Know Your Lord Audio Book 04 01 – Calling to the Names and Attributes
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Channel: Karim Abuzaid
Series: Karim Abuzaid - Know Your Lord Audio Book
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AI Generated Summary ©
The importance of learning and growing one's knowledge of Allah is emphasized, especially in regards to obtaining reward and avoiding offense. The title provides framework for learning the names and attributes of Allah, including affirming his teachings and praising his attributes. The importance of learning and finding out who Allah is is emphasized, as it is crucial for obtaining reward and avoiding offense. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of remembering Allah's names and attributes, as it is a way to be rewarded.AI Generated Transcript ©
Part 4.
Allah's names and attributes.
Chapter 1.
Calling to the names and attributes.
A caller to Allah,
Day,
should begin
with attracting those who are sincere
by teaching them about our Lord.
They should employ their intellectual capacity
to prove the existence of the Lord, the
creator,
the sovereign, the disposer of the affairs,
and the absolute ruler over his creation.
After acknowledging
his singular lordship,
they should invite the non Muslims
to the imperative of worshiping only our Lord.
Now the next step is to turn to
the revelation
to secure
the turning hearts
into submission to our Lord. The caller to
Islam must know more about Allah through His
names and attributes.
Growth
is a word that we usually quote in
several contexts
such as growth in wealth,
children
and status growth.
But there is a vital forgotten context of
growth,
Our knowledge of Allah.
The most crucial thing in this world
is to grow in our knowledge of Allah
as
this is the lasting benefit.
The greatest value
should be given to the greatest of knowledge.
Sheikh Salih al Usami
Rahimahullah
wrote, the amount of knowledge
that a person gains
is dependent
upon the amount that his heart reveres it
and honors it.
This is a reason why we first call
to Tawhid Rububiyyah
to find the sincere hearts
which are ready to gain knowledge of Allah.
Imam Nawawi
said in his book, Etiquette
of the Quran,
The heart is made wholesome for knowledge,
just as the earth is made wholesome
for cultivation.
Actualizing the names and attributes of Allah
in our daily lives
is the best way to grow our knowledge
of him.
We must affirm what Allah
and his messenger
affirmed from Allah
from his names
and the attributes.
We only negate what Allah
and his messenger
negated from the names and attributes of Allah.
We must strive to understand
the names and attributes of Allah the way
the prophet and
his companions
understood them.
We must place the names of Allah into
action
by imploring,
exalting,
glorifying,
and invoking him through his beautiful names.
Finally,
we must remember
that each of the names of Allah
has a respective servitude relevant
to its meaning. We must submit ourselves
to these meanings
and implement this in our lives.
The question arises,
why must we learn,
know, and grow our knowledge of our Lord?
Importance of the names and attributes
below
is a list of a few reasons
out of many
why we take a scientific approach
towards the names and attributes.
1
we are about to meet Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
We are all on an inevitable journey
to meet Allah, the creator,
the glorified
and exalted.
We believe this meeting
as it is declared in the Quran and
Sunnah, prophetic tradition that we must believe in
it without any shadow of a doubt.
Allah
said,
oh man, verily,
you are returning towards your Lord
with your deeds and actions,
good or bad,
a sure returning
so you will meet that is the results
of your deeds which you did.
Adibin Hatim
reported
that the messenger of Allah
said there will be none among you but
his Lord will speak to him
and there will be neither any interpreter
nor any screen between them to screen.
The question here should we get to know
Allah the one we are about to meet?
Is this not important?
2,
the purpose
of the whole creation.
Allah
created the entire universe
and subdued
its elements
to us to come to an explicit knowledge
that he is Allah,
the all knowing,
all able, all wise.
Allah
said, it is Allah
who has created 7 heavens
and of the earth, the like of them,
his command descends among them
so you may know that Allah
is over all things competent
and that Allah has encompassed
all things in knowledge.
3,
the knowledge of Allah is the essence
of monotheism.
Tawhid,
knowing his actions of lordship,
creation,
sustainment,
nourishing and rule. His names and attributes is
the foundation
on which we built our conviction.
This is because the unique qualities of his
actions of lordship,
names
and attributes,
necessities
that we worship him.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said and those beings
whom some invoke besides God, have it not
in their power to intercede
on judgment day?
