Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), mean by this Hadith? Shall we

hasten to commit sins? No, of course not! This is not the true meaning of the
Hadith. The Hadith actually means: “If you become too sinfulness to realize
that you have committed sins, this means that your hearts are dead and,
hence, you deserve that Allah makes you perish. For, example, those who
spend a whole night backbiting or slandering other fellow humans and then
go to bed comfortably as if they did nothing wrong, they are not aware of the
Prophetic Hadith that goes, “Slander is more sinful than (committing)
adultery.” [Narrated by Ibn Abi Dunia, At-Tabarani and Al-Baihaqi]

If someone commits sins and is unaware of committing them, this means

that his heart is dead, and hence, he is dead. But a true believer spends his
time doing deeds of righteousness.

Also, you should have an ideology that conforms to the truth concerning
Allah, All Mighty, Who says, “They think wrongly of Allah: the thought
of ignorance.” [III; 154]

In fact, lots and lots of people have wrong misconceptions as regards Allah
and His Messenger. For example, some people ignorantly say: “Allah’s
Messenger was one day walking near Zaid’s house when the latter’s door
opened and his wife appeared, naked with her long hair flowing down her
back. So, Allah’s Messenger admired her and said, “Praise to Allah! Praise to
Him Who has full command over the hears!” Such a saying is absolutely
untrue, because it does not befit such a great holy Prophet as Muhammad,
(PBUH), to do such an indecent thing, which an ordinary believer dare never
do. Such a superstitious story is by no means true. It was undoubtedly
fabricated against Islam and its Messenger.

Allah, All Mighty, says, “And indeed, We (Allah) do know the first
generations of you (mankind) who have passed away, and We do know
the present generations of you, and those who will come afterwards.”
[XV; 24] Some malicious people claim that this Quranic Verse was revealed
for some of the Prophet’s Companions, that while they were performing
prayer, a beautiful woman came to perform prayer with them, and that some
of them stood before the woman, while others stood behind her to see her
beautiful body while she was bowing and prostrating in prayer. They
misinterpret the above Quranic Verse as: “And indeed, We (Allah) do
know those who stood before (the woman in prayer) and those who
stood behind (her).” Such an interpretation is absolutely false and does not
befit the Prophet’s venerable Companions. You should be very careful as
regards such false interpretations! You should know the truth and what
conforms to the truth! You should know Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and
Attributes. And you should know what befits Allah’s Holy Prophets and
Messengers, (PBUT)!

Another example of false interpretations is what some ignorant people say

about the holy Prophet David, (PBUH). They claim that although he had
ninety-nine wives, he loved the wife of one of his leaders. Therefore, he
plotted to get rid of that leader by getting him killed in a war. This made
Allah, All Mighty, blame David, (PBUH), and admonished him to shun his
desires and caprices. Such claim is a mere fabrication and by no means true.
The true thing about the holy Prophet, David, (PBUH), is that he got so
deeply involved in worship and prayer that he was not aware of, or perhaps
failed to solve, other people’s problems. Therefore, Allah, All Mighty, sent
to him two angels, who stood near his niche while he was offering prayer
and pretended to quarrel together. Because he desired to settle the quarrel
quickly in order to go back to his prayers, David, (PBUH), listened to one of
them, but he did not listen to the other, and hastily judged in favor of the one
to whom he listened. He said hastily, “Your brother has wronged you.”
Therefore, Allah blamed him. The desire for which Allah blamed David was
not a lowly desire but a sublime one, namely to prefer worship to solving
people’s problems. In other words, the story had nothing to do with wives or
women. Interpretation of Quranic Verses should be in conformity with the
truth and that which befits Allah, All Mighty, His Holy Prophets and His
great Religion. We should have a true faith, say true things, and do proper
truthful things. We should be with the truth.

Once again: the truth is something that is inconformity with reality. When
someone claims something that is untrue, i.e. clashes with reality, we reject
it; and, in fact, the world abounds in liars who ornament false words in order
to deceive people. Some pseudo religious scholars may often advice a
woman who has troubles with her husband to slaughter a black-and-white
sheep if she desires to set things right with him. Other pseudo religious
scholars may also call for Allah by doing some extraordinary acrobatic
things as piecing their bodies with swords or similar sharp things. What
good does this kind of thing do to Muslims?! It is mere falsehood! If a
patient went to a doctor for medical help, but instead of examining the
patient and prescribing the proper medicine for him, the doctor does some
acrobatic movements in the clinic, like climbing a rope, for example, what
good would the patient get from such a doctor?!

In fact, I have put forward the foregoing examples simply because we are in
bad need of reform. We are in bad need of psychological comfort and
balance. We are in bad need of real happiness. We are in bad need of the
truth, which does not prove, later on, to be false. Too many conceptions and
beliefs last for quite a long time, but then people suddenly find out that they
are not only false but also dangerous and destructive. In short, the truth is
that Allah, Alone, is the Truth!

Muslims should know that their beliefs and conceptions are true only if they
conform to reality; and they should know that their words are also true only
if they conform to reality.

If the red oil-light is lit on a car’s board, but the driver thinks that it is only
for amusement and nothing else, this means that he does not know what it is
really meant for. His conception about this red light is untrue. The red light
is not meant for amusement but rather to show that there is something wrong
with the engine.
Once again: Your knowledge, conceptions, beliefs, attitudes, donation,
withholding, maintenance or deference of relationships, anger, delight, …
etc, should all be in conformity with the truth. Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH),
would joke, but only in the truth. And you can also joke in the truth, i.e. for
the sake of fun and not for the purpose of hurting someone’s feelings or
disparaging someone or some job. You can tell a funny joke while you are
truthful, like Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH).

I hope I have made clear enough the word “Al-Haqq” (the truth), which
occurs hundreds of times in Allah’s Book the Holy Quran. Allah, All Mighty,
is The Truth, while all other existing things are by no means the truth. They
exist by Allah’s Irresistible Divine Will. At any moment, if He so desires, He
causes anything to perish. If His Divine Command is, “Be!”, things come
into existence; but if His Divine Command is, “Perish!”, things perish. All
things exist, continue to exist, or perish only by Allah’s Irresistible Divine
Will. In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), used to invoke, “O Allah!
I am (existing) by You, and (shall return) to You.” Allah, All Mighty, is
the Real Owner of all things, for He, Glory to Him, is the Owner of
ownership. This means that your eye, for example, belongs to Allah, All
Mighty; and you see with it so long as He allows you to do. At any moment,
if He so desires, He makes you lose your vision without any reason. Yes,
indeed! Allah, Glory to Him, is The Truth!

Allah, All Mighty, is the Owner of all things including your ears, heart,
tongue, and all other parts of your body. One of our brothers told me that
dormitory No. 6 in the Asylum near Damascus is very dangerous, because
people there are incredibly mad: They tear off their clothes, they eat their
feces, blood and hair, and they destroy everything in the dormitory.
Unfortunately, they have strong bodies but insane minds. It is Allah, All
Mighty, who has made them insane, because it is He Who owns their minds.
It is Allah Who gives you your good social status, your job, your profession,
…etc. At any moment, if He so wills, He takes them away from you; and
you become nothing. You build your house, or have it built for you; and you
decorate it and live in it with your wife and children. If anything goes wrong
with your mind, they hasten to take you to an Asylum, although you are their
father and owner of their house. In one single moment, you may lose your
mind, vision, hearing or everything, simply because you are not the real
owner of anything, not even of your own self. You have a couple of healthy
kidneys that work regularly. But they might suddenly stop working, and your
life becomes unbearable or even impossible. At any moment, if He so
desires, Allah commands your own kidneys to stop working. Do you own
your kidneys? By Allah! No! Do you own the valve of your heart? By Allah!
No! Do you own your veins and arteries? By Allah! No!

Someone told me that the strength of his body has recently begun to fade
away. At first he could easily climb up to the fourth floor, but after some
time he could only climb up to the third floor, and then to the first. Now, he
gets tired after climbing only a couple of stairs. He has recently had an
operation that cost him a million pounds but it was not successful. Do you
own the arteries of your heart? No, of course not! Do you own your supra-
renal gland, which provides your body with regular sugar? Of course, not! If
anything goes wrong with it, you hasten to seek help.

Your whole life is conditional on the proper function of your liver, supra-
renal gland, heart valves, arteries, veins, kidneys, nerves, muscles, non of
which you own. Moreover, if a drop of blood clots in your brain, it costs
paralysis or even death, while you can do nothing. Once again: You own
nothing: “Say (O Muhammad): ‘O Allah, Possessor of the Kingdom! You
give the kingdom to whom You will, and take away the kingdom from
whom you will. You honor whom You will and humiliate whom You will.
In Your Hand is (all) Good. Verily, You are Powerful over all things.”
[III; 26]

As for your existence and happiness, Allah, All Mighty, sometimes gives
you the world but does not give you happiness and contentment. Wealth
avails you nothing and brings you no happiness if you lack tranquility and
peace of mind, or if you are deprived of good health or security or stability.
That is why the holy Prophet, Abraham, (PBUH), addressed his people:
“And how should I fear those that you associate in worship with Allah,
while you fear not that you have joined in worship with Allah things for
which He has not sent down to you any authority? So which of the two
parties has more right to be in security, if you but know? It is those who
believe and confuse not their belief with wrong-doing: for them (only)
there is security and they are the rightly guided ones.” [VI; 81,82]

The most important thing in your life is to know the truth! I began my
lecture with this example: If you plug an electrical machine in a false socket
that does not have an electric current, it will never work. Such a socket is
false; while another socket that has an electric current is a true one. This is
exactly the difference between the truth and falsehood. I also said that Allah,
All Mighty, is the only Truth, as He, Glory to Him, is Infinitely Pre-Existent,
and His Divine Existence is Perfect. If you firmly believe in this, your belief
is in conformity with the truth, and if you confess this, your confession is in
conformity with the truth.

I reiterate: “Al-Haqq” (The truth) is every thing, word or utterance that

proves to conform to reality. However, the truth requires sufficient and
adequate evidence. If a certain utterance lacks evidence, it is mere imitation.
Let me make this point clear. If someone bears witness that no one has the
right to be worshipped except Allah, his words are true in themselves; but if
he does not know to prove this, or fails to provide adequate evidence to
support his claim, we say that his testimony lacks adequate evidence. The
truth always needs adequate evidence.

Also, if your belief in the truth is not firm and definitive, it is valueless. To
this effect, Allah, All Mighty, says, “Such is the Book, whereof there is no
doubt.” [II; 2] “Believers are only those who believe in Allah and His
Messenger, and afterward doubt not but strive with their wealth and
lives for the Cause of Allah. Such are the truthful.” [XLIX; 15]

If your belief is blemished with any kind of suspicion or uncertainty, it is

untrue. If your belief is only 30% certain, it is, as we say in Arabic, “Wahm”
(conjecture); if it is 50% certain, it is “Shak” (suspicion); if it is 70% certain,
it is “Thann” (doubt); if it is 90% certain, it is “Ghalabatu Thann”
(approximate certainty); and if it is 100% certain, it is “Haqq” (The truth, i.e.
absolute certainty). Your belief in Paradise, Hell-Fire, and the Reckoning on
the Day of Judgment, must be absolutely certain. Your belief must be 100%
certain as regards such facts as that Allah, All Mighty, shall inevitably
destroy the wealth of someone who deals in usury, that He shall impoverish
those who commit adultery, that He shall deprive of happiness those who do
not lower their gaze at unlawful or indecent things, that He shall destroy the
wealth of those who earn money illegally, that all mankind shall stand before
the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, for reckoning and reward. If your belief in such
issues is 100% certain, this means that you are with the truth; and the truth
does not accept conjecture, suspicion, doubt, or approximate certainty.

A well-known poet, Al-Ma’arri, says:

The fortuneteller and the doctor both claimed
That humans shall not be mustered, so I said, “Listen!
If what you say is true, I shall not be a loser;
But if what I say is true, loss shall be yours.

I would like to say that such belief is untrue. It is untrue to say about the
Hereafter: “If there is going to be a Hereafter, we shall be safe; but if there
isn’t, we shall lose nothing.” This is not true religion. It is mere suspicion
and disbelief in Allah’s Words.

Once again, the truth does not accept any kind of uncertainty, conjecture,
suspicion, doubt, or approximate certainty. It accepts only Absolute
certainty.

I repeat: the truth is something that is 100% certain and is in full conformity
with reality. Whatever you say or claim is false unless it conforms to reality.
Therefore, we should omit from our religious beliefs thousands of false
claims and conceptions, and thousands of unrealistic fabricated stories. For
example, in some books of Islamic history, it is claimed that due to certain
old pre-Islamic rancor or hatred, Omar Bin Al-Khattab discharged Khalid
Bin Al-Waleed, the venerable Companion and hero, who took part in more
than a hundred victorious battles. Such malicious unrealistic biased claims
are by no means true. Nay! They are absolutely false and do not befit the
Prophet’s venerable righteous Companions! Had the Prophet’s venerable
Companions been as the false claims say, they would have never got out of
Mecca or conquered any part of the world. However, the true version of this
story is the following: When Omar Bin Al-Khattab discharged Khalid Bin
Al-Waleed, Khalid came to Omar and asked him, “O Commander of the
Faithful! Why did you discharge me?” Omar said in reply, “O Aba
Sulaiman! I swear by Allah that I love you!” Khalid asked, “Then, why did
you discharge me?” Omar said, “I swear by Allah that I did not discharge
you for anything except for fear that people may be charmed out of faith by
your extraordinary feats for the Cause of Allah!” In other words, Omar
discharged Khalid from army leadership not because of any personal rancor
or hatred, as some malicious historians claim, but rather because some
people began to think that it was Khalid who gave them victory due to his
extraordinary ingenuity and heroism. They began to forget that victory
comes from the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Alone. By discharging Khalid of
army leadership, Omar intended to show Muslims that victory was granted
by Allah, and did not come due to any ingenuity or heroism of a certain
warrior or leader. He intended to show Muslims that so long as they were
faithful and dutiful to the Lord, Glory to Him, He granted them victory,
whether Khalid was their leader or not. This version of the story befits the
two venerable Companions, Omar and Khalid, and conforms to the truth.

In fact, there are quite a few stories and narrations that are false and
unrealistic and distort the good image of the venerable Companions. This is
Devilish work of people of deviation and falsehood.

Once again, the truth does not accept any kind of uncertainty, conjecture,
suspicion, doubt, or approximate certainty. It accepts only Absolute
certainty.

Nowadays, we hear some people say about certain religious texts: “These
words are true only to a certain degree.” This means that they are not at all
certain of the truthfulness of the words. If something is 80% or 50% true, it
is not the truth: the truth is always 100% true.

The truth is something that is absolutely true, is in conformity with reality,

and is supported with adequate evidence. Without evidence, it becomes mere
imitation; and if you imitate others in religion, your religion is not
acceptable. This means that you always have to seek valid evidence for your
beliefs. If someone tells you, “Allah is not Merciful because of the great
many diseases and disasters that we witness everyday”, and if you say, “Yes,
that’s right. I agree with you. I shall imitate you,” on the Day of Judgment,
Allah, All Mighty, will ask you, “Why did you believe that I am not
Merciful?” Will you say, “O Lord! I imitated so-and-so! He said that, and I
just believed him and took what he said for granted.” Allah will ask you,
“But where was your mind? Why didn’t you use it properly?” In short,
imitation is not acceptable in religion. You must always look for evidence.
You must always be 100% sure whether people’s claims are true or false! If
you report something, you must be 100% truthful; and if you claim
something, you must provide adequate evidence. Nothing should be built
upon uncertainty. In this context, Allah, All Mighty, says, “O you who
believe! If a liar comes to you with any news, verify it lest you should
harm people in ignorance and afterwards you become regretful for what
you have done.” [XLIX; 6]

The truth always needs adequate evidence. It needs to be in full conformity

with reality. It needs to be absolutely certain. Therefore, if you can
reconsider all of your ideas, conceptions and beliefs and make them all in
conformity with the truth, i.e. check whether they are in full conformity with
reality, whether they supported with adequate evidence, and whether they
are in full conformity with absolute certainty, you are one of those who are
really successful and prosperous. This is because this kind of knowledge is
the essence of Islamic religion, and you should be very careful where you
should get your knowledge. To this effect, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says,
“O son of Omar! (Take care of) your religion, (take care of your
religion)! It is (as it were) your flesh and blood! Take (it) from those who
are straightforward, but do not take (it) from those who are deviant.”

Hence, Allah, All Mighty, is The Truth; His Words are true; Paradise is true
(i.e. existing and real); Hell-Fire is true; the Reckoning is true; the
Punishment is true; the Straight Path is true; and the Prophet’s Station and
Fountain, on the Day of Judgment, are true. Also, lowering one’s gaze at
indecent or unlawful things conforms to the truth in the sense that if you do
it, you reap its good fruits. Honesty conforms to the truth in the sense that if
you are honest, you win people’s trust and love and you become popular and
successful. Therefore, honesty is real richness. In fact, if you do anything
that conforms to the truth, you reap its good fruits. Time is priceless and life
does not wait except for work and actual practice. If you are one of those
who attend religious lectures in mosques, you gain no benefit out of such
lectures unless you translate that which you hear into action. That is why
Allah, All Mighty, bids His Messenger, (PBUH), “Say (O Muhammad):
‘Work!’” This is very serious because Allah, All Mighty, and His
Messenger, (PBUH), bid us to deal with religion seriously and to put it into
action in order to get to our ultimate goal, success and prosperity.

Also, you should consider the notion that the Hereafter is eternal while the
present world is ephemeral. Do you work in accordance with such notion? A
certain belief might be true, but its application is wrong and untrue. If you
are with the truth, Allah will help you even after some time. But if you are
with falsehood, Allah will inevitably uncover and destroy you. Therefore,
you should always be with the truth; otherwise there will be failure, bad
reputation and destruction.

However, the issue that I would like to make clear, with Allah’s Help, is the
fact that Allah, Most Gracious, gives you a respite so that you do whatever
you like while you are healthy and powerful, and so that you make your own
choices in life. If He, All Wise, were to hasten His Punishment to you at
each and every sinful deed, you would be straightforward, not because of
your love for Allah or obedience to Him but rather because of your fear of
Him. In this case you would not be free but rather compelled. Allah, Most
Gracious, gives you freedom to do whatever you like, righteous or evil, and
then gives you a respite to repent and reform, and does not hasten His Severe
Punishment to you.

In His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, Allah, All Mighty, says, “Nay! If you
knew with a sure knowledge, verily, you would see the blazing Fire. But
then you shall see it (the Fire) with your very own eyes.” [CII; 5-7]

If you see smoke from behind a wall, you are 100% sure of the existence of
fire, as there is no smoke without fire. The knowledge you get by witnessing
smoke from behind the wall is called “certainty”. However, if you go behind
the wall, you see the fire with your own eyes. In this case, your knowledge
becomes “eye-certainty”. But if you touch the fire with your own hand, this
is “true certainty”, which is 100% true. Therefore, man’s knowledge is of
different degrees: certainty (80%), eye-certainty (90%), and true certainty
(100%): “Nay! If you knew with a sure knowledge, verily, you would see
the blazing Fire. But then you shall see it (the Fire) with your very own
eyes.” [CII; 5-7]

Therefore, if we really want our Lord, Allah, All Mighty, to exalt us in honor
and dignity, we must know the truth; we must speak the truth; we must
behave in a way that conforms to the truth; and we have to be always with
the truth. And when, in the end, Allah, All Mighty, causes the truth to
triumph, He, Alone, will exalt His obedient dutiful slaves in honor and
dignity. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And invoke not any other
god besides Allah: there is no god but Him. Everything shall perish save
His Face. His is the Decision, and to Him you (all) shall be returned.”
[XXVIII; 88]

To sum up, the truth is to say “O Lord! He who finds you misses nothing;
but he who misses you finds noting!” This is because if Allah, All Mighty,
stands with you, none can ever stand against you; but if He, All Mighty,
stands against you, none can ever stand with you!

In the whole universe, there is only one Truth, namely Allah, All Mighty,
Alone. Therefore, everything that brings you near to Allah is true; and
everything that takes you away from Him is false. That is why you must
know Allah, All Mighty; and you must know and practice His Religion,
simply because it is the truth, while all other doctrines and cults are false.
And Allah, All Mighty, makes true believers witness, with their own eyes,
that falsehood may stand for quite a long time, even for seventy years, but
then it collapses like a spider’s house, like a wall that has been improperly
built. Allah, All Mighty, addresses this issue: “And say (O Muhammad):
‘The Truth has come and Falsehood has vanished! Verily, Falsehood is
ever bound to vanish.” [XVII; 81]

Yes, indeed! Falsehood is ever bound to vanish: false beliefs are ever bound
to vanish, and so are evil false manners.

* * *

(The All-Loving

I n this lecture, we will be dealing with the twenty-sixth of Allah’s

Beautiful Names, “Al-Wadoud” (The All-Loving), as Allah, Al Mighty,
says, “And He (Allah) is the All-Forgiving, the All-Loving.”
[LXXXV; 14]

Yes, indeed! Allah, All Mighty, is “Wadoud” (All-Loving); and His Divine
Name “Al-Wadoud” is an emphatic Name derived from the Arabic word
“Woudd”, which means “Houbb” (Love). Also, the Arabic word “Houbb” is,
in turn, derived from “Habab Al-Asnan”, which means “whiteness,
cleanliness and purity of teeth”. This means that those who love Allah, Most
Gracious, are pure, chaste, sincere, and faithful.

The word “Houbb” also indicates submission and obedience to the beloved.
Hence, those who love Allah, Most Gracious, are dutiful and obedient to
Him. They are modest, humble and submissive to the Lord, Exalted and All-
High.

The word “Houbb” also means “instability”, which, in turn, means that those
who love Allah, All Mighty, are in constant instability as regards their
relationship with their Beloved Lord, Allah, Glory to Him. In one single day,
they undergo twenty or even forty different conditions that range between
feelings of hope, fear, worry, tranquility, delight, pleasure …etc; while
hypocrites remain in one stable condition with their Lord, because their
hearts are dead. True believers, who really love their Lord, undergo
constantly changing feelings as regards their relationship with Him; while
hypocrites, whose hears are dead and, hence, emotionless, remain stable and
unchangeable.

Also, the word “Houbb” or “Habb” refers to a seed from which we get good
fruits. This means that those who love the Lord, their love is like a seed that
produces a shady tree that, in turn, yields good fruits.

In fact, the word “Houbb” (love) embraces all of the foregoing meanings:
purity, chastity, submission, humbleness, instability, growth and good, …etc.
However, there is still an accurate question: Is “Al-Woudd” the same as
“AL-Houbb”?

Undoubtedly, there is a delicate difference between both words. “Al-Houbb”

means “love as a noble feeling dwelling in the heart”; while “Al-Woudd”
means “love substantiated by action”. In other words, if you love someone,
your inner feelings towards him are called “Houbb” (i.e. love that exists in
your heart), but when you translate such love into action by smiling to him,
for example, or doing him a favor, this is “Woudd” (i.e. love that you put
into action). If you offer him a present, it is “Woudd”. If you help him out of
a problem, it is “Woudd”. If you visit him when he is ill, it is “Woudd”. If
you offer him a present when he gets married, it is “Woudd”. In short, inner
feelings of love are “Houbb”; while ostensible substantial acts of love are
“Woudd”. All those who have “Woudd” must necessarily have “Houbb”, but
not vice versa. This means that someone might love another but does not
show that in his behavior, but if someone shows love to another, this means
that he loves him.

In His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “And He
(Allah) is the All-Forgiving, the All-Loving.” [LXXXV; 14] This means
that the whole universe is but a substantiation of Allah’s “Woudd” (Love) for
man. In other words, the entire universe, with its heavens, stars, planets,
galaxies, the Sun, the Moon, rain, fishes, birds, animals, plants, flowers, is
but a substantiation of Allah’s “Woudd” for mankind. Children, who fill the
home with life and movement, are of Allah’s “Woudd”. The great many
kinds of fruits are of Allah’s “Woudd”. Wives, whom Allah created
especially for men’s psychological and physical comfort, are of Allah’s
“Woudd”. Husbands, whom Allah created especially for women’s comfort,
are out of Allah’s “Woudd”. Wool, which Allah created to protect us from
cold is out of Allah’s “Woudd”. All things that Allah has subjected for
mankind are out of Allah’s “Woudd”. The whole universe is subjugated for
man as a kind of “Woudd” from the Lord, All Mighty. Therefore, “Al-
Wadoud” is someone who translates his love into action.

Here we have another crystal clear fact: When man loves, he becomes
inclined towards the one he loves. If the one he loves goes away, he feels
painful. That is why lovers feel painful and cry sorrowfully when they leave
one another; and that is why mothers cry sadly when their children leave
them or are separated from tem. But does this apply to Allah, All Mighty?

Islamic theology says, “No, this does not apply to the Almighty Allah.
Inclination that entails pain or sorrow does not befit Allah, All Mighty, but it
befits human beings who show submission and humbleness when they love.
When Allah, All Mighty, loves someone, He honors and mercies him/her,
because He is All Mighty, All Majestic. However, Allah’s Love for true
believers is confirmed in His Book, the Holy Quran. To this effect, Allah,
Most Gracious, says, “O you who believe! Whoever from among you
turns back from his religion (Islam), Allah will bring a people whom He
loves and who love Him, (who are) humble towards believers, stern
towards disbelievers, fighting in the Way of Allah and never feeling fear
of the blame of a blamer. Such is the Grace of Allah, which He bestows
on whom He wills; and Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing.” [V; 54]

Allah’s Divine Love for man is manifested by His Divine Protection, Help,
Victory, Success, sending down Mercy upon his heart, sending down peace
and Tranquility upon him, providing him with all the things he needs. This is
Allah’s Divine Love for man. But man’s love for Allah is substantiated by
inclination and attachment, because if Allah forsakes him, or deprives him of
His Divine Light, he feels unbearable pain and sorrow.

Our Love is not easy; and he who claims it is easy:

We tell him, “You know Us not.”
The easiest thing in love, for one enamored, is to get killed;
But harder than killing a man is the Day of Our forsaking him.

Once man loves Allah, All Mighty, he gets inclined to Him, seeks refuge in
His Divine Shade, Light, Holy Manifestations, Peace and Tranquility, and he
feels that Allah is always protecting and helping him. But Allah’s Divine
Love for man means protection, help, support, ...etc. And “Al-Woudd” is the
practical substantiation of both kinds of love.

After the foregoing necessary introduction, let us try to elaborate the delicate
meanings of Allah’s Name “Al-Wadoud” (The All-Loving).

In His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “And He
(Allah) is the All-Forgiving, Al-Wadoud (the All-Loving).” [LXXXV; 14]
The word “Al-Wadoud” here means that Allah loves and honors His
righteous slaves. It also means that His Favors and Blessings are but
substantiations and manifestations of His Divine Love for them. To make
things clear, let us have the following examples: If you see a dangerous
insect on the back of someone you love, you act readily to remove such
insect. If you see someone you love shivering with cold, you hastily offer
him your coat to wear. If you find someone you love in need of something,
you quickly offer it to him. Hence, “Al-Woudd” is substantial manifestation
of love. And our Lord, Allah, All Mighty, is “Al-Wadoud” (The All-Loving).

The whole universe is but a substantiation of Allah’s Divine Love, i.e. His
“Woudd” for us. Let us not stray from the main point of this topic. Animals,
for example, remain all their lives eating one kind of food, perhaps barley or
anything else, which is for them (as it were) appetizer, main meal, sweats,
and fruits. They eat nothing but barley or herbs. But man has a lot of
different kinds of foods, sweats and fruits to eat.

In a perfume shop, you find thousands of fascinating perfumes, which are all
of Allah’s Magnificent creation: jasmine, violet, lavender, …etc, are all
manifestations of Allah’s Divine Grace and Bounty. It is Allah, Who created
such perfumes and scents, just as He created the sense of smell that enables
man to enjoy such sweat perfumes. He, Glory to Him, creates Favors and the
senses that enable man to feel and enjoy them. This is Allah’s Divine
“Woudd”!

Hence, one meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Wadoud” is that He

endears Himself to His slaves by bestowing His Divine Favors upon them.
Therefore, logic and good reason show that the entire universe is nothing but
a manifestation and substantiation of Allah’s Divine “Woudd” (i.e. Love) for
mankind.

Now, when you offer prayers, observe the fast, and perform the Hajj
(pilgrimage to Mecca), and when you lower you gaze at indecent or
unlawful things, give charities, try to be honest and trustworthy, bid to good
things and forbid evil ones, expend of your wealth, all such righteous good
deeds are in fact real manifestations of your love for Allah, All Mighty. By
such good righteous deeds of worships, transactions, and manners, you
express your love for your Lord, Allah, Most Gracious. He, Glory to Him,
shows His Divine Love for us by creating this universe for us, by being our
Creator and Maker, by subjecting the entire universe for our benefit and
pleasure, and by preparing for us Paradise, whose width is as great as the
heavens and the earth. While we show our love for Allah by believing in
Him, by worshipping Him, by showing adequate obedience to Him, and by
following His Messenger’s good model of noble traits and generosity. In
other words, the entire universe is a manifestation of Allah’s Divine Love for
man, just as all of man’s righteous good deeds are substantiation of his love
for his Great Creator, Allah, All Mighty: “And He (Allah) is the All-
Forgiving, the All-Loving.” [LXXXV; 14] Yes, indeed! Allah is “Wadoud”
(All-Loving) for His slaves; and He displays His Divine Love for them
through His Favors that He bestows upon them.

I would like to ask you, dear reader: If someone invites you to his home, and
when you get there, you find the house already warmed for you, the most
delicious foods and drinks already prepared for your pleasure, and the most
beautiful flowers and roses put everywhere for your entertainment, don’t you
feel most grateful and loving to such a host, and don’t you thank him
profoundly and from the depth of your heart? Of course, you do! Don’t you
say to him, “By Allah! I can’t be grateful and thankful enough!” Of course,
you do! This is because man is enslaved by good favors. If someone pays for
you the fare of a public vehicle, don’t you feel grateful? Of course you do!
All such gratitude is for only an invitation or a certain favor, so what should
your gratitude be to Allah, your Lord and Maker, Who created you from
nothing? Does not such Great Creator and Provider deserve from you all
gratitude and thankfulness? Of course He does! In this context, Allah, All
Mighty, Most Gracious, says, “Has there not been over man a period of
time when he was not a thing worth mentioning?” [LXXVI; 1]

But unfortunately, Allah’s Divine Grace and Bounty are often met with
ingratitude and even denial on the part of the majority of people. You should
extol, from the depth of your heart: “O my Lord! All Praises to you because
you have created me and brought me into existence! O Lord! All Praises to
You because You have helped me know You! O Lord! All Praises to You
because You have helped me obey You! O Lord! All Praises to You because
You have enlightened my heart with Your Divine Guidance! O Lord! All
Praises to You because You have inspired me to do good righteous deeds!
Allah says to you: “I hear you. So, speak out!” You say, “O Allah! All
Praises and Thanks to You!” Some righteous people invoke: “O Lord! All
thanks and Praises, all Favors and Graces, belong to You!” Others say: “O
Lord! All pure and perfect Praises and thanks to You, as many as Your
creatures are.” Just remember! The whole universe is but a manifestation
and substantiation of Allah’s Divine Love for you!

When I once traveled to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj (pilgrimage), a friend of
mine received me at the airport. He took me to his home and singled out a
special driver for me, and then he had a very luxurious room reserved for me
at one of the most expensive hotels in Mecca and Medina. During my stay
there, he invited me two or three times to big parties to which he invited tens
of good people in my honor, and he did me a great many favors that I shall
never forget as long as I live. Whenever this man comes to Damascus, I
don’t know how to honor him and serve him enough for his great favors. All
such feeling of gratitude on my part is only for the favors he did to me
during the ten days that I spent in Mecca during time of the Hajj.

The Never-Ending Favors and Graces of Allah, Most Gracious, are Infinite!
When you go to the toilet, you answer the call of nature without any pains or
problems. This is one of Allah’s Innumerable Great Divine Favors, of which
lots of people are heedless. So, this is just a reminder for those who will get
admonished!
When your heart and all other parts of your body work properly, this is one
of Allah’s uncountable Divine Favors and Graces.

In short, the entire universe is but a manifestation and substantiation of

Allah’s Love for mankind. Therefore, true believers should say what Allah’s
holy Prophets taught us to say: “Say: ‘Truly, my prayer, my sacrifice, my
living, and my dying are for Allah, Lord of all worlds.” [VI; 162]

Yes, indeed! You should say, “All my life, all my time, all my power, all my
wealth, all my abilities, all my knowledge, all my children and family, and
all my work, are for Allah, All Mighty, and for His slaves, my fellow
humans.” Is good recompensed with anything but good?! Yes, indeed:
“Truly, my prayer, my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for Allah,
Lord of all worlds.”

Before Allah, All Mighty and Most Gracious, created you and brought you
into existence, you were nothing at all. But from the moment He brought
you into existence, He bestowed on you a couple of Priceless Divine Favors:
“Have We not made for him (Man) a pair of eyes, a tongue and a pair of
lips, and shown him the two Ways (of good and evil)?” [XC; 2-10]

The first Divine Gift man that receives from his Lord upon his birth is a very
complicated operation, namely the so-called “Suck reflex”, which enables
him, from the moment of birth, to take his mother’s breast tightly with his
small mouth and start sucking. Without such reflex, human life would be
impossible!

The second Divine Gift is your mother! Yes, indeed, your mother! But who
is this creature? In fact, she is one of Allah’s Great Divine Signs and Favors,
for she is naturally pre-disposed to consecrate, and even sacrifice, all her
existence for her baby. She devotes all herself, her nerves, her feelings and
emotions, her powers, and her efforts, for the sake of her baby. She reacts
with it most amazingly, as if it is still part of her. Even If she is out on a visit
to the neighbors, she sill feels it, and, readily enough, says, “My baby has
waken up!” and milk begins coming out of her breast!

Your mother is a Divine Gift, and so is your father! A father once told me: “I
am but a sincere servant who works for gratis. I need nothing from this
world except simple food and clothing. I labor and toil only for my
children.” A father is a mere servant for his children, and so is a mother.
They work hard to make them happy and help them make their way through
life. Once again: Fathers, mothers and children should be looked upon as
Divine Gifts from the Lord, Most Gracious.

Air that we breathe, and water that we drink are great Divine Favors.
Purification of one liter of salt water needs more than seventy pounds in
some countries. When you turn on the tap and get fresh pure water, you
should remember that it is a great Divine Favor from the Lord. The spring of
Feejeh provides Damascus city with 16 cubic meters of fresh pure water per
second.

What would you say about the different kinds of fruits?! Even more, the
Lord, Most Gracious, has endued you with an intelligent mind with which
you think and take up a certain vocation or profession and do it properly.
This is another great Divine Favor. Your income that is sufficient for your
needs is another Priceless Divine Favor.

Once again, the whole universe is a miraculous Divine Favor from the Lord,
Allah, All Mighty. Therefore, all your living, dying, prayer, sacrifice, wealth
and worship should be for your Lord, Allah, Glory to Him. A man once
asked a holy religious scholar, “O master! How much is the Zakat (Alms)
tax?” The scholar asked the man, “For you or for us?” The man said, “What
do you mean by ‘you’ and ‘us’?” The holy scholar answered, “For you (i.e.
ordinary Muslims) the Zakat is only 2.5%, but for us (i.e. knowledgeable
holy scholars who know their Lord very well), the slave and his wealth are
all for the Lord!”

Do you understand these words by which you begin your Muslim prayer:
“Say: ‘Truly, my prayer, my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for
Allah, Lord of all worlds. Thus I have been commanded; and I am the
first of those who surrender (to the Lord with Islam).” [VI; 162,163]?
This is the first meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name, “Al-Wadoud” (The All-
Loving).

The second meaning is that Allah, All Mighty, is “Wadoud” (All-Loving) for
His slaves in the sense that He, Glory to Him, creates love and casts it
among His slaves. Who casts love for children in the hearts of mothers? If
you go to an infant-hospital, you see something really amazing: different
mothers from all walks of life. Bedouin mothers cry for their babies;
mothers who practice Hijab (Islamic veil), and those who do not, cry for
their babies; educated and uneducated mothers cry for their babies; believing
and disbelieving mothers cry for their babies; Muslim and non-Muslim
mothers cry for their babies. In fact, all mothers, without any exception, cry
for their babies if anything goes wrong with them. Who has cast such love
for children in the hearts of mothers? It is undoubtedly Allah, All Mighty,
Most Gracious!

Therefore, one of the meanings of Allah’s Beautiful Name, “Al-Wadoud”

(the All-Loving), is that He, Glory to Him, creates love and casts it among
His slaves: fathers, mothers, husbands, mothers, siblings, and friends. They
all enjoy love among them. To the same effect, Allah, Most Gracious, says,
“And among His Signs is that He has created for you wives from among
yourselves that you may find repose in them; and He has put between
you affection and mercy. Verily, in that are indeed Signs for a people
who reflect.” [XXX; 21] Who creates such affection and mercy? It is Allah,
Most Gracious!

A relative of mine was abroad for four or five years. Every year, he used to
come here for one-month holiday in order to look for a good wife. But every
year, he failed to find a suitable wife, his holiday ended and he had to go
back to work for another year. After several years of search, he got nervous
and wondered what the matter was. Anyway, on the last-but-one day of his
holiday one year, he found a suitable wife and got married to her after a
quick wedding party. The relationship between the young man and his wife
lasted only for twenty-four hours, after which he had to go back to work
abroad. The next day, when the just-married husband and wife had to say
good-bye to each other, the wife cried sorrowfully, although her relationship
with her husband lasted only for twenty-four hours. Who made such newly
married wife so compassionate and loving for her young husband? I would
like you to remember Allah’s foregoing Words: “And among His Signs is
that He has created for you wives from among yourselves that you may
find repose in them; and He has put between you affection and mercy.
Verily, in that are indeed Signs for a people who reflect.” [XXX; 21]

Therefore, the first meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Wadoud” (The

All-Loving) is that He favors you with His Innumerable Divine Favors:
good health, fresh water, delicious food and drink, fruits, fishes, birds, ...etc.
Some kinds of fishes are only for entertainment and not for eating. Why
does Allah create them? Just for your pleasure and entertainment! Beautiful
birds with their charming singing: why does He create them? Just for your
pleasure and entertainment! Nice perfumes and beautiful flowers and roses:
why does Allah create them? Just for you! In this context, I read an
encyclopedia of 18 books about flowers. Each page contained one or more
pictures of too many kinds of flowers. Who are flowers for? They are for
you! If you give a rose to an animal, it eats it. This is because an animal does
not know that a rose is for smelling and not for eating. A rose is meant to be
for humans not for animals.

In winter, you may enjoy some indoor plants in your living room. Such
indoor plants do not need a lot of sunshine. There are also other kinds of
plants that grow outdoors and in water.

There are 300 kinds of grapes and many kinds of apples. One of our
brothers, who was in Africa, brought me a couple of bananas from Guinea. I
asked, “What kind of bananas are these?” “They are especially for frying.”
He answered. I was amazed because in our country bananas are fruit, but
there in Guinea this kind of banana is for cooking. When I tasted the
bananas, I found out that they could not be eaten without cooking. When I
fried them, just as we do with potatoes, they tasted good. So, how many
kinds of bananas did Allah create? There are also 3500 kinds of wheat.

Also, there are many kinds of oranges, some of which are juicy, while some
are dry; some are sweet while some are sour, some are small while some are
big, …etc. They are all but a manifestation of Allah’s Divine Love for man.

Hence, the first meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Wadoud” is that He

loves His slaves; and the second meaning is that He creates love and casts it
among His slaves. When you attend a family meeting, you notice how
loving and compassionate they are for one another. This is because man is a
social creature. But who has made him as such? People of the same
profession sit for long hours talking pleasantly about their profession:
doctors, teachers, engineers, merchants, workers, …etc. They all enjoy
sitting together talking delightfully about their jobs, professions and
vocations. This is but a manifestation of love and compassion that Allah
casts into their hearts towards one another.

