Ebook

Know Your Lord

Allah’s Names and His Attributes
Ustad Hisham Abu Yusuf

Allah’s Names
and His Attributes

Ustad Hisham Abu Yusuf

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 Contents
Introduction
Learning Allah’s Names is the greatest topic of study.......... 2
Teaching the importance of knowing Allah...................................5
The 99 Names of Allah: an explanation of the Hadith..................7
How to interact with the Names of Allah ...................................11
The difference between a name of Allah, a description of Allah
and an action of Allah.................................................................14

The Name Allah c........................................................................17

Ar-Rabb
A thematic approach to the method of studying the names
of Allah ......................................................................................28
The Name Ar-Rabb.....................................................................29
What is Ar-Rabb?........................................................................30
The first meaning of the word Ar-Rabb is nurturer from birth to
maturity.......................................................................................30
The second meaning of the word Ar-Rabb is the Lord, the Master,
the King.......................................................................................33
The word Rabb and its link to guidance.....................................38
The name Rabb reminds us we are never really alone................40
Some ‫ ََر ََّبَنَٓا‬Rabbana supplications................................................42
Rabb as Allah’s most personal name...........................................43
The concept of al-‘ubudiyyah (‘abd) in Islam – being a slave of
Allah............................................................................................44

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 Allah never uses His Name Rabb in the Quran to link it to an intent
to destruct, hurt or harm.............................................................50
In times of desperation the prophets of Allah would address Him
ِ َ ٓ � ‫( ََر‬Rabbiyy)...................................................54
as ‫( َرِّب‬Rabbi) not ‫ٓىِّب‬
Living with Allah’s Name, Ar-Rabb..............................................57

Al-Hayy, Al-Qayyum,
As-Samad, Al-Ghaniyy
Allah’s Names: Al-Hayy, Al-Qayyum........................................ 61
Al-Hayy: The Ever-Living Who does not Die...............................63
Al-Qayyum: The One on Whom everything relies .....................71
Root meanings............................................................................71
Connecting with Al-Hayy and Al-Qayyum..................................74
Names related to Al-Hayy and Al-Qayyum ................................86
Reviving a Sunnah of reciting the Names Al-Hayy, Al-Qayyum..89

Living with the Names of Allah

The approach to studying the Names of Allah......................94
Five ways in which the Prophets lived with the Names of
Allah................................................................................................94
1. To see everything as the action of Allah.................................94
2. A desire to please Allah..........................................................98
3. To think well of Allah.............................................................101
4. To trust Allah and to trust Him alone: Reflections from the lives
of the Prophets.........................................................................105
5. To desire to meet Allah.........................................................114

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 Learning Allah’s Names is the
greatest topic of study
From the greatest topics and subjects that a person can
study are the names of Allah . And there is no greater thing
to study, there is no greater subject to study, nothing greater
we can understand beyond Allah c.

Allah  says in the Quran,

ْ َ ٰ � ْ ُ � ُ َ ْ َ � �� َ
﴾‫ٰىَن َفْۭد ُُعو ُُه ِبِ ََها‬ ‫ِهَّلِل َۭأْلْسَمٓاُء ُۭحْلْس‬
ِ ‫﴿َو‬
And to Allāh belong the best names, so invoke Him
by them.1

He  further goes on to say,

ُ َ � َ َ �‫َ ٓ َ ُ َ � َ َ َ ُ َ ُ َهَّلل‬
� ‫نُظ ْْر ََن ْْف‬
ْ ‫ٌۭس ََّما َقَ ََّد ََم‬
‫ْت‬ ۭ
َ ُ َْ ‫يَن َُءاَمُنَهَّلل�و۟ا۟ َّۭت َُقو۟اَ۟هَّلل� ََوَتْل‬
َ ‫ِۭذَّل‬
ِ ‫﴿َيٰٓـَأُّيَه َا‬
﴾‫ٌۢري ِبِ ََما َتْع ََمُلوَن‬ۢ � ‫ِِلَغ �ٍۢدۢۖ ۖ ََوَّۭتُقو۟ا۟ َ ۚ ۚ ِِإَّن َ َخ ِِب‬
O you who have believed, fear Allāh. And let every
soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow - and
fear Allāh. Indeed, Allāh is Aware of what you do.2

And then Allah begins a few verses later in Surat al-Hashr to

describe some of His beautiful names. The study of Allah’s
names is therefore one of the greatest topics in the Quran
and one of the most frequently studied.

1 https://quran.com/7/180
2 https://quran.com/59/18

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The story of Musa  and Allah’s
introduction to him.
When at the age of around 40, Musa  is given his mission
as a prophet, and is given the very difficult problem of stand-
ing up to the tyrant, the dictator of his time, Fir’aun. You
can imagine that at this time how very scared he would have
been, because he is to stand not just before a man, but an
army, and he is one man. And how Allah  prepares him to
stand up to Fir’aun.

When Allah  communicates with Musa  for the first time,

the first thing that He says to him is that He introduces Him-
self. When Musa  sees the burning tree and comes close to
it, Musa  hears the words of Allah, as He says,

ْ َ َ َ َ ْ ْ َ َ َ ٓ َ َ ٓ‫َ َ َ ُهَّلل� ٓاَل‬

﴾ۭ‫ۭلَّصَل ٰٰوَة ِذِل� ِ ْك ِِر ٓٓى‬ ‫﴿ ِِإَّنٓىِن� ٓ َأَنا ُ ِِإَل ٰٰـَه ِِإٓاَّل َأَن۠ا۠ َفْۭعُبُْد ىىِن ََوَأ ِِق ِِم‬
Indeed, I am Allāh. There is no deity except
Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My
remembrance.3

The first speech Allah gives to Musa  is you should know

it is Me ‘I am Allah’, there’s nothing you should reach to in
your times of difficulty except Me, so be in service to Me
and establish salah to remember Me. And we can’t realise
the weight of this statement until we understand what does
Allah really mean.

3 https://quran.com/20/14

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This statement ‘I am Allah’ was enough for Musa  to stand
alone in front of an army. It was a statement that was enough
to motivate Musa  stand alone in front of the biggest dic-
tator and the most fearsome man on the planet because he
knew who he was doing it for.

The reason for our existence in this world is to

know Allah 
Many of us live our lives on autopilot like zombies. We wake
up in the morning, we go through our daily routines, and we
sleep at night. And in the hecticness of the day there is not
a moment where we remember what we are doing it all for.

In fact, according to some scholars the core reason Allah

made us is to know Him.

Allah  says in the Quran,

� ُ َْ َ ََ
َ ‫ِۭجْل ََّن ََو �ِۭإْل‬
ُ ُ‫نَس ِإ ااَّل َيِلَ ْْعُب‬
﴾٦٥ۭ‫وِن‬
ِ ‫ُد‬ � ِ ِ ِ ‫﴿َوَما َخَلْقُت‬
And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to
worship Me.4

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas  said the meaning of, ‘to worship

Me’ means Allah created us so that we can know Him.

That Allah created us and gave us eyes, ears and minds so

that we can get to know Him. That this is the reason He cre-
ated these faculties. And we know so much about so many
things in this world, from the trees, to the plants, to the bricks
– but how much do we know about Allah?

4 https://quran.com/51/56

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 Teaching the importance
of knowing Allah
Ayat al-Kursi: the greatest verse of the Quran
because it describes Allah  in the most complete
way
It is why when the Prophet5  asked Ubayy ibn Ka’b  one
of his companions, what is the greatest ayah in the Quran.
It’s a very difficult question. The Quran has so many verses,
and they’re all great verses and so it’s difficult to choose one
– and so when he was asked to choose the greatest verse in
the Quran – he responded to the Prophet , I do not know,
Allah and His Messenger know best.

So the Prophet  said no, tell me what is the greatest verse

in the Quran, and then Ubayy ibn Ka’b says is it Ayat al-Kursi?

ُ � ْ‫﴿ُهَّلل� ُ ٓاَلٓ ِإَِلَ ٰٰـ ََه ِإِ ااَّل ُُه ََو ْل‬
ُ ‫ُّىَح ْلْ ََق ُُّي‬
﴾‫وُم‬
Allāh - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living,
the Self-Sustaining.6

The Prophet  hit him on the chest out of happiness, and

he said7,

‫يلهنك العلم أبا املنذر‬

Rejoice by this knowledge, O Abu Mundhir!

5 https://sunnah.com/muslim:810
6 https://quran.com/2/255
7 https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:1019

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He knew this to be the greatest verse in the Quran because
this ayah describes Allah, and it describes Him in the most
complete way.

It is why the Prophet  would recite Ayat al-Kursi after every prayer,
before he slept, and in the morning and in the evening. If you count
it, the Prophet  would read this verse eight times every day be-
cause it describes Allah. What better way to move a person’s heart,
and to bring it back to life than to remember who it is all for.

The Prophet’s  method in teaching the

companions about Allah 
This was the core focus of the message that the Prophet 
when he taught his companions that the first and the most
important thing that he taught them was who was their cre-
ator. And he taught it to them in a way that they could relate.

One day in Madinah a woman lost her child.8 Back in the day
they didn’t have lost and found, they didn’t have a missing
person’s department or the police. For days and weeks, the
mother was looking for her child, and any person knows what
it is like for a mother to lose her child. In the first few minutes
a mother starts to panic, but imagine days and weeks. One
moment happened in Madinah where this woman found her
child, and she ran to him, grabbing him as she wept.

The Prophet  turned around and all of his companions

were crying just watching the scene. The Prophet  said to
them you see this lady,

8 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:5999, https://sunnah.com/muslim:2754

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 ‫اِر‬ َ ‫َأَ ََت ََر ْْو ََن ََه ِِذ ِِه ََطاِر ََح ًًة ََو َ�َدَل ََها يِف‬
‫اَّنل‬
ِ ‫ي‬ ِ
Do you think that this lady can throw her son in the fire?

They responded that’s impossible. The Prophet  responded,

َ �‫ِدَل‬ َ َ �‫اُهَّلل‬
‫ُ َأ ْْر ََح ُُم ِِب ِِع ََبا ِِد ِِه ِِم ْْن َه ِِذ ِِه ِِب ََو ِ َها‬
Allah is more merciful to His slaves than this lady to her son.

We know Allah  to be merciful, but when the Prophet 

gave that example, it was understood in a different way. This
is how the Prophet  would introduce Allah and emphasize
who He  is to his companions.

The 99 Names of Allah:

an explanation of the Hadith
The Prophet  says in a hadith9 narrated in Sahih al-Bukhari
and Sahih Muslim, the most authentically collected ahadith,

َ ْ َ َ ً َ ً ْ َ ْ َ ً َ ْ �� َ
‫ ََم ْْن َأْح ََصاَها‬،‫اِح ًًدا‬
ِ ‫اَجْل�ًة َ ِإََِّال ََو‬
‫ِهَّلِل ِتِْسَعًة َوِتِْس ِِعَني َاْس ًَما َ ِِماَئ‬
ِ ‫ِإَِّن‬
َ
‫َدَخَل َّنَة‬
Allah has ninety-nine names, one-hundred less one; and he
who internalises them all by heart will enter Paradise.

This hadith with this particular wording is in the most authen-

tic collections of ahadith, but there are other versions of this
report that are weak, meaning that they are not strong in
authenticity.

9 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:7392

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We cannot say that the Prophet  definitely said these
words. And these are the versions of the hadith that have
a list of names of the Allah. These versions of the hadith,
these are all weak according to many scholars including Ibn
Hazm, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, ad-Dawudi, Ibn al-‘Arabi  - all
of these scholars they consider this list of names to be weak.

They said that what used to happen is that sometimes a nar-

rator would report a hadith, he would say the Prophet  said
x,y,z – and then he’ll say something else from himself. But the
person listening thinks all of that is the hadith of the Prophet
ْ
. They call this ‫( ُُمْد ََرج‬mudraj).

And so when you look at all of the narrations, the 99 names

that are written down or passed on by these narrators, they
are conflicting, they are different. There are many different
versions. And there are 20/30 odd names that are not in the
Quran are not in the Sunnah in this list of names. And so
many of the scholars said that these 99 names are not from
the statement of the Prophet .

It means that he  told us that Allah has 99 names that who-

ever internalizes then enters paradise and that’s it – we have
to go look for these names. Just like he told us about Laylat
al-Qadr, he didn’t tell us when is Laylat al-Qadr – we have to
go and search for that blessed night. Similarly many scholars
understood it this way.

Of course many scholars have derived from the Quran what

are these 99 names.

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Does Allah have 99 names only?
How many names does Allah really have? Many scholars
when they looked at this hadith said that because some of
the narrations that came mentioned 103/105 names – and
when some scholars collected all of the names of Allah men-
tioned in the Quran and the Sunnah it amounted to more
than 99.

The analogy is that if I say I have £100, does that mean I

don’t have £1,000 in another bank account. So the majority of
scholars have come to the conclusion that Allah  doesn’t
have exactly have 99 names, He has more.

And the most clear evidence of this is a hadith10 in which the

Prophet  used to make du’a to Allah, and he said,

ُ � َْ َ َْ َ َ َُ ْ ُِ
َ ْ‫َك ََس ََّمـْي‬ َ َُ ْ َ
‫َت ِبِ َ ِِه ََنْف ََس َْك ِْأ ِ َ ْْو َأ َْن ََز ََتْلـُه‬ ْ َ ً َ ُ َ ْ َ َ ْ ِ َ َ ‫َأْسَأُل‬
‫َل‬ ‫َو‬ ‫ُه‬
َ ٍ‫ٍم‬ ‫اْس‬ ‫ِّل‬‫ُك‬َ ‫ِب‬ ‫ـَك‬
‫دًا ْ ِِم ْْن َخْل ْ ِِق َـَك َأ ِِو اْسَتَـْأَث ْْرَت ِبِ ِِه ييِف‬ َ ‫ييِف ِِكَتاِبَِك َأْو َعَّلْمـَتُه َْأَح‬
َ‫الَغْيـِب ِعْنـَدَك‬ ‫ِِعْل ِِم‬
ِ ِ
I ask You by every Name that You have named Yourself
with, revealed in Your Book, taught any one of Your
creation, or kept unto Yourself in the knowledge of the
unseen that is with You.

It means that there are some names of Allah nobody will

know, it is with Allah in the unseen. And that is the clear ev-
idence to state that there are more names of Allah perhaps,
but that we don’t know all of them.

However these 99 are the ones that will help us to enter into
jannah, these are the special 99.

10 https://sunnah.com/hisn:120

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 َ َ �‫َ ْ َ ْ َ َ َ َ َ اَجْل‬
The meaning of the wording ‫َمْن َأْحَصاَها َدَخَل ََّنَة‬
(whoever memorises them [the 99 names of Allah]
enters jannah)
In the Quran Allah uses this word ‫ اإلحصاء‬in many different
ways,

َ �‫َ ْ ُ ُهَّلل‬
﴾‫﴿َأْح ََص ٰٰىُه ُ ََوَن ُُسو ُُه‬
Allāh had enumerated it, while they forgot it;11

Allah uses it to mean recording.

ْ� َ َ َ
﴾‫﴿َع ِِل ََم َأن َّلن ْحُت ُُصو ُُه‬
He has known that you [Muslims] will not be able to
do it12

Allah uses this word ‫ احصاء‬to mean your ability, your actions.
And this is why many of the scholars said that this is what it
means. It’s not about memorising His names – this doesn’t
have any value. It’s about understanding what they mean
and act upon that understanding. This is what will enter you
into jannah.

11 https://quran.com/58/6
12 https://quran.com/73/20

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How to interact with the Names of Allah
An example of application of Allah’s Name
Ar-Razzaaq (The Provider)
So if you know Allah is Ar-Razzaaq, will you cheat your neigh-
bour in order to get some little bit of extra money? If you
know Allah is Ar-Razzaaq will you register yourself and your
spouse at different addresses and lie to the government to
get some job seekers allowance? This is sadly what some
people will do.

Allah will provide for you so why do you need to cheat, why
do you need to steal? So if you know Allah will provide, then
you trust in His providence. This is what will enter you into
jannah, not just memorising the names.

Learning from Allah’s Names how to behave with

others and how to live in this world
Someone asked13 the Prophet  if I’m dressed well, does this
mean I’m proud and arrogant. The Prophet  said no.

َ �‫َ اَهَّلل� َ � يٌلٌ � ُ اَجْل‬

‫ُّب َ ََماَل‬ ‫ِحُي‬
ِ ‫ِمَج‬
ِ ‫ِِإَّن‬
Allah is the most beautiful. He loves to see beauty.

This is the first thing. When Allah has a name, He loves to see
His creation trying to have some of that quality in their lives.
If Allah is the most beautiful, He loves to see people trying
to be beautiful.

13 https://sunnah.com/muslim:91a

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If Allah is the Most Patient, He loves to see you trying to
be patient – with your husband, with your wife, with your
children when they irritate and annoy you. Allah loves to see
that.

If Allah is Ar-Raheem, the Most Merciful, He loves to see you

being merciful to those who wrong and hurt you. To those
who belittle you – to forgive them, to be merciful to them.

Allah  says in the Quran,

ُ ‫﴿َوَيْل� َ ْْع ُُفو۟ا۟ ََوَيْل� َ ْْص ََف‬

﴾۟‫ُح ٓٓو۟ا‬ َ
And let them pardon, and let them overlook.14

ُ َ �‫َاَلا ِحُت� َ َ َ ْ ُهَّلل‬

﴾‫﴿َأ ِ ُُّبوَن َأن َيْغ ِِف ََر ُ َلُك ْْم‬
Would you not like that Allāh should forgive you?15

Do to others as you would like Allah to do to you.

We should learn from Allah’s names how to behave with oth-

ers, how to be in this world.

Calling upon Allah using His Names 

This is a skill which we can learn by taking a du’a of the Proph-
et g or the du’a of the prophets from the Quran where they
use this name of Allah to speak to Him, because they use it
in the correct way.

To take an example. The prime minister drives a car, so it’s

fair to say the prime minister is a driver. But if you want some-

14 https://quran.com/24/22
15 Ibid.

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thing from the prime minister, you would not address him
‘driver’. You would address him by his title, sir, your emi-
nence, with respect.

So, every name of Allah  has a place and a time to speak

to Him with. And so you choose the right name for the right
situation.

The example of the prophets addressing Allah 

When Suleiman  asks Allah  to give him a gift that He has
given nobody else, he says,
َ ‫ُ ْ � ا‬ ْ ‫﴿َقَ َاَل ََر ِِّب ْْۭغِف ْْر ىِل ََو ََه‬
ۢ‫ًۭكۭا اَّل َيَۢنَۢبَ ىىِغ َأِل� ََح � ٍۢۢد ِِّمۢن‬ ‫ْل‬
ْ ‫ُم‬ ‫ىِل‬
‫ى‬ َ ‫ْب‬
َ َ َ َ َ ٓ ‫َ ِْ ى‬
ُ
﴾٥٣ۭ‫َبْع ِِدٓىۖ ۖ ِإَِّنَك َأنَت ْلَوَّهاُب‬
He said, “My Lord, forgive me and grant me a
kingdom such as will not belong to anyone after
me. Indeed, You are the Bestower.”16

Allah, You are the Giver of gifts. You give gifts not according
to how much is in your wallet, you give gifts as much as you
want. When he wanted something from Allah, he used the
correct name (Al-Wahhaab – The Giver of Gifts), and he got it.

If you use the correct names of Allah, it increases your chance

of your du’a being accepted.

So to summarise when you learn the names of Allah bring

it into your life practically and secondly when you learn the
names of Allah speak to Him with them and use the right
name in the right place in the right situation.

16 https://quran.com/38/35

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 The difference between a name
of Allah, a description of Allah
and an action of Allah
For example, if somebody drove a car one time and never
again, they cannot be called a driver. A driver is defined as
someone who drives very often. So when Allah has a name
- in Arabic names mean something constant, something al-
ways there, something permanent.

And an action of Allah, it’s something which happens one-off

or occasionally. For example, Allah  says in the Quran,

َ ‫ِكِر‬ َ ْ �‫َ َ ُهَّلل� ُ ُهَّلل� ُ َُرْي‬ َ ََ

﴾٤٥ۭ‫يَن‬ ِِ ‫﴿َوَمَك ُُرو۟ا۟ ََوَمَك ََر ۖ ۖ ََو َخ ُ ْلَم ٰٰـ‬
And they [i.e., the disbelievers] planned, but Allāh
planned. And Allāh is the best of planners.17

They plotted against the Prophet g. But Allah was plotting

against them.
َ َ
Makara (‫)َمَك ُُر‬ is a verb – it happened. You will not call Allah,
Al-Maakir (the Plotter). It’s an action of Allah, it’s not neces-
sarily His name. He doesn’t call Himself as this is His name.

The Names of Allah  are descriptions that are

Permanent.
Allah’s names all of them have descriptions of Allah inside of
them. For example, the word Mexico is just a name. It doesn’t
tell you anything about the country – but conversely Allah’s
names are all descriptions of Him. So the name Ar-Rahmaan

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14
is a name of Allah, but it also tells you something about Him.
It tells you that He’s ultimately merciful. You can call Allah as a
name As-Samiy’ (the All-Hearing), but it tells you something
about Him. It describes Him – that He can hear every single
thing including the whispers in your mind.

And so every name of Allah has a description within it. Anoth-

er important thing to understand about the names of Allah.

