Kamil Ahmad – The Beautiful Names of Allah #14
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AI: Transcript ©
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the
Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord
of the worlds.
And peace and blessings be upon the best
of Allah's creation, and upon his family and
companions, and upon those who have been guided
by his guidance, and who have waited by
his Sunnah until the Day of Judgment.
O Allah, teach us what is beneficial to
us, and benefit us with what You have
taught us, and increase us in knowledge and
action, and show us the truth as it
is, and grant us to follow it, and
show us falsehood as falsehood, and grant us
to avoid it, and make us of those
who listen to the word, and follow the
best of it, and admit us with Your
mercy among Your righteous servants.
And after this, peace and blessings be upon
you.
Last week we went through names of Allah,
referring to Allah's Hifz, his protection for his
believing servants.
And so we move on today to another
three names that are similar to those names.
And these names basically mention how Allah is
sufficient for us.
That as long as we have Allah, we
are sufficient.
He is sufficient for us.
And so these names that we have today
are Al-Hasib, Al-Kafi, and Al-Shafi.
Al-Hasib, Al-Kafi, and Al-Shafi.
As for Al-Hasib, it's been mentioned in
the Qur'an three times.
And so Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A
'la says, for example in Surah An-Nisa,
وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ حَسِيبًا وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ حَسِيبًا And Allah
is sufficient as one who takes account as
a Hasib.
And also in Surah An-Nisa, Allah says,
إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ حَسِيبًا Allah
is a Hasib of all things, one who
takes everything into account.
And in Surah Al-Ahzab, وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ حَسِيبًا
وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ حَسِيبًا Similar to the Ayah in
Surah An-Nisa.
Now, another form in which this name of
Allah is mentioned is as Hasb, which means
the same thing.
So Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says for
example in Surah Al-Anfal, يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ
حَسْبُكَ اللَّهِ وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَكَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ O Prophet,
Allah is sufficient for you and for the
believers who follow you.
وَمَنْ يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ Whoever puts
his trust in Allah, Allah is sufficient for
them.
So this is Al-Hasid.
As for Al-Kafi, it's only been mentioned
once in the Qur'an.
Only once in the Qur'an.
And that is where Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta
'ala says, أَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ
بِكَافٍ عَبْدَهُ Is Allah not sufficient for His
servant?
Is Allah not sufficient for His servant?
So بِكَافٍ here, it's the baad that has
been added.
And this baad that has been added in
the beginning causes the yaad to be dropped.
So that's why it's not كافي.
Because of the baad that is added in
the beginning.
So it becomes بِكَافٍ عَبْدَهُ But it's also
been mentioned in the Qur'an in the
verb form.
Allah's name Al-Kafi has been mentioned in
the Qur'an in the verb form a
couple of times in the Qur'an.
For example, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,
وَكَفَ اللَّهُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ الْقِتَالِ وَكَفَ اللَّهُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
الْقِتَالِ And Allah spared the believers from fighting.
And Allah says, فَسَيَكْفِيكَهُمُ اللَّهُ He says to
the Prophet ﷺ, فَسَيَكْفِيكَهُمُ اللَّهُ Allah will be
sufficient for you, O Muhammad, against them, against
your enemies.
And Allah says, إِنَّا كَفَيْنَاكَ الْمُسْتَحِزِئِينَ Surely we
will be sufficient for you against those who,
they mock you, they ridicule you, O Muhammad.
So this is Al-Kafi.
As for Al-Shafi, it has not been
mentioned in the Qur'an.
Allah's name Al-Shafi has not been mentioned
in the Qur'an.
However, it has been mentioned in the Qur
'an in the verb form.
Where is that?
Exactly.
وَإِذَا مَرِضْتُ فَهُوَ يَشْفِينَ If I fall ill,
this was Ibrahim ﷺ who said this.
He said, when I fall ill, when I'm
sick, it is He, Allah, who cures me.
It is He, Allah, who cures me.
Meaning, Al-Shafi means the one who cures.
However, as a name of Allah, Al-Shafi
has been mentioned in the Sunnah.
And that's why we attribute it to Allah
as a name.
And that is in the hadith of Aisha
radiAllahu anha in Bukhari and Muslim.
She says that when the Prophet ﷺ would
visit any ill member of his family, he
would visit them and he would touch them
with his right hand and he would make
the following du'a.