The third meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Wadoud” is that Allah,

All-Loving in the sense that He, Most Gracious, seeks love of His slaves,
just as they seek His Divine Love. And He casts love into their heart for one
another and for Him. In this sense, this Divine Name has three meanings:
love from the Lord for His slaves, love from slaves to their Lord, and love
among slaves for one another. That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH),
says, “The zenith of wisdom, after belief in Allah, is to seek people’s
love.”

Therefore, the wisest, cleverest and best thing a believer can do, after having
believed in Allah, is to seek people’s love and friendship, in order to help
them know the truth. To this effect, Allah, Most Gracious, All-Loving, says,
“And by a Mercy from Allah you dealt with them gently. And had you
been severe and harsh-hearted, they would have broken away from
around you; so pass over (their faults), and ask (Allah’s) Forgiveness for
them, and consult them in the affairs. Then, when you have taken a
decision, put your trust in Allah. Certainly, Allah loves those who put
their trust (in Him).” [III; 159]

A Caliph once asked a scholar to admonish him, so the scholar said, “I shall
admonish you harshly.” The Caliph asked in amazement, “And why harshly,
my brother? Allah sent those who were much better than you to someone
who was much worse than me: He sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh.
Nevertheless, Allah bade Moses and Aaron to admonish Pharaoh gently. So,
why should you be harsh with me?! Who told you that admonition requires
harshness?!”

Imam Al-Fakhr Ar-Razi, may Allah have mercy on him, was one of the
greatest religious scholars of his time. He used to have a great prestige and
grand procession. One day, after having delivered his usual speech in a
mosque, he went out with his disciples. He was neatly dressed and had a
bright good-looking face. He came across a poor miserable Jew. The Jew
looked at the Imam saying, “Hey you! You claim that your Prophet says that
this present world is a mere prison for a true believer but Paradise for a
disbeliever. So what prison you are in, and what Paradise am I in?!” The
Imam looked at the Jew and said, “What I am in now is a mere prison if
compared to that which Allah has prepared (of Bliss in the Hereafter) for His
believing slaves; and what you are in now is Paradise if compared to that
which Allah has prepared (of Punishment in the Hereafter) for disbelievers!”
It is said that the Jew gave the Imam’s words a second thought and said, “I
bear witness that no one has the right to be worshipped except Allah.” The
Imam’s answer was indeed irrefutable. He wanted to say that all the glory
and honor that he had due to his great knowledge and wisdom was a mere
prison if compared to the Paradise, whose vastness is as great as the heavens
and the earth, which Allah has prepared for him in the Hereafter.

This is exactly what Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH) says. A true believer’s

transfer from the life of this present world to that of the Hereafter resembles
the transfer of a newborn baby from its mother’s tiny womb to the extremely
vast world. In this context it is worth mentioning that an embryo lives in its
mother’s womb, which is not more than 750 cubic centimeters big. This is
because before pregnancy, the mother’s womb is only about 2 cubic
centimeters big, but after pregnancy it expands until it becomes about 750
cubic centimeters big in the end. Therefore, when man is born, he is
transferred from his mother’s tiny womb to the vast world. The same thing
happens to a true believer when he/she is transferred from the narrowness of
this present world to the vastness of the world to come. In the Hereafter, a
true believer will have whatever he desires and pleases. Allah, Most
Gracious, addresses this issue: “Verily, the dwellers of the Garden (of
Paradise), that Day, will be busy with joyful things. They and their
mates will be in pleasant shade, reclining on thrones. They will have
therein fruits and all that they ask for. (It will be said to them): ‘Peace
be upon you’ – a Saying from the Lord, Most Gracious. (It will be said
to disbelievers): ‘Get you apart, this Day, criminals!’” [XXXVI; 55-59]

Such is real heroism: to be safe on the Day of Judgment, to be of the

dwellers of Paradise. We all strive, we attend religious lectures, we lower
our gaze, we show obedience to the Lord, we watch our tongues and steps,
we read the Holy Quran, and we serve one another until the Day on which
we shall be happy and prosperous.

In fact, man’s share of this Divine Name is to seek love of other fellow
humans. Therefore, you should be loving and friendly to young children, old
people, poor people, …etc. In short, you should deal with all people with
mercy and respect, irrespective of their age or social status. This is the way a
true believer behaves: he does well to all people in order to call them to
Allah and His Religion.

Now, we still have another question: Is “Al-Woudd” (love) the same as “Ar-
Rahmah” (mercy)? The answer is: “Al-Woudd” is love as manifested by
practical behavior. In fact “Al-Mahabbah” (love as an inner feeling) and
“Al-Woudd” (love as practical behavior) are two sides of the same coin, just
like “Al-Ikhlass” (devotion, i.e. inner feeling) and “Al-‘Ibadah” (worship,
i.e. practical obedience). In other words, when we speak of the inner feelings
of inclination and attachment, this is “Mahabbah” love; but when we speak
of practical manifestation and substantiation of love, this is “Woudd”.

Now, is there any difference between “Al-Woudd” (Practical love) and “Ar-
Rahmah” (mercy)? Yes, of course. There is a great difference. “Ar-Rahmah”
(mercy) is offered to a weak, helpless, miserable, ill, suffering person who is
inferior to you, and, hence deserves your mercy; while “Al-Woudd” (love) is
offered to others not because they are inferior to you or are in need of your
help. You offer your love gratis, i.e. without being asked or implored to do.
Sometimes, someone asks you eagerly and earnestly to help him, to rescue
him, to take him to hospital, or to lend him, or give him, some money. This
person is in fact seeking your help; and if you do help him, this means that
you are “Raheem” i.e. merciful. But when you visit a friend who is healthy
and wealthy, so to speak, and you offer him a present out of your own free
will, this is “Woudd” i.e. love. In other words, “Al-Woudd” is offered
without request or imploration, but “Ar-Rahmah” is offered upon request,
imploration or inferiority. When Allah, Most Gracious, created us, He was
“Wadoud”, i.e. Loving. We were nothing, but He created us, honored us, and
bestowed His Innumerable Divine Favors and Graces upon us. His
“Woudd”, i.e. Love is Paramount.

One of the Abbasid Wali's (governors) of Damascus was forced to flee away
with some of his men due to certain conspiracy against him. He took refuge
in the house of a bighearted man who put him up most generously for more
than four months although he did not know, or ask, who he was. When the
fugitive governor wanted to travel to Baghdad, the host apologized
profoundly, saying, “Perhaps we have not been generous enough!” although
he did not know that he was the governor of Damascus.
Some time later, the fugitive governor arrived in Baghdad and became a
highly placed person in the Caliph’s palace, sp to speak, the Caliph’s
Minister of the Interior. At the time, the Caliph’s name was Al-Mansour.
When the newly appointed Minister of the Interior was in the Caliph’s
palace, the police brought in someone, who was handcuffed and almost dead
of torture, and laid him before the Caliph. The Caliph bade his Minister to
put the man under his own personal custody, for he was very dangerous,
until the next day, when he was to be executed. Due to the Minister’s great
care, he took the man to his home and kept him there for the night. He asked
him, “Where are you from?” The Minister asked. “I am from Damascus.”
The man replied. “What’s the matter?” asked the Minister. “There was a
great trouble and civil strife in Damascus, and I was falsely accused,
severely tortured and brought here to be executed. I am innocent. I have
done nothing.” Said the man. When the Minister heard that the man was
from Damascus, he sympathized with him and said, “May Allah bless people
of Damascus.” And the Minister began to tell the man his own story when he
was governor of Damascus. He said, “I pray to Allah that one day I’ll be able
to meet that generous noble man so that I may repay him.” The man said in
great amazement, “I am the man you hope to meet. It was I who put you up
in my home.” Of course neither the Minister nor the man was able to
recognize each other because of the horrible condition the man was in and
because of the great torture that he was made to suffer. Anyway, as soon as
the Minister recognized the man, he hurriedly ordered to have his handcuffs
removed, took him to his bathroom, gave him of his best clothes and set him
free, saying, “You are free to do whatever you like. You can go if you like.
I‘ll take responsibility of your whole matter before the Caliph. This is the
least I can do to repay you.” The man said, “I can do nothing! Wherever I
go, I’m sure the Caliph will get me!” The Minister said “I’ll go to the Caliph
myself!” The next day, the Minister kept the man in his own home, and went
to the Caliph on his own. When he saw the Minister coming alone, the
Caliph thought than the prisoner had escaped. So, he addressed the Minister
angrily, “Where is the prisoner? By Allah! If you tell me that he escaped, I’ll
chop your head off!” “I have my own death-shroud with me. You can kill me
if you like; but first listen to my story!” Said the Minister, and he told the
Caliph about the man’s generosity and hospitality and how he helped him
most generously although he did not know that he was the governor of
Damascus. In great amazement, the Caliph said, “May Allah honor you! The
man was generous to you although he did not know who you were, and now
you would like to repay him, after you knew who he was. I’ll repay him for
you! Fetch him to me and tell him that he is safe and secure!” The Caliph
did not only receive the man warmly in his palace but also appointed him
governor of Damascus. Notice how the man’s generosity and hospitality
availed him a lot in time of distress: instead of being executed, he was
appointed governor of Damascus! What good work!

The remarkable thing about this story is the Caliph’s words, “He was
generous to know although he did not know who you were.” Such is real
“Woudd” (love)! The Minister’s later repay was generous, but not as
generous as that of the man. The Minister owed the man his life, and
whatever he did to him, he would not repay him enough. Although the man
did not know the man was the governor, he gave him shelter, welcomed him
most generously and put him up for more than four months. This is real
generosity! This is real “Woudd” (love)!

By the way, the man did not accept the Caliph’s offer of making him
governor of Damascus; therefore, the Caliph sent a message to the governor
of Damascus bidding him to take good care of the man and be very generous
to him. Good work is never wasted, sinful work is never forgotten, and the
Judge, Allah, is Ever-Living! Do whatever you like, because as you pay, you
shall be repaid!

Man should always feel Allah’s Divine Favors and Graces to him: “Have
We not made for him (man) a pair of eyes.” “O man! What has made
you careless about your Lord, the Generous, Who created you and made
you in due measures? In whatever shape He desires He constructs you.”
“Be cursed (the disbelieving) man! How ungrateful he is! From what
thing did He (Allah) create him? From a semen He created him and
then set him in due proportion. Then He made the Path easy for him.
Then He caused him to die and caused him to be put in a grave. Then,
when He wills, He will resurrect him. Nay! But he (man) has not done
what He (Allah) commanded him.” [LXXX; 17-23]

Why should we wait? What prevents us from repentance and reform? What
prevents us from offering prayers to the Lord, All-Loving? What prevents us
from remembering Allah, Most Gracious, and doing well to other fellow
humans?

Only those who are bounteous know what bounty is, and only those who are
generous know what generosity is. The venerable Companion and Caliph,
Omar Bin Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, was once walking in
the roads of Medina, accompanied by the venerable Companion,
Abdurrahman Bin ‘Aouf, may Allah be pleased with him, when they saw a
caravan whose people were asleep. Omar said to Abdurrahman, “Let’s guard
the caravan for the sake of Allah, for its people must be tired. They must be
travelers who have valuable goods.” Suddenly, they heard the sound of a
baby crying. Omar shouted to the baby’s mother, “Why don’t you nurse it?”
The sound ceased for some time, but then the baby began to cry again. Omar
went to the woman, saying, “Nurse the baby!” and again the woman
managed to make the baby silent but did not nurse it. Then the baby began to
cry again, which made Omar address the woman angrily, “You evil woman!
I told you to nurse the baby!” The woman turned to Omar and said irritably,
“This is none of your business, man! I’m trying to wean my baby because
Omar doesn’t give us the “’Ata’” (i.e. special financial donation for
children) except after weaning.” Omar was greatly shocked by the mother’s
answer, so he hit his head regretfully and cried out, “Woe to you, Omar!
What an awful suffering you have done to Muslim children!” The next day,
Omar issued a command to begin the “’Ata’” donation once babies were
born. When he stood to lead people in offering the Dawn Prayer, Muslims
could not recognize the Quranic Verses he was reciting because of his
sorrowful weeping; and in the night he was heard invoking Allah, All
Mighty, “O my Lord! Have you accepted my repentance, so that I may
congratulate myself, or have you rejected it, so that I may console myself?”

To wrap up, a good-doer is the happiest of all mankind. In a magazine, I

once read a wise saying that goes: “If you desire to be happy, strive to
make others happy.”

Dear reader! Remember that Allah is Beneficent, and He, likes you to be
beneficent.

* * *

(The Oft-Returning)

I n this lecture we are going to explain the twenty-seventh of Allah’s

Beautiful Names, “At-Tawab” (The Oft-Returning).
Dear reader! Each and every one of us must necessarily have remarkable
experience with this Divine Name. But before we start talking about the
linguistic meanings of this Name, it is necessary to throw light on its reality.

Let us begin with the following example: A high school may be opened and
you may be made its principal. The school may have lots of students; and it
may have its special laws and regulations. Lessons, tests and exams may go
on properly; and everything in the school may be all right. The students who
deserve to pass are allowed to pass and those who deserve to fail are made to
fail. And you may be the best and fairest principal ever. After one month of
the academic year is over, you ask your teachers to provide you with the
students’ marks in order to check them and see which students are excellent
and which ones are negligent. You summon the negligent students and
advised them to double up their efforts and to be more careful. Those who
take your advice will most probably be successful at the end of the year. In
this case you are merciful and compassionate to them. But if you do not
summon the negligent students but deal with them according to the school’s
laws and regulations, you are just and fair but not merciful. In other words,
if you apply the just and fair school’s laws and regulations, you are just and
fair, but if you follow up your lazy students, sometimes advising them,
sometimes threatening them, sometimes encouraging them, sometimes
rewarding them, and sometimes punishing them, until they get on well with
their study and deserve to be successful, this means that you are merciful.

You may send your son abroad for study and provide him with all the
necessary money for tuition and accommodation expenses, but fail to keep
an eye on his academic achievements. Then, five years later, you are
shocked to find out that he wasted all the money on trivial things,
completely neglected his studies, and achieved nothing. In this case, you tell
him, “My son! I have done everything for you, but you have failed to do
what you should have done.” In this case, you are just and fair to your son.
But if, after sending your son abroad, you follow up not only all his
movements and activities but also his academic achievements, and if you
visit him every now and then, if you advise him, if you threaten him, and if
you encourage him until he comes back after he has completed his studies
and got his degrees, this means that you are merciful.

You may have an employee under instruction for six months. You may
observe him and record, justly and fairly, each and every mistake that he
makes. Then, when his mistakes become unbearable, and hence you find out
that he is not up to the job, you sack him. This act on your part is just and
fair. But if you desire to deal with this employee with mercy, you teach him
how to work properly, you correct his mistakes, you help him, and you
encourage him until he becomes excellent and, therefore, you keep him with
you. This means that you are merciful.

In fact, there is a great difference between dealing with people with justice
and dealing with them with mercy.

Allah, Most Gracious, created man and endued him with an intelligent mind.
He, Glory to Him, created the universe to bespeak His Beautiful Divine
Names and Attributes. In addition to the mind, Allah, Most Gracious, gave
man a pure original nature and provided him with Divine Revelation, i.e.
Divine Laws and Legislations. He also implanted in man lusts and desires
and granted him power to fulfill his desires and needs. Then, He left it up to
him to make his own choices and to do whatever he liked. In the end, when
man passes away, he goes either to Paradise or Hell-Fire. In this case we say
that Allah deals with man with justice.

But if man intends to do something wrong or sinful, Allah, Most Gracious,

sometimes admonishes him, sometimes inspires him, sometimes frightens
him, sometimes straightens his livelihood for him, sometimes threatens him,
sometimes reassures him, and sometimes allows him to accompany
righteous people. This means that Allah, Most Gracious, helps man to be of
the people of Paradise. In this case we say that Allah is Most Merciful.

Now, how can we understand Allah’s Name “At-Tawab” (The Oft-

Returning)? In fact, we have to start from Allah’s Divine Mercy, because
Allah gives us a clever mind and a free will whereby we make our own
choices in life. He implants in us desires, and creates for us the universe,
which bespeaks His Divine Names and Attributes. He gives us power and a
noble pure human original nature. He also sent His Prophets and Messengers
with His Divine Revelation. Then, He informed us: “Whosoever does good
righteous work, it is for (the benefit of) his own self; and whosoever does
evil, it is but against his own self; and your Lord is not at all unjust to
(His) slaves.” [XLI; 46] This is Allah’s Divine Justice; but His Divine
Mercy is substantiated by His Being all the time with you, watching all your
movements and actions, watching all your intentions and ambitions,
watching your entire secrecy and publicity, watching all your attitudes and
reactions, watching all of your affairs and matters. In each and every affair,
He is with you; in return to each and every reaction on your part towards
Him, He encounters you with a convenient one on His part. If you turn away
from Him, He punishes you; if you turn to Him, He manifests His Divine
Beauty to you; if you transgress against other fellow humans, He deters you;
and if you do well to other fellow humans, He rewards you. In other words,
due to Allah’s Divine Mercy upon you, He follows up, minute by minute, all
of your attitudes and actions, intentions and ambitions, and all of your affairs
and issues.

In the process of calling for Allah and His Religion, there are preachers and
educators. A preacher delivers a speech or an oration and then leaves; he
does not care whether people understand or not, have received admonition or
not. He does not care who attends and who does not, or who applies what he
receives or who do not. He is a mere preacher, i.e. someone who delivers a
speech and leaves. But an educator is someone who does not only deliver
speeches but also follows up all the affairs and conditions of his disciples.

In the same context, someone once told me: “You tell us that there are three
kinds of knowledge: knowledge of Religion, Knowledge of methodology,
and knowledge of reality. What is the difference between the three of them?”

It was not easy to explain, but then Allah, Most Gracious, enabled me to
give an explanation that appealed to the man. I said: “Imagine a high
mountain surrounded with valleys and hills. On the top of the mountain
there is a magnificent palace full of lovely desirable things. Now, there are
three kinds of scholars: The first kind of scholar is someone who explains to
you what is inside the palace. For example, he tells you that the palace has
300 rooms, that it has a central heating system, that there are lots of kinds of
delicious foods, that it has magnificent gardens and bedrooms. He tells you
about delicious food, while you are hungry; and he tells you about the
heating system while you are cold; and he tells you about comfort and
luxury in the palace while you are tired. This kind of scholar gives you, as it
were, knowledge of Religion, and nothing else.

The second kind of scholar is someone who tells you how to get to the
palace: which way to take, which river to cross, how you can get into the
palace. He tells you how to get to the palace and how to get into it. But you
are still standing outside the palace and away from it. This kind of scholar
gives you knowledge of methodology.
The third kind of scholar is someone who takes you to the palace and helps
you get into it and enjoy all the pleasant desirable things in it. This kind of
scholar gives you knowledge of reality.

In this context, from the viewpoint of Islamic ideology, religion consists of

three things: Islam, Belief, and good work. Only good work helps you get
into the palace and enjoy all the pleasant things therein. This should be our
ultimate goal, because Allah created us for the Palace of Paradise and
Eternal Bliss. It is no use to know about the Palace or how to get to it, but
fail to enter it. To this effect, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “Except for him
on whom your Lord bestowed His Mercy; and for that did He create
them.” [XI; 119] “And I (Allah) created not the jinn and mankind
except they should worship Me (Alone). [LI; 56] This should be our
Ultimate Goal!

You are essentially created for Paradise. But Allah, All Mighty, Most
Gracious, may give you a clever mind, a pure original nature, an ability to
make your own choices. He may give you desires, lusts, powers and
abilities, the universe, and legislation, but He may not follow up your
conditions and affairs. And it sometimes seems that quite often, you see
people deviating from the Right Way and Divine Revelation: they transgress
against other fellow humans and indulge in perishable worldly pleasures and
enjoyments. People as such will inevitably end in Hell-Fire. However, due to
His Infinite Divine Mercy, Allah does not let man go astray unless he insists
to do so. Allah, Most Gracious, always interferes in favor of man: He makes
him hear the truth and sends fellow humans to warn him; but if man does not
respond but insists on committing sinful deeds, Allah afflicts him with some
hardships and misfortunes so that he may turn to his Lord. However, if man
still insists on deviating from the Right Path, Allah, All Mighty, troubles him
with more grievous disasters and misfortunes.

A doctor sometimes gives a patient some medicine, but if the patient does
not respond, the doctor gives him a stronger medicine, and then even a far
stronger one. This means that the amount and kind of medicine depends on
the kind of illness he suffers from: The more serious the illness, the stronger
the medicine.

The foregoing introduction is very necessary if we desire to explain Allah’s

Beautiful Name “At-Tawab” (The Oft-Returning). The whole issue is that of
mercy: the issue that it is possible for Allah, the Oft-Returning, to deal with
His slaves in accordance with His Divine Justice and, thus, they deserve
Hell-Fire. But due to His Infinite Divine Mercy, He deals with them by
virtue of His Divine Mercy; and He does not leave them neglected, but
rather follows up all their affairs and conditions. This is exactly what Allah’s
Divine Name “At-Tawab” (The Oft-Returning) means. In other words, He
takes care of His slaves and follows up their affairs in order to qualify them
for His Paradise. He keeps them under His Divine Observation, Care and
Protection; and He settles accounts with them for each and every thing they
intend or do. If you dare earn money illegally, He destroys it, or ten times
greater than it, for you, i.e. He deters you. If you dare transgress against the
rights of other fellow humans, He causes you to be miserable and afflicts
you with troubles and problems, and then, He reminds you that such
hardship is only for the sinful deeds that you have done. In other words, the
issue of repentance should be looked upon from the viewpoint of the fact
that Allah, is “Tawab” (Oft-Returning) in the sense that He breeds His slaves
so as to make them worthy of honor in the life of this present world and His
Paradise in the Hereafter.

In fact, the starting-point of Allah’s Beautiful Name “At-Tawab” (The Oft-

Returning) is that He deals with His slaves by virtue of His Infinite Divine
Mercy, for if He dealt with them by virtue of His Justice, they would all be
deservedly ruined.

Now, the word “Tawab” is an emphatic noun that means that Allah is Oft-
Returning to His slaves in the sense that, often and often, He turns to His
slaves and accepts their repentance, no matter how grievous or numerous
their sins might be. Also, it means that Allah, Most Gracious, very often
turns to His slaves with His Divine Favors and Graces, and with His Divine
Forgiveness and Mercy. A third delicate meaning of Allah’s Name “At-
Tawab” can be derived from this Quranic Verse: “Then He (Allah) turned
to them so that they might repent. Certainly, Allah is Oft-Returning,
Most Merciful.” [IX; 118]
Now, what does the clause “He (Allah) turned to them”? It means that He
afflicts them with hardships and problems that drive them to turn to Him
with repentance, for He would not be “Tawab” (Oft-Returning) to His slaves
if He were to leave them unheeded, i.e. He gave them good health, lots of
wealth and property, lots of rain, and beautiful dwellings, while they were
deeply indulged in their own lusty indecent desires and caprices and
perishable mundane pleasures and enjoyments.

I know someone who, after having earned lots of profits out of a successful
project, wanted to enjoy a grand holiday in the USA, where he intended to
spend a few days of complete profligacy. But as soon as he got there, he had
a terrible backache. He went to hospital and had his back x-rayed; and
doctors told him that he had a cancerous tumor in his spinal cord. When he
heard the bad news, he was so shocked that he could hardly stand on his
feet. He soon ended up his holiday and came back to Damascus, where he
committed himself to religious lectures in its mosques and showed sincere
reform and repentance.

Undoubtedly, this sudden illness that Allah, the Oft-Returning, drove to the
man stood behind his sincere repentance. If Allah were to leave him
unheeded and provide him with good health, strength, and wealth, and if He
were to enable him to go on such frivolous holidays over and over again, the
man would surely be of the dwellers of Hell-Fire in the end, and Allah
would not be “Tawab” (Oft-Returning).

I know a very clever man who was a teacher of philosophy. Unfortunately

for him, he did not show any respect to religion, but he used to make a lot of
fun of religion and religious scholars. He even considered the whole religion
as mere superstitions. But then, all of a sudden, he showed sincere
repentance and reform. About a year ago, he and his wife both turned to
Allah with sincere devotion, and committed themselves to religious lectures
in our mosque. I felt very happy for him and asked him about the cause of
his repentance. He told me that his daughter, whom he loved so much,
suddenly had cancer in her blood. He took her to different countries for
treatment, and he even had to sell his home in order to cover the expenses,
but all was in vain. Then, he thought, “If my wife and I repent to Allah, Most
Gracious, He may cure our daughter for us.” Anyway, a year ago, I was
invited to a wedding party in order to deliver a speech. Guess what! It was
the man’s daughter’s wedding party.
I swear by Allah, dear readers; each and every event or incident I hear of
makes me more certain that Allah’s Divine Mercy is Infinite, and that if He
were to leave His slaves with their sins and misdeeds, deviations and
heedlessness, if He were to let them get involved in their lusty desires and
caprices, earn their living illegally or go beyond bounds against religion, or
if He were to leave them unheeded, they would all deserve to enter Hell-
Fire. But due to His Infinite Divine Mercy, He, the All-Returning, afflicts
them with hardships and difficulties that drive them to repent and reform.

I knewan atheist whose first and foremost interest was to spoil people’s
religious beliefs. He denied the existence of Allah, All Mighty, and even
claimed that religion was mere superstitions. He got married and had a
female baby, whom he loved so much. But suddenly, the baby had a fever
and had to be taken to the doctor. The doctor gave her some medicine but
she did not get any better, so she had to be taken to a number of other
doctors. One of the doctors said that her case was very rare and incurable.
When he heard the horrible news, the atheist father was so shocked that he
could not help weeping sorrowfully. He began to take her with him to his
place of work lest she should die in his absence. Two or three months passed
by, and the girl did not get any better. One day, the atheist father came home
and told his wife, “I’d like to perform “Ghusul” (major ritual ablution).”
Perhaps that was the first time in his life that he did. After having performed
“Ghusul”, he stood up to offer prayers to the Lord, Allah, All Mighty. In
prayer, he invoked, “O Lord! They claim that You exist. If You really exist,
please cure my daughter, or cause her to die or cause me to die!” and he
cried most sorrowfully and sincerely while performing the first couple of
Rak’as of prayer in all his life. No sooner did he finish his sincere prayer and
invocation than his daughter’s temperature began to drop. Yes, indeed!
Allah, the Oft-Returning, cured his daughter for him!
In fact, there are lots of stories of this kind. Once, after I had delivered a
lecture one evening, a young man asked me for a private meeting. When we
sat down together, he told me that he had committed all kinds of sins and
misdeeds, for he grew up in a family whose father did not believe in Allah,
and, therefore, he allowed his son to do whatever he liked. When he grew
up, he was very successful in business and he earned lots of money, but he
used the money for his frivolous profligate pleasures and enjoyments. But
then Allah, All Mighty, afflicted him with a great financial problem that
destroyed him completely, and he became penniless. Also, he and his whole
family began to suffer from different kinds of illnesses. In the end, he
became really penniless and did not have any money even for food or
medicine. But while he was walking in a street, he heard the Azan (The Call
to prayer) and decided to get into the mosque, for the first time in his life,
and offer some prayers to the Lord, Allah, Most Gracious. He wept so
sorrowfully and regretfully and showed sincere reform and repentance. After
that, things went on well with him and his family.

From the foregoing stories, I really desired to show that each and every one
of us has his/her own affairs with the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most
Gracious, and that such affairs always end up in sincere reform and
repentance. This is the meaning of Allah’s Divine Name “At-Tawab” (The
Oft-Returning). In this context, Allah, Most Gracious, says in a Divine
Hadith, “If they repent, I am their Love; but if they do not repent, I am
their Physician: I afflict them with misfortunes in order to purify them
from sins and defects.” Yes indeed! Allah, Most Gracious, knows how to
treat His slaves!

Lots of those who attend our lectures in this mosque came here after Allah
had inflicted on them big problems that drove them to seek refuge with Him,
All Mighty, and turn to Him with sincere repentance and truthful devotion.
As a result, Allah, the Oft-Returning, accepted their repentance and turned to
hem with Love and Compassion. Some people had incurable diseases. I
remember when a man was put on the operation table to have a cancerous
tumor removed, he looked up and invoked, “O Lord! I promise that if You
cure me of this disease I shall never disobey You as long as I live.” Allah,
The Oft-Returning, did cure him; and he kept his promise. Without such
tumor, which Allah, Most Merciful, afflicted him with, he would never have
repented.
Believe me, dear readers; I have heard hundreds and hundreds of similar
stories that ended in sincere repentance and truthful reform. This is what
Allah’s Beautiful Name “At-Tawab” (The Oft-Returning) means: “Then He
turned to them so that they might repent.” This Quranic Verse is the most
beautiful in this context. It means that Allah, The Oft-Returning, afflicts His
slaves with hardships and misfortunes that drive them to turn to Him with
sincere repentance and truthful devotion. So, who is the real hero? It is
simply someone who turns to Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, out of his
own free will, while he/she is well off and in good health. Such is real
heroism; so try to be a hero!

Of course, after a sin has been committed, repentance is acceptable and

welcomed; and Allah, The Oft-Returning, blesses those who repent after
having committed a sinful deed and after having been visited by a
misfortune. But it is wiser and more adequate for man to know the Lord in
times of weal, and not in times of woe.

Therefore, the second meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “At-Tawab” (The

Oft-Returning) is that He afflicts His slaves with hardships and misfortunes
that drive them to repent and reform. Allah, All Mighty, addresses this issue,
“Except those who repent and do righteous work and openly declare
(the truth that they concealed): Such I will accept their repentance; and
I am the Oft-Returning, the Most Merciful.” [II; 160]

Now, Allah, Most Merciful, says, “Then He turned to them so that they
might repent.” In interpretation of this Verse, Scholars say that if Allah
turns to His slaves first, He afflicts them with hardships and misfortunes that
drive them to repent to Him; but if a slave turns to Allah, Most Merciful,
with repentance out of his own free will first, and before being visited by
hardships or misfortunes, Allah accepts his repentance. Therefore, either you
turn to Allah willingly or He forces you to do, and then accepts you.

I would like each one of my dear brothers to ask himself, “Every time that I
show any negligence or deviation on my part, Allah afflicts me with
hardship that has driven me to repent and reform; so why should I wait until
I am visited with hardships and misfortunes?” In other words, I would like
you to return to Allah out of your own free will and before being visited by
hardships, misfortunes or punishments. Young people are strongly advised to
get the lesson from that which happens to those who are older than they are.
Another thing: They say that first of all, Allah turns to His slave by afflicting
him with hardships and misfortunes that drive him to repent and reform; and
then He accepts His slave’s repentance and enables him to abide by such
repentance. For, example, if someone invokes, “O Lord! I repent to You; and
I shall never commit this sin again,” but he does not beseech the Lord to
enable him to abide by his repentance, Allah may weaken his will, and he
may fall in the same sin again. Therefore, repentance is perfect and complete
only if it is accepted and man is able to abide by it. This is because if man
repents of his sin and then commits it again, he loses balance and collapses.
In other words, it is easier to commit a certain sin thousands of times before
you repent than to commit it once after you have repented. This is because if
you commit the same sin after having repented of it, you lose confidence in
yourself and feel as if the way to Allah were blocked. However, the
remarkable thing in this issue is Allah’s Words, “And Allah desires to
accept your repentance, but those who follow their own lusts wish that
you should deviate tremendously away (from the Right Path).” [IV; 27]
To the same purport, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Verily, Allah, the
Oft-Returning, is more pleased with His slave’s repentance than a lost
person who finds his way, a barren person who has a baby, or a thirsty
person who finds water.”

Once, an Arabian was riding a camel on which he had all his food and drink.
He dismounted for a short rest; but the camel suddenly went away, and he
believed that he was surely going to die in the desert. He sat down crying
sadly and then fell asleep because he was very tired. But when he woke up,
he was filled with joy when he found the camel standing beside him, and
cried out excitedly, “O Lord! I am Your lord; and You are my slave!” Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Allah is happier with His slave’s repentance
than that Arabian is with his camel.”

Yes, indeed! Allah, the Oft-Returning, desires that you turn to Him with
repentance; and when a disobedient slave turns to Allah with repentance, it is
called out in the heavens: “Congratulate so-and-so because he is
reconciled with Allah!” Yes, indeed: “Allah desires to accept your
repentance, but those who follow their own lusts wish that you should
deviate tremendously away (from the Right Path).” [IV; 27]

If you sit with people who love this present world, if you sit with people of
caprices, or if you sit with people of profligacy, they all wish to make you
like them, and they reassure you that nothing wrong will ever happen to you
and that they will bear all the consequences of your sins or misdeeds. They
reassure you that Allah is All-Forgiving and Most Merciful. But listen to
what Allah, All Mighty, says: “And Allah desires to accept your
repentance, but those who follow their own lusts wish that you should
deviate tremendously away (from the Right Path).” [IV; 27] You must
respect and sanctify Allah’s Divine Desire, for Allah, the Oft-Returning,
really desires happiness and eternal bliss for you.

Such profligate and disobedient people will inevitably suffer a lot in the end
although they might live in big luxurious palaces and drive expensive cars
for some time. Righteous people will certainly be happy and prosperous in
the end, although they might not live in luxurious palaces or drive expensive
cars. The real winner is He who wins in the end. Imagine a luxurious
majestic palace, and imagine someone walking along a hard way to it
because he is going to be its owner; and imagine someone driving the most
expensive and beautiful car in the world on his way to be executed. Whom,
do you think, should we congratulate: the one walking on his feet or the one
driving the most expensive car? Fools congratulate the one driving the car;
but wise people congratulate the one walking on his feet. Make no mistake
about it: it is ends that determine Issues. Consider the following Quranic
Verses:
“Say (O Muhammad): ‘Enjoy (your brief life)! But your final
destination will be Hell-Fire!’” [XIV; 30]
“And (remember) when Abraham said: ‘My Lord! Make this township
(Mecca) a place of security, and provide its people with fruits, such of
them as believe in Allah and the Last Day.’ He (Allah) answered: ‘As for
him who disbelieves, I shall leave him in contentment for a while, but
then I shall compel him to the torment of the Fire, and worst indeed is
such destination.” [II; 126]
“You should not be deceived by the free disposal (and affluence) of the
disbelievers throughout the land. (It is but) a brief enjoyment, then their
ultimate abode is Hell, and worst indeed is that place for rest.” [III;
196,197]
“Say: ‘Short is the enjoyment of this world; and the Hereafter is (far)
better for him who fears Allah; and you shall be wronged none the
least.’” [IV; 77]
“And whatever you have been given is but enjoyment of the life of this
present world and the adornment thereof, and that which is with Allah
is better and will remain forever. Have you then no sense? Is he whom
We have promised an excellent promise – which he will find true – like
him whom We have made to enjoy the luxuries of the life of this present
world, then, on the Day of Resurrection, he will be among those
summoned (to be punished in the Hell-Fire).” [XXVIII; 60,61]
“What is the matter with you? How do you judge?” [LXVIII; 36]
“Is, then, he who is a believer like him who is a disbeliever? Not equal
are they.” [XXXII; 18]
“Shall We then hold Muslims like criminals? What is the matter with
you? How do you judge?” [LXVIII; 35]
“Or do those who earn evil think that We shall hold them equal with
those who believe and do righteous good deeds, in their present life and
after their death? Worst is the judgment that they make.” [XLV; 21]

Such are crystal clear facts!

Dear reader: Allah’s Beautiful Name “At-Tawab” (The Oft-Returning)

means that He, Most Gracious, returns to His slaves with good things. Rain
is one of the good things that Allah, The Oft-Returning, returns to us with;
air that we breathe is from Allah, The Oft-Returning; the organs of our body,
which function regularly and properly, are of the great things that Allah, The
Oft-Returning, returns to us with. Not only that but also Allah returns to us
with His Divine Graces and Favors in all places and times. This is the first
meaning of Allah’s Divine Name “At-Tawab” (The Oft-Returning).

The second meaning: Allah is “Tawab” (Oft-Returning) in the sense that He

afflicts His slaves with Misfortunes in order to make them turn to Him with
repentance and reform:
“And if they belie you (O Muhammad), say: ‘Your Lord is the Owner of
Vast Mercy, and never will His Wrath be turned back from the people
who are criminals.” [VI; 147]
Notice how beautiful this Quranic Verse is from the viewpoint of
significance and accuracy! What does the word Mercy mentioned in the
Verse mean?! The answer is: In the same Verse, Allah, Oft-Returning, says,
“and never will His Wrath be turned back from the people who are
criminals” This means that Allah’s Divine Mercy necessitates that His
Divine Wrath should not be turned back from the people who are criminals.
To make his point clear, let us have the following example: Imagine that a
scholar has an intelligent, but negligent and careless son. Therefore, every
now and then, he reproaches him, beats him, treats him sternly, and flows up
all his behavior and academic achievements until he becomes a doctor and
receives the highest scientific degrees; and he starts his own clinic, is very
successful and earns lots of money. He will certainly invoke good for his
father: “May Allah well recompense my father for what he did for me.
Unless he was stern with me, and unless he had beat and reproached me, I
would have never become a doctor.” Yes indeed. If the father had not been
stern with his son, and if he had left him unheeded, he would have said, “I
wish my father had beaten me! I wish my father had reproached me! I wish
my father had been stern with me!” If the father were naively merciful to his
son, the son, because of his ignorance and lack of experience in life, would
love his father and would be grateful to him; but he would blame his father a
lot when he had grown up. But the father’s wise sternness and hard
treatment makes the son most thankful and grateful when he grows old and
becomes a successful doctor.

Another example: If someone were irreligious and sinful, and, therefore,

Allah afflicted him with hardships and misfortunes that forced him to turn to
Allah with sincere repentance and faithful devotion, and hence he tasted
sweetness of nearness to Allah, Most Merciful, and right guidance to Him,
he would certainly turn to the Lord and say, “O Lord! Praise to You for
having afflicted me with such hardships and misfortunes!” By the way, I
would like to reassure those whom Allah has afflicted with some troubles
and misfortunes: “Put all your trust in Allah, All Mighty! There will
certainly come a time when He, Glory to Him, unveils the secrets behind
such hardships and misfortunes. And I am sure that you will abound in love
for Allah; otherwise all my words would be nonsense. However, practice
puts theory on the test. Read, if you like, stories of the Prophet’s venerable
Companions, for they contain clear evidence of what I say.

Man must necessarily know that Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, is
“Tawab” (Oft-Returning), in the sense that He, Most Merciful, loves us and
keeps us under His intensive Divine Care, constant Observation and constant
Measurement, as it were, of heartbeat, blood pressure, …etc. Yes, indeed, we
are under Allah’s Intensive Care! We can imagine things as follows: If
someone bumps his head on a post unintentionally, Allah, as it were, says to
him, “Be careful My slave!” If someone goes astray or commits a sinful
deed, he receives a blow or a shock from Allah, Most Gracious. It is as
though Allah tells him, “Where are you going My slave! Beware!” This is
because Allah, Most Merciful, is “Tawab” (Oft-Returning). If someone earns
money illegally, Allah makes him lose ten times as much as he has earned. It
is as though He is teaching him not to do that again. If a mechanic charges
someone more than what he should normally take, Allah may cause a bit of
steel enter his son’s eye, and he has to take him to hospital and pay much
more than the money he charged the car’s owner. In other words, Allah, the
Oft-Returning, punishes him in order to teach him that this is illegal.

One of the Wholesale merchants once said arrogantly to someone who came
to buy only six pieces of clothes, “We do not sell in retail!” For a whole
month after that, no customer ever came to his factory or bought anything
from him. This is because Allah, the “Tawab” (Oft-Returning) punished him.

Consider how beautiful a brass vessel is. It is as such because it has been
hammered, polished and forged. The same thing goes for man: he needs to
be hammered and forged, as it were, in order to be well behaved, and in
order to get rid of arrogance or insolence. Such is Divine Hammering and
Forging of man in order to make him as pure and noble as an angel. This is
one of the great many manifestations of Allah’s Divine Name “At-Tawab”
(The Oft-Returning).

In this context, Allah, The Oft-Returning, says in a Divine Hadith, “By My

Might and Majesty! I do not seize the soul of My believing slave, Whom
I love to mercy, except after I have afflicted him, for each sinful deed he
has committed, ailment in his body, straitening in his sustenance, or a
misfortune in his wealth or child, until I make him (as pure) as an atom.
If there is still anything wrong with him, I make agonies of death harder
for him until he encounters Me as (pure as he was) the day his mother
bore him.”

