CULTURE OF ISLAM

068 What ALLAH Teaches Us, About Himself

Imtiaz Muhsin 02-Mar-12

The main objective of these talks (and therefore the scripts of these talks), is to stimulate thinking. Sensible, rational and logical thinking. So, my message, think, think & think! Be sensible, be rational and be logical.

068 What ALLAH teaches us, about Himself

Please Note
1. I have had the great privilege, (since Aug 2010), of presenting talks on the weekly Radio Program Culture of Islam [Every Friday 8 to 8.30 pm, Radio Sri Lanka - FM 97.4] 2. Since these are Radio Talks, I refer to, or address the audience as listeners 3. I am well aware that the audience to these talks would consist of people belonging to a variety of faiths. So as to make people of all faiths feel included, I very often use words and names that are common to all religions. 4. For these reasons, I use the name GOD, as well as Abraham, Moses, Jesus etc as well as the names Allah, Ibrahim (Alaihis Salaam), Moosa (Alaihis Salaam), Easa (Alaihis Salaam) etc 5. Muslims by habit usually say Sallallahu Alaihiwasallam, when the name of Prophet Muhammad is mentioned, and Alaihis Salaam' when the name of a Prophet is mentioned. However, in these series of talks I have reduced the use of these prayers & sayings to the bare minimum. 6. Muslims, also by habit, use a number of Arabic prayers or sayings, such as Alhamdulillah, Insha Allah and so on. Again, I have reduced the use of these prayers or sayings to the bare minimum. 7. Sometimes I have to write Arabic words in the English script. I have devised my own way of writing Arabic in English, as follows;

th TH

s Ss SW

DHL DHZ

H h

Gh GH

Information on these talks along with all download links can be found on my on my Blog (http://imtiazm.wordpress.com/) The dates or the schedules of these talks can be viewed on the Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/ImtiazMuhsin786) The Scripts of these talks can be downloaded from www.ScribD.com (www.ScribD.com Author Imtiaz Muhsin) The audio files of these talks can be downloaded from YouTube (YouTube Channel Imtiaz Muhsin) The YouTube Link to this talk is at

All Praise and Thanks is due to Allah and Allah alone Alhamdulillah! P.S. The Picture on the cover is of the beautiful interior of the Jummah Mosque in Oluvil a village in the Ampara District of Sri Lanka

068 What ALLAH teaches us, about Himself

068 What ALLAH teaches us, about Himself

Dear Friends, I greet you all with Assalamu Alaikum! One view of the Holy Quran is that it may be described as a book that describes Allah or God. I prefer to refer to Allah as Allah Taaalah, or Allah the Most Exalted. Now Allah Taaalah has many, we could even say countless attributes however, through the Holy Quran we learn 100 of these attributes which we call the Asma Ul Husna or the beautiful names or the beautiful attributes of Allah Taaalah Some of these attributes are; The attribute Ar Rahmaan, or the benevolent The attribute of Ar Raheem, or the Merciful The attribute of Al Malik, or the King The attribute al Quddus or the Holy or the pure The attribute of As Salaam, the peace or the source of peace and safety, and so on. Figures and statistics interest me, so it interests me to see the number of times Allah Taaalah describes Himself in the Holy Quran as well as the many different ways in which He describes Himself. The Holy Quran contains many thousands of Aayaths or Signs of Allah Taaalah and they are complied in to a little more than 6200 verses. The noun ilah (meaning God) appears 147 times The proper noun Allah appears 2699 times The form of address, Allahumma appears 5 times The noun Rabb appears 975 times The noun Rahmat appears 114 times The nominal Raheem appears 116 times The sentence Bismillah hir Rahman nir Raheem In the name of Allah the very benevolent the very Merciful, appears 114 times The other names or attributes appear thousands of times in many forms right through the Holy Quran. I am providing all these figures to impress all of you that the Holy Quran does provide us with an immense amount of material about Allah Taaalah Himself. Now Allah Taaalah informs us as follows; Surah 2 Aayath No 30

The word Khaleefah is translated as vicegerent or an ambassador of Allah Taaalah.

068 What ALLAH teaches us, about Himself

So one meaning of Khaleefah would be a person who seeks to learn the attributes of Allah Taaalah and conveys this knowledge. So we find that in the Holy Quran, not only does Allah Taaalah describe Himself but He also provides us pointers as to how we should recognize Him and how we should convert this recognition to deeds that would make us worthy of or qualify us to be His Khaleefah or Vicegerent. For example let us look at the first two Aayaths of Surah Jummah (Surah No 62)

Let us see the first Aayath (of Surah Jummah) In this Aayath, Allah Taaalah tells us about 4 of His attributes. What are they? Al Malik Al Quddus Al Azeez Al Hakeem The King or the Sovereign The pure or the Supreme in Holiness The All Mighty The All Wise

In the next Aayath He tells us about 4 objectives of Rasoolullah (Sal) or the 4 objects of Nubuwwath or Prophet-hood. What are they?

