Sulayman Van Ael – Divine Names 2a Spiritual transfomation
AI: Summary ©
The importance of learning history and practicing is emphasized in the discussion of the Hadith. The use of the names of Islam is discussed, including the importance of bringing the opposite of the names of people into practice and not forgetting what God has given them temporarily. The speakers emphasize the need to study the names of individuals and avoid confusion and misunderstandings. The importance of learning and understanding one's choices and achieving outcomes is emphasized.
AI: Summary ©
I'm not exaggerating when I'm saying that studying
the Divine Names is actually the first thing
a Muslim should do.
It's the first thing which he or she
should teach his or her children.
It's the first thing one needs to know
everything about.
Because without it, we will have no hope.
Without it, we will have no fear.
We will have no hope and we have
no protection.
We have nothing.
So today we are going to look at
some of these Divine Names but not before
mentioning the Hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam where he says like Imam Tirmidhi rahimahullah
has narrated, Allah has 99 Names, this is
100 minus 1.
The one that does Ihsaan of these Names
will enter Paradise.
So the first thing we need to know
now is what is the meaning of Ihsaan.
And the story goes that before I was
a Muslim, I went to visit a Moroccan
family.
I was 12.
And I saw a poster with a very
nice writing, a kind of writing I didn't
know.
It was like beautiful writing, the Arabic writing.
And it was like a poster on their
fridge.
And I said, oh, this is beautiful.
Why is it in all these little squares?
They said because each single square contains a
Name of God Almighty.
And I said, oh, how many are they?
They said 99.
And then they said, when someone memorizes these
99 Names, he or she will enter Paradise.
Me as an atheist, I was a small
child but I didn't believe in anything.
I said, oh, this is very easy.
I said, just memorize these Names and you
will go to Paradise?
They said, yes, just memorize them, you will
go to Paradise.
I said, even me?
They said, even you.
Memorize them, you will go to Paradise.
So as a young boy, even though it
was a strange fatwa, but I liked the
fatwa without knowing it was a fatwa.
But one of the things I asked, I
said like, does it then mean that we
have more than one God?
That you have more than one God?
I mean, Ar-Rahman, the King, the this,
the that.
I said, so what's the difference?
I mean some religions, they say this is
the God for prosperity.
This is the God for protection.
And now you have here Al-Wadud, the
giver of love.
You have Al-Hakim, the protector, the Waqeel,
the one who takes responsibility of things.
They said, no, they are just Names describing
who our God is, you see.
So now in brief, when I went home,
I started memorizing these Names, but I wasn't
even a Muslim yet.
So I don't remember exactly the number I
got to, but it's somewhere between 82 and
89.
So I was not Muslim.
And I asked for a poster, so I
put it in my room.
And there I was every evening reading these
Names, but of course in Latin.
The scripture was Latin scripture.
I was unable to read the Arabic language.
And I started memorizing them.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala didn't allow
me to complete them until I became a
Muslim.
But like anyway, so I said, okay, and
then when I became a Muslim, I said
like, okay, is it really that easy to
get into Paradise?
Just say, I said, so in five minutes,
I'm in Paradise.
But then when you start studying, you see
that the meaning of Ahsaha, the one who
does Ihsa of these Names doesn't mean memorize
them.
Our scholars, when we gather everything they said
about Ahsaha, it's our four things.
The Ihsa of four things, which is Fahmuha,
Wa Hifduha, Wal Abadu Biha, Wa An Yad
'u Allaha Biha.
Four things.
Understanding them, memorizing them, bringing them into practice,
and invoking and supplicating Allah by His Names.
Who can repeat these four?
Understanding, memorizing, practice, supplication.
So now we understand the Hadith.
Allah has 99 Names and whenever a Muslim
memorizes these Names, understands these Names, brings these
Names into practice and invokes Allah by these
Names, he or she will enter Paradise.
Now, it's all of a sudden something more
challenging, isn't it?
It's more challenging than what they told me
when I was 12.
