Hisham Jafar Ali – Names Of Allah And His Attributes #5 The King & The Owner
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AI: Transcript ©
Last time we looked at Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala's name, Al Ghafoor,
Al Ghafar.
These names that denote the forgiveness of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala and his leniency
and his appreciation,
and at Tawwab, his acceptance of repentance.
And today we're going to shift to another
name of Allah, a name that has been
constantly mentioned throughout the Quran,
a name that was mentioned in Surat Al
Fatiha,
A name and attribute that was referred to
in Ayatul Kursi.
And a name that is mentioned in Suratul
Nas.
That is the name of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala. Al Malik
and Al Malik.
Al Malik and Al Malik.
And We'll come to the point of why
we're going to mention these two names side
by side.
Firstly
for those who don't know
insulatul Fatiha when Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says
Owner of the day of judgment.
Another qira'ah, another recitation of the Quran says
And so for those who don't know the
qira'at, the idea of the different
dialects or different modes of recitation of the
Quran,
it means the Quran was revealed to the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam One time with
the phrase
and one time it was revealed with the
phrase or the wording.
And so this means Allah is both Al
Malik and Al Malik.
And what is the meaning of both of
these names and what are the differences
between both of these names?
Al Malik
is
the owner.
If something becomes your property you own it
and you
are now the Malik of this object
so somebody
purchases a property they become the Malik of
this property
the owner of this property they get a
title deed
Now,
this property belongs to them.
But a melek is a king.
Melek in Arabic refers to king, one who
has authority over an entire kingdom.
And so recently, our country now has a
king before it had a queen.
And there's a difference between these two. Who
can tell me the difference between a king
and a owner?
What's the difference?
Okay.
Okay. He said a king can choose what
he wants to do in his kingdom,
but a owner
doesn't have that level of
authority. Okay.
Tell me more. What's the difference between a
king and a owner? Yes.
A king is more complicated than an owner?
Yeah. How? So
in in the king
Mhmm. A a king?
Mhmm. And you can do
And it's usually over
Okay. So you're saying an owner. You own
something. You can do what you please with
it, and it's usually an object. Okay.
Yeah.
Mhmm.
Over
the
kingdom.
Yes.
Then
it's not an object. Mhmm.
So there's more restrictions in a kingdom compared
to an object. You had your hand up.
Yes. Am I looking to change subject human
beings
when
Okay.
Okay. Human beings. Okay. Interesting. The king is
is looking after human beings, but the owner
is looking after objects, things.
Someone had their name. Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am.
Owner is specific to an to an
owner is specific. Mhmm. King is general. An
owner is specific to something?
So you own a car, you own a
something specific, whereas a king is more general.
Yes.
Anyone can become owner? Mhmm. That is title
book.
Very, very few people can get a Beautiful.
Anybody can become an owner, but very few
people can become a king. Somebody else had
their hand up. Yes.
An owner still responds to somebody, whereas a
king, in theory, doesn't respond to anybody.
Yes.
A king has
But an owner may not necessarily
have that sort of responsibility.
Okay. A king has a responsibility to look
after the kingdom, but a owner may not
necessarily have this feeling of responsibility.
We all own phones. How many people have
cracks on their phone screens? Many of us.
Right? Yes, Anker.
The king, though? Mhmm. King.
For that.
Okay. They're bigger each other. Okay. King is
bigger and owner is small. Okay. Uncle is
saying that the king is also the owner
of the kingdom. Yeah.
But
the king is owner of a large
thing and the owner is owner of something
small.
I disagree with our respected and beloved uncle
because see a king
this is why important the difference is important
a king is not a owner for example
your phone.
Can the king of this country
take take your phone from you and say
it's my phone now?
They can't. You're the owner of the phone,
your property, your house. Can the king of
this country come and say it's my house
from tomorrow? No. No. He's not. Even though
he's the king, he's not necessarily the owner
of every house and every object in this
country.
And that's why they are 2 different things.
The king has authority,
responsibility
over vast kingdom,
but the owner has full control over one
one thing.
But the king doesn't have full control over
your jacket
or your car or your house. It's not
his property. It's your property.
So now we understand the difference between the
king and the owner. But the beauty
is Allah is both king and owner.
He's both king and owner. Who can tell
me in aya in the Quran where Allah
mentions both of these together?
Other than who said,
Allah says in the Quran,
Say, oh Allah,
you are the owner of the kingdom.
You give kingdom
to whoever you wish.
And you * it away from whoever you
wish.
And you honor whomever you wish.
And you humiliate whomever you wish.
Goodness is in your hands.
You are able to do all things.
And so Allah is the owner and the
king. This is beautiful, this combination, but let's
take them 1 at a time and let's
reflect on each of these meanings, each of
these names, one at a time. Let's start
with the idea that Allah is al Malik,
the owner of everything.
Allah is the owner of everything. What does
it mean to own something?
People in this country many of us and
around the world
they strive to become a homeowner.