068 What ALLAH teaches us, about Himself

There are a number of Aayaths in the Holy Quran, which describes, as to how these 4 objectives are realized. Anyway, for the purposes of todays talk I would like to draw attention to the fact that in these two Aayaths, Allah Taaalah first mentions four of His attributes and then He describes 4 objectives of Prophethood or Nubbuwwath could it mean that fulfilling or putting in to process these 4 objectives would in fact be a process of recognizing these 4 attributes of Allah Taaalah? To make it clearer, let us chart these 4 attributes of Allah Taaalah along with the stated objectives of Prophethood or Nubuwwath. 1 2 3 4 Al Malik Al Quddus Al Azeez Al Hakeem The King or the Sovereign The Pure or the Supreme in Holiness The All Mighty The All wise who recites to them His verses, and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and the wisdom,

That does look interesting. Doesnt it? Now, let us look at another interesting Aayath. Now, let us look at another interesting Aayath.

068 What ALLAH teaches us, about Himself

Now, that too looks interesting, doesnt it? Here too Allah Taaalah tells us about another 2 of His attributes, The Ghaffoor and The Raheem The Most forgiving, The Very Merciful

Now, that too looks interesting, doesnt it? Here too Allah Taaalah tells us about another 2 of His attributes, The Ghaffoor and The Raheem The Most forgiving, The Very Merciful. Does this Aayath not convey the message that Allah is Ghaffoor and Raheem The Most forgiving, The Very Merciful? And does it also not convey the message that if we love Allah Taaalah then the best way of expressing or demonstrating this love would be to follow our Prophet Muhammad (Sal)? And does it also not convey the message that by loving Allah Taaalah and following Muhammad (Sal) that Allah will in turn love you and forgive you, which in fact would really be favoring you through His attributes of Ghaffoor and Raheem The Most forgiving, The Very Merciful. Now let us see ever so briefly, how Allah Taaalah describes Himself in the Holy Quran and then try to take time and effort to contemplate the message that Allah Taaalah is given us through these Aayaths or these Signs. InnaLLaaha GHaffoorur Raheem InnaLLaaha ghazeezun hakeem WaLLaaHu GHaffoorun haleem WaLLaaHu waasighun ghaleem WaHuwal ghalleeyul ghaDHleem Huwal haiyyul Qaiyyoom Certainly Allah is MostForgiving, Very-Merciful. Surely, Allah is Mighty, Wise.

And Allah is Forgiving, Forbearing. Allah is All-Embracing, AllKnowing for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory) He is the ever living the all sustaining InnaLLaaha kaana ghaleeyan for Allah is Exalted in Power, Kabeer All - Wise InnaLLaaha kaana sameeghan Surely, Allah is All-Hearing, baSWeer All-Seeing. WakaanaLLaaHu ghaleeman Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise hakeema Wa KaanaLLaaHu GHaneeyan and Allah is Ever Rich (Free of hameedhaa all wants), Worthy of all praise

068 What ALLAH teaches us, about Himself

WakaanaLLaaHu sameeghan ghaleemaa Fa innaLLaaHa kaana GHafoowan Qadheera WaLLaaHu ghazeezun ZunthiQaam WaHuwal hakeemul Khabeer WaHuwal LaTHeeful Khabeer

Allah is All-Hearing, AllKnowing then, Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Powerful. Allah is Mighty, Lord of Retribution. and He is the All-Wise, the All-Aware He is above all comprehension, yet All Aware

Well as you can see there are literally thousands of such phrases in the Holy Quran, and what should we do? Read the Holy Quran, contemplate on its verses and try to work out why Allah Taaalah uses these different attributes in different combinations to describe Himself in these different Aayaths. Through this absorbing exercise, Insha Allah, we would gradually begin to realize the power the magnificence, the wisdom and the objectives of the creations of Allah Taaalah. Why does He bring in His attributes of Ghafoor and Raheem in this Aayath and why ghazeezun hakeem in another Aayath and so on. There are quite a few Aaayths where He points out the attributes of Ghaffoor and Raheem and similarly there are quite a few Aayaths where He points out the attributes of ghazeez and hakeem. Should we not try to put these Aayaths together and try to work out why He points out these particular attributes in these particular Aayaths worth trying to find out isnt it?