So, Ibn Battal, Ibn Umar Al-Maliki, he
made it very clear.
He's one of the first people to have
given an explanation of Sahih Bukhari, Ibn Battal
Al-Maliki, and he explains this in detail.
But one of the questions we ask ourselves
is like, okay, Allah has 99 Names.
Does He have more Names?
Because the Prophet, I mean, the Hadith is
very straightforward.
It's clear cut.
It's like, has 99 Names?
Khalas, la.
The Hadith doesn't say that Allah has but
99 Names.
The Hadith says that there are 99 Names
that if one brings them into practice and
all the other things, then he or she
will enter Paradise.
Is that clear?
It's like, I have £199 for the one
who jumps 20 times and does 50 push
-ups.
Does that mean that I only have £99?
No, it means I have £99 for the
one who does this.
So, this is what the Hadith is telling
us.
So, the Hadith is not restricting or limiting
the Divine Names to 99.
Is that clear?
Allah has more than 99 Names.
And this is what we say when we
make a Dua, when the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam, made clear that if you say the
following Dua, that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta
-A'la will remove your sadness and your
worries.
When you say, Oh Allah, I am your
servant.
And the son of your servant.
And if you are a lady, you say,
the daughter of your servant.
The daughter of your female servant or the
son of your female servant.
So, then you continue.
I'm not going to mention all the Duas.
So, it's Allahumma ibni abduka ibnu abdika ibnu
amatik, nasiyati biyadik, ma'udin fia hukmuk, adnun
fia qada'uk.
And then it comes.
As'aluka bi kullis min huwalak.
I ask you by all of your Names.
Samayta bihi nafsik.
With which you have named yourself.
Aw anzaltahu fi kitabik.
Or which you have descended, revealed in your
book.
Aw allamtahu ahadan min khalqik.
Or the Names you have taught to individuals
amongst your creation.
So, that some people know and others don't.
And then, aw istaghfaruta bihi khirrim min ghaybi
iddak.
Or by the Names that you have kept
for yourself in the world of the unseen.
So, now you know that even the Messenger
of Allah a.s. is telling us that
Allah has no Names.
That the Names of Allah are limitless.
Because His beauty and might and majesty is
limitless.
So, we can never describe Him as human
beings ever.
His beauty and majesty and power and strength
and everything.
We can go on for a billion of
years and we will not have explained who
Allah is.
And this climax of understanding that we will
always fall short in describing Allah was emphasized
by the Messenger of Allah s.a.w.
when he said I do not encompass the
way to honor you.
You are as you have honored and praised
yourself.
You see this?
So, the Messenger of Allah a.s. he
made clear that even he with all the
knowledge he had and the best human being,
the best of creation, he said I do
not encompass all the ways to praise you.
You are exactly as you have praised yourself.
And this is why some of the scholars
said about the name Al-Mu'min.
Al-Mu'min is the one who grants peace
and so forth.
But Al-Mu'min means also the one who
believes.
And the only one who believes in Allah
and has knowledge of Allah about everything which
has to do with Allah is Allah.
And this is one of the names, the
meanings of the names Al-Mu'min.
He is the only one who can encompass
with his knowledge his own self.
Okay, so we will always fall short whatever
we do.
So, now what does the name mean?
Well, these 99 names are mentioned in a
hadith of Imam al-Tirmidhi where the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has said Allah has
99 names.
This is 100 minus one name.
He said you now know the meaning.
And then he mentions these names and these
are the names you always find on the
posters.
That you also find on the app of,
what is the app?
The prayer app?
The most common one.
Muslim Grove.
On Muslim Grove, you have the divine names.
You find them everywhere.
The problem is that these scholars restricted to
these 99 names.
Why would it be a problem?
Well, scholars, they, some of the scholars said
that the hadith wherein the divine names are
added is weak.
So, it is only 100% sure that
the beginning of the hadith is Hasan, is
sound, where it says Allah has 99 names,
100 minus one.
He who does Ihsaan of them Dakhala Jannah.