I reiterate that we can sum up Allah’s treatment to man in a couple of words:

Either you turn to Allah, Most Gracious, on your own, or He forces you to
do so. Allah, All Mighty, knows very well how to make you turn to Him: He
knows very well how to frighten you; He knows very well how to make you
tremble with fear; and He knows very well how to make you collapse when
you hear the bad news. So, it is wiser and better for you to turn to Him with
sincere repentance and faithful devotion before He forces you to do.

I knew someone who was totally irreligious and frivolous. He had a

righteous neighbor who advised him a lot but he did not take the advice. In
the end, he died loaded with a heavy burden of sins and misdeeds. It is said
that one of his neighbors dreamed of him wearing harsh shabby dirty clothes
and going round a pool, saying, “Woe to me! My neighbor so-and-so
advised me but I did not take his advice. I wish I had! If someone advises
you, take his advice!” By the way, I would like to say that as long as your
heart is still beating, the gate to repentance is still wide open. Hasten to the
Lord’s Mercy, Which is very near, for He is Oft-Returning and accepts your
repentance!
“Then He turned to them so that they might repent.”

A factory owner once told me that about ten years ago, he very often noticed
that some money was stolen from his pocket. He tried hard to know who the
pocket-lifter was, but he simply failed. This went on for some time; but then
suddenly, the pocket lifting stopped. Ten years later, a man with a beard
knocked on his door: “I am so-and-so. Don’t you know me?” The man said.
“Yes, of course I know you. You are so-and-so who used to work in my
factory.” He said. The man looked at him regretfully and said, “I used to
steal money from your pocket every now and then, but now I have turned to
Allah with sincere repentance. Here I am! I have come to give all your
money back to you!” The factory owner looked at the man and said, “By
Allah! Since you have repented to the Lord, I forgive you, and I have a place
for you in my factory, if you desire to come back.”

Once again: So long as the heart is still beating, everything can be redeemed
and corrected. You can discharge the rights of other fellow humans: you can
pay the money to your creditors, you can return things to their owners, and
you can ask those you have slandered or defamed for forgiveness. This is
possible, and it should be done soonest possible. Either you turn to Allah
with sincere repentance on your own, or He forces you to do so. It is better
and more befitting for you to turn to Him on your own!

Therefore: “Then, He (Allah) turned to them that they may turn (to Him
with sincere repentance) means that Allah forces His sinful and deviant
slaves to repent; while “They turned (to Allah), so He turned to them”
means that Allah accepts the repentance of those who turn to Him; and He
even helps them abide by such repentance.

It is narrated that when Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), stood up, on the night
of ‘Arafat (a holy night when pilgrims to Mecca are on the mount of
‘Arafat), to invoke and ask forgiveness for his people, Allah revealed to him,
“I have forgiven them only that which is between Me and them; but I
have not forgiven them injustice against one another.” That is why Allah,
Most Merciful, says: “He will forgive you (some of) your sins for you.”
[XLVI; 31] In other words, Allah forgives only things that are between you
and Him; but rights of other humans have to be redeemed.

Everyone should settle accounts with himself very accurately as regards

such issues; and it should be very clear that the happiest person is someone
who is devotedly committed to Allah’s Religion and shows real obedience.
However, this Quranic Verse provides great comfort and tranquility: “And
whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed achieved a great
achievement.” [XXXIII; 71]
The following Verse also provides honor and respect: “Verily, the most
honorable of you with Allah are those who are most pious and dutiful.”
[XLIX; 13]

Does not suffice the wronged that those who wrong them are disobedient to
Allah, All Mighty?!

Once again: Allah is “Tawab” (Oft-Returning) in the sense that He does not
deal with His slaves according to His Justice, but rather he overwhelms them
with His Mercy. He follows up each and every step they make and each and
every thing they do. He corrects them and drives them to turn to Him
whenever they go astray or deviate from His Right Path. A merciful
compassionate father always calls his son to ask him about his academic
achievements; it does not befit him to leave his son unheeded or neglected.

Also, Allah, Most Merciful, is “Tawab” (Oft-Returning) in the sense that He

entrusted you with the Trust and equipped you with an intelligent mind. He
imbedded in you instincts and a pure original human nature, whereby you
distinguish right from wrong and lawful from unlawful; and He also
provided you with His Divine Revelation and Guidance, i.e. His Religion.
Nevertheless, He constantly follows up all your affairs and issues.

One of out brothers told me that he once had a great opportunity of buying a
house at a much lower price than its real value, provided that he got involved
in usurious loans with the bank. The bank manager, who was a non-Muslim,
told him that such usurious loans were considered as unlawful in Islam, and
he advised him, “This is unlawful in your religion of Islam! You should not
get involved in it, because it blemishes your faith.” The man was so touched
by the manager’s religious advice, but he was very regretful as the advice
came from a non-Muslim, which meant that he was so ignorant and
negligent as regards his religious affairs. He suddenly began to weep
sorrowfully, and turned to Allah, All Mighty, saying, “O Lord! I promise that
I shall not buy the house! I shall never disobey You!” He went back to his
shop and forgot all about the house. When he entered the shop, he found a
dear old friend waiting for him. After having greeted one another, the friend
said, “Listen! I’m leaving for one of the Arabian Gulf countries, and I have
such-and-such amount of money that I don’t need for the time being. I’d like
you to keep it for me until I come back in two or three years; and you can do
whatever you like with the money.” By the way, the amount of money was
enough to buy the same house that he had just abstained from buying for the
sake of Allah. I swear by Allah! Only half an hour after he had left the bank
and had refused to complete the usurious deal and covenanted Allah never to
disobey him again, Allah, the Oft-Returning, inspired his friend to offer him
his money to use as he desired, and to buy, quite lawfully, the house, which
he was about to buy in a way that clashed with the principles of Allah’s
Religion.

Yes, indeed! Allah is not only Oft-Returning but also All Wise. If His slave
needs only a hint to turn to Him, there is no need for words; and if he needs
only words to come to Him, there is no need for punishment. In other words,
the more sensitive a person is, the more he understands his Lord: some
people need no hint to turn to Allah, i.e. they turn to Him out of their own
free will; others need hints, reminders, punishments, public reproach, and
even hard misfortunes and sever humiliating torments. Wise people need no
reminders or punishments; they understand by hints or on their own.

Also, Allah, All Mighty, is “Tawab” (Oft-Returning) in the sense that He

never leaves us neglected or unheeded. Nay! He really desires us to turn to
Him. He created us in order to mercy us. He created us to make us happy in
the present world and the Hereafter. You should understand, dear reader, that
it is wise to turn to Allah on your own or by a small hint. If you fail to
understand Allah, He knows very well how to drive you back to Him. By the
way, I quite often notice that some brothers neglect attending religious
lectures, but only after one of two months, they return more earnestly,
perhaps due to a certain problem or difficulty, which drives them to hasten
back. Be firm and steadfast, because Allah calls you to Him, and don’t be
like a small boat in a rough sea: “Among the believers are men who have
been true to their covenant with Allah: of them some have fulfilled their
obligations (i.e. have been martyred), and some of them are still waiting,
but they have never changed in the least.” [XXXIII; 23]
It is over! Everything has become very clear! You have covenanted the Lord,
All Mighty, Creator of all worlds, to obey Him, to acquire religious
knowledge, and to serve other fellow humans. So you have to be steadfast
and firm! It is not only in times of weal that Allah should see from you
sincere devotion and faithful commitment, but also in times of woe.

To wrap up, the foregoing facts are some meanings of Allah’s Beautiful
Divine Name “At-Tawab” (The Oft-Returning). We pray to Allah to turn to
us with His Infinite Divine Mercy; and we pray to Him to accept our
repentance! Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “If a disobedient slave turns
to Allah (with sincere repentance), it is called out in the heavens and the
earth: ‘Congratulate so-and-so, for he has been reconciled with Allah!’”

* * *
 (The Guider)

N ow, we go on to explain the twenty-eighth of Allah’s Beautiful

Names, “Al-Hadi” (The Guider); and Allah, All Mighty, created and
then guided.

We have built, as it were, a way and then placed the proper guideposts on its
two sides; and we have made a machine and then issued its catalogue or
operation manual. Similarly, Allah, All Mighty, has created the universe and
then provided it with His Divine Light.

In fact, the word “Hadi” (The Guider) is derived from the Arabic word
“Hada” (guide), but what does the word “Hada” (guide) exactly mean?

In His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And Allah
invites to the Home of Peace and guides whom He wills to the Straight
Path.” [X; 25] In other words, Allah, Most Gracious, has created you in
order to make you happy not only in the limited ephemeral life of this
present world but also in the endless life of the Hereafter. The life of this
present world is but a kind of preparation for that ever-lasting life in the
Hereafter. Once again: “And Allah invites to the Home of Peace and
guides whom He wills to the Straight Path.” [X; 25]

The Straight Path is a kind of way. Allah, All Mighty, has given man the
ability to make his own choices; and whosoever desires guidance; Allah
guides him to a way that leads to the Abode of Peace. You have been created
for the Abode of Peace, i.e. Paradise. Yes, indeed! You have been created for
the Abode of Peace and you have been given the ability to make your own
choices. If you choose the Abode of Peace, Paradise, Allah guides you to the
way that leads you to it. The foregoing Quranic Verse bears a very delicate
meaning. Do not believe, like some ignorant people do, that Allah, All
Mighty, Most Gracious, has created mankind only in order to torment them.
Do not think that misfortunes are purposeless; they are meant to drive man
to his Lord and make him turn to Him with sincere repentance and faithful
devotion. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And Allah invites to the
Home of Peace and guides whom He wills to the Straight Path.” [X; 25]

But what does the word “Hidayah” (guidance) mean? It means guidance to
the Truth. Imam Al-Junaid said, “The words ‘guide us to the Straight Path’
mean: ‘O Lord! Make our hearts inclined towards You! Make all our work
for You! And guide us unto You!’” This is a very delicate point: Man has
been given a free will to make his own choices in life. Allah, Most Gracious,
says, “Verily, We (Allah) show him the Way, whether he be grateful or
ungrateful.” [LXXVI]

Now, who is a preacher? A preacher is someone who persuades you to

follow the right way to the Truth. But how does he do that? The answer is:
by means of authentic evidence and explanation that make you convinced of
the validity of what he says.

Our Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, is “Al-Hadi” (The Guider), but
how does He guide His slaves? How many ways are there to guide them?
The answer is: First of all, Allah guides man to Him through His Creatures,
the first and foremost of which is the universe. Allah is Omnipotent; and His
Omnipotence is manifested by the creation of the tremendously vast
universe. Allah, All Mighty, is Self-Existent; and the whole universe
betokens this. Allah, All Mighty, is Omniscient; and the whole universe
bespeaks this. Allah, All Mighty, is Most Merciful; and the whole universe
reflects this. In other words, you can say that the whole universe is but a
manifestation and substantiation of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and
Attributes. Therefore, if you contemplate the universe, you can get to know
Allah, All Mighty, simply because the whole universe is His Divine Make;
and from the Make you can get to know the Maker; the whole universe is
Allah’s Divine Creation, and from the creation you can get to know the
Creator; it is His Divine Design, and from the Design you can get to know
the Designer. Undoubtedly, the universe bespeaks the Lord’s Infinite Divine
Knowledge, Wisdom, Power, Might, Kindness, Mercy, Compassion, and
Creativity. In short, all that exists in the whole universe betokens Allah’s
Divine Existence and Perfection.

When you look at a rose, it bespeaks Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-
Jameel” (The Most Beautiful); when you look at the raging sea, it reflects
Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “Al-Jabbar” (The Omnipotent). Allah, Glory
to Him, manifests Himself to His slaves sometimes by His Being
Omnipotent, sometimes by His Being Irresistible Subduer, sometimes by His
Being Avenger, sometimes by Being Omniscient, sometimes by Being All
Wise, sometimes by Being Exalted and Great. In other words, each and
every thing in the universe denotes one or more of Allah’s Beautiful Divine
Names and Attributes. So how does Allah, Praise to Him, guide us to
Himself? He, Most Gracious, says, “Say: ‘Behold all that is in the heavens
and the earth.’ But neither Signs nor warnings benefit those who believe
not.” [X; 101]
“Then let man look at his food.” [LXXX; 24]
“Then let man look from what he has been created. He has been created
from a gushing liquid, coming forth from the backbone and the ribs.
Verily, He (Allah) is Able to bring him back (to life)!” [LXXXVI; 5-8]

Therefore, if you desire to be guided to Allah, the universe provides you

with sufficient guidance. That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says,
“The universe suffices you as a (Divine) Miracle.”

Hence, the universe is, as it were, the first gate that leads to Allah. But I
would like to tell my dear reader: The universe is the widest gate to
guidance, simply because it puts you face to face with Allah’s Infinite
Divine Power, Might, Wisdom, Mercy, Knowledge, Creativity, …etc. In
other words, Allah, Most Gracious, guides you by means of His Creation;
therefore, His Divine Name “Al-Hadi” (The Guider) is derived from His
Divine Act of guidance.

Dear reader! You can watch a sophisticated machine and deduce that its
maker is a highly experienced engineer or inventor. You say that the colors
that he has given to the machine are very nice and bespeak his refined
sensibility, his advanced knowledge, and his great experience. Sometimes,
the machine is provided with a special catalogue for its proper use and
function. Similarly, Allah, All Mighty, guides man not only by his Creation,
i.e. the universe, but also by His Divine Words. He, Glory to Him, says:
“Verily, Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.” [XXII; 75]
“And Allah is the All-Knower of the Unseen.” [IX; 78]
“Verily, Allah is All-Powerful over all things.” [XVI; 77]
“Verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [II; 182]
“And He (Allah) is the Oft-Forgiving, the All-Loving.” [LXXXV; 14]
“Verily, my Lord is Most Merciful, All-Loving.” [XI; 90]
“Allah is He Who raised the heavens without pillars that you can see.
Then, He established Himself on the Throne. He has subjected the sun
and the moon, each running for a term appointed. He manages all
affairs, He elaborates the Signs that you may believe with certainty in
the meeting with your Lord.” [XIII; 2]
“And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and
whatever moving living creatures He has dispersed in them both. And
He is All-Potent over their assembling whenever He wills.” [XLII; 29]
“And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and
the difference of your languages and colors. Verily, in that are indeed
Signs for men of sound understanding.” XXX; 22]
“And among His Signs is that the heaven and the earth stand by His
Command. Then afterward, when He calls you by a single Call, behold,
you will come out from the earth.” [XXX; 25]
“And among His Signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the
moon. Prostrate yourselves not to the sun nor to the moon, but prostrate
yourselves to Allah, Who created them, if you (really) worship Him.”
[XLI; 37]
“And among His Signs are the ships in the sea like mountains.” [XLII;
32]
“And among His Signs is that you see the earth barren; but when We
send down water to it, it is stirred to life and growth (of vegetation).
Verily, He Who gives it life, surely, is Able to give life to the dead.
Indeed, He is Able to do all things.” [XLI; 39]
“And among His Signs is that He sends forth the winds with glad
tidings, giving you a taste of His Mercy, and that the ships may sail at
His Command, and that you may seek of His Bounty, in order that you
may be thankful.” [XXX; 46]
“And among His Signs is that He created for you wives from among
yourselves that you may find repose in them, and He has put between
you affection and mercy. Verily, in that are indeed Signs for a people
who reflect.” [XXX; 21]
“And among His Signs is that He created you from dust, and then,
behold, you are human beings scattered!” [XXX; 20]

Therefore, the first Gate of guidance to Allah, Praise to Him, is His Creation,
and in this sense His Divine Name “Al-Hadi” (The Guider) is derived from
His Divine Act of guidance.

The second Gate of guidance to Allah, Glory to Him, is His Words, i.e. His
Divine Book, the Holy Quran.

Sometimes, you look at a wonderful thing whose maker tells you that he has
made it for such and such purpose and that the raw materials from which he
has made it are of the best quality. In other words, the maker gives you direct
information about his make directly from him. Similarly, Allah, All Mighty,
guides you to Him by His own Divine Words. Therefore, Allah’s Beautiful
Divine Name “Al-Hadi” (The Guider) is derived from His Divine Act of
guidance as well as from His Divine Self as possessing the Attribute of
Speech.

Therefore, if Allah guides you through His Creation, then His Name “Al-
Hadi” (The Guider) is one of His Divine Names that have to do with His
Divine Acts; but if He guides you by means of His Words, the Holy Quran,
then His Name “Al-Hadi” (The Guider) is one of His Names that have to do
with His Divine Self. When you read Allah’s Divine Book, the Holy Quran,
it clarifies to you the facts about the origin of the universe, the reality of the
life of this present world, the reality of the Hereafter, Allah’s Beautiful
Names and Attributes, His Prophets and Messengers, and the purpose of the
creation of man. In His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, Allah bids you to
offer (Salat) prayers, to fast, to offer the Zakat (Alms Giving), and to make
the Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca). He, for example, makes clear to you why
you should offer Salat or Zakat to Him, or why you should fast:
“And perform prayer! Verily, prayer prevents evil sins and misdeeds.”
[XXIX; 45]
“O you who believe! Observing the fast is prescribed for you as it was
prescribed for those before you that you may attain self-protection.” [II;
183]
“Take from their wealth alms whereby you purify and sanctify them,
and invoke (Allah) for them. Verily, your invocation is a source of
security for them; and Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower.” [IX; 103]

Yes, indeed! Allah, Most Gracious, is “Al-Hadi” (The Guider), Who guides
you by His Divine Words. When you read His Divine Book, the Holy Quran,
it leads you to Him, just as the whole universe does. But the universe is a
Cosmic Book, as it were, that both Muslims and non-Muslims, Arabs and
non-Arabs, the Africans, the Chinese, the Americans, the Europeans, …etc,
can read and understand. Everywhere, the Sun shines, stars twinkle, the
Moon rises, and water runs. In other words, the universe is an open Book
that everyone can read and understand, while only Arabs can read the Holy
Quran.
Anyway, when man gets to know his Lord, Allah, Most Gracious, more and
more, he learns Arabic for his sake; and you quite often see whole non-Arab
nations learn Arabic just for the sake of Allah and His Religion. This is like
when you go to a foreign country in order to study; the first thing you have
to do is to learn its language.

One of my students had a scholarship to Czechoslovakia, and the first thing

he had to do was to learn their language. For the sake of a worldly
ephemeral achievement, you spend two or more years learning the language
of a certain people in order to get some of their knowledge. So, when you
get to know Allah, Lord of all worlds, and when you get to know that His
Divine Words are too precious, you will certainly feel utmost need to learn
Arabic, the language of His Divine Book, the Holy Quran. Our dear African
or Turkish brothers, for example, who have come to this country in order to
learn about Allah’s Religion of Islam, hasten to learn Arabic and are very
pleased when we speak to them in classical Arabic, which they understand
and speak very well.

Therefore, if your love for Allah, Most Gracious, reaches a certain degree,
you find yourself hasten to learn Arabic. Hence, Allah’s Divine Book, the
Holy Quran, is another Gate of guidance that leads you to Allah. Once again,
Allah guides you to Him either through His Creation, i.e. the universe, or
through His Divine Words, i.e. the Holy Quran. In this context, I would like
to reiterate the fact that Allah, Glory to Him, makes His Divine Book, the
Holy Quran, equal in importance to the whole universe. He, Praise to Him,
says, “All Praise belongs to Allah, Who (Alone) created the heavens and
the earth and originated darkness and light! Yet, those who disbelieve
hold others as equal with their Lord.” [V; 1] This is because both of the
universe and the Holy Quran refer to Him and show His Beautiful Divine
Names and Attributes. About His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, Allah, All
Mighty, says, “All Praise belongs to Allah, Who has sent down to His
slave (Muhammad) the Book (the Quran) and has made no crookedness
therein.” [XVIII; 1]

From the two foregoing Quranic Verses, we understand clearly that Allah’s
Divine Book, the Holy Quran, symbolizes Allah’s Textual Revealed
Guidance, while the universe symbolizes His Cosmic Demonstrative
Guidance.
Notice that you sometimes buy a machine that does not have a catalogue or
operation manual. You begin to examine it, turn its keys, try to find out
anything helpful to make it operate, and work hard to know everything about
it and how it works properly. In other words, you try to find out about the
machine, its properties, and its work by observation and experiment; but if it
is accompanied with a catalogue or operation manual, it gives you sufficient
information about the machine and its functions. The former way provides
you with some, but not all, information about the machine, while the latter
way provides you with complete information because it comes from those
who made it. However, by contemplation on the universe and the cosmic
Divine Signs therein, you get to know lots of things, but not all things.

The universe tells you about Allah’s Existence and Greatness as well as His
Divine Names and Attributes, but it does not tell you about the Salat
(Prayer), for example, or how to offer it. It does not tell you about other
religious observances such as the Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca), the Zakat
(Alms Giving) or any other religious observances. Therefore, you need
another source of information that tells you about such important things. You
need Divine Revelation, i.e. the Holy Quran, which Allah sent down to His
Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH). In other words, besides the universe,
which is one half of religion as it leads you to know the Creator and Maker,
Allah, All Mighty, you need Divine Revelation, i.e. the Holy Quran, which
provides you with the second half of religion.

Allah’s Divine Book, the Holy Quran, contains rules, principles and
commands. It contains a complete course of life. It contains information
about previous nations and generations and the forthcoming ones. It contains
information about the past, present and future; and it contains information
about Allah, Lord of all worlds. Mere contemplation on the universe is
necessary but not at all sufficient. It must be integrated with information
from Divine Revelation, i.e. the Holy Quran.

If you desire to complete your higher education, for example, it is not

enough for you to enter the university and contemplate its corridors, halls,
auditoriums, labs, gardens, campus, theatre, library, dormitories, …etc. You
also have to know about its rules and laws, number and nature of curricula,
how to study and pass exams, and who are its lecturers and professors, …
etc. You must read about the university’s dean, president, departments,
disciplines, the degrees and ranks. You need to know so many things about
the university other than mere contemplation of its buildings and premises.
Similarly, as regards your relationship with the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, it is
not enough to contemplate the universe or the Signs therein. The universe
tells you about Allah’s Existence, Might, Wisdom, Power, …etc, but if you
desire to know about His Religion, you should read His Divine Book, the
Holy Quran, which is a concise book that contains basics of Islamic
Religion, which was communicated and elaborated to us by Allah’s
Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH).

Once again, if you contemplate the universe, you get to know that the
universe must have a Creator and Maker, Who is All Mighty, All Great,
Omnipotent, Omniscient, All Wise, All Kind, …etc. But if you desire to
worship such Maker, to be near to Him and seek His Divine Love, what
should you do? Now, you are in need of information form Him to tell you
what to do. For example, He tells you to fast during the month of Ramadan,
to offer the Zakat (Alms Giving) to the poor, to lower your gaze at indecent
or unlawful things, to do well to your fellow humans, to pardon them, …etc.
Now, you are in need of the Commands of this Great Creator. In other
words, by your mind, you contemplate the universe and get to know the
Maker, but if you desire to know the Maker’s Religion, His Divine
Commands, His Bidding and Forbidding, information about previous nations
and generations, why He has created you, and what does the Maker want of
you, you have to read His Divine Book.

Therefore, the universe tells you about Allah’s Existence and His Beautiful
Divine Names and Attributes, while His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, tells
you about His Religion. If you desire to believe in Allah, All Mighty,
contemplate the universe, and if you desire to worship Him, read the Holy
Quran. Through contemplation on the universe, you get to know Allah, and
through the Holy Quran you worship Him. Each one of these two things is
necessary but not at all sufficient. If you read the Holy Quran but fail to
contemplate the universe, it is as though you have not read the Holy Quran.
Why? The answer is: because the Holy Quran bids you to contemplate the
universe, and if you do not contemplate the universe, this means that you
have failed to comply with the Quranic Verses that command you to
contemplate. Similarly, if you contemplate the universe but fail to read the
Holy Quran, you get to know the Maker, but you do not know how to
worship Him, i.e. you do not know how to offer prayers, how to offer the
Zakat (Alms Giving), or how to make the Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca), i.e.
you do not know His Commands, how to worship Him, or what He wants of
you.
Hence, Allah guides you to Him by the universe, so His Name “Al-Hadi”
(The Guider) is one of Allah’s Names that are derived from His Divine Acts;
and He guides you by the Holy Quran, so His Name “Al-Hadi” is also one of
His Names that are derived from His Own Divine Self, because He speaks,
and He guides you by His Speech.

Now, after Allah, All Mighty, created the universe, which tells you about
Him, just as He sent down the Holy Quran, which shows you His Religion
and Divine Commands. There are also events and incidents, i.e. Divine Acts:
things that happen, rain that falls down, droughts volcanoes, earthquakes, …
etc, that lead you to Him. In this context, Allah, All Mighty, says, “Then
there passed by on it (the garden) a visitation (fire) from your Lord at
night and burnt it while they were asleep.” [LXVIII; 19]

Sometimes, a harvest that is worth hundreds of millions of pounds is

devastated by frost in three minutes. This means that Allah, All Mighty, has
Divine Acts like frost, winds, hurricanes, floods, volcanoes, earthquakes,
diseases, epidemics, droughts, poverty, oppression, …etc. These are Allah’s
Divine Acts. Just as the universe tells you about Allah and the Holy Quran
tells you about His Divine Religion, so Allah’s Divine Acts tell you about
Him. Consider the following Quranic Verses:
“And your Lord would never destroy the towns wrongfully while their
people were good-doers.” [XI; 117]
“And whatever misfortune befalls you is because of what your hands
have earned; and He pardons much.” [XLII; 30]

If a teacher punishes a student physically whenever he beats any of his

classmates, does not the student understand that the teacher’s physical
punishment means that He does not like him to beat his classmates, even if
the teacher does not utter one single word of discontent? Does not the
teacher sometimes teach students by his acts and not by his words? Of
course, he does! The same thing applies to Allah, All Mighty. If someone
abstains from giving the Zakat (Alms), Allah causes his wealth, or part of it,
to be destroyed. This is a kind of non-verbal teaching.

If you transgress against honor and dignity of other fellow humans, they also
transgress against your own honor and dignity: it is, as people say, tit for tat.
If you show insolent arrogance, Allah humiliates you; if you show adequate
modesty, Allah exalts you in honor; if you spend of your wealth for the
Cause of Allah, He recompenses you; if you are niggardly, He destroys your
wealth, or part of it; if you lower your gaze at indecent or unlawful things,
Allah makes you happy with your family; if you give free reign to your lusts
and caprices, Allah afflicts you with hardships and misfortunes; if you are
honest and trustworthy, Allah makes people trust you; but if you are
dishonest, Allah defames you.

For the time being, let us forget about the universe or Allah’s Book. Let us
talk about Allah’s Divine Acts.

Undoubtedly, Allah’s Divine Acts teach you a lot by themselves. The

foregoing example of the teacher’s physical, non-verbal, punishment to a
student whenever he hits another is enough to teach the student that the
teacher is displeased by such a bad deed on the part of the student, although
the teacher does not utter one single word of reproach. Allah’s non-verbal
Divine Acts do teach His slaves and provide them with admonition.
Therefore, Allah, All Mighty, teaches you by His Creation, i.e. the universe,
by His Book, i.e. the Holy Quran, or by His Divine Acts. He, Glory to Him,
says, “Say: ‘Travel in the land and see how has been the end of
criminals.” [XXVI; 69]

If someone cheats people, his properties are confiscated. Why are they
confiscated? The answer is: in return for the wrong that he did to other
fellow humans. If someone is honest and trustworthy, why does Allah
increase his wealth for him? If someone is generous to other fellow humans,
why are they generous to him? If someone honors other fellow humans, why
does Allah honor him?

Therefore, Allah, All Mighty, is “Al-Hadi” (The Guider), Who guides His
slaves by His universe, by His Words, and by His Acts. I believe that all of
our dear readers know for sure that Allah has taught them a lot by His Divine
Acts. Remember dear brother! You offered the Dawn Prayer, so you felt all
the day that your words and deeds are rightly guided, that you felt great
spiritual enhancement, that your heart was filled with tranquility and peace,
that people showed adequate honor and respect towards you, and that
everything was all right with you. The next morning, you did not offer the
Dawn Prayer, so you had lots of problems on the way to work, in you place
of work, in your relationship with government officials, …etc.
Yes, indeed! Allah, Most Gracious, teaches you by His Divine Acts. When
you offer the Dawn Prayer, for example, you are under Allah’s Divine Care
and Protection. But when you neglect Prayer, you have lots of problems at
home, at work, or anywhere else. This is a kind of Divine Teaching, i.e.
Allah, Most Gracious, guides you to Him by His Divine Acts: you give
charities, Allah increases your wealth for you; you abstain from helping
other fellow humans, He straitens your provision for you.

One of our dear brothers once told me the following story: Early one
morning, his sister phoned him, asking him for five thousand pounds. He
had the money, but he was in bad need of it. However, he did not hesitate for
one single moment to offer the money to his sister, and then went back to his
shop, were a man asked him for a certain commodity that he did not have in
his shop. So, he took the man and showed him the factory in which the
commodity was made. In the evening, the owner of the factory gave him a
good amount of money, much more than that which he had given to his
sister, for being helpful. I believe that all of those who read this story have
similar experiences with Allah, Most Gracious. That is why Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Spend (of your wealth), o Bilal! And do not
fear (any) decrease (of wealth) from the Owner of the Throne (Allah)!”
Also, in a Divine Hadith, Allah, All Mighty, says, “Spend (of your wealth)
o son of Adam! I spend on you!”

Yes, indeed! Allah, Most Gracious, is constantly teaching you by His Divine
Acts. He, Glory to Him, says, “So fear Allah (and be dutiful to Him), and
Allah teaches you. And Allah is the All-Knower of each and every
thing.”[II; 282] He teaches you by His Divine Acts; and as soon as someone
understands His Lord and establishes a firm aware relationship and direct
contact with Him, he gets to know that such an Act on the part of Allah is for
such a deed on his own part.

I remember someone who was righteous and straightforward; but on his first
trip on an airplane, he failed to lower his gaze at a beautiful woman. As soon
as he arrived at the airport, he took a taxi to the hotel at which he was going
to stay. When he offered the driver some money, the latter took him to the
police station, because the money was forged. In the police station, he was
questioned about the money, and he said that he was a member of an official
delegation to a conference that was to be held in that country. He was in a
really serious and embarrassing situation, for he was accused of trafficking
forged money. With tears in his eyes, he turned to the Lord as if blaming
Him for what had happened. But he felt as if Allah, Most Gracious, was
telling him, “O my salve! Why did you look at such beautiful woman?”
In other words, Allah reproached the man by His Divine Act of putting him
in such serious situation.

Once again, Allah, Most Merciful, guides you by the universe, by His Holy
Quran, or by His Divine Acts. Therefore, He is “Al-Hadi” (The Guider).

In large shops or department stores, you quite often see special devices that
are fixed at the entrance and are particularly designed to send off a certain
light or sound if someone lifts an item and goes out without paying its cost
to the cashier, i.e. in case of any shop-lifting. This device is man’s invention.
You, as a human being: Allah, All Mighty, has created you in the very best
stature. He, Most Merciful, has equipped you with a very special apparatus,
your heart, which makes you feel uncomfortable and worried if you commit
a sin or if you go astray from the Right Path. This is what people usually call
“conscience”, which makes you feel worried, unhappy, uncomfortable,
distressed, sad, miserable, …etc, as soon as you do something wrong. This is
because your original human nature is pure, and when you commit anything
wrong, you feel that you have deviated from your own pure human nature.
This means that Allah, Most Gracious, also teaches you, and guides you to
Him, by means of your own pure original human nature. This is another way
by which Allah, Most Merciful, teaches you in addition to the universe, the
Holy Quran, and His Divine Acts. To this effect, Allah, Glory to Him, says,
“And (I swear) by a self and Him Who has made it (in perfect
proportion), and then showed it (both) its profligacy and piety!” [XCI;
7,8] This means that if you do anything wrong or if you go astray, you know
that you have so done; and, similarly, if you do anything good and righteous,
you also realize that you have so done.

I would like to reiterate the fact that you, dear reader, feel spiritually most
exhilarated when you obey your Lord, Allah, Most Gracious. But how can
you recognize that? If, may Allah forbid, your foot slips, if you miss certain
prayers, if you fail to lower your gaze at unlawful or indecent things, if your
tongue slips with a lie, or if you backbite someone or slander him, you feel
as if you were made to fall from high up in the sky down to the earth, you
feel desperate and miserable, you feel barred from the Lord, Most Gracious,
you feel that Allah has forsaken you, and you feel that Allah, Does not like
you. This is the fourth kind of Allah’s Teaching and Guidance, namely by
man’s pure original human nature. In this context, Allah, Most Gracious,
says, “So set your face towards the Religion (of pure Islamic
Monotheism) in true faith. Such is the Fitrah (pure human original
nature) with which Allah has originated mankind. No change let there
be in Allah’s (original) Creation. Such is the Straight Religion, but most
of men know not.” [XXX; 30] In other words, setting your face towards
Allah’s Religion of pure Islamic Monotheism is exactly your pure original
human nature in which Allah has originally created you. You are never
peaceful or comfortable unless you know Allah, because once you know
Him, you feel secure and safe. A low-ranked clerk or employee certainly
feels safe and secure if he has kinship or affinity with the General Director
or owner of the company for which he works. This is the case when you are
affiliated to a powerful of affluent human being, so how would the case be if
you are affiliated to Allah, Lord of all worlds, if you feel that He is with you,
if you feel that you are under His Irresistible Divine Care and Protection, or
if you feel that He, All Mighty, loves you? How would the case be if you
feel that you love other fellow humans for the sake of Allah, if you go to bed
at the end of the day after you have done wrong to none, transgressed against
none, established glory on the wreckage of none, made a fortune at the
expense of none, or built a life on the death on none? I am sure that in this
case you are in full conformity with your pure original human nature in
which Allah has created you! In this context, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “(I
swear) by a Self and He Who has created it (in perfect proportion), and
then showed it its profligacy and piety! Indeed, successful is he who
purifies it, and unsuccessful is he who corrupts it.” [XCI; 7-10] This
means that if you have gone astray, you know exactly that you have so done.

Once, when I was in a wedding party, a young man asked me about

something that had worried him a lot. He had done something sinful that he
had wrongly considered as both justifiable and reasonable. But when he
came back home, he reconsidered the whole thing and found out that he was
wrong, and he believed that he must have failed the test that Allah, All
Mighty, had given him. No one ever taught the young man, nor did he ask
anyone about it. He realized his mistake by himself, i.e. his pure original
human nature made him realize that he was wrong.

I reiterate: Allah, Most Gracious, guides you by His universe, by His Words,
by His Acts, and also by your own pure original human nature. Allah, All
Mighty, has different ways by which He guides you. Sometimes, He guides
you by inspiration, as He did to Moses’ mother: “And We (Allah) inspired
Moses’ mother: ‘Suckle him.’” [XXVIII; 7] This is Divine Inspiration.
Quite often, people tell you, “Allah has inspired me to travel”, “Allah has
inspired me to make such deal”, “Allah has inspired me to make a
partnership with so-and-so”, or “Allah has inspired me not to buy such
house”. This is Divine Inspiration. Once again: “And We inspired Moses’
mother: ‘Suckle him. But when you fear for him, cast him into the river,
and fear not, nor grieve. Verily, We shall bring him back to you, and We
shall make him one of (Our) Messengers.’” [XXVIII; 7]

Once, during the Feast days, I intended to visit a friend of mine in

Damascus. While I was about to do, I suddenly found myself go to my own
home quite unintentionally and without any reason or justification. When I
arrived home, I was greatly surprised to find someone who had come to visit
me from a remote place in the north of the country and to spend the Feast
days with me; and he did not have any other place to go to except mine. It
was Allah, All Mighty, Who inspired me to go home instead of visiting my
friend. But how do such Divine Inspirations happen? When man submits
himself to Allah, Allah inspires him; and all of the Inspirations that come to
a true believer from the Lord are good ones; while insinuations that come to
a disbeliever are evil and devilish, because they come from Satan, who
insinuates to a disbeliever or a profligate to make a certain deal that leads to
his own destruction, for example, or to make partnership with someone who
devours unjustly all of his wealth, or even start a business that leads to great
losses. This is devilish insinuation. In other words, man is visited with either
good Divine Inspiration or evil devilish insinuation. If you are with Allah,
the Most Merciful, He inspires you; but if you are with damned Satan, he
insinuates to you. This is another kind of Divine Guidance: Allah, Most
Gracious, provides you with good inspirations. That is why Allah, Glory to
Him, addresses His Prophet, Moses, (PBUH), “Then you came here
according to a term, which I ordained (for you), o Moses!” [XX; 40]

Sometimes, Allah, Most Gracious, inspires you to enter a certain mosque,

this mosque for example, in order to offer Prayers; but you find a great
number of people attending a religious lecture, so you sit and listen, and you
find so many interesting things that keep you attracted to the mosque and
devoted to it. I always ask newcomers how they came to our mosque. Some
of them say that it was all a mere coincidence, others say that a friend
invited them to come, while others say that as they were passing by, they
noticed a number of people attending and, out of curiosity, they sat and
listened. These are all kinds of Divine Inspirations.
Therefore, Divine Inspiration is another way by which Allah, Most
Gracious, guides you; and this way is to be added to the foregoing ways,
namely the universe, the Holy Quran, Allah’s Divine Acts, and man’s pure
original human nature.

Another kind of Divine Guidance is good dreams. Sometimes, people have

good righteous crystal clear dreams in their sleep. Such dreams motivate
them to be more obedient and dutiful to Allah, Most Gracious. Good dreams
are undoubtedly another kind of Divine Guidance. To this effect, Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), says, “A good righteous dream is one part, out of
forty-six parts, of Prophecy. In other words, if Allah, All Mighty, desires to
teach you something directly and without the need for any inference,
contemplation, or awareness on your part, or any Divine Acts as indicated by
this Verse: “Say: ‘Travel in the land and see what was the end of the
beliers (those who rejected the truth).” [VI; 11]

With respect to the universe, you need to contemplate the creation of the
heavens and the earth and all that is between them; with respect to Allah’s
Divine Acts, you need to observe and learn; and with respect to Allah’s
Divine Book, the Holy Quran, you need to read and deliberate. But
sometimes, Allah, All Mighty, desires to teach you directly, clearly and
quickly, so He makes you see visions or dreams in your sleep. Sometimes,
Allah, Most Gracious, makes you dream that you are going down a perilous
steep road. This means that He desires to warn you. Sometimes, you have a
big question to which you have no answer, but Allah, Glory to Him, makes
you see the answer in your dream.

Quite a few of our dear brothers have told me that they, more than once,
went to bed with a question about something in their mind. They asked, “O
lord! Inspire me to do the right thing!” In their sleep they had good dreams
that included answers to their questions. This is another kind of Divine
Guidance, namely by means of good righteous dreams. But here is a delicate
point that I would like to make clear: Any dream or vision that clashes with
the basics of Islamic Religion is by no means acceptable, as it is
undoubtedly from damned Satan. Even if someone dreams of a righteous
holy religious scholar, whose face is shining brightly with faith, telling him,
for example, “Do not offer prayers to Allah”, his dream is not acceptable
simply because it clashes with basics of Allah’s Religion. I reiterate: all
visions or dreams that clash with Allah’s Religion are by no means
acceptable, simply because they definitely come from damned Satan.
However, good righteous visions or dreams that come from Allah, Most
Merciful, have certain qualities. For example, if someone who is profligate
or irreligious sees in his sleep a horrible dream, it is certainly from Allah,
Most Merciful; and, similarly, if someone who is righteous and dutiful sees
in his sleep a good delightful dream, it is also undoubtedly from the Lord,
Most Gracious.

If you are a righteous good-doer and you see a horrible dream, it is certainly
from damned Satan; similarly, if you were a profligate irreligious person,
may Allah forbid, and you saw a good delightful dream, it would be
definitely from damned Satan. As far as dreams are concerned, basics of
Islamic Religion as well as the degree of one’s righteousness are the criteria
by which they are to be judged as coming from Allah or from damned Satan.

