Jinan Yousef Virtualmosque.Com NAMES of ALLAH SERIES
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Names of Allah Series Jinan Yousef virtualmosque.com NAMES OF ALLAH SERIES Seeking The Guide llah subhanahu wa ta`la (exalted is He) has given Himself ANames and attributes (siffat) so that we can know Him. What is most amazing and beautiful about Allah’s Names is that through them, you can see how your Creator recognizes the needs of His creation. We all need sustenance; and He is al-Razzaaq, The Provider. We all need love; and He is al-Wadud, The Most Loving. We all need protection; and Allah is al-Hafidh, The Guardian. What we need the most is the very thing of which Allah (swt) has an unlimited supply. And so sometimes we are put through things to know Allah (swt). Sometimes it is to open your eyes to your own flaws so that you can change. But whatever it is, if you realize that the answer to any problem is through Him, and that He suffices all your needs, then your relief is already at hand. Recently, I found myself to be very lost. And this was alarming because I used to be a person who had direction. I thought I knew where I was going and what I was doing. But things started to fall r s r s 2 3 NAMES OF ALLAH SERIES SEEKING THE GUIDE apart, internally. I wasn’t sure anymore. And then I realized I had above any analogy, but as Allah (swt) gave Himself the attribute of three choices – to continue to do what I was doing without put- guidance, telling you that He is THE Guide and He is THE Light of ting in any extra thought, to give up entirely, or to re-assess and the heavens and the earth, then how can you be lost for too long? re-orient. Especially if you seek Him. Are we saying that lifeguards do their job better than Allah (swt)? And because this feeling persisted for a while, I realized some- thing else. I came to know Allah’s attribute of Guidance. So what does it mean to go to Allah al-Haadi? It means to take the first step of realizing that He has this attribute, and having the Sometimes this feeling of being lost can bring us closer to Allah certainty that Allah (swt) will not turn a seeker away. Secondly, it (swt). means to ask Him. Make du`a’ (supplication), pray istikhara (the prayer for guidance) and talk to Him. Thirdly, it means to use the What is the meaning of this problem? Why are we stuck? We need means around us. Re-assess your goals, seek people’s advice and to feel as though we do not know where we are going, because that take the steps needed to try to find an answer. When we feel an is when we start searching. And that is precisely when Allah (swt) internal instability, these steps may be hard, but Allah (swt) tells shows you that He is The Guide (al-Haadi), and how life changes us “And those who strive for Us – We will surely guide them to Our when the Light of God is in it. ways […]” (Qur’an, 29:69). Perhaps you started out something with a sense of purpose, but in And so we have to strive. We have to search. It will be hard. And your journey you were knocked off the path towards the greater taught ﷺ there will be moments of confusion. But the Prophet goal. You need al-Haadi. Maybe you are having some sort of mid- us: “Know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction, and life crisis. You need al-Haadi. And we cannot for one moment be- ease with hardship,” (Tirmidhi). lieve that there is no way out and no right path. Allah (swt) says peace be One final action is that we cannot let Shaytan (the devil) make ,ﷺ in a hadith qudsi (record of the words of the Prophet upon him), us lose hope and make us keep questioning ourselves. There is a point when confusion becomes wiswaas (whispers) – a sort of “O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so paranoia from the Devil. Only when we realize that Allah (swt) is seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you,” (Muslim). the ultimate Guide and we are seeking Him in the proper way, will we gain full trust in Him and know that He will not allow us to be As Allah (swt) gave Himself the attributes of Guidance and Light, led astray. how can we ever believe that we will be in darkness for too long? “So those who believe in Allah and hold fast to Him – He will admit Say, for example, you are drowning in a pool. Who will you usually them to mercy from Himself and bounty and guide them to Himself call out for? The lifeguard. The lifeguard is already there, watching on a straight path.” (Qur’an, 4:175) out for people, and because that is his job, when you call out to him he’ll jump in there to save you. Now Allah (swt) is over and r s r s 4 5 NAMES OF ALLAH SERIES The Giver of Gifts ometimes things happen to us in our lives, and we do not know Show to read events. We may suddenly lose all our money, and the first thing that we think of is, “What did I do to deserve this? I was a good Muslim, I tried so hard, why did Allah punish me?” Or perhaps something amazing happens to us, and our reactions range from “Alhamdulilah!” (all praise is to God) to “I just got lucky.” Our reactions say a lot about us and about our knowledge of and relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He). If our best friend does something, because we know them, we know how to read their actions and their dealings with us. Unfortunately, we do not know nearly as much about Allah (swt), even though He is closer to us than our jugular vein, and even though He invites us to call Him by His Names: “And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them.” (Qur’an, 7:180) How can we call Him by His Names if we do not know them and if we do not understand them? And what is the purpose of Allah (swt) revealing to us 99 of His Names and His Attributes? It is in r s r s 6 7 NAMES OF ALLAH SERIES THE GIVER OF GIFTS order for us to know Him, and through knowing Him, we are able The Connection Between Gifts and Love to worship Him better and understand the nature of this world. One of the scholars mentioned a saying: يا داود ذكر عبادي بإحساين، فإن القلوب جبلت عىل ِّحب من أحسن إليها وبغض“ ”من أساء إليها ”.If one knows the commander, the commands are easy to follow“ ] ورد يف األثر ] So insha’Allah (God willing) this series will focus on the Names of Allah (swt), and will draw upon research done by Sheikh Ratib an-Nabulsi, Imam al-Ghazali, and Dr. Amr Khaled. It is stated in the traditions: Al-Wahhab: The Constant Bestower of Gifts “O Dawud [David], remind people of my favors upon them, be- cause the hearts are inclined to love those that do good to it and Think of the last time someone gave you a gift—how did you feel? detest those that do bad to it.” A feeling of joy, love, of being special to the person from whom you received the gift, and sometimes a bit of shame if you feel you Who do you give gifts to? In general, you give gifts to someone you didn’t deserve it. Because, in essence, a gift isn’t given in return of are thinking about and someone that you love. Sometimes we give anything. gifts to endear people to us. So think about what that means when Allah (swt) gives you a gift. One of Allah’s Beautiful Names is al-Wahhab. The root of this word Some of us may be thinking, “But I am so far from Allah. Why is hiba, which means a gift. And because Allah (swt) is al-Wahhab, would He give me gifts out of love?” Subhan Allah (Glory to it means that He not only gives gifts once or twice, but He con- God)—our Lord is greater than we imagine. He gives us gifts so stantly does so. Allah (swt) tells us in the Qur’an: that we know that we have a God who does not forget about His “Or do they have the depositories of the mercy of your Lord, the Exalt- creation—even when they fall astray. He gives us gifts as a remind- er so that we can come close to Him. ed in Might, the Bestower?” (Qur’an, 38:9) Do you want to be a recipient of al-Wahhab? So how do we know when Allah (swt) has given us a gift? Rizq (sustenance) is written for us, but we have to work for it. So if in the course of our efforts, we earn $1 million, that is rizq that Allah We are all recipients of the many gifts of Allah (swt). Out of the (swt) had ordained for us. Hiba, on the other hand, is just that—a 6 billion people in this world, He chose you to be of the ummah gift that was not conditioned upon your efforts.