1:2. All type of perfect and true praise belongs to Allâh alone, the Lord of the worlds, الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ 1:2Al-Hamd-u-li(l)-Allahالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ conveys that all praise is due to the rightfully worshipped Being whose name is Allah, Who combines in Himself the aggregate of all Perfect excellences and Praise”. Hamdحَمْد is that praise, which is offered in appreciation for the commendable actions of one worthy of praise. It also refers to the lauding one who has done a favour of his own volition and according to his own choice (Râghib). Allah did not inaugurate His book with thanks (shukr) or with mere praise (thanâ) or gratitude (madah) to Him, but with al-Hamd الْحَمْدُ. Shukr differs from hamdحَمْد in the sense that its application is restricted to the beneficent qualities of someone. The word can be used for those who have done a favour, small or great. Madah differs from hamdحَمْد in the sense that it applies to involuntary beneficence, which is often appreciated by rhetoricians and men of letters. This kind of praise can be true or false (Lane). Thanâ (- accolade) of someone serves the purpose of self-interest or publicity based on some experience. Hamdحَمْد is used both in the active and the passive sense, that is, it is used both for the subject and the object and it signifies that Allah receives perfect praise (- Muhammad) and also bestows it (- Ahmad). This interpretation derives support from the fact that Allah has followed up the word hamd with the mention of His Attributes, the most Gracious (Al-Rahmânالرَّحْمَـٰنِ) and the Ever Merciful (Al-Rahîmالرَّحِيمِ). Al-Rahmân signifies that hamd is used in the active sense and Al-Rahîm signifies that it is used in the passive sense, as His Rahîmiyyat is not hidden from those who possess knowledge. Allah has used the word hamd as a veiled reality that uncovers its face from his attributes of Al-Rahmân and Al-Rahîm. The Bestower of bounties upon His creation of diverse kinds, without any claim on their part, becomes the object of the adoration of all those who become conscious of these bounties. In its culmination of adoration the worshipper makes Al-Rahmân the Muhammad (- loved One; praised One). When Divine commendation and adoration reaches perfection, then Al-Rahîm becomes Ahmad (- the lover) of the worshipper. Al-Hamd is that verbal praise and glorification, which is offered to honour the Mighty and Noble for His acts of beneficence. Al-Hamd is the praise that also implies the humility, lowliness and submissiveness in the person who offers it (Râghib). Perfect praise and glory is the exclusive prerogative of the Lord of Majesty. The ultimate goal of every kind of glorification be it in a small or a large measure is our Lord Who guides the misguided and exalts the lowly and is the object of praise. Every type of praise and glory, whether relating to external aspects or internal realities, whether relating to inherent excellences or as manifested in natural phenomena, is due exclusively to Allah. No other shares in it. Whatever true praise or perfect excellence the wisdom of the wise can imagine or the minds of thinkers can contemplate belongs to Allah. There is no excellence of which sane reason can contemplate the possibility but which Allah lacks. The true Praise Al-Hamd الْحَمْدُ is the due only of Allah Who is the source of all grace and light and exercises beneficence deliberately and not under compulsion. He is the true Benefactor and from Him proceeds all benefits from beginning to end, and for Him is all glorification, in this world and in the Hereafter and all praise that is bestowed on others reverts back to Him. The word hamd contains in it the refutation of the worshippers of humans, animals and idols. They praise their imagined deities and ascribe to them the attributes of God. Many of their deities lack love, tenderness, grace, mercy, pity, forgiveness, goodness, the qualities that are required for exercising beneficence. Even if they ascribe such qualities to them, they cannot grant of their own accord to humankind grace and beneficence irrespective to their deed or request, race or religion. But Allah is that Perfect Deity Who grants to all living creatures the shape and constitution appropriate to them,and without their asking. Such a Lord who combines in Himself all perfect Attributes, and Who is free from every defect, the One without associate and the Source of all beneficence, is to be rightfully praised. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) it is said, “Allahis free from imperfection and I begin with His praise, as many times as the number of His creatures, in accordance with His Good Pleasure, equal to the weight of His Throne and equal to the Ink that may be used in recording His words (Abu Muslim). In the words Rabb al-Âlamînرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ the word Rabbرَبِّ means Creator, Sustainer and Guardian Evolver to Perfection of the Universes. According to Lisân al-’Arab and Tâj ul-’A rus, the two most authentic lexicons, the word Rabb رَبِّ has seven connotations, namely: Mâlik (- Supreme Master), Sayyad (- Chief), Mudabbir (- Determiner), Murabbi (- Provider), Qayyum (- Sustainer), Munim (- Rewarder) and Mutammim (- Perfector). The word al-’Âlamînالْعَالَمِينَ is a plural of ’Âlam (realm), which is derived from ’Alamawhich means knowledge, sign, distinguishing mark and created object and realm. The expression employed here is not Khâliq al-Âlamîn (Creator of the worlds) but Rabb al-Âlamîn رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ . Thus al-’Âlamîn includes any sign by means of which one is able to know its Creator. The word al-’Âlamînالْعَالَمِينis in a plural form and usually translated as ‘all the worlds’. This can refer to worlds of particles and elements in cosmos, the worlds that are manifest and those that are hidden, worlds of plants and animals. The expression also includes the worlds of knowledge, worlds of human thoughts and intellect and worlds of non-particles, the worlds of Paradises, the worlds of Fire and Hell (55:46-75, 88:4-16), the worlds of spirits and other worlds that are known only to Allâh (6:59; 73). Al-’Âlamîn is everything other than Allâh. The word ’Âlamîn has its root also in ’alama which means to know. Thus ’Âlamîn are the means by which one knows the Creator. Âlam in the sense of knowledge means something concerning which report and information is given and which provides knowledge of the existence of a perfect, independent and unique Creator. Rabb al-Âlamîn رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ impels the seeker to seek knowledge about his Creator, the Sustainer, and his Evolver. Sometime al-’Âlamîn is used in a restricted sense. We read: “O Children of Israel! Remember My favours, which I conferred upon you that exalted you above all your contemporaries - الْعَالَمِينَ” (2:122), or similarly: “Blessed is He Who revealed Al-Furqân (- the Holy Qur’an) to His servant that he may be a warner to all mankind - الْعَالَمِينَ” (25:1). In verse 2:122 the restriction applies to the people of a particular period, and in 25:1 the restriction is to mankind. In both cases al-’Âlamîn الْعَالَمِينَ cannot include the other realms of non-particles and that of animal and plant worlds. Allah, as Rabb al-Âlamîn رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ, has provided all the means for the physical requirements of all kinds of life, without discrimination (35.25). Rabb al-Âlamîn رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ is an outright refutation to those who seek to confine the Providence and His grace to their own people, believing that their own communities were preferred (cf. 35.25). If it is so, people may have reason to complain that Allah was gracious towards some chosen people and not towards others, or that a particular people was given a Book so that it may be guided thereby and another was not, or that He manifested Himself through His Words and Revelation and signs in a certain age but remained hidden in another age. By extending His Providence universally He disposed of all such objections and exercised such universal benevolence that no people or age was denied the beneficence of His material and spiritual grace. These words are also a refutation to those who have taken the created as their lord, as the expression of Creator, Nourisher, Sustainer, Guardian; Evolver of the world cannot be applied to created deities. Rabb al-Âlamînرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ tell us that all forces in operation in the heavens and the earth in various shapes and forms to ensure the proper running of the universe do not operate on their own, but that Divine power operates through them. All the faculties with which the celestial bodies and earthly elements are invested are but a reflection of the Powers and Attributes eternally possessed by Allah, the Supreme. With the words Rabb al-Âlamîn رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ Allah has made it plain to us that the cosmos and its spheres are nothing in themselves; it is His dominating Power (Rabûbiyyat) that operates in them, as it were, from behind a screen. He makes the moon shed light in dark nights that ripen the fruits. He manifests a glorious light by His Power (Rabûbiyyat) through the instrumentality of the sun and makes manifest His multifarious Designs in various ways. It is His Power (Rabûbiyyat) that descends from the sky in the form of rain and revives and refreshes the dead earth and provides drink for the thirsty (cf. 30:48-50). It is His Power (Rabûbiyyat) that gives fire with the quality of combustion and invests the air with the quality to refresh life, make flowers blossom, lift clouds and convey the beautiful sounds (cf.: 56:57-74). It is His Power (Rabûbiyyat) that enables the earth to carry on its back humans with their burden of sins, and the beasts. “The heavens are about to burst on account of that, and the earth about to split asunder, and the mountains to fall down in pieces, because they have ascribed a son to the Most Gracious” (19:91-92). It is His Rabûbîyyat that sustains