Kamil Ahmad – The Beautiful Names of Allah – Class #17
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AI: Transcript ©
In the name of Allah,
the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of
the worlds.
May the peace and blessings of Allah 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 those
who have followed his Sunnah until the Day
of Judgment.
Allahumma a'allimna ma yanfa'una wa anfa
'na bima a'allamtana wa zidna a'ilman
wa amala wa alina alhaqqa haqqan wa rizqna
ittiba'ah wa alina albaatila baatilan wa rizqna
ijtinaabah wa ja'alna mimman yastami'una alqawla
fa yattabi'una ahsana As-salamu alaykum wa
rahmatullahi wa barakatuh We continue on our series
on Asma'ullah al-Husna, the most beautiful
names of Allah.
And last week we had looked at names
that were related to, you know, the kindness
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, his kindness,
his compassion.
So we looked at Ar-Ra'oof, Al
-Lateef, Al-Haleem, and Al-Rafiq.
So today we're going to continue with the
names, with those same names along those same
lines.
And so we move on to three more
similar names.
And these three names are Al-Wadood, Al
-Barr, and Al-Muhsin.
Al-Wadood, Al-Barr, and Al-Muhsin.
As for Al-Wadood, it has only been
mentioned once in the Qur'an.
Or actually twice, it's been mentioned twice in
the Qur'an.
The first place is in Surah Hud, where
Shu'aib radiallahu anhu says to his people,
Shu'aib alayhis salam says to his people,
وَاسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ ثُمَّ تُوبُوا إِلَيْهِ إِنَّ رَبِّي رَحِيمٌ
وَدُودٌ He said, seek forgiveness from your Lord
and repent to Him.
Surely my Lord, my Rabb, is Rahim and
Wadood.
And the other place it's been mentioned is
in Surah Al-Buruj.
وَهُوَ الْغَفُورُ الْوَدُودُ As
for Al-Bur, this name has only been
mentioned once in the Qur'an, and that
is in Surah At-Tur.
Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la tells
us about the people of Jannah.
When they are in Jannah, they will say,
إِنَّا كُنَّا مِنْ قَبْلُ نَدْعُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْبَرُّ
الرَّحِيمُ We used to call upon Him, we
used to make du'a to Him, to
Allah alone, before, meaning in the dunya.
Indeed, He truly is the Most Kind, Al
-Bur, and the Most Merciful, Al-Rahim.
And as for Al-Muhsin, this name has
not been mentioned in the Qur'an, except
in the verb form.
It has been mentioned in the verb form.
And so Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A
'la says, and this is in the story
of Qarun, that arrogant person from Bani Israel.
And so he was proud of his wealth
and what he had.
So his people said to him, وَبِتَغِي فِي
مَا آتَاكَ اللَّهُ الدَّارُ الْآخِرَةِ وَلَا تَنْسَ نَصِيبَكَ
مِنَ الدُّنْيَةِ Seek the reward of the akhira,
by means of what Allah has granted to
you, without forgetting your share of the dunya.
وَأَحْسِنْ كَمَا أَحْسَنَ اللَّهُ إِلَيْكَ وَأَحْسِنْ كَمَا أَحْسَنَ
اللَّهُ إِلَيْكَ And show ihsan to others, just
like Allah has shown ihsan to you, just
like Allah has done good to you.
أَحْسَنَ اللَّهُ إِلَيْكَ So this is only in
the verb form.
And as we know, as we've mentioned several
times already, when it comes to the names
of Allah, we do not extract them from
adjectives or from verbs.
So we don't say just because Allah has
said here in the verb form that He
does good to others, we don't say therefore
He is Muhsin.
We don't say that this is one of
His names.
So the names of Allah, as we've mentioned
previously, أَسْمَاعُ اللَّهُ تَوْقِي فِيه The names of
Allah are subject to evidence.
It has to be mentioned as a name
in the Qur'an or in the Sunnah.
So it's not mentioned in the Qur'an
as a name, but it is mentioned in
the Sunnah.
It is mentioned in a few hadith.
So for example, the hadith of Anas ibn
Malik.
Rasulullah ﷺ said, إِذَا حَكَمْتُمْ فَاعْدِلُوا وَإِذَا قَتَلْتُمْ
فَأَحْسِنُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ مُحْسِنٌ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ The Prophet
ﷺ says, when you are dealing in people's
judgments, and you are trying to figure out
a judgment between people who are disputing, فَاعْدِلُوا,
be just.
And when you kill, meaning when you slaughter
your animals, أَحْسِنُوا, do it in the best
way.
In the best way and in the kindest
way.
فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ مُحْسِنٌ For indeed, Allah is مُحْسِن
and He loves the مُحْسِنِين.
And the other hadith that we can mention
is the hadith of Shaddad ibn Aws.
He says, I memorized two things from Rasulullah
ﷺ.
فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ مُحْسِنٌ يُحِبُّ الْإِحْسَانِ فَإِذَا قَتَلْتُمْ فَأَحْسِنُوا
الْقَتِلُ وَإِذَا ذَبَحْتُمْ فَأَحْسِنُوا الْذَبْحُ وَلْيَحِدْ أَحَدُكُمْ
شَفْرَتَهُ ثُمَّ ٱلْيَرْحْ ذَبِيحَتَهُ The Prophet ﷺ said,
Indeed, Allah is مُحْسِن and He loves إحسان.
