Asma ul-Husna – The Most Beautiful Names

Asma – names
Al-Husna – the Most Beautiful Ones

“And (all) the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allâh , so call on Him by them, and leave
the company of those who belie or deny (or utter impious speech against) His Names.
They will be requited for what they used to do.” (Araf : 180)

This statement – Allah has the Asma ul-Husna is mentioned in 5 places in the Qur’aan in
different forms. He has many names which are all Husna (most beautiful).

The Prophet sallahu alayhi wa sallam taught a dua to the Sahabah in which it mentions
many of Allah’s names, (feminine):

“Allahumma innee ‘amatuka,

bintu ‘abdik, bintu amatik
Naasiyatee biyadik,
Maadhin fiyya hukmuka, ‘adlun fiyya qadhaa’uka
As alooka bikulli ismin huwa lak, sammayta bihi nafsak
aw anzaltahu fee kitabik, aw ‘allamtahu ‘ahdan min khalqik
Awista tharta bihi fee ‘ilmil-ghaibi ‘indak
An tajalal Qurana rab’eea qalbee, wa noora sadree
Wa jalaa’a huznee, wa zhahaaba hammee”

“Oh Allah! Indeed I am Your slave

Son of Your male abd (my father) and female abd (my mother)
My forehead is in Your Hand (i.e. You have control over me)
And Your Judgement upon me is assured, and Your Decree upon me is just
I ask you with every name that You have named Yourself with
Or revealed in Your Book (Quran), or taught to any of Your creation
Or kept with Yourself in the knowledge of the unseen that is with You
That You make the Quran the life of my heart, and the light of my chest
And the banisher of my sadness and the reliever of my distress.”

[Musnad Imam Ahmad]

- Dua mentions many of the names

***********************

seen meem waw – sumuw- sama’ - ism is an identification of a person – relation to

elevation – it’s what distinguishes a person (whenit’s high you can distinguish it)
waw seen meem - wasm- to brand – a name becomes your label / branding

Asm – Ism - Names

Husna – Ahsan – best, superlative of Hasan – that which is good / beautiful
That which is very good/very beautiful
Asma ul-Husna - names which are most beautiful, perfect, most majestic, glorious
Why study it?

Sunnah: ***********

Qur’aan: Know that there is no God except Him – you should know about Allah, it’s
mandatory for us to know about Allah.

When a person wants to deal with another, you find out about his name/Qunya – then you
ask about his little and great matters – all the details you want to know because you are
about to have a dealing with him. – Allah is the one who has created/provided for us- we
wish for His mercy and fear His anger. We have something between Allah and us,
therefore it is imperative that we know His names and their meanings as well. He is our
Khaliq, Malik, He gives us risq, we expect His mercy and fear His anger, so we should
know what pleases Him, what disbliepalise him, what brings mercy and averts anger. We
have to know about Allah, and the way in which to know about Allah is through His
names.

*******

Can you love what you don’t know about? – So in order to love Allah we have to know
Him. Tawheed Asma was-Sifat is a major part of Aqeedah.

We have to know the names to have Allah’s Ma’rifa – and can only by done by His
Speech and His names/Attributes because his names describe Him.

hashr – don’t those people who forgot about Allah and as a result Allah made them forget
themselves

They didn’t know about Allah, they had no interest in knowing, or if they did know they
ignored Him. The names of Allah tell us who Allah is and remind us about Allah.

Someone comes to you and does Gheebah – you know He’s listening and He knows
reality and the haqq and how you going to be called to account, the names tell about
Allah and remind about Allah as well. And if we don’t know and we ignore Allah – we
forget ourselves. A person doesn’t know Allah has no taqwa – thus he wont care what
goes in his record of deeds. The names make us to take care of ourselves, reminds that we
have a hereafter to go to, and an account is taken. It tells us about our reality and teaches
us. It shows how insignificant we are and how depended we are of Allah by His names.

One who is ignorant of Allah’s name is ignorant of everything.

How many names does Allah have? - 99 Names

Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah said, "Allah has ninety-nine names,
one hundred less one. Whoever ahsaha will enter Paradise. (Recorded by al-Bukhari and
Muslim)

- Nobody who memorizes and guards in mind and heart except enter paradise
ahsaaha – ha suad ya – enumerate - person who learns them / memorizes them will enter
Jannah
 - hasa intellect/understanding (dictionary) – whoever understood the names – is it
just the one who has a good knowledge of it, what it says in Quran or Sunnah? –
No, it must be followed by actions –understand & act

When one knows Allah hears the Dua’ then one who makes dua should know that

Acting has 2 aspects:

1. Do what is required of you – on your part if Allah has this attribute what should
we do? - acting on it – ex: if He is as-Samee’ then we should make dua to Him
2. Emulate them as well – be merciful ourselves (not all of the names but some of
them)
3. Make dua to Allah through through them (fa’duhu biha)

Why 99? Why not 1 or 10 – because that which is special has a lot of names

Qur’aan/ Prophet sallahu alayhi wa sallam / Jannah – has many names

Allah is the most special so He has many names – and each name is perfect and describes
Him and tells us about Him.

Which are these 99 names? – They have not been found in a list form in
Qur’aan/Sunnah – except a weak Hadith (some of which are not correct), but the names
are found in the Qur’aan and Sunnah (but no list form)

Lists we usually see are based on the Hadith but some are not authentic: ex: Ad-daar – the
one who Harms a lot - the name is not correct, we know Durr is from Him, but that does
not mean it is His name

Scholars have studied Qur’aan and Sunnah set up rules for deriving names of Allah. One
said that every name that starts with “Al” – details/lists have been made.

Some of the names are very similar – so when studying we will see different forms. Some
scholars put them together, while others separate them.

Rules we must know about when learning about Allah:

Tawheed Asma was-Sifat – A person believes in his names/attributes as Allah has stated
in His book or through His messenger – also in the way He has intended. We take it on
the surface – we do not go into the details ex: as-Sami’ means He has an ear – No we
don’t go into details!

We take how Allah said in Qur’aan or the Prophet sallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned in
his Sunnah – also we cannot compare His name with anything else, like Al-Aleem –
comparing that with someone else who knows, humans /otherwise – we don’t strike any
comparisons

Ash-Shafii’ – “I believe in Allah and in what has come from Allah, how Allah has
intended, (no interpretations as to how) I believe in the Messenger of Allah and what has
come from the Messenger of Allah, how the Prophet of Allah intended”
Don’t need to say anything because you don’t know about it. Delving into these details
leads to shirk at times.
Imam ash-shawkayti – “Know that indeed delving into the names of Allah (how does
Allah see, how does he hear, how much knowledge does he have – going into details) –
this is an argument and debate in them- and asking too many questions on His names is
bid’ah (innovation) – the salaf did not like this

Imam Malik – when a man came to him and asked him how Allah ‘iswtiwa ‘alal arsh”

He replied, “Al-istiwa ma’loom (we know Allah rose above His arsh) – wal-kayfiya
majhoom (the how-ness of it we do not know - the same with every sifa of Allah. We are
unaware of the how-ness and we have to take and believe in it as it is) – was-uala’u anhu
bi’dah (questioning on this is bid’ah)

3 Rules when studying the Names of Allah –

1. Each name of Allah - He is not similar to His Khalq – even though the names
meaning is like that it doesn’t mean He’s like a human who knows, hears, sees,
knows
a. Shura – “laysa ka milthilihi shay – there is none like Him”
b. Nahl – “do not strike examples for Allah”
2. We believe in what Allah has described Himself as – As it is, and how the Prophet
sallahu alayhi wa sallam described Him as,
a. Allah knew best about Himself
b. The Prophet sallahu alayhi wa sallam was told everything from Allah
3. We must cut off the hope of fully comprehending the name of Allah – we cannot
know in complete detail
a. Ta-Ha – “they do not encompass Him in knowledge”

- Of the opinions that Allah does not just have 99 names

Benefits of knowing the names of Allah

1. Main benefit: You get Allah’s ma’rifah – you get to know Allah properly. Is there a
reason to know about Him? Or is it ok to just believe He is one? - Sometimes a person
feels that they are not affected by the Qur’aan, or in Salaah we are distracted, or we hear
a Hukm and we don’t obey it – because we don’t know Allah as we should know Him.

2. It’s one of the ways to entering Jannah

We will start studying from surah Hashr: 22-24

First three Names: Allah, Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem.

Allah

This is Ismul Jalaalah, Allah’s Grand Name. His Personal Name. His
Identifying Name. This Name only belongs to Allah. Allah is the Title of
the One True Ilaah. There is no plural, there is no feminine. This Name
appears more than 2000 times in the Qur’an. The root a-li-ha is
mentioned many times. Lafdhul Jalaalah, is used when to describe the
Name “Allah” linguistically. There are 4 opinions of the linguistic
meaning of lafdhul Jalaalah:
1. It is Allah’s Proper Name and it is not derived from any root, and
has no meaning to it. This opinion is the minority opinion.
2. It comes from hamza-laam-ha, and the verb from the root is a-li-
ha and it means to astonish, surprise and amaze someone. So
Allah is the One who Astonishes and Amazes His Creation. How?
Firstly through His Attributes, He is Ar Rahmaan, and Al Azeez
and Al Jabbaar at the same time. When you know about the
Names and Attributes, you are astonished and impressed.
Another way is through His creation. Also, He amazes through His
Decisions, Words, Ahkaam, Actions and Planning for us, when
things link up together and there are coincidences. When we
practice the ahkaam, we realize how much benefit there is in
them. Truly He is the One who should be submitted too.
3. The third meaning is that it is from the same root, hamza laam
ha, and the noun is al-la-ha (not li as the second opinion) and it
means to worship, be humble and show dedication to someone.
Allah is Ma’looh, One who is shown dedication too, One who
everyone is humble too, One who is worshipped. (When Allah
created the heavens and the earth, Allah said come: tau’an aw
karhan) Al-Mulku yauma ithin lir-Rahman. Allah is the Only One
we should show humbleness too, we should be ‘ebaad to Allah.
Ayah in surah Furqan: those who take their desires as their ilaah.
It meant that they gave their desires the utmost priority and
everything else became unimportant and secondary. It became
what they loved and feared the most. Allah is the One we should
love most, fear most and give the most importance too.
According to some linguists (author of sibawyh) this opinion is
the strongest. When you attach al with ilaah, you get Allah, The
One Only Worthy of worship. Even His Name has tawheed in it.
4. This word is from wow-laam-ha, the noun wilaah comes. Wilaah
means to turn to for protection. Allah is the One Whom everyone
turns to for help and protection. The One whose help and
assistance is sought by the creation. This teaches us in times of
difficulty and hardship, we turn to Allah azza wa jal.
Ismul Allahil ‘Adham: mentioned in hadeeth in Sunan Tirmidhi
(saheeh): "To Allah belongs a Grand Name, that, if you make du'a with
it, it will be responded to. And if you plead or request with it, it shall be
answered." Several opinions on what this Name is. Majority of opinions
say it is the Name “Allah” itself. When a person makes duaa through
this Name, it will be responded too.

Ar-Rahman: The Entirely Merciful, Ar-Raheem: The Especially

Merciful

Root is Ra-ha-meem, these names are similar so they require a parallel

explanation. What is Rahmah? In the dictionary it means: ar-rifqa wa
ta’attu, compassion, kindness and gentleness. Ar-Rahman and Ar-
Raheem, The One who has a lot of Rahmah, He expresses a lot of
Rahmah. There are two Names of Allah with the same root, to
emphasize that Allah is really the MOST Merciful.

Ar-Rahman is structure of fa’laan, Ar-Raheem is structure of fa’eel.

They both have mubaalagah. Rahman is more mubaalagah than
Raheem. Rahmaan indicicates the One who has extensive and great
mercy. Ar Raheem has extensive and great mercy but He expresses it
on the ones whom He chooses. Ar-Rahman extends to all of His
creation, and Ar-Raheem extends to Allah’s special mercy only for the
believers.
20: 5  Ar Rahman ‘alal ‘arsh istawaa’. Shows Mercy towards all.
55:1-5 Ar Rahman, ‘alamal Qur’an, khalaqal insaan. This mercy is not
just for the believers, but for everyone (insaan).
33:43 wa kaana bil mu’mineena raheema. One who is especially
merciful to the believers.
2:37 Innahu huwa at-Tawwaabur Raheem. Tawwaab is for those who
turn to Allah, ie the believers.

Combinations of these Names:

First example, the basmalah, and second verse of Fatihah. They appear
together to express a lot of Mercy.

Ar-Raheem with other Names:

At-Tawwaab, Ar-Raouf, Ghafoor, Al-Azeez.

Ar-Rahman
Appeared many times in surah Maryam and Furqan. Why so many
times? These surahs were makkee surahs and they were introductions
to the deen, so one of the first ways of how Allah Introduces Himself is
by the attribute of Rahmah, that is why the Qur’an opens up with these
Attributes as well (Basmalah and Fatihah). Allah is Ready to accept
people and forgive people. Of the first ways to introduce Allah ta’ala in
da’wah is by His Mercy. For the believers, they should remember His
Mercy then they should astain from wrong actions. Think: ‘If Allah is SO
Merciful to me, why should I disobey Him and do wrong? Allah is so
Rahman and I am so disobedient.’ The siffah of Rahman and Raheem
remind the believers that they should remain firm on Allah’s
Obedience.
Hadeeth in Bukhari: Allah’s Mercy has 100 parts. There are 99 parts for
the hereafter. (Verily Allah created Mercy. The day He created it, He
made it into one hundred parts. He withheld with Him ninety-nine
parts, and sent its one part to all His creatures.) 23:108 Allah will say
to the disbelievers: do not even speak to Me. Why? Because they do
not deserve the rahmah of Allah. They did not benefit from His Mercy
in this dunya, so they do not receive in the aakhirah. To benefit is not
to just receive it in this dunya, but to accept the guidance and stay
away from disobedience.

Rahmah in the Qur’an

 Creation of mankind is Rahmah (55:1-3)
 The knowledge of Qur’an is His Great Mercy, expression of His
Kindness if He gives this knowledge to someone. (55:1-2)
 The revelation of the Qur’an (16:89) hudan, wa rahmatan, wa
bushraa lil mu’mineen.
 Jannah is Rahmah. Hadeeth Qudsi in Bukhari, Allah will say to
Jannah: anta rahmatee, you are My Mercy.(So Allah said to
paradise, 'You are My Mercy,' and said to Hell, 'You are My
Punishment which I inflict upon whom I wish, and I shall fill both
of you.'")

How do we get Allah’s special Mercy? (Raheem)

 Obedience to Allah and His Messenger. 3:132 wa ‘attee ul Allah
war Rasool la’alkum turhamoon.
 Taqwa of Allah ta’ala, fear and consciousness of Allah. 6:155
wattaqoo la’alakum turhamoon. 7:156 wa rahmatee wasiat kuli
shayy, fa sa aktubuhaa lil latheena yataqoon. I will Write it for
those who have taqwa.
 Doing ihsaan towards Allah and the creation. 7:156 inna
rahmat Allahi qareebun min al muhsineen
 Having rahmah towards the creation of Allah. Hadeeth in Musnad
Ahmad: irhamoo turhamoon, waghfiroo yaghfirullahu lakum.

Note: some of the Names of Allah are restricted to Allah only, like Allah,
Rahman, Khaaliq, Raaziq/Razzaaq, but Raheem, Ra’oof is allowed to be
given as a name because Allah calls the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa
sallam as Ra’oof and Raheem.

Tomorrow: Malik, Al-Quddoos, As-Salaam, Al-Mu’min.

Malik
Allah has three Names that are similar to Malik: Maleek and Maalik. The
meaning for all three names is: One who possesses the attribute of
mulk. What is Mulk? Kingdom, dominion, power, authority..has three
meanings:
1) possession and ownership (Mulk as samawaati wal ardh)
2) Control and authority (lakum al mulkul yaum)
3) Ability and power (la yamlikoona lakum)

Words for the same root:

Milaak used for marriage, one person will have authority over the
other. He does not own her but he has a degree above her.
Maalik used for an owner, when they possess something.
Malik used for a king, he possesses and has authority.

These three names show different levels of authority, power and

ownership.

Malik is the One who executes His command in His possession. Every
malik is not able to execute their amr. Malik is the one who owns and
also has authority and command. The one to whom the amr and nahy
belong too. Only Allah has the power to command and forbid, He has
the action and the word (kun, fa yakoon). According to ibn Qayyim,
Malik is the One who rules by His fi’l, words, command and the One
who gives the hukm.

These three names from the Qur’an and Sunnah

Al Malik  appears in the Qur’an 11 times and 5 times it was used for
Allah azza wa jal. Ex: 20:114: fa ta’aala Allahul maalikul Haqq 23:118:
fa ta’aala Allahul Malikul Haqq.
Al-Maleek  only once, 54: 55 : ‘inda maleekin muqtadir.
Al-Maalik  not mentioned in the Qur’an, but used in a sunan duaa in
Bukhari, La Maalik il Allah. How about surah Fatihah? Maaliki yaumid
deen? When the Name of Allah is used in a mudhaf case (meaning
blank OF something, Maalik OF yaumid deen)

Malik and Maleek have the similar meanings, Sovereign, King. The
different one is Maalik. What is the difference between Malik and
Maalik? Maalik is just the owner, and Malik is the one who owns and
executes his command. For example, one can be a maalik of their
house but they cannot control how much the bills are. Al Malik is the
One with Supreme Authority whose Command is executed.

Allah is The Malik, The Maalik and The Maleek, what does this mean? It
means Allah is One of Incomparable Greatness. No one is like Him in
His Greatness, He is Al Malikul Haqq. He is the One who possesses the
absolute disposal of affairs. He can command, make, and do whatever
He Wants. It also means that Allah ta’ala gives Mulk to whoever He
wants, because Mulk belongs to Him.
What should we know about Allah ta’ala from these names?
1. There is no Maalik except Allah ta’ala. From the hadeeth, La
Maalik il Allah and from the ayah 3:26: You Give kingdom to
Whom You will and take it away (tanzi’u) from whom You will. He
is Maalik al Mulk. In His Hand is the Power.
2. He does whatever He wants. 36:82: kun fa yakoon. He doesn’t
even have to explain the command, just ‘be’ and it is. Example,
2:66 : Allah ta’ala
3. Allah the kings and all the owners are humble in the sight of
Allah and they are lower. No matter how great a king may be, like
Dhul Qarnayn or Sulayman alayhi sallam—whether just or unjust,
they are humbled and lowly compared to Allah. The unjust
owners will be the worst on the Day of Judgment. Even the
owners of animals will be punished if unjust (lady who owned the
cat who did not feed it). This shows us that if a person is maalik
in one way or another, they will be accountable for what he owns
and what he is responsible for, but only Allah ta’ala will not be
accountable, He is the Just. In a hadeeth in saheeh Bukhari
narrated by Abu Hurayrah radi Allahu anhu, Allah ta’ala will hold
the earth on the Day of Judgment and He will roll up the skies in
His Right Hand and He will say, ‘an al Malik’, I am the King, ‘ayn
almuluk al ardh?’, where are the kings of the earth? No one will
speak, because Allah ta’ala is THE King on that day. All the kings
of earth will be humbled on the Day of Judgment near Allah azza
wa jal.
4. Prohibition of naming yourself great names. Only Allah is Al
Malik, Maalik and Maleek. Hadeeth in Saheeh Bukhari, the worst
name near Allah ta’ala on the Day of Judgment is one named:
Maalikul Mulk, King of Kings. According to Ibn Hajr, he says: from
this we learn it is haraam to name oneself or others with these
names. It does not befit a human being to call oneself with this
name.
5. We should be humble in front of The King. Anyone who realizes
that Allah is Malikul Haqq, they can only be humbled in front of
Allah, he will not raise himself above the level of an ‘abd. He will
consider himself as an ‘abd, which is why the Prophet sal Allahu
alayhi wa sallam was called ‘abd many times in the Qur’an. In a
hadeeth in Musnad Ahmad, Rasul Allah sal Allahu alayhi wa
sallam chose to be an ‘abd over a king. A’ishah radi Allahu anha
narrated after this that he never even ate reclining. The Prophet
sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam used to say, ana a’kulu kama ya’kulul
abd, wa ana ajlisu kama yajlisul abd, I eat as a slave eats and I
sit as a slave sits. So this shows us that humility is not just in the
heart, but also in a person’s posture and body language. How do
the ebaadur Rahman (surah Furqan) walk? Hawnan, humbly and
gently.
6. Every owner/king has his own space. I.e., they have their own
limitations that no one should trespass, or do anything that
 would degrade, insult or disrespect him in anyway. We learn this
from a hadeeth in Bukhari and Muslim (one of the 40 hadeeth),
the halaal is clear and the haraam is clear… like the one who
grazes his animals near the himaa’. (the himaa’ is the grounds
that a king has set aside only for his animals, the kings private
property) Then the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said,
every king has a himaa’ and the himaa’ of Allah is what He has
prohibited. So if we commit that which is haraam, we will be
accountable for it, but we must also remember that this is
disrespect to Allah and it does not befit a slave to disrespect his
Master in any way. This teaches us that we must remain within
our bounds, so when Allah is Malik, we should remain as a
servant near Allah and not do anything that he does not approve
us.
7. Making duaa to Allah by this Name. There is a hadeeth in Bukhari
and Muslim, whoever says: la ilaha il Allahu waHadu, la shareeka
lahu, lahul Mulk, wa lahul Hamdu, wa huwa ‘alaa kuli shayyin
Qadeer, 100 times he will receive the reward of freeing ten
slaves.