Allah  says in the Quran,

ُ ‫يُع � ََۭبْلِص‬
﴾‫ُري‬ َ َ ُ َ � ْ � ۭ‫﴿َلَْيْ ََس ََكِمْثِْلِه‬
ُ ‫ۭلَّسِم‬
ِ ِ ‫ْىَش ٌۭۭءۖ ۖ َوُهَو‬ ِِ ِ
There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the
Hearing, the Seeing.18

For example, when you are told ‘mercy’. Sometimes a person

can be merciful to another person to get some benefit from
them, but behind that mercy may be a hidden motivation.
Human beings show mercy, but they never show mercy in
a perfect way. Allah’s mercy however, is perfect. He doesn’t
need anything from anyone to show mercy. Allah doesn’t
want anything from you to show mercy. He has no motiva-
tion, no agenda.

َ َ
َ ‫َك ْْر ُُت ْْم ََو ََء‬ ُ َ �‫َ َ ْ ُ ُهَّلل‬
﴾‫اَمنُتُ ْْم‬ ‫﴿َّما َيْف ََعُل ُ ِبِ ََعَذاِبُِك ْْم ِإِن َش‬
What would Allāh do with [i.e., gain from] your
punishment if you are grateful and believe?19

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15
This is just one example. When we say Allah  is the ulti-
mately merciful, you may know mercy, but Allah’s mercy is
something else.

When we say Allah provides. He doesn’t provide like a father

provides for his family. His provision is different. And likewise
for every name of Allah, He is not like us.

And many people leave Islam, they forget Allah, they be-
come angry with Allah because they begin to dislike Allah 
because something bad happened in their life, because they
misunderstand Allah.

When someone does something wrong in your life it’s be-

cause he dislikes you, he’s angry with you. But when Allah 
gives us difficulty in life, it is not because He dislikes us ‫نعوذ‬
‫باهلل‬‎. But some people feel this way. We lose a child, we lose a
parent, we lose our job – something bad happens to us, we
feel angry with Allah , because we don’t understand Allah
is different to humans. He doesn’t give us difficulty because
He dislikes us. He gives us difficulty because He loves us. If
only we understood Him it would change our life.

So in these introductions we summarised;

· Allah is not like anybody.

· The difference between Allah’s name and Allah’s
description and Allah’s action.
· The importance of knowing Allah – the very pur-
pose we exist is to know who He is.
· It is the greatest thing we can ever know.

16
 The Name Allah c
Now let us begin with the first name ‘Allah’.

�‫ُ ُهَّلل‬
﴾ ُ ‫﴿ُه ََو‬
He is Allāh,20

What does Allah mean? The Arab linguists they had a debate
about the name Allah and where it comes from.

Root letters
In Arabic names they come from root letters and many words
come out of that. For example,

‫( رضب‬daraba) – he hit;
‫( ضارب‬darib) – he’s a beater;
‫( مرضوب‬madroob) – someone who was beaten.

So in Arabic the way words work is not like that in English,

you have root letters and many words come out of that. Se-
mitic languages are like this – Hebrew, Persian, Urdu, Arabic
– each word is beautiful in a different way, but it has the same
source.

Allah is a Proper Name

There’s another type of word in Arabic – it’s a proper name.
It’s not taken from anything, like for example the word Man-
chester, it doesn’t have root letters, it wasn’t taken from any-
thing else – it is the proper name of the city.

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17
The scholars of the Arabic language they had a disagree-
ment. And that is whether Allah is the proper name of Allah,
His actual name or does it come from some root letters, ‫اإلهل‬
(al-Ilah), the Ilah.

The majority of scholars of the opinion that the

Name of Allah is derived from the words Al-Ilah
The majority of the scholars went to the opinion that the
name Allah is derived, that it comes from the word al-Ilah
– and not the proper name of Allah.

They had a number of evidences for this. One interesting ev-

idence is that the Quran is in Arabic, but the Arabs knew the
name Allah before the Quran came. The Arab (jahili) poets,
before Islam, before the Prophet Muhammad  – they were
saying the word Allah.

Allah revealed books before the Quran to the other proph-

ets. ‘Isa  spoke Aramaic, and in the Injil, despite it being
edited by many editors – our best guess for the name used
to call Allah in the Aramaic scripture is Elohim, which sounds
very similar to al-Ilah. Other words in the Hebrew Bible they
use the word Yahweh or Elahi which comes from a similar
root to al-Ilah.

This is why many scholars they said that the name Allah
comes from the words al-Ilah. And when the Aramaic or the
Hebrew or the other people spoke to Allah, they didn’t use
the word Allah, they used Elohim, they used al-Layi, they
used other words – but it means the same thing.

Other scholars in Islam they said no – Allah is His name and

everybody called Him Allah and they have their evidences.

18
But the majority of scholars including Sibaway, Ibn al-Qayy-
im, Ar-Raghib al-Isfahani, Al-Farahidi  – many Arabic lan-
guage scholars they said it derived from the words al-Ilah.

What does Al-Ilah mean?

We know the word ‫( ال‬al) in Arabic means ‘the’. Ilah means
the one worthy of worship – which all the English definitions
will tell us. So Allah means the One worthy of being wor-
shipped. But the word is much deeper than this. The English
translation destroyed it!

Al-Ilah, the scholars said it has two possible root letters.

1 ‫ يأهل‬،‫( أهل‬aliha ya’lahu) - The first possibility which means

to be in awe of something. To be amazed. So al-Ilah,
He is the most amazing. The One who makes your jaw
drop when you know who He is. He is the One who fills
you with fear and with awe and with respect.
2 ‫( أهل اىل الشيئ‬aliha ila ash-shay) – It is used in Arabic when
somebody is afraid of something and they go and they
hide. For example, when in war and you see the bullets
and the bombs, you dig a tunnel and you hide. You
ْ َ � ‫َ ْ َ ىَلى‬
have just done ‫َت ِإِ اَأْل ْْرْض‬ ‫ – َأِلِْه‬yyou have just sought pro�
tection on earth which means al-Ilah.

Who is al-Ilah? When the world pushes you, shoves you and
squeezes you and troubles you, you go looking for your
source of peace and protection and contentment. And that’s
what al-Ilah is. The One you go to when you’re in trouble.
Your S.O.S line, your 999 that is al-Ilah. The One you go to
for peace, the One you go to for comfort, the One you go to
for contentment, the One you go to for help and protection.
This is al-Ilah.

19
Who do we run to in times of turmoil?
How many of us, in our lives when something bad happens,
the first thing we think of is our mother, or we think of some-
thing to cool us down, something to put us to sleep, some-
thing to calm us. When there’s a storm, difficult times, prob-
lems in the marriage, financial difficulties, where do we go?

The Prophet21 

َ ‫َ َ َ ُ َ ْ َ َ ىَلى‬
ِ ‫ِِإَذا َح ِِزَبُه َأْمٌرٌ َف ِِزَع ِِإ الَّصاَل‬
‫اِة‬
When the world got tough for him, he would run away to
salah. That was his peace, that was his sauna, that was his
happiness. Salah cooled him. That’s what al-Ilah – the One
you go to to find peace and cool when everything gets hot
and difficult.

This is just one portion of the meaning of al-Ilah.

Al-Walah – Intense Love

�‫َهَل‬
There’s a second. Some scholars said ‫ أإلهل‬comes from َ ‫ََو‬
�‫ُهَل‬
(walaha), ُ ‫( َيَ ْْو‬yawlahu) which is intense love. The one who
you love to such an extent it makes you forget everything
‫ْ هَله‬
else. That is Al-Walah ‫اْل ََو‬

The words for love in Arabic are many

In Arabic there are many words for the name love. Among
them are the words hubb, muhabah, al-‘ishq, al-gharam –
these words are generally only used by the Arabic poets –
the ones writing the love stories and the love letters. People

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20
don’t use these words for mother and father. They only use
it for their beloved.

Al-Walah in Arabic is one of the highest forms of love. One

of the ways it is used is the love of a mother for her child, and
love of a child for their mother.

A summary of the three meanings of Al-Ilah

And so al-Ilah is the One whom we love and in the One when
we love we find peace, and we find calmness. And every-
thing else makes sense because of our love for Him. These
are the two meanings of al-Ilah.

1 The One who is most intensely loved.

2 The One who we go to in times of difficulty and strug-
gle and pain. The One from whom we seek protection
and refuge and calm and peace.
3 And the One who is worshipped – the One who we
bow our heads down to. The One who when He says,
we do, and we don’t ask. The One who we give our
souls for, we take a bullet for, we sacrifice for, we do
anything for. He is al-Ilah.

These are the three meanings of al-Ilah. And al-Ilah they call it
‫( إبدال‬ibdal) became Allah. And this is just one name of Allah .

21
The Greatest Name of Allah 
The scholars said that this is the greatest name of Allah, ‫االسم‬
‫( األعظم‬al-Ism al-A’zam). Scholars differed because there is a
statement22 of the Prophet  that Allah has one name, the
greatest name of Allah,

َ ‫َيِع ِبِه َأَ ََج‬ ُ َ

‫اَب‏‬ ِ ِ َ � ‫ِِإَذا ُد‬
If He is called by this name He responds.

ْ َ َ َ
‫ِِإَذا ُُس ِِئَل ِبِ ِِه َأْع ََطى‬
If you ask Him using this name He gives you.

Scholars differed which name is this. Many scholars said this

is like Laylat al-Qadr, we don’t know, but we have to search
using every name of Allah to see which name is that one
– that golden name. But many scholars said it is the name
Allah because all of the names come under this name, and
they describe this name and this is the ultimate description
of Allah.

The Day of Judgement will not come until a day

when people stop calling upon Allah 
And it is narrated in a hadith23 of the Prophet  that the Day
of Judgement will not come until there is not a person on this
earth that says that Allah, Allah! When there is on this earth
nobody who says the name Allah – the Day of Judgement is
going to come.

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22
When we say the Day of Judgement will not come until there
is nobody who says Allah, does it include the other names of
Allah? In the Quran, Allah  says,
َ َ َ � َ ُ ْ َ َ �‫ُ ْ ُ َهَّلل‬
ُ ‫َمْح ٰٰـ ََنۖ ۖ َأًّۭي�ۭا ََّما َتَ ْْد ُُعو۟ا۟ َفََلَ ُُه �َۭأْل ْْس ََم‬
‫ٓاُء‬
� ْ ُ � ‫﴿ُق ِِل ْۭدُعو۟ا۟ َأ ِِو ْۭدُعو۟ا۟ ۭلَّر‬
ٰ
﴾‫ُۭحْلْسٰىَن‬
Say, “Call upon Allāh or call upon the Most Merciful
[ar-Rahmān]. Whichever [name] you call - to Him
belong the best names.”24

So many scholars deduced that this doesn’t mean that you

have to say the word Allah, but any name of Allah, there’s
nobody on earth to remember Him. That is when the Day of
Judgement will come.

And in the Quran, Allah  says,

ِ �‫ا َ ُهَّلل‬
‫يِه ْْمۚ ۚ ََو ََما اَكَن ُ ُُم ََعِّذ ََب ُُه ْْم‬ ‫ِف‬ َ َ‫﴿َو ََما ااَك ََن ُهَّلل� ُ ُ ََع ِِّذ ََب ُُه ْْم ََوَأ‬
‫نَت‬ َ
َ ِ ُ ْ َ ْ َ ْ ُ َ �‫ُيِل‬
ِ
﴾۳٣ۭ‫َوُهْم َيْسَتْغ ِِفُروَن‬
But Allāh would not punish them while you, [O
Muhammad], are among them, and Allāh would not
punish them while they seek forgiveness.25

The Day of Judgement will not come so long as we are re-

membering Allah .

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23
Living with the Name of Allah, Al-Ilah
And so this is one name of Allah, al-Ilah - one meaning is
the One who is most intensely loved and one meaning is the
One we go to in times of difficulty. The One who protects
us, the One who shades us, the One we find peace and con-
tentment in.

Al-Ilah is the One who only deserves worship and deserves

servitude and deserves salah and zakah and all of our atten-
tion. Because people can make anything in their life ‘ilah’. Is
it not true that people love some things is more than Allah?
It happens.

Allah  says in the Quran,

َ ُ ُ َ َ َََ ُٰ َ َ ُ َ َٰ َ َ� َ َ ْ ََ َ
‫نَت َتُكوُن ََعَلْيْ ِِه‬ ‫﴿َأَرَءْيَت َم ِِن َۭخَّتَذ ِِإَلٰـَه ُۭه َهَوٰىُه َأَفَأ‬
﴾۳٤‫ََو ِِكياًلا‬
Have you seen the one who takes as his god his
own desire? Then would you be responsible for
him?26

It means whenever they face a difficult, painful time they go

straight to their desire. They fulfill some of their more haram
desires – it makes them feel better. They don’t turn to Allah.
They love those things more than Allah. This is very danger-
ous.

And what about those who Allah  says in the Quran, they
have equals to Allah, they love something else more than Al-
lah. There are people who love wealth more than Allah, they
love their job more than Allah, they love their spouse more

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24
than Allah. So if their wife or husband or their job, or their
money tells them something, they’re willing to throw Allah’s
laws in the bin in order to get a bit more of their wealth or
a bit more happiness from their spouse or a bit more recog-
nition from society because Allah doesn’t matter that much
to them.

When you say,

‫ال اهل اال اهلل‬

There is no god but Allah.

That means there is no one you love more than Allah. There is
no-one who deserves your attention more than Allah. There
is no one you turn to when push comes to shove and difficult
times come more than Allah. There’s no one you worship but
Allah. When you cry, you cry for Allah. When you give up,
you give up with your head on the ground. When the world
pushes you to your knees, you raise your hands to Allah. This
is what ‫ اهلل ال اهل اال‬means – that nothing matters more to you
than Allah.

If somebody is giving you a job and it displeases Allah, you

say no, because Allah is more beloved to you. If a woman is
offering herself, or a man is offering himself and they slide
into your direct messages and they are tempting you – you
push them aside because you love Allah , He comes first.
This is what it means to say ‫اهلل ال اهل اال‬.

25
26
 Know Your Lord
Allah’s Names and His Attributes
LESSON ONE

27
 A thematic approach to the
method of studying the
names of Allah
If you look around on the internet and you read some books
on this subject, you’ll find that most approaches - they give
equal attention to all 99 names of Allah. So if it’s a series of
talks they will have 30 minutes for every name of Allah. If it’s a
book, it will have three to four pages for every name of Allah.

However a slightly different approach will be adopted in in

this particular study. Whenever we try to do something, we
should first try to think how did Allah  do this Himself. So
if we look to the Quran, and we ask the question, how did
Allah introduce us to His names? Does Allah use all of His
names in equal measure in the Quran? No.

The name for example, Ash-Shaakir – the Ultimately Appre-

ciative – the One who appreciates. This name Ash-Shaakir
comes in the Quran a few times. But the name As-Samiy’ and
the word Al-‘Aleem come in the Quran close to 50 times. So
you start to realise that certain names of Allah have more
emphasis in the Quran than others. Allah gives them more
time, Allah repeats them more often. He makes indications
to those meanings more often. And so those names and
those attributes deserve more time with us in our discussion
than other names and attributes. That’s the approach that
will be taken.

We are going to emphasize what Allah emphasized. If He

repeats an attribute or a name hundreds of times, we are
going to take a long time with that name or attribute. And if

28
He mentions a few names in passing we’re going to mention
those names with less time given to them.

And so we’re going to take a thematic approach, and hope-

fully this means that the lessons won’t be 99 in number, but
probably between 15-25. And we’ll take themes of Allah’s
names in the coming chapters.

The Name Ar-Rabb

In this chapter I want to focus on one name and attribute of
Allah that is perhaps the most repeating name and attribute
of Allah in the Quran after His name Allah – Ar-Rabb.

From the first page of the Quran to the last page of the Qu-
ran, you will be hard-pressed to find a page that does not
mention the name Ar-Rabb. Many people don’t associate
it as a name of Allah. We’re used to thinking of the names
Ar-Rahmaan, ar-Raheem etc., but Ar-Rabb comes in the very
first surah of the Quran,

َ ‫﴿َحْل� َ ْْم ُُد ��ِهَّلِل ََر ِِّب ْلْ ََع ٰٰـَلَِم‬

﴾۲ۭ‫َني‬ ِ ِ
[All] praise is [due] to Allāh, Lord of the worlds.1
َ ‫َر ِِّب ْلْ ََع ٰٰـَلَِم‬.
Straight after Allah’s name, ‫َني‬ َ
ِ

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29
 What is Ar-Rabb?
Ar-Rabb is usually translated in English as Lord or Master.
These are the two translations given to the word Ar-Rabb.
And we always start with the translation, because the trans-
lation is always a very sorry attempt at understanding the
true meaning of this word. The true meaning of a word can
never be captured by translation. Translation is very difficult,
its merely an attempt to try to interpret the word.

Its root meanings

The word Rabb comes from the root in the Arabic language,
َ ُ ُ َ ََ ُ ََ
‫( َرََّبَّه‬rabbaha), ‫( َيَ ُُر ُُّبُه‬yarubbuhu). And it means, ‫اَسُه‬‫َرَّباُه َوَس‬.

ً ‫ي‬
‫ تربيًة‬/ ‫ ُيُ ََريِّب‬/ ‫ََر ََّبا‬
ً َ
You might have heard of this word ‫( َت ْْرِبِ ََّيًة‬tarbiyyah) – to look
after something, to grow it until it reaches full maturity.

The first meaning of the word Ar-Rabb is

nurturer from birth to maturity
To plant a seed and to keep watering it and giving it every-
thing it needs until it’s a full plant, it’s a tree. You give birth
to a child and to look after all of its needs until it’s an adult
َ
and then to let it go. This is ‫ َرََّبَّه‬to look after the needs, to
cultivate, to nurture, to take care of something until it reach-
es complete independence, until it reaches maturity, adult-
hood, completeness.

This is the first meaning of the word Ar-Rabb - the One who

30
looks after every need and every aspect of our life until we
reach maturity. Well until we return to Him, because He’s al-
ways looking after us.

‫ُ ي‬
A parent as a ‫( ُم ََريِّب‬murabbiyy)
‫ي‬
The word ‫( ُُم ََريِّب‬murabbiyy) is usually referred to as a teacher,
parent – someone who gives tarbiyyah. Because the parent,
they have the child when it is zero, nothing.

Allah says in the Quran,

َ ُ َ ْ َ ‫ُ َ َ ٰ ُ ْ اَلا‬ ُ ُ ِ ُ َ َ ْ َ ُ �‫َ ُهَّلل‬

ِ ‫﴿َو َأْخَرَجُكم ِّمۢنۢ َُبُط‬
‫وِن ُأَّمَهٰـ ِِتُكْم َتْعَلُموَن‬
﴾‫َشْيْ �ًۭٔـۭا‬
And Allāh has extracted you from the wombs of
your mothers not knowing a thing.2

You were fully dependant.

Babies don’t even have neck muscles, they have to be

‫ُ ي‬
propped up. They are dependant upon their ‫ُم ََريِّب‬, their parent
for everything. When a child is in their mother’s womb, they
are even dependant on their mother for blood circulation.
They are connected to their mother via the umbilical cord.
‫ي‬
They are fully dependant. That is why a parent is a ‫ ُُم ََريِّب‬and
the parent takes this useless, spineless, boneless, muscleless
child – this baby, and they nurture and look after their every
need until they are an adult.

This is so selfless, it’s so tough, it’s so difficult, it requires so

much hard work and so much energy so you get the honour

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31
 ‫ُ ي‬
of the term ‫ُم ََريِّب‬. You looked after this child’s every need until
they were ready to look after themselves.
‫ي‬
A teacher as a ‫ُُم ََريِّب‬
A teacher gets a child. Whilst they are not looking after the
child physically, but the child knows nothing. And they take
this child and they teach it, morsel by morsel, letter by letter,
alif to yaa, very patiently until this child knows something and
they can go and they can use that knowledge. This journey
is tough. In the UK, teachers are the most overworked, and
the most underpaid.

Parents expect their pay to come from Allah , but we do

‫ي‬
work hard as parents. It’s a tough job to be a ‫ ُُم ََريِّب‬because
there’s no pay. The one you are giving tarbiyyah to, the one
you are looking after – their every need, and every angle
shows no gratitude most of the time. They don’t know how
much hard work you are doing.

How often it is that we only appreciate our parents when

we become parents – because tarbiyyah requires being ex-
tremely selfless. And in tarbiyyah you usually get nothing in
return. It’s a hard job.

This is the first meaning of Ar-Rabb. The One who looks after,
the One who nurtures, the One who takes something from 0
to 100%, and goes through all the pain and the patience of
that journey.

32
 The second meaning of the word Ar-
Rabb is the Lord, the Master, the King
In the Arabic language, the Arabs they used to call the mas-
ter, ar-Rabb. Master implies that a slave is on the other side
of the table. And in the Quran the word Rabb is very often
paired with the word ‘abd.