So when you kill, make sure you do
it in the best way.
And when you slaughter, do it in the
best way.
And let one of you to sharpen his
knife, meaning before slaughtering the animal.
And so that the animal is slaughtered right
away with ease and with little to no
pain.
But the point here is from this hadith,
إِنَّ اللَّهَ مُحْسِنِ The Prophet ﷺ said that
Allah is مُحْسِن.
So these three names, what do they mean?
Basically, they revolve around the same meanings of
the names that we mentioned last week.
Yes, the question is about where Allah says
in Surah Maryam that the believers, those who
believe and do righteous good deeds, Allah will
make for them وُدْ And what that means
is love.
Allah will be loving towards them.
It comes from the same name of Allah,
وَدُود.
So الوَدُود is the one who is the
most loving and most affectionate.
But He is not only the one who
loves but also the one who is loved.
So Allah is the most beloved to us.
And so He loves His awliya and His
chosen servants and they love Him too.
However, here we have to understand that Allah's
love for people is conditional.
It's not unrestricted.
It's not, you know, Allah loves everyone.
Right?
And that's exactly what they say.
Especially the Christians, they say, oh, you know,
God loves everyone.
Or even some Muslims, they say this, that
Allah loves everyone.
And so in the Qur'an, Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala has mentioned to us, in
more than one place, those whom He loves
and those whom He does not love.
So for example, Allah says that He loves
the مُؤْمِنِينَ, المُتَّقِينَ, الصَّابِرِينَ, المُتَوَكِّلِينَ, التَّوَابِينَ,
المُتَطَهِّرِينَ, الصَّادِقِينَ, المُحسِنِينَ, المُقْسِطِينَ.
You know, these are the kinds of people
Allah loves.
And Allah has mentioned it throughout the Qur
'an.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبَّ الصَّابِرِينَ, Allah loves those who
are patient.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبَّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ, Allah loves those who
are just.
And so on and so forth.
If Allah loves everyone, why would He say
that He loves these people?
So obviously, the love of Allah is conditional.
And then there are people whom Allah has
said He doesn't love.
So how can you say that Allah loves
everyone?
Allah has said explicitly that He does not
love الظَّالِمِينَ, الْكَافِرِينَ, الْخَائِنِينَ, الْمُسْرِفِينَ,
الْمُخْتَالِينَ, الْمُسْتَكْبِرِينَ.
Allah has said explicitly that He does not
love the wrongdoers, the disbelievers, those who are
treacherous and proud and arrogant.
Allah has specifically mentioned that He does not
love such people.
So the only way to gain the love
of Allah is by loving that which Allah
loves.
If you want to be included among those
whom Allah loves, then do that which Allah
loves.
And follow His commandments.
As Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says, قُلْ
إِن كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ
لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ Say to them, O Muhammad, If
you truly love Allah, Allah says,
Say to them, O Muhammad, If you truly
love Allah, then follow Me.
Meaning, if you truly love Allah, then follow
Muhammad ﷺ.
As a result, Allah will love you and
He will forgive you your sins.
So here, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says
that there is a condition for Allah to
love you.
And that is that you follow Muhammad ﷺ.
As for Al-Barr and Al-Muhsin, these
two names of Allah, they mean the one
who is most kind and gracious.
And Al-Barr comes from Al-Bir.
It comes from the word Bir, which means
righteousness, doing good.
And Al-Muhsin comes from Ihsan, which means
the same thing.
Doing good or doing acts of kindness.
And so Al-Barr and Al-Muhsin refers
to the one who is Allah Subhanahu wa
Ta'ala, who is the source of all
kindness and goodness.
The source of all kindness and goodness.
The one who is constantly showering his creation
with all kinds of blessings that have no
limit.
But here we have to mention that there
are two kinds of Ihsan.
When it comes to the word Ihsan or
even Al-Barr, there are two kinds.
One is general, Allah's kindness for all of
his creation.
And that is in the form of Allah
creating us and providing for us.
And this is for everyone.
Allah has done good to everyone.
Without any exceptions here.
By creating them and constantly providing for them,
whether believer or non-believer, whether human or
non-human, whether a living creature or something
that has no soul, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta
'ala is constantly doing good Ihsan to them.
And then there is the specific meaning.
And that is specific for the believers.
In the form of?
In the form of guidance.
And Tawfiq, to do good.
Making things easy for us.
Forgiving us.
Even his reward in the Akhirah for us.
This is him doing good to us.
This is Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala doing
good to us.
And so there is the general Ihsan of
Allah to his creation, and then there is
the specific one that is not for everyone,
but for those whom he chooses.
We move on to the lessons that we
learn from these three names.
The first lesson that we learn is that
Allah is described as loving.
Right?
Allah is described as loving.
But his love is restricted, as we mentioned.
You know, unlike the Christian belief that God
loves all.
Unlike that belief, Allah loves only those who
deserve his love.
Only those who deserve his love.
And there are those who do not deserve
his love.
So Allah loves, and then there are those
whom Allah dislikes and hates.
And we cannot say that Allah does not
hate people.
Again, this is something that some Muslims say.
Do not say that Allah hates people.
Right?