Al-Quddoos

Al-Quddoos has two meanings linguistically. It is on the structure of

fu’ool, a form of mubaalagah. The One who is Very Pure, Absolutely
Pure, He is far and above anything that does not befit Him.
1. Qaf-daal-seen: quds, from taharah. The verb qadasa is from the
same root and it is used for the movement of a bucket. Why is it
called qadasa? Because from the bucket that has water, you will
obtain purity and cleanliness. Taqdees means taTheer, to purify
and wash. taTheer is the highest form of cleanliness. There are
three levels of cleanliness (as shown in the sunnah duaa):
a. Distancing (O Allah, distance me and my sins as between
the east and west) Moving far away from dirt. Remove from
‘ayb.
b. Remove Dirt/Filth (kama yunaqa-thawbul abyadu min ad
danas) To remove the dirt, and make the place clear and
empty of anything that is not clean. No naqs (fault)
remains.
c. Washing (waghsilnee min khatayaa’ bil maa’I wa thalji wal
barad) What’s the purpose of washing at the end? So that
there is absolutely nothing that remains that is unpure. So
at the end you have something pure and clean.
The angels said to Allah azza wa jal: 2:30, wa nahnu nasabbihu
laka wa nuqaddisu lak. According to Zujaaj, this ayah means:
nuTahiru anfusana lak, we purify ourselves for You. What does
that mean? There is no feeling of shirk in our hearts for You, no
bad thought about You. This is why Baitul Maqdis is Baitul
MuTahhar, when you go there, your sins are removed. According
to, Farra’, another linguistic, Ardhul Muqaddasah means Ardhul
 Taahirah, land that is pure and clean. Similarly, Rooh al Quddus,
Angel Jibreel. Why is he called Rooh al Quddus? He was made
from purity and cleanliness. Also because he brings down the
Quddus from Allah, the Qur’an, and through the Qur’an we clean
ourselves, our character, our actions, and our intentions.
2. Second meaning is Barakah. Ardhul Muqaddasah also means
Ardhul Mubaarakah, 17:1 il al masjid al aqsaa: al-latee
baaraknaa hawlahu. So with this meaning, Al Quddoos means:
The One who is Blessed, the One who is the Source of All Good,
The One with a lot of Khayr. This root means, to be or go far
away. So Allah ta’ala is far from any impurity or imperfection. The
root Qaf-daal-seen (not the Name, just the root) appears 10
times in the Qur’an: for Allah azza wa jal, for angel Jibreel and for
Ardhal Muqaddasah. The Name Al Quddoos appears twice in the
Qur’an. (Hashr :23, Jumu’ah: 1)

Statements of the Scholars

 Ibnul Qayyim states Al Quddoos means the One who is Free from
and Above any sharr (evil), any naqs (deficieny) and any ‘ayb
(fault). In other words, He is High Above what does not befit Him.
He is THE Pure One. He doesn’t have any deficiency or fault.
 Ibn Katheer states Al Quddoos means the One free from any
naqaa’is (deficiences). He also says Al Quddoos refers to the One
who is attributed with the attributes of Perfection, for example:
the attribute of Ihsan, of Knowledge, of Creation.
 Al Bayhaqi states Al Quddoos is the One who is Taahir, and
Uluww. The One who is Pure from having any children or
partners.
 To summarize: He is the One who is far from any imperfection,
error, fault, shortcoming and far from everything that is
derogatory.

When we look at Allah ta’ala as Al Quddoos, what does it entail?

 He is Free for the fault of shirk, or having any shareek. He is
Perfect. Who needs a partner? The one who needs help and
cannot manage himself. Allah says in the Qur’an: Allahu laa
ilaha ila Huwa, no one but Him.
 He is Free from having any spouse or child.
 He is Free from death. He does not die, He does not sleep. The
creation sleeps for energy and due to tiredness, all of creation
will die. Furqan: 58  wa tawakal ‘al Al Hayyil lathee laa
yamoot. 55: 26-27 kulu man ‘alayhaa faan, Wa yabqaa
wajhu Rabbika dhul jalaali wal ikraam. Allah is free from the
fault of sleep, of dying and of perishing. There is a hadeeth in
Saheeh Muslim that states: inAllaha laa yanaamu, indeed
Allah does not sleep, wa la yantahu lahu an yanaam, and it
does not befit Him that He sleeps. Ayatul Kursi sleep nor
 slumber over takes Him. So if He is Al Quddoos, He does not
get tired, He does not need to sleep, He does not need to die
—He is free from these faults.
 He is Free from committing dhulm or injustice. When do
people commit dhulm? When they are overcome by their
desires and wishes. Allah is Quddoos, even if people do dhulm
to Him, He does not do dhulm on people. In a hadeeth Qudsi
in Saheeh Muslim (one of the 40 hadeeth): ya ebaadi, innee
haramatu dhulmu alaa nafsee, wa ja’latahu baynakum
muharraman, falaa tudhaalimoo. O My servants, I have made
dhulm haraam upon Myself, and I have made it haraam for
you all, so do not commit dhulm. Suratun Nisaa:40 InnAllah
la yadhlimu mithqaala dharratin, Allah does not wrong a
person even to the amount of an atom’s weight, wa in taku
hasanatan yudaa’ifha, and if there is a good deed, He
multiplies it (He does so much good, so much ihsaan, because
He is Al Quddoos, if there is one small good deed, He
multiplies it) wa yu’tee min ladunhu ajran adheema, and He
gives from Himself a great reward.
 He is Free from lying. He is so Pure, He does not lie, or say
anything that is untrue. Suratun Nisaa:8  wa man asdaqu
min Allahi hadeetha, and who is truer than Allah in narration?
Suratun Nisaa:122 wa’dAllahi haqqan, wa man asdaqu min
Allahi qeela, this is a promise on Allah that is true, and who is
more truthful than Allah in speech?
 He is Free from dhalaal or nisyaan. He does not forget or make
a mistake. Those who have faults and are imperfect forget
and make mistakes. What is the proof? When Fir’awn asked
Musa alayhi sallam about the previous nations in surah Taha,
he said: la yadhillu Rabbee wa la yansaa, Allah does not make
a mistake and He does not forget.
 He is Free from faqr and bukhl. What is the proof? Allah says
in Ma’idah: 64 The jews say Allah’s Hands are tied (ie,
bukhl), but Allah responds: bal yadaahu mabsootataan, rather
His Hands are Spread, yunfiqu kayfa yashaa, He spends
however He wills. Another proof: lahu Mulk as samawaati wal
ardh, for Him is the Sovereignty of the heavens and earth…
how can the One who owns the heavens and the earth be
poor? In the hadeeth Qudsi, if all man and jinn asked Allah for
every wish, it would not reduce His kingdom. Another hadeeth
in Bukhari states: yadullahi mal’a, Allah’s Hands are Full, Allah
spends during the night and day, but it does not reduce His
Wealth. In another hadeeth, the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa
sallam said, have you seen all that Allah has spent since the
creation of the heavens and the earth? Allah’s Spending does
not reduce His Wealth, He is So Rich, He is free from the fault
of running out of His Wealth…He is Al Quddoos, He is free
from the fault of being poor or being stingy.
  He is Free from having a shabeeh, one who is similar to Him.
Allah is free from this imperfection. None is like Him, in
anyway. Allah says in surah Maryam: hal ta’lamu lahu
samiyya, do you know anyone who is like Allah? In Surah
Shura: laysa kamithlihi shayy’un, there is nothing like unto
Him. In surah Ikhlaas: wa lam yakulahu kuffuwan ahad, and
there is no one who is like Him.

What are we supposed to do now, if Allah is Al Quddoos? This is a

quality we should try and emulate, how? If Allah is the Pure, and His
Kalaam is Pure, how should our hearts be? Dirty? Filthy? Should we be
unclean in our body, in our actions, in our intentions, in our ‘aqeedah?
If Allah is Al Quddoos and everything that comes from His is Pure, the
first requirement is:
a. ‘Aqeedah We must have the right tawheed and the right
emaan. In a hadeeth in Bukhari, Abu Hurayrah radi Allahu
anhu narrates that someone asked the Prophet sal Allahu
alayhi wa sallam which action is the best? And he replied:
emaan billahi wa rasoolihi. The worst sin is ascribing a
partner to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. In a hadeeth Qudsi in
Bukhari, Allah ta’ala says: The son of Adam denied Me, and
he has no right to do so. And he has insulted Me, and he
has no right to do so. And as for his right of denying Me, it
is his saying that Allah will not resurrect me. As for his
insulting Me, it is his saying that Allah has taken to Himself
a son, while I am the One, the Everlasting.
b. Having clean hearts Allah looks at our hearts, intentions
and actions. Hadeeth: Allah looks at your hearts (yathuru
ila quloobikum). Be clean from shirk, from nifaaq, from lies,
from jealousy and all such vices. Emaan in Allah is clean,
and He will only help the one who is clean. It can only be in
a qalb that is saleem, sound.
c. Clean in our actions first we should have taharah, we
should clean ourselves. InAllaha jameelun, uhibul Jamaal,
Allah is Beautiful and Loves beauty. We should do taharah
of our bodies so that we are fit to do ibaadah, because if
we are not clean we cannot pray, read Qur’an etc. Then we
have to perform salah so that we clean ourselves from the
past sins. Proof? The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam
asked the sahaba, if someone bathes in a river outside of
his house five times a day, will there be any impurity left
on him? This is the example of salah. Salah also prevents
from future sins, in surah Ankaboot: in as-salaata tanhaa
‘an al fahshaa’i wal munkar, indeed the salah prevents
from the indecency and evil. Also we should give zakaah. In
giving zakaah and giving sadaqah for the sake of Allah
ta’ala, Allah is Al Quddoos, He deserves that which is good.
Which is why the sahabah, when they would give sadaqah,
it was the best sadaqah they could give. A’ishah radi Allahu
 anha would clean the sadaqah she gave and perfume it,
and she would say: it goes in the Hand of Allah before it
goes in the hand of the one who is asking. Allah deserves
those actions that are pure. Our actions and intentions
should be good. In a hadeeth in Saheeh Muslim we learn:
InnAllah Tayyibun, la yaqbalu ila tayyiba, Allah is Pure and
He only accepts that which is pure.

When to Make Duaa with this Name / Duaas with this Name
1. Subhaanal Malikil Quddoos  said after witr prayer
three times.
2. Suboohun Quddoosun Rabb ul Malaa’ikati war Rooh 
said in ruku and sajdah. Subooh : the One who is Praised
a lot, Quddoos : the One who is very Pure, Rabb ul
Malaa’ikati war Rooh : Rabb of the angels and of Jibreel.
Why do we say this in ruku and sajdah? It is humility
and you acknowledge Allah’s Purity and that He is Rabb,
Rabb is Khaaliq and Maalik and it reminds you how
small we are.
3. We can also make duaa to Allah with the Name Al
Quddoos.
i. When you want barakah in your time, energy,
the second meaning of Al Quddoos is Al
Mubaarak.
ii. When you want to develop sincerity, call upon
the Pure to purify your intentions.

As Salaam
There are two meanings of the Name As Salaam:
a) The Perfection.
b) The Giver of Peace and Security.

Linguistic Meaning
When we look at the word as Salaam linguistically, salaam and
salaamah mean baraa’ah: immunity, to be free of something and to be
unblemished. According to ibn Al Arabi, salaamah means aafiyah: well
being, to be safe and good. When we look at this meaning, we see in
the Qur’an in surah Furqaan that ebaadur Rahmaan say “salaama” to
the ignorant, meaning they don’t want anything to do with their
conversation. Also, Jannah is called Dar us Salaam, it is free all grief,
death, worries, tensions, fatigues, enmities, hatred, it is a place of
safety. Also when we say “assalaamu alaykum”, it means, you are safe
from me and you will not receive any sharr from me. To summarize the
meanings of salaam:
a) to be peaceful, to be friendly , to be in a good
state
b) to be free from imperfections
c) to be safe and secure
Other words we have read from the same root:
a) saleem: a qalbun saleem is a heart that is sound, unblemished,
in a state of aafiyah (well being)
b) islaam: state of submission

Proof that Allah’s Name is As Salaam

The root of seen laam meem appears 170 times in the Qur’an. The
Name Salaam in the Qur’an appears once, end of suratul Hashr. From
the sunnah we learn the Name As Salaam: the duaa after salaah
(Allahumma anta Salaam, wa minkas Salaam, tabarakta ya dhal Jalaali
wal Ikraam)

What does it mean that Allah is As Salaam? The Scholars say:

Ibn Katheer As Salaam is the One who is Free from all imperfections
and deficiencies, because of the Perfection of His Being, of His
Attributes and His Actions. He is So Perfect, He does not have any
imperfections. For example, He is Living is free from the imperfection
of death. His Knowledge is free from the imperfection of forgetfulness.
His Attributes are free from the imperfection of being similar to any
creation. His Actions are perfect, whatever He does there is Hikmah
behind it. So to summarize the statement of ibn Katheer: As Salaam is
the One who is Perfect, He has no decificiences which is why As
Salaam has been translated as The Perfection.
Al Qurtubi As Salaam is the One who is safe from all deficiencies. He
explains as Salaam in three ways:
1) The One free from ever fault, and He is absolved of every
deficiency.
2) He gives Salaam to His ebaad in Jannah. We learn from the
Qur’an that the dwellers of paradise will be greeted with
salaam, by Allah, by the angels and by each other. In surah
Yaseen, Allah ta’ala says: salaamun qawlun min Rabbir
Raheem. People in Jannah will be told Salaam, a statement
from their Rabb, the Most Merciful.
3) The One whose creation is free from His dhulm. He keeps
His creations safe from any injustice on His part. His
creation is free from injustice from Him. (subhanAllah!)
What does this tell us? If Allah is As Salaam, there is no
way He can be unjust. Many times we read in the Qur’an:
wa ma kaana Allaha li yadhlimahum, Allah did not wrong
them by destroying them, they did dhulm on themselves.
What does this mean? In a hadeeth Qudsi, Allah ta’ala
says: Ya ebaadi, I have made oppression haraam upon
myself, and I have made it haraam between yourselves, so
do not wrong each other. So this teaches us that if we want
Allah’s Protection, we cannot do dhulm. Those who did not
receive the protection of Allah, they did not receive the
Salaam of Allah, they did dhulm: wa laakin kaanu
anfusahum yadhlimoon. What is the lesson for us? If you
want Allah’s Security and Protection do not commit dhulm
 upon yourself, upon others and upon Allah. What is dhulm
upon yourself? Committing sins. What is dhulm upon
others? Transgressing their rights. What is dhulm upon
Allah? Shirk, inn ash shirka la dhulmun ‘atheem. If we do
dhulm, we do not deserve Salaam from Allah.

The difference between Al Quddoos and As Salaam

The difference is very slight and both Names emphasize eachother. Al
Quddoos means that Allah is free from any defects in the past and in
the present, and when we say He is As Salaam, His attribute of
Perfection is eternal; meaning He is forever Perfect. Quddoos refers to
past and present and Salaam refers to future. Both of these Names
negate any imperfection and when imperfection is continually negated,
that only leaves perfection.

Connection between the words: Salaam, Muslim, Islaam

There is a connection between these words. Who is Allah’s Salaam
towards? The one who does not do dhulm upon himself and others.
Also, Allah gives Salaam to the people who get to Jannah, the people
who are Allah’s Chosen servants, they are the ones who get Allah’s
Salaam. In Suratun Naml ayah 59: qul alhamdulillah, wa salaamun
‘alaa ‘ebaadihil lathee nastafaa. Say Alhamdulillah, and there is salaam
upon Allah’s servants, those whom He has chosen. Istafaa’ is to be
chosen based on purity, so when you are pure and have purified
yourself, and made yourself saleem for Allah, you receive Allah’s
Salaam. This shows us we need to work on ourselves, clean ourselves
and be khaalis for the sake of Allah, we submit—we do Islam, and then
we get Allah’s Salaam. If we do not submit, we do not get His
protection. When the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam would offer
Islaam to others, he would say to them: itha sallamta nafsaka lillah,
salimta, when you submit yourself to Allah, you will be safe. This shows
us that when we do not submit to Allah, we will not be protected.
Lesson: submit to Allah so that you can be secure. Also we learn that
such people who get Allah’s Salaam, they will be in Dar us Salaam,
home of the peace.

Who does Allah send Salaam upon?

a) 6:54: when you meet those who believe in our ayaat, say
salaamun alaykum to them. When you believe, you receive
Allah’s security.
b) 20: 49 : was salaamu ‘alaa man ittaba al huda, salaam be
upon the one who follows the guidance. So it’s not just
believing, but follows the guidance and does the actions.
c) 25: 75 : people who are patient, the ebaadur Rahman, Allah
says they will receive gurfah bi ma sabaroo, because of their
patience they get salaam from Allah which is why you see
people who are suffering so much but they are calm, because
they have this serenity and peace inside that Allah has given
them.
 d) Also, as mentioned previously, salaam upon those people
whom Allah has chosen.

Important Note: When we say Salaam, for example, upon the Prophet,
upon the righteous people, say salaam to each other, don’t go on to
say salaam upon Allah. We do not say jazak Allah, Allah is the One who
gives jazaa’, or to say salaamu ‘al Allah, because He Himself is As
Salaam. There is a hadeeth narrated by ibn Mas’ood radi Allahu anhu
that the companions used to say: assalaamu ‘al Allah instead of at-
Tahyaatu lillahi in the tashahud. At-Tayhyaatu lillahi means Greetings
for Allah. The Prophet sal allahu alayhi wa sallam told them do not say
assalaamu ‘alal Allah because is He is Al Maalik and He is Al Mu’tee, He
is the Possessor of Salaam and He gives Salaam. He does not need
security and safety, He Himself is Salaam and Perfect. Also we learn
once that Angel Jibreel came to the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam
and said, Allah sends His Salaam to Khadijah radi Allahu anha. Her
reply was: innAllaha huwas Salaam, indeed Allah, He is Salaam, wa
‘alaa Jibreelas Salaam, and upon Jibreel be Salaam, and upon you, O
Prophet of Allah. She did not say, and salaam upon Allah.