The first commandment in the Quran, in Surat al-Baqarah,

Allah  says,

� ْ ُ ََ َ
َ ‫ِۭذَّل‬ � ُ ُ ََ ُ ُْ ُ َ َ َُ َ
‫يَن ِِمن‬ ِ ‫َخَلَقُكْم ََو‬
َ ُ َ َ ْ ‫اُس ْْۭعُب ُُدو ْ۟ا۟ ََر ََّب َُك ُُم‬
‫ى‬ ‫ِۭذَّل‬
ِ ٓ
َ ‫﴿َيٰٓـَأُّيَها َّۭنل‬
﴾۱۲ۭ‫َقْب ِِلُكْم َلَعَّلُكْم َتَّتُقوَن‬
O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you
and those before you, that you may become
righteous.3

Allah  very frequently in the Quran, He combines His name

Ar-Rabb with our name al-‘abd.
‫ُ ي‬
Allah and His Name ‫الُم ََريِّب‬ Al-Murabbiyy
The One who looks after all the needs. He is the One who
manages everything. A child doesn’t have to cook, a child
doesn’t have to clean themselves. Their parents do every-
thing for them.
‫ي‬
In our lives, Allah  is our ‫ ُُم ََريِّب‬ultimately. He looks after ev�
erything in our life. He manages the laws of physics – which
explains for example why the ceiling is not falling on us right
now, and why it is being held up. Allah  He created rules

3 https://quran.com/2/21

33
and laws to govern this universe, He’s looking after us.

The water cycle. Why do we get rain? Who makes the water
evaporate, then condense into clouds, then come from the
sky in that beautiful manner?

Why doesn’t the sea just jump on us like a tsunami, like we

see in other parts of the world in extreme conditions? Who
makes the rain happen in that way in the gentle pitter-patter
that we hear on the roof? Allah, He looks after us.

Who allows us at night just when we get tired, who makes

the sky go dark so that we find our eyes can get some rest,
and our bodies can recover overnight. Who gives us that
privilege? Allah.

In the Quran often times when Allah is mentioned as Rabb,

He is mentioned as the One who looks after us in so many
ways that we don’t even realise.

Yusuf  and how he called upon his Rabb 

Yusuf  goes through so many difficulties in his life from be-
ing attacked by his brothers, to the bottom of the well, to
the palace of the emperor of Egypt, to the prisons and the
dungeons of Egypt, to the Ministry of Egypt and the throne
in front of which his parents are doing sujud.

And at this moment in time his whole life starts to make sense
to him. It crystalises in front of him. All the events suddenly
make sense.

When we look back on our lives we will see our life has had
so many ups and so many downs, and when we’re going
through them they don’t seem to make very much sense. But

34
when we look back on them they start to fall into a certain
pattern. Everything begins to make sense. And we realise
every up was given to us by our Rabb who looked after us.
And every down was given to us by our Rabb because He
wanted to look after us.

When Yusuf  stands there seeing his dream come true, he

calls Allah,
َْ َْ َ َ َ ْ ُْ َ ََْ َ ْ َ ِ َ
‫يِل‬
ِ ِ ‫﴿َرِّب َقْد َءاَتْيَتىِنى �ِِم ََن َ ْلُمْل ِِك َوَعَّلْمَتىِنى ِِمن َتْأ‬
‫ِو‬
﴾‫يِث‬ِ ‫َۭأْلَحا ِِد‬
My Lord, You have given me [something] of
sovereignty and taught me of the interpretation of
dreams.4
َ� ٰ َ َ َ
﴾‫ۭلَّس ََم ٰٰـَٰو� ِِت ََوَۭأْل ْْر ِِض‬ ‫اِطَر‬
ِ ‫﴿َف‬
Creator of the heavens and earth.5

﴾‫اِخ ََر ِِة‬

ْ َْ ُ َ َ‫﴿َأ‬
ِ ‫ِّىِل ىىِف ُّدلْنَيا ََوْل �ََٔـ‬
ۭ ِ � ‫نَت ََو‬
You are my protector in this world and the
Hereafter.6

َ ‫﴿َتَ ََو ََّف ُُم ْْسِلًۭم� ۭا ََوَأَِحْل� ْْق ِب‬

َ ‫ۭلَّص ٰٰـِلِح‬
﴾‫َني‬ ِ ِ ِ ‫ِ ىِنى‬ ِ ‫ىِنى‬
Cause me to die a Muslim and join me with the
righteous.7

4 https://quran.com/12/101
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.

35
He realises in this moment that when Allah  put him in the
bottom of a dark well with his brothers ready to kill him, Al-
lah was still looking after him. He realises in this moment
that when he was suffering for ten years in the dungeons of
Egypt, Allah was actually looking after him. But in that mo-
ment it doesn’t make sense. In that moment you only feel the
pain. In that moment you only feel the suffering, but later on
you realise your Rabb is always looking after you.

The People of the Cave

When the people of the cave, when they end up in the cave,
with no food, no army, nothing – Allah  makes sure that the
rays of the sun don’t touch them, doesn’t harm their bodies.
Allah turns them over while they are asleep. He makes their
dog frozen at the front of the cave. He changes the laws of
physics to protect them.

When they made du’a to Allah  and addressed Him, they

say,
َ� ٰ َ ُ َ ََُ
﴾‫ۭلَّس ََم ٰٰـَٰو� ِِت ََوَۭأْل ْْر ِِض‬ ‫﴿َرُّبَنا َرُّب‬
Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth.8

َ ُ َْ َ
﴾ۖ ۖ‫﴿َلن َّنْد ُُع ََو۟ا۟ ِِمن ُدوِنِ ِ �ۦِه ِإَِل ٰٰـًۭه� ۭا‬
Never will we invoke besides Him any deity.9

When they call Allah, they know He’s going to look after
them, that’s why they say Rabb. That’s what gives them the

8 https://quran.com/18/14
9 Ibid.

36
confidence to stand in front of someone who could kill them
at any moment because they know this man thinks he’s a
rabb, but above this man is the greatest Rabb.

Fir’aun and Musa n

When Fir’aun sits on his throne and he looks at this small
man Musa  and he looks at his vast kingdom of Egypt, how
does he call himself?
َ � ُ َُ ََ
ٰ �� ‫ُك ُُم َۭأْل‬
﴾‫ٰىَلْع‬ ‫﴿َأَن۠ا۠ َرُّب‬
“I am your most exalted lord.”10

And when Musa  comes in front of him, and tells him that
there is a God, a creator, he asks him the question,

ُ َُ ََ َ َ
ٰ � ‫ُك ََما َيَ ٰٰـ ُُم‬
﴾٩٤ۭ‫وٰىَس‬ ‫﴿َقاَل َفَمن َّرُّب‬
[Pharaoh] said, “So who is the Lord of you two, O
Moses?”11

Who is this ultimate being that looks after every element of

this universe, who really is He? And Musa  starts with some-
thing Allah always associates with His name in the Quran,

ٰ ‫ْىَشٍءٍ ََخْلْ ََق ُ ُۭه ُُث ََّم ََه ََد‬ َ� َ ْ َ ٓ � ََُ َ َ

ْ � ‫َّلُك‬
﴾٠٥ۭ‫ٰى‬ ‫ِۭذَّلٓى َأْعَط ٰٰى‬
ِ ‫﴿َقاَل َرُّبَنا‬
He said, “Our Lord is He who gave each thing its
form and then guided [it].”12

10 https://quran.com/79/24
11 https://quran.com/20/49
12 https://quran.com/20/50

37
Musa  turns to this man who calls himself a rabb, and he
says the real Rabb, the real Master, the ultimate One who
looks after every atom in this universe, He created everything
from scratch and then He showed it where to go. He guided it.

The word Rabb and its link to guidance

In the Quran the word Rabb is very often linked with guidance.
‫ي‬
A teacher, a ‫ ُُم ََريِّب‬they guide. The student becomes lost, con�
fused. They have a question. The teacher says this is where
you should look, this is where you should go.

A parent, a child comes to them confused, in pain, in sorrow,

sadness – the parent says this is how you should go, this is
what you should do. They guide.

And one of the ideas associated with Ar-Rabb is that He al-

ways shows us the way when we are lost.

Musa  and the parting of the sea

As Musa  stands in front of the sea, a massive ocean
stretching as far as the eye can see. Behind him the sound of
horses and hooves, the rising of dust, the clashing of swords
as the army of Fir’aun draws near. He is stuck between an
army and an ocean, where is he to go? And to make matters
worse, at this moment in time, the people he is with, they
lose hope and they quit.

38
 َ ُ ْ َ َ �‫َ َ َ ْ َ ٰ ُ ٰٓىَس‬
﴾‫ُب ُُمو ٓ ِإَِّنا َل ُُمْد ََرُكوَن‬ ‫﴿َقاَل َأْصَحٰـ‬
The companions of Moses said, “Indeed, we are to
be overtaken!”13

They say we are finished, we are done. There is no way to go

from here.

It is at this very moment when you are in the darkest depths,

when there is nowhere to turn, there is nowhere to look, you
don’t know where to go, you feel lost – this moment, the
One who shows you the way is Ar-Rabb.

What does Musa  say to his people?

ْ َ َ ‫َ َ � َ َ َ َ َ ىِّبى‬
﴾۲٦ۭ‫يِن‬
ِ ‫﴿َقاَل َّلَكٓاۖ ۖ ِِإَّن َم �َىِع َر َسَيْه ِِد‬
[Moses] said, “No! Indeed, with me is my Lord; He
will guide me.”14

He says no way, my Rabb is with me, He always shows me

the way.

Who is our Rabb?

· Ar-Rabb is that Creator that not only creates challeng-
es in your life, but shows you the way around them.
· Ar-Rabb is the One whom, in your most confused mo-
ment, you turn to, because He makes you know what
is the next step you should take.
· Ar-Rabb is the One who looks after you even when you
think He has forsaken you.

13 https://quran.com/26/61
14 https://quran.com/26/62

39
 The name Rabb reminds us
we are never really alone
The Prophet  doesn’t receive Quran for months and he be-
comes extremely upset, and he feels lost, because without
the Quran in your life, you will feel lost too. And as he feels
lost and upset, and as he feels those feelings of despair, Al-
lah says to him,

�َ َ َُ َ َ ََ َ
ٰ ‫َك ََو ََما َق‬
﴾۳ۭ‫ٰىَل‬ ‫﴿َما َوَّدَعَك َرُّب‬
Your Lord has not taken leave of you, [O
Muhammad], nor has He detested [you].15

In every moment of our lives there are moments in which we

feel very alone. As Yusuf  felt in the darkness of the well.
As Yunus  feels in the belly of the whale in the depth and
darkness of the sea. As Musa  feels as he exits Egypt and
walks towards Madyan, he felt alone.

No-one was with Musa, no-one was with Yunus, no-one was
with Ayyub. And as Muhammad  stands in Ta’if, bleeding
into his slippers, his blood dripping as he walks. His uncle
and his wife have died. There’s no man sadder than this man,
he feels alone. And it is in these moments of loneliness, the
word Rabb reminds you that you are never really alone.

It is why when Musa  makes that lonely walk out of Egypt to

nowhere – he doesn’t know his destination, he says,

15 https://quran.com/93/3

40
 َ ْ َْ َ
َ ‫لَّظ ٰٰـِلِم‬ ِ� ِ َ
﴾‫َني‬ ِِ ِ‫﴿َرِّب ِّجَنىِنى ِِمَن ْلَقْوِم‬
“My Lord, save me from the wrongdoing people.”16

O my Rabb, the One who looks after me in my moments

of loneliness, you are with me at every moment. Show me,
protect me from those who are coming after me. When he
reaches Madyan, and he’s alone and he knows nobody, no
property, no army, no job, no wife, nothing – he stands there
alone, he says,

َ �‫ٍَۢرْي‬
﴾ ٌ‫ِِم ْْن َخ � ۢ َف ِِقٌري‬ َ �‫َت ِإَّىَل‬ َ َ‫﴿َر ِِّب ِإىِّنى ِل ِ ََمٓا َأ‬
َ ْ‫نَزْل‬ َ
ِ ِ
“My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You
would send down to me, in need.”17

In the moments of loneliness in the Quran, in the moments

of despair, in the moments of ineptitude, in the moments of
difficulty the prophets remember their Rabb.

�‫َ َ َ َ َ َ ْ َ ُ َ � ْ َ َ ُ ْ ُ َ َ � ْ � ٰ ىَلَع�ى ِهَّلل‬

‫ِ ِِمن‬ ‫﴿َرَّبَنٓا ِِإَّنَك َت�ْعَلُم َما � َْخُنىِفى َوَماَلاا ُنْع ِِلُنۗ ۗ َوَما ْخَيٰىَف‬
َ ‫ْىَش �ٍۢءۢ ىِف َۭأْل ْْرِض ََو ىِف‬
﴾٨٣ۭ‫ۭلَّس ََمٓا ِِء‬ ْ
‫ى‬ ِ ‫ى‬
Our Lord, indeed You know what we conceal and
what we declare, and nothing is hidden from Allāh
on the earth or in the heaven.18

Your Rabb is the companion for you in your times of solitude,

the One who is with you in your times of despair. The One who
is called upon when you are standing in front of the ocean,
and called upon when you are in the depths of the whale.

16 https://quran.com/28/21
17 https://quran.com/28/24
18 https://quran.com/14/38

41
 Some ‫ ََر ََّبَنَٓا‬Rabbana supplications
In the Quran the word most used to make du’a to Allah is the
word Rabb. How many times have we heard ‫?َر ََّبَنَٓا‬
َ

�‫ًۭة‬ ْ �‫ُ ْ َ َ َ ًَۭة‬

‫اِخ ََر ِِة ََح ََسَنَ ۭ ََوِقَِنَا‬
ِ ‫َسَن ۭ ََو ىىِف ْل �ََٔـ‬ ‫﴿َر ََّبَنَٓا ََءاِتَِنَا ىىِف ُّدلْنَيا ََح‬
َ
﴾‫اِر‬ َ َ َ
ِ ‫َعَذاَب َّۭنل‬
“Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is]
good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good and
protect us from the punishment of the Fire.”19

ُ ‫يُع ْلْ ََعِل‬

﴾‫يُم‬ َ َ َ َ َ َ َََْ َََ
ُ ‫ۭلَّسِم‬
ِ ِ ‫﴿َرَّبَنا َتَقَّبْل ِِمَّنٓاۖ ۖ ِِإَّنَك َأنَت‬
Our Lord, accept [this] from us. Indeed, You are the
Hearing, the Knowing.20

َ ُ �‫َ َ ْ َنَل� َ ْمَح� َنَل‬ ُ َ َ َ َ

‫﴿َر ََّبَنَا َظَل ْْمَنَٓا َأنُف ََسَنَا ََوِإِن� َّل ْْم َتْغ ِِف ْْر َا ََوَت ْْر َْنَا َُكوَن ََّن‬
﴾‫يَن‬َ ‫ِِم ََن َۭخْل َ ٰٰـِرِس‬
ِ �
“Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You
do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will
surely be among the losers.”21

When Adam  comes to this earth, he is alone. There is no

other human being on earth, and at this moment the only
human being on the entire earth he calls upon with,

19 https://quran.com/2/201
20 https://quran.com/2/127
21 https://quran.com/7/23

42
 ُ َ َ َ َ
﴾‫﴿َر ََّبَنَا َظَل ْْمَنَٓا َأنُف ََسَنَا‬
Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves22

My Master the One who looks after me, the One who looks
after my every need, the One who knows my hidden and my
apparent, I have wronged myself.

Rabb as Allah’s most personal name

ّ
Allahumma ّ‫ الّل ُُهـَّم‬in the Quran is used very rarely – five times
in the Quran.
ٓ � ‫( ََر‬Rabbiyy), ‫رِّب‬
You search the word ‫( ََر ََّبَنَا‬Rabbana), ‫ٓىِّب‬ ِ with a
kasrah, mentioned over a hundred times in the Quran. And
this is the only name of Allah you can attribute to yourself.
That’s one of the unique things about the name.

In the Quran you never see the word rahmaaniyy – my rah-

maan. You never see the word ilahiyy – you never see it in
the Quran. You never see the word maalikiyy, my king in the
ٓ � ‫َر‬,
Quran. But you see ‫ٓىِّب‬ َ my Rabb, you see ‫َر ََّبَنَا‬,
َ our Rabb. Why
is that?

This is because it’s the most personal name of Allah. This is

the name of Allah that is most close to us, and we can say it’s
ours, because He is our Lord. He is our Caretaker, He is our
Nurturer. He looks after us when others abandoned us. He’s
the One that provides for us when there’s no-one to provide
for us. He is ours.

There’s something very beautiful in that, it’s very different.

22 Ibid.

43
There’s an attachment, there’s a belonging, there’s an intima-
cy, there’s a closeness.

The practice of the prophets of Allah and how

they would call out to Him using His Name Rabb
And it’s the only name of Allah that the prophets would call
out to, and they would attribute it to themselves - His name,
Ar-Rabb.

Ibrahim  as he stands in the middle of an empty desert,

and he builds block by block this Ka’bah, not knowing what
is going to be the future of this land, what is going to happen
to his wife and child who are so alone. It is at this moment
that he asks Allah by His name, Ar-Rabb.

The concept of al-‘ubudiyyah (‘abd) in

Islam – being a slave of Allah
There’s another beautiful thing about the word Rabb, the
name of Allah. We mentioned the two meanings of Rabb;

1 The One who looks after, the One who nurtures, the
One who takes something from 0 to 100%.
2 The One who is the Lord, the Master, the King.

Negative historical connotations associated with

slavery
And that makes us the slave. People don’t like the word
slave. This because of the history of the last three to four
hundred years, and the transatlantic slave trade in the USA
and in other parts of the world. Slavery of the last thousands

44
of years was an ugly mark in the history of humanity.

People don’t like to think of themselves as a slave, because

a slave is one who is beaten by their master, one who is tied
by their master. They don’t want to be doing things for their
master. So when we think of ourselves as slaves it is not a
nice thought for many people. They don’t like that idea.

But al-‘ubudiyyah, to be an ‘abd, in Islam does not have this

negative connotation. That the Rabb is One who beats you
with a stick, that the Rabb is the One who ties you to a tree,
that the Rabb is someone who tortures you. That’s not our
Rabb.

Being an ‘abd of Allah is to do so out of a sense of

love and gratitude to Him 
َْ َ
In Arabic, ‫ َيْعُبُ ُُد‬,‫ َعُبُ ََد‬is to serve someone out of love for them.
That’s very different.

Our parents they don’t have handcuffs to tie us to the house.

So why do we feel like doing things for them, they haven’t
obliged or forced us to do so. We do so out of our love and
gratitude to them. This is the secret of the word ‘abd.

When the Prophet  stands for the night prayer, and he’s
praying all night, as the hadith23 of his wife [A’ishah says] until
his feet become swollen, the bulge out of pain. And A’ishah
 asks him,

23 https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:1160

45
 ‫ وقد غفر لك ما تقدم من‬،‫لم تصنع هذا يا رسول اهلل‬
‫ذنبك وما تأخر؟‬
“Why O Prophet of Allah  do you do this, while you have
been forgiven of your former and latter sins?”

He, the Prophet  responds,

ً ً ‫”أفال أكون‬
”‫شكوًرا‬ ‫عبًدا‬
“Should I not be a grateful slave of Allah?”

This ‘ubudiyyah, this desire to place our heads on the floor,

and this desire to be at the service of Allah, and this desire to
please Him comes from our gratitude and our love for Him.
Not because He’s torturing us, not because He’s got a whip
ُ َ
in His Hand, ‫ ََوَن ُُع ْْوُذِبِاهلل‬because when think master this is the
image that come to them.

The kindness of Allah brings out our desire to be

in His service
But we have a loving, caring master. We have a master that
gives us the oxygen that comes out of our lips, and the heart
that beats the blood through our system. We have a master
who never lets us alone for a moment in our lives. This is our
Rabb. We feel obliged to worship Him and to please Him
because we can’t help ourselves.

َ ُ‫اّنلاِس َتَسَتَعِب ْْد ُق‬

‫لوَب ُُه ُُم‬ ْ
ِ ِ ّ ‫أحِسْن إىل‬
ِ
ُ َ َ َ‫فطامَلما استَب‬
‫عَد اإلنساَن إحساُن‬

46
There’s a poet who said a line in Arabic, show people kind-
ness and you will find them wanting to serve you, because
the best way for people to serve you is for you to be kind to
them. It is the kindness of Allah that brings in our hearts the
meaning of ‘ibadah – the desire to be in service of Him, the
desire to do as He says, the desire to please, the desire to
be loved by Him, not because He’s torturing, not because
He’s a master who is going to punish us – but out of a sense
of gratitude.

This is why the Prophet  says this phrase,

ً ً ‫أفال أكون‬
‫شكوًر‬ ‫عبًدا‬
Should I not be a grateful slave

And this is why the greatest honour Allah gave to the Proph-
et  in the Quran is the moment Allah  revealed,

‫ىَلى‬ �‫َحْل‬ ْ �‫ْيَل� ًۭل‬

‫ٰى ِبِ ََعْبْ ِِد ِِهۭ � َ ْ ْ ۭا ِِّم ََن ْل ََم ْْس ِِج ِِد َ ََراِمِ ِِإ‬ َ � َ‫ِۭذَّل ٓٓى َأ‬
ٰ ‫َرْس‬ ِ
� َ َ ْ ُ
‫﴿ُسْبَح ٰٰـَن‬
َ ْ َ ْ
﴾‫ْلَمْس ِِج ِِد َۭأْلْقَصا‬
Exalted is He who took His Servant [i.e., Prophet
Muhammad (‫ ])ﷺ‬by night from al-Masjid al-Harām to
al-Masjid al-Aqṣā.24

And the Prophet  would say proudly,

‫ي َ ْ ُ اِهَّلل� َ َ ُ هُله‬
‫ِإِيِّن َعْبُد ِ َوَرُسو‬
I am just Allah’s ‘abd and His Messenger.