He would place his hand on them wherever
they feel pain and he would say, أَللَّهُمَّ
رَبَّ النَّاسَ أَدْهِبِ الْبَعْسِ وَشْفِي أَنتَ الشَّافِي وَشْفِي
أَنتَ الشَّافِي لَا شِفَاءَ إِلَّا شِفَاءُكَ شِفَاءً لَا
يُغَادِرُ سَقَامَا And so in this du'a,
he says, أَنتَ الشَّافِي, you are Al-Shafi,
the one who cures.
As for the meanings of these names, all
of these names basically, as we can see,
refer to Allah being sufficient for us.
We don't need anyone besides Allah, right?
But when it comes to Allah's name, حَسِيب,
حَسِيب has two meanings.
حَسِيب has two meanings.
One is the one who is sufficient to
meet our needs and take care of all
of our worries and our fears.
Allah is sufficient.
وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ Whoever puts
their trust in Allah, then He alone is
sufficient for them.
He alone is sufficient for them.
The other meaning of حسيب comes from حساب
or المحاسبة, which means to take account of
something.
So with regards to Allah, حسيب in that
sense, it means that Allah is the one
who takes account of all things, of all
actions in precise detail, and then He will
recompense each person for what they did with
precise measurement, all based on His bounty and
His wisdom.
All based on His bounty and His wisdom.
And so that is the meaning of إِنَّ
اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ حَسِيبًا إِنَّ اللَّهَ
كَانَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ حَسِيبًا Allah is the
one who takes everything into account.
He takes everything into account.
So everything we do, He's taking it into
account.
And then He will bring us to account
on the Day of Judgment.
So that comes from Allah's name حسيب.
As for كافي, then it means the same
thing as الحسب, as we mentioned.
So the first meaning of حسيب in that
Allah is sufficient to meet all of our
needs and take care of all of our
worries and our fears such that we don't
need to turn to anyone besides Allah for
anything.
And this sufficiency of Allah, this كفاية of
Allah is two kinds.
The first is the general sufficiency of Allah.
And so Allah is sufficient for all of
His creation.
Allah is sufficient for all of His creation
in the sense of He is the one
who provides for them, takes care of their
needs.
Even if they turn to others and others
help them, it is actually Allah who is
providing for them and taking care of them.
And this is all of Allah's creation, irrespective
of who they are, Muslim or non-Muslim,
human being or animal, right?
Allah سبحانه وتعالى is sufficient for everyone.
So this is the general sufficiency of Allah
سبحانه وتعالى.
The specific, the second one is the specific
sufficiency of Allah.
And this is specific to who or specific
for who?
Specific for the believers.
This is specific for the believers in the
sense that Allah سبحانه وتعالى is sufficient for
them by protecting them, by taking care of
them, by aiding them, by granting them victory
and success over their enemies, right?
So this is the meaning of Allah سبحانه
وتعالى being الكافر.
As for الشافع, then it means that Allah
سبحانه وتعالى is the true cure, the one
who cures and heals all illnesses, all diseases,
whether they are bodily or whether they are
spiritual.
There is no real cure except through Him.
Any cure or healing through other than Allah
سبحانه وتعالى is merely the means that Allah
سبحانه وتعالى is the one who sent, right?
So in the end of the day, even
if we have medicine and we have doctors
who cure us, the ultimate cure, the one
who cures is Allah سبحانه وتعالى because He
is the one who sent this medicine.
As the Prophet ﷺ mentions in a hadith
that there is no disease that Allah has
sent except that Allah has also sent its
cure.
The brother is saying that in the Arabic
language, we say that the علاج is from
the doctor, but the شفاء is from Allah.
But unfortunately, the English language is not as
rich as Arabic.
So I don't know how to translate that
because علاج and شفاء in English is cure.
Both of them mean cure.
So in the end of the day, it
is Allah سبحانه وتعالى who cures if He
wills.
And even the علاج, it will only work
if Allah wills.
Otherwise it won't work.
And this is as Allah سبحانه وتعالى says,
وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ اللَّهُ بِضُرٍ فَلَا كَاشِفَ لَهُ إِلَّا
هُوَ And if Allah touches you with some
harm, none can undo that except Allah.
وَإِن يُرِدُكَ بِخَيْرٍ فَلَا رَدَّ لِفَضُّ لِهُ And
if He intends any good for you, then
no one can withhold Allah's bounty.
So what do these names teach us?
Number one, Allah's names
الحسيب and الكافي teach us that Allah alone
is sufficient for us in protecting us from
every harm.
Whether it is physical or mental, from both
the shayateen and the devils of the jinn
and human beings.
And so the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم,
he tells us, he teaches us a du
'a or a dhikr.