This is something psychologically everyone feels happier and
safer when they own their house.
What does it mean for you to own
your house? If I'm renting a house and
I'm owning a house, what's the difference? When
my boiler breaks down and I'm renting a
house who do I call?
I call the landlord. It's not my problem.
I'm using it, but I don't have to
worry about it.
But if I'm owning the house, everything in
the house is now my problem. Any pipe
that breaks, any boiler that breaks, I it's
all my headache.
And so being an owner
means you have to look after every little
detail.
You have to look after every little detail.
But do we truly own things in this
world? This world is moving in the direction
of
not owning things. Before people used to buy
cars, now they lease cars. People used to
buy houses, slowly going towards more renting.
You used to have employees, now most people
are contractors.
They drive taxi. They do whatever they do.
They get paid by the hour. Pay as
you go. So the world is moving more
in the direction of less ownership.
But human beings used to be obsessed with
owning things.
How many of us we try to get
expensive phones, expensive items, they say buy now
pay later.
You buy an object and slowly you're paying
it off. It's like you're tied now to
this thing.
But we get so much satisfaction by owning
things.
Our own clothes, our own house, our own
cars, we feel so much happier, we feel
some sense of satisfaction. Why? The difference between
your phone and a phone that you borrowed
from somebody else. What's the difference?
Yes. We have some restrictions.
You have restrictions with the phone that you
borrow. And the phone that you own,
you don't have restrictions. In other words,
you can
do whatever you wish with it. This is
the idea of ownership. You have.
You can do whatever you want. You own
a phone in Islamic law, in al Fiqh.
If you own something, you can gift it,
you can sell it, you can
trade it.
It's yours. You can damage it if you
want. You are able to do whatever you
want.
Nothing's change
when we realize that every single thing small
and big in this world is the property
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and not the
property of you and I.
What does that
mean? If Allah owns it then?
Sorry?
You have a responsibility but not just that
not just that I'm thinking something different what
can Allah do with the things that he
owns?
He can take whatever he wants. He can
damage it. He can burn it. He can
take it. He can give it. It's his.
A mother
has
a fetus in her stomach. She holds a
human life for 9 months. And over this
period of 9 months, she becomes attached to
this small
being inside of her. And after 9 months,
she feels this is my child, mine.
Not that she owns it, but she fully
belongs to me. It's my child.
And at that moment in time, as she
is about to deliver, the doctor informs her
that the fetus died inside your stomach.
The mother is in shock,
and the mother is in tears,
and she can't believe it.
And she why is she struggling so hard
to accept this idea?
Because she grew accustomed to the idea, this
baby belongs to me, it's mine.
So when Allah
took the child away, it was a shock
to the system.
How many of us feel something similar? We
own a car. The car gets into an
accident. It gets scrapped.
It's gone. We're in shock.
We grew used to the idea. This is
my it's my property.
But the reality is human beings, we don't
own anything truly on this earth.
Let's say Masjid Al Furqan own this Masjid.
Can they come and burn down the whole
building?
They can't. They get into a lot of
trouble legally.
Right? Let's say you own your mobile phone.
You go and you break it. You throw
it into a river.
Can you get away with that so easily?
There's always strings attached. There's always consequences.
Either you'll get in trouble or you'll go
to court. Something will happen. There's nothing you
own in this world that you really and
truly can do whatever you want with.
But Allah
can do whatever he wants with on this
earth. It's his.
Allah can send catastrophe,
storms,
typhoons,
monsoons
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can take life and
give life. It's His.
But when do we start to struggle with
this idea is when we feel actually it's
mine so when Allah takes it away, we're
in shock.
When the prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam loses his
child,
and he holds the body of his child
in his hands,
and he's crying, tears are flowing down, but
he says a beautiful word.
We have to ponder these words carefully.
To Allah belongs what he took from me
And to Allah belongs what he gives me.
When Allah gives you something,
you think it's yours. This is my jacket.
If the jacket gets torn ripped, I'm very
upset. It's mine. What happened to it?
But if I think of it differently,
Allah gave it to me to borrow. It's
a loan,
and Allah took it away when its time
was up.
Allah gave me my father as a gift,
as a loan, and when his time was
up, Allah took him back. It was his.
It's like when you go to the library
and you borrow a book.
I remember back in the day when people
used to go to libraries and used to
read and borrow books. Now not anymore. When
you go to the library and you borrow
a book there used to be a stamp
on the front it's due in 2 weeks.
This is how the prophet, salallahu alaihi wa
sallam, everyday in those 2 weeks, I'm thinking
I'm gonna give this back eventually. It's not
mine.
When the prophet, salallahu alaihi wa sallam, loses
his son, his son passes away, he says,
to Allah belong what he took, and to
Allah belongs what he gave.
And everything for Allah has an expiry date.
I'll be patient, and I will expect my
reward from him.