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47
‘Abd is someone who makes themselves in someone else’s
service because they cannot bear to be otherwise.

ً ً
‫اختيارًا ال اكراهًا‬
Out of choice, not out of force. Doesn’t Allah say in the Quran,

﴾‫يِن‬ ِ َ َ ْ ٓ‫ٓاَل‬
ِ ‫﴿ ِِإْكَراَه ىىِف ِّدل‬
There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the
religion.25

And so that is one important thing that when we say slave

and master, people have a very different image in their mind
– a very negative image. But we are not talking slave and
master, we are talking about one who cannot help but love
and feel so grateful and so indebted to this creator, they
want to do everything possible for Him . This is ‘abd. This
is you, and this is me.

And that’s why when Allah tells us to do ‘ibadah, He tells us

to be in service of Him , to please Him as His ‘ibaad – as His
slaves, He always reminds us why.

� ْ ُ ََ َ
َ ‫ِۭذَّل‬ � ُ ُ ََ ُ ُْ ُ َ َ َُ َ
‫يَن ِِمن‬ ِ ‫َخَلَقُكْم ََو‬
َ ُ َ َ ْ ‫اُس ْْۭعُب ُُدو ْ۟ا۟ ََر ََّب َُك ُُم‬
‫ى‬ ‫ِۭذَّل‬
ِ ٓ
َ ‫﴿َيٰٓـَأُّيَها َّۭنل‬
﴾١۲ۭ‫َقْب ِِلُكْم َلَعَّلُكْم َتَّتُقوَن‬
O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you
and those before you, that you may become
righteous.26

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48
Be slaves to Allah because He made you from nothing and
those before you. You were zero, you didn’t exist and here
you are! Doesn’t that require some gratitude, doesn’t that
require some appreciation for your oxygen?

We don’t like people to come and give us things because we

feel we did nothing to deserve them, so why are they giving.
But with Allah, we feel indebted to Him. He has loaned us
things we can never pay for.

Allah says in the Quran,

�‫ًۭن� َ َ َ ُ ُهَل� َ ْ ًۭف‬ ً َ �‫﴿َّمن ََذا � ُ ْ ُ َهَّلل‬َ

‫ِۭذَّلى ُيْق ِِرُض َ َق َ ْْرًضاًۭة� ََح ََس ۭا َفُيَُض ٰٰـ ِِعَف ۥُه ُٓٓۥ َأْض ََعا ۭا‬
ِ
﴾ۭ ‫َري‬ َ ‫َكِث‬
ِ
Who is it that would loan Allāh a goodly loan so He
may multiply it for him many times over?27

Allah calls charity, the giving of a loan to Allah because He’s

going to return it to us in many multiples. He’s going to re-
turn our investment to us.

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49
 Allah never uses His Name Rabb in the
Quran to link it to an intent to destruct,
hurt or harm
And so when you look throughout the Quran, you always see
this word Rabb – it’s not used as a harsh, torturing master. It’s
used a guiding, loving master.

Allah says in the Quran,

ٰ ‫اَب ََعَلَْيْ ِِه ََو ََه ََد‬

﴾۲۲۱ۭ‫ٰى‬
ْ َُ
َ َ‫ْجَتََبَ ٰٰـ ُُه ََر ُُّب ُُهۭ ََفَت‬ ‫﴿ُثَّم‬
Then his Lord chose him and turned to him in
forgiveness and guided [him].28

Rabb is not the One that tortures, but the One that shows
you when you are lost, that guides you, that directs you, that
makes everything make sense for you. And in fact in the Qu-
ran the intent to destroy or the intention to harm has never
ever been linked the word Rabb.

When Allah uses other names of His, like His name Allah, He
does say that it is possible for Allah to want something neg-
ative, or something evil to befall someone, because He has a
wisdom behind it. As Allah says,

� َ� َ ‫يَح ْْب ََن ََم ْْر ََي ََم ََوُأُ ََّم ُ ُۭه ََو‬ َ ُْ َ َ ََ ْ
َ ْ ‫َك ْل‬
﴾‫ِمَجيًۭع� ۭا‬
ِ ِ ‫ِض‬ْ ‫َۭأْل‬
‫ْر‬ ‫ىِف‬
‫ى‬ ‫ن‬‫َم‬ َ ‫ِس‬
ِ ‫َم‬ ‫﴿ ِِإْن َأَراَد َأن ُيْه ِِل‬
If He had intended to destroy Christ, the son of
Mary, or his mother or everyone on the earth?29

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50
But the word Rabb, Allah never ever links it with the desire or
the want to destroy or hurt or harm. If you look through the
whole Quran, you will see this.

When Allah talks about the word Rabb, He says,

َ �‫َ � ًَۭة‬
﴾‫َمْح ۭ ِِّمن ََّر ِِّبَك‬ ‫﴿َر‬
As mercy from your Lord.30

And so this Rabb that we have, though many people thing of

it negatively, this master that we have is a benevolent master.

Our Rabb is One Who, in every moment of our

lives is looking after us without us realising it
In fact one of the most beautiful ways to remember Allah 
as Rabb is that the Rabb takes care of everything and you
don’t even realise.

Yusuf  is sitting in prison. He does not even realise that his

Rabb has already started taking the steps to make him min-
ister of Egypt. It’s beyond his mind, he can’t imagine it. And
we don’t know what our Rabb is planning for us, and what
beauty is coming our way.

َ‫ْخ َ َل َ ُُهم ِِّمن ُقُ ََّرِة َأَ ْْعٍۢنُي� ۢ ََج ََزٓاًۢء�ۢ ِبَما‬
ْ ُ َ � َْ ََُْ ‫َا‬
ِ � ِ َ ُ ْ �‫ٌۭس َّمٓا ُُأ ََىِف‬
ۭ ‫﴿َفاَل َتْعَلُم َنْف‬
﴾۷۱ۭ‫اَكاُنو۟ا۟ َيْع ََمُلوَن‬
And no soul knows what has been hidden for them
of comfort for eyes [i.e., satisfaction] as reward for
what they used to do.31

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51
The supplication of the Prophet  to seek Allah’s
protection in every moment of his life
And so when the Prophet , every morning and every eve-
ning, he would make the du’a32,

ْ ‫ َأَ ْْصِل‬، ‫َمْحـِتِك َأَ ْْسَتَـغـيث‬

‫ـْح يل‬ َ � ‫ـَر‬ ُ ‫ـُّي يا ََق ّّي‬
َ ‫ـوُم ِب‬ ُ ‫يا ْ ََح‬
َ ِ َ ْ ِ ِ ِ َ
ْ ‫ ََوال َتَِكلـين ِإىل َنْفـيس ََط‬، ‫ََشـْأنـي ـه‬
َ �‫َّلُك‬
‫ـْرَفَة ََعـني‬ ِ ِ
O Ever-Living One, O Eternal One, by Your mercy I call on
You to set right all my affairs. Do not place me in charge of
my soul even for the blinking of an eye (i.e. a moment).

This supplication reminds us of the meaning of Ar-Rabb. Ev-

ery morning and every evening the Prophet  would say
these words, because truly this is what it means to be a Rabb.

Internalising the meaning of ‘ubudiyyah

‫ي‬
If you are a ‫( ُُم ََريِّب‬murabbiyy) and you have a child, you don’t want
your child to be worried about anything for a blink of an eye.

Sometimes you watch your child going through difficulty, you

watch them climb up, and you know they’re going to fall, but
you know they need to fall so that they can learn next time
not to climb up again.

Allah  as Rabb, there is not a moment in our lifetime except

that He is looking after us,

َْ�
﴾‫﴿ُيُ ََدِّبِ ُُر َۭأْلْم ََر‬
He arranges [each] matter.33

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52
We have the illusion that people manage our affairs, so when
they let us down, we are really angry. We are so invested in
this idea that people are the ones managing our affairs, peo-
ple are the ones serving us – we get pulled into this imag-
inary world where human beings are all-powerful such that
when one of them falls, one of them disappoints us, one of
them breaks away, we feel broken-hearted.

When in reality ‘ubudiyyah, to be an ‘abd of Allah really and

truly is that you see all of these people as middlemen. The
ultimate One who gives and who takes, who tests and harms
and benefits is the Rabb. He is the true ultimate manager,
the ultimate One looking after our affairs, testing us, chal-
lenging us, giving us, taking from us.

True ‘ubudiyyah is to see things as they truly are, to not see

the illusion, to not see the picture - the false image that peo-
ple are the ones managing the world around us. But to see
the true reality which is that Allah  manages everything –
the good, the bad and everything in between.

53
 In times of desperation the prophets of
ِ
Allah would address Him as ‫( ََرِّب‬Rabbi)
ٓ � ‫( ََر‬Rabbiyy)
not ‫ٓىِّب‬
In the Quran when the prophets speak to Allah, most if not
all of the time they address Allah with the name Ar-Rabb.

Zakariyya n says,

َ ٰ �‫َ ِ اَلا َ َ ْ َ ًْۭد� َ َ َ َُرْي� ُ َْٰو‬

﴾‫﴿َرِّب َتَذْر ىىِن َفْر ۭا َوَأنَت َخ ْل ِِر ِِثَني‬
“My Lord, do not leave me alone [with no heir],
while You are the best of inheritors.”34

There’s something interesting in this ayah. If you want to say

my Rabb, you say ‫ٓىِّب‬ ٓ � ‫ ََر‬with a ‫ ياء‬at the end, but in this ayah
Zakariyya says ‫َر ِِّب‬.
َ The difference is the kasrah. The ‫ ياء‬is miss�
ing. This is one of the beautiful, subtle things in the Quran.
Sometimes you will find the prophets saying ‫ٓىِّب‬ ٓ � ‫ ََر‬and some�
ِ َ
times you will find them saying ‫َرِّب‬.

Allah doesn’t remove or add a letter except that He has a

reason. In moments of desperation, the prophets say ‫َر ِِّب‬. َ
They are so desperate to call upon Allah, they don’t have the
time to add the ‫ ياء‬at the end and stretch it for two harakahs
(counts).

You have to understand Zakariyya was not a man who didn’t

have a child for six months. This man waited nearly a century,
and he reached a level of desperation that he said ‫ ََر ِِّب‬and he
removed the ‫ ياء‬.

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54
When you see a ‫ ََر ِِّب‬in the Quran without a ‫ ياء‬it’s in moments
of desperation and difficulty.

Musa  when he reaches Madyan, he’s got nobody, nowhere

to look, no-where to hide, no job, nothing, he says,

� ‫ِِم ْْن َخٍَۢرْي� ۢ َفَِق‬

﴾ۭ‫ٌۭري‬ َ �‫َت ِإَّىَل‬ َ َ‫﴿َر ِِّب ِإىِّنى ِل ِ ََمٓا َأ‬
َ ْ‫نَزْل‬ َ
ِ � ِ ِ
“My Lord, indeed I am, for whatever good You
would send down to me, in need.”35

And so when we read the Quran notice there is a way there

is to call your Rabb in moments of desperation. And there’s a
moment to call upon Allah when there’s no urgency.

Calling upon our Rabb no matter what situation

we find ourselves in
What we note therefore is that the prophets were calling
upon their Rabb in their good times and their bad times,
when they were squeezed and when life was easy. And this
Allah mentions at the end of Surat al-Anbiya’,

َ َ َ ْ ٰ � َ ُ ٰ َُ ُ ْ َُ
‫وَن ىَنَل�ىِف َۭخْل َ ََٰرْي�� ِِت ََو ََيْد ُُعوَنَنَا ََرَغًۭب�ۭا ََو ََرَهًۭب�ۭا‬
ُ ‫﴿ ِِإَّنُهْم اَكاُنو۟ا۟ ُيَسٰـ ِِر َُع‬
َ ٰ َ
﴾‫ۭ َواَكاُنو۟ا۟ ا َخٰـ ِِش ِِعَني‬
Indeed, they used to hasten to good deeds and
supplicate Us in hope and fear, and they were to Us
humbly submissive.36

If we understood what and who is our Rabb, there is never a

moment in our lives where we would be alone. There would

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55
never be a situation in our lives where we would feel too
squeezed, because the words, ‫ ََر ََّبَنَا‬and ‫ ََر ِِّب‬would always be
on our lips.

Look at the lives of our prophets in the Quran, every turn and
ٓ � ‫ ََر‬,‫ ََر ِِّب‬,‫ – ََر ََّبَنَا‬in constant
twist in their lives they say the words ‫ٓىِّب‬
conversation with Allah – because the health of any relation-
ship is determined by communication. And so if we know our
�‫ِيّب‬
Rabb and we are attached to Him, because He is ِ ‫ ََر‬,‫ – ََر ََّبَنَا‬my
Lord – And He addresses us by saying ‘abdiyy, My slave - it’s
two ways.

In fact it is in that moment of time that one really thinks that

Allah would abandon us, He says ‘abdiyy. When the ‘abd,
the one so indebted to Allah that he needs Him, and he feels
obliged to please Him in every moment. When we commit
major crimes, how does Allah address us in the Quran?

ْ َ ‫اَلا‬ ُ َ ��‫ُ ْ َ ٰ َ َ � َ َ � َ ُ ٰٓىَلَع‬

‫َرْسُف ُو۟ا۟ ُ ٓ َأ �نُف ِِس ِِه ْْم َ ُ َُتْقَنَ ْ َُُط ُو ۟۟ا‬ ‫ْل َيٰـِعَباِدَى ِۭذَّليَن َأ‬ ‫﴿ُق‬
ُ‫يًعاۚ ۚ ِإَّن ُۭه ُه ََو ْلَغُفوُر‬ ً ‫وَب ِمَج‬ َ ‫َمْحِة ِِهَّلل� ۚ ۚ ِ ِإ ََّن َِهَّلل� َ ََي ْْغِف ُُر ُّذلُن‬
َ � ‫ِمن ََّر‬
ِ ِ ِ ِ ِ
ِ ُ ‫ِ َۭلَّر ِِح‬
﴾ۭ‫يُم‬
Say, “O My servants who have transgressed
against themselves [by sinning], do not despair
of the mercy of Allāh. Indeed, Allāh forgives all
sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the
Merciful.”37

Allah addresses us as My slaves. No matter what major sin we

have committed, what crime we committed, what wrong we
did, Allah  says you’re Mine. This is the ‫( لطف‬lutf) the mercy,
the gentleness, the appreciativeness of our Rabb.

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56
 Living with Allah’s Name, Ar-Rabb
And so the action to take away are that if we know the mean-
ings of the word Rabb, the Master, the Nurturer, the One
who looks after our every affair, the One who keeps the door
open when we leave, the One who tells us to come back
when we’ve wronged. The One who when we’re not even
aware He has planned everything for us. If we knew that
Rabb, then the word ‫ ََر ََّبَنَا‬would be on lips as often as pos�
sible. We would be in constant conversation with our Rabb.

57
58
 Know Your Lord
Allah’s Names and His Attributes

LESSON TWO

59
 Introduction
َ ُ ُ َ ‫َ َ َ � ْ ىَلَع�ى ِّْىَح� ِ � اَلا‬
ٰ � ‫وُت ََو ََسِّبِ ْْح �َحِبَ ْْم ِِد ِِهۚ ۚ ََوَك‬
ۭ‫ٰىَف ِبِ ِِه‬ َ ‫ِۭذَّلى َيَُم‬
ُِ ُ ‫﴿َوَتَوْلَّك ْل‬
ً
﴾‫وِب ِِعَبا ِِدِهِۭ َخ ِِبًريا‬
ِ ‫ِبُِذُن‬
And rely upon the Ever-Living who does not die,
and exalt [Allāh] with His praise. And sufficient is He
1
- to be, with the sins of His servants, [fully] Aware

Last lesson we took the name of Allah, Ar-Rabb, the One

who takes things from nothing, and He looks after and nour-
ishes and cultivates them until they reach their completion.

And the One who is the Master, the One who is the Lord, the
One who is obeyed.

We said in our first lesson that the Prophet  said that there
is a name of Allah,

‫االسم األعظم‬
The greatest Name of Allah

Whoever calls Allah with this name, with pure certainty and
from the bottom of their heart, they will never be turned
away.

It is like Laylat al-Qadr, the Prophet  tells us that there is

a name of Allah, such a special name, but he doesn’t tell us
which one it is.

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60
 Allah’s Names: Al-Hayy,
Al-Qayyum
The scholars had many opinions about which of the names
of Allah is the greatest. One of the opinions of the scholars
is that the greatest name of Allah is actually two names, Al-
Hayy and Al-Qayyum.

The ahadith of the Prophet  regarding the

Greatness of these Names
From the hadith2of Anas , that the Prophet  was once
hearing someone else making du’a, supplicating to Allah.
And he said, and whoever wants to learn how to speak to
Allah using His names, take notes.

ْ �‫ي َ َ ُ َ َ َ َ َ اَحْل‬ َ
‫الَّل ُُه ََّم ِِإيِّن َأ ْْسَأُلَك ِبَِأَّن َلَك َ ْْمْد‬
O Allah, I ask You, as You are the Owner of praise

َ ْ ‫َال ِإَهَل� َ ِإَّالّ َأَْن‬

‫َت‬
َ
ِ ِ
There is none worthy of my love or devotion, but You.

ُ ّ‫ْ َّن‬
‫اْل ََم اُن‬
You constantly give Your favours to me.

2 https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:3544, https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:3858, https://

sunnah.com/mishkat:2290, https://sunnah.com/abudawud:1495

61
 َ
‫اِت ََواَأل ْْر ِِض‬ َ َ ّ‫َ ُ َّس‬
ِ ‫َب ِِديُع ال َمَو‬
You formed the heavens and the earth from nothing.

ْ َ َ َ �‫َ َ اَجْل‬
ِ‫اِإلْك ََراِم‬
ِ ‫َيا َذا َال ِِل َو‬
The One of honour and generosity.

َ ُ � َ
‫ُّيَح َيَا َق ُُّي ْْو ُُم‬ ‫َيا‬
O Allah, the Ever-Living, the Caretaker – the Maintainer of
Everything.

When the Prophet  heard this – the man had used seven
names of Allah in the opening of his du’a, just to open up his
conversation with Allah. When he had made this du’a, the
Prophet  said that this man has called upon Allah with the
greatest of Allah’s names – the One which if He is asked, He
will never turn you away.

And in another hadith3 on the authority of Asma bint Yazid

, she said that the Prophet  when he heard the verses in
Surat al-Baqarah,

ُ � ْ‫﴿ُهَّلل� ُ ٓاَلٓ ِِإَلَ ٰٰـ ََه ِِإ ااَّل ُُه ََو ْل‬
ُ ‫ُّىَح ْلْ ََق ُُّي‬
﴾‫وُم‬
Allāh - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-
Living, the Self-Sustaining.4

3 https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:3478, https://sunnah.com/abudawud:1496, https://

sunnah.com/ibnmajah:3855, https://sunnah.com/mishkat:2291
4 https://quran.com/2/255

62
And in Surat Aal-‘Imran,

ُ � ْ‫ُهَّلل� ُ ٓاَلٓ ِِإَلَ ٰٰـ ََه ِِإ ااَّل ُُه ََو ْل‬. ‫﴿آل ٓ ٓٓم‬
ُ ‫ُّىَح ْلْ ََق ُُّي‬
﴾‫وُم‬
Alif, Lām, Meem. Allāh - there is no deity except
Him, the Ever-Living, the Self-Sustaining.5

When the Prophet  heard these verses he said, that is the

greatest name of Allah.

These two names they have a great importance, but it is

enough to know that they were mentioned in the greatest
verse of the Quran, Ayat al-Kursi. And in the opening of that
verse Allah calls Himself Al-Hayy, Al-Qayyum.

Al-Hayy: The Ever-Living

Who does not Die
Al-Hayy in Arabic comes from the root ‫( َّيَح‬hayya) - to be
alive, the living. And so Allah  is The Living. He is The Ev-
er-Living, He never dies.

That’s why in the Quran when Allah  calls Himself Al-Hayy,

He adds to it another description,

ُ َ ‫ِّْىَح� ِ � اَلا‬
﴾‫ِۭذَّلى َي ُُموُت‬
ِ ‫﴿ْل‬
The Ever-Living who does not die.6

We might think this is obvious, but actually it is not.

5 https://quran.com/3/1-2
6 https://quran.com/25/58

63
The reaction of the companions to the death of
the Prophet  and Abu Bakr’s  reminder to
them
Do we imagine that there is a day on which people forgot
about this. On the day that the Prophet  died, many of his
companions were confused and lost and Abu Bakr  had to
remind7 them that Allah  lives forever.

Mortality is hard fact to face up to. As we grow older and our

hair turns grey, we start to realise more and more our death
is on its way. That realisation hits us in the face. As a young
man or woman, this might not resonate, but to be in our 50’s
and 60’s we are nearer to the realisation that we will die. But
really we should all feel that way.

The day that the Prophet  passed away, the majority of the
Prophet’s  companions were in denial, they couldn’t ac-
cept it. This is what happens when you are in shock. The day
the Prophet  passed away, ‘Umar ibn Al-Khattab  was the
companion most in denial, he couldn’t accept it. He stood
up and said, whoever says Muhammad  has died, I will take
his head off with this sword and Abu Bakr  corrected him.
People were attached to the body and the persona of the
Messenger  - an attachment that nobody can ever imag-
ine. More attached than we are to our mothers and fathers
was their attachment to the Prophet .