How to make duaa by Allah’s Name as Salaam

1) We say salaam in the dhikr after salaah, Allahumma antas
Salaam, wa minkas Salaam, tabarakta ya dhal Jalaali wal Ikraam.
Why do we say this after salaah? What do you want protection,
safety and security from? From the mistakes committed during
my salaah. A salaah in which there is no khushoo’, it is struck
back on the person and not taken. So O Allah, if my salaah was
not proper, if there was anything You did not like, keep me safe
from its consequence. This is the benefit of following the sunnah,
you are secure from things that you do not even imagine. Who
would have imagined that you would suffer consequences after
praying salaah?! But the sunnah teaches us that, so we say
Allahumma antas salaam wa minkas salaam, so O Allah protect
me from the shortcomings of my salaah.
2) We can make duaa by this Name when we want security, safety
and peace. Sometimes we are very worried, very nervous, sad,
anxious, say: O Allah antas Salaam, give me security and protect
me from this. You can also say, O Salaam, give me Your Salaam
in the hereafter, and guide me to subul as Salaam. Also when
you want your heart to be saleem, ask As Salaam, and He will
give you a saleem heart.
3) We should send salaam upon eachother and upon the Prophet sal
Allahu alayhi wa sallam and upon the Prophets alayhim assalam.
In surah Saffaat, Allah mentions salaam after each prophet
(salaamun alaa nuh, salaamun alaa ibraheem, salaamun alaa
ilyaaseen), so when we hear or write their name, we should say
alayhi salaam. Note: we should write tasleem for the Prophets, if
Allah sends salaam upon them, we should as well.
Al Mu’min

There are several meanings to this Name. When we look at this Name
linguistically, it gives us two primary meanings:
1) From emaan, it means One who gives emaan. Emaan is tasdeeq:
affirmation. Mu’min is One who has emaan, One who gives
emaan and One who believes. Emaan is the opposite of
taktheeb, denial. When we have emaan in something, we affirm
that is true. In surah Yusuf, the sons of Ya’qub alayhi sallam said
to him: ‘you will not believe in us’, meaning you will not affirm
our truthfulness, even if we are truthful. Mu’min is one who
believes, gives emaan and affirms the truthfulness of something.
2) From aman, meaning safety, security and freedom from fear. The
haram is aaminan, safe and secure. Mu’min from aman would
mean: One who gives Peace, One who gives security. The
opposite of security is ikhaafah, so Mu’min is the One who
removes the fear and In surah Quraysh we learn: wa aamanahum
min khawf, He gave them security from fear. From the same root
is amaanah, so in this context Mu’min would mean one who is
ameen, faithful.
Connection between these meanings? When you have emaan, you are
at aman in dunya and aakhirah, and a person who has aamaanah,
people have emaan in him and people have aman from him.
Where this Name is mentioned:
In the Qur’an, this Name is mentioned only once, in surah Hashr :23.

If Allah is Al Mu’min, what does this mean?

1) Mujaahid rahimahullah says Al Mu’min is the One who affirms and
believes His Oneness. He affirms it in the Qur’an, 3: 18 : shahidAllahu
annahu laa ilaaha ila huwa wal malaa’ikatu wa ‘ulul ‘ilmi qaaiman bil
qist. Allah Himself bears witness to His Oneness, He is a Mu’min and
Musaddiq in His Existence and Oneness. Several places in the Qur’an
we learn this. So if Allah believes in His Oneness, what is expected of
us? We must affirm His tawheed and His existence, and also we should
believe in whatever Allah commands us. Whatever He informs us, He is
Mu’min, so it is true and we must follow and believe in it. It’s not just
limited to His Oneness and His Existence, but everything in its entirety.
2) If Allah is Al Mu’min, it also means He is a Musaddiq, One who
Affirms the truthfulness of His Messengers and Prophets. Allah sends
them with messages and miracles, and through those ayaat, the
truthfulness of the messenger is clear.
3) He is also Musaddiq of His Promises, He fulfills His promises. We
must believe that whatever promise Allah has made, He will fulfill it, He
will never go against it. We learn in suratun Noor ayah 55: Allah
promises to give the believers succession on the earth, and He will
give them abode on the earth, and He will change their khawf from
aman very soon. This promise was promised to the Prophet sal Allahu
alayhi wa sallam, and it came true. Allah promised in the beginning of
suratur Room that the romans will be given victory, this promise came
true. In surah A’raaf, Allah tells us that the dwellers of Jannah will say
to the dwellers of Hellfire, we found the promise of Allah true (that He
will give us Jannah if we did such and such) did you find the promise
that Allah promised you true as well? And they will say yes. What does
this teach us? We should never have the slightest doubt ever that the
promise will not come true. Allah promises that sadaqah does not
reduce wealth, so when we give sadaqah, we should believe it will not
reduce our wealth with conviction and certainty—He is Al Mu’min and
He is Al Musaddiq. Also we learn in Surah Zumar ayah 75, the believers
will say when taken into Jannah: wa qaalu alhamdulillahil lathee
sadaqanaa wa’dahu, All praise due to Allah, the One who made His
promise true, He fulfilled His promise to us. If Allah is Al Mu’min we
should believe in this and when the time for action comes, we should
have certainty and do what Allah commands us. Allah will give us
benefit through what He commanded us, because He knows what is
good and bad for us. We should have certainty when following His
commands, He will fulfill His promise and word.
4) If Allah is Al Mu’min, it means that He is the One who gives aman,
security. And He gives it to whomsoever He wills. Who gets Allah’s
aman? We learn from the Qur’an, 6: 28 : al latheena aamanu wa lam
yalbisoo emaanahum bi dhulmin ulaa’ika lahum al amnu, wa hum
muhtadoon. What is dhulm over here? It is shirk primarily (inna ashirka
la dhulmun ‘atheem), and also other injustices. So those who have
emaan and do not mix it with other things that will corrupt their
emaan, they are the ones who will have aman/ security, so the
believers. When will they have aman? In the dunya, at times of
difficulty and distress as well as the aakhirah. Remember when the
Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam was hiding in the cave with Abu
Bakr radi Allahu anhu, people wanting to kill them and the people who
were looking for them were right above them, he said to Abu Bakr: la
tahzan, innAllaha ma’anaa. If we were in that situation, we would have
screamed and cried, and lost our faith in Allah! But Allah gave the
Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam peace, he has peace in his heart.
Also in the Qur’an, Allah says: inna latheena aamanu thumma
istiqaamu, tatanazala alayhimul malaa’ika allaa takhaafoo wa la
tahzanoo, those people who have emaan and then they become firm,
the angels descend upon them and tell them not to fear and grieve
and have good news in Jannah. It is the aman, the peace that Allah
gives the believers that causes them to be composed. This shows us in
difficult situations, when our heart is about to come out, ask Al Mu’min
for aman, ask the One that gives aman that He should give you aman,
peace. In Suratul Ahzaab, when the companions were digging the
trench and the enemy was right outside, the ayah says it was like their
hearts were coming out and reaching their throats. The Prophet sal
Allahu alayhi wa sallam taught them to say: Allahumma astur ‘awraati
wa aamin raw’aati, o Allah cover my ‘awrah and give me peace. So in
difficult situations, we should not just panic and vent, we should pray
to Allah to give us peace and ta’meenah in our hearts. Also on the Day
of Judgment, the believers will have aman. How do we know? We learn
in Suratul Naml ayah 89: man jaa’a fil hasanah, wa lahu khayrun
minha, whoever brings a good deed will have better than it (ie, a better
reward), wa hum min faza’in yauma ithin aaminoon, and they will be,
on that day, at peace during the terror. How will they be at peace?
When everyone is running around, nafsee nafsee, to one Prophet after
the other, they will be tama’meenah in their hearts and have security.
Also they will be told they have such and such reward. At the time of
death, the angels will tell the believers of their reward, so on the Day
of Judgment they will have aman.
5) Allah is Al Mu’min, He gives aman so His creation is saved from His
injustice. We learned this with the name As Salaam. We know that we
commit so many sins all the time, yet Allah pardons us. If Allah were to
account everyone for all their sins, not a single creature would be
living. In the dunya, we only suffer very slight consequences and if
Allah were to inflict retribution for all of our bad deeds, not a creature
would remain. So Allah does not do dhulm upon His creations, not even
the slightest. And moreover, wa ya’foo an katheer, and He pardons
much--many, many sins. If this is Al Mu’min, then the believer should
not commit dhulm either. The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said:
wallahi la yu’min, three times, and the companions said man? And he
said, the one whose neighbor is not safe from his actions. Our
neighbors are the ones who sit with us, whose room is next to us, the
one who lives by us, the one who is sitting in the car/bus with us, the
who works by us, the one who is in the next line with us, they are our
neighbors…so the one whose neighbor is not safe from his sharr, such
a person has not believed and he is not a believer. From another
hadeeth we learn, the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said: allaa
ukhbirukum bil mu’min, shall I not inform you of the believer? The
companions said of course, and he said: al mu’min man aminahu naas
‘alaa amwaalihim wa anfusihim, the believer is one for whom people
are safe with regards to their wealth and lives. That person is a
believer. When we talk about their wealth, how is their wealth safe?
When a person does not come and ruin your things if they borrow it, or
they never give it back. Such a person is not a believer who harms the
other with regards to their wealth and lives. The hadeeth continues,
wal muslim, man salimal muslimu min lisaanihi wa yaddihi, and as for
the muslim, other muslims are safe from his tongue and hand.

Summary: if Allah is Al Mu’min, we are supposed to believe in Him, in

His messengers and what they brought and we follow what He
commands because what He believes in, we follow. If He is Al Mu’min,
we should ask Him for aman, in the dunya and aakhirah, if we don’t
have aman, we cannot live properly. If Allah is Al Mu’min, we should
learn and not to dhulm upon others at all.

Making duaa by this Name

There isn’t a duaa that has this Name specifically. The Prophet sal
Allahu alayhi wa sallam told the companions as mentioned before:
Allahumma astur ‘awraati wa aamir-rawaati. When your emaan is low,
ask Al Mu’min to give the characteristics of the believers to you.

The beauty of the Names of Allah is that when you are making duaa,
the Name comes to your mind and then your duaa will be more sincere
and you will be attentive. We learn that the duaa from an inattentive
heart is not accepted, so when we are attentive and conscious and we
mention the Names of Allah with feeling in our heart, inshaAllah Allah
will respond to your duaa.

Al Muhaymin

The Protector, the Overseer. Linguistically, Al Muhaymin has several

meanings.
1) It said to mean Al Ameen, the Trustworthy One and the One
whom others are safe.
2) Muhaymin is also understood to be Mu’aymin, the ha is hamza.
This was done by the arabs at times that the hamza would be
replaced by ha. Mu’aymin means One who offers Peace and
Security.
3) Another meaning is said to be Ar Raqeeb, the Watcher, and Al
Haafidh, the One who protects and Guards.
4) The fourth meaning is Ash Shaahid, the Watchful One, the One
who Observes.

Muhaymin is from the root, hayminah, ha-ya-meem-noon. The Qur’an

has been called muhaymin and we understood two meanings from this:
a) The one who watches and looks after. Literally this verb is
used for when a hen spreads her wings and covers her
chicks. So protecting, guarding, completely covering and
controlling.
b) It also means haakim, to judge.

In the Qur’an: this Name is mentioned only once, in surah Hashr.

Otherwise, the meanings that come under Muhaymin appear several
times in the Qur’an. For example: in surah Yunus ayah 46: Allah is a
shaheed, He observes the actions of the people. Similarly, in suratun
Nisa ayah 1, innAllaha kaana alaykum Raqeeba, Allah watches over
everyone.

If Allah is Al Muhaymin, what does it mean?

1) Ibn Katheer says quoting ibn Abbass radi Allahu anhu: Al Muhaymin
is the One who observes His creation with regards to their actions. He
is watching whatsoever they are doing and He is ash Shaahid. We learn
from surah Ra’d ayah 33: He is qaaiman over every nafs, and in surah
Burooj, wAllahu ‘alaa kuli shayyin Shaheed. Allah is Watching you. We
read this in surah Yunus ayah 61, a long ayah in which Allah says: you
are not in any state, and you are not reciting any part of the Qur’an,
and not are you doing any action, ila kunaa alaykum shuhoodan, We
are a Witness over you. So Allah is Watching every person’s actions. It
same for Allah if we do something in public or private, He knows what
we are doing.
2) If Allah is Al Muhaymin it means He will not reduce the deeds at all.
He will not reduce the good deeds of the good doer and He will not
reduce or increase the sins of the sinful, He will keep the deeds exactly
as they are.
3) If Allah is Al Muhaymin it means that He knows what is saalih and
what is faasid, He knows what is harmful for you and what is beneficial
for you. Whatever Allah has told us is true. The One who Watches over
everything knows what is good and bad, so His criteria is what is to be
followed. He determines what is haqq. As mentioned before, haymin
means haakim, so Al Haakim, He determines what is true and what is
false.
4) If Allah is Al Muhaymin it means He protects His creations and
creation. Remember the literal meaning of this word, the hen covering
its chicks with its wings, similarly Allah covers us with His Mercy and
Protection. Whatever Allah commands us is for our protection.

To summarize: the Name al Muhaymin has several other meanings.

Such as: Samee’, Baseer, Shaheed, ‘Aleem, Hafeedh, and Qadeer.

So if Allah is Al Muhaymin, what are we expected to do?

a) We must be mindful of Allah, and be aware of the fact that He is
Watching us. We should be considerate of this fact, He is
Observing us. And in every state, in secret, private, in our
thoughts or actions, Allah knows what we are doing. No hijaab
bars Allah from Watching us. There is a hadeeth where the
Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam, be mindful of Allah and Allah
will protect you. Protect you from what? From harm, and also in
particular, when you are mindful of Allah, He protects you from
committing sins. Allah has told you what is right and wrong, so
how can you disobey Allah? If someone told you not to do this or
that, would you do this in front of them? You would do it when
they are not watching. But Allah is Watching you no matter what
state you are in, HOW can we disobey Allah? What type of
audacity it takes, Allah knows what is in my heart and what I
have done. How can we commit sins? There is no place where
Allah is not Watching you. Out of respect for Him, we should not
commit sins. Allah says in surah Ibrahim ayah 42: wa la
tahsabban Allaha ghaafilan ‘amaa ya’malu dhaalimoon, don’t
think that Allah is heedless and unaware of what the wrong doers
are doing, innamaa u’akhirahum, He is only delaying and
deferring them. So if Allah does not catch us immediately with
our sins, don’t think that you’ve gotten away with it and that
Allah is Ghafoor and Raheem, we are only shown part of the
 consequence. We should avoid committing sins out of respect for
Allah.
b) If Allah is Al Muhaymin, He knows what is good and bad for us,
then we should accept His amr/commands for us, because He
will only tell that which is good and beneficial for us. Also
because Allah knows what is saalih and faasid for you, pray
istikhaarah to Him, because He knows what is better for you.
c) If Allah is Al Muhaymin, we should have contentment with what
He has decreed for us. If I look a certain way, if my height is a
certain height, if my appearance is how Allah made it for me, if
something I want is not happening—this is Allah’s Qadr. We
should have contentment in what He decreed. He says in the
Qur’an, alaa ya’lamu man khalaqa, the One who created, does
He not know? wa huwa Lateeful Khabeer, and He is the Kind and
All Aware. Only when you accept it, then things will be easy for
you. If Allah has decreed something and you don’t like it, will
things change? No. Will you benefit? No. But if you accept it, you
can change it and benefit and use what Allah decreed for you.
When we say the duaa: Radheetu billahi Rabban, I am content
and happy with Allah as my Rabb. Rabb is Maalik, Khaaliq,
Mudabbir it is part of His tadbeer that He decreed this for me,
and radheetu means I am content, happy and satisified.
d) We should know that He keeps everyone like the example of the
hen that covers its chicks. So when we want help or need
assistance, call upon Al Muhaymin, He will give it to you. Make
the duaa when you cannot make enough ibaadah and dhikr:
Allahumma a’innee ‘alaa dhikrika wa shukrika wa husni
ebaadatika. When we learn the qualities of the believers and we
do not find those qualities within us, don’t think they are too
great to reach but rather make duaa to Allah to assist you to
reach them.
e) Allah has called the Qur’an, Muhaymin, Surah Maa’idah 48, so we
should use this Muhaymin. Right after the ayah that this is
mentioned, Allah says: fahkum baynahum bi maa anzal Allah, so
judge between them with what Allah has sent down. We need to
use and implement the Qur’an, not just use it to study for our
tests and let it sit on our shelves.

Duaa with Al Muhaymin

When we make duaa to Allah by His Names, there are two ways:
1) Duaa ath thinaa : praising Allah ta’ala.
2) Duaa talab al masalah : duaa by asking/seeking something from
Allah.

With regards to Al Muhaymin, there isn’t a duaa with this Name. The
meaning of Muhaymin is found in many duaas just as the meanings of
Muhaymin are throughout the Qur’an.
a) In one duaa the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam taught
the companions to say before going to sleep with wudu to
 turn on your right side and say: Allahumma aslamtu nafsee
ilayk, and the duaa goes on to say I give myself to You
under Your protection and I seek refuge in You. So when
you go to sleep, seek protection from Allah.
b) A Bedouin came to the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam
and said: teach me a duaa in which Allah will benefit me.
He taught him: Allahumma lakal hamdu kulu, wa ilayka
uraj’ul amru kulu, O Allah all praise is for You and all
matters return to You. In it is the mention is that Allah
knows that which is good from bad and He judges, this
duaa is in bayhaqi. There are several duaas where you find
the meaning that Allah gives protection, and mention that
Allah knows everything, so all of those duaas come under
this.
c) A salaf, Yahya ibn Mu’adh, used to make a duaa, a praise
which is poetry with the Name Muhaymin. He says: Jalaaluk
ya Muhaymin laa yadeek, O Muhaymin, Your Jalaal never
ends, wa Mulku daa’imun abadan, And your kingdom is
eternal, wa Hukmuka naafidun fee kuli amr, and your
Decision is implemented in every matter, wa laysa
yakoonu ila ma tureed, and nothing happens except that
which You Want, and he continues, thunoobi la taduruka ya
Ilaahee, my sins do not harm You my God, wa ‘afwuka
naafiun, Your Pardon is beneficial, wa bihi tajoodu and Your
pardon is Your generosity. He begins with Ya Muhaymin,
and he talks about Allah’s Mulk, his own sins and this
shows us that making duaa with His Names should be in
our every day regular duaas, whatever we are feeling and
a Name is relevant, mention what you’re feeling, praise
Allah through that and say that duaa. When you are far
away from your family/parents, you feel that you are not
that well protected, imagine the picture of the hen—Allah
ta’ala will protect you, ask Him for His protection and read
your morning and evening duaas.

Al ‘Azeez

Said to be from three verbal forms:

a) ‘azza, ya’izzu (kasrah) means nobility. When Allah is ‘Azeez in
this form, it means One who is Noble, One who is Distinguished,
there is none like Him, He is so Dear, Respected because He is
Malik and Maleek. Laysa ka milthlihi shay.
b) ‘azza, ya’uzzu (dhummah) means to prevail, to be dominant. In
this form, when Allah is Al ‘Azeez, it means He is Ghaalib,
Dominant, Prevailing and there is no one who could prevail over
Him, no one who could dominate Him, He is unconquerable and
undefeatable. The verb ‘azza appears in surah Saad ayah 23,
when the two people came to Dawood alayhi sallam to judge
between them, one man said: wa ’azzanee fil khitaab, he
 overpowered me in speech. Allah says in the Qur’an that there is
no one to conquer Him.
c) ‘azza, ya’azzu (fathah) means to be powerful, to be mighty. He
is the One who is Most Powerful, Most Mighty. From this we learn
He is Al Shadeed, Al Qawiyy, He is the One who is very Strong,
very Firm. Also another meaning of ‘Azeez from this is He is Al
Muntani’, (mana’ means to stop) He Stops, He Prevents meaning
nothing can go against Him, none can fight Him and push Him
back. Allah ta’ala says in Surah Faatir: wa thaalika ‘al Allahi bi
‘azeez : it is easy for Allah ta’ala to bring about a new creation.
d) To summarize these three meanings: One who is Distinguished,
Respected, there is none like Him. He is undefeatable. He is
Mighty. None can prevent Him from fulfilling what He wills.