The Holy Quran which contains over 6000 Aaayath (verses) clearly describes many signs of Allah Taala and imparts many words of wisdom and guidance. For todays discussion I have chosen a few Aayaths from the Holy Quran, which describes as well provides us many points to ponder over the truth of Allah Taala, this world, our creation, our purpose of life and our objective.

068 What ALLAH teaches us, about Himself

Aayathul Kursi Aayath No 255 from Surah Baqara;

(002:255) AllaHu Laa ilaaHa Illaa Huwal Hayyul Qaiyyoom Laa thaa khuzoohu sinnathun wa laa nawm LaHoo Maa Fissamaawathi Wa Maa Fil Ardhl Manzallazee Yashfaghoo ghindhahoo Illaa Bi iznihi Yaghlamu Maa Baina AidheeHim Wa Maa KhalfaHum Walaa YuheeTHoona bi shaiim min ghimihee Illaa bimaa shaaa Wasigha KursiyyuHus Samaawathi wal Ardhla Walaa yaudhuHoo hifdhlu Humaa WaHuwal ghaleeyul ghadhleem

Allah: There is no Allah but He, the Living, the All-Sustaining. Neither dozing overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth. Who can intercede with Him without His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them; while they encompass nothing of His knowledge, except what He wills. His Kursiyy (Throne) extends to the Heavens and to the Earth, and it does not weary Him to look after them. He is the All-High, the Supreme.

068 What ALLAH teaches us, about Himself

From Surah Aal E Imraan Aayath No 26 and 27

QulillaHumma Maalikal Mulki Thuthil Mulka Manthashaau Wathanzeeghul Mulka Mimm Manthashaau Wathughizzu Manthashaau Wathuzillu Manthashaau Biyadhikal Khair Innaka ghalaa kulli shaiyyin Qadeer 07

Say: O Allah, O Lord of the Kingdom, You give kingdom to whom You will, and take kingdom away from whom You will; and You bestow honor on whom You will, and bring disgrace to whom You will. In your hand lies the betterment (of everyone). You are surely powerful over everything.

Thoolijul Laila FinnaHaari Wa Thoolijunna Haara fil Laili Wa Thukhrijul haiyya minal Maiyyithi Wa Thukhrijul Maiyyitha Minnal Haiyyi Wa TharzuQu man thashaau biGHairi hisaab From Surah Hashr Aayath No 22

You make the night enter into the day, and make the day enter into the night; and You bring the living out from the dead, and bring the dead out from the living, and You give to whom You will beyond measure

HuwaLLaHullazee Laa ilaaHa Illa Huwa ghaalimulGHaibi Wash ShaHaadhaH Huwar Rahmaanur Raheem

He is Allah, besides whom there is no god, the Knower of the unseen and the seen. He is All-Merciful, Very-Merciful.

068 What ALLAH teaches us, about Himself

From Surah Hashr Aayath No 23 09

HuwaLLaHullazee Laa ilaaHa Illa Huwal Malikul Quddoosssuss Salaamul Muminul MuHaiminul Ghazeezul Jabbaarul Muthakabbir SubhaanaLLaHi ghamma Yushrikoon From Surah Hashr Aaayth No 24

He is Allah, besides whom there is no god, the Sovereign, the Supreme-In-Holiness, the Safe (from all defects), the Giver-Of-Peace, the Guardian, the All-Mighty, the All-Repairer, the Sublime. Pure is Allah from what they associate with Him.

HuwaLLaHul KhaaliQul Baariul MuSWawwiru LaHul Asmaa Ul Husnaa Yusabbihoo laHoo Maa Fissamaawaathi WalArdhl WaHuwal ghazeez Ul Hakeem

He is Allah, the Creator, the Evolver, the Shaper. His are the Most Beautiful Names. His purity is proclaimed by all that is in the heavens and the earth, and He is the All-Mighty,. the All-Wise

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068 What ALLAH teaches us, about Himself

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Wamaa thafghaloo minkhairin Fa inaLLaHa Bihee ghaleem 15

WaLLaHu yaghlamu Wa Anthum Laa thaghlamoon 16

WaLLaHu yaghlamul Mufsidha Minal MuSWlih 17

InnaLLaHa lazoo Fadhlllin Naasi Walaakinnal aksarann Naasi Laa Yashkuroon

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068 What ALLAH teaches us, about Himself

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La in shakarthum Laa Azeedhannakum Walain Kafarthum Inna ghazaabi La shadheedh Those that Allah Taala Loves 24