However the day he died it was like a train had hit them
in the face, it shook them to the core. And in this moment
in time Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, he didn’t come up and remind
them that Muhammad  is just a human being, we don’t

7 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3667

64
need him anymore. No – he reminded them of something
greater than that. He said,

َْ َ� َ َ َ� ْ َ َ ‫ا‬
‫وسلم َف ِِإ ََّنَ َحُم ََّمُ ًًدا َقْد‬
� ‫عليه‬
�‫اَهَّلل‬ َ َ ‫اهلل‬
�‫اَهَّلل‬ ‫ََم ْْن اَكَن ََيْعُبُ ُُد َحُم ا ََّم ًًَدا َ ْصىل‬
‫ٌّىَح َال َي ُُموُت‬ ٌ َ ‫ََماَت ََو ََم ْْن اَكَن َيْعُبُ ُُد َ َفِإَّن‬
ِ
Whoever worshipped Muhammad, then Muhammad is
dead, but whoever worshipped Allah, then Allah is Alive
and shall never die.

The first step to disbelief in God – to regard Him

 as Passive
To understand what it means for Allah to be alive, you have
to wonder how many people conceive and think about God.

In the 17th, 18 and 19th centuries – in the last two to three

hundred years, the vast majority of the world they stopped
believing in God. But how did it happen? Nobody woke up
overnight and said there’s no god. Slowly, but surely the first
thing they changed – they said God exists, but He doesn’t
have anything to do with us.

This is how they started describing God, they said God cre-
ated the world and then He just left it. He has nothing to do
with it. He is inactive / passive – much like a sleeping partner
in a business. This is how they started seeing Allah – that
Allah  is passive, He has nothing to do with us – so they
stopped asking Him. They stopped seeing everything in this
world as coming from Allah or for Allah or to Allah.

This is the first step to go downhill, because the moment you

say Allah is passive, it is very easy to take the next step.

65
What it means to say that Allah  is Alive
Allah  is alive.

The heartbeat is an indicator of whether or not a person is

alive – it’s movement, action that makes a person alive. And
its inaction – no action, no movement that makes a person
dead.

Allah  being Al-Hayy, means that Allah  is always active.

The verse in Surat ar-Rahman tells us this,

ُ َ� َ� ٰ َ ُُ
‫ۭلَّس ََم َ ٰٰـَٰو�ْ ِِت ََوَۭأْل ْْر ِِضۚ ۚ َّلُك َيَ ْْوٍمٍ ُه ََو ىىِف‬ ‫﴿َي َ ْْس �ََٔـُل ُۭه ََمن ىىِف‬
﴾۹۲ۢ‫َشْأ �ٍۢن‬
Whoever is within the heavens and earth asks Him;
every day He is in [i.e., bringing about] a matter.8

Every day Allah is active. He is not passive.

When Allah  creates, when He interacts with creation, ev-

erything He does is unique. This something we learn about
when we come to study the name of Allah, Al-Badee’9 – that
every snowflake is different, every fingerprint is different –
they’re not identical.

The meaning of Al-Hayy is that He is always there, He’s al-

ways listening, He’s always there observing and He’s active.
He creates, He intervenes.

8 https://quran.com/55/29
9 The Originator - the One who created and formed the universe without any mold
or preceding example.

66
The famous psychological conditioning
experiment – Skinner and the dogs
A psychologist by the name of Skinner did an experiment on
dogs. He was trying to see how he could condition them. He
would ring a bell, and at that same moment he would give
food to the dog. He would repeat the exercise on the next
and subsequent days. Twenty days later the dog comes to
salivate as soon as the bell was rung – because he has linked
the sound of the bell with food. He thinks the bell is bringing
the food. Whereas in reality they are not connected to one
another.

The reality is that Allah is The One responsible for

everything that happens
It is quite a subtle point, but this is how all the things in this
world are. We see wood – and when a spark goes, we see
fire. We see these things as connected, we think the wood
caused the fire. But Allah caused the fire and Allah caused
the wood, and Allah caused the spark to create the fire.

He  is active in every moment of the universe making ev-

erything linked!

The physicist Isaac Newton, formulated the theory of gravity

when he saw an apple fall. We see things fall all the time and
we think these are rules that govern these things, but we don’t
realise Allah applied the force, not some lifeless law. Allah 
is active in every moment, in every space, in every time, ev-
erywhere. And when we realise that Allah is the living, and He
is always living, that means He’s always listening - at all times.
When everyone is asleep and dead, He’s always listening.

67
Human beings become unreliable, because they sleep, they
disappear, they have their own needs, they are deficient. So
you feel like you don’t wish to bother a person at 2.a.m. in
the morning when you’ve broken down on the motorway.

Allah links His Name Al-Hayy with being Ever-

Reliant
Allah  never has a moment in which He sleeps or He’s
drowsy, or He’s out of service. He’s always active. It is why
Allah links Himself being Al-Hayy with us asking Him, and us
relying upon Him. Allah  is available 24/7 for our requests.

It is why Allah  in Surat al-Furqan talks about Him being the

living, He says,

ُ َ ‫َ َ َ � ْ ىَلَع�ى ِّْىَح� ِ � اَلا‬

﴾‫ِۭذَّلى َي ُُموُت‬
ِ ‫﴿َوَتَوْلَّك ْل‬
And rely upon the Ever-Living who does not die.10

If you want to rely or trust someone, trust on the One who

is always living, and He never dies. Because human beings,
they let you down. But Allah  He is not like that. And this
is why the Prophet11  he linked this name, Al-Hayy with
Al-Kareem (The Generous).

ٌ‫ٌّيِي ََكِريٌم‬ ُ ََ َ
ٌ ‫ُك ْْم ََح‬ ‫ِِإَّن َرَّب‬
ِ �
Your Rabb (Lord of the Universe) is Ever-Living and
Generous

10 https://quran.com/25/58
11 https://sunnah.com/bulugh/16/117

68
 َ ُ َ َْ �‫َ َ ْيَل‬ َ
‫َي َ ْْسَتَ ييِح ِِم ْْن َعْبْ ِِدِهِ ِإَِذا ََرَف ََع ِإِ ْ ِِه َيَ ََدْي ْ ِِه َأْن َيَ ُُرَّدُه ََما ِِصَف ًًرا‬
and would never turn the hands of a slave without gain
when he raises them to Him (in supplication).

So knowing Allah is always living, ever there means that we

should constantly rely upon Him, trust Him, we should ask
Him. Human beings may let us down, but Allah  will never
let us down.

The quest of human beings to live forever or

to prolong life beyond the time that Allah has
decreed
Human beings are always seeing how can we live forever.
Today there is a technology they are trying to develop called
cryogenics. The idea is to freeze the human being so that he
doesn’t decay and die, so that he can live forever. Before this
six to seven centuries ago Pope Benedict VIII, when he was
on his death bed, he got three young children to cut their
veins and he tried to connect their blood to his – thinking if a
young child’s blood would go into his, he would live for longer.

ُ ْ ُ ُ ْ َ ُ ْ َ ْ ُ ‫ُكوُنُو۟ا۟ ُيُ ْْدِر‬ ُ َ َ ََْ

� ‫كُّك َ ُُم َ ْلَمْوُت ََوَلْو ُكنُتْم ىىِف ُب ُُر‬
ۢ‫وٍۢج‬ َ ِ ‫﴿َأْيَنَما َت‬
﴾ۢ‫ُُّمَشَّيَد �ٍۢة‬
Wherever you may be, death will overtake you,
even if you should be within towers of lofty
construction12

12 https://quran.com/4/78

69
Allah has no Beginning and no End
When we as humans come to realise we are mortal, we are
going to finish, we realise another thing – Allah  has no
beginning and no end. These are two other names of Allah
to remember.

ْ ُ َ� ُ
ِ ‫﴿ُه ََو َۭأْل ََّوُل ََوْل �ََٔـ‬
﴾‫اِخ ُُر‬
He is the First and the Last.13

When the Prophet  made du’a14 to Allah , he would say,

ََْ
‫اآلِخ ُُر َفَلْي ََس‬ َ ْ َ ْ � ‫َك‬ َ َْ َ َ ََْ ََُ َ َْ َ َُ
ِ ‫ْىَشٌءٌ ََوَأْنَت‬ ‫الَّلُهَّم َأْنَت اَألَّوُل َفَلْيَس َقْبَل‬
ْ � ‫ََب ْْع ََد ََك‬
ٌ‫ْىَشٌء‬
O Allah, Thou art the First, there is naught before Thee,
and Thou art the Last and there is naught after Thee.

What that makes us realise is that whoever and whatever we

are relying on in this world - it’s like the dog, the bell and the
food analogy. We think the boss brings us the pay-cheque.
We don’t realise the boss and the pay-cheque are both from
Allah  – because just like that dog, we connected those
two things.

13 https://quran.com/57/3
14 https://sunnah.com/muslim:2713a

70
 Al-Qayyum: The One on
Whom everything relies

Root meanings
َ ُ ٌ
‫( َماق‬qama’), ‫( ُموقَي‬yaqumu) – means to stand.‫ئاق‬
ِ ‫( م‬qa’imun) –
someone who is standing, but also someone who is looking
after something or someone.

The example of a vigilant security guard

The security guard, you will often find him seated. However
when you see a security guard standing, walking around – he
looks more alert than the one who is seated.
َ ْ
Allah talks about the word ‫ئٓاق‬
ِ ‫ م‬in the Quran in the situation
where He says some people, if you give them a loan, you’re
never going to get it back,

َ َ َ ُْ َ ‫ا‬
﴾‫َت ََعَلْيْ ِِه َقٓاِئًِۭم� ۭا‬ ‫﴿ ِِإاَّل َما ُدْم‬
unless you are constantly standing over him
[demanding it]15
َ ْ
This is ‫ئٓاق‬
ِ ‫ م‬looking after something, you’re vigilant, looking
after something, you’re alert.
َ َ
The ‫( َف ََّعاَل‬fa’aal) exaggeration
In Arabic there are forms of words, if you want to make some-
thing frequent, if you want to exaggerate something. One of
َ َ
those is the form ‫َف ََّعاَل‬.

15 https://quran.com/3/75

71
 َ
In the Quran, Allah  describes men as ‫( َق َّٰٰو� ُُم‬qawwam),

ِ ‫َ ىَلَع�ى‬ َ ُ
﴾ِ‫﴿ ِۭلِّر ََجاُل َق َّٰٰو� ُُموَن لِّن ََسٓاِء‬
Men are caretakers of women16
َ
Real men are ‫ ُمَّٰوق‬over women, meaning that they are respon-
sible for looking after them, maintaining them, protecting
َ
them, taking care of them. ‫ ُمَّٰوق‬means to be doing so con-
stantly, frequently without any breaks. This is what masculini-
ty is about – it’s stepping up, taking responsibility.
َ ُ ‫ََق ُُّي‬
The difference between and ‫ َق َّٰٰو� ُُم‬qawwam and ‫وُم‬
qayyum
َ ُ َ
Fay’oul (‫ )لوعيف‬is a form in Arabic which is very rarely used.
َ
A qawwam (‫ )ُمَّٰوق‬is someone who is maintaining or looking
after something, they can also fall asleep, they can also get
drowsy, they can also make mistakes. They can get bored or
َ
negligent. But qayyum (‫ )ُموُّيق‬never, not even for a moment
stops taking care of what’s in his responsibility.

َ� َ َ َ
ْ � ‫َّلُك‬ ْ َ َ ْ َ
‫ْيَش ْْء‬ ‫اَم ِبَِنَْف ِِس ِِه َوَقاَم ِبِ ِِه‬ ‫ََقُّيُو ُُم َمْن َق‬
He is the reason for His own existence and everything is
reliant upon Him.17

Everything stands because of Him. Everything breathes and

exists because of Him – that is the meaning of Al-Qayyum. If
it wasn’t for Him everything would be dust, nothingness. We
exist, He made everything standing and then He constantly
looks after it.

16 https://quran.com/4/34
17 https://www.alathar.net/home/esound/index.php?op=codevi&coid=130785

72
Never, not even for a moment does Allah have
drowsiness overtake Him
Interestingly when Allah  describes Himself as Al-Qayyum
in the Quran, He describes the opposite.

َ ‫� اَلا‬ ُ ُ ْ َ ‫ُهَّلل� ُ ٓاَلٓ َ ٰ َ ا ُ َ ْ � ُ ْ َ ُ ُ اَلا‬

ۚ﴾ۭۚ‫وُمۚ ۚ َتْأُخُذ ُُۭه ِِسَنٌَۭةۭ ََو َن ْْو �ٌۭم‬ ‫ِِإَلٰـَه ِِإاَّل ُهَو ْلُّىَح ْلَقُّي‬ ﴿
Allāh - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living,
the Self-Sustaining. Neither drowsiness overtakes
Him nor sleep.18
َ ٌ
The word ‫( ۭةنِس‬sinah) found in this ayah means drowsiness,
َ ٌْ
‫( ۭمون‬nawm) refers to deep sleep. So Allah, when He says,
He is Al-Hayy and Al-Qayyum – that neither drowsiness nor
sleep overtake Him – it is different to human beings. When
they are entrusted with anything they get tired, there are mo-
ments when you get exhausted.

When Allah says He is Al-Qayyum, never for a moment does

He get drowsy, never for a moment does gravity stop work-
ing. Allah , He looks after gravity, He looks after us, our
heartbeats, everything in this world.

We think the forces of nature are looking after us, but it is

Allah looking after every moment. And if Allah decided He
could wipe us all out.

The meaning of everyone and everything

prostrating to Allah 
And this is why when Allah  says in the Quran,

18 https://quran.com/2/255

73
 �‫َ ًۭه‬ َ� ٰ َ ُ ‫﴿َو ��ِهَّلِل َي َ ْْس‬
﴾‫ۭلَّس ََم ٰٰـَٰو� ِِت ََوَۭأْل ْْر ِِض ََط ْْوًۭع� ۭا ََوَك ْْر ۭا‬ ‫ُج ُُد ََمن ىىِف‬ ِ
َ
And to Allāh prostrates whoever is within the
heavens and the earth, willingly or by compulsion.19

What does this mean? Because a disbeliever does not do

sujud to Allah . So how can Allah say that everyone in the
world is doing sujud to Him.

A disbeliever may not physically do sujud to Allah, but their

whole body is subservient to Allah. Allah is controlling every
atom in their body.

Connecting with Al-Hayy and Al-

Qayyum
The Prophet’s  special relationship with these
Names
For these two words, Al-Hayy and Al-Qayyum, the Prophet
 had a special relationship with these two names of Allah.

‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ud  narrates20,

ٌ‫لْم ِإ ََذا َنَ ََز ََل ِبِه ْْهٌمٌ َأَ ْْو ََغٌم‬
ْ َ ْ َ َ ُ �‫اُهَّلل‬ �‫ا َ َ ُ ُ اِهَّلل‬
ِ ِ ُ َ ْ َ ِ َ ‫اَكَن َرُسوُل َ َ ِ َصيل َ َ ُّيَّعَل ُْي ِِه ََو � ََس‬
‫َقاَل َياُّيَح�ّ َيا َق وُم ِبِ ََرَمْح ِِتَك َأْسَت ِِغيُث‬
“Whenever a matter would distress him, the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬
would say: ‘O Living, O Self-Sustaining Sustainer! In Your
Mercy do I seek relief

19 https://quran.com/13/15
20 https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:3524

74
The Prophet  in the worst situations of his life, he would
say to Allah,

ُ َ َ َ� َ ُْ َ َ
‫َمْح ِِتَك َأ ْْسَتَ ِِغيُث‬
‫َيَا ُّيَح�ّ َيا َقُّيّْوُم ِبَِر‬
‘O Living, O Self-Sustaining Sustainer! I seek Your Help and
Your Mercy.

In fact on one of the hardest days for the Prophet  on the

day of Badr, ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib  narrates that on the day of
Badr I went forward into war and I was fighting left, right and
centre. And then I came back just to check on the Prophet
ْ ‫َيَا ُّيَح�ّ َيَا ََق‬,
. I came to find him in sujud – and he was saying ‫ُّيّْو ُُم‬
he’s calling upon Allah with these two names.
ْ ‫َيَا ُّيَح�ّ َيَا ََق‬
He was not saying anything else – his only words ‫ُّيّْو ُُم‬
meaning he’s speechless. He’s only calling upon Allah with
these names.

‘Ali says he went back to the battlefield to continue fighting,

and after a period of time came back to the Prophet . He
ْ ‫َيَا ُّيَح�ّ َيَا ََق‬.
found him still prostrating, and he’s still saying ‫ُّيّْو ُُم‬

Ibn Taymiyyah  would recite these Names of

Allah at the time of Fajr
Ibn Al-Qayyim , he talks about his teacher Shaykh Ibn Tay-
miyyah  who he writes had such a special relationship with
these two names of Allah ‫ُّيّْو ُُم‬ ْ ‫َيَا ُّيَح�ّ َيَا ََق‬. He said that from the
Sunnah of Fajr to the Fajr prayer in congregation, he says my
ْ ‫ َيَا ُّيَح�ّ َيَا ََق‬times. And he said that in my
teacher would say, 40 ‫ُّيّْو ُُم‬
experience whoever says ‫ُّيّْو ُُم‬ ْ ‫ َيَا ُّيَح�ّ َيَا ََق‬X number of times in the
morning, Allah  will relieve their distress.21

21 There is no authentic hadith to support this, but one experience Ibn Al-Qayyim 

75
And it was the opinion of Ibn Taymiyyah  that these were
the greatest names of Allah, Al-Hayy and Al-Qayyum.

Al-Hayy and Al-Qayyum encapsulate many of the

other Names of Allah 
Ibn al-Qayyim  says the name Al-Hayy – Allah being living
– encapsulates so many of the other names of Allah. That
He  is listening, He is hearing, that He’s active, that He’s
helping, that He’s living. All of this comes under the name
Al-Hayy. Because if you’re not alive, you cannot do anything
else.

And Allah’s name, Al-Qayyum, under this name all of Allah’s

actions come. Allah maintains, He protects life, He takes life,
He grants the soul to the child – all of this activity that Allah
 is engaged in comes under the name Al-Qayyum.

So it is as if these two names summarise who Allah is. And

this is why in the moment of distress the Prophet  would
ْ ‫َيَا ُّيَح�ّ َيَا ََق‬.
simply say ‫ُّيّْو ُُم‬

Allah’s Name Al-Qayyum infers our constant

dependence on Him  for our every need
There’s something very interesting about Allah’s  name,
Al-Qayyum, and that is that it means that everybody exists
only because Allah gave them existence. That means that we
are in need of Allah. This is something that we sometimes
forget. We remember when we are ill, we remember when
we are on our deathbed, we remember when something’s
going wrong. But when we’re healthy and we’re fine we for-
get that we need Allah even now.

76
Ibn Qudamah Al-Maqdisi  in his final letter, in his wasiyyah,
he says somebody in the sea holding a piece of wood, kick-
ing and screaming is as much in need of Allah as you and me
right now. But at that moment in time they are screaming,
crying and begging for Allah. So whilst we think we are okay
right now, that we’re independent, we’re individual - this idea
is what has destroyed so many of our lives when we think we
are not in need of Allah anymore.

Allah  mentions this in the Quran,

ُ َ َ َ ْ َ َ � ‫َ َ َ ْ َ ْ َ ىَلَع�ى‬
‫نَس ٰٰـ ُ ِِن َأْع ََرَض ََوَن �ََٔـا �َجِبَاِنِ ِِب ِِهۭ ََوِإَِذا ََم ََّسُه‬
ُ ‫ِۭإْل‬
ِ َ ُ � ‫﴿َوِإَِذٓا َأْنَعْمَنا‬
﴾۱٥ۢ‫يٍۢض‬ َ َ
� ‫ۭلُّرَّش َفُذو ُدَعٓاٍءٍ َع ِِر‬
And when We bestow favour upon man, he turns
away and distances himself; but when evil touches
him, then he is full of extensive supplication.22

Allah mentions in the Quran,

َ ُ َ َ َُ َ
ُ ‫اُس َأنُتُ ُُمَحْل�ْلْ ُُف ََق ََر ُٓاُء ِإِىَلى ِهَّلل� ِ ۖ ۖ ََوُهَّلل� ُ ُُه ََو ْلْ ََغ‬ ‫﴿َي ٰٓٓـَأُّيَها َّۭنل‬
�‫ُّىِن‬ ُ َ
﴾٥۱ۭ‫ِِميُد‬
O mankind, you are those in need of Allāh, while
Allāh is the Free of need, the Praiseworthy.23

َ ‫ٍۢق‬َْ َْ ْ ُ ْ ْ ُ ْ ََ
� ِ � � ِ ‫﴿ ِِإن َيَشْأ ُيْذ ِِهْبُكْم ََوَيْأ‬
﴾٦۱ۢ‫يٍۢد‬ ‫ِد‬ ‫َج‬ ۢ ‫ْل‬ ‫َخِب‬ ‫ِت‬
If He wills, He can do away with you and bring forth
a new creation.24

22 https://quran.com/41/51
23 https://quran.com/35/15
24 https://quran.com/35/16

77
 َ ٰ �‫َ َ َٰذ‬
َ ‫َك ىَلَع�ى ِهَّلل� ِب‬
﴾۷۱ۢ‫يٍۢز‬‫ِز‬
� ِ ِ ‫َع‬ ِ ِ ‫﴿َوَما ِل‬
And that is for Allāh not difficult.25

If we think of that for a moment that Allah does not need us.
He doesn’t need our salah, our Quran, our dhikr. He could re-
place us. What makes us deserve to be alive? Why did Allah
give us the chance and the opportunity to breathe when He
could have given that chance to someone else.