Other scholars have declared it to be sound
like Imam Nawawi, for example.
He said it is a sound hadith even
with what?
With these names.
But when you are going to look at
these names, you will see that many scholars
have found 110 names.
Some have found more, some have found less.
So, they go to the Qur'an and
they go to the Surah.
Now, the importance in this hadith is, if
you were to say that the hadith is
sound with the divine names at the end,
it means that Man Ahsaha, the one, the
only names you need to get into Paradise
are these 99.
So, it didn't mean Allah's names are limited
to 99.
It means these 99 names get you to
Jannah when you bring them into practice.
Bringing the names of Allah Jalla wa Ala
into practice is divided into two categories.
Al-Amalu bil-Mithni, or Al-Amalu bil
-Muqtada bimukhalafati dhahirihi.
I am just going to make it very
easy.
It is either to put it into practice
as it is or to put into practice
the opposite of what the name would mean.
There are no opposites to the names of
Allah in our Aqeedah.
See, Allah is no opposite.
What do I mean?
Allah is Al-Jabbar.
Or you are going to say Allah is
Al-Mutakabbir.
You know, the one who is Al-Mutakabbir.
So, am I now allowed to have given
pride and am I allowed to boast?
No.
So, it means some of the names I
have to put that which it demands from
me into practice.
Like if he is Al-Mutakabbir, I will
be humble.
Right?
Same with Allah is Al-Jabbar, the one
who oppresses, for example.
He doesn't oppress.
He is the one who rules over the
oppressors.
But now the name Jabbar, am I allowed
to start oppressing people?
I am allowed to oppress people.
So, that means I am going to submit
myself to the rules of Allah Jalla wa
Ala.
So, some of the names I need to
do something else.
But other names I have to put them
into practice like Rahman.
What did the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam say?
He said, It
can't be more
clear.
He said Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he said, Be
merciful to those on the face of the
earth and Rahman will be merciful to you.
He who has no mercy will receive no
mercy from Allah.
So, this is one of the examples where
the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam teaches us bring
the names of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
into practice.
Is that clear?
So, I have names that we are allowed
to bring into practice and names that we
can't bring into practice.
We need to bring the opposite in a
certain way into practice.
Is that clear?
So, this is the way we are going
to look at the names of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
So, now these 99 names of Allah, they
bring you to paradise.
Why?
The Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, Khayruhum, the
best one amongst you, is someone who reminds
others of Allah when he or she is
seen.
Okay?
When he or she, you know in the
hadith where it says he, Ibn Hajar, he
said that all the hadith where males are
addressed also apply to women as long as
it is not a straightforward rule for men.
Okay?
Like if you were to see the hadith
of the seven who will be in the
shadow on the day of judgment, the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, it says a young
man who was raised in an environment of
worship.
Well, it says a young man.
Ibn Hajar said it's also for women and
there are many scholars.
So, this is why you always hear me
saying he or she because sometimes it seems
that we are just talking to the men
and for us it doesn't, we really don't
matter.
But it can be that a woman then
finds herself a bit further away from the
hadith.
So, in the light of the words of
Ibn Hajar, I always say he or she,
but the hadith is applicable for men and
women.
Is that clear?
Okay.
So, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, the
best ones amongst you are those when they
are seen that remind others of Allah.
Now, Imam Al-Mulawi, he mentions in his
book, he says they remind others of Allah
not just in words.
When they talk, when they give, with their
courage, with their patience, with their forgiveness, they
remind others of these Divine Names, not of
the Divine Being, of the Divine Names that
are supposed to be put into practice.
So, when they see like the Prophet Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam, كان ينفعك الذي لا يخشى عليه
من الفقر They said, he used to spend
like someone who doesn't fear poverty.
So, when you see somebody spending, spending, spending,
spending on good things, then he reminds you
of a Divine Name, the Generous, who spends
all the time.
Or a Razzaq, that this person isn't afraid
of losing out on Rizq because, you know,
his spending just shows it, that he trusts
Allah to provide for him.
