Atrributes of Allah SWT
Today’s reminder is about the attributes of Allah SWT.
Dear brothers and sisters, believing in Allah SWT names or attributes as they are sometimes called, is one of the parts of believing in the oneness of Allah SWT.
In fact, it is said that you cannot worship Allah SWT fully unless this concept is understood fully.
The meaning of believing in the names or attributes of Allah SWT is to confirm what has been revealed to us by Allah SWT through the glorious Quran or through the sayings of the Prophet Muhammed SAWS. It also means that we discount any attributes that contradict these that have been revealed and it means to keep their meanings unaltered and avoid explaining them incorrectly or worse still, denying their existence.
We have introduced this topic in other reminders before but to recap, the 99 attributes or names of Allah SWT are given to us for a reason. The reason behind this is so that we are able to formulate an accurate and precise understanding of Allah SWT.
As magnificent as the name Allah SWT is, without these 99 attributes of Allah SWT, we would not be able to benefit from knowing that he is also the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Overseer and the Superior just to name a few.
And one of the exercises that was mentioned in a previous reminder was to ask ourselves, how many of us can list 99 attributes about ourselves? After all, no creation knows us better than we know ourselves and yet most of us would struggle with just half that number of attributes about ourselves.
Allah SWT therefore provides us with a comprehensive means to understanding who our Creator actually is. By looking into each and every attribute, both individually and then as a collective, we are able to comprehend the true magnificence of our Creator.
The imam reminded us of a hadith in which the prophet SAWS said:
Allah has 99 names, i.e. one-hundred minus one and whoever knows them will go to Paradise.
Dear brothers and sisters, we can interpret this as literal and therefore all we need to do is to memorize 99 names and voila, we’ve done it in life. Allah SWT is all merciful and we pray that this is enough but scholars state that it is more than just memorizing the names.
In fact, the act of knowing the 99 names is both knowing the name and understanding its meaning in relation to us.
For example, we know that Al-Rahman is a name or attribute of Allah SWT. But the deep spiritual connection with this name comes from understanding the translation behind the name and the rich meaning of the word according to the scholars of Islam.
The same goes for the other names or attributes. True memorization and understanding of the names means that we talk to Allah SWT with those names.
The imam reminded us of the following passage from the Quran. Sura Al-Araf, ayat 180 is translated to say:
And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them. And leave the company of those who practice deviation concerning His names. They will be recompensed for what they have been doing.
Dear brothers and sisters, we are encouraged by Allah SWT to call upon Him with his names or attributes. All of us have desires, wants or worries. All of us, when sincerely in dua or supplication are asking of Him. Why not follow the Sunnah and use the correct attribute associated with what you are asking Him of?
The imam reminded us of the following hadith in which the Prophet SAWS would say the following dua when a matter distressed him:
“O Living, O Self-Sustaining Sustainer, In your mercy I do seek relief”
Dear brothers and sisters, if you look at this, the translation does not begin with O Allah. This is because the Prophet SAWS, in this action, is teaching us the best of lessons in that He SAWS is calling Allah SWT in relation to what is being requested of Him.
We need to also follow in the footsteps of the best of creation SAWS, and get into the practice of using the correct attributes for the requests we make in dua or supplication.
Dear brothers and sisters, we are aware of the blessing of supplication and we are aware of the need to know Allah SWT and His attributes. Lets use todays reminder and the forthcoming month of Ramadan to put this lesson into our action plan in the holy month coming up.
Just studying and memorizing 4 names a day will have us accomplishing this task with nearly a week to spare. Just imagine the depth from which you will be able to communicate with your Creator by investigating a small amount of time and effort into an already blessed month. And by doing so, we can aim to be of those who are promised Paradise for this blessed achievement.
Read MoreOneness of Allah SWT
Dear brothers and sisters, we have discussed this topic before and the oneness of Allah SWT is a foundation of our belief. However, in today’s reminder, the topic is expanded further into three sections.
The first is how the Oneness of Allah SWT is in relation to the one who is worshipped, the second is the meaning of Allah in that who sustains and finally it is on the attributes of Allah SWT which are mentioned in the Quran.
The first part is in relation to one who must be worshipped. The imam mentioned the 21st ayat of Sura Baqara which is translated to say:
O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous –
Dear brothers and sisters, if we analyse the first point then we are being told that through worship of Allah SWT we will become righteous.
Could it be that one can demonstrate righteousness in any other way? Of course this is possible. After all, we live in a society where the majority do not worship Allah SWT. And yet they show examples of righteous behaviour.