By the way, dreams and visions are by no means considered as rules or

adequate evidence. They are mere spiritual contacts between a certain person
and his Lord, but nothing else. In other words, they belong to the individual
and have nothing to do with others.

Also, Allah, Most Gracious, sometimes guides you by making you meet,
quite accidentally, another person, who tells you something or provides you
with certain information that leads to your guidance. In other words, when I
meet someone who tells me something, I should wonder, one way or
another, “Who has made me meet such person?” It is certainly Allah, All
Mighty, Who has! “Who has made such person say what he said?” It is
Allah, Most Gracious, Who has! “Who has inspired such person?” It is
certainly Allah Who has! When you are not on the Right Way, and someone
comes to show it to you, you should firmly believe that Allah, Most
Gracious, has made such person come and show you the Right Way. This is
another kind of Divine Guidance, namely by means of other fellow humans.

There is still another kind of Divine Guidance, namely by means of feelings

of spiritual comfort or discomfort. For example, sometimes you intend to
travel somewhere; but when you are about to leave, you suddenly feel
uncomfortable, or comfortable, about it; and also you find that things go on
smoothly and easily or awkwardly and most difficultly. This is another kind
of Divine Teaching or Guidance. In other words, if you are a true believer,
and if you desire to do something: if Allah is pleased with the thing you are
going to do, He makes you feel comfortable about it, and He makes things
go easily and smoothly with you; but if He is displeased, He makes you feel
uncomfortable about it, and He makes things go awkwardly and difficultly.
This is another kind of Divine Guidance.

Also, Allah, Most Merciful, sometimes makes man unable to think or

determine about something, but He drives him do it easily though
unintentionally. This is another kind of Divine Guidance to be added to the
previously mentioned eight ones, namely the universe, the Holy Quran,
Divine Acts, man’s pure original human nature, Divine Inspiration, good
dreams, other fellow humans, feelings of spiritual comfort or discomfort and
making things easy or uneasy. The ninth kind of Divine Guidance is by
driving man to do certain good things easily though unintentionally. In this
context, Allah, Most Merciful, says, “Glorify the Name of your Lord, the
Most High, Who has created (everything) in perfect proportion, and
Who has decreed and guided, and Who brings out the pasturage and
then makes it dark stubble.” [LXXXVII; 1-5]

Religious scholars classify Allah’s Divine Guidance into four types:

First Type: General Divine Guidance:

Allah, Most Gracious, has provided you with the sense of smell, for
example, which enables you to distinguish the smell of gas, which is
sometimes very dangerous at home. This means that He guides you by
means of the senses, one of which is the sense of smell. You sometimes hear
a noise in the next room and hence guess that there is somebody in it. This
means that Allah guides you by the sense of hearing. Also, Allah, Most
Gracious, has given you the ability to think and deduce, just as He has
granted you knowledge, experience, and awareness. Not only that, but also
all of the abilities that Allah, All Mighty, gives to all His creatures are meant
to guide them to their interests.

Put your finger before an ant, for example, it stops and changes its way. This
means that Allah, All Mighty, has given it a sense of sight whereby it sees
things and an awareness whereby it recognizes the existence of a certain
danger or barrier. In other words, Allah, Most Gracious, guides ants, and in
fact all creatures, to their own interests.

A farmer once told me that he saw a hedgehog eating a snake. He bit a piece
of the snake and then left it and went to a certain plant and ate a leave of it.
It repeated the same thing twice, and each time, it ate one piece of the snake
and then a leave of the plant. The farmer pulled off the plant, and when the
hedgehog bit a third piece of the snake, it went to the plant to eat a leave of
it; but it did not find the plant, and, therefore, it soon died. Who guided the
hedgehog that such plant had the antidote for the snake’s poison?
Undoubtedly, It is Allah, All Mighty, Who did!

The most knowledgeable experienced navigator in the world cannot sail

anywhere without a compass. But Allah, All Mighty, guides Solomon fish
how to find their way from the Atlantic Ocean back to the very same river or
lake in which they hatched. This is the first type of Allah’s Divine Guidance
for all His creatures, i.e. General Divine Guidance. In this context, Allah,
Mot Gracious, says, “He (Pharaoh) said: ‘Who, then, is the Lord of you
two, o Moses?’ He (Moses) said: ‘Our Lord is He Who gave to each
thing its form and nature, then guided it aright.’” [XX; 49,50] By this
type of Divine Guidance, Allah, All Mighty, guides people how to cook
food, how to make clothes, how to build houses, how to earn a living, how
to fulfill their needs. This is the first type of Divine Guidance: General
Divine Guidance.

Second Type: Divine Guidance to true Faith:

By virtue of this type of Divine Guidance, Allah, Most Gracious, guides
mankind to Him, to His Book, to the Holy Quran, and to the truth.

Third Type: Divine Guidance to Success:

With regards to this type of Guidance, Allah, All Mighty, says, “We narrate
unto you their story with the truth: Truly, they were young men who
believed in their Lord (Allah), and We (Allah) increased them in
guidance.” [XVIII; 13]

Fourth Type: Divine Guidance to Paradise:

With respect to this type of Divine Guidance, Allah, Most Gracious, says,
“But those who are killed in the Way of Allah, He will never let their
deeds be lost. He will guide them and set right their state, and admit
them to the Garden (of Paradise), which He has made known to them.”
[XLVII; 4-6]

To wrap up, I would like to explain Allah’s Words: “And fear Allah (and be
dutiful to Him), and Allah teaches you; and Allah is the All-Knower of
all things.” This Quranic Verse does not mean that if you fear Allah and are
dutiful to Him, He teaches you. It rather means: Why don’t you fear Allah
and be dutiful to Him?! You should fear Allah and be dutiful to Him, for He
is constantly teaching you by his creation, by His Holy Quran, by His Divine
Acts, by your own pure original human nature, by other fellow humans, by
dreams and visions, by Divine Inspirations, by feelings of spiritual comfort
or discomfort, by making things easy or uneasy, …etc, as mentioned above:
“And fear Allah, and Allah teaches you; and Allah is the All-Knower of
all things.” I hope I have made clear the fact that by fear of Allah and being
dutiful to Him man repays his Lord for His Divine Guidance and attains
eternal happiness and prosperity.

* * *

(The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful)

I n this lecture we will be explaining the nineteenth of Allah’s Beautiful

Divine Names, namely “Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem” (The Most Gracious,
The Most Merciful), which some religious scholars consider the Greatest
of Allah’s Divine Names, for Allah, Glory to Him, says, “Say (O
Muhammad): ‘Invoke Allah or invoke the Most Gracious. By whatever
Name you invoke Him (it is the same), for to Him belong the Most
Beautiful Names. And offer your prayer neither aloud nor in a low
voice, but follow a moderate way between that.” [XVII; 110]

In fact, mercy that we witness in the whole universe is but a substantiation

of Allah’s Name “Ar-Rahman” (The Most Gracious). However, before we
start explaining these Names, I think it is necessary to put forward some
definitions that have to do with them, in order to clarify the difference
between them right from the beginning. Some people might ask: What is
exactly the difference between “Ar-Rahman” (The Most Gracious) and
“Ar_Raheem” (The Most Merciful)?

As one of the greatest religious scholars holds, Allah’s Names “Ar-Rahman”

(The Most Gracious) and “Ar-Raheem” (The Most Merciful) are both
derived from the Arabic word “Ar-Rahmah” (Mercy), which necessitates the
existence of someone who needs Mercy and on whom we have Mercy. No
one can ever be merciful to Allah, All Mighty, because He, Glory to Him, is
Omnipotent and, therefore, needs mercy from none; while a human being
does need Mercy from his Creator, All Mighty, for he is weak and helpless,
and because he is poor and not self-existent. Therefore, Allah, All Mighty, is
Self-Existent and Merciful, simply because He is the Lord; while man is
weak and not self-existent and, hence, he is in bad constant need of his Lord,
Allah, All Mighty. If a human being denies his being one of Allah’s slaves,
this means that he has forgotten that he is in bad constant need of His
Infinite Divine Mercy; and those who previously claimed that they were not
in need of Allah’s Divine Mercy were afflicted with drought and
misfortunes. In this context, I would like to reiterate that so long as you are a
slave of Allah, you are in need of His Divine Mercy: O Allah! Have Mercy
on us, for You are the Most Merciful! And do not torment us, for You
are Powerful over us!

Someone through whom people’s needs are fulfilled unintentionally and

carelessly does not deserve to be described as being merciful. Your need
might sometimes be fulfilled through someone; but if he does not really
intend to have mercy on you, he is not described as being merciful. That is
why people usually say, “A detrimental thing might sometimes be
useful.”

Quite often, Allah, Most Merciful, drives to you a good thing on the hand of
someone who is not at all willing to do such good thing to you but, rather,
even desires to do evil to you. Somehow, Allah makes his ill will in your
favor. Once again, someone through whom people’s needs are fulfilled
unintentionally and carelessly does not deserve to be described as being
merciful. A merciful person is someone who really desires to have mercy on
others intentionally and carefully. This means that if you do not really want
to be merciful, you are by no means as such, i.e. you are by no means
merciful unless you really intend to be so.

Therefore, if someone claims that he desires to fulfill someone else’s need

but does not do, although he can do, is not considered as merciful. He is
considered as merciful only if he does fulfill someone else’s need. If he
desires to fulfill someone else’s need but fails to do so, because he lacks the
ability, he is considered as merciful, but his mercy is not perfect because it
has not been accomplished.

By virtue of the foregoing definitions and explanations, you are not

considered as being merciful, i.e. Allah will never accept you or be pleased
with you, Allah will never love you, and Allah will never bring you near to
Him, unless you desire to, and really do, have mercy on other fellow
humans. That is why people rightly say, “A good deed is good only when
(it is) accomplished.”

Sometimes, you verbally express your being sorry for someone else’s
misfortune, but fail to translate such verbal sorrow into action. In this case
your feeling of sorrow is invalid and meaningless. What is the use of mere
words, mere feelings, mere warm greetings, or mere tears? They do nothing!
Real substantial good work, and not void emotions, is what makes someone
feel loving and indebted to you. I knew some people who were very poor.
When their father died, their rich relatives came to offer them the deepest
and most sincere verbal condolences; but unfortunately, they failed to offer
anything substantial at all.

In other words, the feelings that someone might have towards another
human are void and meaningless unless they are translated into good
substantial work. That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “If
someone seeks help from Allah, help him. If someone asks you by Allah,
give him. If someone seeks refuge with Allah, give him refuge. If
someone does you a favor, reward him; and if you have nothing (to
reward him), invoke good for him until you know that you have dully
rewarded him.” [Narrated by An-Nasa’i on authority of Omar]

Warm words and bombastic expressions are void and meaningless unless
they are followed by real substantial work of mercy and care. Sometimes, a
son comes to visit his mother and to offer utmost verbal respect, mercy and
love. But then he leaves for his wife, family, children and work after he
offers to his mother nothing but void meaningless emotional words. His
words might be sweet and warm, and he might kiss his mother’s hands and
feet; but this is by no means real mercy or love, as it lacks substantial
sacrifice. In other words, it is clever but not at all truthful or merciful.

Religious scholars say: Real mercy is to give generously and willingly to

someone in need, i.e. when you desire to, and really, be generous and
merciful to him in both word and deed.

Allah, All Mighty, is “Raheem” (Merciful); therefore, if you strive to fulfill

people’s needs, to be generous to them, to give them of that which Allah,
Glory to Him, has given you, to do them some timely favors, to lend them a
hand in times of need, and to stand with them in times of trouble and
hardship, you are beloved and favored by the Lord, Allah, Most Merciful.

Now, there is more than one kind of mercy: General Mercy and Perfect
Mercy. Perfect Mercy is that which comprises both desire and work. General
Mercy is that which reaches all people, i.e. those who deserve it and those
who do not, like, for instance, rain that Allah sends down for the benefit of
all people. There is also Special Mercy that is singled out only for those who
deserve it.

In order to make things clear, let us have the following example: A father has
five children, all of whom sit together at one table to have food, all of whom
wear good clothes, and all of whom have nice warm bedrooms and
comfortable beds. The father gives all his children equally, because his
mercy is the same for all of them. But one of these children might be closer
to the father than others, as he is more dutiful, loyal and sincere to him;
therefore, the father sometimes singles this son out for certain extra favors.

Allah, Most Gracious, says in a Divine Hadith: “O My salve! You have an

obligation to fulfill for Me, and I have provision to provide you. Even if
you fail to fulfill your obligation for Me, I do not fail to provide you with
your provision.” In other words, whether you are a believer or a disbeliever,
Allah, Most Gracious, allows you to eat and drink and enjoy food and drink,
cold water, warm weather and beautiful landscape, He allows you to enjoy
your life with your wife and children. But Allah, Most merciful, does not
bestow His Divine Love upon you, and He does not fill your heart with
enlightenment, tranquility or peace unless you deserve that. This means that
Allah, All Mighty, has a General Mercy that He gives to all of His slaves,
and a Special Mercy that He gives only to the elite of His slaves. In this
context, Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, says, “And (remember)
when Abraham said: ‘My Lord! Make this township secure, and
provide its people with fruits: such of them as believe in Allah and the
Last day.’ He (Allah) said: ‘As for him who disbelieves, I shall leave him
in contentment for a while, but then I shall compel him to the torment of
the Fire, and worst indeed is that destination.” [II; 126]

Even if you enjoy a comfortable life, eat the most delicious food, live in a
luxurious home, have a good wife whom you love, or feel that you are
superior to other fellow humans, do not take for granted that this is a
manifestation of Allah’s Divine Mercy upon you! This is because Allah, All
Mighty, gives this present world to those whom He loves and those whom
He does not love. This is Allah’s General Mercy, which embraces all things:
“O My slave! You have an obligation to fulfill for Me, and I have
provision to provide you. Even if you fail to fulfill your obligation for
Me, I do not fail to provide you with your provision.”

I repeat: to eat and drink, to enjoy your life with your wife and children, to
own a big luxurious home, to have a good social position or reputation, to
live a brilliant successful life, or to excel in business or science, …etc, does
not mean that Allah loves you. He loves you when He bestows His Special
Mercy on you: “And when he (Joseph) attained his full manhood, We
gave him wisdom and knowledge. Thus We reward the good-doers.”
[XII; 22]

Special Divine Mercy is when Allah, Most Merciful, bestows tranquility and
peace upon your heart and, hence, makes you in utmost spiritual
enhancement and exhilaration in one hour that cannot be matched by the
whole life of this present world. In this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH),
says, “I have an hour with my Lord in which I am happier than a sent
Prophet or an intimate angel; I stay with my Lord: He feeds me and
gives me to drink.”

Dear brother! Ask yourself this question: “What kind of Donation does Allah
give me?” He might give you the same kind of Donation that He gave to
Korah, who transgressed against his people, Moses’ people, with that which
Allah had given him: “We gave him of the treasures whose keys would
have been a burden to a body of strong men.” And He might give you the
same kind of Donation that He gave to Pharaoh. But Real Divine Donation
is that which Allah gave to Moses and Joseph, (PBUT): “Thus will your
Lord choose you and teach you the interpretation of dreams (and other
things) and perfect His Favor on you and on the offspring of Jacob, as
He perfected it on your fathers, aforetime, Abraham and Isaac! Verily,
your Lord is All-Knowing, All-Wise.” [XII; 6]

With Allah, there is choice and there is intimacy, and there is a seat of truth
(i.e. Paradise) near Him, the Omnipotent King, there is Light, which Allah
casts into your heart and which enables you to see goodness as it really is
and evil as it really is, there is the feeling that Allah loves you, and there are
lots of good emotions and feelings. One of our brothers went to perform the
Hajj (Pilgrimage to Mecca), and when he came back, he told me honestly:
“By Allah! In the whole world, there is none happier than I am, unless he is
more pious and dutiful to the Lord than I am.” This might seem a bit
exaggerated, but it is not, although the man is very poor and has nothing of
this present world. He swore to me that none was happier than he was except
those who were more pious and dutiful to Allah. Such is Special Divine
Mercy. In other words, Allah might give you wealth, but He fills your heart
with fear and anxiety; He might give you good health, but He makes you the
most miserable of all mankind; and He might give you a high social status,
but He does not accept you. When Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said to
Mou’ath Bin Jabal, “I swear by Allah that I love you!” He told him,
“Shoot Sa’d! I sacrifice my father and mother for you!” He also said
about him, “That is my uncle! Show me a better uncle than him.” It is
really a great thing that the best man of all mankind, Prophet Muhammad,
(PBUH), loves you!

If you are beloved to Allah, if you stay the nights in worship and prayer, if
you lower your gaze at indecent or unlawful things, if you spend of your
wealth for the Cause of Allah, if you attend religious lectures, if you help the
poor and needy, if you do deeds of righteousness, and if you offer something
valuable to a believing brother, such accumulated good things are conducive
to what knowledgeable religious scholars call “Divine Manifestations”,
whereby Allah, Most Gracious, manifests Himself to your heart and fills it
with happiness. That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “To walk
with a brother of mine in order to fulfill his need is better for me than to
fast and seclude myself in my mosque for a whole month.” Notice how
miserable and depressed, how lost and astray, how confused and suspicious,
and how pessimistic and torn, are those who are barred from the Most
Gracious Lord. They might have the whole world, but Allah has deprived
them of the happiness of being intimate to Him.

I like to repeat the story of the man who committed a sin and was, thus,
barred from Allah, Most Gracious. He sat waiting for a misfortune to come;
but when the misfortune did not come he turned to the Lord, Allah, Most
Gracious, and said: “O Allah! I disobeyed you, but You did not punish me.”
But he felt deep in his heart: “O My slave! I did punish you, but you did
not realize that I did! Didn’t I deprive you of the sweetness of speaking
to Me?!”

Undoubtedly, persistent good work is conducive to good happy endings. For

example, a young man spends all of his time at work, at home or at mosques,
reading the Holy Quran and Prophetic Hadith, and doing favors to other
fellow humans, while other young men spend their times at frivolous
indecent parties where they watch sex movies, indulge in low immoral jokes
or gambling or flirt girls in the streets. In recompense for the righteous
young man’s good work, Allah makes his heart an abode for His Divine
Light and Guidance. That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Allah’s
Friends of my nation: whenever they are seen, Allah is remembered by
them.” In other words, the moment your eye meets a true believer; his good
righteous words and behavior remind you of Allah. That is why Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), says the foregoing Hadith. This issue reminds us of
Allah’s General and Special Mercy upon His slaves. Allah’s General Mercy
is available to everyone: everyone eats and drinks, everyone breathes,
everyone goes to bed in the evening, everyone is healthy and wealthy, so to
speak, everyone is happy and comfortable with their wives and children, and
everyone is happy and comfortable with their work. This is General Divine
Mercy, which is available equally to believers and unbelievers, Muslims and
non-Muslims. Sometimes, unbelievers even excel over believers in such
forms of Mercy. But Special Divine Mercy is singled out only for true
believers, in whose hearts Allah, Most Gracious, casts His Divine Light,
whom Allah teaches (as Allah does not take an ignorant person for a friend:
if He took him for a friend, He would teach him), whom Allah guides to the
Straight Path, whom Allah inspires to their own good, whom Allah sends
good righteous people to accompany, whose good work Allah puts in the
proper place. This is Allah’s Special Divine Mercy.

The foregoing facts remind us of Allah’s Being with His slaves, which is
also of two kinds: General and Special. Allah, All Mighty, is with each and
every one of His creatures. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And it is
He (Allah) Who created the heavens and the earth in six days and then
rose over the Throne (in a manner that suits His Divine Majesty). He
knows what goes into the earth and what comes forth from it, and what
descends from the heaven and what ascends thereto. And He is with you
wherever you may be. And Allah is the All-Seer of what you do.” [LVII;
4] In other words, Allah is with both believers and unbelievers, monotheists
and polytheists, atheists and non-atheists, happy or wretched, obedient and
disobedient, generous and miserly, clean and filthy, noble and lowly, pure
and impure, good and evil, …etc. But there are certain Quranic Verses like:
“And know that Allah is with the pious (and dutiful to Allah).” [IX; 123]
“O you who believe! Seek help in patience and prayer. Truly, Allah is
with those who are patient.” [II; 153]
“And Allah said: ‘I am with you provided you perform prayer, give the
alms, believe in My Messengers and honor and assist them, and lend a
good loan to Allah; verily, I shall expiate your sins and admit you to
Gardens under which rivers flow. But if any (of you) disbelieves, after
this, he has indeed gone astray from the Straight Path.” [V; 12]

Heroism and wisdom both necessitate that you should strive to attain Allah’s
Special Being with you, and that you should strive to attain His Special
Divine Mercy. As a father, if one of your children were disobedient,
undutiful, impolite or ill mannered, you would be angry with him, and you
might even hate his bad character or behavior. You might address him with
anger and resentment: “Here! sit down! Eat your food! I don’t like you! Take
whatever you like! Take all things! I hate you! …etc.” But a dutiful child: a
loving compassionate look from the father is priceless, and a nice word from
the father is unmatched by the whole world. Once again, dear brother, it is
not enough to get Allah’s General Mercy, which embraces all things, it is not
enough to breathe the air, to eat, to drink, to sleep, to get married, to work, or
to earn money, for these things are common among all human beings, as
Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, Verily, Allah gives this present world to
those whom He loves and those whom He does not love.” The thing for
which you should strive is Allah’s Special Divine Mercy, whereby He
teaches you, casts His Divine Light into your heart, teaches you
interpretation of the Holy Quran and Prophetic Tradition, inspires wisdom to
you, inspires you to do the right thing in the right way in the right time and
with the right person. In this context, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “He
(Allah) gives wisdom to whomsoever He wills, and whosoever is given
wisdom is indeed given a lot of good, but none remember save those
possessed of sound minds.” [II; 269] In other words, you should strive to
make Allah, Most Gracious, teach you, grant you wisdom, provide you with
good sustenance, and use you in good righteous things. In this context, I
would like to remind my dear readers of this nation: Whenever I see
someone has been given a decent job by which he serves Muslims, I tell
him, “If you desire to see your position with Allah, see where He uses
you.”

You have a decent job by which you serve other fellow humans, you demand
reasonable wages from them and serve them honestly and truthfully: This is
noble work! Allah enables you to work in certain religious jobs, such as
teaching Tajweed and recitation of the Holy Quran: This is beautiful! Allah
enables you to teach Islamic Jurisprudence and law: this is even more
beautiful! Allah enables you to teach people interpretation of the Holy
Quran: This is even better! Remember this golden rule: “If you desire to see
your position with Allah, see where He uses you.” Think of your job! Is it
based on mercy and compassion towards other fellow humans or
transgression against them? Is it based on spreading peace among people, or
spreading terror among them? Is it based on giving or taking? Is it based on
tranquility or worry? Is it based on mercy or tyranny? There are some people
who would never accept jobs that entail harm to other fellow humans even if
they were offered fabulous amounts of money for such jobs. They would
say, “May Allah forbid! May Allah forbid! Allah is the Owner of all Riches!
Allah is the Most Generous! Shall I live at the expense of the sufferings and
pains of other people?! Shall I build my glory on their destruction?! Shall I
make a fortune at the expense of their poverty?! Shall I build my comfort at
the expense of their discomfort?! Shall, I build my life on their death?! May
Allah forbid! Allah is the Owner of all Riches!

Therefore, Allah’s Special Mercy is conditional on man’s faithful obedience,

sincere strife, generosity, giving charities, helping the weak, having mercy
on orphans, helping widows, enquiring about neighbors, attending religious
lectures, lowering of one’s gaze, remembrance of Allah, reading the Holy
Quran and Prophetic Sunna. All of these are channels that link you with
Allah’s Special Divine Mercy and make you feel that you are a really
distinguished person who enjoys a special status with Allah: a status that is
manifested by Allah’s Divine Kindness, Care and Protection. This is Allah’s
Special Being with you: Help, Support, Protection, and Care. This gives you
a feeling of supremacy and excellence, because you are intimate to Allah. To
this effect, Allah, Most Gracious, says, “Verily, those who believe and
work deeds of righteousness, the Most Gracious (Allah) will bestow love
on them.” [XIX; 96]

It is really a great thing to keep remembering Allah and to understand

Allah’s Divine Book, the Holy Quran. I would like to reiterate, dear readers,
that Allah’s Special Divine Mercy requires great efforts on your part. That is
why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “We have come back from the
Minor Strife (i.e. the fight against enemies) to the Major Strife (i.e. the
fight against one’s caprices and desires).”

Now, there is something that I like to call a “reservation”: When a human

being has mercy upon another, he says, “My heart was broken at his
miserable appearance!” You might sometimes find a poor child standing
miserably at the corner of the street in the cold at a late hour of the night,
trying to sell bread, matches or the like. Don’t you feel sorry for him? Isn’t
your heart broken for him? Don’t you wonder where his family is? Don’t
you feel that it is necessary to help him and his family? Such feeling is a
kind of mercy. In other words, the heart of a Muslim is full of mercy; and he
realizes that those who do not have mercy shall never receive mercy. It is
really both painful and miserable to feel that you are the cause of other
people’s sufferings or that you can help them out of their sorrows but you do
not help them.

When someone stands before a miserable person, he feels very sorry and
merciful for him. But does Allah have the same feelings? The answer is: No,
of course not! Allah is far above such anthropomorphic feelings, i.e. His
Divine Nature is by no means like that of human beings. Nevertheless, He
has Mercy on His creatures.

Another thing: When a human being has mercy on another, he so does in

order to comfort himself from feelings of sorrow that disturb him, i.e. in
order to sooth his own feelings. This is a point of weakness in man. But
Allah, All Mighty, has Mercy on His creatures for their own sake, not for
His. In fact, here we have two delicate points: First, Allah is far above any
anthropomorphic feelings of sorrow that accompany man’s mercy upon
others. Second, when a human has mercy on someone, he does so only to
calm down his own feelings of sorrow that disturb him. This means that
human mercy is imperfect. But Allah, All Mighty, has Mercy on His
creatures only because He desires to do so, not because He needs to do so in
order to calm down any feelings of sorrow that disturb Him. Once again,
Allah, All Mighty, is far above any anthropomorphic feelings or qualities.

Now, we get to another very delicate issue, namely the difference between
Allah’s Beautiful Names “Ar-Rahaman” (The Most Gracious) and “Ar-
Raheem” (The Most Merciful).

Some religious scholars say that Allah, All Mighty, is “Rahman” (Most
Gracious) in His own Divine Self, while He is “Raheem” (Most Merciful) in
His Divine Acts. Others say that Allah is “Raman” (Most Gracious) in the
present world, while He is “Raheem” (Most Merciful) in the Hereafter. To
make things clear, let us have the following example: A loving father and a
loving mother both have an ill son whose hand needs to be amputated for
one reason or another. The mother refuses most strongly to have her son’s
hand amputated, while the father insists that the son’s hand must be
amputated. Which is more merciful, the mother or the father? The father is,
of course, more merciful because he knows that such amputation will save
the son’s life although it seems, at first sight, to be merciless. The mother’s
unrealistic mercy will certainly cause her son a lot of mischief. Therefore,
Allah’s Name “Rahman” (Most Gracious) is to be detected in this Quranic
Verse: “O my father! Verily, I fear lest a torment from the Most
Gracious, should overtake you, so that you become a companion of
Satan (in Hell-Fire).” [XIX; 45]

Here is a very serious question: You say that Allah, All Mighty, is “Raheem”
(Most Merciful), but what about the great many earthquakes and volcanoes
about which we hear everyday? What about floods, famines, civil wars,
oppression, injustice, tyranny, poverty, epidemics, plagues, …etc.? The
answer is: All of these seemingly evil things have to do with Allah’s
Beautiful Name “Ar-Rahman” (The Most Gracious), simply because this
Divine Name embraces both this present world and the world to come. If
someone gets ill, this misfortune belongs only to this present world. Poverty,
diseases, deprivation, oppression, humiliation, ...etc, are all painful. But if
such painful things are conducive to an everlasting Bliss, they are no longer
considered as evil. Therefore, whenever you see something that is seemingly
wrong or evil, you should know for sure that Allah, Most Gracious, does
harm in order to do good, takes away in order to give, tries in order to
reward, humiliates in order to honor, and withholds in order to give
generously. That is why knowledgeable religious scholars most beautifully
say, “Absolute Evil does not exist in the universe.” But what does
“Absolute Evil” mean? It means “Evil that is meant to be as such, i.e. that
does not lead to any good”.

The loving compassionate father whose heart abounds in mercy for his son
in the foregoing example insists to have his son’s hand amputated in order to
save his son’s whole life. This example should be clear to all dear readers:
All of the disasters and misfortunes that visit people in this present life are
meant to prevent more serious ones. Allah, Most Gracious, addresses this
issue, “And verily, We shall make hem taste of the near (easier) torment
prior to the supreme torment in order that they may return (in
repentance).” [XXXII; 21]

Allah, All Mighty, is both “Raheem” (Most Merciful) and “Rahman” (Most
Gracious). He, Glory to Him, is “Raheem” (Most Merciful) in the sense that
He endues you with good health, grants you wealth and property, gives you a
home to live in, provides you with tranquility and peace of mind; but, at the
same time, He is “Rahman” (Most Gracious) in the sense that He always
takes your Hereafter into consideration, He helps you to do righteous things,
and He prepares you for the Everlasting Bliss in the Hereafter. For the sake
of the Everlasting Bliss, you may be made to sacrifice everything.

I knew someone who was a very rich person. He had a big house with a big
garden. He had a lot of servants to look after the house and garden. He also
had three expensive cars and a very large business and factory in the fashion
business. He had lots of money and enjoyed a luxurious life. But some time
later, I saw him in one of the poor places of Damascus. He told me that he
had lost all his wealth. He said, “Now, I sleep on a table in my factory and
eat cheap canned food directly from the cans because I no longer have any
plates. But how did the man lose all of his wealth? It is a very long story.
Now, with respect to this story, do we have to do with Allah’s Divine Name
“Ar-Rahman” (The Most Gracious) or “Ar-Raheem” (The Most Merciful)?
The answer is: “Ar-Rahman” (The Most Gracious), because such a
misfortune is in favor of the man’s life in the Hereafter. In other words, he
did not offer prayers, he was irreligious, he used to drink wine, he used to
transgress against honor and dignity of other fellow humans. Allah, Most
Gracious, desired to make him turn to Him with repentance and reform, so
He caused him to lose all of his wealth. I swear by Allah, the One and Only
God! Each and every story similar to the foregoing one is, itself, a Divine
Declaration, since Allah, Most Gracious, says, “And verily, We shall make
hem taste of the easier torment prior to the supreme torment in order
that they may return (in repentance).” The foregoing story seems to
substantiate this Quranic Verse very clearly.

Therefore, dear reader, it is wise to turn to the Lord, Allah, Most Gracious,
willingly while you are healthy and wealthy, so to speak, and to seek His
Love and Good Pleasure before it is too late.

Allah, All Mighty, is the Most Gracious in this present world and the
Hereafter. For your own happiness in the Hereafter, He may withhold the
entire present world from you, for He knows what is good for you, but you
do not. To this effect, the Quranic supplication goes: “And of them
(mankind) there are some who say: ‘Our Lord! Give us in this world
that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us
from the torment of the Fire.” [II; 201] And Allah, the Most Gracious, the
Most Merciful, says, “Why should Allah punish you if you have thanked
(Him) and have believed (in Him)? And Allah is Ever All-Appreciative
(of good), All-Knowing.” [IV; 147]

One of the marvelous sayings of a knowledgeable religious scholar goes:

“Perhaps you will ask: ‘What does Allah’s Being the Most Merciful
mean?’ A merciful one does not hesitate to help a person who is afflicted
with a misfortune, suffering or illness; and the Lord, Allah, is the Most
Merciful and is Able to remove all misfortunes, poverties, troubles,
distresses, illnesses, hardships, …etc, so why doesn’t He do that?” In
fact, this is a very serious question: The present world abounds in illnesses,
misfortunes, and hardships, …etc, and Allah is Able to remove them all most
easily, so why does He not do that? The answer is: A compassionate, loving,
but ignorant, mother may refuse to have her beloved child undergo a
dangerous, although very necessary, surgical operation; but the child’s wise
father insists that the child must undergo such operation. An ignorant person
misbelieves that the child’s mother is more merciful than the father; but a
wise person believes that the father’s insistence reflects his perfect mercy,
compassion, and sympathy towards his child. A wise person sees the
ignorant mother an enemy in the apparel of a friend. This is because a
merciful but ignorant person is an enemy in the apparel of a friend. An
ignorant father may sometimes send his son to a foreign country for fun,
giving him lots of money. Such father is, indeed, a mere enemy to his son if
the son commits grievous sins, like adultery, or alcoholism, if he becomes
disdainful to his own country and people, if he believes that people of such
foreign country are better and more developed than his own countrymen, or
if he loses his entire religion there. I reiterate: such a father is a real enemy
of his own son although he may wrongly think or claim that he loves him. In
fact, all those who invite you to enjoy the perishable pleasures and
enjoyments of this present world at the expense of your obedience to your
Lord, Allah, All Mighty, are mere enemies although they claim to be sincere
loving friends.

In fact, Allah, Most Merciful, may sometimes be hard with you for the sake
of your Hereafter. Someone might say: This is a real misfortune! But I
reiterate that if Allah, Most Merciful, desires to cure one of His slaves, He
knows well how to do so; and He, All Mighty, usually befalls him from
where he has never reckoned. In this context, people rightly say, “From his
secure place a careful person is usually attacked.” They also say, “No
care avails anything against Divine Decree.”

An American cardiologist once considered running as a perfect protection

for the heart. He wrote articles and delivered lectures to convince people of
the validity of his medical point. He also used to run for two hours everyday,
as if running were a god that would protect him from all diseases. But Allah
disproved his opinion because he died while he was running.

Sometimes, a doctor dies of a disease of his won specialization. Why does

this happen? The answer is: when a specialized person puts his trust in his
knowledge and experience but not in his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Allah
bothers him from the very place that he thinks as safe and secure.

This is a very delicate issue: Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, has
created you for the Hereafter, and, therefore, He may sacrifice your entire
present world for the sake of your Hereafter. However, if you are clever
enough, you should beseech Him to make you prosperous and happy in both
the present world and the world to come. In other words, you should turn to
Him, all willingly, with sincere devotion and seek His Divine Favors if you
desire to be happy and prosperous in this present world and the Hereafter. To
this effect, the Quranic Verse goes, “And of them (mankind) there are
some who say: ‘Our Lord! Give us in this world that which is good and
in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the
Fire.” You should never forget this Quranic Verse: “Why should Allah
punish you if you have thanked (Him) and have believed (in Him)? And
Allah is Ever All-Appreciative (of good), All-Knowing.”
Allah is the Rich, so why should He impoverish you? Why does He straiten
your provision for you? Undoubtedly, Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful,
makes you poor and straitens your provision for you simply because He
loves you and is Merciful to you, and in order to drive you back to Him as a
slave. That is why it is wisely said that a little pain is laudable if it leads to
endless pleasure.

Some religious scholars say: Allah is “Raheem” (Merciful) to His slaves in

the sense that He desires Good for them. Therefore, there is no absolute Evil
in the world, i.e. seemingly evil things must necessarily include Good in
them. For example, a surgical operation is seemingly unpleasant and
undesirable, but in essence it is not only merciful but also necessary.
Similarly, all of the misfortunes that Allah afflicts His slaves with should be
looked at from this perspective. That is why Allah, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful, says, “Those who remember Me are the ones who deserve My
Love. Those who are thankful to Me are the ones who deserve My
Increase. Those who disobey Me: I do not make them despair of My
Mercy. If they repent, I am their Lover, but if they do not repent, I am
(as it were) their Physician: I afflict them with misfortunes in order to
purify them from sins and defects. A good deed is recompensed ten folds
by Me, and I increase (the good recompense); and an evil deed is
recompensed only one fold by Me, and I pardon. And I am more
Merciful to my slave than a mother is to her babe.”

Before I wrap up, I would like to put forward a very delicate question: If you
fail to see anything good imbedded in an evil thing, and if you think that
such good thing, which is imbedded in the evil thing, is attainable without
the occurrence of the evil thing, what should you do? Religious scholars say
that you should not trust your limited human mind simply because it is
unable to show you all things that happen as they really are. I reiterate, dear
readers: it is impossible that a misfortune happens in the whole world
without any reason, without a good thing being imbedded therein, or without
a noble or paramount purpose lurking behind it. In other words, absolute
Evil does not exist in the universe. Let me put it this way: All things that
happen in the universe are subject to Allah’s Divine Will, which is associated
with His Absolute Divine Wisdom, which is, in turn, associated with the
Absolute Good. To this effect, the Quranic Verse goes, “Say: ‘O Allah,
Owner of the Kingdom! You give the kingdom to whomsoever you will
and take away the kingdom from whomsoever you will. You honor
whomsoever you will and abase whomsoever you will. In Your Hand is
(all) Good. Verily, You are Powerful over all things.” [III; 26] The Verse
says, “In Your Hand is (all) Good”; it does not say, “In Your Hand is
both Good and Evil”. Honor that comes from Allah, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful, is Good, and so is humiliation that comes from Him. Giving the
kingdom by Allah is Good, and so is taking away the kingdom by Him. The
human mind is by no means able to read between the lines of the book of the
universe. Therefore, if Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, endues
someone with adequate knowledge and deep insight that enable him to
understand misfortunes in a way that befits Allah’s Divine Wisdom and
Mercy and His Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes, he will certainly be
contented with His Divine Decree and Foreordainment, he will see Allah’s
Divine Power lurking behind all things, and he will see Allah’s Divine Hand
over people’s hands. In short, if man deviates from Monotheism, he is easy
prey to endless unbearable sufferings. In this context, Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), says, “If your commanders are the best ones from among you
and your wealthy ones are the most generous ones from among you, and
if your affairs are subject to mutual counseling among you, then, the
surface of the earth is better for you than its interior. But if your
commanders are the worst ones from among you, your wealthy ones are
the most niggardly ones from among you, and your affairs are under
your women’s command, then the interior of the earth is better for you
than its surface.” [Sunan An-Nasa’i]

To wrap up, if man deviates from Islamic Monotheism, he falls easy prey to
endless misery and wretchedness. Islamic Monotheism means that you see
none besides Allah, All Mighty, that you see that all things inevitably end
well (In Your Hand is (all) Good), that you beseech the Lord, Allah, Most
Gracious, Most Merciful, to have Mercy on you in both this present world
and the Hereafter and to give you, in this world, that which is good, and, in
the Hereafter, that which is good.

