V.59: [22-24] He32 is Allah besides Whom there is no god.33 He is the Knower of the unseen and the seen.34 He is the Compassionate and the Merciful.35 He is Allah, besides Whom there is no god. He is the Sovereign,36 the Holy,37 the Source of safety,38 the Giver of peace,39 the Guardian,40 the All-Mighty,41 the Enforcer of His decrees,42 and the ever Supreme.43 Exalted is Allah alone Who is the Planner of Creation,44 its Enforcer and its Fashioner.45 His are the excellent names.46 Whatever is there in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him.47 and He is the All-Mighty and the All-Wise.48 [32These verses explain what kind of God He is, and what are His attributes, Who has sent this Quran to you, Who has placed these responsibilities on you, and before Whom you have to render an account of your deeds in the end. This mention of the Divine attributes immediately after the above theme automatically gives man the feeling that he has not to deal with an ordinary being but with Almighty Allah Who has such and such attributes. Here, one should also understand that although in the Quran the attributes of Allah Almighty have been stated in a unique way, which gives a clear concept of the Divine Bing there are two places where the attributes of Allah have been mentioned in a most comprehensive way, in the Verse of the Throne (Al-Baqarah: 255) and in these verses of Surah Al-Hashr. 33That is, He is the One besides Whom none else has the rank, position, attributes and powers of Godhead so that he may be worshiped and served as god. 34That is, He knows whatever is hidden from the creatures as well as whatever is known and visible to them. Nothing of this universe is unknown to Him. He directly knows whatever has happened in the past, whatever exists at present and whatever will happen in the future : He does not stand in need of any means or medium of knowledge. 35That is, He alone is the Being Whose mercy is limitless, which covers the whole universe and blesses and benefits everything in it. None else in the world is the bearer of such all-pervading, infinite mercy. The mercy of every other being, characterized by the ability of mercy, is partial and limited, and that quality too is not essentially its own, but bestowed by the Creator for a specific need and purpose. He has created the quality of mercy for some other creature. He has created it in order to make one creature a-means for the development and well-being of the other creature. This by itself is a proof that Allahs Mercy is infinite. 36The word used in the original is al-Malik, which means at He alone is the real Sovereign. Moreover, the word al-Malik its general sense also gives the meaning that He is King of the tire universe and not of a particular region or of a specific country. His Sovereignty and rule comprehends the entire universe. He is Master of everything. Everything submits itself to His command and power and authority, and there is nothing to delimit His Sovereignty. At different places in the Quran all aspects of Allahs Sovereignty, have been presented and explained fully. Whoever exist in the heavens and the earth are He servants; all are obedient to Him. (Ar-Burn: 26). He administers the affairs of the world from the heavens to the earth. (As-Sajdah: 5) To Him belongs the dominion of the earth and the heavens, and all matters are referred to Him for decision. (AI-Hadid: 5). He has no partner in His sovereignty. (Al-Furqan: 2). In His hand is the absolute control of everything. (Ya Sin: 83). Doer of whatever He wills. (AI-Buruj: 16). He is accountable to none for what He does, but all others are accountable (to Him). (Al-Anbiyii: 23). Allah rules and there is none to reverse His decrees. (Ar-Rad: 41). The Being Who gives protection while none can give protection against Him. (Al-Mumin: 88). Say: O Allah, Sovereign of the Kingdom, Thou bestows kingdom on whomever Thou wilt, and Thou takes it away from whomever Thou wilt. Thou exalts whomever Thou wilt and Thou abases whomever Thou wilt. AII that is good is in Thy power; indeed Thou hast full power over all things. (Al-i-Imran: 26). These explanations make it abundantly clear that Allah is not King in some limited or metaphoric sense but He is real King in the most perfect and complete sense of sovereignty. As a matter of fact, if sovereignty in its true sense is at all found somewhere, it is found only in Allahs Kingship. Apart from this, wherever it is claimed to be, whether in the person of a king or dictator, or in a class or group or family, or in sonic nation, he or it possesses no sovereignty at all, for sovereignty is not a gift, which may at one time be granted and at another time withdrawn, which may be in danger of being usurped, the establishment and existence of which may be temporary and temporal, and the sphere of power and authority of which may be circumscribed and restricted by many other conflicting powers. 37Quddus is a superlative. It means that Allah is far exalted that He should have a fault or defect or demerit: He is the purest Being, no evil can be imagined about Him. Here, one should clearly understand that the attribute of holiness is a foremost accompaniment of sovereignty. Mans intellect and nature refuse to believe that a being who is the bearer of sovereignty may be mischievous, ill behaved, ill-natured, who may be characterized with these base qualities from whose power and authority his subjects might be in danger of suffering evil instead of being blessed with good. That is why wherever man thinks sovereignty is centered, he assumes holiness also to be there, even if it is not there, for absolute sovereignty is inconceivable without holiness. But. obviously, there is no real Sovereign except Allah, Who is holy, nor can there be. Whether it is monarchy, or sovereignty of the people, or dictatorship of the socialist system, or some other form of human rule in any case holiness for it is inconceivable. 38The word as-Salam as used in the original means peace and Secure, Allahs being called as-Salam means that He is peace and safety personified. He is far exalted that some calamity or weakness or defect should befall Him, or His Perfection should suffer a decline or blemish. 