Proof for this Name

This Name appears 92 times in the Qur’an. This repetition shows us
something, we must remember that Allah is Al ‘Azeez, He is the One
who is Mighty, we can never go against His Will. In Surah Shu’ara we
read many times: Al ‘Azeezur Raheem, why? To show us that Allah
ta’ala is Mighty against those who disobey Him.
Combinations with other Names in the Qur’an:
a) Al ‘Azeezul Hakeem  This combination of Names appears 47
times together. What is the relation between Al Hakeem: The
Wise, Al ‘Azeez: The Mighty? When someone in ‘azeez, they are
dominant, they have a lot of power, they misuse their power, but
Allah ta’ala when He is Al ‘Azeez, at the same time He is Al
Hakeem. If He has shown us His power and might in some way,
like the destruction of a people, He is Hakeem and He knows
what to do, where to do it and when to do it. Another place in the
Qur’an, 3:6 : huwal lathee yusawwirkum fil arhaami kayfa yashaa
la ilaha ila huwa al ‘Azeezul Hakeem.
b) Al ‘Azeezul ‘Aleem This combination appears 6 times. Allah
says in suratul Qasas: 78 : inna Rabbaka yaqdee baynahum bi
hukmihi wa huwal ‘Azeezul ‘Aleem, Allah will decide between
them with His judgment and He is the Mighty, the All Knowing.
He is the Mighty, He is able to call them to account, and He is
Knowledge of what they were doing.
c) Al ‘Azeezul Ghafoor This appears twice in the Qur’an. Suratul
Mulk:2 : wa huwal ‘Azeezul Ghafoor. When we learn about tests,
Allah has ghalbah over us, He can call us to account but at the
same time He tells us He is Ghafoor because He can forgive our
sins.
d) Al ‘Azeezur Raheem This appears 12 times. In Surah Shu’ara,
after each story of the nation that was destroyed, these Names
appear. He is Mighty against those who disbelieve, and He is
Raheem to the believers.
e) Some other combinations: Al ‘Azeezul Ghaffaar, Al ‘Azeezul
Hameed.
What does it mean that Allah is Al ‘Azeez?
One who is Distinguished, the One who is Ghaalib.
a) ibn Jareer says about the meaning of Ghaalib: He is Shadeed
when He takes revenge. In surah Burooj, Allah says, wa ma
naqamoo minhum ila liyuminu billaahil Azeezil Hameed, then He
says in the next ayah, those people have: athaabu jahannama
wa lahum athaabul hareeq. It is not appropriate to make Allah
angry. No matter who you are, Allah is Al ‘Azeez and you cannot
get away from Him. Remember the story of Yunus alayhi salaam,
when he left without the order of Allah he was stuck in the whale
and Allah says in the Qur’an: if he had not been of the
musabbiheen, he would have stayed in the stomach of the fish
until the day of Judgment. He was a prophet of Allah but he went
against the command of Allah. No matter how pious you are, no
matter who you are, Allah is Al ‘Azeez and think you can sin and
get away from Him. Allah says in the Qur’an that if the Prophet
sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam added verses to the Qur’an, Allah
would cut his jugular vein. The punishment is harsh to show that
if you sin, you cannot get away from Al ‘Azeez. Allah ta’ala also
says, if you do shirk, la yahbattana ‘amaluk, your deeds will be
destroyed. We should remember that Allah is Al ‘Azeez, if we do
something wrong, He is not going to leave me alone because we
learn that whoever does an evil deed, yujza bihi, he will be
recompensed for it. This is the first lesson of this Name, we need
to recognize that we are abd, we are faqeer/needy, no matter
how good we think we are, we can never get away from Allah
ta’ala and we should avoid disobeying Him.
b) If Allah ta’ala is Al Ghaalib, and we are on His Way (meaning we
are working for His deen, doing something for His Sake) and we
face a lot of challenges/difficulties, we should remember that
Allah is Al ‘Azeez, Al Ghaalib, He is Victorious, Dominant so we
should seek help from Him. We should not be shaky, we should
be confident, Allah will give you the ability to do it. So the Name
Al ‘Azeez increases our tawakkul in Allah ta’ala. It gives us hope,
He is Al ‘Azeez, He can help me. When Musa alayhi salaam was
at the sea and firawn behind him, his nation said they are
captured but Musa alayhi salaam said: inna ma’ya Rabbee
sayahdeen: with me is my Rabb, soon He will guide me. Firawn
tried to kill all the boys so Musa alayhi salaam would not come,
but Allah is Al ‘Azeez and Musa came. Similarly, the brothers of
Yusuf alayhi salaam tried to kill him but he became the minister
of Egypt, He says in surah Yusuf: wallahu ghaalibun ‘alaa amrihi,
Allah is ghaalib over His matters, He can make it happen. So
when in the way of Allah, you should be hopeful of Allah’s Help,
His Assistance and hopeful that Allah will never leave you as long
as you are on His way. The same happened with the Prophet sal
Allahu alayhi wa sallam went through a lot too, but he prevailed
and Allah ta’ala says this deen will prevail wa law karihal
kaafiroon, even if the disbelievers hate it.
 c) We should seek ‘izzah/ honor from Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala
alone. We learn that Umar radi Allahu anhu, when he was the
khaleefah and they were going into town, Abu Ubaydah said why
don’t you wear nicer clothes and he replied: ‘we received ‘izzah
from Allah and if we try to get ‘izzah from somewhere else, Allah
will humiliate us.’ ‘Izzah belongs only to Allah. Allah ta’ala says at
the end of Suratus Saffaat: subhaana Rabbika Rabbil ‘Izzah, He is
the Rabb of ‘Izzah, Rabb of the Might, the Honor, the Prestige,
the Respect. If you desire it, do something for Allah and He will
give it to you. What can we do? Rasul Allah sal Allahu alayhi wa
sallam said: whoever lowers himself for Allah, Allah raises him.
Similarly, the one who works for Allah’s deen, Allah has
promised that He will give them khilaafah and power on the
earth. Allah ta’ala also says in Suratul Munaafiqoon: wa lillahil
‘izzati wa li rasoolihi wa lil mu’mineen. So if you want ‘izzah,
don’t fake it, be a true mu’min and Allah will grant you ‘izzah. If
you really want honor, Allah will give it to you, provided you are a
mu’min.

Duaas with Al ‘Azeez

a) duaa of Ibrahim and Isma’eel alayhuma salaam in Baqarah:
Rabbana wabath feehim rasoolan minhum… innaka antal
‘Azeezul Hakeem. They are praying for the future, they’ve done
something and they want it to continue…so if you do something
and you want your deed to last, call upon Al ‘Azeez and He can
make it happen, none can overpower Him.
b) One of the meanings of ‘Azeez is Maani’, One who stops/restricts.
The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam used to pray: Allahumma
la maani’a li ma ‘atayta, O Allah there is none who can stop what
You give, wa la muti’ li ma mana’ta, and what You have stopped,
no one can give. With the consciousness in mind that Allah is Al
‘Azeez, make this duaa. The Name Al ‘Azeez should guide us
throughout our lives, we should remember that whatever
happens to us by Allah’s Command, we cannot go against Him,
so accept it.
c) Another duaa, not sure if masnoon (from the sunnah), but it is
said: Allahumma a’izzal islaama wal muslimeen. O Allah give
honor to Islam and the Muslims.

Al Jabbaar

The Compeller, The Restorer. It is on the structure of fa’aal, a structure

of mubaalagah/intensification. Jaabir is one who compels or restores,
but Jabbaar is the Compeller, the complete Restorer.
Jabbaar is from the root: jeem ba ra/jabr, and this root has several
meanings:
a) The first meaning is to pressurize, to compel and force someone
to do something. From this, it is understood to mean to tyrannize
someone and be tyrannical. We learn from the Qur’an that: wa
 itha batashtum batashtum jabbaareen: and when you attack, you
oppress people. Similarly in surah Maryam, Esa alayhi salaam
says: wa lam yaja’lnee jabbaaran shaqiyya: and He (Allah) has
not made me an oppressive person.
b) Secondly, Jabr also means to be strong, tall and great. nakhlatun
Jabbaarah is used for a tall date palm tree that is very strong and
gives a lot of fruit. Also in the Qur’an, 5:22, when Bani Isra’eel
were told to enter the city they said: inna feeha qaumun
jabbaareen, indeed in there are a people who are very strong and
powerful. The second meaning is to be powerful, to be strong,
huge and tall. Another meaning is kibriyaa’ which means
greatness, Jabaroot is used for Allah ta’ala.
c) The third meaning of Jabr is to repair the broken. Also when
something is incomplete and you complete it that is also called
jabr. Also when there is a deficiency and you make up for it that
is called jabr. The third meaning is to restore, to fix, to do islaah
of something. From the same root is algebra, you ‘fix’ the
equation. Jabeerah is used for a splint, to help broken bones.

Proof for this Name

The word Jabbaar appears 10 times in the Qur’an, but only once for
Allah ta’ala. So nine times it is used for people who are oppressive,
who do dhulm, who compel, who force and are strong. The last time it
is used in the Qur’an in Suratul Hashr, it is used for Allah ta’ala.

If Allah is Jabbaar, what does it mean?

a) According to al Khattaabi, it means: He is the One who forces His
creation upon what He commands and upon what He has
forbidden. In other words, whatever Allah wills, His will is
executed. The first meaning of Jabbaar is Compeller, so whatever
He wills is what happens. He is the One who implements His will.
b) Secondly, it means al ‘aali fawqa khalqihi, the One who is
Exalted, High above His creation. In other words, He is the
Greatest One. Just as nakhlatun jabbaarah is the tallest tree in
the orchard, Allah ta’ala is the Greatest and there is no one else
who is greater than Him. He is the One who is Qawwiy, ‘Atheem.
He is the One who has tawl, He owns a lot and can give a lot. The
Supreme Power and Authority belongs to Allah ta’ala.
c) Thirdly, Jabbaar means Al Muslih, the One who Reforms, the One
who fixes the situation for His creation. When we find our
resources to be incomplete, Allah ta’ala makes them complete.
When we are unable to reach our goals, Allah ta’ala assists us.
He is the One who amends the affairs of His creation. It means if
a slave is unable to reach His goal, Al Jabbaar will enable Him
and provide Him with the sources to reach this goal.

Difference when Jabbaar is used for people and for Allah ta’ala
When Jabbaar is used for people, it is in a negative sense, because
there is no right that they can be tyrannical and oppress other people.
If Jabbaar is used for humans as one who restores, it is negative again
because they use their oppressive nature to fix things. Example: a
government moving families out of their old homes, they want to fix
things but it is oppression in a way. When Allah ta’ala fixes things, it is
not in an oppressive nature, it is in a positive sense. Jabr does not befit
or suit human beings, they are supposed to be ‘abd.

If Allah is Al Jabbaar what are we supposed to do?

1) We must know that HE is Al Jabbaar, and we cannot imitate
Him. Allah is Ar Rahmaan and we should have rahmah, but
because Allah is Al Jabbaar doesn’t mean we become
jabbaar. Why? Because He has told us to not be Jabbaar,
He doesn’t like the arrogant. We learn from surah Ibrahim
we learn: wastaftahoo wa khaaba kulu jabbaarin ‘aneed:
when the prophets and believers asked for victory, every
oppressive, every rebellious, every stubborn opposer of the
Prophet was lost. So if we become jabbaar on the earth, we
are the ones who are going to lose. Similarly, in surah
Mu’min: 35, kathaalika yatba’u Allahu ‘alaa kuli qalbin
mutakabirin jabbaar, Allah puts a seal on the hearts of
every mutakbir and jabbaar person. So whoever is jabbaar,
it leads to their heart being sealed because a person
becomes so arrogant and oppressive that nothing comes in
to his heart or goes out. Also in a hadeeth in Saheeh
Bukhari, we learn that hellfire is for the jabbaareen,
because Paradise and Hellfire had an argument and Hellfire
said: I have been given the privilege of receiving the
arrogant and the tyrants. We might think that we are not
oppressive, only the rulers who kill people are oppressive,
but we are also jabbaar sometimes. In the context of Esa
alayhi salaam, he says: wa barran bi waalidatee wa lam
yaj’alnee jabbaaran shaqqiya, he was barr towards his
mother and he was not a jabber, disobedient. So jabbaar
means one who is forceful against his parents in this
context, their parents tell them to do something and the
child doesn’t listen. So jabbaar is not just a mighty tyrant
ruler, jabbaar can be any person who refuses to obey,
harms and hurts other people and doesn’t listen to the
authority. The first lesson for us is that we are ‘abd, we
should recognize ourselves as ‘ebaadAllah, if we don’t, the
consequences are very severe because Allah does not like
those who do jabr.
2) The second lesson we learn is that if someone is unable to
reach their goals, find constriction in time, ability, we
should ask Al Jabbaar to fix our deficiencies. When we are
unable to achieve a goal and find ourselves weak, ask Al
 Jabbaar who will make up all of the deficiencies. When you
find yourself in a mess, and unable, ask Al Jabbaar.

Duaas with this Name

a) Between the two sajdahs, we make the duaa: Allahumma-
ighfirlee wahdini warhamnee wajburnee –jabr here doesn’t mean
compel, it means fix my situation, in the meaning of muslih.
b) There is a saheeh hadeeth in Abi Dawood that mentions a duaa
that the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam would recite in
sujood and ruku: subhana dhil jabaroot wal malakoot wal
kibriyaa’i wal ‘athamah, Glorified is the the One who possesses
jabaroot- which means greatness here, wal malakoot is all of His
dominion, wal kibriyaa’ and the greatness, wal ‘athamah, and the
grandness. Note: write these duaas down and try and memorize
them, so we benefit from them. Why are these duaas mentioned
in sajdah? We are most close to Allah in sujood and mentioning
His Greatness expresses our humility.

Al Mutakabir and Al Kabeer

Al Mutakabir – the Superior, the One who has takabur

Al Kabeer- The Grand, The Great
Root is kaaf ba ra, which means greatness, and is the opposite of
sughr/sagheer, smallness.

Meaning
1) Greatness. In surah Yusuf, when the women saw Yusuf alayhi
sallam: akbarnahu, they thought great of him.
2) Al Kibriyaa’, which means mulk, dominion and power. It means
power literally but having power by being the king and ruler. How
do we learn that? We learn that Firawn said to Musa alayhi
sallam: you want to evict us from our land wa takana lakum al
kibrayaa fil ardh, and that you have greatness upon the earth.
Greatness here means supreme power and to become the king.

Proof of these Names

Mutakabir appears once in the Qur’an, in Surah Hashr ayah 23. The
Name Al Kabeer appears six times in the Qur’an.
a) In Surah Luqman ayah 30: wa anna Allah huwal ‘Aliyyul Kabeer,
this ayah also appears in surah Hajj ayah 62. Similarly in Surah
Ra’d ayah 9, Allah says: ‘Aalimul ghaybi wa shahaadah Al
Kabeerul Muta’aal: Knower of the unseen and seen, The Great,
the Most High. Surah Saba ayah 23: wa huwal ‘Aliyyul Kabeer,
surah Ghaafir ayah 12: al ‘Aliyyul Kabeer. Suratun Nisaa:
inAllah kaana Aliyyan Kabeera.
b) In the Qur’an, Kabeer appears with ‘Aliyy or Muta’aal, which
also give the meaning of Greatness. When two Names of
Greatness are mentioned, it gives the meaning of the One who
is THE Highestest, THE Greatest One. The purpose of
 mentioning both together is to give emphasis and to express
Supreme Greatness of Allah ta’ala.

If Allah is Al Mutakabir, what does it mean?

Note: Takabur to a person is not a good thing because the person
thinks great of themselves and greater than others. So when Takabur is
used for Allah ta’ala it means He is the Greatest One, there is no one
greater than Him. If people think of themselves as great, they’re not
really great because there is someone greater than them. When He is
described as Al Mutakabir, it is a lot of praise because He has Supreme
Power.
1) Firslty it means, takabara ‘an kuli soo’in wa dhulmin wa sharr, that
Allah is Greater and Far Above any evil, any oppression. He is High and
Exalted than any of these deficiences.
2) Secondly, He is Greater than the attributes of the creation and
resemebling them. He has no faults, nothing can harm Him.

If Allah is Al Kabeer, what does it mean?

1) According to At Tabari  Nothing is like Him, and everything else is
small and little compared to Him. He is the Most Grand One.
2) Secondly, that Allah ta’ala has kibriyaa’, He has the Mulk of the
heavens and the earth.

If Allah is Al Mutakabir and Al Kabeer, what are we supposed to do?

a) We should regard Him as the Greatest One, give Him the
Greatest importance in your life. How does we give Him
importance? When we hear the adhaan, Allahu Akbar Allahu
Akbar, we express this by repeating the response of the adhaan
and leaving everything to go for salaah. If Allah is really the
greatest One in your life, how is it we hear Allahu Akbar and we
don’t pray right away. If Allah is the Greatest One, we will prove
it by our actions. Also when we are in salaah, we say Allahu
Akbar several times, but what is in our minds when we are
praying? Something in the dunya, that doesn’t even have the
value of a wing in the Eyes of Allah ta’ala. If Allah has given us
a hukm or command, take Him as the Greatest One and follow
it. Prove it by our actions, how much importance we give to
Allah’s Kalaam, His dhikr and His commands.
b) Don’t be arrogant, be humble. In a hadeeth qudsi, Allah ta’ala
says: Al Kibriyaa’ ridaa’i, Greatness is my Mantle, wal
‘athamatu izaari, and greatness is My wrap, Whoever exalts
himself against Me, I will destroy him completely then I will cast
him into the Fire. Allah hates the arrogant people, whoever tries
to be arrogant; Allah ta’ala will crush him and throw him into
the fire. The arrogant will be like ants on the Day of Judgment,
being trampled by people’s feet. Arrogance means: batrul
haqq wa ghamtun naas, denying the truth and belittling people,
thinking small of them. A person who is arrogant imitates
 Iblees, because iblees: abaa wastakbar, he refused and became
arrogant. Allah ta’ala said to him: wa laka an tatakabara, you
are not allowed to be arrogant. So arrogance is refusing to obey
Allah. In suratul Jaathiyah ayah 31, the people of hell fire will be
told by Allah: a fa lam takun ayaatee tutlaa ‘alaykum
fastakbartum, My verses were recited upon you but you were
arrogant, arrogance here means that they heard the ayaat but
they denied, didn’t obey, refused to believe, they didn’t care.
We should all check ourselves what our reaction is when we
hear the ayaat of Allah, do we obey them or become arrogant
and say we cannot do them?
c) Thirdly, if Allah is Al Mutakabir, Al Kabeer it means that when
we have greatness, remember His Greatness. All of us are given
some greatness in our life, a younger sibling, someone who
looks up to us, we have some superiorty some way or another.
There is a good example of this in the Qur’an, Allah ta’ala says
in Suratun Nisa ayah 34: that men are qawwaam over women,
and in the same ayah Allah mentions if the women are
rebellious to separate from them, admonition them and beat
them with conditions, and at the end of this ayah Allah says:
inAllah kaana ‘Aliyyan Kabeera. It’s a reminder to the men that
they have this authority today over their wives, and may do
whatever they please in this case, but they must remember
Allah’s Greatness because when we have power, we may
oppress people, wa fawqa dhi ilmin ‘aleem, and above every
knowledgeable person is one who is more knowledgeable. The
more greatness one has, the more accountable they are. So
whatever greatness we have been given in any capacity, we
should not misuse it.