* * *
 (The All-Great)

I n this lecture, we will be dealing with the thirtieth of Allah’s Beautiful

Names, “Al-Kabeer” (The All-Great). But first, I would like to make
clear that man is naturally predisposed to seek and love only great
paramount magnificent things. That is why when man gets to know the
Lord, Allah, the All-Great, he attains tranquility and peacefulness, simply
because his pure original human nature is made this way. In other words,
man is never happy and contented unless he knows his Lord, Allah, the All
Mighty, the All-Great, the King, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, the
Omnipotent, the Omniscient, the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing, among His
other Divine Names and Attributes. Allah, Glory to Him, addresses this
issue, “And to Allah do belong (all) the Most Beautiful Names, so call
Him thereby, and leave the company of those who deny His Names, (as)
they will be requited for what they used to do.” [VII; 180]

Undoubtedly, there is a kind of harmony and consistence between man’s

pure original human nature and Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and
Attributes. In other words, as a human being, you are naturally predisposed
to glorify and magnify those who are great and magnificent; and the Lord,
Allah, Glory to Him, is the All-Great. You are naturally predisposed to turn
to those who are generous; and Allah, Praise to Him, is the Most Generous.
In fact, all kinds of human loss, stray and deviation vanish the moment man
gets to know his Lord, Allah, the All-Great. To this effect, the Quranic Verse
goes, “Those who believe and whose hearts find rest in the
remembrance of Allah: Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts
find rest.” [XIII; 28]

I always reiterate that each and every human being seeks two things, namely
safety and happiness. If man knew that his pure original human nature
makes him seek and love perfection, and that Allah, Glory to Him, is the
Source of all Perfection, the whole truth would be crystal clear to him. But
what makes man disappointed and even frustrated? The answer is: when you
expect someone to be perfect, but suddenly find out that he is not, you are
greatly shocked and disappointed. In fact, all of those who admire people
who claim to be perfect, but suddenly find out that they are by no means as
such, they are greatly shocked and frustrated. However, if man admires his
Lord, Allah, the All-Great, the Fountain of Perfection, he will never be
shocked or disappointed. To this effect, Allah, Praised and Exalted, says,
“And they will not receive admonition unless Allah so wills; He is the
One Who deserves that mankind should fear and the One Who deserves
to forgive.” [LXXIV; 56]

Before we set out to talk about Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Kabeer” (The
All-Great), I would like to clarify this fact: Man’s pure original human
nature makes him naturally predisposed to love those who are great,
generous, merciful, powerful, …etc. Once he gets to know that the Lord,
Allah, Glory to Him, is the Source of all Beautiful Names and Attributes, he
admires and loves Him, he feels secure and peaceful with Him, and, hence,
he attains happiness in the life of this present world and the world to come.
If, for one single moment, he fancies that he could be happy or peaceful
away from Allah, he is absolutely wrong. This is exactly what religion calls
for. Allah, the All-Great, says, “Nay! Verily, it (Allah’s Religion) is but an
admonition.” [XIII; 54]

Allah’s Religion clarifies to man, and reminds him of, his pure original
human nature. A car, for example, is made to run along smooth improved
roads, where it is very comfortable, enjoyable and easy to drive and control.
But if it goes off the smooth roads for which it is made, it gets into troubles
and is no longer comfortable or easy to drive. Similarly, if man gets to know
his Lord, Allah, the All-Great, for Whom he is made, he is rightly guided
and he is in full harmony with his pure original human nature. In other
words, man finds himself when he finds his Lord. Notice when you are in a
party or meeting, how you admire those who are well versed in rhetoric and
those whose words are eloquent and reflect good education and wisdom.
This is because you are naturally predisposed to love and admire those who
are great and admirable. Therefore, as soon as you get to know that Allah is
the All Mighty, the All-Great, the Most Gracious, and the Most Merciful,
and that His Divine Names and Attributes are all Most Beautiful, you turn to
Him with true love and sincere devotion. So, what is the essence of
Religion? The essence of Religion is to turn to Allah with love and devotion.
Who is a disbeliever? A disbeliever is someone who turns away from Allah
to someone or something else: a woman to marry, a perishable worldly
enjoyment, wealth, a high social position, power, or affluence, …etc. A true
believer is someone who turns to Allah, All-Great.

Now, from among the Quranic Verses that refer to Allah’s Beautiful Name
“Al-Kabeer” (The All-Great) are:
“(Allah is) The All-Knower of the Unseen and the Seen, the All-Great,
the All-Exalted.” [XIII; 9]
“Intercession with Him profits not except for him whom He permits. So
much so that when fear is banished from their hearts, they (the angels)
say: ‘What is that your Lord has said?’ They say: ‘The truth. And He is
the Most High, the All-Great.’” [XXXIV; 23]

Once again, when you are in a party or meeting, you naturally admire those
who are well versed in rhetoric and whose words are eloquent and reflect
great education and wisdom. You are naturally predisposed to admire those
who are most beautiful, most intelligent, most eloquent, most powerful, most
generous, most merciful, …etc. Once you know that Allah, All Mighty, is the
Source of all such perfect qualities, you turn to Him with love and devotion
and consequently you attain happiness in this present world and the
Hereafter. To this effect, Allah, the All-Great, says, “See how We prefer one
above another (in this world), and verily, the Hereafter will be greater in
degrees and greater in preferment.” [XII; 21]

A nurse is not as admirable as a doctor or a hospital director; a soldier is not

as admirable as a leader; a street matches-seller is not as admirable as a great
businessman. Also, businesspeople are of different ranks, and so are
scientists and scholars: “See how We prefer one above another (in this
world), and verily, the Hereafter will be greater in degrees and greater
in preferment.”

The number of ranks is great and so are the distances between ranks. In the
life of this present world, there are certain things in which all people are
equal. They all eat and drink, they all sleep, they all live in dwellings and
wear clothes, …etc. There are many things in common among all mankind
in the life of this present world. But in the Hereafter, things will be
completely different. Ranks there will be too many and the distances
between them will be so great. The problem is that ranks of this present
world mean nothing simply because they are perishable and ephemeral,
while those of the Hereafter mean everything simply because they are
everlasting and unlimited. Ranks of this present world are abrogated by
death. Death makes all human beings equal whether they are now strong or
weak, rich or poor, well or unwell, beautiful or unbeautiful, famous or
infamous, noble or lowly, …etc. Death is the grand leveler. Moreover, those
who are now rich and powerful may be poor and weak when they stand
before the All Mighty Lord on the Day of Judgment. The poor and weak in
this present world may become rich and powerful in the Hereafter. More
importantly, ranks of the Hereafter are genuine and enduring while those of
the present world are fake and ephemeral. Once again: “See how We prefer
one above another (in this world), and verily, the Hereafter will be
greater in degrees and greater in preferment.” In this context, Ibn Omar,
may Allah be pleased with him said: “While we were offering prayers with
Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), a man said: ‘Allah is the Ever All-Great! All
Praises ever belong to Allah! All Glory to Allah, day and night!’ Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH) asked, ‘Who said such words?’ The man said, ‘O
Messenger of Allah! I did!’ Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said, ‘Amazingly,
the Gates of the Heaven were opened for them (the man’s words).’” Ibn
Omar said, “I have never left such words ever since I heard Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH) say what he said (about them).”

Such Islamic words as “I bear witness that Allah, Alone, has the right to
be worshiped”, “Praise to Allah”, “Allah is Greatest”, “There is no
power or might except with Allah”, “If Allah so wills”, …etc, all have
great meanings; but it is ignorant people who have rendered such great
words meaningless. Now, when an ignorant dishonest person promises to do
something and says, “I’ll do that if Allah so wills” this means that he does
not really intend to keep his promise. If an ignorant person does not really
intend to discharge his financial liabilities, he says “I’ll pay the money back
if Allah so wills”. It is a big mistake to say in amazement, “Allah is
Greater!” when you see a machine invented by a foreigner. This is not the
proper occasion where such words are to be said. In fact, if we knew the real
denotations and connotations of the foregoing words and invocations, “I
bear witness that Allah, Alone, has the right to be worshiped”, “Praise
to Allah”, “Allah is Greater”, “There is no power or might except with
Allah”, “If Allah so wills”, …etc, our entire life would be completely
different. That is why Allah, the All-Great, says, “Wealth and children are
the adornment of the life of this present world. But the remaining good
things are better with your Lord for rewards and better in respect of
hope.” [XVIII; 46]

Religious scholars asked: What are the remaining good things in the above
Quranic Verse? Some said: They are: “Praise to Allah! Glory to Allah! No
one but Allah has the right to be worshipped.” If you read the Verse and
understand that the remaining good tings are: great wealth, a high social
status, power, or a comfortable luxurious life, …etc, you are completely and
definitely wrong, simply because all things are nothing compared to such
great notions as: “Allah, Alone, has the right to be worshiped”, “Praise to
Allah”, “Allah is Greatest”, “There is no power or might except with
Allah”, “Allah is the Ever All-Great”, “All Praises ever belong to Allah”,
“All Glory to Allah”…etc. Yes, indeed, because when you really say, “All
Praises ever belong to Allah”, this means that you praise Him. If you really
say, ‘Allah is the Ever All-Great”, this means that you magnify Him. If you
really say, “Glory to Allah”, this means that you glorify Him. If you really
say, “Allah is Greatest”, this means that you magnify Him. And if you
really say, “No one has the right to be worshipped except Allah, Alone”,
this means that you bear witness that there is no god but Him. If you really
and believingly praise Him, magnify Him, glorify Him, and bear witness to
His Oneness, this means that you know Him. If you know Him, this means
that you know everything and that you attain eternal happiness by such
knowledge, which is really unmatched by all of the perishable pleasures and
enjoyments of this present world.

Dear reader! Allah, All Mighty, says, “And His (Alone) is the Majesty in
the heavens and the earth, and He is the All Mighty, the All-Wise.”
[XLV; 37]

Allah, Glory to Him, describes Himself as being The All-Great and All
Mighty, and He says that the Majesty in the heavens and the earth belongs
only to Him. And if He bids us to magnify and glorify Him, He does so only
to help us attain happiness with Him, to turn to Him with love and devotion,
and consequently to accomplish the first and foremost goal of our creation
and existence.

Sometimes, you find a human being boasting arrogantly of himself to others;

but when Allah, All Mighty, describes Himself as being The All-Great, The
Most High, and that all the Majesty in the heaven and the earth belongs to
Him, and when He bids us to magnify and glorify Him: “And magnify your
Lord (Allah)!” [LXXIV; 3], He does so only in order to help us know Him
duly and attain happiness by such knowledge.

Now, in order to make our study of this Divine Name complete and
thorough, we need to speak about its different derivations. In fact, this
Divine Name comes in different forms: “Al-Kabeer” (The All-Great), “Al-
Mutakabir” (The All-Proud) and “Al-Akbar” (The Greatest). Allah, All
Mighty, says:
“Allah has promised the believers, men and women, Gardens under
which rivers flow, to dwell therein forever, and beautiful mansions in
Gardens of Eden. But the greatest Bliss is the Good Pleasure of Allah:
Such is indeed the supreme success.” [IX; 72]
“And remembrance of Allah is greater; and Allah knows what you do.”
[XXIX; 45]

In fact, “Al-Kabeer” (The Al-Great), “Al-Mutakabir” (The All-Proud) and

“Al-Akbar” (The Greatest) all refer to one and the same thing. However, in
Prophetic Tradition we read that so long as we say believingly, “Allahu
Akbar!” (Allah is Greater!), there is nothing that we magnify or fear except
Allah, Alone. In order to understand the first meaning of this Divine Name
“Al-Kabeer” (The All-Great), we have to know that the Arabic word
“Kabeer” (great) is the opposite of “small” or “insignificant”, as we usually
describe things as being great or small, greater or smaller, …etc. We say that
this mountain is smaller or greater than that one, but that one is the greatest,
…etc.

The word “small” or “insignificant” is the opposite of “big” or “great”. A

typist, for example, is insignificant compared to the general director of a
company; and the general director is insignificant compared to a Minister,
who is, in turn, insignificant compared to a president or king. In the
government, there are ranks and authorities, some of which are higher and
greater than others. Compare, for example, an ordinary teacher to a school
principal, a school principal to an educational director, and an educational
director to a Minister of education.

Someone who owns 10,000 Pounds is small compared to someone who

owns a million; and someone who owns a million is, in turn, small compared
to someone who owns 100,000,000 or 1000,000,000, …etc. This is the first
meaning of “Kabeer” (great), i.e. opposite of “small” or “insignificant”. But
this meaning does not befit Allah, All Mighty, simply because He, Glory to
Him, is far Exalted above being confined to a certain space, place or volume.
He, Praise to Him, is not at all like any of His creatures. No space or place
can ever confine Him, simply because He is the Creator of place and space.
Also, He cannot be divided or taken to parts, simply because He is unlike
any of His creatures. In short, Allah is unlike anything that you may imagine
or think of.

Then, what does Allah’s Beautiful Name “Al-Kabeer” (The All-Great)

exactly mean? In answer to this question, religious scholars say: With
respect to Allah, All Mighty, the word “Kabeer” (Great) has to be understood
from the mental rather than physical perspective. In other words, we have
different meanings of the word “Kabeer” (Great). Physically speaking, the
word “Kabeer”(great) may mean big in size, strong in power, or heavy in
weight. It also has to do with knowledge or social rank. In fact, this meaning
is applicable only to human beings or things, i.e. Allah’s creatures; but with
respect to Allah, the word “Kabeer” (Great) has a mental connotation and
embraces all kinds of “Greatness” from the viewpoint of mental conception.

The right thing to say about this Divine Name is that Allah, All Mighty, is
the only One Who is Perfect and Most Noble. This is the first meaning of
Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Kabeer” (The All-Great): Allah is far Exalted
above being confined by a certain place, space or volume; but He is All-
Great from the perspective of mental conception.

The second meaning of this Divine Name “Al-Kabeer” (The All-Great) is

that Allah, All Mighty, is far too Great to be compared to any of His
creatures. In other words, Allah, All-Great, is by no means like any of His
creatures; and none of His creatures can ever be like Him. In this sense, the
word “Kabeer” (Great) means “nothing is like Him” and “nothing can
possibly be likened to Him”. He, Glory to Him, is far Greater and more
Exalted than whatever you might think of Him.

Therefore, it is forbidden in Islam to envisage by acting the person of a holy

Prophet, such as Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), for example,
because he is far exalted above being envisaged by an ordinary human actor.

As for the word “Akbar” (Greater), it means that Allah, All Mighty, is
infinitely Greater than all of His creatures. This is a fundamental self-evident
truth. Nevertheless, some humans turn to some false deities, other than
Allah, The All-Greater, with glorification and magnification, worship and
devotion. When we desire to admonish such ignorant deviant people and
remind them that the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, is far Greater than the false
deities they worship instead of Him, we do not really intend to make any
kind of comparison between Allah, All Mighty, and His creatures – as
nothing can ever be like Him – but we rather intend to take such ignorant
people from polytheism to monotheism, i.e. from worshipping other
creatures to worshipping the All-Great Creator, Who is infinitely Greater
than all of His creatures.

The word “Akbar” (Greater) also means that the Lord, Allah, The All-Great,
is Infinitely Greater than whatever human beings can ever know about Him.
In other words, Allah, All Mighty, is far too Greater in Might, Power
Wisdom, Mercy, …etc, than mankind can ever imagine. This is what “Alahu
Akbar” (Allah is Greater) means.

That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), taught us to start our prayer with
“Allahu Akbar” (Allah is Greater) and say it at each part of it. This means
that when you want to offer prayers to Allah, you should keep in mind that
He, Glory to Him, is Infinitely Greater that anything that might distract you
from Him. For example, when you are in the presence of a great human
being, such as a Minister, President or King, you are never distracted from
them by reading a newspaper, for example, or anything else. Greatness of
such people prevents you from so doing; and you just listen and look most
attentively and carefully. So, how would the case be with Allah, The All-
Great, Who is Infinitely Greater than whatever you may think or imagine?!
This is what “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is Greater) means. Therefore, you
should always turn to Allah with faithful worship and sincere devotion, for
He is far Greater than whatever you may know, think or imagine about Him.

But what helps you know that Allah, All Mighty, is The All-Great? In answer
to this question, religious scholars say: “You should sit with scholars,
accompany wise people, and befriend great noble ones.” In other words,
as a human being, you have your own character, personality, knowledge,
experience, feelings, emotions, memories, …etc. Things differ greatly when
you accompany those who are equal, superior, or inferior to you. Therefore,
you should sit with holy religious scholars, accompany wise people, and
befriend great noble ones. Why? The answer is: in order to learn from them.
This is because if you befriend someone equal to you, you can learn nothing
from him although you may enjoy being with him and spending a good time
with him, as both of you have many things in common with each other. But
if you accompany those who have better knowledge, experience or social
status than you do, you get a lot of benefit from being with them. Since man
is naturally predisposed to admire and love great noble people, you should
befriend only those whom you believe are worthy of your friendship and
company: you benefit sometimes from their good knowledge, sometimes
from their good manners, sometimes from their great experience in life,
sometimes from their eloquence and rhetoric, …etc. This is your share of
this Divine Name “Al-Kabeer” (The All-Great).

Scholars are of three kinds: those who are well-informed in the field of
Islamic Jurisprudence, those who are knowledgeable as regards Allah’s
Divine Self and His Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes, and those who
are educated in cosmic sciences, such as physics, chemistry, math, …etc.

Scholars of the first kind are those who are well versed in Islamic canonical
laws and jurisprudence. They are ready to answer any questions about
formal legal opinions or Islamic canonical laws.

Scholars of the second kind are those who are knowledgeable about Allah,
All Mighty, and His Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes. They know
Allah’s Greatness, and they are committed to His Divine Commands. They
turn to Allah with true love and sincere devotion, and they are wise people.
In other words, scholars of this kind are not only knowledgeable but also
wise. By the way, I reiterate that those who attain more knowledge but fail to
get right guidance are by no means loved or favored by Allah. This is
because their religious knowledge grows but their knowledge about Allah
does not. Therefore, their worship is not adequate enough, nor is their
obedience or dutifulness to the Lord, All Mighty, despite their great
knowledge about religion and its canonical laws. However, it is wise to
attain both kinds of knowledge, namely knowledge about Allah and
knowledge about His Religion, i.e. His Divine Commands.

Scholars of the third kind are those who are knowledgeable about Allah’s
creatures. They are well versed in such disciplines of science as physics,
chemistry, math, astronomy, history, psychology, sociology, …etc.

Great is the difference between knowledge about Allah’s creatures,

knowledge about Allah Himself, and knowledge about Allah’s Religion (i.e.
His Divine Commands). The token of knowledge about Allah’s Divine
Commands is the ability to answer any question or inquiry about the
canonical laws and principles of Allah’s Religion; but the token of
knowledge about Allah Himself, is obedience and dutifulness towards Him,
i.e. if you disobey Allah, this means that you do not know Him.

As far as religious scholars are concerned, they are of three levels: ordinary
religious scholars are those who are well versed in Allah’s Religion, i.e. His
Divine Commands and Canonical Laws: they are helpful as regards religious
formal opinions. Wise religious scholars are those who are knowledgeable
about Allah Himself: they know Allah, and they are faithfully devoted and
sincerely committed to Him. The elite religious scholars are those who are
knowledgeable about Allah Himself, as well as His Divine Religion and
Commands.

In this context, Zaid Al-‘Ammi narrated the saying that goes: “O Scholar!
Work according to your knowledge! Give of your wealth! Watch your
tongue, and say only things that avail you with Allah! O scholar! The
knowledge that you acquire but fail to apply avails you nothing in front of
Allah when you encounter Him. O scholar! Deeds of obedience that you
have been bidden to do should distract you from deeds of disobedience that
you have been forbidden to do. O scholar! Do not be powerful by the work
of other people but weak by your own work. O scholar! Do not let things
that belong to other people distract you from your own things. O scholar! Sit
with scholars, compete with them, and listen to them, but do not dispute with
them. O scholar! Praise scholars because of their knowledge, and dispraise
the ignorant because of their ignorance, but do not stay aloof from them:
keep them near to you and teach them.”

A great person is someone who knows very well his Lord, Allah, All Mighty,
turns to Him with true faith and sincere devotion and knows very well His
Divine Commands. Such person attains every glory and honor. In other
words, if you see a scholar who is well informed about Allah but lacks
knowledge about His Divine Canonical Laws, you may not admire him.
Similarly, if you see a scholar who is well versed about Allah’s Divine
Canonical Laws but lacks knowledge about Allah, you may also not admire
him. But if you see a scholar who knows Allah and His Divine Canonical
Laws, you admire him, as Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), did. Also, it is rightly
said, “He who acquires knowledge about Allah’s Canonical Laws but
fails to acquire knowledge about Allah, Himself, will most probably be a
profligate; and he who acquires knowledge abut Allah but fails to
acquire knowledge about His Divine Canonical Laws will most probably
be a freethinker.” In other words, if you neglect knowledge about Allah’s
Divine Canonical laws and depend on your own thinking, you will most
probably say things that render you a mere atheist or disbeliever. Similarly,
if you acquire knowledge about Allah’s Divine Canonical Laws but fail to
know Allah, Himself, you will most probably disobey Him.

Therefore, there are two illaudable types of scholars: those who are well
versed in Allah’s Divine Canonical Laws but are ignorant of Allah, and those
who are well informed about Allah but know nothing about His Divine
Canonical Laws. However, the great elite scholars are those who attain both
kinds of knowledge, i.e. knowledge about Allah Himself as well as His
Divine Canonical Laws. This is what true believers should do.

In fact, it is necessary in the context of the talk about this Beautiful Divine
Name to explain the words “Al-‘Atheem”, “Al-Kabeer” (The All Mighty,
The All-Great). These two words show that Allah, All Mighty, is Full of
Pride; and His Divine Pride stems from His Being Perfect in His Own Self
and Existence. Perfection of His Divine Existence comes from a couple of
things: His Divine Existence, which has neither a beginning nor an end, and
the fact that He, Glory to Him, is Self-Existent and needs none to bring Him
into existence, as He is Infinitely Pre-Existent. Everything that comes into
existence after it has been non-existent cannot be perfect, nor can everything
that ends in non-existence. In Islamic theology, human beings are incidental
in the sense that they come into existence after having been non-existent and
that they will end in non-existence. Not only human beings but also all other
things - except Allah, All Mighty, Alone - will inevitably be made to perish.
Once again, Allah is All Mighty and All-Great, and He, Glory to Him, is Full
of Pride. His Divine Pride stems from Perfection of His own Divine Self,
which stems from Perfection of His Divine Existence, which, in turn, comes
from the fact that His Divine Existence has neither a beginning nor an end.
Also, Allah, All Mighty, is Self-Existent and Infinitely Pre-Existent.
Existence of all things is conditional on His own Divine Will, for He, Alone,
is the One Who brings things into existence.

In order to understand this Divine Name clearly, it is necessary to consider

its reflections on human beings. For example, when we say that some person
is “Kabeer” (great), this does not mean that he is perfect in himself but rather
because his perfection is transferred to others. A scientist, for example, who
does not teach others, is perfect himself but does not make others perfect;
therefore, he is not a great person; but once his knowledge reaches other
people, he is great in the sight of Allah. If you are perfect and your
perfection pervades others, i.e. you help make other people as perfect as you
are, then, you are a great person.

A great person, therefore, is someone who is perfect himself and makes

other people perfect like him, someone who is knowledgeable himself and
makes other people knowledgeable like him. But if he keeps his perfection
and knowledge to himself, he is by no means great with Allah, All Mighty,
but rather a selfish person. Unless your perfection pervades other people,
you are by no means perfect. In this context, Allah, All Mighty, says, “By
Al-‘Asr (the time)! Man is, indeed, in loss, except those who believe and
do righteous good deeds and recommend one another to the truth and
recommend one another to patience.” [CIII; 1-3] The words “recommend
one another to the truth” in this Quranic Verse show clearly that part of a
believer’s activities should be to call others to Allah. A person might be a
true believer, for example, but his wife is ignorant or disobedient, yet he
claims that it is none of his business to teach her or guide her to the Right
Path: such a person is not a great one in the sight of Allah. A person might
claim to be a true believer, but he does not care about his children or whether
they are believers and righteous or not: such a person is not great in the sight
of Allah. A person might have a partner who is irreligious and far astray
from Allah, yet he does not care about him or try to help him repent and
reform: such a person is not great with Allah. In other words, you shall never
be great in the sight of Allah unless your knowledge, perfection, good
manners and call for Allah pervade other fellow humans. This is the meaning
of “Kabeer” (great) as regards human beings.

Another important thing: When Allah, All Mighty, sees that you glorify Him,
Alone, but not any other fellow human being, He loves you and brings you
near to Him. But if you show inadequate humbleness or low self-esteem
before other fellow humans and seek to please them at the expense of Allah’s
Good Pleasure, you are by no means great in the sight of Allah.

A third important and delicate thing: If a true believer does not feel that he is
at peace with Allah, but rather thinks that Allah, Most Gracious, will deal
with him just as He deals with unbelievers or irreligious people, this means
that he thinks badly of Allah, Most Gracious. Moreover, I would like to
reiterate that if a true believer fears that Allah, All Mighty, will deal with
him just as He deals with profligates and disbelievers, this feeling of fear
reflects weak faith in Allah and is a kind of punishment for thinking badly of
Him. In other words, Allah, Most Gracious, loves His believing slaves not
only to trust in Him but also to feel confident and proud of Him. To this
effect, the verses go:
Attribute your honor all to Allah,
It is firmly established and deeply rooted.
If you attribute your honor to a mortal,
Your honor will, like him, pass away.

In the same context, Allah, All Mighty says, “And do not become weak
(before your enemy) nor be sad, for you will be superior if you are
indeed (true) believers.” [III; 139] In other words, true faith should be
accompanied by high self-esteem, dignity, trust in the Almighty Allah, and a
feeling of excellence. One of the Prophet’s venerable Companions was
walking with great self-confidence. Some people thought it was improper to
walk like that as it could be interpreted as a kind of insolent arrogance.
Therefore, they said, “Arrogance in Islam?!” He, may Allah be pleased
with him, answered, “NO! This is Honor of Faith!” In other words, when
you obey Allah, All Mighty, you should feel proud of, and honored by, your
obedience. When you are offered wine to drink, do not apologize, “Sorry! I
have a stomach ache.” You should proudly say, “No! Not for me! I do not
drink win because it is forbidden in my religion of Islam.” You should not be
ashamed of Allah’s Religion or Divine Commands. You should be proud of
your Faith and never try to find excuses for things that Allah, All Mighty,
has made unlawful or forbidden. Do not say, “I have an ulcer in my
stomach.” Say frankly and openly, “This is forbidden in my religion.” If you
fail to show adequate respect for your Faith, you are a defeated person.

I reiterate: If you really believe that Allah is the All-Great, you should be
proud of your Lord, Allah, All Mighty, you should put your trust in Him, you
should be confident of Him, and you should rely on Him. Whenever you say,
or hear, “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is Greater) while offering prayers or listening
to the Athan (Call to Prayer), you should know what it really means. You
should know that Allah, All Mighty, is far too Greater than anything that you
could ever imagine or think of. I always confirm that those who say “Allahu
Akbar” (Allah is Greater) but obey others than Allah do not know what it
means. Even if they say “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is Greater) millions and
millions of times with their tongues but fail to understand its real meanings,
it would be as if they did not say it at all. We should give up formalities and
void bombastic words and go back to the essence of Islamic Religion. Those
who disobey their Lord, Allah, All Mighty, and seek to please any of His
creatures instead of Him do not know what “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is
Greater) means even if they say it millions and millions of times with their
tongues. Someone who pleases his wife at the expense of displeasure of his
Lord, Allah, All Mighty, does not know what “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is
Greater) means. Frankly speaking, if you think that seeking the pleasure of a
human being is better and more important to you than seeking Allah’s Good
Pleasure, you understand nothing of that which you say. When you obey a
creature and disobey the Creator, this means that you consider that it is better
and more important to please a human being than to please the Lord, All
Mighty. Unfortunately, this is the case with the majority of people! But when
you, faithfully and truthfully, say, “Allah is the All-Great”, “Allah is the
Rich”, “I shall never commit a sinful deed even if I were cut into
pieces”, this means that you really understand what “Allahu Akbar” (Allah
is Greater) means.

We have now got into the core of our lecture and the practical part of it.
What is the benefit of saying “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is Greater), Allah is
“Al-Kabeer” (the All-Great), Allah is “Al-Mutakabbir” (the One Full of
Pride), Allah is “Al-Kabeer Al-Muta’al” (The All-Great and the Most High),
Allah is far Exalted above being like any of His creatures, …etc? What is the
use of all of these delicate pieces of information so long as you turn to other
creatures and forget the Creator?! The answer is: Of course nothing! In other
words, a true believer is someone who turns to Allah, Alone, fears none with
Him, sees none as greater than Him, fears no blames from unbelievers, and
feels strongest when he says “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is Greater). That is why
it has been rightly said: “If you desire to be the strongest of all mankind,
trust in Allah!” In fact, there are lots of tests and trials in the human life, in
which Allah, All Mighty, puts you face to face with problems, some of
which are so hard and difficult. In the face of such problems and hardships,
if you do not know what “Allahu Akbar” (Allah is Greater) means, you will
certainly fail the test. You should keep in mind that the foregoing Quranic
Verse: “Say: ‘Shall I inform you of things that are (far) better than
those? For the pious there are Gardens, with their Lord, underneath
which rivers flow, living therein forever, with purified mates, and in
good pleasure of Allah. And Allah is All-Seer of (His) slaves.” [III; 15]
was in fact revealed in the context of the talk about Paradise. After Allah, All
Mighty, Most Gracious, speaks about the trees, Gardens underneath which
rivers flow, rivers of milk and honey, the purified mates of the Hour El-Een
(fair females with wide lovely eyes) and Wildan Moukhalladoun (boys of
everlasting youth), and all other kinds of enjoyments of Paradise, He says,
“and in good pleasure of Allah”, i.e. the ultimate goal of a true believer is
to make Allah pleased with him and to feel His Divine Pleasure.

Now, the last thing that I feel the need to refer to is: If you feel that Allah is
pleased with you, such feeling is the ultimate goal ever that you can achieve
in the life of this present world. I have always reiterated that When Allah,
All Mighty, announced in His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, that He is
pleased with the Prophet’s venerable Companions: “Indeed, Allah was well
pleased with the believers who gave the pledge to you (o Muhammad)
under the tree: He knew what was in their hearts, and He sent down
tranquility upon them and rewarded them with a near victory.”
[XLVIII; 18] This means that in the whole world and in all places and times,
there is no rank higher or achievement better than attainment of Allah’s
Good Pleasure. What benefit can you get if all creatures are pleased with
you but Allah, All Mighty, is not?!! In this context, Allah, All Mighty, says,
“Verily, to Us will be their return; and then verily, for Us will be their
reckoning.” [LXXXVIII; 24-26] What benefit can you get if all people are
pleased with you but the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, is not?! What benefit can
you get if all people magnify and glorify you but your Maker, Allah, All
Mighty, does not?! People’s pleasure is perishable but Allah’s Pleasure is
everlasting and endless. Allah, all Mighty, addresses this issue,
“Humiliation and disgrace from Allah and a severe torment will
overtake the criminals for that which they used to plot.” [VI; 124]
“They are those who deny the Signs of their Lord (Allah) and the
meeting with Him. So their deeds are (all) in vain, and on the Day of
Resurrection, We shall assign no weight for them.” [XVIII; 105]
“Nay! Surely, they will be veiled from seeing their Lord that Day.”
[LXXXIII; 15]
“(It will be said): ‘Get you apart (from believers), o you criminals! Did I
not command you, o children of Adam, that you should not worship
Satan - Verily, he is a plain enemy - and that you should worship Me
(Alone): such is the Straight Path. And indeed, he (Satan) did lead
astray a great multitude of you. Did you not, then, understand? This is
Hell, which you were promised! Burn therein, this Day, for that you
used to disbelieve. This Day, We shall seal up their mouths, and their
hands will speak to Us, and their legs will bear witness to what they used
to earn.” [XXXVI; 59-65]

What is the use of the entire present world if Allah is displeased with you?!
What is the use of owning the whole world but losing Allah’s Good
Pleasure?! Even if the largest companies in the world were yours, even if the
five continents - with all of the factories and companies in them - were
yours, this would be nothing if Allah, The All-Great, were displeased with
you! These words are very accurate: If you are a true believer, it suffices you
that the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, is pleased with you even if you were an
ordinary person of the common. In other words, if you know Allah, All
Mighty, if He is pleased with you, and if you are great in His Sight, this is
the best thing that you can ever achieve in the life of this present world. That
is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), once welcomed warmly an ordinary
man, who came to him, saying, “Welcome to the man whom Gabriel has
told me is coming!” “Who? Me?” The man asked in great amazement.
Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said, “Yes, my brother! (You are)
unimportant in this present world but very important in the Upper
World!”

You might be a simple ordinary person in this present world; but if you
know Allah and stick to His Divine Religion, you are certainly great to Him.
That is why a knowledgeable religious scholar says, “By Allah! If kings
knew the (Bliss) in which we are, they would fight us for it!” By Allah!
The scholar’s words are true! If kings knew the Bliss and Greatness that
Allah, All Mighty, bestows on His righteous slaves, they would fight them
for it!

Irreligious people are heedless of Allah’s Divine Commands, so they are

insignificant to Him. They are made to live a trivial life that always ends in
misery and wretchedness. But believers have a very distinguished status
with Allah.

In fact, my first and foremost purpose of this lecture is to help my dear

readers know the All-Great Allah in order to obey Him and, hence, attain His
Divine Love and Favor.

To wrap up, I would like to report what the venerable Companion and
Caliph, Omar Bin Al-Khattab, said to the Prophet’s uncle, Sa’d, may Allah
be pleased with them both: “O Sa’d! You should never be deceived by
your being the Prophet’s uncle, as all human beings are equal in the
sight of Allah: They have no kinship with Him except their obedience to
Him.” This means that your obedience to Allah is what counts, simply
because it determines your status with Him. And as a true believer, you
should know that Allah is All-Great; and therefore, you should be proud of
Allah and put all your trust in Him. You should also know for sure that He
will favor you with a very special kind of treatment, as He, Glory to Him,
says, “Or do those who earn evil deeds think that We shall hold them
equal with those who believe and do righteous good deeds, in their
present life and after their death? Worst indeed is the judgment that
they make.” [XLV; 21]

* * *

(The Innovator)

I n this lecture, we will be explaining the thirty-first of Allah’s Beautiful

Names, “Al-Badee’” (The Innovator), which is mentioned in Allah’s
Book, the Holy Quran, in this Verse: “(Allah is) The Innovator of the
heavens and the earth. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it:
‘Be!’ and it is.” [II; 117] In other words, it is Allah, All Mighty, Who
innovated the heavens and the earth, i.e. He made them according to no
former example and without getting help or information from anyone. As for
man, he, willy-nilly, makes things according to former examples, i.e.
whenever he desires to make anything; he imitates or follows former
examples. A submarine, for example, is a mere unsuccessful imitation of a
fish, just as an airplane is an unsuccessful copy of a bird.

In this context, I have recently read a book about birds. In the introduction to
the book, the writer says that the best airplane a man has ever made is by no
means comparable to a bird. Not only that, but also all man-made things are
mere imitations or copies of things existing in the universe, which is nothing
but one of the countless creatures of Allah, All Mighty. It is only Allah, All
Mighty, Alone, Who created the whole universe according to no former
example. Who said that the Earth should be round? Who said that the earth
should go round itself and round the Sun? Who created light? Who made the
Sun a source of light and warmth? Who gave water its properties? Who gave
the air its properties? Who gave each and every element its properties? If all
solids melted at the same temperature, and if all substances had the same
properties, the whole universe would be a gigantic mass of gas, liquid or
solid. In the whole universe, with all its stars, planets, galaxies, and other
heavenly objects, with their movements and distances among them: the
entire universe with all the things therein and the earth with all things
thereon; no two leaves are like each other. This means that Allah, All Mighty
is All-Embracing and All-Sufficient for His creatures’ needs, and His
Creativity is Infinite. Also, no human being can imagine or draw a leaf that
does not exist in the world, simply because there are innumerable kinds,
forms, shapes and colors of leaves of trees. That is why one of the
knowledgeable religious scholars, said, “If two leaves were similar to each
other, Allah’s Creativity would not be Infinite.”

Another example of Allah’s Infinite creativity is the amazing multitude of

people’s human faces. In the whole world, and among the 6,000,000,000
human beings, are there two human faces 100% alike? That is impossible!
Also, it has been recently found out that each human being has a special
smell. This is how police dogs can trace criminals. In other words, no two
human beings have the same smell of body. Each human being has his/her
own smell, voice, iris, fingerprint, blood plasma, and tissue. They have so
far discovered 2.5 billion types of tissues. This means that in the whole
world, only one human being has the same type of tissue as yours; and it
might also be discovered that each human being has his/her own type of
tissue. Medical doctors depend on types of tissues to explain why a certain
body accepts or rejects a kidney transplanted from another person. Are not
human tissues a token of Allah’s Infinite Creativity?!

Allah’s Divine Creativity and Innovation are Infinite, while human creativity
is both limited and imitational. For example, a human artist may draw a
number of different faces, but then the fountain of his creativity dries up.
The same thing applies to car designers, who innovate different types of
designs but in the end their creativity ends up. But Allah’s Divine Creativity
and Innovation are Infinite and endless, for He, All Mighty, is Infinite and
All Wise. In the past, people thought that only fingerprints distinguished one
human being from another, but now they have found lots of things that
distinguish people from one another. This shows clearly that Allah, All
Mighty, is “Badee’” (the Innovator) of the heavens and the earth.

Another very important thing is that there are amazingly great numbers and
kinds of fishes. The most recent calculations show that there are one million
kinds of fishes of different shapes and forms: fishes that are round like balls,
fishes in the shape of a sword, transparent fishes, Phosphorus fishes, fishes
with fringes, fishes with legs, fishes in the form of vases, fishes that defend
themselves by sending off ink-like substance in order to hide from enemies,
fishes that fight back their enemies by giving them electric shocks, large
whales, tiny gold fishes, …etc. In fact, the world of fishes is amazingly vast.
Also, the world of birds, with their innumerable different kinds, shapes, and
forms. The same thing goes for colors, roses, flowers, and bulbs. Some
people say that there are three thousand kinds of wheat; and in the district of
Damascus, there are three hundred kinds of grapes. There are also thousands
and thousands of different kinds of trees and plants. This is but a
manifestation of Allah’s Divine Name “Al-Badee’” (the Innovator).

Once, I visited the museum of insects in Cairo, a large building full of

samples of innumerable kinds of insects, none of which is like another:
amazingly and incredibly great varieties of species. This is but a
manifestation of Allah’s Words, “Innovator of the heavens and the earth”.

Leaves of trees, kinds of trees, kinds of timbers, kinds of plants, kinds of

perfumes and odors, kinds of fishes, kinds of birds, kinds of fruits, crystals
of snow and ice, none of which is like another. Is not this marvelous creation
the Work of Allah, All Mighty, The Innovator of the heavens and the earth?

In fact, one of the meanings of the Arabic word “Badee’” is “Unique”, which
means that nothing is like Allah, All Mighty. It also means that Allah, All
Mighty, is the One Who created and innovated the whole universe with no
former example and with no helper or teacher. Allah is also Unique in His
Divine Attributes and Acts. In other words, Allah, All Mighty, is Unique in
His Creativity, in His own Divine Self, and in His Divine Acts.

Linguistically speaking, the word “Badee’” is derived from the verb

“Abda’a” (to innovate), i.e. “to do or create something unprecedented”. In
religion the word “Bid’ah” (innovation or heresy) is called as such because it
refers to something innovated and introduced into religion. Religiously
speaking, there are two kinds of innovations: good and acceptable
innovations, and evil and censured ones. If someone invents or innovates
something for the benefit of religion and devotional observances, like, for
example, introducing air-conditioning into mosques, providing good modern
services and utilities to worshippers, or solving some social problems, this is
fairly good and acceptable, provided that such facilities or services do not
clash with basics of Islamic religion. Such are laudable acceptable
innovations. But evil censured innovations are those that clash with the
basics of Islamic Religion, such as making lawful the things that Islam
considers as unlawful. In other words, religiously speaking, innovations are
of three kinds: good, evil, and use-specific. Which innovations are good,
which are evil, and which are use-specific? A newly invented apparatus,
such as a radio or TV set is a use-specific innovation, depending on how you
use it. If you use a TV to display good useful things, for example, it is
considered as good and acceptable; but if you use it to display indecent or
immoral films, it is considered as evil and, hence, unacceptable. If you use a
camera for taking pictures of the beautiful landscape or for the purpose of
scientific research, it is considered as good and acceptable. But if you use it
for taking pictures of indecent or immoral things, it is considered as evil and
censured. All kinds of similar innovations are use-specific, i.e. they are
considered as acceptable or unacceptable according to the way they are used.

There are also a fourth kind of innovations, namely neutral innovations. If

you invent a new kind of food, for example, if you add certain spices to
food, or if you make a new unprecedented dish, this is neither lawful nor
unlawful, it is simply permissible, i.e. a neutral innovation. Forbidden and
unlawful innovations are those that clash with the basics of Islamic religion.
For example, it is a forbidden and unlawful innovation in modern weddings
that the groom should sit beside his bride, surrounded with lots of indecently
dressed women, simply because this clashes with Islamic principles that
have to do with lowering of gaze at indecent or unlawful things. But good
modern innovations, such as providing mosques with air-conditioners or
central heating systems, …etc, are both good and acceptable, simply because
they do not clash with basics of Islam.