thisheinous claim. Divine Power manifests itself as the power of the hand manifests itself through the pen. We say the pen writes but, in fact, it is the hand and not the pen that does the writing. By the same token it is true that all the heavenly bodies and earthly elements, indeed every atom in the lower and upper spheres that is visible and perceptible, manifests themselves by virtue of the powers of the Rabb al-Âlamîn رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ. A magnifying glass, by reflecting the rays of the sun, may ignite fire, but that causes no diminution in the power of the sun. Fruits are fostered and ripen under moonbeams but that does not wear down the moon. This is the Truth that furnishes insight into Divine working and is at the center of all spiritual phenomena that the universe has come into existence through the works of Rabb al-Âlamîn رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ. The same idea is expressed in another verse (27.45), that the world is like a palace with floors paved with transparent glass, under which runs a strong current of water. An unaware person ignores the glass and is afraid to step in lest he should tumble into the swift current. In 17.71 it is stated: We carry them in their journeys over land and water; which also conveys the same idea, namely, that mounts and vessels are only the visible means of carriage and that it is Divine Power which is the real carrier.It is this Rabûbîyyat that is operative and pervasive throughout the Universe, in the heavens, in the earth, in bodies, in souls, in the realm of knowledge, substances and in the realms of essences and in animals, vegetables and minerals and all others. All are sustained by this Rabûbîyyat (- His Providence). A human being receives sustenance from the spring of this Rabûbîyyat, from the early embryonic, even pre-embryonic state, to the time of death, and beyond in the stage of life in the Hereafter. Divine Providence (Rabûbîyyat) is thus the creator of every existing thing and sustainer of every extant object, yet it is the human being that benefits most by it. This human being who is the vice regent of Allah on this earth is being reminded that his Allah is the Lord and Providence of the universe, so that the horizon of his hopes may be extended and he may believe in إِنَّنِي أَنَا اللَّهُ لَا إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا أَنَا “I, and I alone am Allâh. There cannot be, is no other and will never be one worthy of worship but I” (20:14). 1:7. The path of those on whom You have bestowed (Your) blessings, those who have not incurred (Your) displeasure, and those who have not gone astray. صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ 1:7 Three states are mentioned in this verse. The first is the state of Divine favour (أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ), the second the state of Divine wrath (الْمَغْضُوبِ ) and the third the state of Divine misguidance (الضَّالِّينَ). These three descriptions illustrate the three conditions of human beings that are the products of their own activity or inactivity. When we use the word Ghasabغْضب for Divine wrath or Divine anger, we may be ascribing upon Allah the attribute of negative emotion. But Allah says, He possesses only all beautiful Attributes وَلِلَّهِ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَىٰ (7:180). The fact is Allahs wrath is but a reflection of the human being’s own attitude. The true nature of Divine wrath is the state of the loss of Divine Mercy, otherwise termed as the state of Divine displeasure. When a person abandons the right path, which is the means of receiving Divine Mercy, he forfeits Divine Mercy, and those who lose the way to Divine Mercy are lost. This is the significance of the word Divine wrath. Similarly some people ask why Allah should have the attribute of misguidance. Those who ask about Divine guidance do not realize that Divine guidance is accorded only to those who strive for it and walk the way that one must walk to have Divine Mercy. Those who object to Divine misguidance do not reflect that, in accord with His eternal law, Allah treats everyone according to his deserts. Those who would not strive after Him because of indolence and negligence He deprives them of His support for guidance. He says: “And those who strive hard in Our cause We will certainly guide them in the ways that lead to Us (29:69).Thus it is not Allah Who misguides, it is the refusal of human beings to strive for Allah’s guidancethat earns them wrath. Since the search for guidance and purification of self are not enough for the attainment of nearness to God, without the practical example from divines and those rightly guided, Allah, the Holy, did not confine His direction to the instruction: Guide us along the straight path, but exemplified the path of those on whom He has already bestowed His favorsupon. Their ways were the ways of Divine guidance. They carried with them the Light of Allah and through them the hearts of people were illuminated. They were antidotes for the poison of sins, and a source of