Duaas with this Name

a) Allahu Akbar Kabeera : many duaas with takbeer.
b) In salaah, nearly all of the positions except for two, we say Allahu
Akbar. We must remember the Greatest One, not ourselves or
petty things. Even after salaah we say Allahu Akbar,
astagfirullah.
c) When we go up the stairs or descending to a high place, the
sunnah is to say Allahu Akbar, to remember that Allah is Greater.
Reminder: A person who has the tiniest spec of arrogance will not
enter paradise, because it is very easy for one to become
arrogant, so Allah and His Prophet have taught us several ways
to counter this arrogance. Even while going up the stairs, we
remind ourselves Allahu Akbar because we may be higher than
some people, but Allah is Greater.
d) During Hajj, Allahu Akbar is repeated a lot to remind the hujjaj
not to be arrogant because it is easy to become prideful.
e) In the last 10 days of dhul Hijjah, it is sunnah to say takbeer a
lot.
 -Takbeer is a major part of the believer’s life, at all times they
are saying Allahu Akbar and I am small. If you find arrogance
in yourself, pray to Allah to remove it, pray to Al Jabbaar to
remove it from your heart.

Al Hakam and Al Haakim

Hakam and Haakim mean the same thing, The Judge or The True Judge.
Al Hakeem means the Perfectly Wise. What is the difference between
Hakam and Haakim? Hakam is the more intensified form of Haakim.

Hakam: A judge, the one to whom matters are taken for judgment. It
comes from the root hukm, which gives us two meanings:
1) First meaning is ilm, knowledge and fiqh,
understanding/comprehension. Proof of this meaning: in
surah Maryam ayah 12, Allah says about Yahya alayhi
salaam, wa aataynaahul hukma sabiyya, and we gave him
hukm as a child. Hukm here can mean prophethood or
knowledge/comprehension/understanding. When Yahya
alayhi salaam was a child, he would not engage in play but
engage in more useful activities like learning.
2) Second meaning is Qadaa’, decision, to give a ruling, to
make a judgment. Proof of this meaning is surah Nisa ayah
58: wa itha hakamtum bayna an naas an tahkumaa bil adl,
tahkumaa means to judge, that you give a ruling.
So who is Hakam or Haakim? One who gives a ruling, decree or
judgment based on his knowledge or understanding. The judge has to
understand the whole situation then they give a final ruling, which is
why proof is present to a judge in a court room. So Allah ta’ala is The
Judge. Hikmah also shows the same root, so His Hakm is not only
based on knowledge and understanding, but also with wisdom.

Proof for these Names

Al Hakam this Name is only found in the sunnah. There is a hadeeth
in Abu Dawood, ibn Yazeed narrates to his people that a man went out
to his people and he was called by his kunyah, Abul Hakam. The
Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam asked him why he has this kunyah,
and he said, when my people are in a disagreement they come to me
and I make a decision. The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said:
innAllaha huwal Hakam, indeed Allah is The Judge, wa ilayhil Hukm,
and to Him Judgment belongs. The man explained again that his
people gave him the name because he gives them judgment, the
Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said: Ma ahsanu haatha, how good
is this that people come to you and they like your judgment. It was a
good quality and the Prophet appreciated that. Then the Prophet sal
Allahu alayhi wa sallam told him his kunyah will be Abu Shurayh not
Abul Hakam. Look at the wisdom of the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa
sallam, he didn’t say you have a wrong name but he said, innAllaha
huwal Hakam, Allah is Al Hakam and he gave him another kunyah of
his children. (Note: we need to approach people with wisdom when
correcting them)
 Hakaman appears in the Qur’an, surah An’aam ayah 114:
should I seek besides Allah a hakaman, as a judge. Hakam
has appeared in the nakirah form (no ‘al’). There are
certain rules on the basis of which a description is
considered as the Name of Allah ta’ala, and of those rules
is that the Name should not appear in a nakirah form (it
should be Al Hakam and not Hakaman), or in a muraqqab
form (Maaliki yaumid deen, Muhyil ardha) but if we find a
description of Alah ta’ala in this form but elsewhere (like
the hadeeth above) it is mentioned in the proper form,
then we can take it as a Name of Allah ta’ala.

If Allah ta’ala is Al Hakam or Haakim, what does it mean?

1) Allah ta’ala is the One who decides and judges in all matters. In
surah An’aam ayah 62, Allah says: alaa lahul hukm, to Him
belongs al Hukm. Meaning He is the One who gives the Decree
concerning all matters. Similarly in surah Qasas ayah 70: wa
lahul Hukm, to Him belongs the Decision.
2) When He Judges or Decides, He does what He wills. We learn this
in the first ayah of surah Ma’idah: InnAllah yahkumu maa ureed,
Allah Decides what He wills.
3) Allah ta’ala will Judge with perfect justice between His slaves in
dunya and aakhirah, He doesn’t even do wrong the size of an
atom’s weight. When Allah makes a Judgment, it is based on His
Justice.
4) When Allah gives a hukm, it is beneficial for us; there is some
kind of benefit in one way or another.
5) Allah’s Judgment is based on His Ilm, His Complete Knowledge.
6) His Hukm is implemented, because He has the Power to
implement His Decision and Ruling.

There are two kinds of Hukm

a) Hukm al Kawnee  Allah’s ta’ala Decree in creation, it is all of
the commands and decrees pertaining to the creation of Allah
ta’ala. (things that mistakenly call “mother nature”) Allah says in
surah A’raaf ayah 54: alaa lahul khalqu wal amr, unquestionably
for Him is the creation and command. He is the One who gives
the rulings and decree.
 Firstly, this hukm can be by kalimah “kun”, as Allah says in
the Qur’an many times that when He does something He
just says kun and it is, like the creation of Esa alayhi
salaam or the heavens and the earth.
 Secondly, it can also come into existence by His Will, He
wills something and it is. In surah Yaseen ayah 82 Allah
says, ithaa araada shayin an yaqoola lahu kun fa yakoon,
when He intends something then it is.
  Thirdly, by His amr and qawl, to the angels or to other
creation like human beings.
It is not necessary that Allah loves or hates what He allows. People
wonder why there are hurricanes or other evils, it is not that Allah
wants evil for us but we must know that everything that Allah allows
to happen is in His Knowledge and there is some goodness in it. For
example, in surah Room we read: thaharal fasaada fil barri wal bahr,
fasaad has appeared on land and sea; does it mean that Allah loves
fasaad? No, because He says: innAllahu la yuhibul fasaad, it is
based on His Wisdom so there is some benefit, so what is the
benefit? Allah tells us at the end of the ayah: la’alahum yarji’oon, so
that they may return, the goodness is that the people will
return/repent to Allah. We have to learn that not everything that
Allah has allowed in the universe pertaining to His creation, it is not
necessary that Allah loves it but it is in His Knowledge firstly and
there is some aspect of goodness in it. Also we have to learn that
when Allah judges or gives a decree pertaining to His creation, there
is none that can alter it or change it, we learn this from surah Ra’d
ayah 41: wAllahu yahkumu la yu’aqqaba fee hukmihi, Allah Judges
and no one can alter His Judgment. None can be ghaalib over His
amr, Allah is the One who sends the rain and He is the One who
destroys people.
b) Hukm ash Shar’ee this is the hukm that Allah has given to His
creation, the creation that has freedom of will, which is jinn and
humans. This hukm is takleef (mukallif is one who is answerable
to someone), meaning when Allah gives a hukm to someone and
they have to follow it and if not, they are answerable. Whoever
does it receives reward and if it’s not done, there is punishment.
Allah has given these ahkaam to the creation overtime by
several messengers, we learned from the Qur’an, wa innal
qaryata khaala feeha natheer, there is no qaryah except that a
natheer came to those people. The messenger gave the hukm
shar’ee to people, of them was: ‘ubud Allah, worship Allah.
Examples of Allah’s ahkaam that are shar’ee:
 Laws pertaining to the will, laws of inheritance.
 How to worship Allah. This is the first hukm.
In the Qur’an we learn that when Allah gives an amr, like
aqeemoo, it is a hukm shar’ee and it has to be followed. The
fuqahaa look for amr form in the Qur’an to derive rulings. For
example we learned in surah Israa ayah 23, we learned several
ahkaam over there:
1) wa qadaa Rabbuka alaa ta’budoo ila iyaah,
Allah has commanded that you worship
none but Him,
2) then the next hukm is to do good to
parents, and to lower your wings of mercy
on them
3) Say the duaa: rabbirhamhuma kamaa
rabbayaanee sageera
 4) Give to the orphans
5) Don’t be extravagant
6) Don’t kill your children etc
Throughout the Qur’an we learn ahkaam that are shar’ee, we
have to observe and follow them and we cannot go against them
because Allah is the One who is Al Hakam, He has given this
Decree. When we learn that Allah being Al Hakam means that His
Will is implemented, but we see that Allah has given all of these
commands but not many follow them, so what does that mean?
If one doesn’t do them in the dunya, in the aakhirah they will be
questioned. He is Ad Dayyaan and Al Haakim; In the dunya we
are supposed to follow them and if we don’t, Al Hakam is going
to take our hisaab on the Day of Judgment. Also we learn that
when Allah gives a commandment, they are not just for the
Prophet sal Allahu alahyi wa sallam (ex: be patient over what
they say) they are for us too and we must follow them.

What is required for us, what is the share of a believer in the Name Al
Hakam?
1) We have to accept Allah’s kawnee ahkaam, all the universal laws
and we shouldn’t accept them. For example if it rains or snows,
we shouldn’t say: how come it rained again. This is objecting to
Allah’s ahkaam that are kawnee.
2) We have to follow Allah’s ahkaam that are shar’ee, our
manhaj/way of life should be these commands. Out of respect for
Allah ta’ala, we should observe these ahkaam. For example when
you’re told the rules of a place, and you don’t follow them, it is
disrespect that you’re going against the rules. This is Allah’s
Mulk, His Dominion; we have to follow His rules. Just as if you’re
living in Canada, you have to follow the rules of the land. Even in
one’s own room, people have rules. These are Allah’s rules and
we have to follow them.
3) We have to refer to Allah and His Messenger sal Allahu alayhi wa
sallam for judgments and decisions. When we have a problem we
go to the shar’eeah that Allah has given. We learn this in Suratul
Maa’idah: wa man lam yahkum bi ma anzala Allah, ulaa’ika
humul kaafiroon. Those who do not judge according to Allah’s
Hukm, they are kaafiroon. In the next ayah, ayah 45, Allah says
they are dhaalimoon and in the next ayah Allah says they are
faasiqoon. So those people who do not follow the judgment that
Allah has given they are kaafiroon, dhaalimoon and faasiqoon.
When we have an issue, we turn to the Qur’an and Sunnah.
4) We are supposed to pray to Al Hakam to decide in our favor, that
which is good for us, in the dunya and aakhirah.

Duaas with this Name (fad’oohu bihaa)

a) Surah Zumar ayah 36: qul Allahumma faatir as samawaati wal
ardhi ‘aalimul ghaybi wash shahaadah anta tahkumu bayna
 ‘ebaadika fee maa kaanu feehi yakhtalifoon, when there is a
difference, we ask Allah: judge between the people.
b) In the night prayer, the duaa istiftaah, when the Prophet sal
Allahu alayhi wa sallam would start tahajjud he would say:
Allahumma Rabb Jibra’eela wa Meeka’eela wa Israfeel, Faatir as
samawaati wal ardh, aalimal ghaybi wash shaadahah anta
tahkumu bayna ‘ebaadika feema kaanu feehi yakhtalifoon.
c) Duaa that the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam told us to read
to relieve anxiety and anguish: Allahumma inne ‘abduk, ibn
‘abduk, the duaa continues, madhin feeya hukmuk ‘adlun feeya
qadaa’uk, Your position concerning me is ‘adl, in other words,
Allah You are Al Hakam and whatever decision You make for me
is Your judgment concerning me, it is adl, just so I accept it.
d) *Focus on this duaa.* Allahumma inne asalukal jannah, wa ma
qaraba ilayhaa min qawlin aw ‘amal, O Allah I ask You for Jannah
and everthing that will bring me closer to it by word or action, wa
‘audhubika min an naar wa ma qaraba ilayha min qawlin aw ‘amal,
the opposite, I seek refuge in You from the fire, wa asaluka ‘an
tajala kuli qadaa’in qadaytahu lee khayra, and I ask You to make
every judgment concerning me is good. This duaa is very
comprehensive; we should say it at least once a day.
e) Duaa istikhaarah, we ask towards the end: make me happy with
it and if it not good for me, grant me better for it.

Al Hakeem

The Most Wise. It is on the structure of fa’eel, mubaalagah, which gives

an intensified form of what is being said. It is from ha-ka-meem, from
hukm or hikmah. The Name of Allah ta’ala Al Hakeem gives us three
meanings:
1) Haakim or Hakam: The One who Judges, the One who gives
judgment.
2) Dhoo Hikmah: The One who has Hikmah/Wisdom, if Allah is Al
Hakeem then it means He is the Most Wise.
3) Muhkim: the One who is Firm, Perfect.

Proof of this Name

Al Hakeem appears 97 times in the Qur’an. Examples:
Baqarah: 32The angels said: Subhaanaka la ‘ilma lana ila ma
‘alamtanaa innaka antal ‘Aleemul Hakeem.
Al e Imran: 6 huwal lathee yusawwirkum fil arhaami kayfa yashaa’ la
ilaha ila huwal ‘Azeezul Hakeem
Surah Fussilat: 1-2 min la dun Hakeemin Khabeer
Noor: 10 wa law la fadlullahi ‘alaykum wa annAllah Tawwaabul
Hakeem

It appears with several other Names

 a) Al ‘Aleemul Hakeem: He is the Most Wise, the One who Judges
but He also has complete knowledge.
b) Al ‘Azeezul Hakeem: He is the One who Judges, at the same time
He is Ghaalib, His wisdom and His power go hand in hand.
c) Hakeem and Khabeer: He is All Aware, yet Hakeem
d) Tawwaabul Hakeem: He knows who to accept tawbah from.

We learn that Allah’s Wisdom and Decision go hand in hand with His
Power. One attribute perfects the rest.

If Allah is Al Hakeem, what does it mean?

1) His every decision is based on wisdom
2) His is the final judgment
3) Allah is the One who gives Hikmah wa man yu’til hikmah,
whoever is given Hikmah, wa laqad aataynaa luqman al hikmah,
and We gave Luqman Hikmah.

When it is said, Allah does everything with His Hikmah, what does it
mean? it gives us three meanings:
(Whether His Hikmah is Shar’ee or Kawnee)
4) in the ijaad of that thing, there is Allah’s Hikmah. Ijaad means to
come in to existence, its presence. For example, the trees, the
stars, the flowers, plants, soil, there is Allah’s Hikmah behind it.
Also in hukm shar’ee, for example to kill the person who kills
(qisaas), in the existence, wujood, of this hukm there is hikmah.
5) The soorah, the appearance or the form of that Hukmah. For
example in hukm al kawnee: if the stars were too bright the night
would not be night, so in their appearance is Allah’s Wisdom.
Similarly if we had three fingers instead of five, it would be
difficult for us, there is Allah’s Wisdom behind it. Similarly, in
hukm shar’ee, for example how to carry out a will, we know there
are certain rulings. There is hikmah behind these ahkaam.
6) In the end result, consequence or purpose, there is Hikmah
behind it.

Duaas with Hakeem

a) Hukm is like rushd, there is a duaa: Allahumma alhimnee
rushdee wa ‘aidhnee min sharri nafsee, O Allah give me
hidayah/hikmah/wisdom and protect from the evil of my soul.

Al Ghafoor and Al Ghaffaar

Al Ghafoor, the Forgiving. Al Ghaffaar, The Perpetual Forgiver. Both

Names are form ghayn fa ra. Two opinions on the masdar/meaning:
1) from ghafr, with a sakoon on the fa. It means satr and taghtiyah,
meaning to cover, to conceal, putting a shield over something. It
is said, GhafarAllaha dhunoobahu, meaning satarha, He covered
 the sins, Allah did ghafara of his sins. Similarily it is said, ghafara
shaybin bil ghitaab, he covered the gray hair with some color.
From the same word is nighfar, a helmet, it covers your head and
shields your head—if you fall, your head is protected.
2) From ghafar, with a fathah on the fa. Ghafar is used for a plant
with which wounds are healed, so it is said that sins are like an
ailment, a disease or a wound on a person, and maghfirah is a
cure that Allah gives us to heal the wounds that are all over us.
We have injured ourselves by the sins we commit and Allah gives
us maghfirah, the cure to cure these injuries.
Ghafoor is on the structure of fa’ool, and Ghaffaar is on the structure of
fa’aal. They are both on intensified forms (mubaalagah). It’s not just
that Allah forgives sins and covers them.
a) Ghafoor denotes quality, indicates that He forgives sins, and
He forgives sins that are small and also big, those that are
minor and major.
b) Ghaffaar denotes quanity, and the repetition of the act.
Ghaffaar means He forgives a lot of sins, many many sins
everyday. Imagine when people go for hajj and they do
istighfaar, if everyone’s hajj is accepted, how many sins are
being forgiven? So many. Ghaffaar denotes that He forgives
many sins. The repetition of the act shows that He doesn’t
forgive only once, it means that He forgives repeatedly,
again and again. You pray one salah, Allah forgives you, then
you pray again and He forgives the sins between the
salaahs. Agan and again, Allah ta’ala forgives the sins.

Proof of these Names

Al Ghafoor appears in the Qur’an 91 times.
 Appears 72 times with the Name Ar Raheem. The link
between these two Names is that it is out of His mercy that
He forgives the sins, over and over again.
 Appears six times with the Name Al Haleem. Al Haleem is
The One who is very tolerant and forbearing, we sin day in
and day out, and He forgives those sins we do again and
again.
 Appears four times with the Name Al ‘Afuww. Al ‘Afuww is
The One who erases the sins.
 Appears three times with Name Ash Shakoor. Ash Shakoor
is The One who is Appreciative, when you seek forgiveness,
He forgives you and He appreciates your act of
forgiveness.
 Appears two times with the Name Al ‘Azeez. He is the Most
Powerful, the Very Mighty, yet He still forgives. People who
have power, they don’t want to forgive, but Allah is Al
‘Azeez, He forgives.
 Appears one time with Al Wadood. The One who is Very
Loving. The One who loves His creation.
Al Ghaffaar appears five times in the Qu’ran. Why only five times?
Because the meaning is included in Al Ghafoor, and when Allah says Al
Ghaffaar it is an extreme form of how He forgives sins.
 Appears in Surah Taha: 82  wa inna la-ghaffaarun li man
taaba wa aamana wa ‘amila saalihaa. I forgive repeatedly
to the one who repents and he believes and he does good
deeds. Similarly in surah Nooh, Nooh alayhi salaam said to
his people  Innahu kaana Ghaffaara, He forgives again
and again.

If Allah is Al Ghafoor and Al Ghaffaar, what does it mean?