Is that clear for everybody?
So, this is what the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
And I think that the reward for reminding
others of Allah in these difficult days is
bigger than ever.
Because people seem to be reminding others of
themselves all the time.
This is what people do.
Like on fake book, for example, everybody, you
know, reminds people of themselves.
I went on a journey.
I was in Turkey.
Okay, good for you.
What has it changed in my life?
I ate some spaghetti.
My child just had its teeth.
Oh, good.
I think oh, 7 billion children have this
going on.
So, it doesn't mean that I don't care
about your child and the well-being of
your child.
That's not what I'm trying to say.
But I mean, we live in an era
where everybody, you know, just wants attention.
Let's talk about that.
Lastly, we're created to receive attention, but from
Allah.
So, we are yearning for this attention, but
we're looking for it in wrong ways.
So, in a time where people, Muslims, no
longer know the names of Allah, we should
shy away and feel embarrassed that people know
more about us than the one that we
worship.
People know more about us.
People know maybe more about me than they
know about the name of Allah.
That's problematic.
Okay, so today I think that one of
the most beautiful things we can all do
is talk about Allah.
Talking about Allah is not supposed to cause
any enmity between people, unless you talk about
the sifat, you know, where people differ in
the asha'i wa amatu iddiya, and you
know, it's necessary to study this.
When I mean talking about Allah, I mean
talking about these beautiful names.
You know, who comes together and says, no,
Rahman, no, you know, there's nothing to argue
about.
It's all beautiful.
Allah says, Allah has the most beautiful names,
so invoke Allah by His names, okay?
So, these are some of the things that
we need to know about the names of
Allah.
Imam Ghazali, he then asked himself a question,
are there any names of Allah which have
exactly the same meaning?
So, it's the same.
I mean, is it the same?
It's just about forgiveness, right?
So, do they mean the same?
He says no.
He says, an extra letter in the Arabic
language means an extra meaning.
And this is what the Arabs say, the
ziyadatun fil mabnata lilo ala ziyadatin fil a
'la.
Now, an extra letter gives an extra meaning
to the name.
And also, a different form leads to a
different what?
To a different meaning.
Like, for example, ghafir, ghaffar, and ghafoor.
You see this?
Ghafir, ghaffar, and ghafoor.
So, Allah SWT, the ghafir is the one
who forgives the ghalim.
And if you look in the Quran, there
is ghafir and ghalim.
There is ghaffar and there is ghalam.
There is ghafoor and there is ghaloor.
You see?
So, all these patterns are the same.
So, the ghafir is the one, the ghaffar
is the one that keeps on forgiving someone
who keeps on repeating the same sin.
This is ghaffar.
This is what the pattern means.
Ghaffar, fa'al.
He keeps on forgiving the same sins.
Ghafoor is the one that keeps on forgiving
different sins.
And the ghafir is the one who does
both of them.
You see?
So, ghafoor and ghaffar is not the same.
Because one is ala wajhi fa'ool, an
ongoing sin, which means different sins.
Ghaffar is the one, every time you commit
the same sin, and you say, sorry Rabbi,
this was really the last time.
After 52 times you say, wallahi Rabbi, this
time I mean it.
Wallahi I mean it.
And you do it again, ghaffar.
You see?
He keeps on forgiving.
He keeps on forgiving until our soul reaches
our throat.
This is how ghafir truly is.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, yaqbalullahu
tawwada ahadikum ma lam yugharbir.
Allah accepts repentance of each one amongst you.
No matter how big his sin is, his
or her sin is, Allah will forgive it.
Ma lam yugharbir.
As long as his soul hasn't reached the
throat.
Is that clear?
So we have ghafir, ghaffar, and ghaffar.
So this was just to give an example.
Later on we will get into detail with
regards to the names of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
And that's the same with, if you would
say Allah is, can you give another example?
Of names that look alike.
Rahman, Rahim for example.
They look alike.
They have the same movement, but they are
different.