If we were to imagine
and we were to think that every object
that we think we own is actually a
loan from Allah and it has an expiry
date, we would feel much more comfortable when
Allah takes it away from us, when He
takes our health from us, when He takes
our wealth from us, when he takes our
parents from us, when he takes our job
from us. When he takes something from us,
it is to remind us it was never
ours to begin with.
And that is why
in the Quran,
I noticed a pattern. I'm sure many before
me have noticed this.
When Allah mentions
his mulk, his kingdom,
he always associates it with his and his,
his ability to do whatever he wants with
it. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says in Suratul
Ma'ida,
And to Allah belongs the kingdom of the
heavens and the earth and whatever is between
them, He creates whatever He wishes and He's
able to do all things.
When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said in Surat
Al Maidah as well,
Allah forgives whoever he wishes
and he punishes whoever he wishes.
To him belongs the kingdom of the heavens
and the earth and everything will return to
him. In Surat Ashura,
Allah says,
To Allah belongs the kingdom of the heavens
and the earth. He creates whatever He wishes.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said in Suratul
Fatt,
and to Allah belongs the kingdom of the
heavens and the earth. He forgives whoever he
wishes
and he punishes whoever he wishes. In all
these ayahs, in these verses of the Quran,
you see a pattern. When Allah mentions he's
the king, he mentions he does whatever he
wants.
He forgives whoever he wants. He punishes whoever
he wants. He creates whatever he wants, however
he pleases, whenever he wants.
It's hard to come to terms with this
because we as humans, we come used to
the idea that we have free will, that
we have some power. We have things that
we own. When Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala takes
them away, it's the only reminder to us
that it was never
belonging to us to begin with.
And so every owner in this world, human
owner, is not really a complete owner. You
can never do whatever you want with it.
But Allah
is the ultimate owner,
and we are the property of Allah. That's
one meaning of the word. It
doesn't just mean we are the slaves of
Allah. It means we are Allah's property.
He can do as he wishes with us,
and he shows us.
Some of us he gives us long lives.
Some of us he gives us short lives.
Some of us He gives us strength others
He gives us weakness.
He creates one dark He creates one fair.
This is Allah is Al Ma'rik
He owns
us
and when you realize He's the owner
and you realize I am the property,
you realize something very important.
We need the owner.
Just like the house needs the landlord.
And if something breaks in the house, the
landlord is the first one on the line.
If something breaks in our life, we have
to be the first one to call Al
Malik, the one who owns.
Because we need him. Who's going to fix
the boiler except the landlord? And who's going
to fix us, look after us, except our
king and our owner? And this is why
very interestingly
when the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
he mentions
in Sahih Muslim
that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala descends in a
manner that befits him in the last 3rd
of the night.
Do you know what Allah says when he
descends in the last 3rd of the night?
The first word of the hadith, Allah says,
* Malik, I am the King.
I am the king.
Who is calling upon me so I can
respond to them?
Who is going to request for something from
me so I can give it to them?
Who's going to seek my forgiveness so I
can forgive them?
He remains in that way asking until Fajr
comes. The first thing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
says in this hadith, as he descends in
a manner that befits him in a way
that befits him that's beyond our comprehension
as he descends
in the last night of the night the
first thing he says I am the King.
Where are the subjects?
Where are those to bow in front of
the king?
If he's the owner and he's the king
where are the property? Where are the needy
ones?
The truth to be told we feel we
don't need Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. We feel
we are self sufficient. We are individual
but in fact reality, we are dependent. We
are individual. We need him. And we only
realize that when we realize anything
we see and own and think we own
can be taken away from us.
And to keep it with us, we have
to constantly turn to Allah.
We have to constantly break down in front
of him. We have to realize how much
we need him.
What keeps the electricity turning on in this
building? It's the energy service.
Who keeps the lights on in this building?
It's the owners. They pay the bills. They
make sure everything's working.
And what happens when the owners turn away
from their property or they don't look after
it? Things start to break.
And similarly,
we are the property.
If we are not in touch with the
landlord
and we are not constantly on the line
with the landlord, things in this world will
start to break, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says
in the Quran.
Evil things that we see,
explosions,
tsunamis,
whirlwinds, why does it happen on this earth?
Because of the sins of human beings.
So they can taste the effects of their
deeds, so that maybe they will return back
to Allah.
When we start to forget that He is
the King and He is the owner,
Allah
reminds us through loss.
The only way we realize it doesn't belong
to us
is when you get the email.
It's due in 2 days.
Your book is due in 2 days. You
have to return your car in 3 days.
The end term is coming.
And so the only way Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala takes us and reminds us that really
things in this world belong to him is
he makes us lose what we have what
we own.
Allah says in the Quran.
We will definitely test them with fear.
What is fear?
The loss of safety.
And what is hunger?
The loss of food.
And we will make them lose
wealth
and people
and sustenance.
Why? Why does Allah make us lose things
in life?
To remind us.