He said that whoever says when leaving home,
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ عَلَى اللَّهِ وَلَا حَوْلَ وَلَا
قُوَّةَ إِلَّا بِاللَّهِ He leaves home in the
name of Allah.
Then it will be said to him, to
this person, هُدِيتَ وَكُفِيتَ وَوُقِيتَ You have been
guided, you have been spared of all harm,
and you have been protected.
So the كفاية of Allah.
كُفِيتَ You have been spared of every harm.
Meaning Allah سبحانه وتعالى is going to take
care of you and He is sufficient for
you.
And then the Prophet ﷺ says, and as
a result, shaytaan will go far away from
him.
As a result, shaytaan won't come near this
person.
The next lesson that we learn is that
when we're afraid of something, we should say
as the sahaba said after the day of
Uhud, when the battle was over and the
kuffar of Quraysh had left.
The next morning, they got word that Abu
Sufyan was mobilizing, and he was regrouping, and
he was coming with a large army to
just finish off the Muslims in Medina.
So the Prophet ﷺ gathered the Muslims who
had fought in Uhud.
Imagine, they were injured.
Even the Prophet ﷺ was injured.
But the Prophet ﷺ got them together, and
they were gonna head out to see whether
this was a real threat or not.
And when they were going, some of the
munafiqun, the hypocrites, said, what do you guys
think you're doing?
You guys don't face a chance.
It's a huge army coming, and you guys
have already been defeated, and you guys are
injured.
How are you gonna be able to face
off against them?
So what did these people say?
What did they say?
Allah ﷻ tells us in surah Ali'Imran
what they said.
Allah ﷻ says, الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسَ إِنَّ
النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا لَكُمْ فَخْشَوْهُمْ Those who were
warned.
Your enemies have mobilized their forces against you,
so fear them.
فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَقَالُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ Allah
ﷻ says, that only increased them in iman.
And what did they say?
They replied by saying, حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ
Allah is sufficient for us.
And He is the best wakil, the trustee
of affairs.
And we mentioned this name of Allah last
week, الوكيل.
And so this is what we say when
we fear harm or we fear an enemy.
And so it was, I believe, Ibn Mas
'ud ﷺ who said that Ibrahim ﷺ said
these words when he was thrown in the
fire and Muhammad ﷺ and his companions said
it after the day of Uhud, referring to
that incident.
The third lesson that we learned is from
the other meaning of حسيب, the meaning of
the one who takes everything into account.
This should make us fear Allah as He
is the one who takes everything into account.
No matter how small or insignificant it may
seem to us.
We do small things and small sins and
we think it's not a big deal.
But Allah is taking everything into account.
وَنَضَعُ الْمَوَازِينَ الْقِسْطَ لِيَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ فَلَا تُظْلَمُ نَفْسٌ
شَيْئًا We will set up the scales of
justice on the day of judgment.
So no soul will be wronged in the
very least.
وَإِنْ تَانَ مِثْقَالَ حَبَّةٍ مِّنْ خَرْدَلٍ أَتَيْنَا بِهَا
وَكَفَى بِنَا خَاسِبِينَ And even if the act
was as small in weight as a mustard
seed, we will bring it forth.
And sufficient are we to take account.
Allah says, وَكَفَى بِنَا خَاسِبِينَ And sufficient are
we to take account.
And so this should make us to prepare
for that accounting.
When Allah brings us to account.
By basically bringing ourselves to account now, before
that day.
As Umar radiAllahu anhu said, حَاسِبُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ قَبْلَ
أَن تُحَاسَبُوا وَزِنُوهَا قَبْلَ أَن تُزَنُوا Bring yourselves
to account before you are brought to account.
And weigh your deeds before they are weighed.
The fourth lesson that we learn is that
the كفاية of Allah, His sufficiency for you
is proportionate to your إيمان and your توكل
in Allah.
And so how much Allah will be sufficient
for you, that varies from person to person.
And that varies according to one's إيمان and
his توكل.
As Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, وَمِن
يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبًا Whoever puts their
trust in Allah, then He is sufficient for
him.
So the higher your توكل, the more Allah
will be sufficient for you.
Notice how here Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
did not say, as He says elsewhere for
other actions, that the reward is that we
will give him such and such.
Allah did not say, وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ
فَلَهُ جَنَّاتِ النَّعِيمِ For example, that he will
have Jannah, and he'll have this reward and
this reward.
Rather, what did Allah say?
Whoever puts his trust in him, Allah made
himself to be sufficient for that person.
This is his reward.