Even though Allah says it in the Qur
'an.
That he hates certain people and certain actions.
And so the love of Allah is attained
by loving those whom he loves, and doing
what he loves.
While at the same time, hating those whom
Allah hates, and staying away from what Allah
hates.
And that, in essence, is the very meaning
of Al-walaa wal-baraa.
Al-walaa is, you know, to have allegiance
to Allah, his messenger, and the believers, and
everything that Allah loves.
While disassociating oneself, disavowing kufr and shirk, and
the people of kufr and shirk.
Both are mentioned.
So in Arabic we have al-hubb, which
means love.
And Allah has said he doesn't love certain
people.
Allah has also said that he hates certain
things.
And that is the word kariha.
So kariha means to dislike, to hate.
And Allah has used that to describe himself.
Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says
regarding the munafiqoon who did not participate in
the battle of Tabuk.
Allah says, Allah dislikes, he hated for them
to go out, to join this army that
went to Tabuk.
Allah hated it.
He didn't want them to go.
So he made them to remain behind.
And it's mentioned elsewhere as well.
It's mentioned elsewhere as well.
The point here is that both are attributed
to Allah.
Not loving and also hating or disliking.
Also we have displeasure.
Displeasure.
So Allah is displeased with certain people.
So just like Allah is pleased with certain
people, he is also displeased with certain people.
For that, sakhat.
And ghadab is anger, but that's different.
Alright, the second lesson that we learn is
that the love of Allah is attained by
doing certain things.
Again, a lot of Muslims have this wrong
understanding that, Oh, Allah loves everyone.
Allah loves me.
And yet they don't pray.
They don't do anything.
And they say Allah loves them.
You come to them, you tell them, why
don't you pray?
Why don't you do this?
Why don't you do that?
Stay away from this haram, that haram.
And they say, you don't know Allah loves
me.
Right?
So we say in response to this, that
Allah's love is acquired by doing certain things.
And that is mentioned in the famous hadith
of Abu Hurair, which is in Bukhari.
The Prophet ﷺ says, وَمَا تَقَرَّبَ إِلَيَّ عَبْدِي
بِشَيْءٍ أَحَبَّ إِلَيَّ مِنَّ افْتَرَطْتُهُ عَلَيْهِ My servant
doesn't come near to me by anything that
is more beloved to me than that which
I have made obligatory upon him.
So if you're not doing the basics of
what Allah has made farḍ upon you, then
how can you claim that Allah loves you?
وَمَا يَزَالُ عَبْدِي يَتَقَرَّبُ إِلَيَّ بِالنَّوَافِلِ حَتَّى أُحِبَّهُ
And then my servant doesn't continue to get
closer to me by anything other than nawafil
until I love him.
So Allah says here specifically that He loves
those who do the farā'id, the bare
minimum.
And then on top of that, they do
the extra good deeds.
And this makes sense.
It makes sense that Allah will love such
people.
Those who don't do just the bare minimum,
but they go beyond that.
Allah did not make it obligatory on them.
Allah did not say you have to get
up in the middle of the night and
pray.
You don't have to fast these odd days
of the year.
You don't have to give sadaqah.
But when you do, then you are sacrificing
something for Allah.
And as a result, you attain the love
of Allah.
In the end of the day, it goes
back to how much you strive.
How much you strive.
Those who strive hard, struggle.
Allah will guide them to the ways.
And Allah is with the people who do
good, with the muhsineen.
And that striving can differ from person to
person depending on personal circumstances.
And in the end of the day, Allah
will reward based on that.
And He doesn't treat everyone equally in terms
of acts.
But there are several factors that we need
to bring into consideration.
It's not just the act itself, but it's
a lot of other factors revolving around the
act.
The next lesson that we learn is that
when we learn that Allah gifts and bestows
upon us blessing upon blessing, that should develop
a love for Allah in our hearts.
And that love will then push us and
drive us to want to worship Him.
Out of what?
Out of gratitude.
So when you recognize that Allah is showering
blessing upon blessing, blessing after blessing upon you,
automatically this recognition is going to lead you
to love Him.
And then that love is going to drive
you to worship Him.
If someone was to do good to you,
if someone was to do a favor to
you, you would thank Him.
And you would develop a certain love for
that person in your heart.
And then you would want to do something
for that person.
You would want to return the favor.
And so our worship of Allah should not
just be because I want to reward the
rewards that Allah has promised.
Before that it should be because of what
Allah has done for us.
When you recognize what Allah has done for
you in your life, you're going to automatically
find a love for Him.
And then that love is going to turn
into a drive to worship Him, to do
good deeds for the sake of Allah.
The next lesson that we learn, and this
is from Allah's name Al-Barr.
Al-Barr.
What we learn from this name is that
we should strive to adopt this quality of
Al-Birr.
As Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, Al
-Birr, which is righteousness, is not by turning
your faces to the east or the west.
Meaning, Allah is saying, just praying is not
a sign of Birr.
Righteousness.
Al-Birr is more than that.
And then Allah mentions what it is.
And He lists a list of things that
is more than just Salah.
More than just certain ritualistic acts that we
perform.
Allah says, وَأَقَامَ
الصَّلَاةَ وَآتَ الزَّكَاةَ وَالْمُوفُونَ بِعَهْدِهِمْ إِذَا عَاهَدُوا
وَالصَّابِرِينَ فِي الْبَعْسَاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ وَحِينَ الْبَعْسِ Look at
this long list.