Because we started to imagine that it belong
to us. So Allah takes it away.
And every time He takes it away we
have to remember.
That's what Allah says but
congratulate the patient.
Now very carefully look at this verse.
Who are the patient? When Allah takes something
away from you, something you love, some money
that you love, the job that you care
about, the clothes, your family members, when He
takes them away from you, what is your
mindset supposed to be?
Who are the patient?
What does Allah say?
The people, when Allah takes something away from
them, what do they say?
We are owned by Allah.
And we are going to return to him.
Interesting.
Allah takes things away from us only to
remind us we belong and we will return.
How often somebody dies and you see in
the WhatsApp group Inalillahi Wa Nalaahi Raajahun Inalillahi
Wa Nalaahi Raajahun Inalillahi Wa Nalaahi Raajahun Inalillahi
Wa Nalaahi Raajahun Inalillahi
and you know whoever wrote it the first
time everybody is just copy pasting the same
text It became an easy word. It became
a meaningless word to say Inna Lillah. We
belong to Allah.
He owns me. He can take me away.
He can disband me. He can destroy me.
He can injure me. He can hurt me.
But it's to remind me that really
I don't belong to me. I belong to
him.
And that is why the how to deal
with the loss in this world, you learn
it from the name of Allah, Al Malik.
Allah makes us lose
only to remind us it wasn't a loss.
He lent it to us and he took
it back at its due time.
Let us now move
to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala's name, Al Malik
the King.
The king kings in this world, they don't
own everything.
They don't own your house. They don't own
your property.
But they have an authority and a responsibility
over entire kingdom.
But before I jump into the word king,
let me tell you something beautiful about Surah
An Nas.
A beautiful Surah we all know called.
In these three verses, does anybody notice something
interesting about the names of Allah?
Who can tell me?
Mhmm.
First, Allah mentions Rab,
that he is the Lord of the people.
Then
the King of the people,
and
then Why did he do it in this
order? Why not?
Why
then
then?
Who can remind me from lesson 2, what
is the meaning of?
Yes? The one you seek protection from. Okay.
The one you seek protection from, not quite.
Sorry?
Masha, the one who creates you from 0
and looks after you to your full potential.
Yes, brother? The brown thought? You had your
hand up? I was gonna say, Lord.
Lord. Now those who attended lesson 2, they
they they won't say, Lord. They learned the
full the detailed meaning.
Yes?
Yes. Jamil, yes? Comes from the word.
Comes from the word. Is looking at his
notes,
people who look after and sustain and nurture
things? Right? Parents
parents are called
They look after, they nurture, they cultivate. Teachers?
Yes? Farmers.
Farmers. They are all in Arabic. These are
all of these types of people are called
Murabbi.
Okay.
So in one kingdom let's imagine how many
Murabbis are there?
Quite a few. Right. Many teachers, many parents,
many farmers. Okay.
What about Kings? In one kingdom how many
Kings are there?
1. But on this earth how many kings
are there? 1. Quite a few. Quite a
few. Okay. What about Elah?
How many Elah's are there on this earth?
1. Only 1.
So Rab is a term used for many
types of people.
Malik is a term used for less types
of people, and is only used for
1, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
He is the only one worthy of worship.
And so in Surah Al Nas, Allah says
Rab bin Nas, which is a term many
people could use. Malikin Nas, a more specific
term for only some kings. And ilahin Nas,
the term exclusive for Allah. He saved the
best for the last. This is the balagatul
Qur'an, the beauty in the eloquence of the
Qur'an.
Human kings,
they have authority over a kingdom.
But do they really have complete authority?
Anybody can think of
the kings in our time, the kings around
us.
Do they sometimes answer to outside forces
who control them or tell them what to
do?
Anybody without mentioning any specific examples, we don't
want to get political,
can anybody give me some ideas about this
okay the Queen responds to parliament I didn't
know I don't know how that works the
Queen responds to parliament okay
set regulation of rules. She can't set laws.
She can't set rules. She can't set regulations.
Her queenship is quite limited. Her authority is
limited. Yes. It's symbolic.
Sorry? It is symbolic. It is symbolic.
Surah
rasmiyah. It's not something it's not a real
authority that they can do anything they want.
It's a symbol,
at least in this country. Yes? If a
king breaks the law, you answer the law.
Beautiful. If a king breaks the law, they
have to answer to the law in theory.
Right
okay what else
how many kings in this world are actually
commanded or controlled by
other governments and other forces
Yeah. Quite a few. Right? Yes. They pay
their bills. They give them some aid, some
financial aid, and they say now you do
what we tell you. But your name is
King.
Yes. Right?
But how is this different with the ultimate
King Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala?
Allah,
if he breaks a rule,
there's no one to answer. He has no
one to answer to. Allah,
no one controls Allah.
He's the ultimate one in control.
And he has full visibility
and full kingship
over every element of this universe
space,
Pluto, Mars, Earth, every part of it. His
kingdom is much more
expansive than any human king on this earth.