InnaLLaHas Yuhibbuth thawwabeena Wayuhibbul Mutha THaHHIreen 25

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Those that Allah Taala does not like 27

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InnaLLaHa Laa Yuhibbu Man Kaana Mukhthaalan Fakhoora

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068 What ALLAH teaches us, about Himself

How could we attract the love of Allah Taaalah 29

Qul In kunthum thuhibboonaLLaHa Faththabighoonee YuhbibkumuLLaH Wayaghfirlakum Zunoobakum WaLLaHu GHaffoorrur Raheem

Say If you really love Allah Follow Me Allah shall love you And forgive your sins Allah is Most Forgiving Very Merciful

This talk is the 6th talk in the series Is this what we are created for? or Why are we on Earth? The titles of the earlier 5 talks have been 1. What do we see, on Earth? 2. Who are we? Where do we fit in? 3. Our special benefits, on Earth 4. What makes us stand out? What makes us special? 5. Who is really in charge? Todays talk was on the topic; 6. What does God or Allah tell us about Himself? The topics of the talks for the next 2 weeks would Insha Allah, be; 7. Our special faculties how they should be used, how they should not be used. 8. The two paths. I sincerely pray and hope that all of you benefit from these talks as much as I have benefitted from doing research from the Quran and then preparing and presenting these talks to you. May Allah Taaalah guide us all and accept us all. Jazza Kalla Khairan. Assalamu Alaikum

Imtiaz Muhsin Colombo Sri Lanka crescent786@hotmail.com

You Tube Channel - HaneefanMusliman

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068 What ALLAH teaches us, about Himself

Series 2 The Talks numbered 054 to 071 is under a series titled Knowing Allah Taaalah or Knowing GOD The details of the scripts of these 16 Episodes (Talks) are as follows;
Talk No Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Episode 7 Talk Number & Title 054 Ilm Knowing Allah 055 Rationality - The Foundation of Islam 056 Is Man Special? 057 Ar Rahmaan - The Beneficent 058 Nature or GOD? 059 Our Relationship with GOD! Sub Series: 060 Is this what we are created for? (Is this what we are created for? Part 1) Sub Series: 061 What do we see on Earth (Is this what we are created for? Part 2) Sub Series: 062 Who are WE? Where do we fit in? (Is this what we are created for? Part 3) Sub Series: 063 Our benefits on Earth (Is this what we are created for? Part 4) Sub Series: 066 What makes us 'Stand Out'? What makes us 'Special'? (Is this what we are created for? Part 5) Sub Series: 067 Who is in charge? (Is this what we are created for? Part 6) Sub Series: 068 What ALLAH Teaches Us, About Himself (Is this what we are created for? Part 7) Sub Series: 069 Our Special Faculties How they should be used, How they should not be used! (Is this what we are created for? Part 8) Sub Series: 070 The TWO Paths 071 Is this what we are created for? A review of Parts 1 to 8 from the Sub Series Is this what we are created for? Date Broadcast Dec 9th 2011 Dec 16h 2011 Dec 23th 2011 Dec 30th 2011 Jan 6th 2012 Jan 13th 2012 Jan 20th 2012 Jan 27th 2012 Feb 3rd 2012 Feb 10th 2012 Feb 17th 2012 Feb 24th 2012 Mar 2nd 2012 Details of Picture on Cover Wellawatte Jummah Mosque in Colombo, Sri Lanka Parasangaswewa Mosque (a remote village) in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka Mutwal Jummah Mosque in Colombo, Sri Lanka The Akbar Mosque in Slave Island, Colombo, Sri Lanka Mosque in Matara, from the Southern Province of Sri Lanka Beach Mosque at Kalmunaikudi in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka A Mosque in the Kurnegala District, Sri Lanka Maradana Jummah Mosque in Colombo, Sri Lanka Colpetty Jummah Mosque, in Colombo, Sri Lanka The Jummah Mosque at Natpidimunnai, in the Ampara District, Sri Lanka The Devatagaha Mosque in Colombo, Sri Lanka A Mosque in a rural village in the Ampara District, in Sri Lanka The Jummah Mosque in Oluvil a village in the Ampara District, Sri Lanka The Dhanakawewa Jummah Mosque in a remote village in the Anuradhapura District in Sri Lanka Mosque at Madhavakulam in the Puttlam District, Sri Lanka A Mosque by a river in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka

Episode 8 Episode 9 Episode 10

Episode 11

Episode 12

Episode 13

Episode 14

Mar 9th 2012 Mar 16th 2012 Mar 23rd 2012

Episode 15 Episode 16

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068 What ALLAH teaches us, about Himself