However, innovation in the sense of introducing new heretical ideas or

principles to the religion of Islam is definitely forbidden and unlawful. This
is because in His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, Allah, All Mighty, says,
“This day, I perfected your religion for you, completed My Favor upon
you, and chose for you Islam as your religion. But as for him who is
forced by severe hunger, with no inclination to sin, then surely, Allah is
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” [V; 3]

The above Quranic Verse shows clearly that Islamic religion is complete and
perfect and needs no additions, omissions or amendments, whether from the
viewpoint of quantity or quality. In other words, the number of issues
tackled by Islamic religion is complete, and, therefore, it accepts no new
issue; and also, the way Islamic religion tackled issues is perfect and needs
no change or amendment whatsoever. Once again: “This day, I perfected
your religion for you, completed My Favor upon you, and chose for you
Islam as your religion. Bu as for him who is forced by severe hunger,
with no inclination to sin, then surely, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most
Merciful.”

Therefore, it is definitely forbidden and unlawful to innovate anything in

religion: whether in theology, worships, transactions, or manners. To this
effect, Jabir Bin Abdillah narrated that Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), used to
say in his sermons, after having extolled Praises and Glories of Allah as
dully as befits His Divine Honor: “He whom Allah guides: none can lead
astray; but he whom Allah leads astray: none can ever guide. Verily, the
most truthful Word is Allah’s Book, and the best Guidance is that of
Muhammad. And the worst of all (religious) issues are innovated heretic
ones therein. Every innovated issue (in religion) is a heresy; every
heresy is a deviation; and every deviation is in the Fire.” Then, he
(PBUH) would say, “I have been sent with the Hour like these (joining his
forefinger and middle finger together). Whenever he (PBUH) mentioned the
Hour, his cheeks would blush and his voice would grow louder in anger, as
if he were an army herald giving warnings of the near advent of enemies.
Then, he (PBUH) would say, “He who leaves behind (upon death) wealth,
it is for his family; but he who leaves behind debts or lost (orphans),
they are for me (I take care of them). And I am more entitled to them.”
[Narrated by At-Tirmithi and Ahmad]

Yes, indeed! Every innovated issue in religion is a heresy; every heresy is a

deviation; and every deviation will be in Hell-Fire on the Day of Judgment.
Here we have a very important issue, namely that religions can be forged,
and so can principles, and doctrines. But what guarantees a religion that is
communicated just as it was first revealed by the Lord, Allah, All Mighty?
The answer is: Three things: First, nothing should be added to it; second,
nothing should be omitted from it; and third, it should not be interpreted in a
way different from its original meanings in which it was first revealed. In
other words, if we omit evil interpretations, if we omit innovations and
heresies, and if we omit all additions and omissions, we guarantee that
religion continues to remain just as it was first revealed.

As you know, dear readers, man’s share of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Ar-
Rahman, Ar-Raheem” (the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful) is to be
merciful. Therefore, when we invite someone to be forbearing, merciful,
just, and knowledgeable, ..etc, we actually invite him/her to adopt Allah’s
Attributes. But with respect to this Divine Name, “Al-Badee’” (The
Innovator), we should invite man to be exactly the opposite, i.e. not to
innovate anything in religion, worship, behavior, or call for Allah. This is
because whenever someone innovates something new in religion, it would
be at the expense of the basic principles of religion, which are both perfect
and complete, and it would be at the expense of Prophetic Sunna and
Tradition, which are also perfect and complete. In other words, a true
believer is confined by Prophetic Sunna and is not attracted by “Al-Bid’ah”
(innovation in religion or heresy). That is why religious scholars define “Al-
Bid’ah” (innovation in religion or heresy) as: “Anything that is not
originally found in Allah’s Book (the Holy Quran), Prophetic Sunna and
Tradition, or consensus of the whole Muslim nation.” For example,
insertion of a metal prong or bolt across your body does not belong to the
religion of Islam or the call for it. Before you try to call people to Islam by
doing such a thing, or anything else, you should ask, “Did Allah’s
Messenger ever do that? Is that mentioned in Allah’s Book, the Holy
Quran? Is that mentioned in Prophetic Sunna and Tradition? Did the
Prophet’s venerable Companions do that? Is that unanimously agreed
upon by the whole Muslim nation?” If the answer is, “No”, this means that
such a thing is a mere innovation and heresy. Such way of calling people to
Islam must be avoided! Once again: an innovation or heresy is: “Anything
that is not originally found in Allah’s Book (the Holy Quran), Prophetic
Sunna and Tradition, or consensus of the whole Muslim nation.” In this
context, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And let those who oppose the
Messenger’s commandment beware, lest some trial should befall them
or a painful torment be inflicted on them.” [XXIV; 63]

“And let those who oppose the Messenger’s commandment beware, lest
some trial should befall them or a painful torment be inflicted on them.” In
other words, if you deviate from, or disobey, the Messenger’s
commandments, you fall in innovation or heresy. That is why the
venerable Companion and Caliph, Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq, may Allah be
pleased with him, used to say, “I am a follower; I am not an innovator.”
Knowledgeable religious scholars also say, “Follow and do not innovate;
be humble and not arrogant; a pious person is never haughty.”
Extravagance, wastefulness, and spendthrift are qualities of
disbelievers; but true believers are always moderate in earning and
spending their money: “And let those who oppose the Messenger’s
commandment beware, lest some trial should befall them or a painful
torment be inflicted on them.”

Allah, All Mighty, says, “If you obey him (Allah’s Messenger), you are
rightly guided.” [XXIV; 54]
“Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example (to
follow).” [XXXIII; 21]

The words “good example” in the foregoing Verses mean “following the
holy Prophet’s Sunna and Tradition”. We should follow the Prophet’s model
in each and every thing, and in each and every issue, of our life, in all places
and times. This is because those who follow Prophetic Sunna and Tradition
in word and deed, those who speak of wisdom, and those who adopt the
Prophet’s good example are the Prophet’s real followers. But those who
follow their own desires and caprices are mere innovators and heretics. That
is why heretics are called “people of desires and caprices”. In other words, in
your life, you follow either the Prophet’s Sunna and Tradition or your own
desires and whims. If you follow your own desires and whims, this means
that you are a mere heretic and deviant from the Prophet’s Right Path. But if
you follow the Holy Prophet’s Sunna and Tradition in your actions, words,
and lifestyle, this means that you are a real follower of Allah’s Messenger,
Muhammad, (PBUH). Do not forget that Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH),
advised the venerable Companion, Anas Bin Malik, may Allah be pleased
with him, “O son! If you can get up in the morning and go to bed in the
evening with no fraud in your heart for anyone, do! This is my Sunna;
and whosoever revives my Sunna loves me, and whosoever loves me will
be with me in the Garden of Paradise.” [Narrated by At-Tirmithi]

Remember the Holy Prophet’s words: “Whosoever revives my Sunna loves

me, and whosoever loves me will be with me in the Garden of Paradise.”
Some knowledgeable religious scholars say, “Our religion (of Islam) is
based on three fundamental things: following the Holy Prophet,
Muhammad, (PBUH), in word and deed, earning lawful living, and
sincerity of intentions in all works.” And in Allah’s Divine Words, “And
He (Allah) teaches him the Book and wisdom, and the Torah and the
Gospel.” [III; 48], the Word “Wisdom” means “Prophetic Sunna”. In
other words, “The Book” is Allah’s Divine Revelation, and “Wisdom” is
Prophetic Sunna, i.e. the way the Holy Prophet applied Divine Revelation.
With respect to Allah’s Words, “To Him ascends the goodly speech, and
the righteous work does exalt him (it).” [XXXV; 10] In interpretation of
this Quranic Verse, some religious scholars hold that “righteous work”
means “adoption of Allah’s Messenger’s good example”. In the same
context, some religious scholars say, “A little work in Prophetic Sunna is
better than lots of work in heresy.”

Allah, All Mighty, is the Innovator of the heavens and the earth and the One
Who created the heavens and the earth according to no former example and
with no helper or teacher. It is He, Glory to Him, Who innovated the
essences, properties, qualities, sizes, shapes, forms, colors, movements, …
etc, of all things, including mankind, animals and plants. In other words,
everything in the entire universe shows clearly that Allah, All Mighty, is the
“Badee’” (Innovator) of the heavens and the earth, that He, Glory to Him, is
“Badee’” (Unique) in Himself, i.e. nothing is the like of Him, whether in His
Divine Self, Attributes, Acts, or Creativity.

Once again, I would like to reiterate that man’s share of this Divine Name
“Al-Badee’” (The Innovator) is not to be a heretic or an innovator as
regards religious issues. But here is a very delicate point that I would like
to make clear: in the sight of Allah, man is an honored creature in the
sense that Allah, Glory to Him, has made man a unique creature and
allowed him to legislate and make laws. This is made clear by the Quranic
Verses that do not have a certain definitive meaning but rather a number
of possible meanings. In this way, religious scholars have the chance to
understand and interpret such Verses, which bear several meanings. It
seems that Allah, All Mighty, has honored human beings by allowing them
to use their minds and to legislate. He also honored them by giving them a
free will, whereby they make their own choices, for which they are held
responsible in front of Allah. Of Allah’s honor to mankind is that He, All
Mighty, gave them the ability to create and innovate new things. Take, for
example, hybrid or mongrel plants. There are certain labs in which
biologists can produce new hybrid plants that are far better than the
original ones. This is a kind of human innovation. I have heard of
mongrel cows, hybridized from Syrian and Dutch ones, the one of which
can produce more than sixty kilos of milk a day! Is not this a kind of
innovation and creativity? As regards certain things, like animals, trees
and plants, Allah, All Mighty, has allowed man to create and innovate new
kinds. This is all due to Allah’s Divine Honor to mankind. In all fields of
life, it is permissible for man to create, innovate and even develop new
things, except for Allah’s Divine Revealed Religion. In other words, it is by
no means permissible for man to add, omit, or alter one single
fundamental rule or principle of Allah’s Divine Revealed Religion, simply
because it is not only Revelation-specific but also perfect and complete.
That is why Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “Every innovated issue (in
religion) is a heresy; every heresy is a deviation; and every deviation is in
the Fire.” He (PBUH) also says, “He who deviates one inch from the
(Muslim) group takes the noose of Islam off his neck (i.e. is no longer a
Muslim).” [Narrated by Ahmad]

As regards Allah’s Divine Revealed Religion, no innovation is considered

as permissible or lawful. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And
whoever contradicts (and opposes) the Messenger after the Right Path has
been shown clearly to him, and follows other than the way of believers, We
shall keep him in the path that he has chosen, and burn him in Hell – what
an evil end.” [IV; 115]

Therefore, whosoever deviates even one single inch from the Muslim
group is no longer a Muslim. In this context, the venerable Companion,
Ibn ‘Abbas, said: “Every year, people introduce a new innovation or heresy
into it (Islam) and abrogate a Prophetic Sunna of it (Islam).” This simply
means that there may come a time when Allah’s Religion becomes mere
innovations and heresies, while its reality may be known only to a few! We
take refuge with Allah from that! Nowadays, you sometimes meet people
who dance in long flowing costumes with special tarbooshes (kinds of
hats); is this of Allah’s Revealed Religion?! Whenever a person passes
away, they bring a Mawlawiayh group in order to dance for him/her.
Meetings of Thikr (special meetings where Muslims sit together
remembering Allah) now abound in innovations and heresies that
displease Allah, All Mighty. Did Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH) do anything
like that?! Sometimes, religion is turned into mere songs, dances, odd
movements and actions, meaningless murmurs, and idle talks; is this
Islamic religion?!
Wisdom necessitates that we should seek religion from its original
fountains and sources, namely Allah’s Book, i.e. the Holy Quran, and
Prophetic Sunna and Tradition. Anything that comes from outside these
two sources is a mere innovation and heresy. Therefore, we should be very
careful where to get our religion, and we should always remember that
our final Return is to Allah, Who will requite us for our choices and
deeds. So, we should be very careful!

In his Divine Book, the Holy Quran, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And stop
them! Verily, they shall be questioned!” [XXXVII; 24] The questioning in
front of Allah, All Mighty, on the Day of Judgment, is by no means easy;
and the standing in front of Allah, All Mighty, on the Day of Recompense, is
also by no means easy. Moreover, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “He
who goes to a heretic in order to dignify him helps to destroy Islam.”
Ayyoub quoted Abu Qilabah as saying: “Do not sit with people of caprices,
and do not argue with them, lest they should get you involved in their
deviations and deform your knowledge.”

Yes, indeed! You should never sit with capricious heretics, who introduce
into Allah’s Religion innovations that do not belong to it. In this context,
Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), described the venerable Companion and
Caliph, Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq, may Allah be pleased with him, saying, “If
Abu Bakr’s Faith were compared to the Faith of all mankind, it (Abu
Bakr’s Faith) would overweighs.” [Narrated by Al-Bayhaqi in his book
Ash-Shou’ab] Also, Jabir Bin Abdillah quoted Omar Bin Al-Khattab as
addressing Abu Bakr: “You are the second best one of all mankind after
Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH).” Abu Bakr replied, “Since you have said
that, (I would like to tell you that) I have heard Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), say: ‘The Sun has never risen over a man better than Omar.’”
[Narrated by At-Tirmithi]

Yes indeed: “The Sun has never risen over a man, except for a holy
Prophet, better than Abu Bakr”. Nevertheless, that venerable Companion
and Caliph, Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, says, “I am but a
follower; I am not an innovator. I have been given authority over you
although I am not the best one of you. Therefore, if I do well, help me;
but if do evil, correct me. Verily, I am but a follower; I am not an
innovator.”
Therefore, we should always follow the perfect model of Allah’s Messenger,
Muhammad, (PBUH), and we should watch our behavior. We should by no
means accept any new innovation or heresy that ignorant or malicious
people try to introduce into our Islamic Religion. In this context, religious
scholars say, “Allah, All Mighty, deprives those who compromise heretics
of the pleasure of following Prophetic Sunna (i.e. true Faith).” Yes,
indeed, Allah will withhold His Divine Light from those who sit with,
befriend, compromise, give ear to, or even smile in the face of, a heretic that
introduces new innovations into the religion of Islam by adding, omitting,
concealing, overestimating, underestimating, or altering anything of it.

Once again, I reiterate: We should strive to adopt all of Allah’s Beautiful

Divine Names and Attributes, except for this one, “Al-Badee’” (The
Innovator), i.e. we should by no means try to introduce into Allah’s
Revealed Religion of Islam any innovation or heresy, simply because Allah’s
Religion is perfect and complete. All we have to do is follow strictly its laws
and principles, which are all revelation-specific. It is permissible to innovate
in all aspects of human life and science, such as agriculture, botany, physics,
biology, zoology, industry, …etc, but it is not permissible at all to innovate
or introduce new heresies into Allah’s Divine Revealed Religion. In this
context, religious scholars say, “If someone neglects his religious
obligations, Allah sends to him a heretic that tells him false things that
cast suspicion into his heart.”

In the end: “Say: ‘If you (really) love Allah, then follow me, Allah will
love you and forgive your sins for you. And Allah is All-Forgiving, Most
Merciful.” [III; 31]
When dealing with other fellow humans, it is permissible to be suspicious or
unconfident of their intentions, words or sayings, but with Allah’s Divine
Revelation, i.e. the Holy Quran, and authentic true Prophetic Sunna, there is
no falsehood or suspicion whatsoever: These two sources are perfect and
complete, and, therefore, they should be taken as they are with no addition,
omission or alteration.

Once again: In your human life, you have three kinds of texts: Allah’s
Divine Revealed Book (the Holy Quran), Prophetic Sunna and Tradition,
and words and sayings of other fellow humans (common people, scholars,
scientists, Sheikh, cleric, reformer, …etc.). With respect to Allah’s Divine
Revealed Book, the Holy Quran, all you have to do is understand and apply
its commandments, simply because it is definitive and undisputable, i.e. true
and authentic. As regards Prophetic Sunna and Tradition, first of all, you
have to make sure whether the Prophetic Hadith or Tradition is true and
authentic, and then you have to understand and apply it. Concerning the
third source of texts, i.e. words and sayings of other fellow human beings,
whoever and whatever the person might be, you have, first of all, to check
whether the text is true and authentic; then, you have to try to understand the
text producer’s intentions and meanings; and, after that, you have to judge
validity and correctness of the text by comparing and contrasting it to
Allah’s Book (the Holy Quran) and Prophetic Sunna and Tradition. I hope I
have made things clear enough.

To wrap up, in the foregoing pages I have tried to explain Allah’s Beautiful
Divine Name “Al-Badee’” (The Innovator): Allah, All Mighty, is “Al-
Badee’” in the sense that He, Glory to Him, is the Only One Who innovated,
i.e. created, the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them,
according to no former example and with no helper or teacher. Allah, All
Mighty, is also “Al-Badee’” in the sense that He, Praise to Him, is Unique in
His Divine Self, His Divine Attributes, His Divine Acts, and His Divine
Legislation. It is permissible for man to innovate and invent new things with
respect to all aspects of human life and technology: industry, agriculture,
economy, science, …etc; but it is by no means permissible or acceptable to
introduce into Allah’s Revealed Religion any innovations or heresies, simply
because it is perfect and complete, and because every innovation that is
introduced into Allah’s Religion is a heresy, every heresy is a deviation, and
every deviation will be in Hell-Fire on the Day of Judgment. I have also
tried to differentiate between the linguistic and religious meanings of “Al-
Bid’ah” (innovation). In this context, I would like to put forward this
Prophetic Hadith: Narrated Al-Munthir Bin Jareer on authority of his father
that Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH) said, “He who innovates a good
innovation that people adopt will be well rewarded for it and for those
who adopt it, with no diminution of their good reward. And he who
innovates an evil innovation that people adopt will be badly rewarded
for it and for those who adopt it after him, with no diminution of their
evil reward.” [Narrated by Muslim]

As for innovations or heresies in Allah’s Religion, whether in theology,

worships, transactions, or Prophetic Sunna and Tradition, they are absolutely
and completely forbidden.
 * * *

(The Most Patient)

I n this lecture, we will be explaining the thirty-first of Allah’s Beautiful

Divine Names, namely “As-Sabour (The Most Patient).

First of all, I would like to make clear that this Divine Name is not
mentioned in Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran. It was actually mentioned in
Prophetic Hadith in which Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), speaks about Allah’s
Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes. However, there are a lot of
references to this Name in the Holy Quran.

Allah, All Mighty, is “As-Sabour” (The Most Patient) in the sense that He
does not hasten His Punishment to those who disobey Him. In other words,
Allah, All Mighty, always gives respite, but He never neglects. There are a
lot of Quranic Verses that go to this effect. For example, Allah, All Mighty,
says:
“And if Allah were to punish men for that which they earned, He would
not leave a moving living creature on the surface of it (the earth); but
He gives them respite to an appointed term; and when their term comes,
then verily, Allah is Ever All-Seer of His slaves.” [XXXV; 45]

When he has power over other fellow humans, man is usually inclined to
punish severely those who arouse his anger. But Allah, All Mighty, is Ever
Most Patient: “And if Allah were to punish men for that which they
earned, He would not leave a moving living creature on the surface of it
(the earth); but He gives them respite to an appointed term.” Delay of
punishment, as in this Verse, means that Allah, All Mighty, is Most Patient.
Also, another Quranic Verse, which we have mentioned before, goes, “And
had it not been for a Word that went forth before, from your Lord, and
a term determined, (their punishment) must necessarily have come (in
this present world).” [XX; 129]

The foregoing Verse shows clearly that severe punishment and complete
destruction for the disobedient and deviant must have come in this present
world unless a Word had gone before from the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, to
delay punishment. But what was that Word? It is: “My Mercy overrides My
Anger”. This is because Allah, Most Gracious, has created mankind in order
to mercy them. Therefore, due to His Infinite Divine Mercy, He delays
punishment for them and gives respite so that they may repent and reform.
That is why Allah, All Mighty, says:
“And Allah would not punish them while you (O Muhammad) are
amongst them, nor will He punish them while they seek (Allah’s)
Forgiveness.” [VIII; 33]

So long as man seeks forgiveness from His Lord, the Lord’s Mercy is near to
him; and the Lord’s Divine Mercy is Infinite. This respite is meant to give
man a chance so that he may repent and reform, and consequently achieve
happiness. It is meant to mercy him. In other words, if Allah were to punish
people for their sins and misdeeds, if He, All Mighty, were to inflict a sever
or destructive punishment on man as soon as he commits a sinful deed, He
would not leave any human being on the surface of the earth alive. Once
again, delay of Allah’s Divine Punishment shows clearly that Allah, All
Mighty, is Ever Most Patient; and once again: “And if Allah were to punish
men for that which they earned, He would not leave a moving living
creature on the surface of it (the earth); but He gives them respite to an
appointed term; and when their term comes, then verily, Allah is Ever
All-Seer of His slaves.” [XXXV; 45]

Here is another Quranic Verse that shows clearly that Allah, All Mighty, is
Ever Most Patient: “And indeed (Many) Messengers before you were
mocked at, but I granted respite to those who disbelieved, and finally I
punished them. Then, how (terrible) was My Punishment!” [XIII; 32]
However, a serious question arises in this context: Does this Divine Name
meet with (i.e. have a similar connotation) as, another Divine Name of
Allah’s? The answer is: Yes, it does, it meets with Allah’s Divine Name “Al-
Haleem” (the Most Forbearing). But how do other names differ from one
another? Are other Names congruent? The answer is: Of course, not. But
how do they differ? Consider this Quranic Verse: “And indeed (Many)
Messengers before you were mocked at, but I granted respite to those
who disbelieved” Allah, All Mighty is Ever Most Patient, “and finally I
punished them. Then, how (terrible) was My punishment!”

Some religious scholars say: Someone who commits a mistake is more

secure with a forbearing master than with a master who is patient. This is
because a master who is patient only delays punishment, but a forbearing
one pardons and forgives. From this point of view, Allah’s Divine Name
“As-Sabour” (The Most Patient) meets with His Divine Name “Al-‘Afou”
(the All-Pardoning). But putting punishment into effect may necessitate
delay and giving respite. Aren’t there certain medical cases in which we
must amputate an infected part or organ of the body? Even if the doctor were
the father himself, he would not hesitate for one single moment to amputate
such seriously damaged part or organ of his son’s body. You should also
know that whatever happens must necessarily happen, because if it did not
happen, it would be lack of wisdom on Allah’s Part. Whatever happens must
necessarily happen, and its occurrence reflects Allah’s Infinite Divine Mercy,
Grace, Justice, Kindness, Pardon and Patience. That is why when Allah, All
Mighty, speaks about His Divine Self, He sometimes uses the plural pronoun
“We” instead of the singular “I”:
“Verily, it is We Who have sent down the Reminder (the Quran), and
surely, We shall guard it (from corruption).” [XV; 9]
“Verily, it is We Who give life to the dead, and record that which they do
and their traces; and all things We have recorded with numbers (as a
record) in a Clear Book.” [XXXVI; 12]
“Verily, We created all things with Decree.” [LIV; 49]

When Allah, All Mighty, speaks about His Divine Self, He uses the singular
pronoun “I” and not the plural pronoun “We”: “Verily! I am Allah. There is
no god but Me. So worship Me and perform prayer for Remembering
Me.” [XX; 14]

Allah, All Mighty, has a Divine Self and Divine Names. When He uses the
singular pronoun “I”, this means that He intends to speak about His Own
Divine Self; but when He uses the plural pronoun “We”, this means that He
intends to speak about Divine Names. By the way, you must be 100% sure
that all of Allah’s Divine Names are Most Beautiful, and that they are all
associated with His Divine Acts, which contain His Divine Mercy, Justice,
Might, Power, Majesty, Glory, among the other Beautiful Divine Names and
Attribute of Allah.

A third Quranic Verse that confirms Allah’s Being the Most Patient goes,
“And many a township did I give respite while it was tyrannical. Then,
(in the end) I seized it (with punishment). And to Me is the Final
Return.” [XXII; 48]

Someone may sometimes lose his balance when he sees that a strong
powerful affluent wealthy disbeliever is being made even stronger, more
powerful, more affluent, and wealthier. He wonders, “What’s this? How
does Allah, All Mighty, make this person as such?” But how does Allah, All
Mighty, answer such questions? The answer is very simple. If you see a
disbeliever whom Allah increases in power, authority, wealth, strength,
affluence, insolence, arrogance, tyranny, and pride, just remember Pharaoh.
Did not Pharaoh say to his people, “I am your Lord, the All-High!” Where
was Allah? How did Allah address such issue? The answer is to be found in
Allah’s Words: “Let not the free disposal (and affluence) of disbelievers
throughout the land deceive you. (It is but) a brief enjoyment, but then
their ultimate abode is Hell: and worst indeed is that place for rest.” [III;
196, 197] Allah, Glory to Him, says, “So, when they forgot that (warning)
with which they had been reminded, We opened for them the gates of all
(pleasant) things, until, while they were enjoying that which they had
been given, We took them (in punishment) all of a sudden, and lo! They
were plunged into destruction with deep regrets and sorrows.” [VI; 44]
He, Praise to Him, also says, “Consider not that Allah is unaware of that
which the wrong-doers do, but He gives them respite up to a Day when
the eyes will stare in horror.” [XIV; 42]

Allah, All Mighty, is by no means unaware. Nay! He is fully Aware of all

things; but He pretends to be unaware. In other words, in order to unveil
man’s reality, He gives him respite and provides him with power, affluence,
strength, authority, might, high social rank, prestige, …etc. But does a true
believer rely on his power? Is a true believer deceived by his wealth? Is he
deceived by his high social rank or prestige? No! Never! A wise believer
always relies on his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, puts all his trust in Him, and
depends on his sincere devotion and obedience to Him. In other words, you
should feel safe and secure only when you obey Allah, All Mighty, and be
dutiful to Him. This is because your ostensible human power, might, wealth,
prestige, could be taken away from you in one single moment. Allah’s
Donation is Marvelous, and so is His Taking away!

A doctor once told me a story of a mentally retarded female child who

remained unable to speak for two years. It was clear that something was
wrong with her brain, as was clearly seen in her unbalanced walk. In fact,
the girl suffered from weakness in her motor nerves; and recovery seemed to
be impossible. One day, she fell down and broke her leg, and was, therefore,
taken to hospital, where she was given an anesthetic to relieve her from the
unbearable pain that she had while they were setting her broken bone.
Suddenly, after the operation was over, she came round all right and began
to speak and walk in a good balanced normal way. The girl’s father was
greatly amazed, and wondered, “What happened? What relationship is there
between the surgical operation and the girl’s sudden and amazing recovery?”
The answer is: Allah’s Divine Power is Infinite. Fracture of the girl’s leg was
only a cause; and the anesthetic may have stirred or revived a certain part of
her brain that was not functioning. Yes, indeed! Our Lord, Allah, All Mighty,
is Amazing when He gives, and He is as Amazing when He takes away!

Here is another Quranic Verse that shows clearly that Allah, All Mighty, is
Ever Most Patient: “And those who reject Our Signs, We shall gradually
seize them with punishment in ways they perceive not. And I respite
them; certainly My Plan is Mateen (Strong).” [VII; 182,183]

Scientifically speaking, the Arabic word “Mateen” has to do with resistance

against forces of pull. Religiously speaking, when Allah, All Mighty, says,
“And I respite them; certainly My Plan is Mateen (Strong),” [VII; 183]
He means that no human being could ever escape from His Divine Power
and Control. It is as if Allah’s Plan were an infinitely strong rope that could
embrace all things and could never be broken.

Here is a fifth Quranic Verse that shows clearly that Allah, All Mighty, is
Ever Most Patient: “And your Lord is All-Forgiving, Owner of Mercy.
Were He to call them to account or what they have earned, then surely,
He would hasten their punishment. But they have their appointed time,
from which they shall find no escape.” [XVIII; 58]
Now, in the Holy Prophet’s biography, is there an incident that provides
clear evidence of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “As-Sabour” (The Most
Patient)? The answer is: Yes, it could be in the peace-treaty of Al-Hudaibiah,
between Muslims and the disbelievers of Quraish. Allah, All Mighty, knew
that among the disbelievers of Quraish, there were some believers who had
secretly converted to Islam, and who were, therefore, known neither to
Muslims nor to disbelievers of Quraish. Due to Allah’s Mercy upon those
unknown Muslims, who secretly converted to Islam, and also upon
disbelievers themselves, He caused delay of the conquest of Mecca by
Muslims. This event manifests clearly Allah’s Beautiful Divine Name “As-
Sabour” (The Most Patient). Yes, indeed! Allah, All Mighty, is Most Patient;
and He, Glory to Him, bids us to be patient. To this effect, Allah, the Most
Patient, says, “Therefore, be patient (O Muhammad), as did the
Messengers of strong will, and be in no haste about them (disbelievers).
It shall be as if, on the Day they see that they are promised, they had not
tarried but for an hour of a single day. (Such is) a Message to be
delivered! But shall any be destroyed except the people who are
disobedient.” [XLVI; 35] He, Glory to Him, also says, “Verily, (many)
Messengers, before you (O Muhammad), were belied; but with patience
they bore the denial, and they were hurt, until Our Help reached them,
and none can alter the Words (Decisions) of Allah. Surely, there has
reached you the news about the Messengers.” [VI; 34]

Now, what is the meaning of Allah’s Words “And be patient for the sake of
your Lord!” [LXXIV; 7]?

They simply mean that patience can be for the sake of others than Allah. For
example, you might be a weak person persecuted and badly treated by your
enemies, while you are completely helpless and unable to do anything. You
might show patience not because you are really patient but only because you
are helpless and powerless. This is not the kind of patience that Allah, All
Mighty, desires us to have. He desires us to be patient when we are fully
powerful and able to do retaliate or punish, but our true Faith in Allah, All
Mighty, Most Patient, prevents us from so doing. This is exactly what
Allah’s Words “And be patient for the sake of your Lord!” mean.

Sometimes, a person fancies that he can be patient, but in certain situations,

he fails to be as such. He imagines that he can be patient, but suddenly he
bursts in anger. How can we solve this problem? Allah’s Words: “And
endure patiently (O Muhammad): your patience is but from Allah; and
grieve not over them and be not distressed because of that which they
plot.” [XVI; 127] mean that you can never be patient unless Allah, All
Mighty, helps you to be so.

Now, is there a Quranic Verse that helps increase patience to the utmost?
Yes, by joining together such great merits as firm belief in Allah and His
Messenger, worship, performance of good righteous work, and mutual
recommendation to the truth and patience. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty,
declares that human beings are great losers “except those who believe, do
righteous good deeds, recommend one another to the truth, and
recommend one another to patience.” [CIII; 3]

Patience is associated with such great things as worship, prosperity, good

reward, and the truth. And perhaps the following Verse will clarify this
point: “O you who believe! Be patient, and vie you in patience; be
steadfast; and fear Allah – haply so you will prosper.” [III; 200] This
Verse shows clearly that we have not only to be patient but also to help one
another to become patient. That is why it is rightly said: Be helpful to your
fellow human against Satan; and do not be helpful to Satan against your
fellow human. In other words, if you help your fellow human, show him the
right way, console him in case of distress, and provide him with financial
assistance, you help him to be patient. In this context, the holy Prophet and
Messenger, Moses, (PBUH), addressed his people, “Seek help from Allah,
and be patient. Verily, the earth belongs to Allah. He gives it as a
heritage to whom He wills of His slaves; and the good end is for the
pious (and dutiful).” [VII; 128]

However, the clearest Quranic Verse as regards patience, and the one that
provides great comfort to the hearts of true believers, is this: “And
certainly, We shall try you with some fear, hunger, and loss of wealth,
lives and fruits. And give glad tidings to the patient, who, when afflicted
with calamity, say: ‘Truly! To Allah we belong, and truly, to Him we
shall return.’ Such are those on whom are the Blessings from their
Lord; and such are those who are the rightly guided ones.” [II; 155-157]

Upon whom are the misfortunes mentioned in the foregoing Quranic Verse
inflicted? The answer is: upon true believers! Yes, indeed! Upon true
believers! It is as though Allah, All Mighty, addresses true believers: O true
believers! I shall try you with some fear, hunger, and loss of wealth; and I
give glad tidings to those who are patient, to those who, when afflicted with
a calamity, say, “Truly! To Allah we do belong, and truly, to Him we shall
return.” In other words, those who are really patient are those who endure
Allah’s tests and trials: because what does “to be patient” mean? It means
that Allah, All Mighty, teaches you and enables you to understand things as
they really are and to endure with patience. A patient person is, as it were,
like someone who is fully grown up and mature, sits on a dentist’s chair and
gives himself up to the dentist, i.e. surrenders himself to him, to do whatever
he finds reasonable and necessary to do, because he is confident of his good
knowledge and great experience, and because he is 100% sure that whatever
the dentist does is certainly for his own benefit, even if he caused him pain
for some time. This is the real meaning of patience: like someone who
surrenders himself to a dentist, understands him very well, and endures with
great patience the pains that he causes him, because he is 100% sure of his
knowledge, truthfulness and great experience.

Actually, as human beings, we are imperfect and, therefore, commit lots of

errors and mistakes. Due to His Infinite Divine Mercy, Allah, Most
Gracious, Most Merciful, undertakes to teach us and bring us up to become
pure and noble. Consider this Divine Hadith, in which Allah, All Mighty,
says: “By My Might and Majesty! I do not seize the soul of My slave,
and I really desire to mercy him, except after I afflict him, for each evil
sin that he has committed, with illness in his body, straitening in his
sustenance, or misfortune in his wealth or children, until I make him as
pure as an atom. If there still remains anything (evil) about him, I make
harder for him agonies of death, until he encounters Me as (pure) as he
was on the day his mother gave birth to him.”

The good happy end is when you get to the Abode of Peace (Paradise)
peacefully and safely. The happy end is when you say most profoundly and
sincerely, “Praise to Allah, Lord of all worlds!”, after you are made to inherit
a Garden of Paradise, the vastness of which is as great as the heavens and
the earth. A patient person is someone who understands his Lord, Allah, All
Mighty, Most Gracious.

Books of the holy Prophet’s biography relate that after the Prophet’s death,
there were some troubles and discords among some Muslims; and there
seemed to be a great apostasy from Islam. Even more, the whole city of
Medina caught up in chaos and was under a great threat. Before his death,
Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), had prepared an army for the conquest of Syria
and made the venerable Companion, Usamah, may Allah be pleased with
him, its leader. Due to the great troubles and discords the city of Medina
was caught up in, some of the venerable Companions suggested strongly that
the Caliph, Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq, may Allah be pleased with him, should
not send the Muslim army to conquer Syria. If fact, Omar Bin Al-Khattab,
may Allah be pleased with him, adopted the same idea and communicated it
to Abu Bakr, who desired to give the Prophet’s Companions a decisive
lesson, so he took Omar’s beard with his hand and shook it violently saying,
“May your mother be bereaved of you, son of Al-Khattab! A giant
before Islam, but a dwarf after Islam?!” When other Companions saw
what Abu Bakr did and said to Omar, they were frightened and regretted
such a bad idea, and they obeyed Abu bakr. But why did Omar show
patience when Abu Bakr held his beard and shook it strongly, and even
reproached him severely? The answer is: simply because he understood Abu
Bakr’s wise and sincere intention.

Ibn ‘Ata’illah As-Sakandari said: “If Allah unveils to you the wisdom
behind deprivation, deprivation turns out to be a real donation.” Allah’s
Deprivation may sometimes turn out to be a real Donation; and Allah’s
Donation may sometimes turn out to be a real deprivation. But when does
man show patience? And who is patient? It is only those who know Allah,
All Mighty, are patient. Those who fail to know Allah never show adequate
patience. They are easily irritated and become furious and aggressive in both
word and behavior. In other words, showing patience towards Allah’s Divine
Decree and Foreordainment is the token of your firm belief in Him.
Remember: each good deed is rewarded ten folds as good, and nothing that
man does is left unheeded. However, the patient are, as Allah, All Mighty,
says, “Say (O Muhammad) to My slaves who believe: ‘be afraid of your
Lord and keep your duty to Him. Good is (the reward) for those who do
good in this present world; and Allah’s earth is spacious! Only those
who are patient shall receive their reward in full, without reckoning.”
[XXXIX; 10] Yes indeed! Those who are patient shall receive their reward in
full without reckoning on the Day of Judgment. They, as it were, address the
Lord, All Mighty, Most Gracious: “O Lord! Treat me the way You like! I
shall endure with patience. You are my Lord! No one has the right to be
worshipped but You! You are my Guardian and Protector in this present
world and the Hereafter! Treat me as You like, for I am Your slave, and I
shall be patient.” Things are bearable in the present world, but disgrace on
the Day of Judgment is really unbearable. In This context, the Holy Prophet,
(PBUH), stood up among his venerable Companions and delivered an
impressive speech, saying, “Verily, Allah has given a slave (of His) the
chance to choose either that He grants him of the enjoyments of this
present world whatever He wills or of that which He has with Him; and
he (the slave) has chosen that which is with Him.” Abu Bakr began to cry,
saying, “We sacrifice our fathers and mothers for you!” [Narrated by Al-
Bukhari and At-Tirmithi] Then, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said, “If there
is someone whose back I have lashed, here is my back: let him avenge
himself on me. And if there is someone whose money I have taken, here
is my money: let him take from it.” Then, a man stood up, saying, “O
Messenger of Allah! I am a hypocrite, so beseech Allah to pardon me.”
Omar Bin Al-Khattab stood up to reproach the man who scandalized
himself, saying, “May your mother be bereaved of you! Why did you
scandalize yourself?!”

What concerns us in this context is what the Prophet, (PBUH), said to Omar:
“O Omar! Leave the man alone! Scandal in this present world is more
bearable than scandal in the Hereafter!” To make this point clear, let us
have the following example: If a young student stole his friend’s pen, and
the friend discovered that, it would be easy for the student to apologize to
his friend. But things would be much harder and more scandalous if the
issue were disclosed before the students of the class or the whole school.

Scandal in this present world, hard and disgraceful as it is, is far easier and
more bearable than that in the Hereafter, where all creatures shall witness
those profligates, polytheists and atheists being disgracefully scandalized.

In this context, Abi Thar narrated: I said: “O Messenger of Allah! Why

don’t you use me (i.e. make me one of your judges, leaders or rulers)?”
Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), tapped his holy hand on my shoulder, saying,
“O Aba Thar! You are weak, and such a thing is a great responsibility,
which will be disgrace and regret on the Day of Resurrection, except
those who shoulder it duly and fulfill all that they have to fulfill.”
[Narrated by Muslim and Ahmad] Yes, indeed! It is a great responsibility.

Once again, a patient person is someone who, as it were, says: “O Lord!

Help me reform and repent before I die! O Lord! Do not make me die until
You have purified me of all of my sins and misdeeds!” It is really wise to
purify ourselves from defects and faults, because Allah, All Mighty,
describes the Day of Judgment: “The Day whereon neither wealth nor
sons shall avail, except him who comes unto Allah with a sound heart
(i.e. a heart that is free from polytheism and hypocrisy).” [XXVI; 88,89]
I would like to reiterate that those who are patient shall receive their reward
without reckoning. Another Quranic Verse that speaks about patience is:
“And obey Allah and His Messenger, and do not dispute (with one
another) lest you should lose courage and your strength departs. And be
patient. Surely, Allah is with those who are patient.” [VIII; 46]

Yes, indeed! Allah is with those who are patient in the sense that He, All
Mighty, supports them with victory, power, success and protection: “And be
patient. Surely, Allah is with those who are patient.” The Almighty Lord,
also says, “And many a Prophet fought (for the Cause of Allah), and
along with him did fight large bands of religious learned men. But they
never lost heart for that which did befall them nor gave in. And Allah
loves those who are patient.” [III; 146]

Yes, indeed! Allah, All Mighty, loves those who are patient; and He, Glory
to Him, supports them with His Divine Care, Protection and Help. He gives
them their rewards in full without reckoning. But why does He love them?
The answer is: simply because they accepted His treatment. By the way, the
best way to treat an illness is without using an anesthetic, but if the ill person
feels a lot of pain or refuses treatment, the doctor has to follow a longer and
more dangerous kind of treatment. When Allah, All Mighty, sees that His
slave endures with patience, it becomes clear to Him that such slave has
accepted His Divine Treatment and has surrendered himself to His Divine
Decree and Foreordainment. This is the real meaning of patience.

Patience is a really great thing! But due to their being aloof from the Lord,
Allah, All Mighty, people in the West are usually before either of two
choices to make: to get what they aspire after, or to get so frustrated that they
suffer from serious psychological disorders or even, sometimes, commit
suicide. Psychological disorders, such as frustration, melancholy,
schizophrenia, …etc, afflict those who undergo certain difficulties or
misfortunes while they do not know Allah, All Mighty.