1) Allah covers the sins of the sinner; He does not expose the sins.
A scholar said to his students, if you knew my sins, you would
pelt me with stones. How many sins do we commit? Day in and
day out, Allah knows what is in our hearts, He knows what did
this morning and what is in our minds, but Allah conceals and He
covers the sins.
2) He does not inflict punishment immediately. If the punishment
was inflicted right away, then the sin would be exposed. He does
not inflict retribution right away, because the sin would be
exposed.
3) He shields us and protects us from the consequence of our sins.
We commit so many sins; imagine if Allah was to inflict
punishment right away, none of us would survive on the earth.
He shields us from the consequences in the dunya and also in
the aakhirah. We commit sins yet we receive food, we get rain,
water, air to breathe, He doesn’t take it away from us, He
protects us from the harmful consequences of the sins. He covers
us with His ‘atf and ra’fah, with His kindness and compassion and
He doesn’t expose our sins.
4) He forgives people when they ask for forgiveness and also
forgives them when they don’t ask for forgiveness. How many
times did you do istighfar today? Allah has appointed actions
when one does them, it wipes away sins automatically and Allah
forgives you. Such as praying, thinking good of Allah, they are all
a source of forgiveness.
5) He covers sin while fully being aware of the sin. Sometimes we
don’t say anything to someone because we don’t know what
they’ve done, like a mother not knowing what her child has done.
If people know the details of what was done, they don’t leave the
person alone. Allah is the One who forgives while knowing the
sins of a person. He knows the sins of the person, yet He still
forgives them.

If Allah is Al Ghafoor and Al Ghaffaar, what belief should we have?

What should we know? (The effect on our emaan)
1) We learn that La yaghfiru adh dhunooba il Allah, there is
none Who forgive sins except Allah. We learn this from
Surah Al e Imran: 135 wa mayn yaghfirudh dhunooba il
 Allah, Allah asks us, who forgives sins except Allah?
Similarly there is a hadeeth in musnad ahmad, a man was
caught and he was brought to the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi
wa sallam and the man said: Allahumma inne atooba
ilayka wa la atooba ila Muhammad, O Allah I turn to You in
forgiveness and not to Muhammad sal Allahu alayhi wa
sallam. The Prophet sal Allahu alahyi wa sallam replied:
‘arifal haqq li ahlihi, he knows whose haqq this is, because
only Allah forgives sins. Also in the duaa sayyid al
istighfaar, wa aboo’u bi dhanbee faghfirlee wa la
yaghfirudh dhunooba ila ant.
2) We learn that Allah is Waas’iul Maghfirah, He is vast in
HisForgiveness. We learn this from surah Najm: inna
Rabbaka waasi’ul maghfirah. Also in a qudsi hadeeth in
Tirmidhi: O son of Adam, as long as you invoke Me and plea
to Me, I will forgive you for what you have committed and I
will not make much of it. O son of Adam, if your evil deeds
reach the borders of the sky and then you ask Me for
forgiveness, I will forgive you. O son of Adam, if you bring
the earth full of sins and you come to Me without doing
shirk with me, I will bring you that much forgiveness. He
forgives again and again, repeatedly so long as you have
not angered Allah by doing shirk. He forgives all sins so do
not despair. We must be aware that Allah forgives all sins.
He says in Surah Zumar: O My servants who have done
wrong, do not despair in the mercy of Allah, Indeed Allah
forgives all sins and He is The Most forgiving the Most
Merciful. Ibn Abbass radi Allahu anhuma says in the
commentary of this ayah, Allah has invited to forgivness
those people who claim that Maseeh is the son of Allah (in
surah Maryam, it is near that the skies rent asunder that
they claim to Allah a son, yet Allah is saying I will forgive
you) and He is inviting those who say Uzair is the son of
Allah, and He is calling those who say He is faqeer (the
jews), and He is calling those who claim that Allah’s Hands
are tied (the jews), and He is calling those who claim that
He is one of three—in other words, Allah is calling those
who have committed major sins. Allah says to them: afalaa
yatooboona il Allah wa yastaghfirlahu, don’t they turn to
Allah and seek forgivness from Him? Ibn Abbass continues,
and Allah is inviting to tawbah the one who claim “anna
rabbakum al ‘alaa” (fir’awn), Allah ta’ala is even inviting
the one who said ‘I do not know of a God for you besides
me’, Allah even invitied him. Then Ibn Abbass said,
whoever makes the slave of Allah despair in His forgivness
after this ayah, he has denied the book of Allah. There is a
hadeeth in saheeh Muslim: if the kuffar knew how much
Rahmah Allah has in Jannah, not even one person would
despair of His Jannah. We just don’t realize that Allah is
 Forgiving, which is why we never seek forgiveness from
Allah, which is why we are deprived of so much good.
3) Allah covers the sins of the sinner in the dunya and the
aakhirah. Where do we learn this from? There is a hadeeth
in bukhari, a person will be brought on the Day of
Judgment to Allah ta’ala and Allah will begin listing his sins
and asking him if he did such and such, until the person
thinks they are doomed and then Allah says: I have
covered your sins in the dunya, and I will cover them today.
What does this teach us? If we have committed a sin, we
do not need to advertise it. Similarly, if a person has
committed a sin of a person, we should not broadcast it.
There is a hadeeth, whoever covers the sins of a muslim,
Allah will cover his sins on the Day of Judgment. The
prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said in another
hadeeth in Ahmad, he warned the people severly: O group
of people who have believed with their tongues and emaan
has not entered your hearts, don’t do backbiting of the
Muslims and do not go after their faults. Whoever goes
after the faults of other people, Allah goes after his faults.
Whoever Allah goes after, Allah disgraces him in his own
home. If we know someone has committed a sin, we do not
have the authority to mention it. If someone does so, then
Allah is against them…if Allah is against you, then how can
you be saved? So we do not broadcast our sins, or other
people’s sins.
4) Allah loves those people who repent and who do tawbah,
we learn this from Suratul Baqarah: 222  inna Allahu
yuhibut-tawaabeen wa yuhibul mutatahhireen. Allah loves
those who do tawbah and those who purify themselves.
Why does Allah love them? Because they are cleaning
themselves and they are turning to Allah. Also in a hadeeth
in saheeh muslim: by the One in Whose Hand is my soul, if
you people did not commit sins, Allah would do away with
you and bring about another people who do sins and they
would seek forgiveness and Allah will forgive them. Allah
loves the act of forgiving, and He loves to forgive. It
doesn’t mean we commit sins deliberately, but that we
seek forgiveness for our sins that we know of and those
that we do not know of.
5) Allah laughs and rejoices when a person seeks forgiveness.
In a hadeeth in saheeh Bukhari, Allah is happier then a
man who looses his camel in the desert then finds it and
out of extreme happiness he says: O Allah I am your Rabb
and you are my servant, without realizing what he saying,
Allah is happier than that person when a person repents to
Allah ta’ala.
6) When a person seeks forgiveness from Allah ta’ala, He
forgives him, and He will do things that are not done
 normally to forgive that person. We know of the hadeeth of
the man who killed 100 people, and he died while traveling
to the other city, and the angels were told to measure and
Allah commanded the earth to shrink so that the person
could be forgiven. Imagine the earth was reduced for him,
because he was sincere. If we are sincere in our
repentance, and we seek forgiveness, Allah will forgive us.
It is only our arrogance that is holding us back, yet Allah is
reading to forgive.
7) We should hasten to forgiveness, we should not delay it,
we learn from Surah Al e Imran: 133 wa saari’oo ila
maghfiratin min Rabbikum wa janaah, ardhuhas samawaati
wal ardh. Hasten, run, rush to forgiveness from your Rabb,
and to Jannah whose width is the heavens and the earth.
Run to forgiveness from Allah ta’ala, don’t delay.
8) Forgive so that Allah will forgive you. We learn this from a
hadeeth in Ahmad: irhamoo turhamoo, be merciful so Allah
will be merciful to you, ighfiroo yaghfirullahu lakum, forgive
others so Allah will forgive you. We learn about Abu Bakr
radi Allahu anhu from Surah Noor do you not love that
Allah should forgive you? Seek forgiveness from Allah, and
at the same time, forgive other people.

Al Ghafoor and Al Ghaffaar Cont

Signs of Forgiveness

1) Person does complete tawbah. Tawbah is not about apologizing

but it’s about changing your ways and promising you won’t
commit the sin again.
2) One should feel regret in their heart for having committed the
sin. Umar radi Allahu anhu would cry years after he buried his
daughter, even after he accepted Islam and all of his sins were
forgiven. Regret doesn’t mean you become depressed, you seek
forgiveness and you realize you did wrong and have hope in His
Mercy.
3) The person who seeks change is happy for having left sin and
having made the change in his life. Some people miss doing the
wrong they used to do.
4) He cries from the fear of Allah, everytime he remembers the sin
he committed, and he is regretful. This shows us that after
seeking forgiveness, we should never become content. Yes Allah
is Al ‘Afuww, but if you become content, you may fall into the sin
again. The memory of this sin holds one back.

When Allah forgives a person, what does it mean?

The result is that the sins are removed, the person is not accountable
for them and Allah forgives/covers them. In surah Furqan, ayah 70 we
learn:

Allah says: "Except those who repent and believe and work righteous deeds, for them
Allah will change their evil deeds to good deeds, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most
Merciful." [Sûrah al-Furqân: 70]

“yubadillulu sayyiaatihim hasanaant”, Allah will change their bad

deeds to good deeds. What does change mean? It means that they are
written as good deeds. If there are ten sins, it is written as ten good
deeds, the records are changed.

What prevents the forgiveness of Allah?

A person may do istigfar, and do actions which should be cause of forgiveness (eg.
wudu), but at that same time the person does things which prevent forgiveness.

1) Shirk with Allah – if they do Allah does not forgive them

 Verily, Allâh forgives not that partners should be set up with him in
worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases,
and whoever sets up partners with Allâh in worship, he has indeed
invented a tremendous sin. (An-Nisa 4:48)

2) Disclosing ones sins – talking about ones sins himself then Allah does not
forgive the person

 Prophet Muhammad sallahu alayhi wa sallam said in a Qudsi Hadith:

"My entire nation is safe, except al-Mujahirin (those who boast of their
sins). Among the Mujaharah is that a man commits an (evil) act, and
wakes up in the morning while Allah has kept his (sin) a secret, he says:
"O so-and-so! Last night I did this and that." He goes to sleep while Allah
has kept his (sin) a secret but he wakes up in the morning and uncovers
what Allah has kept a secret!" [Sahih al-Bukhari]

 Jahr – openly do something

 Allah covered him and he exposed himself and he removed the veil, so
Allah does not forgive him – showing we should not talk / expose our sins

If Allah covers it is his rahma and others because they are not negatively influenced to
others – because people then think it is fine to follow. When sins are common, openly
done then shyness goes away and people become bold in doing it and following the sin.
Shaytan then beautifies the sin – then you speak of it when you see it as beautiful.

August 20, 2008

Al- Hakeem - The Most Wise (Samiha version notes)
On the structure of fa’eel – the structure for mubalagha – intensified form of what is
being said
Root – ha kaaf meem – hukm / hikmah – judgement / wisdom

Name gives 3 meanings:

1. Haakim / Hakm – one who judges, gives judgment
2. Hakeem – ‘thu hikmah – one who has wisdom/hikmah
• one who is wise/ most wise
3. Muhkim – one who is firm / perfect
• Daleel – 97 xs in the Qur’aan
o Baqarah: 32
o Ali Imran: 6
o Alif Laam Raa hakeemin khabeer – fussilat
o Nur: 10

Mentioned together with several other names:

Hakeemul Aleem – most wise one who judges but has complete knowledge, judgment is
based on complete knowledge
Azeezul hakeem – one who judges / is wise – one who is ghaalib – over powers, His
wisdom and power go hand in hand
Hakeem + khabeer – khabeer He is aware, and hakeem
Tawwabur – he knows and is wise who to take repentance from ,

Decision goes along with His power, people have knowledge, but his one attribute
perfects the rest

Means:
Every decision based on his wisdom
one who gives judgment
one who gives hikmah / knowledge
Allah says “wa may yu’tal hikmah’
“wa laqad ataynal hikmah’ –gave hikmah to luqman

means to place somethingh where it belongs

in ahkmaam – in ijaad of that thing is Allah’s hikmah – ijaad – wujud come into
existence, it’s presence, being there, is Allah’s hikmah – stars, trees, plants, Allah’s
hikmah/wisdom is behind it
Hukm Shar’I – to kill the murduerer, Qisaas – in existence of hukm is wisdom
Suraah – form or appearance of the Hukm – how it is has Allah’s hikmah – qawnee –
stars there, not too bright – if they were as bright for us then night would not be night –
their appearance has hikmah – shape/form
ex: hand – if only 3 fingers, would be difficult
trees – are not red, grass not blue/purple
Hukmush-shari’ – how to carry out a will, do a certain action – ex: lashing the one who
deserves to be – cant do as they die, stoning a person – cant rebuke them

Gha’ith – end result/consequence/purpose – there is hikmah behind it

Al-Hakeem

Call Upon Him with It – Fad’uhu biha

Duas about hukm, asking Allah for hikmah

“Allah give rushd/ guidance, hikmah”

Ghafur / Ghaffar

Al-Ghaful – the forgivig

the perpetual forgiver

Both from Ghayn fa ra – 2 opinions of masdar

1. comes from Ghafr – Ghayn far a w/ sukoon on fa – Satar and tartiya – Ghitaa’in
‘an thikri – covering – to cover, conceal, shield something

Ghafarallahu thunubahu – meaning he did ghafara – he covered the sins

ghafara shayba bil thithaar – covered gray hair with color

Mighfar – helmet – covers your head and shields/protects head – for if you fall, you’r
head is protected, safe, covered

2. Ghafar – fatha on fa – a plant with which wounds are healed

a. Sins are like an ailment, disease, wound on a person

Maghfira is a cure Allah gives us to heal our wounds around us we are injured by, we
injure by sins we commit, Allah forgives & gives cure to cure wounds all over us – if
look at the names, on the structure of Fa’ool – Fa’aal – both mubalagha – intensified
not just forgive / cover sins

Ghafur – denotes quality – meaning he has the amazing quality of forgiving sins, in
particular when forgiving sins, they are great sins, he forgives sins, quality of – and the
sins that are small / big

fa’aal– denotes quanitity and repetition of the verb – fa’aal – forgives a lot of sins in a
day – people go for hajj, do istigfar – if all ppls sins are forgiven, lot of sin forgiven, he
forgives many sins
He doesn’t just forgive once, again and again – say astagfirullah – pray Salaah + in
between them, again and again he forgives the sins,

Al-Ghafur – 91 xs in the Qur’aan

baqarah : 72
- what we can eat – no sin if he compelled – most forgiving

Ghaffar – 5xs in the Qur’aan – meaning is included in Al-Ghafur – Al-Ghaffar is like

extreme quality of forgiving sins
Al-Ghafur 72xs witih Ar-Raheem – he forgives and is merciful – ot of his mercy he
forgives sins again and again, Allah’s rahma

6xs with AL-Haleem – the very tolerant, very forbearing – we do sins day in / out and
seek forgiveness and do it again but Allah tolerant and he forgives

4xs w/ Al-Afuw – one who wipes out / erases the sins

3xs w/ As-Shukur – the one who is appreciative, seek forgiveness, and he appreacatings
your act of seeking forgiveness

2xs al-Azeez – very mighty/powerful – he is al azeez and yet al –ghafur

people of power don’t

1xs – Al wadud – loving – loves his creation

with the very names it comes with shows compassion

Ta-Ha : 82 – Ghaffar perpetual forgiver – forgive repeatedly

Nuh: Nuh said to people when calling to Allah’s Ibadah – seek forgiveness from your
Rabb – perpetually forgiving – if he is al ghafur / al ghaffar

means:

1. Understand Allah covers the sin of the sinner – He does not expose the sins. One
scholar told the other scholar ‘if you knew my sins you would pelt me with
stones’ we commit sins day in and day out – Allah knows what is in our hearts,
what we do and is in our minds, Allah conceals and covers to preserve our dignity
– he gives us another chance after chance, does not expose to people
2. He does not inflict punishment immediately / right away – if he did, then the sin
would be exposed – if we lied and nose grew – we would have huge noses
a. he does not inflict retribution right away – he covers sin
3. he protects us from consequence of our sins – we do so many , if we do wrong
and see consequences right away – the nobody live, in Dunya and akhirah – we do
sins but we get rain, water, air to breathe, we are saved from harmful
consequences
4. with Atf / Ratfa – kindness and compassion – covers and soesd expose
5. He forgives when they ask for forgiveness and when they don’t ask for
forgiveness – we don’t always ask forgiveness, but He appt certain actions which
automatically remove sins, doing Salaah etc – means of getting forgiveness
6. He covers the sin while fully being aware of the sin- sometimes we don’t say
about someone because we don’t know completely what they’ve done – if we do
know the detail of what they ‘ve done, they dotn leave the other person – Allah
forgives knowing state of sinner

What belief should we have? what should we know? What is the effect of name on our
Imaan?
1. We get to know Allah – certain things about His Name
a. None who forgives sins except Allah – you can go and ask of a person, “I
haven’t prayed Salaah – forgive me” but has not gotten from Allah
i. Imran : 135
ii. Ahmad – person caught and brought to sallahu alayhi wa sallam so
he said that ‘ I turn to you for forgiveness and don’t turn to Alah
for forgiveness sallahu alayhi wa sallam said he knows whose right
it is
iii. Wa la yaghfiruthunaba illa anta

2. Learn that Allah is wasi’ul maghfirah – vast in forgiveness, forgives many sins/
again and again
a. Najm : 32
b. Tirmidhi – Allah says oh son of Adam as long as you invoke/pray to me I
will forgive you for what you have commited, and I will not make much
of it, oh son of Adam if your evil deeds reach the borders of the sky and
you ask for forgiveness, I will forgive you, if you bring forth earth full of
sins and you meet not doing shirk – Allah says he will forgive that much
c. forgives again and again – no matter how much as long as not anger by
doing shirk

3. Allah forgives all sins – do not despair

a. someone has committed many sins – but if you do tawbah Allah will
forgive, must have this knowledge so we don’t despair
b. Qur’aan – oh my servants who have done wrong – do not despair –
c. Ibn Abbas in commentary of Ayah – Allah invited to forgiveness those
people who claim that maseeh is the son of Allah – shirk – he is calling
them to forgiveness
d. Surah maryam – near that skies rent asunder that he has son
e. And he is calling those who claim Uzair is the ons of Allah and calling
those who claim Allah is faker, and those who say Allah is stingy and
those who say he is one of three, he is calling them to forgiveness and he
says to them do they not repent to Allah and seek forgiveness of him-
don’t they turn to Allah and seek forgiveness – and he is invited to
tawbaah – to the one who said he is the highest rabb- even the phraorah
and one who says I don’t know any god aside from me – the one who
despairs for mercy of Allah after this has denied the book of Allah – Allah
says will forgive all sins
f. Muslim – had the kuffar known what Allah has of Rahmah in Jannah –
then not even one people despair of hope of Jannah
g. we don’t realize Allah is forgiveness and so we don’t seek forgiveness –
ibn Abbass is calling this/that person – what holds you back and prevents
from going back to Allah
h. Allah covers the sin of the sinner in dunya / akhirah
i. Hadith in bukhari – person brought on DOJ to Allah – Allah ask if
he’s done such – such – he will say yes he did it, until the person
thinks will go to hell – Allah says I covered in dunya – so will
forgive for yout he sins today – cover in dunya/today
ii. once we have done sin we should not advertise
iii. if one has done sin/ fault – should not expose them
 iv. whoever covers a Muslim, Allah conceal him on DOJ –
v. sallahu alayhi wa sallam warned the people “those people who
have believed with the tongues but imaan has not entered heart, do
not backbite Muslim and go after their faults. – do not go after the
faults – whoever does, Alalh goes after his faults, he is forgiveing –
he is protecting – doesn’t like when follow and expose sins –
whoever faults Allah goes after, Allah disgraces the person in his
own home / house he is disgraced

i. if someone does wrong and we know – we should not talk of it – if we do

then Allah is against us – severe warning

5. Allah loves those who repent

• baqarah : 222 – Allah loves those who do tawbah –
• Sahih Muslim – if do not sin would do away and bring a people who
would commit sins and seek forgiveness and Allah wold forgive them –
Allah loves the act of forgiving – loves to forgive – does not mean we do
sins deliberately but we seek forgiveness from known and unknown sins