Sufficiency means that you don't need anyone else.
That's the meaning of sufficiency.
So sufficiency here means that in your life,
Allah will be sufficient for you.
You don't need anyone else.
No, it's more related to the dunya.
But obviously in the akhirah as well, but
in the akhirah, you know, in the end
of the day, all of us will be
only relying on Allah in the akhirah.
No one will be able to rely on
anyone else.
No one will be able to rely on
anyone else.
And so here Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
mentioned that whoever puts their trust in Him,
He will be sufficient for them.
The next lesson that we learn is that
Allah's sufficiency, it comes in various forms.
And so we should always have good thoughts
of Allah.
And so when some hardship or mishap touches
us, and we thought, you know, Allah was
taking care of me.
What happened?
There are people who think this way.
You know, I thought Allah was there for
me.
So why am I going through this difficulty?
So here we shouldn't have such thoughts, right?
We should not think here that Allah has
now turned against us.
As long as we're doing what pleases Allah,
right?
As long as we, you know, overall, we
are abiding by the laws of Allah, the
commandments of Allah, we have a good relationship
with Allah, etc.
Right?
On the other hand, if you become distant
from Allah, and you're committing sins, you're living
a life of sin, and this happens to
you, then you should understand from that that
this is a wake-up call from Allah.
And it is perhaps a punishment from Allah.
But here we're talking about those who, they're
doing everything that Allah has commanded them to
do, and they even put their trust in
Allah, and then they wonder, you know, why
is this happening to me then?
So the important thing here is having husn
al-dhan.
Never think negatively of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
And so the point here is, and why
am I mentioning this?
Because the sufficiency of Allah comes in various
forms.
So it could be that this pain and
this suffering itself is Allah's sufficiency for you.
It could have been that Allah has warded
off a greater harm from you.
Right?
So what we learn from this is that
Allah's sufficiency for you does not necessarily always
mean outward happiness and material blessings.
Rather, it could also be in what we
may dislike.
As Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, فَعَسَىٰ
أَن تَكْرَهُ شَيْئًا وَيَجْعَلَ اللَّهُ فِيهِ خَيْرٌ كَثِيرًا
Perhaps you may dislike something, but Allah makes
a lot of good in it.
Allah makes a lot of good in it.
You know, just look at what's happening to
our brothers and sisters in Palestine, in Gaza.
They're not complaining.
They're not wondering where is Allah.
No, Allah is sufficient for them.
But in a way, that does not make
sense to us.
Right?
In a way, that does not make sense
to us.
And that is that they have shown lessons
of Iman and Tawakkul and Yaqeen in Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala and so on and
so forth.
The next lesson that we learn is from
Allah's name Ash-Shafi.
And so this name of Allah teaches us
to turn to Allah and put our trust
in Him alone to cure us of any
illness that befalls us while remembering that everything
else is merely a sabab, a means.
Not that we should not take it.
Here when we talk about Allah being Ash
-Shafi and we should only seek the cure
from Him.
This doesn't mean, we're not saying do not,
you know, use medicine, do not go to
the doctor.
That's not what we're saying.
But when it comes to these means, right,
when it comes to these means, we have
to remember three things.
Number one, we should not take any means
that have not been prescribed or tested to
work.
So, you know, we're not allowed to take
haram means, for example, and think that there's
a cure in it, right?
There may be a cure in something haram,
but its harm is greater than its benefits.
Whether we see it or we don't see
it.
Number two, we should not put our trust
in the means, right?
But rather in the causer of the means,
and that is Allah.
So take the medicine, but don't think that
it is this medicine that's going to cure
me.
Don't put your trust in the medicine itself.
Go to the doctor, take his advice, but
don't think that if I do what he's
telling me to do, that is why I'm
going to be cured.
It's because of his insight and his intelligence.
No, right?
So we do not put our trust in
the means, but rather in Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala who has made the means.
And number three, we should know that no
matter how effective the means are, in the
end of the day, they are tied to
the qadr of Allah.
And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is
in complete control.
If he wills, he will cure you, and
if he wills, you will not be cured
no matter what medicine you take, no matter
which doctors treat you.
And so the stronger your iman is in
the qadr of Allah, the more content you
will be in difficult times.
And that's because anyone who believes in Allah's
qadr, when things don't go the way he
has planned and the way he wishes, he
knows that this was Allah's decision.
This was the decree of Allah, the qadr
of Allah.
And there's no avoiding it.
So I'm going to be content.
I'm going to be satisfied with Allah's decision.