Allah says, however, Al-Birr is the one
who believes in Allah, and the last day,
and the angels, and the book, and the
prophets.
So, the pillars of Iman.
And the one who gives his wealth, even
though he cherishes it, he loves it.
He gives it to relatives, orphans, the poor,
needy travelers, beggars, and for freeing captors.
And then, Al-Birr is also establishing Salah,
giving Zakah, and keeping the pledges that one
makes.
And Al-Birr is also those who are
patient in time of suffering, and in adversity,
and in the heat of the battle.
And then Allah says, أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا وَأُولَٰئِكَ
هُمُ الْمُتَّقُونَ They are the ones who are
true, and it is they who are the
متقون.
And the only way for us to truly
achieve Al-Birr, to reach that level of
being righteous, is, what's the secret?
To sacrifice what Allah loves for us to
sacrifice.
To sacrifice what Allah loves for us to
sacrifice.
Something that is dear to us.
Something that is really, really attached to our
hearts.
We have it, and to give it up
for the sake of Allah, this is a
sign of Al-Birr.
Allah says, لَن تَنَالُ الْبِرَّ حَتَّى تُنْفِقُوا مِمَّا
تُحِبُّونَ You will not attain and reach Al
-Birr until you spend of that which you
love.
Meaning this money that you have in your
hands, and you love it, you don't want
to give it up.
And no one does that, no one just
goes on the street and says, you know,
whoever wants money here.
Who does that?
No one does that.
Why?
Because they love it, they don't want to
give it up.
And Allah says, you will not reach Al
-Birr until you spend and give from that
which you love.
Obviously, in those causes that Allah loves, to
give and spend in those causes that are
beloved to Allah.
And the next lesson is similar to this,
but it is from Allah's name, Al-Muhsin.
So the importance of us adopting the quality
of Al-Ihsan.
As Allah says, وَأَحْسِنُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ
And be people of Ihsan, for indeed Allah
loves the people of Ihsan, the Muhsinun.
And Ihsan from us is two kinds.
So Ihsan from Allah, Allah being Al-Muhsin
and Him showing Ihsan means, as we explained,
what does it mean?
It means Allah doing good to us, right?
To His creation.
But Ihsan from us is two kinds.
One is Ihsan to Allah and that is
in our Ibadah.
What is the proof for this?
When Jibreel came and asked, what is Ihsan?
The Prophet ﷺ did not say Ihsan means
being kind to others, being good to others.
He said, الإحسان أن تعبد الله كأنك تراه
فإن لم تكن تراه فإنه يراك Ihsan is
to worship Allah as if you could see
Him, and if you cannot see Him, then
He sees you.
So the first kind of Ihsan from our
end is Ihsan in the worship of Allah.
And that means to perfect our worship, to
reach the highest level of perfection in our
Ibadah.
Here we are offering our Ibadah to Allah.
We want to offer it to Him in
the best way.
And that is as defined by the Prophet
ﷺ, to worship Allah as if you could
see Him.
Meaning to be in a state of consciousness,
as if Allah is in front of you
and you're praying.
Obviously we cannot see Allah, that's why the
Prophet ﷺ said, if you cannot see Him,
then indeed He sees you.
The second kind of Ihsan from us is
Ihsan to the creation of Allah.
Ihsan to others.
And that is basically doing good to others.
Acts of kindness.
So that includes helping others, feeding, teaching, guiding,
and allowing all kinds of good to reach
others.
Allowing all kinds of good to reach others.
Whether it is material good of the dunya,
or whether it is the good that will
reach them in the Akhirah.
So teaching others, guiding others, all of this
is part of you doing Ihsan to others.
You doing Ihsan to others.
And finally, the last lesson that we'll mention
here, is that the reward for Ihsan is
nothing but Ihsan.
هَلْ جَزَاءُ الْإِحْسَانِ إِلَّا الْإِحْسَانِ Is there any
reward for Ihsan, for goodness?
Except goodness?
What does that mean?
What it means is, that if you live
a life of goodness, you know, again, both
Ihsan with Allah and Ihsan with Allah's creation.
If you live that kind of Ihsan throughout
your life, then expect Allah to show you
Ihsan on the day that you meet Him.
And so this teaches us an important rule,
and that is that Allah will treat you
and deal with you in the way that
you deserve.
And in the way that you treat others,
and in the way that you deal with
others.
You deal with others in a kind way,
in kindness and in good, and that is
how Allah will treat you.
This is a golden rule, this is the
sunnah of Allah.
That how people behave with others is how
Allah will treat them.
How you treat others is how Allah will
treat you.
And so these are some of the lessons
that we learned from these three names of
Allah, Al-Wadud, Al-Barr, and Al-Muhsin.
We move on now, from here we move
on to cover the remaining names of Allah
that are found in the Qur'an and
in the sunnah.
But from here on, we're just going to
be mentioning names that are not related to
each other.
So as you have noticed, from the beginning
we have been grouping the names that are
similar in meaning.
But now we have a few left that
we'll be going over today and in the
coming weeks insha'Allah.
Many of these are not related to each
other.
Some of them are, but not all of
them.