How many children die every year? How many children die in
the womb without even seeing the world and breathing oxy-
gen. But we made it. We need to ask what made us deserve
this. We have to justify our existence. If we do not, Allah will
replace us. We are in constant need of Allah .

When we come to realise this, when we remember Al-Qa-

yyum, the One we are dependent on for every breath and
every movement.

Reflecting on the example of boxer, Muhammad ‘Ali

We remember our dependence on Allah when we get ill.

Muhammad ‘Ali, also known as Cascius Clay, used to call

himself the greatest. This was until a time where he fell ill,
and could not box for six months. When he came back, he
said, don’t call me the greatest. God made me ill for me to
realise, He  is the greatest.

This is what happens. When we get ill, when a family mem-

ber gets ill, we start to realise how much we really need Al-
lah. Why are we waiting for those situations? Should we not

25 https://quran.com/35/17

78
be expressing our need to Allah more regularly. Should we
not be begging Him more regularly.

Seeking Allah’s assistance and not the help of

others
Should we not be realising that the comforts of our life could
be taken away at any moment, we need Allah  to maintain
them as they are.

‫الفقر واإلفتقار اىل اهلل‬

To feel really as I am a beggar in front of Him , I am a mi-
skin, I’m a poor person.

We don’t like to feel needy, but rather we like to give, we

enjoy giving. We don’t like the feeling of begging, of asking,
of requesting from others. And that is a good thing. As the
Prophet  would advise26 his companions to try not to ask
anyone for anything, try as best as you can to look after your-
self. Don’t rely on others for anything.

We are in ultimate need of Allah, and we are reminded of this

in moments of illness, in moments of calamity, moments of
sadness, we turn to Allah.

26 https://sunnah.com/nasai:2588 https://sunnah.com/mishkat:3713 https://sunnah.

com/nasai:2580 https://sunnah.com/nasai:2591

79
Turning to Allah in times of both prosperity and
difficulty
Allah  mentions in the Quran,

َ َ َ ِ ُ �‫َ ُهَل‬ ْ � �‫ْ ُ ْ َ َهَّلل‬ َ َ

‫يَن َفَل ََّما‬ ‫﴿َف ِِإَذا ََر ِِكُبَُّجَن�و َ۟ا۟ ىىِف ْلُفىَلىْل ِِْك َد َََع ُُو۟ا۟ ُ َ ِرْش�ْخُم ِِل ُ ِِص ََني ِّدل‬
﴾٥٦ۭ‫ِّرَب ِِإَذا ُه ْْم ُي ُ ِ ُكوَن‬ ِ � ‫ٰٰى ُُه ْْم ِإ ْل‬
ِ
And when they board a ship, they supplicate Allāh,
sincere to Him in religion [i.e., faith and hope]. But
when He delivers them to the land, at once they
associate others with Him.27

How often it is that we call upon Allah in our moments of dis-

tress and difficulty, but when we are in good times, we don’t
even realise He’s there.

The Prophet  said28 to ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas ,

َْ َْ َ َ �‫َ َ َ ْ ىَلى اِهَّلل‬

‫الِشَّدْة‬
ِ ‫ِ ييِف الَّرَخا ِِء َيْع ِِرفك يف‬ ‫َتَعَّرْف ِِإ‬
Remember Allah in your moments of good times, He will
be in Your assistance in your difficult times.

It’s the opposite of when we remember Him .

The test of prosperity, and safety and success is worse than

the test of poverty because we don’t even realise we’re be-
ing tested. But are we really grateful for those favours in
times of prosperity? We should ask Allah for every blessing
that we have, because He can take it away at any moment.

27 https://quran.com/29/65
28 https://sunnah.com/nawawi40:19

80
Allah  teaches us that the blessings He gives us, He can
take, and they aren’t ours to begin with, and that we need
Allah. If He decided, He could remove His help.

When the Prophet  loses his child, and he’s found crying,
and his companion29 says to him, O Rasulullah even you are
crying. The Prophet  says,

ْ ْ ُ ُ ُ �‫َ َ � ٌَةٌ َ َ َ َ اُهَّلل‬

‫وِب اْل ِِعَبَاْد‬
ِ ‫ييِف ُقُل‬ ‫َه ِِذِهِ َرَمْح َجَعَلَها‬
This is the mercy Allah has placed in the hearts of His
servants.

And he says a very important phrase,

‫إن هلل ما أخذ‬

To Allah belongs what He took.

My son belonged to Allah, it wasn’t mine. He lent it to me,

He let me borrow him and He took him back.

‫وهل ما اعطى‬
And to Him belongs what He gave.

‫ولك يشء عنده اىل اجل مسىم‬

And everything for Allah has a fixed term.

29 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:1303; https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:29

81
A change in our mindsets that everything we own
is actually on lease and can be taken at any time
Think of it this way. Everything in our lives is on lease, we
don’t own it. We are renting. Anytime He wants the landlord
can take it back. That changes things.

The clothes we are wearing are borrowed, we don’t own

them, Allah can take it at any moment. When we start to
think of our lives in this way, that everything we own is on
lease and that we don’t own it – we start to look after it prop-
erly. We start to respect the caretaker, the maintainer, the
landlord much more because we know that if He wants He
can remove it at any point in time.

This is the meaning of Al-Qayyum – the One who looks after

everything, but He makes it look like they’re taking care of
themselves.

But if we take our attention off for a second, if we become

ungrateful even for a second – when we attribute our suc-
cesses to our own hard work, Allah  will take it away, or He
will make us miserable while we still have it.

How many people, celebrities with all the funds in the world,
with the biggest real-estate portfolios in the world, they
commit suicide out of depression. They think they own ev-
erything – their intelligence, their hard work – they feel emp-
ty inside, miserable.

True freedom is knowing that everything is in the Hands of

Allah , and everything is being looked after by Him. True
freedom that brings you happiness, that fills you with light
and ease, and that everything is looked after. That we don’t

82
need to be worried, have sleepless nights, because,

ْ َ� َ َ َ ُ َُ
‫اِت ََواَأْل ْْرْض‬
ِ ‫َقُّيوُم الَّسَماَو‬
The Self-Sustaining Master of the heavens and the earth is
the One that makes it stand.

The tribe from Yemen and their reliance on Allah 

One day a tribe from Yemen, Al-Ash’ariyun, they came to the
Prophet . As immigrants they had an issue that they real-
ised that they had no food, no sustenance, no income. They
sent one of their delegation to the Prophet  to ask him, O
Prophet of Allah give us some food to eat.

As the Messenger  arrived, Allah  revealed an ayah,

َْ ُ �‫ا ىَلَع�ى ِهَّلل‬ َ� َ

‫ِ ِِر ْْز ُُق ََها ََو ََيْعَل ُُم‬ ‫﴿َو ََما َ ِِمن َ َدٓاَّبَ � ٍۢۢة ىىِف ََۭأْل ْْرَ ِِض ِإٌِّۭلُك��اَّل‬
َ
﴾٦ۢ‫ٍۢني‬ َ َ َ
ۢ � ‫ُُمْسَتَق ََّرَها ََوُمْسَت ْْوَدَعَهاۚ ۚ ۭ ىىِف ِِكَت ٰٰـ‬
ْ ُ َ ْ
� ‫ٍۢب ُّم ِِب‬
And there is no creature on earth but that upon
Allāh is its provision, and He knows its place of
dwelling and place of storage. All is in a clear
register.30

Every single organism in this universe, Allah  provides for.

There is bacteria in our stomachs living off our stomach acid.
Allah provides for them, and He knows when they move and
when they are still. Everything has been recorded.

When this companion heard this verse, I don’t need to ask

the Prophet  for food, Allah is looking after me.

30 https://quran.com/11/6

83
Allah, Al-Qayyum is the One in control of every
Outcome
Allah is in control of the outcome. It’s such a liberating idea
that you don’t have to stress and worry about the outcomes.
Today we live in a climate that is very stressful. An economic
recession, rising fuel prices, everyone is worried. But we for-
get about our worries, it frees us when we realise that Allah
 controls this.

Many people find freedom by engaging in conspiracy theo-

ries – that a small group of people control everything in the
world. That they coordinate the wars, and they control the
prices. To have this conspiracy theory, it makes life easy for
them because they can blame someone for it. But the real
freedom is to realise that Allah,

ْ َ� َ َ َ ُ َُْ
‫اِت ََواَأْل ْْرْض‬
ِ ‫ْٱْل ََحُّىُ ٱْلَقُّيوُم الَّسَماَو‬
Allah is the One who makes all of these things happen. He
maintains them, He takes care of them, He protects them.
And when He wishes He makes them more difficult for us.

The Prophet  said31,

َ ْ َ � َ َ َ �‫َ ْ َ َ ُ ْ ُ ْ ُ ْ َ َ ُلَّك� ُ َ ىَلَع�ى اِهَّلل‬

‫َّق َت ََوِلُّكِ ِِه َل ُُر ِ ًِزْقُتُ ْْم َك ََما‬‫ِ َح‬ ‫َلْو َأَّنُك ُْم ُك ُْنُتْم َتَو وَن‬
‫وُح ِبِ ََطاًنا‬ ُ ‫اًصا ََوَتَ ُُر‬ َ � ‫الَّطُرْي� ُ ََت ْْغ ُُدو‬
ً ‫َمِخ‬ َ ‫ُت ْْر ََزُق‬

If you were to rely upon Allah with the required reliance,

then He would provide for you just as a bird is provided for,
it goes out in the morning empty, and returns full.

31 https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:2344

84
And so the name, Al-Qayyum gives us a lot of reassurance,
that if we put in the work, leave the outcome to Allah. To
rely upon Him, trust upon Him, ask Him. He is listening, He
is alive. He doesn’t sleep, He doesn’t nap, He doesn’t have
fixed hours, He is never off-line. Allah  is always present
and Allah  is always in control.

Never let someone make you think that people or objects or

organisations or groups are in control. Allah controls them.
Allah  tells our Prophet ,

َ �‫ِبْل‬ َ َ َ � ُ ُ َ َ َ َ َ ُ َ ‫اَلا‬
﴾٦٩۱ۭ‫يَن َكَف ُُرو۟ا۟ ىىِف َِل ٰٰـ ِِد‬ ‫ِۭذَّل‬
ِ ‫﴿ َيُغَّرَّنَك َتَقُّلُب‬
Be not deceived by the [uninhibited] movement of
the disbelievers throughout the land.32

ُ ْ ْ َ ْ ُ � َ
﴾۷۹۱ۭ‫﴿َمَتَ ٰٰـ � ٌۭۭع َق ِِليٌۭلۭ ُث ََّم ََمْأ ََوٰى ٰ ُُه ْْم ََج ََهَّن ُُمۚ ۚ ََوِبِْئ ََس ْل ِِم ََهاُد‬
َ

[It is but] a small enjoyment; then their [final] refuge

is Hell, and wretched is the resting place.33

Don’t be deceived by people, by numbers, by armies, by

politics, by governments, by MPs – all of these things, Allah
is in control.

32 https://quran.com/3/196
33 https://quran.com/3/197

85
 Names related to Al-Hayy
and Al-Qayyum
As-Samad – Allah is not in need of anyone or
anything
One of the names similar to Al-Qayyum is Allah’s name,
As-Samad. As-Samad in Arabic is used to describe a high
place like a hill,
َ � ُ ُ ْ َ ْ �‫ْيَل‬
ْ َ‫اَأْل ْْشَي‬
‫اْء‬ ‫ِِإ ِِه َيْسُمُد‬
When it rains, all the rain starts by dropping on the hill, and
then it starts to trickle down to everything else. So if you
want water you’re going to have to sit at the bottom of the
hill and wait for the water to come to you.

Allah is As-Samad, meaning He is not in need of anyone,

whereas everything is in need of Him.
َ �‫ُ ْ ُ ُهَّلل‬
﴾۱ٌ‫﴿ُقْل ُه ََو ُ َأ ََحٌد‬
Say, He is Allāh, [who is] One,34

َ ُ �‫﴿ُهَّلل‬
﴾٢ۭ‫ۭلَّص ََم ُُد‬
Allāh, the Eternal Refuge.35

Everyone is constantly needing Allah, but He is not in need

of anyone at the same time. This makes us realise, this small
word As-Samad how deep its meanings are.

34 https://quran.com/112/1
35 https://quran.com/112/2

86
How much we recite Surat al-Ikhlas and yet how little we
know little about it.

The Sunnah of the Prophet  to teach the Quran

with its meanings
When the Prophet  would teach the Quran to children, to
young Muslims, to his companions, he would never teach it
to them without the meanings.

The Prophet’s  companions said,

‫ وعبداهلل‬،‫ كعثمان بن عفان‬،‫حدثنا اذلين اكنوا يقرئوننا القرآن‬

‫أنهم اكنوا إذا تعلموا من انليب صىل اهلل‬- ‫ وغريهما‬،‫بن مسعود‬
‫فيها من‬
ً ‫عليه وسلم عرش آيات لم حياوزوها حىت يتعلموا ما‬
‫ وهلذا‬.‫ فتعلمنا القرآن والعلم والعمل مجيعًا‬:‫ قالوا‬،‫العلم والعمل‬
.‫اكنوا يبقون مدة يف حفظ السورة‬
The companions of the Prophet  would teach the Quran by
teaching ten ayahs at a time. And they would teach its mean-
ings, and what actions we learn from it, and what we need to
do because of these ayat. And only then they would move onto
the next. They would not move on from these ten verses until
people really knew what it means. This is something to think
about when we learn the Quran, when we teach the Quran.

The Prophet  and the companions did not emphasize the

memorisation of the Quran – Allah  first and foremost em-
phasized its meanings.

َ ُ ْ َ ُ َ ْ �‫َ َ ا ْحَي‬
‫َأَفاَل َفُظوَن اْلُق ْْر ََءاَن‬
Will they not memorise the Quran?

87
No! He  said,

َ ُْ َ َ ‫ََا‬
﴾‫﴿َأَفاَل َيَتَ ََدَّبَ ُُروَن ْلُق ْْر ََءاَن‬
Then do they not reflect upon the Qur’ān.36

If someone memorises the the Quran, it’s a bonus, but if they

have not understood it, then they have truly failed. And that
is the real education of the Quran.

Summary of the meanings of Allah’s names, Al-

Hayy and Al-Qayyum
1 Al-Hayy – The Living
2 Al-Qayyum – The One who looks after everything in
this world.
- Close in meaning to the name Ar-Rabb, but Ar-
Rabb is the One who takes from zero and He
looks after and nurtures us until we are com-
plete.
- Al-Qayyum is the One who makes everything
exist, and everything is dependent on Him for
every moment.
- Al-Qayyum is the One who never falls asleep,
and is always available.

Allah’s Name, Al-Ghaniyy

Allah is Al-Ghaniyy, the One who is rich beyond measure,
and whom giving us does not decrease from His wealth or
His kingdom. And taking from us does not increase His king-
dom or His wealth.

36 https://quran.com/47/24

88
Allah is not in need of us. If we disbelieve in Him, we go
against Him – all of that will come back to us. It’s not going
to hurt or harm Him.

َ َ
َ ‫َك ْْر ُُت ْْم ََو ََء‬ ُ َ �‫َ َ ْ ُ ُهَّلل‬
ۚ﴾ۚ‫اَمنُتُ ْْم‬ ‫﴿َّما َيْف ََعُل ُ ِبِ ََعَذاِبُِك ْْم ِِإن َش‬
What would Allāh do with [i.e., gain from] your
punishment if you are grateful and believe?37

Reviving a Sunnah of reciting the Names

Al-Hayy, Al-Qayyum
The Prophet38  used to recite the names Al-Hayy (the Ev-
er-living) and Al-Qayyum (the One who takes care of every-
thing) every morning and every evening in the du’a below
and it is one we should seek to memorise, teach it to our
children, and read it in the mornings and the evenings.

‫ُ َ اَلا‬ ْ َ ْ ْ َ ُ َ ْ َ َ َ � َ ُ ّ‫َ َ ُّي‬

‫ َو‬،‫ْص َِِلْح َيِلي َشْأيِني َّلُك�ُّه‬ ّ�‫َ ُّيَح‬
َ ْ ‫ ََأ‬،‫َمْح ِِتَكىَلىَأْس ََت ْ ِِغيُث‬
ْ ‫ َ ِبَِر‬،‫ َيا َق وُم‬، ‫َيا‬
ٍ�‫ِكْليِني ِِإ َنْفيِسي َطْرَفَة َعٍنْي‬ ِ ‫َت‬
O the Ever-Lasting, O the Sustainer and Protector of all that
exists. I seek aid through Your Mercy; correct for me all my
matters and do not entrust me to my own self even for the
blink of an eye.

37 https://quran.com/4/147
38 https://sunnah.com/hisn:88

89
90
 Know Your Lord
Allah’s Names and His Attributes

Living with the names of Allah

91
 Introduction
َ �‫نَت َأَ ْْر ََح ُُم ۭلَّٰر�ِٰمِح‬
﴾٣۸ۭ‫َني‬ َ َ‫ٰى ََر ََّب ُ �ۥُه ََأىِّنى ََم ََّس َ ۭلُّرُّض� ُ ََوَأ‬ َ َ ْ َ ُ ََ
ٰ ‫اَد‬ ‫﴿َوَأُّيوَب ِإِْذ َن‬
ِ �‫َىِن‬
And [mention] Job, when he called to his Lord,
“Indeed, adversity has touched me, and You are the
most merciful of the merciful.”1

�‫ٍّۢرُض� � َ َ َ ْ َ ٰ ُ َ ْ َ ُ َ ْ َ ُ َ َ ُ ْ َ � ًَۭة‬ ْ َ َ َ �‫َ ْ َ َ ْ َ ُهَل‬

ۭ ‫َمْح‬ ‫َجْبَنا ُۭ َفَكَشْفَنَا ََما ِبِ ِ ِۭه ِِمن ۢۖ ۖ َوَءاَتْيَنٰـُه َأْهَل ُۭه َو ِِمْثَلُهم َّمَعُهْم َر‬ ‫﴿َفْۭسَت‬
َ َ ْ ٰ َْ َ َ ْ ِ
ٰ
﴾٤۸ۭ‫نِدَنا َو ِِذْكَرٰى ِلِْلَعٰـ ِِب ِِديَن‬ ِ ‫ِّمْن ِِع‬
So We responded to him and removed what
afflicted him of adversity. And We gave him [back]
his family and the like thereof with them as mercy
from Us and a reminder for the worshippers [of
Allāh].2

َ َ ِ ��‫يَس ََو ََذا ْلْ ْ ٌّۭلُك‬

َ ‫ۭلَّص ٰٰـ‬
﴾٥۸ۭ‫يَن‬
َ َٰ ْ َ
َ ‫يَل ََوِإ ْْدِر‬
ِ �‫ِكْف ِِلۖ ۖ ۭ ِّمَن ِرِب‬
ِ ِ ِ ‫﴿َوِإِْسَمٰـ ِِع‬

And [mention] Ishmael and Idrees and Dhul-Kifl; all

were of the patient.3

َ� َ ْ ُ َْ َ ََْ
َ ‫َمْحِتَنَٓاۖ ۖ ِإ ََّن ُُهم ِِّم ََن‬
َ ‫ۭلَّص ٰٰـِلِح‬
﴾٦۸ۭ‫َني‬ ِ ِ ِ ِ ‫﴿َوَأْدَخْلَن ٰٰـُهْم ىىِف َر‬
And We admitted them into Our mercy. Indeed,
they were of the righteous.4

1 https://quran.com/21/83
2 https://quran.com/21/84
3 https://quran.com/21/85
4 https://quran.com/21/86

92
 َُ ُ َ َ َ ْ َ َ َ ْ َ َ َ َ َ َ �‫َ َ َ ُ َ ٰ ًۭب‬
ٰ ‫اَد‬ ُ ََ
ِ ‫ٰى ىىِف لُّظُلَم ٰٰـ‬
‫ِت‬ ‫وِن ِإِذ َّذَهَب ُم ََغٰـ ِِض ۭا َفَظَّن َأن َّلن َّنْق ِِدَر َعَلْي ِِه َفَن‬
ُ ‫ىِّنى‬ ٓ َ ٓ ِ َ ‫﴿َوَذا ُّنل‬
َ َ ُ َ َ ْ ُ َ َ
﴾۷۸ۭ‫َني‬ َ ‫لَّظ ٰٰـِلِم‬
ِِ ‫َح ٰٰـَنََك ِِإ ُكنُت ِِمَن‬ ‫َأن ٓاَّل ِِإَل ٰٰـَه ِِإٓاَّل َأنَت ُسْب‬
And [mention] the man of the fish [i.e., Jonah],
when he went off in anger and thought that We
would not decree [anything] upon him. And he
called out within the darknesses, “There is no deity
except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of
the wrongdoers.”5

َ ٰ �‫َ ْ َ َ ْ َ ُهَل� ُ َ َّجَن� َ ْ َ ٰ ُ َ ْ َ ِ َ َ َٰذ‬

َ ‫َك ُنُۨـۨىِج ْل ْ ُُم ْْؤِمِن‬
﴾۸۸ۭ‫َني‬ ِِ ‫ى‬ ِ ‫﴿َفْۭسَتَجْبَنا ۭ َو ْيَنٰـُه ِِمَن ْلَغِّمۚ ۚ َوَك ِل‬
So We responded to him and saved him from the
distress. And thus do We save the believers.6

﴾٩۸ۭ‫َني‬ َ َ‫ٰى ََر ََّب ُ ُۭه ََر ِِّب اَلا َتَ ََذ ْْرىِن َفَ ْْرًۭد� ۭا ََوَأ‬
َ ‫نَت َخَُرْي� ُ ْلَْٰو� ِٰرِث‬ َ َ ْ َ َََ
ٰ ‫اَد‬ ‫﴿َوَزَك ِِرَّيٓا ِِإْذ َن‬
ِِ ‫ى‬
And [mention] Zechariah, when he called to his
Lord, “My Lord, do not leave me alone [with no
heir], while You are the best of inheritors.”7

َ ُ َ ُ �‫َ ْ َ َ ْ َ ُهَل� ُ َ َ َ ْ َ ُهَل� ُ ْحَي� ْ � َ ْ َ ْ َ ُهَل‬

‫ٰىَي ََوَأْصَلْحَنا ُۭ ََز ْْو ََجُه�ۥۚ ۚ ِإَِّن ُُه ْْم اَكاُنو۟ا۟ ُي ُ ََس ٰٰـ ِِر ُُعوَن ىىِف‬
ٰ ۭ ‫﴿َفْۭسَتَجْبَنا ۭ َوَوَهْبَنا‬
َ َٰ َ �‫� ََٰرْي�� ٰ َ َ ْ ُ َ َ َ َ ًۭب� َ َ َ ًۭب� َ ُ َنَل‬
﴾۰٩ۭ‫َۭخْل ِِت َوَيْدُعوَنَنا َرَغ ۭا َوَرَه ۭاۖ ۖ َواَكاُنو۟ا۟ ا َخٰـ ِِش ِِعَني‬

So We responded to him, and We gave to him

John, and amended for him his wife. Indeed, they
used to hasten to good deeds and supplicate
Us in hope and fear, and they were to Us humbly
submissive.8

5 https://quran.com/21/87
6 https://quran.com/21/88
7 https://quran.com/21/89
8 https://quran.com/21/90

93
 The approach to studying the
Names of Allah
‫ه‬
‫ احلمد هّٰلل‬in the last 30 lessons we have learned and studied
many of the names of Allah, approximating over 90 names.
But how do we live with these names of Allah?