And finally, the last point that we can
mention here is the importance of calling upon
Allah alone and asking him to cure us.
Unfortunately, many Muslims today will use every medicine
and treatment in the world, but forget to
call upon Allah, making dua to Allah.
And also, from the means of having us
cured is the various methods prescribed by the
Prophet ﷺ, which includes ruqya and all other
prophetic methods of treatment that the Prophet ﷺ
prescribed.
And so with the advancement in medical sciences,
many Muslims have abandoned these means.
Right?
They have more trust in these conventional medicines,
even though, when we really look into it,
these conventional medicines, they have a lot of
side effects and a lot of harms.
And so herbal natural treatment is far better.
But still, Muslims today, many Muslims today, they
put their trust in these medicines because of
how strong their effect is.
Right?
While forgetting about turning to Allah ﷻ and
taking the various methods that the Prophet ﷺ
taught us.
Yeah, yeah, that's true.
You could say that ilaj means treatment, and
ash-shifa is the cure.
Yeah.
The doctor is the one who gives the
treatment, while Allah is the one who gives
the cure.
We move on after that to another three
names of Allah.
We're going to talk about guidance now.
Right?
So the next three names are related to
the guidance of Allah.
Right.
حَسْبِيَ اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ And
we say every morning.
Every morning and every evening, you should say
seven times.
حَسْبِيَ اللَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ عَلَيْهِ تَوَكَّلْتُ
وَهُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْكَرِيمُ So this is the
رَوَّهُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْعَظِيمُ This is the dhikr,
from the adhkar of the morning and the
evening.
Alright, the next three names that we have
are related to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
guiding his servants.
And so these three names are الهادي المبين
and الحق As
for الهادي, it has been mentioned only twice
in the Qur'an.
In surah al-furqan Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala says وَكَذَلِكَ جَعَلْنَا لِكُلِّ نَبِيٍ عَدُوًّا مِّنَ
الْمُجْرِيمِينَ We have made enemies for every prophet
from among the criminals.
وَكَفَى بِرَبِّكَ هَادِيًا وَنَصِيرًا But sufficient is your
Lord as هادي, a guide, and نصير, a
helper.
And the other place it's been mentioned is
in surah al-hajj وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَهَادِ الَّذِينَ
آمَنُوا إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ And Allah surely guides
those who believe to the straight path.
However, it's been mentioned in the verb form
throughout the Qur'an that Allah يَهْدِي and
Allah هَدَى It's mentioned throughout the Qur'an.
As for al-mubeen, it's only been mentioned
once in the Qur'an and that is
in surah an-Nur.
Allah سبحانه وتعالى says يَوْمَ إِذِن يُوَفِّيهِمُ اللَّهُ
دِينَهُمُ الْحَقِّ وَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْحَقُّ الْمُبِينُ
On that day, on the day of judgment,
Allah will give them their just recompense in
full and they will come to know that
Allah alone is al-haqq, al-mubeen, al
-haqq and al-mubeen.
So these two names are mentioned here.
Also the verb form of this name of
al-mubeen has been mentioned numerous times in
the Qur'an as well.
يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ that Allah makes things
clear and the name from that is al
-mubeen.
As for al-haqq, it has been mentioned
10 times in the Qur'an referring to
Allah سبحانه وتعالى and so for example we
mentioned surah an-Nur, the same ayah وَيَعْلَمُونَ
أَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْحَقُّ الْمُبِينُ and in surah
al-An'am Allah says ثُمَّ رُدُّوا إِلَى
اللَّهِ مَوْلَاهُمُ الْحَقُّ then they are all returned
to Allah, their true lord or master and
in surah al-Hajj ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ
الْحَقُّ وَأَنَّ مَا يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِهِ هُوَ الْبَاطِلُ
that is because Allah alone is al-Haqq,
the truth and whatever they call upon besides
Allah is falsehood and this name of Allah
was also mentioned by the Prophet ﷺ in
this dua that he would start his Qiyam
al-Layl with he would say اللهم لك
الحمد أنت نور السماوات والأرض ومن فيهن ولك
الحمد أنت قيم السماوات والأرض ومن فيهن ولك
الحمد أنت الحق وقولك حق until the end
of the dua so he says أنت الحق,
you are al-Haq so these are the
three names As for the meanings of these
names, they refer to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala guiding his creation to the truth.
Guiding them to what is beneficial for them
and continually showing us the truth and the
right way.
Now when it comes to guidance, there are
different kinds of guidance that we attribute to
Allah.