So Imam Ghazali says, no, a different name
comes with a different meaning.
Even if there is a different letter, then
there is what?
Then there is a different meaning.
He said, and there are no synonyms in
the names of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Even if they seem to be very close
to one another, like ghafir, and ta'id,
and afu, there are differences.
So we are not allowed to use them
even in a wrong way.
Like al-afu is not like al-ghaffur,
and al-ghaffur is not like al-tawwal.
So all of this we are going to
investigate inshallah, and we are going to see
when to use what and what it means
exactly.
Because one of them, al-afu for example,
means the one who forgave you in this
life, and will let you go on the
day of judgment, and won't punish you.
But it's with anger.
So some say it's with anger, meaning like
someone who has the right to take your
life for example in a certain framework, and
he says, you know what, I forgive you
but never want to see you again.
That's al-afu.
You see this?
So this person when he comes to the
Day of Judgement, he will read his bad
deeds, Allah will not punish him, but the
humiliation of having committed the sin will remain.
So he or she will read the sins.
As for if you say al-ghaffur, it
means hiding, meaning it will be erased.
You will be forgiven and it will be
erased.
So there are differences.
So if we don't understand these nuances, then
we will not have a correct understanding of
what the Divine Name really stands for.
And you will connect differently to it.
Because you can know that you won't be
punished for your sin, but just the humiliation
of reading your sins is sufficient to repent
again until you hope that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala removes it even from your list,
so that you don't need to read it.
Because Allah says, read your book today, you
are sufficient as your own accountant.
It's your accountancy, you see.
On the Day of Judgment, do you think
Allah will come up with things you can
do?
Of course not.
The only thing you will bring with yourself
is what you did, what you said, what
you thought, and that's it.
So you come with your own book, read
your book.
And then Allah decides whether He's going to
remove some of the things in your book
because He loves you so much.
Like if you really love someone very much,
He will not even remind him or her
of his shukr coming.
If they have ever wronged you, if you
love them, say, I forgot it and I
forgave it.
And that person never mentions it again.
That's love.
And very often in marriages, the reason why
people get more angry is because they go
back to the past.
They say, okay, let's start all over again.
Ah, you told me you were never going
to be late.
Do you remember in 2013?
Oh, six years ago.
Of course, I remember.
I have it here.
I mean, you don't remember, but people do
remember, you know, when they argue, they remember
everything.
So we need to learn from the names
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
If we want Him to wipe away everything
which we have done in order not to
read it in the hereafter, then one of
the conditions is that we do the same
in the hereafter.
You can't expect from Allah doing with you
what you don't give to people.
If you want to be forgiven, forgive.
If you want to be given, give.
If you want your sins to be hidden,
hide the sins of others.
You see?
So this is why it is important to
connect correctly to the names of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
So you can't, this is what Ibn al
-Qayyim says in his book, he
says, I am surprised about people wanting from
others to treat them in a way that
they don't treat Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And Allah, we can't do any wrong to
Allah, we just wrong ourselves because He is
untouchable subhanahu wa ta'ala, whatever we do.
But I mean, you get angry with people
when you phone people and you text message
them and you don't get a message back,
it makes you angry.
But the message of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala is there on your shelf for years,
you're not even reading what He is telling
you.
It's not just a text message, I mean
it's 604 pages, and it's there.
You call people, they don't answer, you become
angry.
Allah asks you to do something, you don't
do it, you don't become angry with yourself.
So this is why Ibn al-Qayyim was
surprised.
To people really think that they are more
important than Allah, that they get angry for
their own little egos, but they don't get
angry when it comes down to Al-Kabeer
Al-Muta'al subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So when we are going to study these
names of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, we
are going to find ourselves in another dimension,
in the true dimension.
Because either we live in the outward appearance
of this world, the superficial, and we get
lost in dunya.
Or either we dive into the ocean of
knowledge of the Divine and we will live
the true life.
And this is what we often find.