The approach that has been taken in this study has been
different to the approach of others, in that the names of Al-
lah are not empty definitions. The attributes of Allah are not
empty categorisations and theoretical philosophy. These
names and attributes of Allah are what revive the heart and
the body and allows us to worship Allah to His fullest extent.

Five ways in which the Prophets

lived with the Names of Allah
There are five ways in which the prophets lived with the names
of Allah and we are going to try and cover these five ways.

1. To see everything as the action of Allah

The first thing is that the prophets, when they would look at
the same things we look at on a daily basis, the same daily
actions, their daily events, their daily situations. They would
look in a very different lens and they would see everything as
an action of Allah.

This is the first thing, to see everything as an action of Allah.

94
The Prophet  is fighting in the Battle of Badr. This bat-
tle was unprepared for. He thought he was going to meet
a small group of people and it ended up being a full blown
war. And the night before the Battle of Badr, the Prophet 
is praying9 to Allah,

ْ َ َْ
‫آِت َ ََما َ ََو ََع ُ ْْدَتيِني ْ الَّل ُُه َ ََّم ِِإْن‬ َ ‫الَّلَ ُُه ََّم َأَِجْن� ْْز ََما ََو ََع ْْدَتَ الَّلَ ُُه‬
‫َّم‬
ِ ْ َ ‫َ ْ ْ َ ِ يِلي ْ َ َ ُ ْيِني‬
‫اِإل ْْسَالِمِ َال ُتْعَبَْد ييِف اَأل ْْر ِِض‬ ِ ِ ‫َتْه ِِلْك َه ِِذِهِ اْل ِِعَصاَبُة ِِمْن َأ‬
‫ِل‬ ‫ْه‬
“O Allah, accomplish for me what Thou hast promised to
me. O Allah, bring about what Thou hast promised to me.
O Allah, if this small band of Muslims is destroyed. Thou
will not be worshipped on this earth.”

O Allah, if this small group of believers die, You will not be

worshipped again. O Allah please grant them victory.

They lack in numbers, they lack in resources, they lack in ev-

erything. There is no chance for them to win if you take it by
pure calculation. But, they have the help of Allah. And Allah
, He says it in a way in the Quran that really we have to
contemplate this wording of Allah.

ََ َ ََْ ْ َ ََْ ََ
ٰ � ‫ِك ََّن َهَّلل� َ ََر‬
ۚ﴾ۚ‫ٰىَم‬ ِ ‫﴿َوَما َرَمْيَت ِِإْذ َرَمْيَت َوَل ٰٰـ‬
And you threw not, [O Muhammad], when you
threw, but it was Allāh who threw10

O Muhammad , when you were doing ‫يَمَر‬, when you were

shooting your arrows, you were not the one shooting arrows,
Allah was the One shooting the arrows.

9 https://sunnah.com/muslim:1763
10 https://quran.com/8/17

95
Allah is saying, I know to you it looks like the arrow is com-
ing out of your hand, but it is Me who is making it go to its
target. It is Me who is making every second of this process.
It is Me who created the arrow and created your hand and
created everything in between. It is Me doing this, not you.

Look beyond the day to day things you see. You get your pay
slip from your manager, at the end of the month it comes.
Allah  is saying don’t look at this, don’t look at the asbab,
don’t look at this from your manager. Just imagine it dropped
straight from Allah. See everything as an action of Allah.

You lose your job, you struggle with your marriage, you
come across difficult situation, you can’t pass your university
exams. See everything as a direct dealing with Allah. Allah
is taking from you. Allah is giving you. Allah is testing you.
Allah is pushing you. Allah is pulling you. Allah is opening for
you. Allah is closing for you. See it as a direct dealing with
Allah. Don’t see it like anybody else sees these day-to-day
situations. Allah says in the Quran,

ْ َ َ � �‫َ ُ ْ ٰٓىَل� ٓ َ َ ٰ َ � َ ِهَّلل� َ َ ِىْح‬

‫ِت ِ َكْيَْف ُيُ ِ َۭأْل ْْرَض ََبْع ََد‬ ِ ‫﴿َفنُظْر ِإِ َءاَثٰـ ِِر َرَمْح‬
ۚ﴾ۚ‫ََم ْْوِتِ ََهٓا‬
So observe the effects of the mercy of Allāh - how
He gives life to the earth after its lifelessness.11

In this country, one of the things people whine about the

most on a day-to-day basis is the weather, specifically the
rain. People complain so much about the rain.

If you have absorbed the names of Allah, when you look at

11 https://quran.com/30/50

96
the rain, you don’t see water from the sky. You see this as the
mercy of Allah coming to touch us. Everything suddenly is a
manifestation of the names of Allah.

That’s why when it would rain, the Prophet  would try and
expose his skin to the rain12 Why? Because he wanted the
mercy of Allah to touch him. He sees the rain differently to
how you see the rain. And he sees the boss differently to how
you see the boss. And he saw the arrow differently to how
you look at the arrow. And he saw his army differently to how
you look at the army. And everything in life, we see it, the
prophets saw them differently.

As the Prophet  says in the hadith13,

�‫َ ُ َ َ َ ْ ُ ْ َ َ ُ َ ْ ُ ُ ُ اِهَّلل‬
ِ ‫وِر‬
ِ ‫اَّتُقوا ِفَِراَسَة اْلُمْؤ ِِم ِِن َف ِِإَّنُه َيْنُظُر ِبُِن‬
Beware of the believer’s intuition, for indeed he sees with
Allah’s Light.

Be careful of the firasah, the insight of a believer, because

he is watching, he is looking at things not from they way you
look at things, he is looking at things with the light of Allah.
He is seeing things in a different light.

Allah says in the Quran, look at the rain. Look at the effects of
Allah’s mercy, how He revives the dead back to life.

From the moment we wake up, we get in our car to commute,

to the moment we sleep, to the moment we are feeding our
children - every moment in the day is a reason to reflect on
the names of Allah. But we have to see it as the Prophet 

12 https://sunnah.com/abudawud:5100
13 https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:3127

97
saw it. So this is the first thing we have to do, to live with the
names of Allah. We have to see everything in this world as an
action of Allah. A direct action relating to us.

2. A desire to please Allah

The second; as we know the names of Allah and as we get
to know Allah, our Creator and our Lord, The Almighty, the
Closest, the Forgiver, the Most Merciful, the Opener, the
Compeller, the One who was First and the One who is Last.
As we know Him and we get closer to Him, the second action
we should have on a daily basis, is the desire to please Allah.

Allah  says in the Quran,

َ ََُْ ُ ُ َ
ْ ‫وَن َفَِإ ََّن ُُه‬ ْ ‫﴿َواَلا َتَِهُنُو۟ا۟ ىِف ْبِْت ََغٓا ِِء ْلْ ََق‬
َ
‫ْم‬ ‫ُم‬ ‫َل‬ ‫ْأ‬ ‫َت‬ ‫۟ا‬
۟ ‫و‬ ‫وُن‬ ‫ُك‬ ‫َت‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ِإ‬ ۖ ۖ ِ‫ِم‬ ‫ْو‬
َ ‫َ ْ َ ُ َ َ ِ َ َ ْ ى َ ُ ِ َ َ َ ْ ُ َ َ ِهَّلل� َ اَلا َ ْ ُ َ ِ َ ا‬
ِ
‫َيْأَلُموَن َكَما َتْأَلُموَنُهَّلل�ۖ ۖ َوَتْرُجوَن ِِمَن ِ َما َيْرُجوَنۗ ۗ َواَكَن‬
ً ‫يًما ََحِك‬
ۚ﴾ۚ‫يًما‬ ً ‫ُ ََعِل‬
ِ ِ
And do not weaken in pursuit of the enemy. If you
should be suffering - so are they suffering as you
are suffering, but you expect from Allāh that which
they expect not. And Allāh is ever Knowing and
Wise.14

O Muhammad , do not feel saddened by what people

want and what they desire and what they’re looking for. If
you are in pain, then they are in pain just as you are in pain.
But you desire Allah and they don’t desire Allah. You desire
what you want from this world, you want it from Allah, and
they are seeking the same thing from somebody else.

14 https://quran.com/4/104

98
We seek to please people. We seek to make people happy.
We are people pleasers. But the rare amongst us, the one
who has absorbed the names of Allah and it has ignited his
heart, is the one on a daily basis is thinking, I know Him, I
want Him to be pleased with me.

If the whole world abandoned me, I just want Allah to be

pleased with me, because people can never be pleased.

‫رضا انلاس اغيه ال تدرك‬

You can never please everybody. And so there’s a fire in your
heart every day, how can I earn the pleasure of Allah?

ْ َ �‫َ ْ َٰو� ٰ � ِهَّلل‬

ۚ﴾ۚ ُ �‫ٌۭن ِِّم ََن ِ َأْكُرَب‬
ۭ ‫﴿َو ِِرْض‬
But approval from Allāh is greater.15

And the greatest thing we can desire from this earth is the
pleasure of Allah, The Almighty.

This is the second thing. In every moment in our lives, we

are thinking, how can I convert this into something which will
please Allah? My eating of food, my sleeping at night, my
smiling at my neighbour, my going to work, the day to day
things, my drinking of water.

It is narrated that ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, who was asked, do you
like to drink cold water or do you like to drink room tempera-
ture water? He said, '‫ 'بل احب ابلارد‬I like to drink cold water. And
he was asked why; why do you like cold water? He said, be-
‫ه‬
cause when I drink cold water, ‫ احلمد هّٰلل‬comes from the bottom

15 https://quran.com/9/72

99
of my heart. He’s thinking, how can I express the shukr, the
gratitude to Allah when I drink water?

If we know Allah and we want His pleasure, then our inten-

tions for every moment in our life will change. The intention
to sleep, for a believer, for someone who’s looking for the
pleasure of Allah is, I am sleeping to gain this energy so I can
wake up and worship Him. I’m eating to gain this nutrition so
I can worship Him with strength. I am spending on my family,
because this will earn the pleasure of Allah. I am sweating, I
am working hard, because this will earn the pleasure of Allah.
From morning to night, the whole thing becomes a reason to
seek the pleasure of Allah.
�‫ْ َ َ ْ ِهَّلل‬
﴾ ِ ‫ٓاَء ََوْج ِِه‬ ‫﴿ْب ِِتَغ‬
except seeking the face [i.e., approval] of Allāh.16

Until you get to a point where you have reached the peak,
and Allah describes this is the top, this is what we should
aim for.
�‫َ ْ َ ُ ْ َ َ َ ْ َ ِهَّلل‬ �‫َ َِرْش‬
﴾ ِ ‫اِت‬ ِ ‫﴿َو ِِم ََن ََّۭنل‬
ِ ‫اِس َمن َي ِى َنْفَسُه ْب ِِتَغٓاَء َمْرَض‬
َ
And of the people is he who sells himself, seeking
means to the approval of Allāh.17

There are people who give up everything to please Allah.

ْ � ُ َ ُ �‫َ ُهَّلل‬
﴾‫وٌۢف ِبِْل ِِعَبَا ِِد‬
ۢ ‫﴿َو َرُء‬
And Allāh is Kind to [His] servants.18

16 https://quran.com/2/272
17 https://quran.com/2/207
18 Ibid.

100
 3. To think well of Allah
Number three, to think well of Allah. To have the best
thoughts and the best expectations of Allah.

Imagine, put yourself in the shoes of Ya’qub , Abu Yusuf.

Abu Yusuf , he’s in a situation, he’s lost his son, decades
have passed, and now he’s lost his second son, Binyamin. At
this moment in time, really, he should be thinking, the game
is over.

In every country, there’s a rule. If somebody’s missing for a

certain number of days, they announce them dead. Some-
body’s absent for one year, six months, two years, they an-
nounce the person dead. In many Muslim countries, they will
pray their funeral in absentia. They will assume the person
has died because it’s impossible for such a person to be miss-
ing for so long.

Ya’qub  after everything he goes through and everything he

experiences, and his sons come back and they say, ‘O we lost
your second son as well.’ At this point, Ya’qub  he’s blind.
Decades without his son and now he’s lost a second son.
This is the point in which the knowledge of Allah is tested.

If you want to know whether you benefited from this study of

Allah’s names, you have to watch how you behave in these
hard, difficult moments in your life. When you experience
loss, when you experience sadness, when you experience
anger, when you experience pain, just watch yourself. That
reaction, that’s who you really are.

101
As the Prophet  says19,

‫َ ُرْب� ُ ْ َ َ ْ َ ُوىَلى‬
‫الَّص ِِعْنَد الَّصْدَم ِِة اُأل‬
The real patience is at the first stroke of a calamity.

Your true character shows in that initial reaction, that initial

response. Yaqub’s  sons return, they tell him, look your sec-
ond son Binyamin is gone. Ya’qub  is just consumed with
sadness. And it is in this moment, he says,

�‫َ َ َ َ َ ْ ُ َ ى َ ُ ْ ٓ ىَلى ِهَّلل‬

﴾ِ ‫﴿َقاَل ِإَِّنَمٓا َأْشُكو۟ا۟ َبىِّث َوُحْزٓىِن� ِِإ‬
He said, “I only complain of my suffering and my
grief to Allāh,20

I will only complain about my sorrow, my sadness of what has

passed and my anxiety for what is to come, I will only com-
plain to Allah. But people quote this ayah, this part of the
ayah, but they don’t realize the remaining part of the ayah is
far more important.

َ َ ْ َ ‫ِهَّلل� اَلا‬ َ ْ ََ
﴾‫﴿َوَأْعَل ُُم ِِم ََن ِ ََما َتْعَل ُُموَن‬
and I know from Allāh that which you do not know. 21

We may ask, what is it that allowed Ya’qub  to show this

patience? What is it that gave him this fuel, this strength, is
the last part of this ayah.

19 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:1302
20 https://quran.com/12/86
21 Ibid.

102
 َ َ ْ َ ‫ِهَّلل� اَلا‬ َ ْ ََ
﴾‫﴿َوَأْعَل ُُم ِِم ََن ِ ََما َتْعَل ُُموَن‬
and I know from Allāh that which you do not know. 22

He is saying I know Allah, and you don’t know Him well

enough.

Having husn adh-dhan about Allah

My Creator is the One when He promises me, He fulfills His
promise. My Creator is the One who when He closes one
door, He opens another. My Creator is the One when He
takes one son, He will give him back. He showed me the
dream. He promised me and I trust Him.

Ibn Jarir at-Tabari  in his tafsir, he says quoting Qatadah,

whenever Ya’qub  would get hit with a difficulty, he would
react by saying no,

‫ما لم ينزل به بالغ قط اال اتى حسن ظنه باهلل من وراءه‬

Whenever he would be hit with a difficulty, he would react
by saying, no. Allah  is going to give me the best. I think
positive of Allah. I think I’m optimistic of Allah. I think Allah
 is going to return what He took, open what He closed,
give what He seized. He is my Creator. I know Him better
than you. And this is what allows him to always be in good
thoughts of Allah, having a good expectation of Allah.

Today, so many of us are pessimistic. ‘The ummah is de-

stroyed. O, we are weak. O, the economy’s finished. O, I’m
finished.’ This kind of self-destructive thinking, this was not

22 Ibid.

103
the thinking of the prophets. Because they knew Allah. They
knew Allah, so they knew that He would always bring the
best result.

َ َ ْ َ ‫ِهَّلل� اَلا‬ َ ْ ََ
﴾‫﴿َوَأْعَل ُُم ِِم ََن ِ ََما َتْعَل ُُموَن‬
and I know from Allāh that which you do not know.23

This sentence, ‘I know Allah, and you don’t know Him’ was
repeated by the Prophet Nuh . Nuh  in the Quran threat-
ens his people and he says,

َ َ ْ َ ‫ِهَّلل� اَلا‬ َ ْ ََ
﴾‫﴿َوَأْعَل ُُم ِِم ََن ِ ََما َتْعَل ُُموَن‬
and I know from Allāh what you do not know. 24

I know Allah and you don’t know Him, don’t mess with Him.
He’s going to send you some punishments.

Very often the prophets would say this to their people when
they would be threatened, when they would be tested, when
they would be in difficulty. I know Allah, I know what to ex-
pect from Him. Even if you have bad expectations, don’t
worry, I know Allah.

We should always have good expectations of Allah. Think

positively of Allah.

23 Ibid.
24 https://quran.com/7/62

104
 4. To trust Allah and to trust Him
alone: Reflections from the
lives of the Prophets
Your knowledge of Allah, whether you know Allah or you
don’t know Him, it’s going to show in specific moments of
your life. When you are in pain, when you are in difficulty,
when you are in misery, when you’re divorced, when you’re
losing your child. You are experiencing loss, difficulty, pain,
fear, now your knowledge of Allah is going to be tested.

We don’t know the whole life of every prophet. Allah  gave

us the highlights to each prophet’s life in the Quran. And
the highlight of each prophet’s life in the Quran is a moment
where he shows how deeply he knows Allah.

Nuh n
When his son is about to drown. What does he do when he
reaches shore? He calls out to Allah.

َْ َ
﴾ ‫﴿َر ِِّب ِِإَّن ْبْىِنى ِِم ْْن َأْهىِلى‬
َ

My Lord, indeed my son is of my family25

O Allah, my son is from me. He’s begging Allah. He knows

of Allah’s mercy.

Ibrahim 
The pivotal moment when Ibrahim  is thrown into the fire,
he says,

25 https://quran.com/11/45

105
 ُ ْ ْ �‫َ َ ُهَّلل‬
﴾‫﴿َح ْْسُبَُنا ُ ََوِنِْع ََم ْل ََو ِِكيُل‬
Sufficient for us is Allāh, and [He is] the best
Disposer of affairs.26

I know Allah, He’s enough for me.

In fact, according to some narrations, Jibril  was sent down

and he says to Ibrahim  can I help you? You’re burning in
the fire. Ibrahim  responds, saying,

‫َ ْ َ َا‬
‫َأ ََّما ِِمْنَك َفاَل‬
Not from you. Yes from Allah, direct help from Allah, I don’t
need you.

Ayyub n
When Ayyub  is sick, and his sickness reaches the pinnacle
where he feels he’s going to die from sickness, he says,
َ َ َ َ ُ �‫َ َ ُ َ ْ َ َ َ َ ُ َ ىِّنى َ َ ُّرُّض‬
‫نَت َأ ْْر ََح ُُم‬ ٰ ‫﴿َوَأُّيوَب ِِإْذ َناَد‬
‫ٰى َرَّب �ۥُه َأ َمَّسَىِن� َ ۭل َوَأ‬
َ �‫َّٰر‬
﴾ۭ‫ۭل ِٰمِح� ِ َني‬
And [mention] Job, when he called to his Lord,
“Indeed, adversity has touched me, and You are the
most merciful of the merciful.”27

O Allah, evil has touched me, but You are the Most Merciful.
The names of Allah always feature in these difficult moments
in the lives of the prophets.