The first is the general guidance and that
is Allah guiding every soul to what is
beneficial for him and his survival in this
dunya.
And so this includes Muslims and non-Muslims.
It includes human beings and animals.
Allah has guided every creature to what is
beneficial for it.
As Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, الَّذِي
خَلَقَ فَسَوَّى وَالَّذِي قَدَّرَ فَهَدَى The one who
created and perfectly fashioned everything and then the
one who ordained precisely and guided accordingly.
So when we think about it, look at
even animals and we wonder, how does an
animal know to take care of its children
for example and to do certain things?
And insects and even plants, right?
How they are being guided by Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
So this is the general guidance of Allah.
Then we have what is known as hidayatul
irshad or hidayatul bayan.
And that is Allah guiding by making the
truth clear, by showing the way, by showing
the right way.
So He showed His creation the right way.
He revealed the books.
He sent the messengers.
He has done His part.
No one can come on the day of
judgment and say, Oh Allah, I did not
know.
Allah has showed us the right way from
the wrong way.
He has distinguished for us the truth from
falsehood, made it clear.
And that is His name Al Mubeen, the
one who makes things clear.
And so it is this kind of guidance
that is Allah's hujjah against us.
That is Allah's proof against us.
Which He does not punish anyone until He
has guided them, right?
Allah does not punish anyone until He has
guided them in this sense.
As Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says about
Thamud, وَأَمَّا ثَمُودُ فَهَدَيْنَاهُمْ Allah says, Thamud, we
guided them.
But we all know that Thamud were destroyed
as kuffar.
So what does it mean that Allah guided
them?
This is what it means.
It means that Allah showed them the guidance.
فَاسْتَحَبُّوا الْعَمَىٰ عَلَى الْهُدَىٰ And so they preferred
blindness over guidance.
They preferred blindness over guidance.
So that is the meaning of Hidayatul Irshad,
right?
And this kind of guidance is what every
single one of us is able to do.
Right?
This is the kind of guidance that the
prophets and the messengers, they did.
They guided their people in this sense.
And every da'i to Allah, every da
'i, one who calls others, this is what
he is doing.
He is showing the people the truth.
He is guiding them in this sense.
And the next one is known as Hidayatul
Tawfiq wal Ilham.
The guidance of the hearts.
The guidance of the hearts.
And so this is what only Allah can
do.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala guides whomever
he wills from among his servants.
Meaning that he opens up their hearts to
accept the truth.
As Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, إِنَّكَ
لَا تَهْدِي مَنْ أَحْبَبْتَ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِي مَنْ
يَشَغُّ Allah says to the Prophet ﷺ, you
do not guide whom you love, who you
want for him to be guided.
But rather it is Allah who guides.
And this was revealed after the death of
Abu Talib, the uncle of the Prophet ﷺ.
When the Prophet ﷺ was in grief, and
because his uncle died while being supportive of
him, he died as a kafir.
So Allah was reminding the Prophet ﷺ that
this kind of guidance is not in your
hands.
So this is the kind of guidance that
we're talking about here.
As for the first kind of guidance, then
Allah has attributed it to the Prophet ﷺ.
What did Allah say?
وَإِنَّكَ لَا تَهْدِي إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ You do
indeed guide to the straight way.
Allah says to the Prophet ﷺ, you do
guide.
But here Allah negates.
He says you do not guide.
So this shows us the importance of learning
and understanding the Qur'an properly.
Because if someone doesn't have this knowledge, he'll
think there's a contradiction here.
In one place Allah is saying Muhammad ﷺ
does not guide, and in another verse Allah
is saying he does guide, that Muhammad ﷺ
does guide.
So we need to understand the different kinds
of guidance.
And a nice way of understanding the difference
between these two kinds of guidance is by
saying that if you are outside somewhere, and
you're driving, and you're new to town, and
you get lost, and you don't have any
GPS, so you ask someone to help you.
You're asking them to guide you.
You're trying to get somewhere.
So the person, he tells you go down
the street, take a left, you're going to
see a building, take a right, he guides
you.
And then you go.
So what has he done?
He has guided you.
This is the second kind of guidance.
But another person, he says, you know what,
why don't you hop in with me, and
I will help you get there.
And he takes you by the hand until
you reach.
He has also guided you.
But this is a different kind of guidance.
This is the third one that we're talking
about here.
Where he takes you by the hand, and
so this is Allah ﷻ guiding your heart.
Allah ﷻ guiding your heart.
And that is something that only Allah ﷻ
can do.
So this is the meaning of Allah being
the one who guides.