For any but such as have in their
lifetime
born witness to the truth
and have been aware that God is one
and unique.
4,
the foundation of the knowledge of Islam.
If we took at the corpus of knowledge
in Islam
we find it has 2 main parts.
1, knowing Allah,
which means knowing him based on what he
revealed about himself,
believing it with a full acceptance
and acting upon that knowledge.
Philosophers went astray in this area
by using their intellect to redefine the names
and attributes of Allah.
2 Worshipping Allah
which means to worship him with sincerity,
truthfulness
and loving him
while following the method of worship he revered
for our guidance.
Extreme Sufis went astray in this area. They
innovated their own culture of worshipping Allah
based on emotions,
dreams
and the esoteric
which often contradicts
what has been revealed.
There is a clear connection between knowing Allah
and worshipping him.
The one who knows Allah
with the correct knowledge
will have the path of acceptable worship facilitated
with ease.
5. Thirty commandments in the Quran
to know Allah.
Allah gifted us with more than 30 direct
commands
to know him. These verses
are tools
for contemplation
and avenues
for engaging non Muslims in learning about their
Lord.
As an example
Allah said
know that Allah
is severe in penalty
and that Allah is forgiving and merciful.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also said,
inform my servants
that I am the forgiving,
the merciful.
6, the noblest of all science.
Studying Allah's names
is the noblest of all sciences
because what dictates the nobility
of science is the virtue
of the subject matter.
The subject matter here is Allah,
the one who created us and provides for
us.
And there is no noblest subject than this
one. Of the most important of all subjects
is his spoken word.
Therefore
those inviting others to Allah should be using
the Quran.
As Allah
intended the Quran
to be his words organized to open hearts.
Some key aspects of this science
are a contemplation of
Surat al Fatiha
the greatest chapter,
surah of the Quran,
the central theme of which is monotheism.
Ayatul Kursi
the greatest verse in the Quran.
The focus of this verse
is on the names and attributes of Allah
Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Surah Ikhlas
equals a third of the Quran.
This chapter
Surah
focuses
exclusively
on understanding the nature of Allah.
It is considered 1 third of the Quran
because technically
1 third of the content of the Quran
is information about Allah. Therefore this chapter
Surah has summarized that content.
Aisha
narrated the story of the companion
who loved this chapter.
A'isha
related
that the prophet
placed a man in command
of an expedition.
He would finish every recitation
with When they returned,
the companions
mentioned this to the prophet.
So he said, ask him why he does
that.
He said, because
it is the description of the most merciful,
Sifaat ar Rahman,
and I love to recite it.
The prophet said,
inform him that Allah loves him.
7,
forgetting Allah will lead to forgetting oneself.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, and be not
like those who forgot Allah,
so he made them forget themselves.
Those are the divinely disobedient.
The central concept of the above verse
is if someone forgets Allah, it will result
in neglect of self
and loss of reward in this life and
the next. This is the wisdom for which
chapter
Al Hashrk closes
the final three verses with a reminder of
numerous names and attributes of Allah.
When we remember Allah
his almighty
we will see ourselves
as vulnerable
and if we know Allah to be the
richest
we will see ourselves
as impoverished.
If we know Allah to be the possessor
of pride and dignity,
we will find humility.
Allah the possessor of pride and dignity said,
'Is Allah
other than whom there is no deity,
Noah of the unseen
and the witnessed. He is the entirely merciful,
especially merciful.
He is Allah
other than whom there is no deity,
the sovereign,
the pure,
the perfection, the bestower of faith,
the overseer,
the exalted in might, the compeller,
the superior,
exalted as Allah above whatever they associate with
him.
He is Allah, the creator, the inventor,
the fashioner.
To him belongs the best names.
Whatever is in the heavens and earth is
exalting him, and he is the exalted in
might, the wise.
8,
Calling upon Allah
Allah instructed us to invoke him using his
names
and we can praise him as well using
his names. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said for
Allah
there are the most beautiful names
so call him by them
and leave those who deviate in the matter
of his names.
They shall be recompensed
for what they have been doing.
The best
example of how the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
used the names and attributes of Allah is
in the supplication
of Al Istikhara
which refers to seeking advice and guidance from
Allah when making decisions.
It is the best manifestation
of how the prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam taught
us
to associate
the proper name with the respective request.