Many of us, we see the rise and
the fall of kings and governments and queens
and presidents and prime ministers, and we start
to worry.
We start to be concerned. Oh, we have
a new prime minister. We have a new
president. We have a new king, a new
queen, and we worry.
And some Muslims, they desire, why can't the
king be a Muslim king? Why can't this
become a Muslim and Islamic kingdom?
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, he reminds us in
the Quran.
This same idea was in the minds of
Banu Israel, the people of Musa Alayhi Salaam.
When Musa Alayhi Salaam came as a a
prophet, he promised them that eventually Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala is going to make them leaders.
But did it happen overnight,
24 hours? It didn't happen. There was no
Amazon next day delivery
back then. There was no kingdom, pack, pack,
add to basket,
purchase, next day I'm the king. It didn't
work like that. It took time.
And at one point, Musa, Alaihi, Sam's people,
they got frustrated.
Who can tell me the completion of the
ayah?
Mhmm.
Mhmm.
Now can you translate this ayah?
They said,
They said to Musa, alayhi, salam, they started
to complain, you have been here for so
many years.
We were being
massacred, and destroyed, and killed, and harmed, and
our women were being
hurt before you came.
And after you came, nothing's really changed.
Ashaab you read.
Right? The people want to change this, this
Prophet. He's not really been very impactful. They
start complaining.
Even after you came, we're still being harmed.
We're still slaves. Nothing's changed.
We want change.
Right. Right? They want to change. They want
exchange this Prophet.
Maybe Allah will destroy this Firaun, and then
he will make you leaders of this land
in order to see what you do.
Being king and being leader and having khilafa
and having ownership or kingdom on a piece
of the earth is a test from Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. And there are periods of
time when the Muslim ummah are tested with
being
on the lower end, and there are times
where Allah test them by being at the
higher end. Yes.
There were centuries in which the Muslims were
leaders and kings when we ruled large portions
of the earth, and there is now a
large period where Muslims are on the other
side of the spectrum. We are servants, and
we are subjects, and we are citizens of
other countries and other kingdoms.
But does this does this mean we should
become impatient with the promise of Allah?
He says to his
people,
Speak the help of Allah, but be patient.
This land belongs to Allah,
and He
gives it to whoever He wants amongst His
slaves. Right now, Allah wants Firaun to be
king. He doesn't want you to be king.
Allah wants Firaun to be the leader.
You be patient
when your time comes.
Then Allah will see how you behave. They
were hungry for leadership. They were hungry for
freedom. And when Banu Israel got the kingdom
and got the leadership, what happened to them?
Did they become better believers?
No. That's the story of Surat Al Baqarah.
They become lazy. They become ungrateful. They become
complacent. They tell Musa Alayhi Salaam, go and
fight. You and Allah, go fight this war.
We'll just relax over here and eat popcorn.
But they didn't say eat popcorn. That's my
addition.
Being leaders spoiled them.
And in our Muslim history, in Islamic history,
you can see many caliphs, many leaders,
they were not the most righteous of people.
And so as Muslims, when we look at
history, we have to realize history is in
whose hands?
Allah's hands. And when we are in a
position of weakness or we are a position
of strength, both are just different tests for
us.
How many Muslim lands were colonized and taken
over by European forces?
And when they were colonized
in Egypt, who came to Egypt?
People.
Everyone. Napoleon Bonaparte, the French
general, came to Egypt. What did he do
in Al Azhar?
He made it a horse's stable. The horses
urinated on the books, beat up all of
the mashaikh, and they burnt half of the
things in Al Azhar.
This is what happened
in Muslim countries. What happened in Morocco? What
happened in Algeria? They call Algeria the land
of 1,000,000 martyrs.
Muslims had to face a century, 2 centuries
of being on the bottom
because that tests our sabr.
That is your Makkan period. You have to
have a lot of patience, and you have
to be firm. And then when you are
the kings and when you are the leaders
of civilization,
then the test of power and the test
of status and the test of wealth and
fame. That's not an easy test. But remember
one thing, all of these movements in history,
the rise and fall of empires, the kings
and the queens, the leaders and the subjects
is all in the control of Allah. I'm
a sis why Allah says,
say Allah is the owner of kings.
He gives it to whom he wishes, and
he takes it away from whom he wishes.
And there's a wisdom behind everything Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala does.
Whenever you see any king in the history
of kings,
there's one desire that is shared by all
kings.
That is
that their role, their position at king as
a king, are they happy for it to
end in 2 years?
4 years?
They want they don't want it to end.
Yes. This is a famous pattern with all
dictators. If you study the dictators, once they
become king, 40 years nobody else can become
king. Anybody else who has the idea is
killed immediately.
Yes. It's killed or is dealt with.
But
every king, human king, has an end date.
Every dictator,
male, female, Muslim, non Muslim, doesn't matter.