As for al-haqq, it means that Allah
is the truth in every sense.
There being absolutely no doubt about His truth,
about the truth of Allah.
In His very being and existence, in His
names and His attributes, and also in His
sole right to be worshipped.
Which is the very meaning of la ilaha
illallah.
That there is no god, no deity worthy
of worship except Allah ﷻ.
And also in His words, right?
His words are the truth.
Both His words in the sense of His
qadr, whatever Allah has decreed, and also His
words that He has revealed.
And also His promise is true for His
believing servants.
The promise of Jannah.
And His threat of punishment is also true.
All of this is true without a shadow
of a doubt.
And this is what every believer has to
believe.
We move on to the lessons that we
learn from these names of Allah.
Number one, we see the mercy and the
kindness of Allah to His servants.
That He did not just create us and
then leave us to wander in confusion.
Rather, He guided us by sending us messengers
for that sole purpose of guiding us.
And in this is a refutation of those
who claim that Allah created us, He created
this world, but He has just left us
to live as we want, right?
So you have atheists who don't believe in
the existence of Allah at all.
They say this world came into being on
its own.
But then you have another group of people
which are known as deists.
Those who believe in a deity, they believe
in the existence of a creator or some
supreme being who created everything.
Because the proofs that prove the existence of
a creator are too convincing.
So there are many kuffar who accept that
there is a creator.
But then when you come and talk about
the message and the messenger, they say no.
They say, yes, I believe there is a
creator who created everything, but He has not
communicated with us and He doesn't want anything
from us.
No, an agnostic is someone who is unsure
whether God exists or not.
So an atheist is someone who says positively
there is no creator.
An agnostic is someone who says there may
be a creator, there may not be.
As for a deist, he believes in the
existence of a creator, but he doesn't believe
that that creator interferes in his creation and
he doesn't want anything from us, etc.
The kuffar of Quraysh, they believed in the
existence of Allah, but their problem was associating
partners with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And also they did not believe in the
hereafter.
But this is how we refute these people.
We say to them, it doesn't make sense
for the creator to create us and allow
us to wander in confusion.
Part of Him being the most just and
the most merciful is that He has to
clarify for us.
He has to guide us.
Otherwise He is not just and He is
not merciful and He is not kind and
He is not wise.
The second lesson that we learn from these
names of Allah is that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala is in control of absolutely everything.
And so even though He has given us
free will, He is still the one who
guides the hearts.
So although He has given us free will
to choose between right and wrong, to choose
between guidance and misguidance, He has given us
that free will.
But in the end, He is the one
who guides the hearts, as we have learned.
And so this should make us to be
dependent upon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alone
in guiding us.
Which is why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
taught us to seek His guidance, to ask
guidance from Him.
Not just once or twice or three times
a day, but how many times a day?
Multiple times.
اهدنا الصراط المستقيم guide us to the straight
way.
The third lesson that we learn is that
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is not unjust
in any way whatsoever.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has established
His proof against us by sending the clear
guidance.
And He will never punish anyone until that
guidance has reached them.
This is part of the justice of Allah.
As Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, وَمَا
كُنَّ مُعَذِّبِينَ حَتَّى نَبْعَثَ رَسُولًا We will not
punish until we have sent a messenger.
And that's why those whom Allah did not
send any messenger to them, or the message
did not reach them, Allah will not punish
them just like that.
These are people who came at a time
when there was no messenger, the message became
lost.
Like before the time of the Prophet ﷺ,
when the world was living in darkness, and
there was no messenger ever since Isa ﷺ,
so we're talking about a period of 500
years.
So these people will be excused.
But once the message comes, and the messenger
comes, that's it.
So no one can say, why is Allah
punishing people?
That's unjust.
No, it's not unjust.
Rather that is justice.
That Allah has warned of a punishment, and
you ignore that warning.
So you deserve to be punished.
The fourth lesson that we learn is that
we should never become self-deluded into thinking
that, well we're Muslims, we're people of Iman,
we are upon the straight path, we are
going to Jannah.
Not for even a split second of your
life should you think that you are guaranteed
remaining guided upon the straight path.
But rather you should fear, you should fear
misguidance.
Why?
Because guidance is not in your hands.
Yes, Allah has shown you the truth, and
He has also guided you to it.
So you should look at that as being
a gift from Allah.
And that's why the Prophet ﷺ, one of
the duas that he used to make the
most was, يَا مُقَلِّبَ الْقُلُوبِ ثَبِّتْ قَلْبِي عَلَى
دِينِكَ O turner of the hearts, keep my
heart firm upon your deen.