In short: Beware of being patient except for the sake of Allah; otherwise you
shall not be well rewarded. For example, a powerful tyrannical person might
harass you, and you might show patience; therefore, Allah, All Mighty, says,
“And those who remain patient, seeking their Lord’s Countenance,
perform prayer and spend out of that which We have bestowed on them,
secretly and openly, and repel evil with good, for such there is a good
end, the Gardens of Eden, which they enter: they and those who acted
righteously from among their fathers, wives, and offspring; and angels
shall enter unto them from every gate, (saying): “peace be upon you, for
you persevered in patience! Excellent indeed is such final home.’” [XIII;
22-24]

Yes, indeed! Those who are patient for the sake of their Lord shall be
admitted into Paradise, the uppermost rank that all human beings aspire
after, the Abode of Peace, the vastness of which is as great as the heavens
and the earth, the Never Ending Bliss, the Abode wherein there are no such
evil things as worry, fear, illness, competition, envy, …etc. So, what is the
price of Paradise?

Allah, All Mighty, will greet people of Paradise, saying, “Peace be with
you, for you persevered in patience”, i.e. your patience was the price for
Paradise: “Peace be with you, for you persevered in patience.” Consider
the patience of a true believer! He is always patient: when he is ill, when he
has a problem at home, when he is cruelly treated, when his income is little,
when he has problems at work, and when he faces any of the problems of
life, simply because he sees Allah’s Divine Power in all things.

By the way, patience is only when you are unable to repel transgression or
injustice. In other words, if you are able to repel transgression or injustice
but you do not do, you are not considered as patient but rather negligent and
even sinful.

Here is another issue that I would like to make clear: Some people say that
all things that happen are under Allah’s Divine Decree and Foreordainment,
and, therefore, we can change nothing. The answer is: This in not true! If all
matters are under Allah’s Divine Decree and Foreordainment, His Divine
Decree and Foreordainment can solve them. To make this point clear, I
would like to tell you this story:

When the venerable Companion and Caliph, Omar Bin Al-Khattab, may
Allah be pleased with him, came to Syria, he was informed that there was a
plague therein. Therefore, he abstained from entering it. Some of the
Prophet’s Companions said, “O Commander of the Faithful! Do you
intend to flee from Allah’s Divine Decree?” He answered, “Yes, I do. I
intend to flee from Allah’s Divine Decree into Allah’s Divine Decree. If
you had a herd of sheep, and if there were two pieces of land: one is
green and another is barren, where would you graze your sheep? If you
grazed them in the green piece of land, it would be by Allah’s Divine
Decree, and if you graze your sheep in the barren piece of land, it would
also be by Allah’s Divine Decree. I avoid the barren piece of land by
Allah’s Divine Decree, and I choose the green piece also by Allah’s
Divine Decree.” Such is valid scientific thinking! If you can take your ill
son to a doctor, for example, why should you choose to keep him at home
without adequate medical treatment under the pretext of patience? This is
negligence and not patience. It is not of Allah’s Divine Decree to keep your
son at home and deprive him of adequate medical treatment! But if you are
unable, for one reason or another, to take your son to a doctor, you are not to
blame.

What did Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), say when he was badly received in
At-Ta’if? He turned to the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, invoking: “O Allah! It is
to You that I complain of my weakness and helplessness and the
disrespect that I receive from people!” He (PBUH) left Mecca, whose
people gave a deaf ear to his Call for Islam, for At-Ta’if, whose people
would, hopefully, accept it. But he (PBUH) was very badly received in At-
Ta’if; therefore, he complained to the Lord of his weakness and helplessness
and showed great patience and perseverance. And you, as a human being,
may quite often be helpless in the face of serious troubles and problems. If
you can move, you must move; but if you are completely helpless, you must
show adequate patience and perseverance. In other words, patience is
acceptable only in case of helplessness.

Also, the venerable Companion and Caliph, Omar, may Allah be pleased
with him, reiterated that patience is a great Divine Favor that Allah, All
Mighty, bestows upon His believing slaves. Whenever he was afflicted with
a misfortune, he would invoke: “Praise to Allah because of three things:
Praise to Allah because it is not in my Faith, Praise to Allah because it is
not more grievous that it is, and Praise to Allah because I have been
inspired (and given the ability) to endure it with patience.” In this
context, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And endure with patience, your
patience is but from Allah. And grieve not over them and be not
distressed because of that which they plot.” [XVI; 127]

Yes, indeed: “And endure with patience, your patience is but from
Allah.” Here is another Verse, dear reader: “And you take vengeance on us
only because we believed in the Signs of our Lord when they reached us!
Our Lord! Pour out on us patience and cause us to die as Muslims.”
[VII; 126] Also, there is another Quranic Verse that I like very much. In this
Verse, Allah, All Mighty, tells us about patience of the holy Prophet Job,
(PBUH). He, Glory to Him, says, “And make in your hand a bundle of
thin grass and strike therewith (your wife), and break not your oath.’
Truly, We found him patient. What an excellent slave. Verily, he was
ever oft-returning in repentance (to Us).” [XXXVIII; 44] But why does
Allah, All Mighty, tell us about Job’s patience?

“Truly, We found him patient.” Sometimes, Allah, All Mighty, sends you a
misfortune in order to try you and see what your attitude will be. Whatever
the circumstances might be, you should always show adequate patience.

“Truly, We found him patient.” Allah tries man by destroying some of his
things, frustrating some of his efforts, foils some of his works and intentions.
In other words, man is under constant Divine Observation and Care! What
was Job’s attitude? The answer is: “Truly, We found him patient.” The
best and most beautiful attitude of a true believer when he receives bad news
is to say, “Praise to Allah, Lord of all worlds. O Lord! To You belongs all
Praise. Such is Your Divine Wisdom. Such is Your Divine Decree. Such
is Your Divine Foreordainment. I am contented with Your Wisdom. O
Allah! Inspire me to be patient.” This is the best and most beautiful
attitude of a true believer. By the way, you should never think that some
human beings are exempt from Divine Trial! But man passes Allah’s Divine
Trial when he shows adequate patience and perseverance.

In fact, Faith is all patience. To his effect, some Prophetic Hadiths go,
“Faith consists of two halves: one half is patience the other is
thankfulness,” and “Faith is patience.”

Paradise has a price; and its price is that Allah, All Mighty, has given man a
certain human nature and disposition. All religious obligations are against
his natural disposition. In other words, Allah implants in you love for
wealth, and then He bids you to spend it. Allah implants in you love for
comfort and luxury, and then He bids you to get up before dawn and stand
up to offer prayers to Him. He implants in you curiosity, i.e. the love to
know all things about other fellow humans, and He bids you to shun slander
and word trafficking. In fact, all religious obligations need that you should
fight against your instincts and natural dispositions; and the fight against
your instincts needs patience. Therefore, religion is all patience. Now, who is
a disbeliever? A disbeliever is someone who follows his own desires and
caprices, and his ambitions and interests. Who is a true believer? A true
believer is someone who opposes his own desires, caprices, ambitions and
interests that clash with Allah’s Commandments and Religion.

If you say that religion is all patience, I say, “Yes, indeed!” In other words,
Faith is patience and tolerance. Patience is a passive virtue, while tolerance
is an active one. Patience is of three types: Patience against committing
sinful deeds, patience for performing acts of obedience, and patience
towards Allah’s Cosmic Commands. Therefore, it is naïve to think that only
the poor need to be patient. Nay! The rich need more to be patient, because
the rich have many more choices to make than the poor; and the traps in
which the rich are prone to fall in are a lot more numerous and dangerous
than those that the poor are. In other words, it is a thousand times easier for a
weak poor person to be patient than a strong wealthy one, because the
former is essentially unable to do anything, while the latter can do millions
of things. That is why Allah, All Mighty, says, “Every Self shall taste of
death; and We try you with evil and good, a trial. And unto Us you shall
be returned.” [XXI; 35]

“And We try you with evil and good, a trial” means that you are tried and
tested with both good and evil things. In other words, wealth, youth,
strength, power, …et, can be subjects of trial for you. In fact, I spent more
than two months, delivering sermons in which I tackled the subject of
patience in An-Nabulsi mosque. The final conclusion is: religion is all
patience. For example, courage is patience, while cowardice and running
away is in conformity with man’s love for life. The human body is inclined
to sleep and be comfortable; but after he comes back home exhausted in the
late evening, after a long day’s toil, a true believer has to offer the late
evening prayers to the Lord before he goes to bed. This is a kind of patience.
When a true believer gets up very early in the morning - when it is very cold
outside but the bed is warm and comfortable - yet he performs ablution and
goes to the mosque to offer the Dawn Prayer, this is also a kind of patience.
In other words, you are tried each and every moment of your life. A beautiful
but indecently dressed woman may pass by. If you look at her, you respond
to your sexual desire for women; but if you lower your gaze and suppress
the desire to look at her, then you are patient. Hence, patience is to suppress
your lusty desires and caprices; and you are supposed to be patient at each
and every moment of your life.
Some knowledgeable religious scholars say: If Allah places you in the
position of thankfulness, you should be of those who are thankful; and if He
places you in the position of patience, you should be of those who are
patient. In weal, you should be thankful, and in woe, you should be patient.
You should be contented with whatever Allah gives you.

This means that in your relationship with the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, you
should be either thankful or patient. But I would like to clarify a very
delicate point, namely that a true believer should always ask Allah for safety
and ease. To this effect, Anas Bin Malik narrated that a man came to Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), asking, “O Messenger of Allah! Which supplication
is the best?” Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said, “Ask your Lord for
pardon and safety in this present world and the Hereafter.” Then, on the
next day, the man came to him again, asking, “O Messenger of Allah!
Which supplication is the best?” Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said, “Ask
your Lord for pardon and safety in this present world and the
Hereafter.” Then, on the third day, the man came to him again, asking, “O
Messenger of Allah! Which supplication is the best?” Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), repeated, “Ask your Lord for pardon and safety in this present
world and the Hereafter. If you are granted pardon and safety in this
present world and the Hereafter, then, you are really prosperous.”
[Narrated by At-Tirmithi]

O Allah! We do ask You for pardon, safety and constant well-being in

religion, in this present world, and in the Hereafter!

Remember what Allah’s Messenger invoked the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, in
At-Ta’if: “If You are not angry with me, I do not care; and here I am, at
the threshold of Your Door, (beseeching) until You are pleased with me,
but Your bestowing well-being upon me is more spacious for me.”

Dear reader! Ask your Lord for pardon, safety and constant well-being in
this present world and the Hereafter. If you are granted them in this present
world and the Hereafter, you are really prosperous and happy, if Allah so
wills.

To wrap up, Allah, All Mighty, is Most Patient towards His slaves even if
they disobeyed Him; and His Name “As-Sabour” (The Most Patient) is in
consistence with His Divine Name “Ar-Rahman” (The Most Gracious) in
the sense that His Infinite Divine Mercy embraces all things in this present
world and the Hereafter. Allah speaks the Truth; and He guides to The
Straight Path.

* * *

N ow, we will be explaining the thirty-third of Allah’s Beautiful

Divine Names, namely that which is mentioned in the following
Quranic Verse: “So know that there is no god but Allah, and ask
forgiveness for your sin, and also for (the sins of) believing men and
women. And Allah knows well your moving about and your place of
rest.” [XLVII; 19]

The words “So know that there is no god but Allah” sum up Islamic
Monotheism, because they include the entire religion of Islam, the entire
Faith and the entire good righteous work. That is why Muslims repeat these
words over and over again, in all places and times, so much so that they
have forgotten their real meaning. When we say that these words are the
token of Islamic Monotheism, this means that the whole religion of Islam
stands on them. Didn’t Allah say: “And We did not send any Messenger
before you (O Muhammad) but We revealed to him that there is no god but
Me (Allah). So worship Me (Alone).” [XXI; 25]?

The words “There is no god but Allah” (i.e. no one but Allah has the right
to be worshipped) is the essence of the Messages of all of Allah’s Holy
Prophets and Messengers. In other words, all revealed religions and all
messages of all Prophets and Messengers can be summed up in these words
of Monotheism: “There is no god but Allah.” And we, as Muslims, repeat
these words hundreds and hundreds of times. If we knew its real meanings,
we would be in a far better condition than that in which we are now. Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), says, “The best supplication is that (offered) at
‘Arafat; and the best of all that I, and the Prophets before me, have said
is: ‘There is no god but Allah, Alone, with no partner.’”

Yes, indeed! The very best words that Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad,
(PBUH), and all other Prophets and Messengers, said, are: “There is no god
but Allah.” The testimony that there is no god but Allah, i.e. no one but
Allah has the right to be worshipped, is, as it were, a fortress: whosoever
enters it is safe and secure from Allah’s Divine Torment. It is the testimony
of Islamic Monotheism. Therefore, we have to stop at it, reflect on it, and
deliberate its numerous meanings and lessons. But first of all, we have to
explain its linguistic meaning. Scholars of Islamic theology say: The word
“Allah” is “a proper noun that refers to that Perfect and Absolute
Divine Self, Which is Infinitely Pre-existent, and Whose Existence is
Definitive” In existence, there is only One Divine Self, i.e. Allah, Whose
Existence is Definitive. Other existing things are either tentative (i.e.
possible to exist or not exist) or impossible (i.e. can never exist). In other
words, the word “Allah” is a proper noun that refers to that Perfect and
Absolute Divine Self that is infinitely Pre-existent and Whose Existence is
Definitive. It refers to the Creator, the Originator, the Shaper, the Maker, the
Sovereign, the Almighty, the Omnipotent, the Proud, the One and Only, the
Unique, among all the other Beautiful Divine Names of Allah. This means
that all of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes are summed up in
the word “Allah”, which refers to the One Who is qualified with all
Attributes of Perfection and Oneness. But what does the Arabic word “Ilah”
(god) mean?

The Arabic word “Ilah” (god) is derived from the word “Aliha”, which
means: “to worship”, which, in turn, means: “to love and obey”. In other
words, worship is made up of love and obedience. Obedience without love is
not worship, nor is love without obedience: Worship is utmost love
combined with utmost obedience.

Once again: the word “’Abada” (to worship) means “to love and obey”, but
who is the one worshipped? It is Allah, because, as religious scholars say, no
one but Allah has the right to be worshipped. Who deserves to be
worshipped? It is the Creator; and there is no Creator but Allah. Who
deserves to be worshipped? It is Allah, the Provider, the Giver, the
Withholder, the Exalter, the Debaser, the Honor Giver, the One Who does
whatever He pleases, the All Mighty, the Omnipotent, the Irresistible
Subduer, the All-Powerful, …etc. If all of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names
and Attributes are put together, they refer to “Allah”, i.e. the only One Who
has the right to be worshipped.

Therefore, worship is ultimate love combined with ultimate obedience; and

you shall never be able to worship Allah, i.e. love and obey Him, unless you
know Him. In other words, worship consists of three stages (knowledge,
love, and obedience) and is conducive to real happiness and prosperity. This
is the first meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Allah”.

The second meaning is derived from the Arabic word “Aliha”, which means:
“to be baffled or confused”. In this sense, the word “Allah” refers to the One
and Only Lord, Who is Infinitely Great, Mighty and Majestic that the minds
of His slaves get confused and baffled at, and are by no means able to
conceive, His Infinite Divine Greatness, Might or Majesty. This is the
second meaning of Allah’s Beautiful Name “Allah”.

The third meaning of this Divine Name is derived from another meaning of
the Arabic word, “Aliha”, which means: “to seek refuge with”. In this sense,
the word “Allah” refers to the One with Whom all creatures seek refuge.
Hence, the statement “There is no god but Allah” means that no one but
Allah is the All Mighty, the All Great Lord with Whom all creatures,
including human beings, can seek refuge or shelter.

In fact, the statement “There is no god but Allah” negates completely the
existence of another god besides Allah in the whole universe. In this context,
some scholars say that the first meaning of this Divine Name was first
proposed by the venerable Companion, Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased
with him. He said that the statement “There is no god but Allah” means
that Allah, Alone, is the One Who really and irresistibly can do good or
harm, honor or debase, give or withhold. Others said that it means: “There
is no god whose Grace is sought, no god whose justice is feared or not
feared, no god whose provision is eaten, no god whose Command is
obeyed or disobeyed, no god whose forgiveness is sought, no god whose
Bidding and Forbidding are respected or violated, and no god whose
Grace is given or withheld, except Allah, Who is the Lord of believers,
the One Who forgives sins of believers, the One with Whom believers
seek refuge, the One Who covers sins of wrong-doers, the ultimate goal
of the hopeful, and the ultimate goal of the knowledgeable.”
Dear readers! I would like you to deliberate the first testimony in Islamic
monotheism, namely the statement: “There is no god but Allah”, simply
because the entire religion is summed up in this statement. Some religious
scholars say: “The testimony: “There is no god but Allah” is the token of
good knowledge and monotheism, expressed by the tongue of Praise and
Right Guidance before the King Worthy of all Praise.” Yes, indeed! It is the
token of good knowledge and Monotheism.

You know that the ultimate end of knowledge is Monotheism, and the
ultimate end of work is piety. If you believe in the Oneness of Allah and be
dutiful to Him, you will certainly feel that you are well balanced, that none
but the Lord, Allah, has control of you affairs, that Allah is the Only One
Whom you should strive to please, and that you are not dispersed among
several ones than Him. But when do you become a monotheist? When do
you turn only to Allah with love and devotion? When do you worship Him,
Alone, and none but Him? When do you obey Him, Alone, and none but
Him? When do you turn to Him, Alone? When do you hope for Him, Alone?
When do you fear Him, Alone? And when do you aspire only after His
Generosity? The answer is: only when you firmly believe that He is the One
and Only God, i.e. none but He deserves to be worshipped.

This is a very delicate notion: So long as you feel that anyone, besides Allah,
can do you any good or any harm, you will not be able to worship Allah,
Alone. Therefore, Allah does not command you to worship Him except after
He reassures you that all matters belong to Him, Alone, for judgment and
decision. You can understand the statement “There is no god but Allah” as
follows: Allah is the Only One Who deserves to be worshipped. To this
effect, Allah, All Mighty, says, “O mankind! Worship your Lord (Allah),
Who created you and those who were before you, so that you may attain
self-protection.” [II; 21]

Therefore, the testimony: “There is no god but Allah,” means that no one
but Allah has the right to be worshipped. Who has the right to be
worshipped? The All-Provider does. Who has the right to be worshipped?
The All-Giver, the Withholder, the Exalter, the Abaser, the One who grants
honor, the One Who humiliates, the All-Powerful, the Subduer, the
Omnipotent, the All Mighty, the Irresistible, the All-Potent, the Omniscient,
…etc, i.e. the Owner of all of the Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes,
does. This is the first meaning Of Allah’s Divine Name “Allah”.
The second meaning is that Allah is Infinitely Great, Mighty, and Majestic
that the minds of His creatures, including mankind, are confused and baffled
at His Infinite Greatness, Might, Majesty, Beauty, Justice, Mercy, and Love
for His slaves. In other words, Allah’s Divine Name “Allah” means that He
is Infinite.

The third meaning: There is no one you can seek refuge with but Allah.

Some said: The testimony: “There is no god but Allah” Means if you have
an aspiration, you should aspire only after Allah, Alone; if you fear, you
should fear only Allah, Alone; if you love, you should love only Allah,
Alone. There are so many beautiful persons and things in this world:
women, places, Houses, Palaces, cars, …etc. If you desire to love anything
or anyone, you should love only Allah, Alone. This is the fourth meaning of
Allah’s Beautiful Name “Allah”: He is the Only One Whom human beings
should aspire after, hope for, or love. He is the One Who removes distress. In
this context, Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), says, “A slave must fear nothing
but his own sin and aspire after none but his Lord.” Monotheism is
comfort, psychological balance and well being, while polytheism is
discomfort, imbalance and psychological disorder. When someone feels that
another human being has control over his affairs and that he does not like
him but is so desirous to destroy him: such feeling is abnormal, horrible and
destructive. If you believe that your affairs are in the hand of another one
than Allah, All Mighty, this belief is enough to crush you. Therefore, if you
are to love, you should love none but Allah; and if you are to fear, you
should fear none but Allah; if you are to rely on anyone, you should rely on
none but Allah; and if you are to be confident, you should be confident of
none but Allah.

Does a mortal human being deserve to be worshipped? Does a human being

that was nonexistent, but then Allah, All Mighty, brought it into existence,
and in the end will be non-existent again, deserve to be worshipped?
Definitely not!

Omran Bin Houssein narrated that Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), asked his
father, Houssein, before the latter converted to Islam, “O Houssein! How
many gods do you worship?” Houssein answered: “I worship six or seven
in the earth and one in the heaven.” Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said,
“And whom do you worship for your hope and fear?” Houssein said,
“The one in the heaven.” Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said, “Then, the
one in the heaven suffices you. O Houssein! If you convert to Islam, I
shall teach you a few words that shall do you a lot of good.” Houssein
converted to Islam and came to Allah’s Messenger, asking him, “O
Messenger of Allah! Teach me those words.” Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH),
said, “Say: ‘O Allah! Show me my guidance and protect me against the
evil of my own self.” [Narrated by At-Tirmithi]

You do not need gods of the earth; you need only One God, namely Allah,
All Mighty, Who is in the heaven. This is Monotheism - the essence of
psychological health - because a monotheist is someone who believes that
all his affairs are in the Hand of One God, Allah, All Mighty, Whom he
fears, After Whom he aspires, Whose Good Pleasure he seeks, and Whose
Divine Commands he obeys.

The foregoing are some of the meanings of Allah’s Divine Name “Allah”.

There is a delicate point that I would like to make clear as regards the
testimony of Monotheism, “There is no god but Allah”. If we gather up all
Prophetic Hadiths that speak about its merits, we find a great many of them;
and they all confirm that it lurks behind human happiness and prosperity in
every sense of the word. Let us consider the opposite of Monotheism, i.e.
polytheism. Before you believe that there is no god but Allah, you have a lot
of gods, i.e. powerful wealthy affluent human beings whom you fear, aspire
after, and seek to please: This is polytheism. If you fear a certain human
being, aspire after another, hope for a third, seek to please a fourth, or
humble yourself before a fifth, …etc, your good work is dispersed among
numerous false gods and is by no means for the sake of your Real God, the
Lord, Allah, All Mighty.

Therefore, before you believe that there is no god but Allah, your good work
is wasted and dispersed among a number of false deities, simply because
you love, fear, aspire after, hope for other fellow humans who can do you no
good or harm, because they are mere human beings just like you. But once
you firmly believe that there is no god but Allah, you love none but Him,
fear none but Him, hope for none but Him, and aspire after none but Him,
you simply think to yourself, “Why should I disobey my Lord and Maker,
the Almighty Allah, Lord of all worlds, for the sake of a mere human being,
who is, just like me, under Allah’s Divine Power and Might and is in Allah’s
Divine Hand, just as I am?”
I have told you before the story of one of the Umayyad Caliphs, Yazeed Bin
Mou’awiyah, who issued an order to his ruler over Basra. The ruler was not
willing to obey Yazeed’s order because it seemed to clash with certain
principles of the religion of Islam. Therefore, he asked the well-known
venerable Tabi’i (one of the next generation after that of the Prophet’s
Companions), Al-Hassan Al-Basri, what to do. Al-Hassan Al-Basri said
something that summed up the whole Islamic Monotheism: “You should
know that Allah can protect you against Yazeed, but Yazeed cannot
protect you against Allah.”

Therefore, Allah is the Only One Who has the right to be worshipped. When
you see someone disobeying Allah in order to please a fellow human,
neglecting righteous deeds in order to please another, committing sinful
deeds in order to please a third, or deviating from the Right Way in order to
pleases a fourth, …etc, this means that his monotheism is very weak because
he sees other fellow humans as gods that deserve to be worshipped, i.e.
loved and obeyed, besides Allah, All Mighty. This is a kind of Polytheism.
But what is Monotheism? Monotheism is to worship only the Lord, Allah,
All Mighty, Alone, i.e. to rid yourself completely of anyone else but Allah:
you love none but Allah, fear none but Allah, aspire after none but Allah,
hope for none but Allah, and seek to please none but Allah.

The best thing man can say is, “There is no god but Allah”. Even the most
tyrannical human being and the worst enemy of Allah, Pharaoh, uttered
these words when he got caught up in the sea and felt that he was certainly
going to drown: “I believe that there is no god but He (Allah), in Whom
the children of Israel believe.” A disbeliever wrongly thinks that his
wealth, his high social position, his followers and helpers, …etc, can help
him. In his sight, all of these are gods, i.e. he loves and obeys them and
seeks help from them. But when Allah, All Mighty, decrees something
unpleasant for him, all such false gods can avail him nothing against Allah,
Al Mighty. Therefore, when distress comes, he feels most sorrowful and
regretful, and he and confesses: “There is no god but Allah”.

At the beginning of his life, man may wrongly think that wealth is
everything. But the older he grows, the more he sees that wealth is one of
many things but not everything. And when death comes, he sees none but
Allah, he sees that wealth is but a thing borrowed from the Lord, Allah, All
Mighty, and will certainly be returned to Him, he sees that Allah, All Mighty,
has given him such wealth in order to help him draw near to Him and seek
His Good Pleasure thereby.

I would like to elaborate more on the issue of godhood. Allah, All Mighty,
says, “Have you seen him who has taken as his god his own vain desire?
Would you then be a disposer [(of his affairs) or a watcher] over him?”
[XXV; 43]

“Have you seen him who has taken as his god his own vain desire?” In
other words, if you love something so much that you disobey Allah for it,
this means that you actually worship such thing instead of Allah. Sometimes
people describe a certain man who loves his wife, saying, “He married a
woman whom he worships.” What does “whom he worships” mean? It
means that he loves her, trusts in her, and is most sincere and obedient to her
even if she bids him to commit a sinful deed. This is because worship, as I
always say, is utmost love combined with utmost obedience; and if you give
such utmost love and utmost obedience to another one instead of Allah, this
is real ignorance. That is why it has been rightly said: “Ultimate end of
knowledge is Monotheism.” You should be like the holy Prophet, Abraham,
i.e. you should see that all things are in Allah’s Hand and under His Infinite
Divine Power. Abraham, (PBUH), defied his people, saying, “So plot
against me, all of you, and give me no respite. I put my trust in Allah,
my Lord and your Lord! There is not a moving living creature but He
has the grasp of its forelock. Verily, my Lord is on the Straight Path.”
[XI; 55,56]

When he was about to drown, Allah’s worst enemy, Pharaoh, sought refuge
with Allah, Alone. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And We (Allah)
took the children of Israel across the sea, and Pharaoh, with his hosts,
followed them in oppression and enmity, till when drowning overtook
him, he said: ‘I believe that there is no god but He (Allah), in Whom the
children of Israel believe, and I am one of the Muslims (those who submit
to Allah’s Will).” [X; 90]

As for Allah’s good friend, the holy Prophet, Jonah, (PBUH), when he was
devoured by the whale and, hence, entered into three kinds of darkness, he
invoked none but his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, to help him. To this effect,
Allah, All Mighty, says, “And remember Jonah: when he went off in
anger, and imagined that We (Allah) shall not punish him! But he cried
through the darkness: ‘There is no god but You (Allah)! Glorified and
Exalted are You! Truly, I have been of the wrong-doers.” [XXI; 87]

But why did Allah answer Jonah’s, and not Pharaoh’s, invocation, although
they were both in distress, and they both confessed: “There is no god but
Allah”? Religious scholars said, “Pharaoh did not know Allah before his
distress, therefore, his invocation did not avail him anything in time of
distress; while the holy Prophet, Jonah, (PBUH), knew Allah before his
distress, so when distress came his invocation availed him. This is the first
difference. What did Pharaoh say? “Then he gathered (his people) and
cried out: ‘I am your lord, most high.” [LXXIX; 23,24] But Jonah,
(PBUH), was in deep sorrow when he invoked: “Had he not been of those
who glorify (Allah), he would have indeed remained inside its (the
whale’s) belly till the Day of Resurrection.” [XXXVII; 143,144]

I would like you to notice that whenever a human being is caught up in

trouble or distress, he forgets everything, even those whom he takes for gods
besides Allah, and turns to his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Alone, in prayer and
supplication. It is wise to know the fact that “There is no god but Allah” in
times of weal not only in times of woe.

A friend of mine once told me that some atheists were flying on board an
airplane that was suddenly caught up in a horrible storm. They began to roar
with earnest supplication to the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, for help. In the
same context, the Holy Quran tells the story of someone caught up in a
horrible storm in a rough sea where his ship was like a feather in the wind.
At that horrible moment, he sees nothing and seeks help from none but
Allah. A true believer sees that all things are in the Hand of Allah, All
Mighty, Alone. To this effect, the Quranic Verse goes, “The Path of Allah,
to Whom belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth.
Verily, all matters in the end go to Allah (for decision).” [XLII; 53]

This Quranic Verse bears a very delicate notion: It says: “Verily, all matters
in the end go to Allah (for decision).” But in whose hand were all matters?
The answer is: Of, course they were, they are, and they will always be in
Allah’s Hand, but atheists or disbelievers wrongly see that matters are in the
hand of others than Allah, All Mighty; while true believers see that all
matters, small or big, were, are, and will always be in Allah’s Hand. That is
why it has been rightly said: “Mankind learn nothing better than
Monotheism.”
The second difference: When Jonah, (PBUH), said, “There is no god but
You (Allah)! Praised and Exalted You are!”, he spoke to the Lord, Allah,
directly, as if he saw Allah with his own eyes. But Pharaoh said: “I believe
that there is no god but He (Allah), in Whom the children of Israel
believe.” In other words, Pharaoh seems to have heard of a god in whom
Moses and his people believed and in whose hand was everything, and when
he began to drown, he realized that it was Moses’ god who caused him to
drown; therefore, he said, “I believe that there is no god but He (Allah), in
Whom the children of Israel believe.” In short, if you know Allah in weal,
He knows you in woe. That is why Allah, All Mighty, answered Jonah’s, but
not Pharaoh’s, invocation. Jonah was of those who extolled praises of the
Lord, Allah, All Mighty, while Pharaoh was not.

Irrespective of the level of your Faith, the kind of your religion, or the level
of your Monotheism, whenever you are caught up in trouble or distress, you
roar out, “O Allah!” But if your Faith, before distress is come, is strong and
firmly established, you say, “O Allah! There is no god but You.” In other
words, if your Faith in Allah, All Mighty, is already strong and deeply
rooted, before distress is come, this means that you have already deposited
something good with Allah, namely righteous work, firm belief in Him and
His Infinite Divine Mercy, Pardon, Love and Power. In this context,
religious scholars say: When Pharaoh said, “There is no god but He
(Allah), in Whom the children of Israel believe”, he did not say it by way
of servitude to the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, but rather for his own safety and
escape from death; and great is the difference between someone who is
forced to believe in Allah and someone who believes in Him out of his own
free will.

Everybody knows that the present world was divided into East and West and
into nations that sanctify the individual and those that sanctify the group.
Both parties first went to extremes, but then went back to the middle, i.e.
Islamic moderation. Both parties went back to Islamic moderation not
because they believed in Islam as Allah’s Revealed Religion or that it was
Allah’s Course of life, but simply because circumstances that accompanied
their extremism forced them to go back to moderation. Those who believed
in the individual and gave individual interests supremacy over those of the
group were forced to go back to Islamic moderation and take the group’s
interests into consideration. Similarly, those who believed in the group and
gave the group’s interests supremacy over those of the individual were also
forced to go back to Islamic moderation and take the individual’s interests
into consideration. In this context, Allah, All Mighty, addresses Muslims,
saying, “Thus, We have made you a just moderate nation, that you may
be witnesses over mankind and the Messenger be a witness over you.
And We made the Qiblah (prayer direction towards Jerusalem) to
which you used to turn your face (in prayer), only to test those who
followed the Messenger from those who would turn on their heels.
Indeed it was heavy except for those whom Allah guided. And Allah
would never make your faith (prayers) to be lost. Truly, Allah is All-
Kind, Most Merciful.” [II; 143]

“Thus, We have made you a just moderate nation”: When Pharaoh said,
“There is no god but Allah” as he was about to drown, he said that only to
get rid of drowning. Similarly, when the children of Israel got out of the sea,
safe and secure, they came across people worshipping idols. They asked
Moses, (PBUH), to make similar idols for them to worship. But Moses,
(PBUH), reminded them, “Did you not see how Allah, All Mighty, made
the sea solid for you to cross?” Religious scholars say that they believed in
Moses only to get rid of Pharaoh. In other words, their belief in Allah and
His Messenger, Moses, was not pure; it was blemished by a certain interest,
namely to get rid of Pharaoh and his tyranny. This means that the best and
most sublime kind of Faith is to believe in the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, only
because He is really the Creator and, therefore, deserves to be worshipped.

Some religious scholars say that all people’s righteous deeds and words are
carried by a special Angel up to the Lord, All Mighty, except for the words,
“There is no god but Allah”, which goes up to the Lord by itself. To this
effect, Allah, All Mighty, says, “Whosoever desires might, then to Allah
belongs all Might. To Him ascend the goodly words, and righteous work
exalts him (man); but those who plot evil things, theirs will be severe
torment; and the plotting of such will perish.” [XXXV; 10]

While I was reading a Prophetic Hadith, I found a very delicate point,

namely “He who is increased in knowledge but not in guidance …” It
seems that there are two parallel lines, one for knowledge and another for
guidance. Line of knowledge goes along with acquiring knowledge by
attending, lessons or lectures, for example, or by reading books, from which
we get pieces of information, ideas, conceptions, beliefs, opinions, …etc.
But the line of guidance goes along with acts of devotion and when we
translate theoretical knowledge into rightly guided acts. Sometimes, the line
of guidance is far behind that of knowledge. For example, you know that
there is no god but Allah, yet you fail to love Him or obey Him duly or
adequately. Both lines of Knowledge and guidance should always go
together on equal footing. This is because Islamic religion is not only to
believe in the Oneness of Allah, All Mighty, but also to worship Him, Alone.
The Holy Quran abounds in stories of Allah’s holy Prophets and
Messengers. They all told their people to worship Allah, Alone, because they
had no other god but Him: “And to the people of Thamoud, We sent their
brother Salih. He said: ‘O my people! Worship Allah! You have no other
god but Him. Indeed there has come to you a clear Sign from your Lord,
this she-camel, a clear Sign to you from Allah. So leave her to graze in
Allah’s earth, and touch her not with harm, lest a painful torment
should seize you.” [VII; 73]

This Quranic Verse “Worship Allah! You have no other god but Him” is
repeatedly used in the Holy Quran; and it actually sums up the Calls and
Messages of all Prophets and Messengers. In other words, religion is to
believe that there is no god but Allah, All Mighty, and to worship Him,
Alone. This is because the ultimate end of human knowledge is monotheism,
i.e. to believe in the Oneness of Allah, All Mighty, and the ultimate end of
human work is to obey Him.

In some religious relics, it is narrated that when a believer says, “There is

no god but Allah”, Allah, All Mighty, gives him all the good lots of
disbelievers in Paradise, which they would get if only they believed in Allah,
All Mighty. This is because when a believer says, “There is no god but
Allah”, he disproves all disbelievers; therefore, he deserves to get all their
shares in Paradise.

Now, what does Allah, All Mighty, command us to do in His Divine Book,
the Holy Quran? He, Glory to Him, says, “You must know that there is no
god but Allah, and ask forgiveness for your sin, and also for (the sins of)
believing men and women. And Allah knows well your moving about
and your place of rest.” [XLVII; 19]

Yes, indeed! We must know that there is no god but Allah; and knowledge
needs research, study, examination, tests, proofs and evidences until we
attain definitive irrevocable certitude that there is no god but Allah, All
Mighty. Tentative non-definitive knowledge is by no means sufficient or
adequate. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty, says, “(True) believers are only
those who believe in Allah and His Messenger, and afterward doubt not
but strive with their wealth and lives for the Cause of Allah. Those!
They are the truthful!” [XLIX; 15]

In interpretation of the initial letters at the beginning of some Surahs

(Chapters) of the Holy Quran, like: “Ha. Meem. ‘Ein. Seen. Qaf.” [XLII;
1,2], for example, some religious scholars say: The “Ha” refers to Allah’s
Perfect Divine Forbearance, Wisdom, Judgment, and Decision, the “Meem”
to His Sovereignty and Glory, the “’Ein” to His Might, Majesty, Highness,
Greatness, Knowledge and Justice, the “Seen” to His Exaltedness, Sublimity,
and Secrecy, and the “Qaf” to His Subjugation and Irresistible Power. In this
context, in a Divine Hadith, Allah, All Mighty, says, “By My Forbearance,
Wisdom, Judgment, Glory, Sovereignty, Might, Greatness, Justice,
Knowledge, Highness, Secrecy, Sublimity, Power, Majesty, and
Subjugation, I shall not torment with the Fire those who say, ‘There is
no god but Allah’.” But why does not Allah punish them? The answer is:
because they know that all matters are in Allah’s Hand, so they commit
themselves to His Divine Commands and Religion. So, why should He
punish them? The whole Islamic Religion can be summed up in one simple
fact, namely that all matters are only in Allah’s Hand.

By the way, I would like to remind the dear readers of some of the Quranic
Verses that have to do with Islamic Monotheism. Allah, All Mighty, says:
“And to Allah belongs the Unseen of the heavens and the earth, and to
Him return all affairs (for decision). So worship Him and put your trust
in Him. And your Lord is not unaware of what you do.” [XI; 123]
“Say: ‘O Allah, Owner of the Kingdom! You give the kingdom to whom
You will, and You take away the kingdom from whom You will. You
endue with honor whom You will, and You humiliate whom You will. In
Your Hand is the Good. Verily, You are Powerful over all things.” [III;
26]

“In Your Hand is the Good. Verily, You are Powerful over all things.”
This Verse provides evidence of a very delicate point, namely that in the
whole universe, there is no absolute evil, i.e. evil that is really meant to be
evil.
“Nay! But worship Allah (Alone) and be among the grateful (to Him).”
[XXXIX; 66]
“You killed them not, but Allah killed them. And you (Muhammad)
threw not when you did throw, but Allah threw, that He might test
believers by a fair trial from Him. Verily, Allah is All-Hearer, All-
Knower.” [VIII; 17]
“Surely, His is the Creation and Commandment. Blessed is Allah, the
Lord of all worlds.” [VII; 54]
“Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the Disposer (and
Guardian) over all things.” [XXXIX; 62]
“Say: ‘He is Allah, the One.” [CXII; 1]
“And you cannot escape in the earth or in the heaven (from Allah). And
besides Allah you have no protector or helper.” [XXIX; 22]
“Say (O Muhammad): ‘I am only a human like you. It has been
revealed to me that your god is only one god (Allah). So whoever hopes
for the Meeting with his Lord, let him work deeds of righteousness and
associate none as a partner, in the worship, to his Lord.” [XVIII; 110]
“And whosoever submits his face (himself) to Allah, while he is a good-
doer, then he has grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold. And to Allah
return all matters (for decision).” [XXXI; 22]
“See they not that We gradually reduce the land from its outlying
borders. And Allah judges; there is none to put back His Judgment, and
He is Swift at reckoning.” [XIII; 41]
“Whatever of mercy Allah may grant to mankind, none can withhold it;
and whatever (of mercy) He may withhold, none can grant it thereafter.
And He is the All Mighty, the All-Wise.” [XXXV; 2]
“Is not He Who guides you in the darkness of the land and the sea, and
Who sends the winds as heralds of glad tidings, going before His Mercy?
Is there any god with Allah? High Exalted is Allah above all that they
associate as partners (to Him).” [XXVII; 63]
“It is He (Allah) Who is the only god in the heaven and the only god in
the earth. And He is the All-Wise, the All-Knowing.” [XLIII; 84]

From Prophetic Sunna and Tradition, I have selected the following Hadiths:

Narrated Talha Bin Kareez that Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said, “The best
invocation is that on the Day of ‘Arafat; and the best of all that I, and
the Prophets before me, have said is: ‘There is no god but Allah, Alone,
with no partner.’” [Mouwatta’ of Imam Malik]

Narrated Bin ‘Abbas: I was behind Allah’s Messenger, one day, when he
said, “O boy! I would like to teach you some words: keep your duty
towards Allah, and He protects you. Keep your duty towards Allah, and
you find Him with you. If you are to ask, ask Allah, Alone; and if you
are to seek help, seek help from Allah, Alone. And you should know that
even if the (whole) nation gathers together in order to do something
good to you, they can do nothing good to you except that which Allah
has decreed for you; and even if they all gather together in order to do
something harmful to you, they can do nothing harmful to you except
that which Allah has decreed against you. The pens have been lifted up,
and the pages have dried up.” [Narrated by At-Tirmithi]

If one collects and learns by heart all the Quranic Verses that speak about
Monotheism, it would be indeed a great Quranic treasure, which provides
one with much tranquility, security and peace of mind and repels fear and
anxiety. It makes one feel that no forces in the whole world, except the Lord,
Allah, All Mighty, Alone, could ever do one any harm. And if one feels that
Allah, Alone, has everything in His Hand and that He, All Mighty, is Most
Merciful, All-Rich, Most Loving, All Powerful, Most Compassionate, and
All Knowing, this makes one feel not only happy but also safe and secure.