39The word at-Mu min is derived from amn, which means to secure from fear, and Mumin is one who provides security to others. Allah has been called Mnmin in the sense that He provides security to His creatures. His creatures are secure from the fear that He would ever wrong them, or deprive them of their rights, or allow their rewards to go to waste, or would violate the promises He has made with them. Then, since no object has been mentioned with this subject, but the epithet of al-Mumin has been used absolutely, it automatically gives the meaning that His security comprehends the entire universe and all that it contains. 40The word al-Muhaimin has three meanings: (1) The Guardian and Protector; (2) the Observer who sees what everyone does; and (3) the Being Who has taken up the responsibility to fulfill the needs and requirements of the people. Here also, since the word al-Muhaimin has been used absolutely, and no object has been mentioned of this subject, therefore, it by itself gives the implied meaning that He is guarding and protecting all creatures, is watching the acts and deeds of everyone, and has taken up the responsibility of sustaining and providing for every creature in the universe with its needs and requirements. 41Al-Aziz: such an Almighty Being against Whom no one may dare raise his head, no one may have the power to resist His decrees, before Whom . everyone may be helpless and powerless. 42The word al-Jabbar as used in the original is derived from jabr which means setting something right by use of power, reforming something by force. Allah has been called jabbar in the sense that He sets the system of His universe right by the use of power and enforces His will, which is wholly based on wisdom. by force. Moreover, the word jabber also contains the meaning of greatness; and glory. Thus, a palm-tree which is too tall for the people to pluck its fruit is called jabber In Arabic. Likewise, an act which is grand and glorious is called amal jabbar. 43The word al-Mutakabbir has two meanings. (1) The one who is not actually great but poses as great, and (2) the one who is actually great and sets himself up as such. Whether it is man or Satan, or some other creature, since greatness does not, in actual fact, belong to it, its posing itself as great and claiming superiority over others is, a false claim and a vice. Contrary to this, Allah Almighty is truly Great and greatness actually belongs to Him, and everything in the universe is low and insignificant as against Him; therefore, His being Great and setting Himself up as Great is no false claim but an actual reality; it is not an evil quality but a virtue and excellence, which no one else has but Allah. 44That is, those who regard a creature as an associate in His powers, authority, attributes, or in His Being, in fact, utter a grave falsehood, for Allah is far exalted that anybody or anything should be an associate with Him in any sense. 45That is, the whole world and everything in it, from the initial plan of its creation till its coming into existence in its final, finished form, is entirely Allahs work of creation. Nothing has come into existence by itself nor come about accidentally, nor has anyone else the least share in its creation and development. Here, Allahs act of creation has been described in three separate stages, which take place one after the other. First is the stage of khalq, which means to ordain, or to plan. It is like an engineers conceiving the design of a building, which he intends to build for a specific purpose and draws out its detailed diagram and model The second stage is bar, which actually means to separate, to cut, to split asunder. The Creator has been called bari in the sense that He enforces the plan He has conceived and brings out the thing from non-existence into existence. It is Analogous to the engineers putting marks on the ground of the full measurements of the building according to the plan, digging the foundations, raising the walls and completing all the practical preliminaries of the construction work. The third stage is taswir, which means to give shape; here it implies giving something its final complete shape. In all these three stages there is no resemblance whatever between Allahs work and human works. None of human plans is such as may not have been derived from previous models and plans. But each of Allahs plans is, unique and His own original creation. Whatever man makes, he makes it by combining the substances created by Allah. He does not bring anything from nonexistence into existence, but composes and constructs by different methods whatever is present and available. Contrary to this, Allah has brought everything from non-existence into creation, and the substance itself of which He has made the universe is created by Him. Likewise, in the matter of giving shape also man is not the inventor but an imitator, and only a poor imitator. The real Maker of forms and shapes is Allah, Who has given a unique and matchless shape to every species and individual and has never repeated exactly the same shape or from. 46Names imply the adjectives, and His are the excellent names means that those adjectives which indicate or express some kind of defect are not appropriate for Him. He should be remembered by those names which express His attributes of Perfection. In the Quran these beautiful names of Allah have been mentioned here and there, and in the Hadith 99 names of that Exalted and Pure Being have been enumerated which Timidhi and Ibn Majah have related on the authority pf Hadrat Abu Hurairah. If one studies these names as mentioned in the Quran and the Hadith carefully, the can easily understand what words would be appropriate ant suitable if one has to remember Allah in another language. 47That is, Everything proclaims .with the tongue, or otherwise, that its Creator is free frown every fault and defect, weakness and error. 48For explanation, see E.N. 2 of Surah Al-Hadid.]
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 12:30:12 +0000
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