What does it mean, the turner of the
hearts?
It means Allah is the one who turns
the hearts.
From guidance to misguidance, from misguidance to guidance.
From Islam to Kufr, from Kufr to Islam,
etc.
Our hearts are in the hands of Allah,
right?
So we should always be asking Allah for
guidance, as we mentioned earlier.
And we should never think that we will
be guided forever.
Rather we should fear misguidance.
And we should take a lesson from those
who have gone before us.
People who were rightly guided, and they ended
up dying upon misguidance.
نَسْأَرَ اللَّهَ الْعَافِيَةَ Yeah, we mentioned that.
That Allah tells us so many times, or
we are required so many times to ask
Allah for His guidance.
Yeah, the very dua in Surah Al-Fatiha
that we're asking Allah for is guidance.
There's nothing else there.
Surah Al-Fatiha, it starts by praise of
Allah, then it ends with this dua.
O Allah, guide us.
Showing us the importance of asking Allah for
guidance.
The next lesson that we learn is that
Allah's guidance is His greatest blessing upon us.
And every other blessing, no matter how great
it is, it comes after Allah's guidance.
Why?
Because every other blessing of Allah, it will
die with our death.
If Allah has given you wealth, if Allah
has given you the fortunes of the dunya.
These are blessings of Allah, right?
But they will die with you.
Whereas guidance, if Allah has given it to
you, it will continue to go with you
until the akhirah.
And that is why the people of Jannah
will say, when they enter Jannah, وَقَالُوا الْحَمْدُ
لِلَّهِ الَّذِي هَدَانَ لِهَذَا وَمَا كُنَّ لِنَهْتَدِيَ لَوْلَا
أَنْ هَدَانَ اللَّهِ The people of Jannah will
say, praise be to Allah who guided us
to this.
And if it was not for Him guiding
us to it, we would not have been
guided to it.
So look at how they acknowledge this.
On that day they will acknowledge that it
wasn't them who did it on their own,
but rather it was the guidance of Allah.
And blessings are preserved by showing gratitude for
them.
If you want any blessing of Allah to
remain with you, you need to be grateful
to the one who gifted it to you.
Not being ungrateful or arrogant.
And when it comes to the blessing of
guidance, the way to be grateful to Allah
is by obeying Him and not disobeying Him.
The next lesson that we learn is the
importance of being guiders to the truth.
And not sufficing with being guided ourselves.
But then once we have been guided by
Allah, taking this guidance to others.
Following in the footsteps of the prophets and
the messengers.
Making clear to the people the truth from
falsehood.
Showing correct guidance and warning from misguidance and
warning the people from falsehood and so on
and so forth.
And so being someone who guides the people,
you are basically following in the footsteps of
the prophets and the messengers.
The next lesson that we learn is having
yaqeen in Allah and what He has sent.
We learn this from Allah's name, Al-Haqq,
the truth.
So not just knowing that it is a
truth, but believing in it.
With unwavering certainty that doesn't contain even the
slightest of doubt.
As Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, اللَّهُ
لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ لَيَجَمَعَنَّكُمْ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ
لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ Allah will certainly gather you
all together on the day of judgment.
How does Allah describe it?
About which there is no doubt.
About which there is no doubt.
The day of judgment is real.
It's coming.
There is no doubt about it.
And finally, the last lesson that we'll mention.
Knowing that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and
what He has promised us is the absolute
truth, should then push one to work hard
for the day that you will meet Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Why?
Because you know that it's coming without a
doubt.
This is now going to make you to
prepare and be serious about it.
How do you prepare for an important day
that you know is near?
How do you prepare for that?
Let's say you have an exam coming.
It's an important day in your life.
It's a very important exam.
You prepare for it.
You have a flight to catch.
You're traveling somewhere.
How do you prepare for it?
You don't take a chance by making it
to the airport late.
You make sure you're there on time.
You have a job interview.
It's a very important day for you.
You make sure that you come well prepared.
We do all of these things in our
lives, but when it comes to the ultimate
meeting, and the ultimate day about which there
is no doubt as Allah says, we don't
prepare ourselves and we slack off.
So knowing that Allah is the truth and
that what He has promised is the truth
should now make you as a believer to
work hard for that truth and to prepare.
So we ask Allah to make us from
among those who do so.
And we will suffice with that.
If there are any questions, we can take
those now insha'Allah.
There's more than one dua that has been
mentioned.
Dua al-istiftah for qiyam al-layl.
And this is the more common one, the
more well-known one.