tranquility while in agony and in the throes of death, and fortitude at the hour of departure from this world. Who disregards them, certainly deprives himself of a bounty he had been offered, and draws away from the fountain of good and the light of his eyes. In this verse Allah did not teach us the prayer: ‘Do not include us among the law-breakers and the rebellious’. Instead He taught us to pray for being included among the favored ones.People gifted with God-fearing hearts and His Light do not regard any path (Tarîq) as Sirât صِرَاطَ until it comprises the prominent features of the Faith selected by Allah. These are: rectitude; leading to the goal with certainty; being the shortest; being broad and safe for travelers, and it is the determination as the goal. Thus the goal is that of the Prophets, the Siddîqs (- Truthful in their belief, words and deeds), and the Shahîds (- Bearers of Testimony to the truth of the religion of Allâh by their words and deeds), as well as the Martyrs, and the Righteous (who stick to the right course under all circumstances); how excellent companions they are! See then how benevolent Allah has been to us? - commanding us in the Mother of the Book, to seek through prayer every type of guidance granted to the Prophets and His Saints - أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاءِ وَالصَّالِحِينَ (4:69). This is the bounty, which Allah has indicated for His servants. Allah will reciprocate such a servant with His sweet Discourse and His inspiration. He will be among His protected servants with His command to the Fire of Hell, as if: ‘O fire! Be thou cool and harmless for My servant’ (21.70). Out of abundant compassion, Allah taught this prayer, commanding us to seek Him by following the ways of those He had favored. Had there been no possibility of such resemblance and likeness, it would have been a prayerin vain. Allthe narrations and mentionings of the excellences achieved by those who have passed away would have been meaningless. With these words He has ordained that He will continue to raise the Siddîqs (- Truthful in their belief, words and deeds) and the Shahîds (- Bearers of Testimony to the truth of the religion of Allâh by their words and deeds), as well as the Reformers (- Mujaddids) and Saints among those who will walk in the footsteps of the Holy Prophets. There is within Allahs knowledge a party of the favored ones who are the contemporaries of those who incurred His displeasure (al-Maghdzûbالْمَغْضُوبِ) and of those who went astray (al-Dzâllînالضَّالِّينَ). These two groups are mentioned in contradistinction to the favored ones.The supplication is made to seek protection against these groups and from becoming one of them. Among those who were smitten by His wrath are undoubtedly the people who rejectAllah’s Messengers (cf. 3:112), in particular the teachings revealed by Allah to the Holy Prophet (pbuh). About them, Allah says: “They took in exchange that which is inferior for that which is superior” (2:61). “They denied the Messages of Allâh and sought to kill His Prophets unjustly and that was because they disobeyed and had been transgressing, they were smitten with abasement and destitution and they incurred the displeasure of Allâh” (2:61). Again about such we are told: “They reject that (source of guidance) which Allâh has revealed, grudging that Allâh should send down His grace on such of His servants as He pleases. Thus they have incurred (His) displeasure after displeasure. There awaits these disbelievers a humiliating punishment” (2:90). The group of people who lost their way, deviated from true guidance and were left wandering in error is the group of Dzâllîn (al-Dzâllînالضَّالِّينَ) who exaggerate in matters of religion. They are mentioned in the Holy Qur’an with the following words: “Say, ‘O People of the Scripture! do not exaggerate in (the matter of) your religion falsely and unjustly, nor follow the fancies of a people who had gone astray before (you) and had led many astray, and (now again) who have strayed away from the right path” (5:77). The commentators have designated the Jews as the people who had incurred Divine wrath. Not only the Jews but many other former peoples practiced vice and rejected their Prophets. Here is a hidden prophecy that there will always be a small group of people among the Muslims who will act in opposition to the Divine teachings. They will call their own Prophet (pbuh) an impostor and insult him, and act contrary to the teachings revealed to him. Equally without a doubt, there will be a large group of people who will exaggerate in matters of religion; like the Christians did about Jesus. They will speak out of their own fancies and make ‘Fatwas’ (- religious declarations) and give it the status of the Divine Law (Shar’îa). This was and will always be a common practice among the Muslims. Jewish Family At Deedat Residence - (1/12): youtu.be/jFEiHO2Jztc Jewish Family At Deedat Residence - (5/12): youtu.be/fzHWS9q-Mjs
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 16:58:17 +0000
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