And we cannot sit and just go over
one name, right?
So we're just going to randomly put them
together.
So we have four names next, and these
are Al-Hayyi, Al-Sittir, Al-Jameel, and
Al-Tayyib.
Al-Hayyi, Al-Sittir, Al-Jameel, and Al
-Tayyib.
And these four names, have any of these
been mentioned in the Qur'an?
Which one?
Okay.
Tayyib.
None of them have been mentioned in the
Qur'an.
As for Al-Hayy, that is different than
Al-Hayyi.
Al-Hayy we already covered.
We covered it way in the beginning.
Al-Hayy, Al-Qayyum.
We covered Al-Hayy.
Al-Hayy means, you know, the one who
is alive, from Hayat.
That is from Hayat, which means life.
This Al-Hayyi, here we have two ya's
at the end.
So that one is only one ya.
Here you have two ya's at the end.
Two ya's.
And this comes from Al-Hayya'u, which
means modesty.
None of these four names have been mentioned
in the Qur'an.
None of them.
But they have all been mentioned in authentic
ahadith.
So as for Al-Hayy, Al-Hayyi.
Al-Hayyi, we have it in the hadith
of Ya'la Ibn Umayyah.
Found in Abu Dawood Al-Nasa'i.
And it has been authenticated by Shaykh Al
-Ghibani.
Rasulullah ﷺ once he saw a man washing
in the public.
Taking a bath in the public without anything
covering himself.
So the Prophet ﷺ went on the minbar
and he praised Allah and he said, إِنَّ
اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ حَيِيٌّ سِتِّيرٌ يُحِبُّ الْحَيَاءَ وَالسِّتِرُ
فَإِذَا اغْتَسَلَ أَحَدُكُمْ فَلْيَسْتَتِرُ The Prophet ﷺ said,
Allah is Al-Hayyi and Al-Sitir.
So whenever one of you takes a bath,
let him cover himself.
And we have another hadith.
The hadith of Salman in Abu Dawood Al
-Tirmidhi, also authenticated by Shaykh Al-Ghibani.
The Prophet ﷺ says, إِنَّ رَبَّكُمْ حَيِيٌّ كَرِيمٌ
يَسْتَحِي مِنْ عَبْدِهِ إِذَا رَفَعَ يَدَيْهِ إِلَيْهِ أَنْ
يَرُدَّهُمَا صِفْرًا Your Lord is Hayyi and Kareem
and he is ashamed to turn away empty
the hands of his servant when he raises
them to him.
Meaning when you make dua and you're sincere,
Allah does not want to leave you empty
handed when you have turned to him.
As for As-Sittir, we mentioned it.
It was in that same hadith.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَ حَيِيٌّ سِتِّيرٌ Allah is
Hayyi and Sittir and he loves Al-Hayya
and he loves As-Sittir.
As for Al-Jameel, Allah's name Al-Jameel,
this is in a hadith in Sahih Muslim
narrated by Ibn Mas'ud.
The Prophet ﷺ said one day, لا يَدْخُلُ
الْجَنَّةَ مَنْ كَانَ فِي قَلْبِهِ مِثْقَالُ ذَرَّةٍ مِنْ
كِبْرٍ This famous hadith where the Prophet ﷺ
said, no one will enter Jannah who has
an atom's weight of arrogance or pride in
his heart.
So a man, he said, what about a
person who likes to wear fine clothes and
shoes?
So the Prophet ﷺ said, إِنَّ اللَّهَ جَمِيْلٌ
يُحِبُّ الْجَمَالُ Al-Kibr, Al-Baqr, Al-Haqq,
وَغَمْطِ النَّاسِ Al-Kibr, Al-Baqr, Al-Haqq,
وَغَمْطِ النَّاسِ So the Prophet ﷺ explained what
arrogance means.
He said, Allah is Al-Jameel and He
loves Jamal, beauty.
As for arrogance or pride, it is to
reject the truth out of self-esteem and
despising people.
As for Al-Tayyib, this is also in
a hadith in Sahih Muslim narrated by Abu
Hurairah.
The Prophet ﷺ said, إِنَّ اللَّهَ طَيِّبٌ لَا
يَقْبَلُ إِلَّا طَيِّبًا Allah is Al-Tayyib and
He only accepts that which is Tayyib, meaning
good and pure.
So these are four names as we can
see found in various hadith.
What do these names mean?
As for Al-Hayyi, it means that Allah
is modest and shy.
But obviously in a manner befitting Himself, unlike
the modesty and the shyness of human beings.
What is the modesty and shyness of human
beings?
It is a feeling of shame when we're
afraid of being criticized for something that we
did.
So we do something shameful and we feel
shame if someone sees us, for example.
As for Allah, this is not what we
attribute to Allah.
What we attribute to Allah is a haya,
a modesty, a shyness where Allah leaves doing
something that does not suit the vastness of
His mercy and His generosity.
So that is the meaning of Allah being
Al-Hayyi, where He leaves doing something because
it's not suitable, it doesn't suit the vastness
of His mercy.
And an example of that is mentioned in
the hadith, not answering the dua of the
one who raises his hands to Him.
So because Allah is the most merciful and
the most generous, He has to give you
something.
And He's ashamed not to give you something.
That is the meaning of it.