7. Allah happy w / those who seek forgiveness, he laughs/rejoices

a. bukhari and Muslim – Allah is most happy when one loses camel, finds
and out of extreme happiness and he says – Allah is happier than that
person when the person repents to Allah – he is happy w/ it

8. when they seek forgiveness Allah will forgive him and do things not done
normally to forgive that person – the man who killed 100 people, he died on the
way and was told to measure the distances wherever closer – then there reside –
the good side was longer – Allah commanded it to reduce so that the person could
be forgiven, his repentance was so sincere – what is holding us back?
arrogance/ignorance – Allah is ready to forgive

we should run to tawbah after sinning – think will do sallah sayyidul istigfar but our
breath could be our last
imran 133 – rush to forgiveness – run / hasten to forgiveness – don’t delay – forgive so
that Allah will forgive you – Hadith in Ahmad – be merciful so that Allah will be
merciful to you – forgive so that Allah will forgive you

Abu bakr – don’t you want Allah to forgive, seek forgiveness so that Allah will forgive
you

signs/means to seek forgiveness

41 actions you can do and Allah will forgive / without saying – our fault in the end if we
are not forgiven – he is ready and calling everyone to forgiveness – only our
arrogance/ignorance holds us back

sallahu alayhi wa sallam seek forgiveness more than 70xs a day

August 21, 2008

Recap: Al-Ghafur/ Al-Ghaffar
Root ghayn fa ra – from two words:
- Ghafr – to cover / conceal / shield
- Ghafar – Plant used for curing wounds
o Forgiveness is like a cure

Signs of Forgiveness – we are encouraged to seek forgiveness. Allah tells everyone to

seek forgiveness and Allah is willing to forgive

What are the Signs someone is forgiven? Like when a person does something wrong, then
seeks forgiveness:

1) A person does complete tawbah and changes his ways. Tawbah is not just saying
sorry, but changing yourself and your ways, promising you’ll never do the same
thing again or repeat the mistake / sin again. As humans if we make a mistake
again, it is human nature but the person should have the determination to not do it
again.
2) The person has regret in his heart, he is never content.
• A person might say they used to do wrong and they did tawbah, then they
will tell friends, “I used to do this” – “I used to do that, I was so bad” – but
if there is regret a person will never do that
• Even after years after forgiveness he has regret in his heart for doing the
sin – the regret doesn’t ever leave
• Umar bin Al-Khattab would cry over burying his daughter alive after
many years, even though after accepting Islam all sins are gone he would
have that regret in his heart
• The Sahabah never forgot sins of past
• This doesn’t mean you despair / become depressed – you seek forgiveness
and ask for mercy, but you acknowledge the fact that you did wrong and
that you are still needy of Allah’s mercy
3) The person who seeks forgiveness is happy with the change – happy for having
left that sin.
• Some people miss doing the wrong that they have left / used to do.
• Saying for example they can no longer do that wrong because they have
become ‘good’ now
• A person who is sincere in repentance has the sign he is happy with
change in life and doesn’t miss the wrong
4) The person cries from the sin he committed to Allah
• Every time he remembers the sin he is regretful and cries
• Shows that after seeking forgiveness one should never be content
• Doing istigfar does not mean you become content and get over it, because
it still occurred and is written. Allah is Al-Afuw and He will erase it but if
you are content then it’s easy to do the sin again. Being weary of past hold
you back from doing the wrong again.

When Allah forgives person what does it mean? What happens – what is the result?

The sins are removed; the person is not called to account for them. Allah covers the sins
and He changes the sins to good deeds.
 Allah says: "Except those who repent and believe and work righteous deeds, for
them Allah will change their evil deeds to good deeds, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving,
Most Merciful." [Sûrah al-Furqân: 70]
- What does the change mean? – they are written as good deeds – if they are 10
sins now they become 10 good deeds - the records are changed

What is it that hinders/stops forgiveness?

A person may do istigfar, and do actions which should be cause of forgiveness (eg.
wudu), but at that same time the person does things which prevent forgiveness.

1) Shirk with Allah – if they do Allah does not forgive them

 Verily, Allâh forgives not that partners should be set up with him in
worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases,
and whoever sets up partners with Allâh in worship, he has indeed
invented a tremendous sin. (An-Nisa 4:48)
2) Disclosing ones sins – talking about ones sins himself then Allah does not forgive
the person
 Prophet Muhammad sallahu alayhi wa sallam said in a Qudsi Hadith: "My
entire nation is safe, except al-Mujahirin (those who boast of their sins).
Among the Mujaharah is that a man commits an (evil) act, and wakes up
in the morning while Allah has kept his (sin) a secret, he says: "O so-and-
so! Last night I did this and that." He goes to sleep while Allah has kept
his (sin) a secret but he wakes up in the morning and uncovers what Allah
has kept a secret!" [Sahih al-Bukhari]
 Jahr – openly do something
 Allah covered him and he exposed himself and he removed the veil, so
Allah does not forgive him – showing we should not talk / expose our sins

If Allah covers it is his rahma and others because they are not negatively influenced to
others – because people then think it’s fine to follow
when sins common / openly done – then shyness goes away and people become bold in
doing it and following the sin
- shaytan beautifies the sin – then you speak of it when you see it as beautiful

Depends on who you are and why – some people like to show that they were bad, and the
wrong things they did – people lose respect for you – that they were bad. Or children tell
parents that they were bad, however sometimes you want to explain that it is not diff to
change, that it is possible – and you say same thing and you do not describe in detail – do
not present it in a good way. Careful how, why and who you are telling – do not confess
to others, but to Allah – you do not need to degrade yourself in front of other people

Can come under spreading of Fahishah this way. If you are in such a place where you can
get punishment then you are supposed to do that. If your sin is covered, then there is no
reason to expose your sins. ex- girls getting married in times of jahiliyah had a boyfriend
– and would tell man marrying that – should not tell so that the other has bad thoughts -
do not speak of and tell – but the person who has repented from sin as if never continued.
still seek forgivness in heart

Rising of Sun from the west – when it rises nom at

al gharghara – when on death bed then seek forgivness and is choking then he seeks
forgiveness – must seek forgivness as soon as realize is wrong

when two Muslims abandon each other – they have a fight and do not speak

“deeds are presented every mon and thurs, Allah forgives every person who does not do
shirk with Allah – Allah forgivnes his sins for him except for a person there is between
him and his brothers a fight and they have left each other so Allah says ‘leave them until
they solve the problem’
their sins are not forigiven – they are forgiven until you have a dispute with a person

Max are 3 days – if you go past it then they are to be left until they reconcile – for major
sins a person has to seek forgiveness

sallahu alayhi wa sallam a group of people go somewhere everyone bring stick until huge
bonfire

what actions / things wwe can do or what things in our lives are a cause of forgivness

41 points – Allah is Ghafur and Ghaffar – we must be very sinful and do a lot of sins.
What kind of sins do we commit? Lying, Shirk, Zina, Backbiting, Killing – major things,
but these things are not committed by good people much so there must be other sins we
do all the time – ex: not having Ikhlaass, saying a statement that hurts the other, raising
ones voice, being rude, not following the rules, little sins which gather up – we must be
very sinful that Allah is such and he gives so many things so that on the day of judgement
we are forgiven

effects everyone the sins that we do. We should keep a check on ourselves and what is
our part – we have to seek forgivness and be alert of what sins we commit / do. Sins are a
disobedience to Allah – we should see if there is something we are doing that we are not
supposed to do. If we don’t learn the Qur’aan we don’t know what sins are and realize it.
Many times people don’t even know what they are doing wrong. We should examine and
see where we do wrong.

Cauases of forgivness

1. Accepting Islam
a. Bukhari – when a person is a Muslim all previous sins fogivne
2. Dying on Tawheed
a. Dying we/out doing shirk
b. Tirimidhi – Qudsi – oh son of Adam if you come to me with equivilant
with earth of sins I will bring equvilant in forgivness as long as not do
shirk with me

3. Following the prophet sallahu alayhi wa sallam

a. Surah Ali Imraan – if you believe Allah then follow the prophet sallahu
alayhi wa sallam and Allah will love you and forgive your sins
b. cause of forgivness is following sallahu alayhi wa sallam
4. Giving Adhaan
a. Musnad Ahmad – Allah and angels give blessings to who stand in front
row of sallah and muathin is forgiven sins so far as his voice goes
5. Dhikr – remembering Allah after the Adthaan
a. the one who does and asks forgivness

6. Doing wudu properly

a. Muslim – the one who does poperly sins leave him even the one under his
nails

7. Walking to masjid
a. One step sin removed the other darajah is raised until reach
8. waiting for the Salaah in masjid
9. Praying Salah
a. sallahu alayhi wa sallam asked if there was a reiver and pseron bathed five
times a day same when pray salaah

10. Salaatul jumu’ah in congregation

a. sahih Muslim - one who does bath and goes to masjid and prays w/ imam
and is silent in khutbah sins between 2 jumuah and 3 days forgiven
11. praying two rakah after wudu
a. none who does wudu and performs 2 rakah and his heart and mind are
both in it except it is obligatory for jannah and to forgive sins
12. Person’s Ameen at same time as Imam
a. if ours is same time as the imam then our sins are forgiven
b. sometimes we just stand instead of saying amen with the imam – should
say it out so that if it is at the same time our sins are forgiven
c. sometimes we are distracted and we say amen only when we take notice

13. Sajdah
a. no sajdah you do for Allah aceept Allah raise darajah and wipe out a sin
14. Remembering Allah after every Salaah
a. saying 33 times each and then etc
b. Source of forgivness even if it equivlant to the foam on the sea
c. It does not take a long time and in comparison to how many sins we have
commited and we don’t know shows this is all of Allah’s mercy
15. Praying at night - ahmad
16. Sadaqah
17. Fasting in Ramadhan
18. Stnading in prayer in Ramadhan
19. Qiyaam laylatul qadr
20. Fasting on Arafah
21. Fasting on Ahsoorah
22. Hajj Mabroor
23. Umrah
24. Touching the black stone
25. Dying in Way of Allah
26. Saying subhan’allahi wa bihamdihi 100xs a day
27. Salah on sallahu alayhi wa sallam – Durood on him
28. After majlis saying subhanallahukkmma
 29. Forgiving people
30. Being easy in a bargain / trade / transaction – when a person is such a way Allah
forgives him
a. if you give in hope that you hope that Allah is easy with you

33. visiting the sick

34. bathing a Muslim who has died
tabarani – whoever gives ghusl to a dead person Allah will cover his sins, and
whoever has given him the kafan Allah will clothe him in silk (clothing of jannah) – very
honorable deed
35. A person on whom 100 people pray on him when he has died
tabarani – when a person dies and 100 pray his janazah then he is forgivnen. Not
easy, only when good to them, you know them they will come to your janazah
36. Shaking hand with the Muslims
Hadith – no two people when they meet and they shake their hands, their sins fall
until their hands separate
37. trial – a person has diff and he is paitent
even a thorn that pricks
38. Fever
do not curse / abuse the fever because it takes away the sins of th sons of Adam
39. Epilepsy – when A person is patient Allah forgives the sins
you might suffer from something others are not suferening from but if you are
patient
40. kind to Allah’s creation / animals
dog thirst and the prostitute woman gave water
41. Having good thought about Allah
I am as my servant thinks I am. You hope for his forgivness he will be forgiving to
you

August 22, 2008

What do we do if Allah is Al-Ghafur / Al-Ghaffar??

- Be forgiving yourself – if you want to be forgiven then be forgiving

- Don’t delay seeking forgiveness, as soon as we realize we’ve done something
wrong we should then seek forgiveness
- Seek forgiveness many times a day – 70xs or more
- Don’t expose our faults; if Allah covered ours, then we should do it also. Also we
should cover the faults of other people. Even conversationally we should not
expose them or casually mention them. (Can occasionally be used for Ibrah, but
must watch intentions)
- Don’t despair in the Mercy of Allah, no matter whatever we have done, always
room for change. The responsibility is on us, if we want a change we should do it
ourselves.
- Be grateful for the actions which automatically cause forgiveness and try to do
them.
- Encourage other people to turn to Allah for forgiveness
- Should not take advantage of Mercy of Allah and deliberately do wrong
 - Hadith Musnad Ahmad: A man once committed and error and said o lord I
committed an error so
o Each time a person made a mistake he sought forgiveness. it may be that
you made a promise, and you are trying and you still fail, then some
people become hopeless of Allah’s mercy, believing they are bad/evil and
can never be forgiven, but the Hadith exemplifies each time we do wrong
we should turn to Allah. Muneed person – every time you realize you did
wrong you turn to Allah.

Fadu’hu bi-ha

Many Hadith which mention forgiveness:

Dua between two sajdahs

sayyidul istifaar: alhumma anti rabbi --- authobika sharri ma sana’ath

Sahih Muslim: Allhummaghfirlee – laa illaha illa anta

Allah forgive the sins I did before and now in secret and public, and the sins you know
better of them than me

subhanallahi wa bihammdiihi / atheem

rabbighfirlee wat-tub alayni – abu dawud

laa illaha illa anta – 100xs

innee kunta minathalemeen

Al-Khaaliq – The Creator | Al-Khallaaq – The Supreme Creator

- Two different nambes of Allah and both of them are mentioned in the Qur’an –
Most people know Al-Khaaliq but are not aware of Al-Khallaq. There is a slight
 difference between the two in Grammar. Al-Khaaliq is Fa’il and Al-Khallaaq has
exaggeration and is an intensified form.
- When we we look at them they are from Khalq – One who creates. One who does
Khalq. If you look at it, it is based on and is basically about three things:

1. ibda’ – ba daal ayn, Ba’da’a from Bid’ah that which is an innovation, invent
something in a way it did not exist before. So ‘Ibda is to create something for the
very first time, it did not exist before. Eg. When Allah created Adam, no human
existed before, so that was ‘ibda
2. Ijaad – an invention meaning create something, to bring something into existence
from non-entity. That particular thing did not exist before. eg. You did not exist
100 years ago. It also includes to modify something. When something is made –
thinking about elements, when something is made and you break it down it comes
down to elements. Who made the elements? Who mate them the very first time?
Allah. So it includes both things to:
1. Create something from matter that did not exist before –
Heavens and earth did not exist before, Allah made them
and brought into existence.
2. Create something from matter that existed before – like
humans were made from matter that existed before.
3. Taqdeer – planning, when something is created in stages. Like human beings were
created in stages. We weren’t human beings in one day, we went through several
stages, and after all that taqdeer we become humans.

Proof of His Names:

Al-Khaaliq appears 11xs in the Qur’an in different forms – of them is in Surah Hashr

Al-Khallaaq appears 2xs in the Qur’an – ‘ُ‫ق ا ْلعَلِيم‬

ُ ّ‫َر ّبكَ ُه َو الْخَل‬ ّ‫ – ’إِن‬He is the
Supreme Creator, the One who is very knowledgeable (15:86)

What does it mean that Allah is Al-Khaaliq?

It means, if Allah is Al-Khaaliq it means He is the one who created everything.

…ِ‫ن مِن دُو ِنه‬

َ ‫ق الِّ فََأرُونِي مَاذَا خَلَقَ الّذِي‬
ُ ْ‫هَذَا خَل‬

This is the creation of Allah. So show Me that which those (whom you
worship), besides Him have created… (31:11)
**Note in audio it was said it was from Surah Rum – but it is really from surah
Luqmaan

- There is nothing like that, everything we have, and everything we see is created by
Allah. One might say that this table is made by the carpenter (made atIkea), but where did
the wood come from? Who gave the Aql? Who gave the nails? The materials with which
to create this? It was from Allah.

1. Allah is Khaaliq of everything – So many places in the Qur’an it is mentioned, He

is the one who created the heavens and the earth and what is between them two,
 meaning Allah is the Creator. When Dhul Qarnayn made the wall, people said
they would pay him for it, but after completion he said this is from the
Fadl/Rahma of Allah and Allah will fnishi it whenever He wants. Whatever is on
the earth if it is made, then who made the Earth? Who provided you with the
aql/resources? Who subjected all of this?
2. Second thing we learn is that Allah is Khaaliq and Qayyum of all His creatures –
What does Qayyum mean? - The one who sustains all His creation.
• We learn from the Qur’an, “‫رزْ ُقهَا‬ِ ‫ل‬
ّ ‫علَى ا‬
َ ّ‫ض إِل‬
ِ ْ‫لر‬َ ‫” َومَا مِن دَآبّةٍ فِي ا‬
– “And no (moving) living creature is there on earth but its provision is
due from Allah.” (11:6)
• Allah gives rizq to everything that He has created.
• Also we learn that He is “ ‫خلْقَ ُه ثُمّ هَدَى‬
َ ٍ‫شيْء‬ َ ّ‫“ – ”الّذِي أَعْطَى كُل‬Tthe
one who created everything and then He guided it (20:50) – He gave
everything its form then guided to its rizq/its function - He is Khaaliq and
Qayyum
3. He has created everything with a purpose, everything ‘bil haqq’ – Everything has
a function, nothing exists that does not have a function. One may think that what
purpose do bugs serve/what is the reason? There must be a purpose, without bugs
you would not realize your house was dirty, or that you are not taking care. If
these things are not there, then we would not know. Everything there is Allah has
created has a maqsad, a reason and a cause behind it. Nothing is created without a
reason.
4. He has created all based on His ‘Ilm and His Hikmah – on His knowledge and
wisdom. As in the ayah mentioned before, ‘ُ‫علِيم‬ َ ‫ق ا ْل‬
ُ ّ‫ن َر ّبكَ ُه َو الْخَل‬
ّ ِ‫ ’إ‬He is Al-
Khallaq and Al-Aleem, that’s also why His creation is so perfect.
5. Allah creates by His Hand and His Kalima ‘kun’
• As there is a Hadith Qudsi that Allah made Jannatul Adn by His Hand
• Also He created many things by kun – be and it is!
6. Allah does not get tired after creating something. We know that Allah created
everything in 6 days, and in the Qur’an it mentions He did not get tired, because
He is al-Qadeer
7. Allah is Al-Khaaliq – The Creator and He is Ghayr Makhlooq – He is not created
• What does it mean by this?
 It means that His Attributes / Abilities are uncreated – ex. Qur’an
is Allah’s Kalam, but it is not created. Similarly, all his Abilities
are ghayr makhlooq
 Hadith tells us, people question – who created this and that until
they finally question who created Allah? The Hadith said that at
this point stop and seek refuge from shaytan, as these are
waswasas from Shaytan and know Allah is Khaaliq and Ghayr
Makhlooq
1. (( I added these two points)) The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The
Shaytaan will come to one of you and say, ‘Who created
such and such?’ until he says to him, ‘Who created your
Lord?’ When it reaches that stage, let him seek refuge with
Allaah [say A’oodhu Billaahi min ash-shaytaan ir-rajeem =
 I seek refuge with Allaah from the accursed Shaytaan] and
stop thinking about it.”
2. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: “The Shaytaan will come to a person and
say, ‘Who created such and such…’” and he narrated the
whole report. (Imaam Muslim, 134).