Every person who comes into power and the
hunger of power reaches their throats
and the pleasure of being in power reaches
them, they think I'm going to enjoy this
forever. Eventually, the King of all kings shows
them who is the true king.
That's what Allah says in the Quran.
Everybody on this earth will perish, will expire.
But only the face of Allah remains,
the one who possesses generosity
and the one who possesses kindness.
And the other thing is very interesting.
When human beings become kings
do they become more generous and more accommodating?
They own a lot more right? They have
a lot more if they want they can
give £1,000,000 to some random person.
What happens to human beings as they rise
in status and power? More tight. They become
more tight. Rigid. More rigid.
Who can tell me in Ayah in the
Quran where Allah refers to this?
He says if you were to become kings,
you would become very tight.
Sheikh Mohammed.
Come on, Sheikh.
Come on, hifab. Yes.
This is this is what the I was
thinking about, but this is correct.
If Allah would give you additional risk,
free flowing sustenance, you would have rebelled on
the earth.
Allah says, imagine this scenario.
Imagine everything that is in Allah's kingdom,
Allah owns everything this universe, He let you
own it for a day.
You know they say you can be a
CEO for a day. 1 yeah. I need
jadrib. Experience. Work experience. One day just be
the CEO of a company. What would you
do? Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says if
imaginary world, if you owned everything in the
universe, how would human beings react?
You would be tight.
You would be tight *.
You wouldn't want to spend.
Human beings are miserly.
But what does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala say?
Listen to this beautiful hadith.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
in the hadith Qudsi,
o Muhammad, tell them,
if the first human beings,
and the last human beings,
all of them together,
all of humankind and all of jinnkind from
the first human being till the last,
you all stood in one place.
And they ask Allah whatever they want to
ask. I want a Ferrari.
Yes? I want a building. I want a
yellow jumper. Whatever you want, ask Allah. Every
human being in every jinn.
And imagine Allah gave every one of them
whatever they asked for, whatever they asked for.
Allah says this amazing word.
That would not reduce the size of my
kingdom.
Except
the way
the ocean is reduced when a pin enters
the ocean. You know when you put a
pin,
a small sharp object, you put it in
the ocean and you take it out. How
much water comes out?
One drop. And how much is left in
the ocean?
When we ask Allah whatever we want to
ask Him and He gave us whatever we
wished,
it would be like one drop being taken
from the ocean.
This is the kingdom of Allah.
And what does that make us want to
do?
We should never be shy to ask Allah.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said in
the hadith in Surin al Tirmidhi,
he says,
none of you should feel shy to ask
Allah whatever he needs.
Even if your sandal is broken ask Allah
to help you fix the sandal.
When it comes to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
we are very humble
oh Allah I would like
Yani something very simple. I would like this
specific thing,
but when you go to a boss at
work we are very ambitious. Promote me to
director, please.
What do you mean I can't become a
director?
I've been working for 3 years. Look at
all these reports. Promote me, please, your director.
I deserve we're very bold and ambitious when
it comes to the boss. What about the
boss of all bosses, the king of all
kings? We are very careful when we ask
him.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says be
ambitious in
your dua, When you ask Allah for paradise,
don't ask him for the ground floor of
paradise. Ask him for the penthouse,
the place of the prophets. Don't be humble
with Remember Shafi'i said in his day 1,
He says when I talk to Allah, I
am so eloquent, and when I talk to
other people, it's like I don't even know
Arabic.
Be ambitious with Allah
because His kingdom is beyond our imagination.
Ask Allah for big things because they are
nothing in the sight of Allah.
One day in our Islamic history,
a man by the name of Ibn Samak,
famous scholar,
he went into the palace of Harun al
Rashid. Who can tell me who's Harun al
Rashid?
Yes?
Abbasid caliph.
Harun al Rashid, one of the earliest caliphs
in the early centuries of Islam. Even Samak
enters into his massive palace.
So he asked, Harun al Rashid, can I
please have some water?
So Harun al Rashid comes and brings him
a coolah, a bathtub full of water, cold
water. This is a big luxury.
Remember, this is happening in the desert
of Baghdad. It's not happening anywhere else. The
desert of Baghdad, he brings him a bathtub
of cool water.
So Harun Rashid says to Ibn Samak,
give me a reminder. You are a scholar.
Give me a reminder.
So Ibn Samak says to him, You Amir
Al Mu'mineen,
O leader of the believers.
You are the king, you're the boss right?
Okay. O leader of the believers.
If you are not allowed to have any
water how much would you buy this this
bathtub of water for?
He said
I would buy it with half of my
kingdom if I had to. If a human
being doesn't drink water, what happens? They die.
They die. In fact, a human being needs
water more than they need food. Look up
the biology in the statistics.
A human being can survive without water for
only 3 or 4 days, without food for
7 or 8 days. We need water. In
fact, most of us is
water. 70 to 80 percent of the substance
of the human body is water. And of
Earth,
most of the earth is water. Water is
very important so he says to Harun Rashid
if you are not allowed to have water
how much would you buy this much water
for? He said half of my kingdom.