As for As-Sitir, it means the one
who conceals or covers or hides, the one
who does not expose.
So that's the meaning of As-Sitir, to
conceal, to put a cover over something.
And Allah doing this means that He does
not expose His believing servants when they sin.
And this is also from His mercy and
His kindness.
Even though we sin and are in need
of Allah, while Allah is not in need
of our obedience.
But yet He is still kind to us
and He covers our faults and our errors.
And He does not quickly punish us, but
rather He gives us a chance to repent
and to fix our ways.
And so He continuously conceals and hides and
does not expose our sins.
So that is the meaning of Allah being
As-Sitir.
As for Al-Jameel, from Jamal, beauty, so
it means Allah is the beautiful one.
And this includes four things as Ibn Qayyim
mentioned.
Ibn Qayyim, he says, the beauty of Allah
is four levels or four things with respect
to four things.
Number one, His very that, His very being
and essence is beautiful.
Number two, His Sifat, His attributes.
Number three, His Af'al, His actions.
And number four, His Asma, His names.
So all of these are beautiful.
He goes on to say, as for the
beauty of His that, His very being, it
is something that no one can perceive except
Himself.
No one besides Him knows it.
And whatever we have, whatever information we have
is merely definitions that He has shared with
those He has honored from His servants.
Meaning, the beauty of Allah's very being is
something that we cannot perceive.
We cannot even come near to imagining.
And that is because no one has seen
Allah.
Very simply put, that is because no one
has seen Allah.
Does that mean that there is no reality
to Allah's being or no beauty to it?
No, there is.
And this is evidence of it.
Allah says He is Jameel.
But there is no way for us to
even come near to imagining that.
Right?
Because our imaginations and our minds are finite.
Whereas Allah is infinite in every way with
regards to His very that, with regards to
His sifat and His names.
Yes, in the dunya obviously.
No one can see Allah in the dunya.
As for At-Tayyib, it means the one
who is good and pure.
So At-Tayyib means good and pure.
And so Allah is good and pure in
all respects from all angles.
And that includes again the same thing.
Goodness in His very that, His names, His
attributes and His actions.
And so this means that Allah is free
of all imperfections and defects.
Because the opposite of good and pure is
that.
And something that is tainted or defected.
So because Allah is Tayyib, nothing comes from
Him except that which is Tayyib.
And nothing goes back to Him except that
which is good.
As the Prophet ﷺ said, إِنَّ اللَّهَ طَيِّبٌ
لَا يَقْبَلُ إِلَّا طَيِّبًا So because Allah is
good, whatever comes from Him is good.
And whatever goes back to Him, it has
to be good.
Meaning, our deeds, our actions.
Allah only accepts the good of it.
And in order for our good deeds to
be accepted by Allah, there are certain criteria
for our good deeds to be accepted by
Allah.
And it goes back to two main criteria.
Number one, it has to have been done
sincerely for the sake of Allah, not for
others, not for any worldly purpose, not for
any other human being.
And number two, it has to be done
in line with what Allah has taught us.
So a good deed is that which is
defined by Allah, and obviously His Messenger ﷺ.
So these are the four names, Al-Hayyi,
Al-Sittir, Al-Jameel, and Al-Tayyib.
We move on to the lessons that we
learn from these names.
The first lesson is that all of these
names, in fact, not just these four names,
but all of Allah's names, can never be
comprehended or fully perceived.
So Allah is Al-Hayyi, He is Al
-Sittir, He is Al-Jameel, He is Al
-Tayyib, in ways that are befitting to His
Majesty.
These names and also their attributes have meanings
that are understood by us.
So when you say, for example, what does
beauty mean?
Everyone knows what that means.
What does Al-Qadir mean?
All of these names of Allah have meanings
that are known to us.
You cannot say these are names without meanings
that are known to us.
And I say this because there were people
who said this.
And until today there are people who say
this, that Allah's names and attributes, they have
meanings that are only known to Him, not
to us.
And they said this in order to flee
from a negative implication that they assumed.
And that is, they said, if we affirm
meanings for Allah's attributes, then it means that
we are basically likening Allah to His creation.
So for example, take Allah's name Al-Jameel,
beauty.
They say that Allah cannot be attributed with
this.
I mean, some deny the attribute altogether, but
others say, okay, we'll accept it, but we
don't know the meaning.
We don't know what this means.
Why?
Because it means therefore Allah has a body.
So now He is restricted by time and
space.
So we refute that by saying, we affirm
the meanings, these meanings have meanings, but it
is the description and the details that can
never be comprehended by us.
And worse than that is their claim that
this was the way of the salaf.
They actually say this.
So you have those who change the meanings,
what they call ta'weel, and that is
the majority of the asha'ira.
But then now you have a group of
the asha'ira who do what is called
tafweed, and that is exactly what we've been
talking about.
Tafweed means that you leave it to Allah.
The meanings, you don't do ta'weel, they
say we're not going to do ta'weel,
we're not going to interpret the meanings, we're
not going to give metaphorical meanings, but we're
just going to say the meanings are not
known by us.
And that's why Shaykh al-Islam ibn Taymiyyah,
he says that this is worse.
He says tafweed is worse.
Yeah, exactly.
Why did Allah mention all of this in
the Qur'an?