Oh Allah
I consult
you as you are the all knowing
and appeal to you
to give me power as you are omnipotent.
And ask you for your great favor.
For you have power but I don't,
and you have knowledge
but I don't
have. And you know all hidden matters.
Oh Allah, if you know that this matter
is good for me in my religion,
my livelihood,
and for my life in the hereafter,
or said, for my present and future life,
then do it for me. And if you
know that this matter is evil,
not good for me in my religion, my
livelihood,
and for my life
in the hereafter,
or said, for my present and future life,
then keep it away from me, and take
me away from it, and choose what is
good for me wherever it is,
and please me with it. The prophet added
that then the person should name mention
his need matter.
One can see
that learning the names of Allah
will facilitate the use of the right name
which best fits the need and this is
the correct etiquette
to approach Allah and the most beautiful means
by which to obtain our needs.
The beauty of it is that supplicating is
a form of remembrance
of Allah
and it is the best way to praise
him through his names and attributes
which he has affirmed for himself.
9
means to invite others to Islam.
Da'wah
focus on the names and attributes of Allah
while inviting others to Islam
is the noblest act one may do. Living
in the west is a golden opportunity
for many of us to call others to
Islam.
As mentioned above,
the invitation
of an atheist to Islam
must begin with establishing the pieces of evidence
for the existence of Allah.
Invitation to someone
from the people of the book
begins
with Tawhid Rububiyya
and his names
and attributes.
Ibn Abbas
reported
that the messenger of Allah
sent Mu'adh
to Yemen
and he said to him,
you will go to the people of the
scripture,
Jews and Christians.
So when you reach there invite them to
testify
that la ilaha illallah,
none has the right to be worshipped but
Allah and that Muhammad
is Allah's messenger.
Islamic monotheism.
And if they obey you in that, tell
them that Allah
has enjoined on them 5 salat,
prayer, in each day and night.
And if they obey you in that, tell
them that Allah has made it obligatory on
them to pay the charity,
zakat,
which will be taken from the rich among
them and given to the poor among them.
If they obey you in that, then avoid
taking the best of their possessions
and be afraid of the curse of an
oppressed person
because there is no screen between his invocation
and Allah.
10
a means to enter paradise.
Learning the names of Allah will bring abundant
reward in the hereafter.
The prophet
said, Allah has 99 names,
100 less one and he who memorized them
all by heart
will enter paradise. To count something means to
know it by heart.
11, to avoid deviation
Allah
commanded us to avoid deviation
regarding our understanding of his names and attributes.
The only way for us to do so
is to learn the different types of deviation
and how someone
may end up falling into error.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said in chapter
Surah Al Araw
and to Allah belong the best names,
so invoke him by them and leave the
company
of those who practice deviation
concerning his names. They will be recompense
for what they have been doing.
Occupy oneself
with Allah's
names.
There is a heavily circulated narration
believed to be a hadith Qudsi
meaning a statement
related to having come from Allah
Whoever is diverted
by remembering me
from asking of me
I would grant him the best of what
I grant those asking.
The account is inauthentic
according to the many of the experts of
narration.
The scholars
of Ulamah
have degraded this narration
because the surface meaning of the content
appears to misrepresent
the concept of remembrance of Allah
which is a form
of invocation
in this context.
The surface meaning suggests
that supplication
is less virtuous
than remembering.
However
on the contrary
the narration
emphasizes
the significance of praising Allah through his names
and attributes.
Of course the adequate understanding of these names
and attributes
will undoubtedly increase the reverence
and exaltation
we have in our hearts towards Allah when
articulating them during this supplication.
Secondly,
remembrance of his names
while expecting the best from him may be
more powerful
for the seeker
than asking from him without referring to his
unique attributes.
Consider what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said
the most beautiful names belong to Allah so
call on him by them.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells his servants
to ask him by his beautiful names.
This manner of asking
is superior to the supplication
which is bereft of his praise.
Below
are three pieces of evidence
to establish that simply praising Allah
through his names and attributes
is a form of supplication.
1 the supplication
on the day of Arafah. The prophet said
the best of supplications
is the supplication
of the day of Arafah.
And the best of what I and the
prophets before me have said is, none has
the right to be worshipped but Allah alone
without partner.