He said okay
let's say you drank the water
and now you are not allowed to release
the water from your system you cannot give
urine a kramakumullah
how much would you pay
to be able to
release this water from your body he said
the other half of my kingdom
So Ibn Sammak said a kingdom
for which you are willing to purchase
half a bottle of water
and some urine
is not a kingdom
worth fighting for.
Your kingdom is nothing.
Allah's kingdom is the amazing kingdom.
One day,
Sofiaan ibn Aayna Rahimahullah,
he was doing tawaf around the Kaaba. Sofiaan
ibn Aayna, who can tell me who he
is?
Sofiaan
Is
he
the son of Ayn?
Sorry? No.
Oh, I don't know. I don't know who
his son is. But Sofiaan is one of
the earliest scholars of Hadith,
one of the famous earliest scholars of hadith
from the earliest generations of Islam. Sofia Nur
Uruha is doing tawaf around the Kaaba,
and
Hisham Abner Uruha
comes to the Kaaba and is doing tawaf
with him.
And
he says to Sufia Narayna,
ask me for anything that you want. I
can give I'll give it to you. You
know sometimes you say to someone
you know whatever you want as a gift
tell me I'll give it to you as
a gift really you mean anything under £50
anything
ferrari no no no something more modest
he says sell me Hajjatan ask me anything
I'll give you
So he says, Sufyan says, Inmi astahimin Allahiin
Asalafi baytihi rahim.
He says, I feel shy. I am at
the house of Allah. How can I ask
somebody else for something? I have to ask
Allah. He said, okay. Let's exit the Haram.
So they exit the Haram. He says, You
Sufyan, okay now ask me whatever you want
I'll give you.
He says, Should I ask you for something
from the dunya or something from the akhirah?
So he says, Ask me something from the
dunya please. I cannot really provide you anything
in the akhirah.
He says, okay.
He says, you know, it's a very strange
thing.
I never asked something from this dunya, from
the owners of this dunya.
For how can I ask
from somebody who doesn't own this dunya?
Let me ask
the
one
who
owns
it. As a famous poet said,
don't worry about asking human beings for things.
Ask the one who gave them, He will
give you as well.
And so when we think about the Kingdom
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, that Allah has
the mulk and then when we ask Allah,
His Kingdom doesn't decrease
except as a pin drop when it takes
water out of the ocean. We realize
that we are too humble and modest when
we ask of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
and He's the ultimate King and the kings
of this world are jokers compared to Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala He is the ultimate King
And in the Quran, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
frequently says in 2 different phrases.
He says,
to Allah belongs the kingdom of the heavens
and the earth. And there's some verses he
says something slightly different. Who can tell me?
Slightly different.
Many, many times he says it in the
Quran.
He says this very often in the Quran.
And he says,
What's the difference?
What are the Arabic language What's
the difference between these 2?
Yes, you're going to turn. Is it,
milk?
Mulk is, okay.
Mulk is kingdom. He's he's, king
of the heavens. He is the king of
the heavens and the earth.
Mhmm.
What's your name young man? Amar. Amar.
Say, oh Allah, please make Amar alim from
the Say, amen.
Amir.
Nobody put the hand up except
How old are you,
11.
Be ashamed of yourself,
Be ashamed of yourself. Is 11.
He gave you such a subtle Arabic language,
idea, and he he's not an Arab. Right?
No. He's not Arab.
And this happened in the life of the
Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. He asked his companions
that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala compares the believers
to a tree. Which tree is it?
And the senior companions of the Prophet were
around him and they didn't know the answer.
Umar Bul Khattab, Ubaka Sadeer, Uthman. They were
there. They didn't know the answer. And who
knew the answer?
Abdulai ibn Umar, who was at that time
a little child under the age of 11.
But out of respect he was quiet.
Later on,
he said to his father,
my father, Umar Al Khattab, he says, you
know, my father, I knew the answer to
the question, but I was quiet.
Umar Al Khattab says, if only you answered
the question, what I would have given for
you to answer that question.
Answered the question.
Yes? So his father needs to give him
some reward afterwards for his, in sha Allah,
Samatik.
To Allah belongs the kingdom of the heavens
and the earth.
Earth. To Allah belongs whatever
is in the heavens and the earth. 1
is to do with kingdom, 1 is to
do with ownership. And so Allah in the
Quran constantly reminds us of these 2 separate
ideas.
And
what does Allah
What
does Allah say? Interesting.
Sometimes Allah says
And sometimes he says
Why the extra fee?
An additional letter
an additional word means there's additional meaning.
When Allah says
to him belongs whatever is in the heavens
and the earth,
But now in Ayatul Kursa, he says whatever
is in the heavens and
whatever is in the earth. To emphasize further
that there's not a single atom in this
world except that it belongs to Allah,
and except he has complete control over
it. So we should never become helpless
because we have the help of Allah.