Why would Allah mention things about himself to
us if they have no meanings that he's
trying to convey to us?
It's foolishness.
Basically you are attributing to Allah foolishness and
doing something without purpose.
And so that's why he said it's worse.
The second lesson that we learn is that
these names should develop a love for Allah
in our hearts, for what Allah does for
us.
For what Allah does for us.
What does Allah do for us?
He is al-Hayyi.
He is al-Hayyi.
He has modesty and shyness such that he
does not leave our hands empty when we
make dua to him.
And he is al-Sittir.
The one who does not expose our sins.
Not just these two attributes, but all of
Allah's names and attributes, when we learn them,
this helps us to develop a love for
Allah in our hearts.
And so the whole objective of learning the
names of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is
to get closer to Allah and to develop
a love for Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
The third lesson that we learn is that
al-Hayyi teaches us to have the quality
of al-Hayya.
And so this is number one with Allah
in the sense that you don't want to
be in a state that is displeasing to
Allah.
You don't want Allah to see you in
an embarrassing state.
When we do certain things, we don't want
other people to see us.
But how about Allah who sees us when
no one else is watching us?
So having al-Hayya with Allah is basically
the feeling of shame when committing a sin.
And this is something that only a person
of Iman can experience.
People whose Iman is low or weak, they
won't feel this.
They won't have this al-Hayya with Allah.
So number one, to have al-Hayya with
Allah, and number two, to have shyness with
others.
In the sense that you don't want others
to see you in a shameful state.
Which is the kind of Hayya that is
one of the levels of Iman.
The Prophet ﷺ said that Iman is 70
-odd branches or 60-odd branches.
Its highest is to say, La ilaha illa
Allah.
Wa adnaaha imaata til-adhaa al-tariq.
To remove something harmful from the path.
And then the Prophet ﷺ concluded the hadith
by saying, wal-Hayyaa shu'abatun min al
-Iman.
And Hayya, modesty, is a branch of Iman.
Why did the Prophet ﷺ say that?
To show how important that branch of Iman
is.
Such that we don't think, oh, it's not
a big deal.
No, that is from Iman.
Having Hayya is a part of Iman.
And when it comes to Hayya, it differs
from person to person.
And it differs from male to female.
There is a certain level of Hayya that
women are supposed to have that men don't
have.
That is their modesty, their shyness.
Not just with respect to how they dress,
but even in their actions and their words.
They're supposed to be at a certain level
of Hayya.
So when a person commits a sin, while
he's committing the sin, what leads him to
commit the sin is the overwhelming force of
the nafs and shaytan.
That overwhelming force, basically, what it does is
that it makes him to forget about Allah.
So it's because of a state of forgetfulness
that we end up indulging in the sin.
And that's why the Prophet ﷺ said that
the one who steals, he has no Iman
when he is committing the act.
And the one who commits Zina, he has
no Iman while he's committing the act.
And I believe it was Ibn Abbas who
said, it is like a shade, a cloud
that is removed and then it comes back
after he's done committing the sin.
So the shame is felt more afterwards.
Once the person realizes what a terrible thing
I've done.
And he feels that sense of shame.
What did I do?
Allah was watching me, etc.
It's contradictory.
I don't know how a person can feel
shame of Allah while he's actually indulging in
the sin.
No, he recognizes that he shouldn't be doing
this.
We're talking about a person of Iman, talking
about someone who has some Iman.
But as we said, there are other factors
that are making him to commit that sin.
The overwhelming power of the nafs and shaytan
and the dunya, etc.
There are many reasons.
But the point here is that a person
of Iman should feel a haya' with Allah.
But here we should mention that this haya'
should not be the kind that prevents you
from learning.
Or that prevents you from doing certain acts
of Ibadah and obeying Allah.
Like some people who feel shy showing that
they're Muslim.
They're shy of that.
They don't want people to know, they don't
want people to see.
It prevents them from worshipping Allah.
Or prevents them from learning and asking questions
because they're shy.
The next lesson is similar to this but
adopting the quality of sitr.
To cover and conceal.
So Allah is al-sitir and he loves
al-sitr as the Prophet ﷺ said.
So what does it mean for us to
cover and conceal?
Number one, to cover our own faults and
our own sins.
The Prophet ﷺ said that my entire ummah
is forgiven.
Except for those who openly expose their sins.
Al-Mujahiroon.
And then he gave an example.
He said a man commits a sin at
night that Allah covered.
He did not expose him.
And then in the morning he comes and
he says to everyone, I committed such and
such sin last night.
While Allah had kept it a secret.
The Prophet ﷺ says at night Allah had
covered it up.
But in the morning he tears up the
cover provided by Allah himself.
He tears up that cover that Allah covered
him with.
And so we're supposed to hide our own
faults, number one.
And number two, the faults and the sins
of others.
The faults and the sins of others.
As the Prophet ﷺ said, whoever covers a
Muslim, Right?
من ستر مسلما ستره الله يوم القيامة.
Whoever covers the faults of a Muslim, Allah
will cover his faults on the Day of
Judgment.
Yes, of course.
Yeah, one should try his best to avoid
exposing his own sins.
So if you want to ask what is
the ruling of something that you did, you
don't know, and you want to ask a
person of knowledge or a scholar, you don't
go and expose yourself and say, Oh, Shaykh,
I did this and this.