To him belongs all that exists
and to him belongs the praise and he
is powerful
over all things.
The significance of this piece of evidence
is that the statement
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam quoted
is not in the form of what would
be known as the supplication
of request.
It is a statement
of remembrance invoking Allah by reference
to 5 of his names.
Yet the prophet
inferred
that it is the best of supplications
at Arafah.
It supports the meaning of the hadith Qudsi,
whoever is diverted
by making remembrance
of me from asking of me, I would
grant him the best of what I grant
those asking.
2 the supplication
of distress.
The supplication
one should say at times of distress
according to the sunnah prophetic tradition
is not in the form of a supplication
of request.
Ibn Abbas radiAllahu anhu said that Allah's messenger
salallahu alaihi wa sallam used to say at
times of distress
none has the right to be worshipped but
Allah, the majestic,
the most forbearing,
none has the right to be worshipped but
Allah, the lord of the heavens and the
earth
and the lord of the tremendous throne.
Again
the virtues of calling these words when in
distress are consistent
with the meaning of the hadith Qudsi, whoever
is diverted by making remembrance
of me from asking of me, I would
grant him the best of what I grant
those asking.
This stresses the virtue of calling out to
Allah using his names
expecting the best from him in the knowledge
that he is aware of the servant's needs
and he responds to the one who worships
him.
3 the supplication
dua
of prophet Yunus,
Jonah alaihi sallam.
The supplication
of prophet Yunus is a third example
of the virtues of remembering the names and
attributes of Allah
and the preference
of this upon the one in need. Prophet
Yunus
called out in distress
from the darknesses.
There is no deity except you.
Exalted are you. Indeed
I have been of the wrongdoers.
Now we understand the fact that when we
praise Allah using his names and attributes
it is a type of supplication
because technically
Allah knows our needs
so we do not have to name them.
Allah knows
what we need even if what we ask
of him differs.
Sometimes
we ask Allah to give us things
which will be of harm to us in
the long term like wealth.
Allah
said and if Allah had extended excessively
provision
for his servants, they would have committed tyranny
throughout the earth, but he sends it down
in an amount which he wills.
Indeed he is of his servants acquainted
and seeing.
If one takes time
and exerts their efforts
to understand the names and attributes of Allah,
it is to be considered a form of
worship
very similar to supplicating.
Now that we understand this, we must avoid
deviation
in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's names and attributes
when calling upon him
because worship must be according to the Quran
and Sunnah.
Learning the names and attributes of Allah is
a gate to remembering,
glorifying,
and magnifying him with a deep understanding
of these names and attributes.
The virtue in striving to achieve through remembering
Allah by his names
is exemplified
in a story of prophet Musa, Moses Alaihi
Salam, who spoke to Allah
at Mount Sinai
for the first time.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala commanded
him to go to the pharaoh to call
him to Islam.
Prophet Musa,
Moses Alaihi Salam,
asked Allah
for 4 things.
To enable him and his brother to glorify
and remember Allah and to increase their remembrance
of Allah. Allah
told us,
'Go to Pharaoh.
Indeed
he has transgressed.'
Moses said, my lord, expand
for me my breast with assurance
and ease for me my task, and untie
the knot from my tongue, that they may
understand my speech, and appoint for me a
minister from my family.
Harun my brother,
increase through him my strength,
and let him share my task,
that we may exalt you much
and remember you much indeed
you are of us ever seeing.
Allah said, you have been granted
your request, O Musa,
Moses.'
In the next statement
Allah
advises prophet Musa
to continue praising and magnifying him and he
will respond
by providing for the prophet
without the premise
of him mentioning his needs.
Allah
said,
when we inspired your mother with that which
we inspired
saying, put Musa, the child,
into the Tabut,
a box, a case, or a chest, and
put it into the river Nile. Then the
river shall cast it up on the bank,
and there an enemy of mine and an
enemy of his shall take him. And I
endued you with love from me, so that
you may be brought up under my eye.
When your sister went and said, 'Shall I
show you who will nurse him?'
So
we restored you to your mother, that she
might cool her eyes and not grieve.
Then you did kill a man,
but we saved you from great distress
and tried you with a massive trial.
Then you stayed several years with the people
of Madyan.
You came here according to the fixed term
I ordained for you, O Musa,
Moses,
for myself.
for myself.