26 https://quran.com/3/173
27 https://quran.com/21/83

106
Musa n
The pivotal moment in the life of Musa  when he’s going
to speak to Fir’aun. The first question Fir’aun asks Musa is,

َ ‫﴿َقَ َاَل ِف ْْر ََع ْْو ُُن ََو ََما ََر ُُّب ْلْ ََع ٰٰـَلَِم‬
﴾ۭ‫َني‬ ِ ِ
Said Pharaoh, “And what is the Lord of the
worlds?”28

Who is Allah? That’s the first speech Musa  gives to Fir’aun:

who is Allah?

The second pivotal moment in his life when he stood in front

of the sea.

َ ُ ْ َ َ �‫َ َ َ ْ َ ٰ ُ ٰٓىَس‬
﴾‫ُب ُُمو ٓ ِِإَّنا َل ُُمْد ََرُكوَن‬ ‫﴿َقاَل َأْصَحٰـ‬
the companions of Moses said, “Indeed, we are to
be overtaken!”29

This is the test. Do they know Allah? They don’t know Allah
deeply enough.

Musa’s reaction,

ْ َ َ ‫َ َ � َ َ َ َ َ ىِّبى‬
﴾ۭ‫يِن‬
ِ ‫﴿َقاَل َّلَكٓاۖ ۖ ِِإَّن َم �َىِع َر َسَي‬
‫ِد‬
ِ ‫ْه‬
[Moses] said, “No! Indeed, with me is my Lord; He
will guide me.”30

28 https://quran.com/26/23
29 https://quran.com/26/61
30 https://quran.com/26/62

107
Two names of Allah, Al-Haadi and Ar-Rabb feature in this mo-
ment of his life.

Yusuf n
Yusuf  he has many moments in his life, whether he’s in the
well or he’s in the prison or when the dream comes true, the
names of Allah are there.

Having tawwakal in Allah – an action of the heart

In the pivotal moments of life, our knowledge of Allah is test-

ed. And more than anything else, there’s one special action
we have to show. And it’s a spiritual deed. It’s not an action of
the limbs. It’s a muscle in the heart. But if you’ve never flexed
it before, don’t think you can lift 120 kilograms from day one.
You have to start by lifting something smaller. It is the muscle
�‫َ َ � ْ ىَلَع�ى ِهَّلل‬
of ِ ‫َتَوْلَّك‬, to rely and to trust upon Allah.

This moment where Musa  stood in front of the sea and

everyone gives up and he says,

‫َ َ � َ َ َ َ ىِّبى‬
﴾ ‫َىِع ََر‬� ‫﴿َقاَل َّلَكٓاۖ ۖ ِإَِّن َم‬
[Moses] said, “No! Indeed, with me is my Lord;31

Allah is with me. He’s going to show me the way. This is trust
in Allah. I have nothing, but Allah is going to show me the
way.

This moment Ibrahim  is in the fire. He wants to defy the

laws of physics, you’re supposed to burn. He says, no, I trust
Allah.

31 Ibid.

108
Zakariyya n
The pivotal moment in his life, when Zakariyya  reaches
an old age and he just wants a child, he’s asking Allah for a
child. He says,

﴾‫َني‬ َ َ‫﴿َر ِِّب اَلا َتَ ََذ ْْرىِن َفَ ْْرًۭد� ۭا ََوَأ‬
َ ‫نَت َخَُرْي� ُ ْلَْٰو� ِٰرِث‬ َ
ِِ ‫ى‬
My Lord, do not leave me alone [with no heir], while
You are the best of inheritors.”32

Always the knowledge of Allah is there in these words, in

these sentences.

The Prophet Muhammad g

The worst day in the life of the Prophet  was when he was
in Ta’if.

According to hadith33 of A’ishah , when she asks the Proph-

et  what was the most difficult day you faced? He says, the
worst day of my life was the day of Ta’if. The day when I went,
it was the year of sadness. I lost my uncle. I lost my wife. I had
nobody. I had nothing. I went to my distant relatives in Ta’if,
hoping maybe they will help me, and they stoned me until
blood reached my sandals. So I sat there, bleeding.

The Prophet  raises his hands. The hadith34, it’s authentic-

ity is disputed, but according to some scholars, it’s ‫حسن لغريه‬
(hasan li ghayrihi). It’s a long du’a he makes to Allah,

32 https://quran.com/21/89
33 https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:642
34 https://www.islamweb.net/en/fatwa/190579/o-allaah-i-appeal-to-you-for-the-
weakness-of-my-strength

109
 ‫َ ُ َّمّ ْيَل� ْ َ َ ْ ُ ْ َ ْ َ َُّوّ َ َ ْ َ ْ َ َ َ ْ ىَلَع�ى‬
‫ َوِقَّلَّة ِحْيَلْيِت َوَهَو‬،‫َك َاْشُكْو َضْعَنْي�َف َُق ْ ييِت‬ ‫َالُّلُّه ِا‬
َ ْ ‫اْيِن� ََوَاَْن‬، َ �‫َت ََرُّبّ ِ اْل ْ ُُم ِ ْْسَتَ �ْْض ََعِفَنْي‬
‫َت‬ َ ‫ َاْن‬، َ �‫اَّنلّاِسِ َيَا َا َ ْْر ََح ََم الَّرّاِمِح‬
ّ‫َّهُّم ْ ؟ َا َ ْْو ِ ِِاىَلى ََع ُُدٍّو‬ ُ ‫َج‬ َ َ‫ ِاىَلى ََم ْْن َتَِك ْ ِاىَلى َبَِعْيْ ََيَت‬، ِ ‫ََريِّبي‬
ِ
ْ ‫َال ُاَُبَا‬ َ َ ّ�� ٌ‫َ َ ْ َ ِ ُ َ ْ ْ ِ ُّْلّْيِن� َ ْ ِ َ ُ ِ ْ ٍدٍ َ َ َ ْيِن�ٌب‬
ْ‫َك اِذَّل� ْيِل�ْي‬َ ‫َّيَلَع َف‬
ْ َ ْ ُ ‫َك ُ َْغ َُض‬ َ ِ‫ُكْن ِب‬ ُ َ ْ
‫َمَلَْكَتُه َاْم ِِرْي ؟ َ ِِاْن َلْم ََي‬
َ � ‫ِك ْْن ااَع ِِفَيََتََك‬
ِ َ ْ
ْ
‫ َ َأُع َْو ُْذ ِبُِنْو ِِر َْوْج ِِه‬، �‫َيِه َاْوَسُُع ْيِل‬ ُ ُ ّ‫الُّظ‬ ِ َ ‫َ � ََوَل‬
ْ َ ْ
‫اُّدلّْن ََيَا َ َْوْا َْال ِِخ ََر ِِة ِِم ْْن‬ ُ َ َ َ
َ ‫ َ َْو ُحَت�َص ُُلُّلَّح َعَل َْي ِِه َ َا ُْمُر‬،‫اُت‬
َ
َ ُ ‫ْت َ ِبِ ِِه َ َُلَم‬
َ ‫َا‬
‫َرْش َُق‬َْ
‫ َلََك اْل ََعْتيَبي َحَىَّتى‬،‫َك‬ ‫ُط‬ ‫َخ‬ ‫َس‬ ‫يِب‬ ‫ْو‬ ‫َا‬ ‫َك‬ ‫ُب‬ ‫َض‬ ‫َغ‬ ‫يِب‬ ‫َل‬ ّ�
‫ِّزَن‬ ‫ُت‬ ‫ْن‬ ‫َا‬
َ ّ‫َ َ ي َ ُ َ َّال‬ ‫ي َ ي‬
‫ ََوَال ََح ْْوَل ََوَال ُقَّوّ َة ِِا ِبَِك‬،‫َت ْْريَض‬
”O Allah, I appeal to You for the weakness in my strength
and my limited power and the treatment of contempt and
humiliation from people. To You, the Most Merciful of all
the merciful ones, You are the Lord of the oppressed, and
You are my Lord. Under whose care are You leaving me to?
To an enemy oppressing me? Or to a friend You have given
control of my affair? If there is no anger from You on me
I will forever be content. However, Your blessing is vastly
important for me I seek refuge with the glory of Your Light
which the heavens and earth are lit form, Your anger will
not befall on me, nor Your displeasure descends on me. To
You is the supplication until You are pleased and there is no
control or power except by You.”

O Allah, I complain to You my weakness, my struggle, I have

nobody to support me. O Allah, who will I turn to? Am I
going to turn and rely upon this tribe who are going to the
pulverise me? Who will I turn to other than You? This is the
moment in his life, if he knows Allah, the right words will es-
cape his mouth. If he doesn’t know Allah, he will give up. But
his knowledge of Allah showed in this moment.

110
Adam n
The greatest test of the life of Adam  is when he was
thrown from jannah to this earth. And what is the first thing
he says as he lands,

َ َ َ َ ٰ َ �‫َ ِ ِلَك‬ َ ٓ�َََ

﴾‫اَب ََعَلْيْ ِِه‬ ۢ � ‫ٰٓىَّق ََءاَد ُُم ِِمن َّرِّب ِِهۭ َِمٰـ‬
‫ٍۢت َفَت‬ ‫﴿َفَتَل‬
Then Adam received from his Lord [some]
words, and He accepted his repentance.35

The words that escape his lips,

ُ َ َ ْ َ َ َ َ َ ‫َ اَلا‬
َ‫نُف ََسَنَا ََوِإن َّلَ ْْم ََت ْْغِف ْْر َنَل� َا ََوَتَ ْْرْمَح� َْنا‬
ِ َ ِ َ � َ ‫﴿َقا َرَّبَنا َنَل�َظَل ُْمَن َٓا ََأ‬
﴾٣٢ۭ‫يَن‬ �ِ ‫َُكوَنَّن ِِمَن َۭخْل ٰٰـ‬
‫ِرِس‬
They said, “Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves,
and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon
us, we will surely be among the losers.”36

Yunus n
The pivotal moment in the life Yunus  is when he is in the
belly of the whale.

‫ُ ُ َ ٰ َ ٓ َ ٰ َ ٓ َ َ ُ ْ َ ٰ َ َ ىِّنى‬ َ ََ
ٰ ‫اَد‬
‫ِت َأن ٓاَّل ِِإََلٰـَه ِِإٓاَّل َأنَت ُسْبَحٰـَنَك ِِإ‬ِ ‫ٰى ىىِف لُّظُلَم ُٰـ‬ ‫﴿َفَن‬
َ ٰ َ
﴾‫ُكنُت ِِمَن لَّظٰـ ِِل ِِمَني‬ ُ

And he called out within the darknesses,”There is

no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have
been of the wrongdoers.”37

35 https://quran.com/2/37
36 https://quran.com/7/23
37 https://quran.com/21/87

111
The first thing he says are the names of Allah, the beseeching
of Allah.

This is the pattern. In Surat al-Anbiya’, the ayahs mentioned

at the beginning of this chapter, Allah  identifies this pat-
tern. He talks about Zakariyya, and Nuh, and Dawud, and
Sulayman, and Ibrahim, one after the other, and then He
concludes,

ٰ � َ ُ َ
﴾‫﴿ ِِإَّن ُُه ْْم اَكاُنو۟ا۟ ُي ُ ََس ٰٰـ ِِر ُُعوَن ىىِف َۭخْلََٰرْي�� ِِت‬
Indeed, they used to hasten to good deeds38

The fact that they know Allah means they used to race to
please Allah through good deeds.

َ ‫وَنَنَا ََر ََغًۭب�ۭا ََو ََر ََه ًۭۭب�اۖ ۖ ََواَكاُنُو۟ا۟ َنَل� َا ََخ ٰٰـِشِع‬
﴾‫َني‬
َ ُ ََْ
‫﴿َوَيْدُع‬
ِ ِ
and supplicate Us in hope and fear, and they were
to Us humbly submissive.39

They used to call Us in fear and in hope, and they were al-
ways trembling in the awe of Allah, al-khushu’.

Trust in Allah will help us navigate all hardships

and obstacles
To trust Allah in the most difficult moments of your life - this is
what is going to be tested - do you trust Allah? That’s what’s
going to get you through the other side. If you don’t know
Allah, how can you trust Him?

38 https://quran.com/21/90
39 Ibid.

112
How can you rely on someone you don’t know? Every day we
make decisions on who we choose to trust and we choose to
distrust people and things and objects and processes. But
the greatest mistake we make in our lives is the choice not to
trust Allah and instead to put our trust in human beings. This
is where we get the most disappointment in our life.

The Prophet  this is why he says40 to ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas .

‫احفظ اهلل حيفظك‬

Be mindful of Allah and Allah will protect you.

،‫وإذا سألت فاسأل اهلل‬

If you ask, then ask Allah [alone];

If you’re going to ask, ask Allah. Trust Him. Nobody else will
give you the outcome that you want.

40 https://sunnah.com/nawawi40:19 https://sunnah.com/bulugh/16/36

113
 5. To desire to meet Allah
And number five, last but not least. Every day of your life,
you should look forward and hope and be excited to meet
Allah. If you know Allah, you should be excited to meet Him.

In Sunan an-Nasa’i, in the hadith41 of ‘Ata’ ibn Sa’ib, , that

his father said that one day ‘Ammar ibn Yasir , he leads the
companions of the Prophet  in salah, and he prays a really
short salah. So some people came to him, they said, why was
the salah so short? He said, it’s okay, even if it was a short
salah, because I said something in the salah, I made a du’a
that I heard from the mouth of the Prophet .

So somebody followed him after that asking him the words

he made in salah. The words of the Messenger  were,

َ ‫ْحِي ََما ََعِل ْْم‬ ْ َ ْ َ � ‫َ ُ َ ْ َ ْ َ ْ َ َ ُ ْ َ َ ىَلَع�ى‬

‫َت‬ َ ُ َ ِْ َ َ ‫اَخْلْلَ ِ َِق َأ ًَرْي� ِ ًيِني‬
ْ َ ْ ‫َب َوُقْد ََرِتِ ََك‬ َ َ ‫اَحْل� َُهََّم َ ِبِ ِِعْلًَرْي� ِ ًِمَك اْل ََغ َْي‬
‫الَّل‬
‫َت َاْلَوَفاَة َْخ َ ا يِلي َوَأْسَأُلَك‬ َ ‫َ َْياَة ََخ ا يِلي ْ ََو َْتَوَّفيِني ِإِ ََذا ََعِلْم‬
‫الِّر ََضا‬ ِ ‫اَد ِِة ِ ََوِلَك� ِ ََمَة اِإلْخَال ِِص يِف‬ َ ‫َخْشَيََتََك يِف اْلَغْيِب ََو‬
َ‫ي‬
ُ‫َال ََتْنْ ََقِطُع‬ َ َ ِ َ ُ َ ُ َ ْ َ َ ‫الَّشَه‬ ً ‫َك ِ َنَِع‬ َ َُ ْ ََ ‫َ ْ َ َ ي‬
ِ
َ َ �‫َّذَل‬ ْ ٍ�‫ْ ٍنْي‬ ‫َع‬ ‫َة‬ ‫َّر‬ ‫ُق‬ ‫َو‬ ‫ُد‬ ‫َف‬ ‫ْن‬ ‫َي‬ ‫َال‬ ‫ا‬ ‫يًم‬ ِ ‫ِب َوَأ َْسَأُل‬ َ ‫ََو َاْل َْغ َ َُض‬
‫ِش ََب ُْع ََد َاْل ََم ْْو ِِت ََو َة‬
َْْ َََْ
‫ْي‬ َ ‫اَء ِباْلْ ََق‬ َ ِ ِ ‫َك‬
َ‫َك ِ ََوَأَ ُُعوُذ ِبَك ِِم ْْن َّرَض� َ اَء‬ َ َ ‫َوَأ َ َْسَأُل ىَلى َ ْ َ ِ َ َ ْ َ ىَلى‬
‫َع‬ ‫اْل‬ ‫َد‬ ‫ْر‬ ‫َب‬ ‫َو‬ ‫ِء‬
ِ ‫ا‬ ‫َض‬ ‫َض‬ ‫الِّر‬
ً ُ ْ ْ ِ َ َ‫الَّش ُُهْو ََّمَق ََزِإِ ِِّي ََّنا ِبِِلِزَقاِئِيَن‬
َ ‫ُاَّنلَظ َ ِِر ِإِ َ ْ ََوْج ُ ِِهَك َ َو‬
‫اِن ََواْج ََعْلَنَا ُه ََداًة‬ ِ ِ ِ ِ َ ِ َ ْ ُ ‫ُمَّرِض� ٍةٍ َو ِِفْتَنٍةٍ ُم ِِضَّلٍةٍ الَّل‬
‫يَم‬ ‫اِإل‬ ‫ِة‬
» ‫ُمْهَت ِِديَن‬
O Allah, by Your knowledge of the unseen and Your power
over creation, keep me alive so long as You know that living is
good for me and cause me to die when You know that death
is better for me. O Allah, cause me to fear You in secret and
in public. I ask You to make me true in speech in times of

41 https://sunnah.com/nasai:1306; https://sunnah.com/mishkat:2497

114
pleasure and of anger. I ask You to make me moderate in times
of wealth and poverty. And I ask You for everlasting delight
and joy that will never cease. I ask You to make me pleased
with that which You have decreed and for an easy life after
death. I ask You for the sweetness of looking upon Your face
and a longing to meet You in a manner that does not entail
a calamity that will bring about harm or a trial that will cause
deviation. O Allah, beautify us with the adornment of faith
and make us among those who guide and are rightly guided.”

The main sentence in this du’a that needs to paid attention

to and what a beautiful du’a from a Messenger who knows
his Lord.
َ َ ‫َ َ ىَلى‬ َ ْ ‫ُ َ َّذَل� َ َ َ َ ىَلى‬ َ
‫اَّنلَظ ِِر ِِإ ََوْج ِِهَك ََوالَّش ْْوَق ِِإ ِِلَقاِئَِك‬ ‫الَّل ُُه ََّم أسأُلَك َة‬
O Allah grant me the sweetness of seeing You and grant me
the yearning, the desire, the hope to meet You.

There are so many people we desire to meet in this worldly

life. We look forward to the meeting with certain people, ce-
lebrities, special people, people we love for the sake of Al-
َ َ
lah. We have a ‫الَّش ْْوَق‬, we have a yearning, a desire to meet
them.

What a tragedy, what a disaster, what a sadness. We have a

yearning to meet certain human beings in this world, but we
don’t have that yearning to meet our Creator.

And so the Prophet  asks Allah, make me want to meet

َ َ
You. Give me the ‫ الَّش ْْوَق‬the desire to see You. I want to see
You. Give me that desire. Don’t let that flame die in my heart.

115
There will come moments, those moments in your life, those
pivotal moments, in the belly of the whale, the darkness of
the cave, the darkness of the prison, the pain of illness, the
loss of a loved one, the difficulty of people. These moments
will come in your life and what will get you through to the
other side is,
َ َ ‫َ َ ىَلى‬
‫الَّش ْْوَق ِِإ ِِلَقاِئَِك‬
Is you want to meet Allah, so you can walk through fire if you
need to, because you know the other side Allah  is there
and He’s going to grant you better than you ever expected.

This is the fifth thing, and so the five actions that we have to
live day to day in order to live the names of Allah,

1. To see everything as an action of Allah.

2. To desire the pleasure of Allah.
3. To expect the best from Allah.
4. To trust in Allah and to rely on Him.
5. To desire, to want to meet Allah.

116
 These five actions are those
of the heart not the body
Note that all these five things are five actions that you can’t
do with your body. These are the actions of the heart. These
are the spiritual muscles. You have to start working them out
and building on them until you can be of those who live a life
in the company of Allah.

This is what you have to wish, a life in the company of Allah,

in the constant remembrance of Allah, in the constant trust of
Allah, in the constant beseeching and du’a and conversation
with Allah. This is the life worth living. This is the life we ask
�‫اَحْل� ُ اْهَّلل‬
Allah to take us from this dunya upon - ْ ‫ ََيَاُة ََم ََع‬- to live with
Allah.

There’s a beautiful statement by Imam ibn Taymiyyah ,

where he says,

ِ �‫ِّلُك‬ َ ‫ابَد ْهَّلِل�� ْ ََواْلْ ََعاِر ََف ِباْهَّلل� ْ يِف ِّلُك� ِ َيَ ْْوٍمٍ َبَل يِف ِّلُك� ِ ََس‬
‫اَعٍةٍ َبَل ييِف‬ َ ‫ِإ ََّن اْلْ ََع‬
‫ي‬ ‫ِ ِ ي‬ ِ
�‫ِهَّلل‬ ُ َ
‫حلظة َيَ ْْزَداُد ِِعلما ِبِا ِ ََوبصرية يف دينه وعبوديته حبيث جيد ذلك‬
‫يف طعامه ورشابه ونومه ويقظته وقوهل وفعله‬
He says, if somebody knows Allah, really they know who Al-
lah is - they will find the effects of that in every moment of
their life. And in every moment of their life they will increase
in their knowledge of Allah until they find the effects of that
in their food and their drink and their sleep and their waking
hours and every action that they do. That is the life with Allah.

117
 May Allah make all of us of those
who benefited from what they
learnt, who acted upon what
they learnt, whose lives and
hearts were revived by what they
learnt. May Allah make us of
those who live life with Allah.
And may Allah make us of those
who meet Allah and who gather
in His presence on a Day in
which there’ll be no shade except
His shade. Allahumma Ameen.

Ebook Ustad Hisham Abu Yusuf

118