What is the ruling?
No, you say, what if someone was to
do this?
What would be the ruling?
No, no.
The next lesson that we learn is that
Allah ﷻ covers and conceals our faults in
this life and in the next.
And in the next.
So Allah being as-Sittir is not only
with respect to the dunya, by covering us,
we do all kinds of sins, and Allah
doesn't allow others to know about it.
This is part of Him being as-Sittir.
But also in the Akhirah.
This is found in a hadith in which
the Prophet ﷺ says that Allah will bring
us close to Him.
He will bring the believer close to Him.
Very close to Him on the Day of
Judgment.
And shelter him in a screen.
And then He will say, did you commit
such and such?
He will say, yes.
Did you commit such and such sin?
He will say, yes.
And so Allah will make him confess all
of his sins, and then in the end
He will say, I screened you.
I covered your sins in the dunya for
you, and today I forgive them for you.
Today I forgive them for you.
So Allah covers not only in the dunya
but also in the Akhirah.
The next lesson that we learn is that
as-Sittir teaches us that Allah has been
kind enough to us by covering us, but
that does not mean that we persist in
committing sins.
Rather, we should fear that if we were
to persist, then there will eventually come a
day when Allah will expose us because we
did not rectify our ways, we did not
turn to Him in repentance.
And so this is one of the traps
of shaitan.
Where you commit sins constantly, and you indulge
and you continue, and you think nothing is
happening to me.
Allah is constantly covering me.
And then you feel that sense of security,
not realizing that there will eventually come a
day where Allah will expose you if you
persist and do not turn to Him in
repentance.
And so we still have time, and we
should not be deluded by shaitan.
As long as you've repented and then you
go back to it for whatever reason, without
intending to go back to it.
That's one of the conditions of an acceptable
repentance.
But that's not what we're talking about, because
that is mentioned in another hadith.
The Prophet ﷺ mentioned that there is a
person who commits a sin and then he
repents it.
So Allah says, this is a servant who
knows that he has a Rabb who forgives.
The next lesson that we learn is from
Allah's name Al-Jameel.
And this name teaches us that Allah is
beautiful, and there is none more beautiful than
Allah.
But a beauty that cannot be explained A
beauty that can only be witnessed.
And which is why the true believers look
forward to the day that they will see
Allah, and they ask Allah for that.
The Prophet ﷺ taught us a du'a.
O Allah, I ask you for the delight,
that joy of looking at your face.
I ask you for the delight of gazing
upon your face.
And the joy of meeting you.
It's part of a longer du'a.
The believers look forward to that, because there
is no greater joy and pleasure than that.
Right?
And that is the extra reward that Allah
has mentioned in the Qur'an.
And we have more in store for them.
Allah mentions that the believers will have Jannah,
and the rewards that they'll have, and then
Allah says, and we have more.
And that was explained by the Salaf to
be looking at Allah on that day.
The next lesson, also from Al-Jameel, this
name teaches us to keep ourselves clean and
beautiful.
So, Allah is Jameel, and he loves beauty.
So that is part of our Iman, and
part of our Islam, that we're not dirty,
but rather we keep ourselves tidy and clean
and beautiful.
But obviously within the limits that Allah and
his Messenger have allowed.
And not going overboard.
Not going overboard.
Especially for our women.
They can beautify themselves, but they cannot show
that beauty to others.
They can only show that beauty to their
husbands.
And finally, one last lesson that we'll mention,
is from Allah's name, At-Tayyib.
And so this name teaches us that Allah
is At-Tayyib, وَلَا يَقْبَلُ إِلَّا طَيِّبًا And
he only accepts that which is good.
That which is Tayyib.
And this includes words, and actions, and duas,
and our Sadaqah, but everything that we do
for Allah, it cannot be tainted with, you
know, things that are not going to make
it pure.
Because if it becomes like that, it's not
going to go up to Allah.
It's not going to be accepted by Allah.
So Allah is good and he only accepts
that which is good.
Allah is pure and he only accepts that
which is pure.
And so we ask Allah to make us
from among them, and this is where we'll
stop insha'Allah.
And we'll continue next week.
سُبْحَانَكُ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ أَشْهَدُ بِاللَّهِ إِلَىٰ أَنتَ
أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ You had a question?
So the question is regarding our good deeds,
to make them pure and good.
So Allah accepts them, should we do them
privately?
Yes.
In general, we should hide our good deeds
because that makes it more sincere for Allah.
Meaning that when you do it in public
in front of others, Shaytan comes to you
and says, do it in a certain way
to impress the people.
To impress the people.
And so once you have that intention, that's
it.
You're now doing it for other than Allah.
You're not doing it sincerely for Allah.
So the general rule is that we should
try our best to hide our good deeds
as much as we can, but then there
are certain exceptions.
There are certain times when it's actually encouraged
to do it publicly, and that is to
encourage others.
To encourage others.
So for example, there's a certain good deed
that many people are not doing, so you
want to encourage them to do it, so
you do it yourself.
You lead by example.
Especially when it comes to sadaqah, when we
are raising funds, whether it's for a masjid
or any other cause.
So when people see you giving, then they're
going to also give, and they're going to
want to compute, and so on and so
forth.
So there are exceptions to that.
So this is where we'll stop.