If Allah is al-Khallaaq – What does that mean? As there has to be a difference …

1. He creates whatever He wills, because He is the Supreme Creator. He can create

whatever He wills, however and whenever He wills
a. Faatir – ٍ‫خلْقٍ جَدِيد‬ َ ِ‫ت ب‬ِ ‫إِن يَشَ ْأ يُذْ ِه ْبكُ ْم َويَ ْأ‬
b. If He wills he can just do away with you and bring about a new creation -
He is all able to do this
2. Kathra/Abundance is indicated – eg. Khallaaq, Fa’aal, Ghaffar - the one who
forgives again and again, repeatedly
a. He created many things, He created things in abundance. Think of your
own body. It is one body but how many parts, cells, veins, arteries, bones,
muscles you have in there; just one thing has so much in it! – How many
human beings are there? Trees, seeds, grass blades, grains, leaves, how
much hair on your head? We don’t know, He is Al-Khallaaq, He creates in
abundance, we cant count His creation Which os why when you praise
Allah you say “Addada Khaliqihi” - the number of His creation
3. He creates with Idqaan – with perfection, whatever He creates is perfect/solid.
a. We learned- “ِ‫مرّ السّحَاب‬ َ ‫ي َت ُم ّر‬ َ ‫س ُبهَا جَامِ َدةً وَ ِه‬
َ ْ‫ل تَح‬
َ ‫جبَا‬
ِ ْ‫“ ” َو َترَى ال‬You
see the mountains and think that they are firm, but they (will) move like
the clouds move on the Day of Judgment”
b. Then comes: “27:88) ”َ‫علُون‬ َ ‫خبِي ٌر ِبمَا تَ ْف‬ َ ُ‫شيْ ٍء ِإنّه‬
َ ّ‫لّ الّذِي َأتْقَنَ كُل‬
ِ ‫صنْعَ ا‬
ُ )
 Atqana is to make something in a solid/firm way it is solid/firm
and perfect
4. Fourth meaning of Al-Khallaq is that He can re-create. It is not difficult for Him
to recreate His creation (on the Day of Judgment).
a. َ‫هو‬ُ َ‫ق ِم ْثَلهُم َبلَى و‬
َ ُ‫خل‬
ْ َ‫علَى أَنْ ي‬ َ ٍ‫ض بِقَا ِدر‬ َ ْ‫لْر‬ َ ‫سمَاوَاتِ وَا‬ ّ ‫ق ال‬َ َ‫خل‬
َ ‫َأ َوَل ْيسَ الّذِي‬
36:81) – ُ‫علِيم‬
َ ‫ق ا ْل‬
ُ ّ‫)الْخَل‬
 “Is not He, Who created the heavens and the earth Able to create
the like of them? Yes, indeed! He is the All-Knowing Supreme
Creator.”
 The one who created the heavens and the earth, is it not possible
for Him to create another heavens/earth? Of course it is possible.
b. Several times in the Qur’an we are told to look at the dead earth that He
has brought back to life. Over and over in several ways we are told to
never doubt resurrection, Allah can re-create.
c. Hadith: ‘As bin Wa’il he came to the Prophet sallahu alayhi wa sallam and
he had a bone with him that was decaying. He brought the bone in front of
him and crumbled it to pieces saying, “Oh Muhammad is Allah going to
re-create this?” And the Prophet sallahu alayhi wa sallam said, “Na’am” –
Yes of course He will resurrect this. Then he warned him, “Allah will
 make you die, then He will bring you back to life, then He will enter you
into hellfire.” (Haakim)
d. He said it outright, shows different ways of Da’wah, sometimes you have
to say it outright.

If Allah is Al-Khaaliq/Al-Khallaaq, what are we supposed to do?

If He created so much, what is expected of us?

- We should not be arrogant with what we do.

o We do one little thing, we make one small thing, or put make up on
sometimes and think we did so well, but then we should see Allah’s creation
and not be proud, as His creation is better than what we could ever do.
- We should be grateful and obey Him – Be grateful for the khalq He has given us
o What is Shukr? – Shukr bil qalb / lisaan / jawarih
 By Jawarih, you should do what you are supposed to do. If Allah
gave this beautiful body then we should use it in the best manner,
not sit idly, or waste it all by sleep but use it in a good way.
 Just by sleeping 8 hours a day you end up sleeping 1/3 of your life
- Accept the way He made us. If you do not like some aspect, maybe your height,
ears, hair, fingers, nails, figure, eyes – You wish it was like someone else’s, then
you should remember it was Allah who gave you that khalq by His decision
according to His knowledge, so we should accept it as it is and do shukr to Allah
for it
o It’s Shaytan that wants us to change creation of Allah
- When we see creation of Allah we should never say it is ugly – whether it is a
person or otherwise.
o When we do this, it’s as if criticizing Allah
- Never be too arrogant of the khalq Allah has given you, as you did not make
yourselves. All of it is given by the Fadl of Allah
- When you look at other people you should not disdain them, think low of them,
because they are not as fair/beautiful etc.
- Similarly you should not praise people that they are so pretty / beautiful. Because
the same way, they did not create themselves.
 Rather you should say ‘Masha’Allah la quwwata illa billah’ – so
they are not affected by the ‘ayn.
• Dont put people in such a situation in which you over
praise them, but simply praise Allah and say Masha’Allah
etc.
 When we see a mirror we should make a dua:
• “Allahumma kama hasantha khalqi” – Oh Allah like you
have made my Khalq beautiful, make my Khulooq beatuful
as well
• We should not be obsessed with our looks; one should be
clean but should not obsess about their bodies.
- You should be grateful for a good khalq – this helps the blessing stay, increases it
and you get reward for your gratefulness. Even your traits or good habits are from
Allah.
 - When you look at the creation of Allah Don’t just look at the apparent of creation.
Don’t be superficial Allah has given the Khalq and the Khulooq, especially in
human beings. A person should not judge just by apparent.
o Eg. When people go for marriage, they criticize just based on looks, but
-appearances change so quickly that people do not realize. Inner beauty
counts. When getting married should look for the Deen.
- If Allah is Al-Khaaliq we are not supposed to emulate this Characteristic and
become Khaliqeen ourselves. We should not imitate and draw pictures of living
beings, making sculptures of His creation.
o Forbidden in many ahadeeth
o The worst people on the Day of Judgement, the worst punishment is for Al-
Musawwiroon, those people who draw pictures/make sculptures – Musnad
Ahmad / Bukhari
o Ahmad – it will be told to give life to what you made. (( The pictures you
made, give life to it now))

Similar Hadeeth (The following 3 hadith I added):

o It was reported from ‘Aa’ishah Umm al-Mu’mineen that Umm Habeebah

and Umm Salamah mentioned a church which they had seen in Ethiopia, in
which there were images. They told the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) about it, and he said: “Those people, if there was a
righteous man among them and he died, they would build a place of
worship over his grave and put images in it. These will be the most evil of
creation before Allaah on the Day of Resurrection.” (narrated by al-
Bukhaari, 417; Muslim, 528)

o ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood said: I heard the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: The people who will be the most
severely punished before Allaah on the Day of Resurrection will be the
image makers. (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5606; Muslim, 2109).

o It was reported from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with
them both) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: Those who make these images will be punished on the Day
of Resurrection. It will be said to them, Give life to that which you have
created! (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5607; Muslim, 2108).

o Some ask why? – That they have been given these artistic abilities, they
should be able to use them. Allah has a lot of gheerah – meaning He is
possessive of something and is jealous if someone else has it. He does not
like some things for people to have. He also has kibr, if someone tries to
take it away Allah will crush him and throw them into Hellfire. This is
unique to Allah. He does not like that people do this. You may draw other
inanimate things, but not humans etc.

What is the ruling on drawing in Islam?

Praise be to Allaah.
Drawing is of two types:

One is drawing pictures of animate beings. It says in the Sunnah that this is forbidden. It
is not permitted to draw anything that depicts animate beings, because the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, according to the saheeh hadeeth: “Every
image maker will be in the Fire.” And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: “The most severely punished of people on the Day of Resurrection will be the
image-makers, those who tried to imitate the creation of Allaah.” And he (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The makers of these images will be punished on
the Day of Resurrection, and they will be told, ‘Give life to that which you have
created.’”

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed those who consume riba
(interest, usury) and those who pay it, and he cursed the image-makers. This indicates
that making images is forbidden. The scholars interpreted that as referring to images of
animate beings such as animals, people and birds.

With regard to drawing inanimate objects – which is the second type of drawing – there is
no sin in that, such as drawing mountains, trees, planes, cars and the like. There is
nothing wrong with that, according to the scholars.

With regard to forbidden kinds of pictures, an exception is made in cases of necessity,

such as drawing pictures of criminals so that they will be known and caught, or pictures
for identity cards which are essential and which cannot be obtained otherwise** and
other cases of necessity. If the ruler decides that producing images of criminals is
necessary, because of the seriousness of their crimes and to protect the Muslims from
their evil when they are known, or for other reasons, there is nothing wrong with that.
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“…He has explained to you in detail what is forbidden to you, except under compulsion
of necessity …”

[al-An’aam 6:119]

Fataawa Noor ‘ala al-Darb by Shaykh Ibn Baaz, p. 302.

** They have included drawing pictures and taking pictures, like with digital cameras.
Allowed only for necessity, like for ID cards, Drivers license, Passport, this is allowed.

o What about for Wedding days? Parties etc… ? For need it is ok, but to take
them, frame them and put them on your walls so that Angels do not come,
this is not allowed. And believers accept Allah’s Hukm (‫عنَا‬ ْ‫ط‬
َ َ‫س ِم ْعنَا َوأ‬
َ ) and
there has to be good in every decision Allah has made for you. In a limited
manner it is acceptable, but to do this habitually all the time, and of others
for no purpose etc, this is not allowed.
o If this ban was implemented, things such as pornography etc, would never
come about. We have to be aware of these issues.
- If Allah is Al-Khallaaq He can also alter the Creation
 o Several times there is a warning in the Qur’an that Allah can replace you
with a new creation, this is called istibdaal
o Another way He can do istibdaal is that He can alter the creation also, like
with Bani Israel when they were turned into apes/pigs
 “7:166) – ”َ‫سئِين‬ ِ ‫)كُونُواْ ِقرَ َدةً خَا‬
o We should Fear Allah and never be arrogant of the freedom we’ve been
given or of the beautifl forms, He has power and control and can later
easily, no point in being arrogant at all, We should be humble towards Allah
for this.
- If Allah is Al-Khaaliq we should do Tafakkur, we should reflect on His creation.
We reflect on paintings, gadgets, etc – what about Allah’s creation? We are told in
the Qur’an to look at the creation of Allah, praise Allah for it, do thikr.
- Must accept what Allah has not created, like when some people are not able to
have children etc…

Dua to Allah by this:

** One thing to be aware is that the name appears as it is, or the verb is mentions eg.
Khalaqa means He is Khaaliq, but that does not mean that from every verb that He
mentioned for Himself we derive names for it, only when there is a Daleel.

Ali Imraan:

ِ‫لّ ْولِي ال ْلبَاب‬

ُ ٍ‫ف الّليْلِ وَال ّنهَارِ ليَات‬
ِ ‫ل‬
َ ِ‫خت‬
ْ ‫ض وَا‬
ِ ْ‫لر‬
َ ‫سمَاوَاتِ وَا‬
ّ ‫ق ال‬
ِ ْ‫خل‬
َ ‫إِنّ فِي‬

ِ‫لرْض‬
َ ‫سمَاوَاتِ وَا‬
ّ ‫ق ال‬
ِ ْ‫خل‬
َ ‫جنُو ِبهِ ْم َو َيتَ َف ّكرُونَ فِي‬
ُ َ‫عَلى‬
َ َ‫الّذِينَ يَ ْذ ُكرُونَ الّ ِقيَامًا وَ ُقعُودًا و‬

ِ‫سبْحَا َنكَ فَ ِقنَا عَذَابَ النّار‬

ُ ً‫خلَ ْقتَ هَذا بَاطِل‬
َ ‫َر ّبنَا مَا‬
“Verily! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the alternation of night and
day, there are indeed signs for men of understanding. Those who remember Allah
(always, and in prayers) standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and think deeply
about the creation of the heavens and the earth, (saying): "Our Lord! You have not
created (all) this without purpose, glory to You! (Exalted be You above all that they
associate with You as partners). Give us salvation from the torment of the Fire.”
(3:190-191)

- They look at creation, realize it is not in baatil and make a dua to be saved from the fire.
Dua of Thana – you praise Allah by His sifa that He created all perfectly/beautifully

Sayyidul Istigifar
The Prophet (‫ )صلي ال عليه وسلم‬added, "If somebody recites it during the day with firm
faith in it and dies on the same day before the evening, he will be from the people of
Paradise and if somebody recites it at night with firm faith in it and dies before the
morning he will be from the people of Paradise." [Sahih Al-Bukhari]

- In this dua you are acknowledging that you are the khalq of Allah. That Allah has
created you and you have done wrong and you seek forgiveness.
- Many duas the mention creation of a person

Dua before sleeping

"ْ‫ إِن‬،‫حيَاهَا‬ ْ ‫ لَكَ مَمَاُتهَا وَ َم‬،‫الّلهُمّ ِإنّكَ خَلَ ْقتَ نَفْسِي َوَأنْتَ َت َوفّاهَا‬
َ‫ الّلهُمّ ِإنّي أَسْأَلُكَ الْعَاِفيَة‬،‫ َوإِنْ أَ َمتّهَا فََاغْ ِفرْ َلهَا‬،‫"أَ ْحَيْيتَهَا فَاحْ َف ْظهَا‬
“O Allah, You have created my soul and You take it back. Unto You is its death and its
life . If You give it life then protect it , and if You cause it to die then forgive it. O Allah, I
ask You for strength.” [Muslim 4/2083 and Ahmad 2/79]

- We acknowledge we are Allah’s Abd

- Also Surah Falaq

Al-Baari’ – The Inventor | Al-Musawwir – The Fashioner (the one who created)
 - Both give the meaning that Allah is the creator
- There are slight differences, but on the whole they mean the same thing – the one
who created

Al-Baari – is from Bara’a – Ba ra hamza – to be free; to be absolved of something

Suratul Bara’a – Allah is free from/absolved from and has nothing to do with this
- Bari’a – to cure, to be free of an illness
- Baraa’ash-shay – Qat’a’ahu wa fasalahu – Cut/divide and separate something,
meaning division and separation.
- From the same root comes Bar’ (with sukoon) – Clay (also can be called Bara)
- Bara – to create something, make something, bring something from non-entity to
existence

Proof of His Name:

- Appears three times in three places in the Qur’an

o Suratul Hashr
o Suratul Baqarah: 54 – when Bani Israel made the calf
 Appears twice in that ayah

If Allah is al-Baari’ – What does that mean?

- Firstly it gives the meaning that He is Al-Muwjid and Al-Mubdi’ The One who
creates/ The One who invents
o As one of the meanings of Bar’ is to create and bring into existence from
non entity
o Khalq meaning khalaqahu meaning He created it, that’s why the translation
is “the inventor” of Al-Baari

- Another meaning is that He has made different kinds/forms of creation

o Another meaning is to divide / separate
o Every creation is separate, it is distinguished from the other creation
 No two people look alike, even twins don’t look alike
o Each person is different, each creation is different. He has made so many
kinds of species. Taking just ants, there are so many different kinds of ants.
o He has created a division in His creation

- He has made the human being from Turaab – Clay

o Because Bar’ means Clay
o Al-Baari is used specifically in context of the creation of human beings
o Taha: 55
 ‫خرَى‬
ْ ُ‫جكُ ْم تَا َر ًة أ‬
ُ ِ‫خر‬
ْ ُ‫خلَ ْقنَاكُ ْم وَفِيهَا ُنعِي ُدكُ ْم َو ِم ْنهَا ن‬
َ ‫ِم ْنهَا‬
 “Thereof (the earth) We created you, and into it We shall return
you, and from it We shall bring you out once again.”

- The creation is Bari’a from inconsistencies

o Bari’a – to be free from
o The creation that Allah has made is free from inconsistencies
 o Mulk beginning – look at the sky, you do not see any inconsistency in it
 ٍ‫ل َترَى مِن فُطُور‬
ْ َ‫صرَ ه‬
َ َ‫فَارْجِ ِع ا ْلب‬
 “…you can see no fault in the creations of the Most Beneficent.
Then look again: "Can you see any rifts?"”
 Looking at your hands/fingers/trees – there is perfection in His
creation

These are the four meanings of Al-Baari

Al-Musawwir – the one who gives Surah

- from Suad waw ra
- Surah means the shape/form of something
- Allah has given everything its particular shape, make, image, own unique form
- Khalq/Khaaliq is General, Baari – means the inventor, so Al-Musawwir is the
next step and final stage of being given its own unique form.

Proof of His Name:

- Only once mentioned in Surah Hashr, “Khaaliqul Baari’ul musawwir”

- But the verb sawwara comes many times in the Qur’an
o Allah says, Allah is the one who gives you form in wombs of your mother
however He wills
o َ‫سوّاكَ َفعَ َدَلك‬
َ َ‫خلَ َقكَ ف‬
َ ‫الّذِي‬
o Infitar: 6-7 – The one who created you, proportioned you and balanced you
o Allah created, gave form/balance/shapes and proportion means sawwara

If Allah is al-Musawwir – What does that mean?

- He creates various forms / shapes.

- He gives it a certain shape. Human beings are not just skeletons walking around;
Allah has clothed us with skin. And that skin is not one kind of skin, different
kinds/colors, even on one body. And that skin stems into different features – so it
includes different features Allah has made.
- One thing we must learn if he is this then it means that we should accept our
Surah as He has made it.
o Khalq – is like the height
o Surah is like how the eyes, nose, lips are – the appearance of the particular
form everyone given. Accept as you have been made, as Allah has made
you by His will. And he has created humans in the best of moulds/forms
o Difference between taking a quality and objecting to it, developing these
feelings because of being told by others, because they do not accept Allah’s
Khalq as it is. Even little children are made fun of – for being overweight,
larger hands, bigger eyes etc – Allah made them as they are, so others
should not make fun of them.
o In some areas people have disabilities and others make fun of them. You
don’t just make fun of them but object to the creation Allah has made.
o First thing if Allah is al-Khaaliq, al-Musawwir, al-Baari then accept the
creation as it is and do Shukr to Allah for how He has made you.
 o Such bullying has led to suicide, psychological disability, they don’t social
with other people as well and develop inferiority complex etc… so long ago
racism, discrimination was banned, and we still bring it up again.
o For purposes of health if you change something it is different, like braces if
a person has difficultly with their mouth they can get their teeth fixed. Same
with exercise to lose weight – as these are necessities.
 Out of reason – with a necessity
 Other types are without necessity you just want to be more
beautiful / attractive – like plastic/cosmetic surgery. Changing the
color of eyes, hair, etc…
- If Allah has given this beautiful form/bodies so much different khalq
o Many animals, trees etc – we should be grateful to Allah
o Infitaar: 6-8
 ِ‫ر ّبكَ ا ْل َكرِيم‬
َ ‫ك ِب‬
َ ّ‫غر‬
َ ‫يَا َأ ّيهَا الِْنسَانُ مَا‬
 َ‫ك َف َعدَلَك‬َ ‫ك فَسَوّا‬َ ‫اّلذِي خَلَ َق‬
 َ‫ي صُورَ ٍة مّا شَاء رَ ّك َبك‬ ّ ‫فِي َأ‬
 “O man! What has made you careless concerning 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.”
o How can you not pay attention Him? How come you don’t obey Him? How
come you disobey and forget him? Then Allah says the one who has
created/balanced you – He gave such a beautiful form, but not to display to
others and be arrogant and boast. Use it, don’t disobey Allah with the limbs
that He has given you. On the Day of Judgment these very hands/eyes/ears
will turn against is if we don’t use them in the proper way. – As gratitude,
we are supposed to use it in the right way.
- Also as women we should be aware that we are given these forms not to be a
decoration piece, or for advertising or pleasing other people. He gave us these
forms, and we are pearls, and something precious is not displayed all the time. It
is not cheap so that everyone looks at it. Similarly we are not cheap and we do not
display the beauty we have been given.
o Dua of Sajdah Tilawa
 Here you say Allah made us, a form of gratitude to Allah.