So what can we learn from this ayat? One of the lessons here is that the definition of what is righteous or what is deemed as good behaviour comes also from Allah SWT, the Creator and not the creation.
When we take the Creator and what He defines as righteous then we not only demonstrate we are worshipping Him but we are also contributing to a stable society and way of living.
For example, if tomorrow the act of stealing became lawful. The media, teachers, neighbours, friends etc all started saying stealing is absolutely fine. On top of that those who steal began to be praised by the media and revered in our society and those who didn’t steal were picked on for being backward. How would be react?
It’s a silly example but its deliberately stated to demonstrate that to put the definition of what is right, what is good in the hands of the creation is submitting to our nafs, our desires and would only lead to examples like this one which would make our society chaotic.
It makes logical sense that only the Creator can ever set the guidelines on what is right and wrong. It is only through following His commandments that we become righteous and good. And by doing so we not only function as He made us to function but we demonstrate worship of Him by following his commandments.
Second point made by the imam was of Allah SWT being one who sustains. The imam mentioned the following ayat 95 from Sura Al-Anam which is translated to say:
Indeed, Allah is the cleaver of grain and date seeds. He brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living. That is Allah ; so how are you deluded?
Dear brothers and sisters, if we analyse this ayat it is warning us of a delusion. An incorrect way of thinking. And what is that incorrect mindset? It is the belief that we are in charge of our sustinence. That our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing is independent of our Creator.
It seems like a simple point. After all, we here are all believers and so why could this point be relevant in today’s reminder?
It is about the practical application of this point. An example here is if one of us loses their job. We can become sad, despondent and depressed at our misfortune. This is an example of failing to rely on He who is in charge of our sustinence. We ought to use this opportunity to thank Allah SWT for our change in fortune as we ought to have faith that something better will come from this change in direction in our lives.
Another reaction to this example is the opposite behaviour. Those of us who take a job loss and plan to bounce back. Obviously this is a good reaction in theory, they brush up on their CV, start applying for new jobs etc. However, they focus their effort on the physical act of reacting to the situation. They fail to recognise that even all this positive behaviour will only manifest into a change of fortune with the permission of Allah and so they miss out on this important point.
Dear brothers and sisters, each day we are given examples in our lives of reasons to thank Allah SWT and to recognise that He is the sustainer. Let’s not forget this, regardless of how we react and thus avoid the warning of delusion mentioned earlier.
Thirdly, the oneness of Allah SWT is about the 99 names or attributes of Allah SWT. But why do we have 99 attributes?
To answer this question we need to ask ourselves, how is one introduced to someone they don’t know? For example, if I am introduced to someone for the first time, they may say my name and then say this Adeel, he is half-decent at talking in front of people. What is that doing to the other person? It’s giving them a picture of me before I have even had a chance to say hello. It’s allowing their mind to paint a picture of me and understand the kind of person I am.
Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t see Allah SWT. Not in this life. But by having 99 attributes, it is allowing us to create a complete picture of who our He is. For most of us, we can’t even list 99 characteristics to describe ourselves but in the Quran, Allah SWT is listing 99 attributes of Himself. This is so there is no ambiguity in our minds as to who our He is. By understanding them all, we paint in ourselves a perfect picture that eliminates the need to see Him. With these attributes we know exactly who Allah SWT is.
And alongside knowing the 99 names, we can then use the one that is applicable to us when talking to Him. Whether it is Al-Wali which means the protecting friend when we are feeling vulnerable to Al-Razzaq which means the sustainer when we are having money problems, there is a name or attribute for all our problems and needs.
Dear brothers and sisters, today’s reminder on Tawheed or the Oneness of Allah is focused on us opening our eyes to the blessings we have in our lives. Lets not overlook the fact that all that we have, have had and will have comes from He who is worthy of our everlasting thanks and our everlasting praise.
Read MoreOneness of Allah SWT – His Name and His Attributes
The imam spoke of three types of belief in Allah SWT’s Oneness. The first is the meaning of the word Rabb which is mentioned in the Quran, the second is the meaning of Allah which again we will expand upon and finally it is on the attributes of Allah SWT which are mentioned in the Quran.
The first third of this reminder expands upon the meaning of Rabb. We recite this definition of God every single prayer we pray in the first Sura of the Quran and when we read it’s translation we sometimes read Owner or Master for this word.
However, this is doing a disservice as the meaning of the word Rabb isn’t just Owner. After all, we could use the word Malik to define Owner as is done later in the Sura. No, Rabb is actually a bigger, richer word in it’s meaning and so we remind ourselves what it means to say Rabb.