Of the merits of this testimony: “There is no god but Allah” is what Ibn
Omar quoted Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), as saying, “Those who bear
witness that there is no god but Allah shall not suffer loneliness upon
death. And it is as if I were now looking at those who bear witness that
there is no god but Allah upon the Cry (on the Day of Resurrection),
shaking dust off their heads, saying, ‘Praise to Allah, Who removed
from us grief.’”

Yes, indeed! The grave is really something horrible; and more horrible is the
feeling of loneliness while one is in the grave. Didn’t Allah, All Mighty, say,
“The Fire: they are exposed to it morning and afternoon; and on the
Day when the Hour is come, (Allah shall say): ‘Cause Pharaoh’s people
to enter the most painful torment.” [XL; 46]

Just imagine! Pharaoh’s people have been exposed to the Fire, in the
morning and afternoon, for over six thousand years; and on the Day of
Judgment, they shall be admitted into Hell-Fire. But those who bear witness
that there is no god but Allah suffer no loneliness or torment in their graves,
which are made to turn out Gardens of Paradise for them. Why? The answer
is: Simply because they have known Allah, All Mighty, and adhered to His
Divine Commandments, and simply because they believed in His Oneness
and devoted themselves to Him.
I have always given the following example: If you have a certain transaction
at a certain government office, and if you know for sure that what you need
is only in the hand of the general director of that government office, is it
unwise to seek help from anyone else, such as an ordinary clerk, a porter, or
an office boy? Of course, not! You go straight ahead to the general director
because he is the only one ho can help you. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty,
says, “Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him
(in worship); but He forgives anything else to whom He wills. And
whoever sets up partners with Allah (in worship), he has indeed
committed a grievous sin.” [IV; 48]

Imagine that you have a big sum of money in a certain city, so you take the
train to that city. On the train, you may commit hundreds of mistakes: you
may sit in the wrong compartment, you may have a row with some bad
people in your compartment, you may feel hungry, cold or uncomfortable in
the compartment, …etc, you may commit millions of mistakes; but the train
is still going to the city where you have the big sum of money; it will arrive
there on time, and you will certainly get the money. All the mistakes that you
commit on the train are forgiven so long as the train is going to the same city
where you will get the money. Now, consider Allah’s Words: “Verily, Allah
forgives not that partners should be set up with Him (in worship); but
He forgives anything else to whom He wills. And whoever sets up
partners with Allah (in worship), he has indeed committed a grievous
sin.” [IV; 48] There is one mistake that can never be forgiven, namely that
you wrongly take a train that is not going to your city but rather to another
city, and, consequently, you shall never be able to get to your city or to cash
the great sum of money. In other words, choosing the wrong train is an
unforgivable mistake because it makes you lose everything. The same idea
can be applied to your relationship with the Lord, Allah, All Mighty.
Polytheism means to turn to other false gods than Allah, your Almighty
Lord, your Maker and Provider; and false gods can do you no good or harm,
or avail you anything against Allah, All Mighty. In other words, Polytheism
takes you to the wrong destination. Why is Monotheism a great thing? The
answer is: simply because it makes you turn to the One, in Whose Hand are
all things, i.e. it takes you to the right destination. In short, if you worship
false gods instead of Allah, All Mighty, you go in the wrong direction, and
you shall never attain happiness or prosperity.

Once again, dear readers: No one but Allah deserves, or has the right, to be
worshipped. The ultimate end of human knowledge is Monotheism (i.e. to
bear witness that there is no god but Allah, Alone); and the ultimate end of
human work is to obey Allah, Alone.

Anas Bin Malik narrated that Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), said: “He who
says in the morning or evening, ‘O Allah! I bear witness before You,
before those who carry Your Throne, and before Your Angels and all of
Your creatures, that You are Allah: there is no god but You, and that
Muhammad is Your slave and Messenger,’ Allah releases one quarter of
him from the Fire; he who says it twice, Allah releases one half of him
(from the Fire); he who says it three times, Allah releases three quarters
of him (from the Fire); and he who says it four times, Allah releases him
all from the Fire.” [Narrated by Abu Dawood]

Nowadays, you hear a lot of meaningless sayings and false testimonies. But
the genuine thing is that, believingly and sincerely, you bear witness that
there is no god but Allah and adhere to Allah’s Divine Commandments. And
nothing of people’s acts of devotion nowadays is better than the testimony
that there is no god but Allah, since their religious observances, such as the
prayer and the fast, are blemished with hypocrisy and eye-service and,
therefore, lack in true Faith. As for the words “There is no god but Allah”,
they are a kind of remembrance of Allah, All Mighty; and a true believer
says them from the depth of his heart. This is one of the merits of the
testimony: “There is no god but Allah”. In order to get a high scientific
degree, man has to exert a lot of effort and make a lot of study and research;
and, similarly, in order to understand words of Islamic Monotheism “There
is no god but Allah”, man must exert a substantial and remarkable effort.
This is because without sacrifice and hard work, study and research,
contemplation and deliberation, man will not be able to attain firm belief in
these words; and unless he really and firmly believes in them, his work is
blemished with polytheism:
“Say: ‘If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your
kindred, wealth that you have earned, commerce in which you fear a
decline, and dwellings in which you delight, are dearer to you than Allah
and His Messenger, and strife in His Cause, then wait until Allah brings
about His Decision (Torment). And Allah guides not the people who are
disobedient.” [IX; 24]

When does man disobey his Lord, Allah, All Mighty? The answer is: when
he thinks that seeking to please others is better than seeking to please Him.
For example, those who say, “Allah is Greater” with their tongues but obey
others than Allah, such as their wives, their bosses, their friends, their lovers,
…etc, this means that they actually and virtually believe that their wives,
friends or bosses are greater than Allah, simply because they put Allah’s
Pleasure in the second place. Those who really say, “There is no god but
Allah” and “Allah is Greater” should obey none but Allah.

These words of Islamic Monotheism: “There is no god but Allah”

symbolize the motto of the Religion of Islam. And the testimony: “There is
no god but Allah. Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”, which is
pronounced by those who desire to embrace Islam, include belief in the
Oneness of Allah and in the Message of His Messenger, Muhammad,
(PBUH), and obedience towards Allah, All Mighty, and His Messenger,
(PBUH). In other words, a true believing Muslim is someone who bears
witness that there is no god but Allah, who believes in the Message of
Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), and who worships none but Allah
by showing obedience to Him and to His Messenger. This is Islamic
religion.

However, we still have a practical point that can be summed as follows:

If you see with your own eye that Allah honors those who are righteous and
straightforward but destroys those who are wrongdoers and deviant, your
belief in “There is no god but Allah” becomes more firmly established and
deeply rooted. Therefore, contemplation on Allah’s Creation (the universe),
deliberation on Allah’s Quranic Verses, and reflection on Allah’s Divine
Acts, increase your belief in the Oneness of Allah as substantiated by the
testimony: “There is no god but Allah”.

To wrap up, I would like to put forward the following reservation: Allah, All
Mighty, has made this present world an abode of labor and the Hereafter an
abode of recompense. When He punishes a wrongdoer in this present world,
this punishment is meant to be a kind of deterrence for other wrongdoers.
And when He rewards a good-doer in this present world, this reward is
meant to be a kind of encouragement for other good-doers. Complete and
total accounting and reckoning is to be found in Allah’s Words: “Every Self
shall taste of death. And it is on the Day of Resurrection that you shall
be paid your due wages in full. And whoever is removed from the Fire
and admitted into the Garden (of Paradise), he indeed is successful; and
the life of this present world is only the enjoyment of deception.” [III;
185]
 * * *

(The Light)

I n this lecture, we will be explaining the thirty-fourth of Allah’s Beautiful

Divine Names, “An-Nour” (The Light), which is mentioned in some
authentic true Prophetic Hadiths.

Linguistically speaking, the Arabic word “An-Nour” means “Light” in the

general sense of the word. Of course, we are not going to indulge in the
scientific analysis of the word, which briefly refers to the rays that come off
an atom as a result of certain reactions inside it; and we shall not be talking
about scientific facts with this respect, such as the fact that if any moving
body went at the speed of light, its mass would become zero but its volume
infinite. Such topics belong to physics and are, therefore, not part of our
concern in this lecture.

Anyway, in Arabic the word “Nour” means: “Light” in the general sense of
the word, i.e. whatever its kind, rays, illumination, brightness, …etc, might
be. There are certain kinds, or waves, of light that are invisible to the human
eye. In short, the word “Nour” (light) will be taken here to mean: “that
which makes things visible”. In other words, no matter how sound and
healthy the human eye might be, it cannot see things without light, i.e. our
eyes are valueless and unable to see anything without light.
From the religious point of view, light is of two kinds: light that belongs to
this present world, and light that belongs to the Hereafter. The light that
belongs to this present world is also of two kinds: light perceived by the
human eye, and light conceived by the human mind.

Light conceived by the human mind:

Sometimes, an idea that is clear in one’s mind, or the way of thinking that
one follows to solve problems, is metaphorically considered as “light”.
Sometimes a person uses his mind in a way that enables him to solve a
certain problem or mend a certain machine: this kind of mental ability,
which is sometimes called expertise, can be metaphorically called “light”.

Therefore, worldly light is of two kinds: ordinary perceptual light, which can
be perceived by the human eye, and metaphorical light, which can be
conceived by the human mind. A person may sometimes face a problem that
seems to be unsolvable. In this case, the person is, as it were, in darkness as
regards such problem. But then, all of a sudden, an idea flashes in his mind
and enables him to solve the problem. It is, as it were, the light that helps
man see with his mind how to do a certain thing or solve a certain problem.
Therefore, it is metaphorically called “light”. That is why people usually say,
“Knowledge is Light.” By the way, people also say, “Knowledge guards
you, while you guard wealth; and wealth is diminished by expenditure,
but knowledge is increased by expenditure (i.e. the more you use your
knowledge, the more knowledgeable you become).”

The mind is “light”, and Allah’s Book; the Holy Quran, is also “light”. To
make things clear, I would like to give the following example: When you see
a bottle full of a chemical substance that you do not know what it is, you
begin to wonder, “Is it inflammable? Does it explode? Is it poisonous? Is it
harmful? Is it useful? Is it an anesthetic? Is it cancerous? …Etc?” If it is
labeled NACL, for example, the label is, as it were, “light” that shows you
what is inside the bottle.

An example of ordinary perceptual light that is perceived by the human eye

is that of the Sun or Moon. An example of the conceptual light that is
conceived by the human mind is Allah’s Words, “O people of the
Scripture! Now has come to you Our Messenger (Muhammad)
explaining to you much of that which you used to hide of the Scripture
and to pass over (leave without explaining) much. Indeed, there has
come to you from Allah a Light and a plain Book (the Quran).” [V; 15]

“Indeed, there has come to you from Allah a Light.” Man has been made
to dwell on earth; but why has man been created? What is he supposed to
do? Should he only eat, drink and sleep, just like brute animals? Or does he
have a certain mission that he does not know? When will he pass away?
Why does he pass away? Why does he live? Should he be a good-doer or a
wrongdoer? Should he speak the truth, or should he tell lies? Should he be
honest and trustworthy, or dishonest and untrustworthy? A Book comes to
man from his Maker, Allah, All Mighty, telling him: You have been created
for Paradise, whose vastness is as great as the heavens and the earth. You
have been created to do good righteous deeds that enable you to enter
Paradise. You shall never be happy unless you are connected with your Lord,
Allah, All Mighty. You shall never be safe and secure unless you obey your
Lord, Allah, All Mighty. You shall never be happy except when you are near
to your Lord, Allah, Creator of the heavens and the earth and Lord of all
words. He is an All-Great God and a Most Generous Lord. He is All-Hearing
and All-Seeing. He is All Powerful and All Mighty. And if you beseech Him,
He answers you.

In fact, Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran, helps you know your Lord Allah, All
Mighty; it helps you know the universe; it helps you know the reality of life;
and it helps you know the reality of your own self. The Holy Quran tells you
what you should do and what you should not do. It makes clear to you things
that are lawful or unlawful, things that are good or evil. It helps you
distinguish between the truth and falsehood. It teaches you what to do and
what not to do. It tells you about the beginning and end of this world. It
relates to you history of the previous peoples and nations. It tells you stories
of the holy Prophets and Messengers. It depicts to you scenes from the Day
of Resurrection and Judgment. In this sense, it is “light” that provides true
believers with comfort that is known only to those who are like them. It is
“light” that makes all things crystal clear to true believers. It helps them
know that the universe has a Maker and Creator, a Guardian and Disposer. It
helps them know that their Lord, Allah, All Mighty, is Pre-Existent, One and
Only, Perfect and Absolute. It helps them know that Allah’s Divine Names
and Attributes are all Most Beautiful. It reassures them that the Lord, Allah,
All Mighty, is Near, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate, Most Friendly,
and He answers those who beseech Him. It tells them that this present world
is, as it were, a farm wherein we grow things for the Hereafter. It tells them
that man is happy when he obeys Allah and miserable when he disobeys
Him. In short, Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran, provides us with unmatched
and indescribable comfort, security and balance. Undoubtedly, vagueness
and obscurity breed worry and anxiety, while light and clarity breed comfort
and security. That is why Allah, All Mighty, says, “Indeed, there has come
to you from Allah a Light and a plain Book (the Quran).” [V; 15]

Yes, indeed! Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran, is light. When you buy a
machine, its catalogue provides you with the necessary information and
instructions that ensure the proper function and use of the machine. The
catalogue is, as it were, light that helps you see things properly. The Holy
Quran is also light that helps you see things properly.

Once again, the Holy Quran is light in the sense that it provides you with
mental guidance. The light that the Holy Quran gives is mental, while the
light that the Sun or the Moon gives is perceptual, i.e. perceived by the
human eye. An example of perceptual light is Allah’s Words: “It is He
(Allah) Who has made the Sun a shining thing and the Moon a light and
measured out for it (the moon) stages that you might know the number
of years and the reckoning. Allah did not create this except in truth. He
elaborates the Signs for people who have knowledge.” [X; 5]

“It is He (Allah) Who has made the Sun a shining thing and the Moon a
light.” We should contemplate the Sun for some time. Astronomers estimate
that the age of the Sun is not less that 5,000 billion years, and that it will not
extinguish before 5,000 billion years are up. They also say that it sends off
incredible amounts of light and heat energy. Also, the Sun is 156 million
km’s away from the Earth, and we can hardly bear its heat in the summer so
how hot is it at its center? Flames shooting out of the Sun are more than a
million km’s long. Its surface temperature is 6,000 degrees Celsius, while its
central temperature is 20 million degrees. It is one million three hundred
thousand (1, 300,000) times bigger than the Earth. In the Scorpio
Constellation there is a star that is as big as the Sun and the Earth as well as
the distance between them: Yes, indeed: “It is He (Allah) Who has made
the Sun a shining thing and the Moon a light.” [X; 5]

Now, who created light? It is Allah, All Mighty. Light is produced by a kind
of chemical reaction inside the atom. This chemical reaction produces light
waves that spread in the universe. But does light have weight? No, it
doesn’t. Its volume is infinite but its mass is zero. Scientists say that if any
object traveled as fast as light does, i.e. 300,000 km/second, it would turn
into light. The volume of light is infinite while its mass is zero. However, the
subject of light and its properties needs special scientific study and research,
which is not part of our concern in this lecture.

Anyway, the Sun’s, or Moon’s, perceptual light is to be perceived by the eye,

while the light that the Holy Quran gives is mental and provides guidance to
the human mind. Similarly, Theoretical information is a kind of light,
explanation is a kind of light, proofs and evidences are kinds of light,
elaboration is a kind of light, and directives are kinds of light. One of the
knowledgeable religious scholars has a deep explanation of light. He defines
light with respect to Allah, All Mighty, as the Evident. Sometimes, a very
small source of light is evident in total darkness. Light in this sense is
something that is evident. The thing that does send out rays is dark and,
hence, not evident. When someone drives his car in the dark, he uses its
headlights that send out light before the car. He also sees spots of light
coming from the eyes of some animals. Once again, light is something that
is evident. That is why it has been said: “Allah is the One Who is Self-
Evident and with Whom is all Evidence. He is the One Who makes
things evident.” Light that is too weak may be evident itself, but it does not
make things evident. Sometimes, a piece of burning coal is evident but it
does not light a whole room. But an electric lamp lights a whole room.

It has also been said: Light is something that is evident and makes other
things evident. For example, if you place a lamp on a wall, you can see all
things in the room: the carpet, the chairs, the pen, the paper, the inkpot, the
cassette player, …etc. In other words, the light that comes from the lamp
makes other things evident. The scholar goes on to say: “Non-existence is
dark, while existence is light because it is evident.” This is a more delicate
point.

An existing thing must necessarily be evident, while a non-existing thing

must be non-evident. Evidence is the token of existence, while non-evidence
is the mark of non-existence. He also said: “No darkness is darker than non-
existence; and the thing that is free from the darkness of non-existence and
that makes all things evident by bringing them from the darkness of non-
existence to the light of existence is called “light”; and this applies only to
Allah, All Mighty, Alone, simply because none but Allah is Free from the
darkness of non-existence, and even from the possibility of non-existence,
and because He is Self-Evident and makes things evident by bringing them
from darkness of non-existence to the light of existence. That is why one of
His Most Beautiful Divine Names is “An-Nour” (The Light). To this effect,
Allah, All Mighty, says, “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth.
The likeness of His Light is as a niche wherein is a lamp; the lamp is in a
glass; the glass is, as it were, a glittering star kindled from a Blessed
Tree, an olive that is neither of the East nor of the West; whose oil would
almost shine (of itself) even if no fire touched it; Light upon Light. Allah
guides to His Light whomsoever He wills; and Allah sets forth parables
for mankind, and Allah is All-Knower of all things.” [XXIV; 35]

The words “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth” mean that
Allah, All Mighty, is Self-Evident and makes things evident. He is Self-
Evident and Free from darkness of non-existence or even the possibility
of non-existence. He brings things from the darkness of non-existence to
the light of existence. In other words, the Self that is Self-Evident and
makes things evident is the Light, Which is Allah, All Mighty. Also,
existence is light that makes all existing things evident and is derived
from the Light of Allah’s Divine Self. Therefore, Allah, All Mighty, is the
Light of the heavens and the earth.

Imam Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah have mercy on him, says: “Light is Allah,
the Guider, Who guides with His Divine Guidance whomsoever He wills by
showing him the truth and inspiring him to follow it.” Religious scholars
consider the great creative ideas that suddenly flash in the minds of
genius inventors as Divine Inspirations from the Lord, Allah, All
Mighty, because Allah, the Light, casts such creative ideas or glimpses in
the minds of inventors and makes them evident to them. Hence,
according to religious scholars, an invention is but a sudden glimpse
that is cast into the inventor’s mind by the Lord, Allah, All Mighty.

A friend of mine told me about how a scientist invented a way for tooth
implant. As you know the human body repels alien objects. But a scientist
once unintentionally left a pair of pincers, made of a certain metal, on a
piece of bone. After some time, he noticed that the bone tissue grew round
the pincers, and knew that the metal from which the pincers were made
could be implanted into the bones of the human jaw. That discovery was
only a glimpse cast into the scientist’s mind by the Lord, Allah, All Mighty.
That is why people usually say: An invention is but a jump into the
unknown. It is just a glimpse cast into the human mind by the Lord, Allah,
All Mighty. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty, says, “And We have not
taught him (Muhammad) poetry, nor is it suitable for him. This is only a
Reminder and a plain Quran.” [XXXVI; 69] This verse shows clearly that
it is Allah, All Mighty, Who inspires those who invent poetry. In other
words, each and every invention is but a glimpse of inspiration from the
Lord, Allah, All Mighty. However, such glimpse of inspiration is by no
means gratis, it rather has a cost, namely hard earnest study and research.
That is why scientists say that genius is 99% labor and 1% inspiration. The
price of such glimpse of inspiration, or such great invention or discovery,
requires hard work and lots of study and research.

This takes us to another topic, namely the meaning of “truthfulness”. Allah,

All Mighty, does not deal with people in accordance with their desires and
wishes, but rather in accordance with their truthfulness and sincerity. In this
context, some scholars say, “The Light is the Guider.” To make this point
clear, let us have this example: If you lose a pin in a dark place, where there
is no light, you will not find it. But in the day, you will see it because the
Sun’s light guides you, i.e. helps you, to see it. If you are guided to the
reality of man, the secret behind his existence, and the ultimate goal of his
existence, who has guided you? Undoubtedly, it is Allah, All Mighty, Who
has. Therefore, Allah is the Light and the Guider. Human beings know
nothing except that which Allah, All Mighty, teaches them, nor do they
understand anything except that which Allah, All Mighty, makes it easy for
them to understand. In short, Allah, All Mighty, is the Light in the sense that
He, Glory to Him, is the Evident whereby all things become evident, i.e. He
is Self-Evident and makes things evident.

Some knowledgeable religious scholars said: “The Light is He (Allah),

Who enlightens qualities and brings them into existence from non-
existence.” Bringing something from non-existence into existence is light,
and so is giving it its qualities and properties. Everything has its own
properties and qualities. Every plant, every animal, every solid, every metal,
every living or non-living thing has its own qualities and properties. It is
Allah, All Mighty, Who creates all things from nothing and brings them into
existence, i.e. makes them evident, and gives them their qualities and
properties. In this context, the Quranic Verse goes: “He (Pharaoh) said:
‘Who then is the Lord of you two, o Moses? He (Moses) said: ‘Our Lord
is He (Allah) Who gave each thing its creation and then guided it
aright.” [XX; 49,50]
Gold, for example, is a metal that is not affected by natural agents, such as
water, salt, moisture, or oxidants. I have read an article about a ship that sank
some 120 years ago with 5 tons of gold blocks on board. Experts have been
recently able to reclaim the gold totally unaffected by any sea agents. Allah,
All Mighty, has given gold, diamond, silver, lead, iron, …etc, their own
properties. Therefore, Allah, All Mighty, is the Light in the sense that He
makes things evident and gives them their own properties. Iron, for example,
melts at 1500 degrees Celsius, while lead at 100 degrees. Each metal has
been made evident and given its properties i.e. has been brought from non-
existence into existence and given its own properties. Also, Allah, All
Mighty, is the Light in the sense that He enlightens the entire universe with
the Sun and other stars and heavenly objects. He also enlightens the spiritual
world with His Messenger Muhammad, (PBUH). In this context, people
rightly say, “There is much light, delight and spiritual enhancement in
this meeting.” Sometimes, when you sit with a righteous holy person that is
conscious of Allah, All Mighty, you feel comfortable and peaceful, and you
feel a lot of spiritual enhancement in his presence. This is Allah’s Divine
Light, because Allah, All Mighty, has created perceptual light, such as that of
the Sun or the Moon, and spiritual light, such as that which is to be found in
the hearts of true believers. In this context, Allah, All Mighty, says, “O you
who believe! If you obey and fear Allah, He will grant you a Criterion
(whereby you judge between right and wrong), He will expiate your sins
for you, and He will forgive you. And Allah is the Owner of the Great
Bounty.” [VIII; 29]

Allah, Glory to Him, also says, “O you who believe! Fear and obey Allah
and believe in His Messenger (Muhammad), and He will give you a
double portion of His Mercy, He will give you a Light whereby you shall
walk, and He will forgive you. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most
Merciful.” [LVII; 28]

If you ask me to sum up the whole religion into one simple sentence, I
would say, “A true believer has light whereby he sees things, while a
disbeliever is blind” To this effect, Allah, All Mighty, describes true
believers, saying, “Their Light runs forward before them and in their
right hands. They will say: ‘Our Lord! Keep perfect our Light for us
and grant us forgiveness. Verily, You are Able to do all things.’” [LXVI;
8]
Disbelievers are in total darkness: layers of darkness, one above another: if
they stretch out their hands, they can hardly see them. To this effect, Allah,
All Mighty, says, “But whosoever turns away from My Reminder, verily,
for him is a life of hardship, and We shall raise him up blind.” [XX; 124]
He is not physically blind in this present world, but his heart certainly is.
This is because Allah, All Mighty, lights the hearts of true believers with His
Messenger and his Prophetic Guidance. In this context, Allah, All Mighty
bids His Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH): “Take from their wealth alms
whereby you purify and sanctify them, and invoke Allah for them.
Verily, your invocation is a source of security for them; and Allah is All-
Hearer, All-Knower.” [IX; 103]

The good feelings that the Prophet’s venerable Companions enjoyed while
being with him were incredible. Once they sat with him, they felt most
comfortable and peaceful as if they were in Paradise. Abu Bakr, may Allah
be pleased with him, once saw the venerable Companion, Hanthalah, may
Allah be pleases with him, weeping. Abu Bkr asked, “O Hanthalah! Why
are you weeping?” The latter answered, “When we are with Allah’s
Messenger, we feel as if we were in Paradise, but when we go back to
our families and children, we lose such incredible spiritual
enhancement.” When Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), heard what Hanthalah
had said, he (PBUH) said, “We, Prophets: our eyes sleep, but our hearts
do not sleep.”

Narrated Abu Uthman that Hanthalah said: “We were with Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), and we spoke about both Paradise and Hell-Fire as
if we saw them with our own eyes. Then, I left for my family, with whom
I had fun: with my wife and children. But suddenly, I remembered what
we had done while being with Allah’s Messenger, so I went out and met
Aba Bakr. I worriedly told him, ‘O Abu Bakr! Hanthalah is a mere
hypocrite!’ ‘What?!’ Asked Abu Bakr. I said, ‘We were with Allah’s
Messenger and we spoke about Paradise and Hell-Fire as if we saw them
with our own eyes; but then I went back to my family with whom I had
fun.’ Abu Bakr said, ‘All of us do that.” Later on, I went to Allah’s
Messenger, (PBUH), and told him about that. He (PBUH) said, ‘O
Hanthalah! If you remained in your homes in the same condition that
you are in when being with me, Angels would shake hands with you on
your beds and on roads! O Hanthalah! It is one hour (like this) and
another hour (like that)!’”
Allah, All Mighty, is Light, so if you get connected with Him, you derive
from His Divine Spiritual Light spiritual comfort and peacefulness, your
vision of things and matters is rightly guided. In fact, we can sum up the
entire issue as the difference between a true believer who has a faultless
rightly guided vision of things and matters and a disbeliever who is in total
blindness and darkness. A true believer moves by special Divine
Enlightenment and Guidance from his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, while a
disbeliever is easy prey to troubles and blind confusion.

Some religious scholars said: Allah, All Mighty, is the Light in the sense that
He enlightens the spiritual world with His Messenger, (PBUH); He
enlightens the hearts with the light of knowledge; He enlightens the minds of
knowledgeable holy righteous people with His Divine Manifestations; He
enlightens the hearts of true believers with the spiritual light of Monotheism;
and He enlightens the hearts of His beloved ones with His Divine Light.

Other religious scholars said: Allah, All Mighty, is the Light in the sense that
He enlightens, i.e. makes evident, human beings with special evident shapes
with His Divine Creativity; and He brings to light cosmic secrets by His
Divine Enlightenment, i.e. by making them evident.

Other religious scholars also said: Allah, All Mighty, is the Light in the sense
that He revives the hearts of knowledgeable believers with the Light of
knowledge; and He revives the souls of true worshippers with the Light of
worship.

Others said: Allah, All Mighty, is the Light in the sense that He guides the
hearts to the truth and helps them opt for it; and he guides His righteous
slaves to Him and helps them pray to Him. In this context, Allah, All
Mighty, says, “Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The
likeness of His Light is as a niche wherein is a lamp; the lamp is in a
glass; the glass is, as it were, a glittering star kindled from a Blessed
Tree: an olive that is neither of the East nor of the West; whose oil
would almost shine (of itself) even if no fire touched it; Light upon
Light. Allah guides to His Light whom He wills; and Allah sets forth
parables for mankind, and Allah is All-Knower of all things.” [XXIV;
35] In this Verse, the niche symbolizes patience, and the lamp symbolizes
the heart, not the material heart but rather the spiritual one, as in Allah’s
Words: “Have they not traveled through the land, and have they hearts
wherewith to understand and ears wherewith to hear? Verily, it is not
the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts, which are in the breasts,
that grow blind.” [XII; 46]

“The lamp is in a glass; the glass is, as it were, a glittering star.” I pray to
Allah, All Mighty, to enlighten our hearts with His Divine Light! Once
again: A true believer has a crystal clear vision hereby he sees things as they
really are. He knows well what to do, and he has full control over all
matters, simply because Allah, All Mighty, provides him with bright light
that enables him to see most accurately, to take the proper stance towards all
situations and to do the proper things. He is comfortable and makes other
fellow humans comfortable, too. A disbeliever is in total darkness and
blindness. He does not know what to do or how to move. He is in great
confusion and loss. This is quite clear.

Some knowledgeable religious scholars said: “Allah is the Light in the sense
that He is Self-Evident and Pre-Existent. He brings things from the darkness
of non-existence into the light of existence and makes them evident. His
Existence is the Light that overwhelms all things; and it is He Who provides
all creatures with both perceptual and spiritual light. Your eye needs
perceptual light, while your heart needs spiritual light.”

Dear readers! We have got now to the point that I consider most serious: You
have an eye whereby you see things, and you have a mind whereby you
perceive things. When someone tells you that solids and liquids expand as
the temperature rises, and when you see that mercury rises up the
thermometer as the temperature rises, this is different from when you say, “I
see that knowledge is useful.” In other words, you see with your own eyes
that solids and liquids expand, but you cannot see knowledge. You see
knowledge with your mind’s eye, i.e. when you see that those who are
knowledgeable are well behaved and highly respected. You see that an
educated person is usually well balanced and has great wisdom: at home, he
knows how to treat his wife and children, he knows how to earn money
honestly, he knows how to deal well with people, his income is lawful, and
he is honest and straightforward, he is highly respected and greatly loved,
only because he has good knowledge and is well educated, because he has
good religious knowledge, and because he knows the Lord, Allah, All
Mighty, and is dutiful to Him. When you see that, you see with your mind’s
eye that knowledge is a useful thing. Seeing mercury rising up the scale is a
kind of physical perception, while seeing that knowledge is useful is a kind
of mental conception. Sensual perception needs material physical light,
while mental conception needs mental enlightenment; and both of them
derive enlightenment from the Lord, Allah, All Mighty:

I have complained to Wakee’ my bad memory,

So he advised me to shun sinful deeds;
And he told me that knowledge is Light,
And Allah’s Light is never given to the sinful.

Therefore, you need Allah’s physical perceptual Light, such as sunlight, for
instance, in order to see things, but you need Allah’s mental conceptual
Light that enables you to see facts as they really are. In other words, no
matter how intelligent, genius, or brilliant your mind might be, it is in total
darkness and blindness unless it gets guidance from Allah’s Divine mental
Light. That is why you see even the most intelligent people sometimes
commit the silliest mistakes. In short, without Allah’s Divine Enlightenment,
the human mind is totally blind.

Other religious scholars said: Allah, All Mighty, is the Light in the sense that
He is the Source of Light, i.e. it is He Who enlightens the universe with
stars, Who enlightens the human bodies with effects of worship, and Who
enlightens the hearts with proofs and evidences of the truth.

Glory to Allah! Once a person is connected with the Lord, Allah, All Mighty,
his face is enlightened with a special bright Divine Light, even though he
might be a brown or black person. Allah’s Messenger, (PBUH), had a face
that was as bright as the Sun; and some Prophetic Hadiths mention that if
one of Al-Hour Al-‘Een (the female mates in Paradise) looked down upon
people of the earth, the light of her face would overcome the Sun’s light.
This takes us to the third meaning, namely that worship enlightens the face.
To this effect, the Quranic Verses go:

“Some faces, that Day, shall be shining and radiant, looking at their
Lord (Allah).” [LXXV; 22,23]
“Some faces, that Day, will be bright, laughing and rejoicing at the good
news; but other faces, that Day, will be dust-stained and covered with
darkness: such will be the wicked evil disbelievers.” [LXXX; 38-42]

Yes, indeed! Worship enlightens the face!

Some said: Obedience is the adornment of the human selves and bodies,
while knowledge is the adornment of the human hearts and souls. Moreover,
Allah, All Mighty, increases the hearts of true believers in enlightenment, as
He supports them with the light of clear evidence and then the light of good
knowledge. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty, says, “Light upon Light.
Allah guides to His Light whom He wills; and Allah sets forth parables
for mankind, and Allah is All-Knower of all things.” [XXIV; 35]

You should know that there is explanatory evidence and illumination

knowledge. For example, you may know that a certain substance is NACL
by only reading a label, but there are some people who know it without a
label, because their knowledge is deeper, more comprehensive and more
accurate than yours, and because they know almost everything about NACL.
In other words, there is illumination knowledge and explanatory knowledge.

Others said: Allah, All Mighty, is the Light in the sense that He guides the
human hearts by His Divine Light to good manners and helps his believing
slaves opt for the truth and shun falsehood.

Now, there are a great many meanings of the Arabic word “Nour” (Light).
One of the subsidiary meanings of the word is (Light of knowledge), which
means that the truth is unveiled to the mind of a true believer. In this context,
all the different derivations of the Arabic word “Alimah” (to know), give the
meaning of “to throw light on something and make it clear and evident”.
This is knowledge: unveiling of the truth to the minds of true believers.

Once again: Light of knowledge is the unveiling of the truth to the mind of a
true believer as clearly as if eye-seen.

In fact, Allah’s Divine Name “An-Nour” (The Light) is mentioned in several

Verses of the Holy Quran. The most remarkable ones are:

“Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth.” [XXIV; 35] Some said:
Allah, All Mighty, has enlightened the heavens and the earth with the Sun
and other stars, and He enlightened the minds of true believers with the
truth.

“All Praise belongs to Allah, Who (Alone) created the heavens and the
earth and made darkness and light; yet those who disbelieve hold others
as equal with their Lord.” [VI; 1]
Allah, All Mighty, enlightens the heavens and the earth with His perceptual
physical Light, and He enlightens the hearts and minds of true believers with
His Divine Lights that unveil the truth to them.

Imam Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Allah, All Mighty, is
the One Who rightly guides inhabitants of the earth and the heavens. His
Divine Guidance that He casts into the hearts of true believers is like pure oil
that almost illuminates before it is burned by fire; but when fire touches it, it
illuminates more and more and gives more and more light. In this context,
Allah, All Mighty, says: “They desire to extinguish Allah’s Light with
their mouths, but Allah will not allow except that His Light should be
perfected even though disbelievers hate (it).” [IX; 32] In other words, if
someone desires to stand against the truth, it is as though he desires to
extinguish Allah’s Light.

In another Surah (Chapter) of the Holy Quran, Allah, All Mighty, says: “Is
he whose breast Allah has opened to Islam, and is therefore, in light
from his Lord (as he who is a non-Muslim disbeliever)? So woe to those
whose hearts are hardened against remembrance of Allah! Such are in
plain error!” [XXXIX; 22]

In the same Surah (Chapter), He, Glory to Him, says: “And the earth will
shine with its Lord’s Light; and the Book will be placed (open); and the
Prophets and the witnesses will be brought forward; and it will be
judged between them with the truth; and they shall not be wronged.”
[XXXIX; 69]

In another Surah (Chapter), He, Praise to Him, says: “They intend to

extinguish Allah’s Light with their mouths. But Allah will bring His
Light to perfection even though disbelievers hate (it).” [LXI; 8]

In fact, the word “Nour” (Light) is mentioned more than forty times in
Allah’s Book, the Holy Quran. And some religious scholars are of the
opinion that Allah’s Divine Name “An-Nour” (The Light) is the greatest of
all of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names.

Here we have a delicate point: Abu Hurairah quotes Allah’s Messenger,

(PBUH), as saying, “Verily, Allah, All Mighty, has ninety-nine Names:
whoever comprehends each and every one of them will be admitted into
Paradise.” [Narrated by At-Tirmithi]

Some said that “Rabu-l-‘Alameen” (Lord of all worlds) is Allah’s Greatest

Divine Name, while others said that “Ar-Rahaman” (The Most Gracious) is
Allah’s Greatest Divine Name. Some said that the Name “Allah” is Allah’s
Greatest Divine Name, while others said that “An-Nour” (The Light) is
Allah’s Greatest Divine Name. Bu the question is: Why did not Allah, All
Mighty, mention which Name is the Greatest of His Divine Names? The
answer is: to give you the chance of utmost contemplation, reflection and
deliberation on each and every one of Allah’s Beautiful Divine Names, and
to try and find, on your own, which Name is the Greatest.

Undoubtedly, man seeks knowledge in order to get his heart and mind
enlightened. In this context, Ibn ‘Abbas narrated: I heard Allah’s Messenger,
(PBUH), after he had finished prayer, invoke: “O Allah! Make for me
Light in my heart, Light in my grave, Light in front of me, Light behind
me, Light on my right, Light on my left, Light over me, Light under me,
Light in my hearing, Light in my vision, Light in my hair, Light in my
skin, Light in my flesh, Light in my blood, and Light in my bones. O
Allah! Make great the Light (that you bestow on me)! Grant me Light!
And single out (special Divine) Light for me!” [Narrated by At-Tirmithi]

Once you turn to Allah with true love and sincere devotion, once you get
connected with Him, once you pray to Him, and once you obey Him, He
bestows on you His Divine Light, which is one of Allah’s Greatest Favors.
He makes you a divinely enlightened person who sees the truth as it really is
and who discerns true from false things that he hears. He provides you with
a special Light, i.e. criterion, whereby you judge things; and your vision
becomes enlightened. When a true believer sees a mountain, for example, he
remembers the Greatness of its Maker and Originator, Allah, All Mighty;
while a disbeliever sees only the materialistic benefits that he could get out
of such mountain, but he is completely heedless of its Maker, Allah, All
Mighty. A true believer sees things with Allah’s Divine Light, and he is
rightly guided with His Divine Enlightenment. His seeing and hearing are
divinely enlightened and rightly guided, and so is his mind and heart. His
deeds and works are also divinely enlightened and rightly guided: when he
looks at things, he sees them with divine enlightenment; when he hears
things he has light in his ears in the sense that he knows how to distinguish
true things from false ones. He has light in his hands in the sense that
whenever he gives, he is rightly guided to give in justice. He has light in his
movements in the sense that he is rightly guided to move to the truth. He has
light in his legs in the sense that he is rightly guided to walk to places that
please his Lord, Allah, All Mighty. In other words, Allah, All Mighty, is
the Light in the sense that He guides you to righteous good things that please
Him and provides you with a special Light, i.e. criterion, whereby you
distinguish good things from evil ones.

In some invocations, we read: “O Allah! You are the Light, while all other
things are in the darkness of non-existence (before you bring them into
the light of existence)! You are the Self-Evident, and nothing has
influence on (You) the Pre-Existent! Dawn upon my heart the meanings
of Your Divine Name “An-Nour” (The Light), so that I may witness with
Your Divine Light the truth, adorn myself with true knowledge and
guide them (my fellow humans) to the Most Generous Lord (Allah)! You
are Able to do all things! And Blessings and Peace be upon our master,
Muhammad, the illiterate Prophet, and upon his family and
Companions.”

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