That boss that is bullying you at work,
that person who is oppressing you outside this
Masjid,
That person who is making life difficult for
you. Never forget
that they have zero authority in reality and
that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is the ultimate
authority.
Complain to Allah.
And he has a small group of Muslims.
And you have the Romans with their 200,000
army, and the Persians with their 200,000 big
army, and resources,
and funding, and so much, and
what does he have?
What does he have, really? Allah. He has
Allah.
He doesn't have the resources, but he has
Allah. So Allah says,
o Muhammad, salaam.
Don't be deceived by the numbers and the
money and the funding that all of these
people have and how they move across the
world. Take over civilizations.
Don't don't worry about them.
They are on a short term lease.
Allah will take ownership once again.
Don't worry.
Knowing Allah is al Malik, and al Malik
is something that relieves you from your anxieties
and your worries.
Allah says to the
prophet,
Oh Muhammad.
Don't feel sad and upset because of those
who are disbelieving.
Don't feel sad, Allah tells him.
Allah says.
Oh, Muhammad, you might kill yourself out of
your sadness. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasalam was
really and deeply saddened by the things he
would see around him, But Allah reassures him,
don't worry.
Allah is in control.
So many things around us are uncertain.
The prices of property,
the interest
rates,
the prices of fuel, everything is going up
and down at the moment.
And when things are going up and down,
where do we look
for peace, for constancy,
for control of all of these things? Although
they are out of our control, we should
never forget that they are in the control
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And that gives
us peace, and that gives us reassurance
that today the fuel price may be this
and tomorrow it may be something else. The
pound might rise and it might fall, but
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not rise nor
does he fall, and he is in control
of all of these variables. He is fixed.
Allah is constant.
He's
alive. He does not die.
And so when we remember the mulk of
Allah, the ownership of Allah, the kingship of
Allah, we should feel reassured.
This is a good landlord.
This is a landlord that has our best
interests,
and he's looking after our best interests.
And that's why he sent the prophets and
gave us guidance and gave us this the
Sharia to look after our masalih our best
interests
any other Lord any other King any other
owner you can't really trust them they might
want to harm those in their kingdom They
might want to destroy the thing that they
own, but not Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is the most benevolent king,
the most generous master,
the most
well thought out owner,
and so this gives us reassurance.
And so to summarize
Allah's name Al Malik and Al Malik the
King
and the ultimate owner
what should these two names
how should we respond and react to these
two names number 1
we must never feel like we own anything
on this earth.
We must realize if we do feel that,
Allah will take it away. And when we
lose something, then he will remind us ultimately
these things belong to Allah. They had an
expiry date. Think of everybody and everything you
interact with. Think that there is an expiry
date written somewhere behind, but you can't see
it, and you'll deal with it in different
way. If you knew your mother was only
alive for 3 more weeks, you will deal
with her in a very different way. If
we knew the cars that we own would
only be around for 2 more months, it
would be a lot cleaner than the cars
that we have at the moment. Deal with
things like they are on a temporary basis
because the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam informs
us.
Everything in this world is temporary.
This is the first thing.
Know that Allah is the ultimate owner and
there's nothing that we truly own. Number 2,
when we realize Allah is the owner and
we are the property and everything is his
property, we realize he can do as he
wishes.
So when someone dies when we see a
typhoon when we see a monsoon when we
see a fire
we should not blame Allah we should not
question challenge Allah it's his property he does
as he wishes
but Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is never a
violin
he's never oppressive
Kings,
human kings, well, as they become kings, they
become tight *, they become
arrogant, they become oppressive, but Allah is never
oppressive to his slaves.
When we know that Allah is the king,
we have to know that his kingdom has
no limits and that we can ask Allah
whatever we wish and that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala's kingdom doesn't decrease by our asking. And
we have to remember that in the last
third of the night when Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala descends to the lowest heavens, what is
the first thing He says?
* Malik, I am the king.
Make sure you and me are awake at
that time so we can respond to his
request.
When we realize that Allah is the king,
we stop worrying about history, about governments,
about power
because we know all of these things are
in the control of Allah, and we have
to do our time and be patient and
wait until Allah
grants us the test of power.
Al Malik and Al Malik. I'm going to
leave you with the dua of the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, he taught that
we should say,
Oh Allah, you are the king. There's none
worthy of worship but you.
You are my lord, my master, and I
am your slave.
I wronged myself.
And I admit my sins.
Forgive all of my sins.
And don't forget the aya, the dua in
Surat Al Imran.
Oh Allah, you are the owner of kings.
You take kingdom from whoever you wish, and
you give it to whomever you wish.
And you humiliate whoever you wish, and you
honor whomever you wish. Don't forget this dua
from the Quran.
And remember Allah is Al Malik, and he's
Al Malik, and you will sleep well at
night
because you know the one in control
is the one who has your best interest
at heart.