Rabb is someone with a complete authority. So, is it possible to be an owner but not have complete authority? Of course, for example we have a car which we may own but we don’t have complete authority over it because if we get caught speeding enough times we won’t be able to use it anymore, despite being owners of it. Rabb is both Owner and Complete Authority.
Rabb also means to ensure growth. Allah SWT is telling us as Rabb, He looks after us from birth, throughout life and even beyond this life. This is Rabb. It also means to guide, to ensure existence and to grant gifts. Our life and all that we have are gifts from Him. This complete meaning of Rabb enables us to understand the richness of this word and what we as Muslims who believe in our Rabb also believe He is capable of.
The Imam reminded us of Sura Fatir, ayat 3 which says:
Is there any creator other than Allah who provides for you from the heaven and earth? There is no deity except Him, so how are you deluded?
The second part of today’s reminder is about the word Allah. How does this differ? To answer this is to first talk about the word itself as it is open to discussion amongst the scholars. Some say that the word Allah has always been the name from before mankind. Others say it is the word that is derived from Al-Ilah.
Quick explanation of this. Al meaning The and Ilah meaning someone to be worshipped. Therefore Allah being The One to be Worshipped, i.e. just the word Allah SWT is the definition of there is no-one else to be worshipped.
But looking at it from another perspective tells us, Ilah comes from the root verb in Arabic that is Aliha which means love. And there’s an interesting point worth making here.
Before Islam, old Arabs used to have 10 degrees of Love. The lowest level was called Hubb and the highest level of love was that which killed you, the type of obsessive love that makes psychos out of people, an unhealthy love.
However, the 9th degree, the highest healthy level was called Yallah or Allah and it is from which Ilah comes from. This kind of love is the kind that when you have it you don’t feel pain, you don’t feel sadness.
Therefore by saying Bismillah then, we are expressing our love for our Creator and acknowledging that if we truly love Allah SWT then all of our problems are going to feel like nothing.
Dear brothers and sisters, we all have problems, problems with family money, legal, health, career and study. Some people even get anxiety as they are always thinking of their problems.
However, we ought to remind ourselves that when we call on Allah SWT by saying Bismillah Al-Rahman, Al-Raheem, that Allah SWT will remove this tension from us. It will be replaced by the reliance on Allah SWT and the problems will get sorted and everything will be OK.
You see, we know that Bismillah is said at the start of suras in the Quran. But in the story of Sulaiman, it is used in the middle. The story itself is outside of today’s reminder but to summarize the Prophet Sulaiman is going to transfer the throne of a Queen thousands of miles away in the blink of an eye. And the bit that is key is that it says “This is because of Bismillah” i.e. this is what Bismillah can do.
Dear brothers and sisters, what is the lesson here? It is that if that is what the reciting of the name of Allah can do in the blink of an eye, then imagine what it can do for you and me. It means we have no reason to ever be pessimist as we have been gifted this from our Creator.
Thirdly, the oneness of Allah SWT is about the 99 names or attributes of Allah SWT. But why do we have 99 attributes?
To answer this question we need to ask ourselves, how is one introduced to someone they don’t know? For example, if I am introduced to someone for the first time, they may say my name and then say this Adeel, he is half-decent at talking in front of people. What is that doing to the other person? It’s giving them a picture of me before I have even had a chance to say hello. It’s allowing their mind to paint a picture of me and understand the kind of person I am.
We can’t see Allah SWT. Not in this life. But by having 99 attributes, it is allowing us to create a complete picture of who our He is. For most of us, we can’t even list 99 characteristics to describe ourselves but in the Quran, Allah SWT is listing 99 attributes of Himself. This is so there is no ambiguity in our minds as to who our He is. By understanding them all, we paint in ourselves a perfect picture that eliminates the need to see Him. With these attributes we know exactly who Allah SWT is.
And alongside knowing the 99 names, we can then use the one that is applicable to us when talknig to Him. Whether it is Al-Wali which means the protecting friend when we are feeling vulnerable to Al-Razzaq which means the sustainer when we are having money problems, there is a name or attribute for all our problems and needs.
Dear brothers and sisters, today’s reminder is the cornerstone of our lives and how we should be living it. We are equipped with the names of Allah SWT in both worshipping Him and understanding Him. Let’s reconnect to our Creator by understanding the Oneness of Allah SWT through his Name and his Attributes and be of the people who are referenced by Him in Sura Al Anam, ayat 162 which says:
Say, “Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.
May Allah enable us to understand the importance of Tawheed. May Allah SWT develop our understanding of Him in our hearts. May Allah SWT give us the ability to demonstrate this in our actions and our worship.
Ameen wal hamdullilahi rabilalameen.
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