We are Muslims, we know about Allah, but
we don't connect to Allah.
We know Allah is a Razzaq, we know
He's a protector, we know He's everything, but
we just don't seem to connect.
You see?
So exactly as you know, this is a
plug, and this is a socket, and this
needs to be there, but I'm just looking
at them.
We need to make a connection.
And the moment we plug into these names,
our soul will be like a lamp, shines.
You see?
So this is Allah al-nur al-samawati
wa al-adhilat al-mu'minika mashkiyat.
Feeha misbah, misbah fi zujada.
Read surah al-nur how Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala describes His light.
So anyway, this is what we are going
to do with Ibn-e-Ilahi subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
And before carrying on, I would like to
express how happy I am that we three,
Sunday morning, you know, just to talk about
this and get together.
I mean, these are blessed moments.
I mean, people who come together to talk
about Allah jalla wa ala, the angels descend
down upon them.
Like I said on Friday, the Prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam, when he said that there
are angels who scout, the scouts amongst the
angels, he calls them sayyahi.
They go around, they travel around, just looking
for places where Allah is mentioned.
And these places where Allah is mentioned become,
you know, less in number every year.
More and more fasad, less and less dhikr.
The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, and
there will be a day where people no
longer say Allah.
That's Misah-e-Muslim.
There will come a day where people no
longer say Allah.
You see?
And another narration, the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam said, O Allah, I have heard this.
Oh yes, my grandparents used to say.
The only thing which will remain is the
name.
Now you could say, Alhamdulillah, that's far away.
It isn't.
Shaytan goes slowly but surely.
I mean, in the 25 years that I'm
Muslim, I never heard all the names of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the thousands
of conversations I've joined.
Never.
It's either Allah, Al-Razaq, Al-Haqid, Al
-Ghafoor, Al-Salam.
All the other names have been erased from
our daily dictionary.
That's not good.
That's dangerous.
So when you're going to look, yes, it
will not be all of a sudden that
we no longer say Allah.
First the other names that go until only
the name Allah is left and that people
no longer know the names of Allah, and
then we know Allah will disappear.
You see?
So it has already started.
It has already started.
If you ask the majority of Muslims, do
you memorize the names of your Lord?
They say, no, but I've got it on
my phone.
Meaning, if today, internet dies, you don't know
anything.
I don't mean you in person, but if
internet dies today, as I say, 99.9
% of the Muslims will no longer be
able to talk about religion.
If internet dies today, 99.9% wouldn't
be able even to update their Facebook or
Instagram account with one single quote.
Imagine you're writing, yes, the Prophet shallallahu alaihi
wasallam said, the most beloved one amongst you
is, internet is gone.
Oh, what's it again?
Where am I going to look?
I have no books at home.
My phone, no internet connection.
What do I do?
You wouldn't even know if you're in a
society Muslim or Abu Dawood.
You see?
So I would advise, if you don't know
how to talk without internet, then don't talk
yet.
It's not religion.
To continue, so, if you ask the majority
of Muslims, do you memorise the names of
Allah?
They say, no.
It's just the truth.
I'm not trying to be very rude, but
it's really the truth.
So, try Baqal Fiqh.
During our classes, if you memorise two names
a day, two names a day, you will
memorise the 99 names in 33 days.
No, in how many?
45.
49.5. So, you can choose, make it
50 or 49.
So, if you do three names a day,
you will learn in approximately a month.
Is that so difficult?
Three names a day, from today, starting from
today.
Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim, Al-Malik.
Done for today.
Tomorrow, Al-Quddus, As-Salam Al-Mu'min.
Done for today.
So, go three names a day.
When you memorise the 99 names of Allah,
jalla wa ala, come to me.
I have my sanad in the names of
Allah, jalla wa ala, but you need to
read it by memorisation.
You need to read it by memorisation.
So, if you want to read these names,
these 99, until the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam, memorise these names during the
break, which is five to seven minutes, I
don't know what.
You come, I listen to you.
I can probably only listen to three.
So, next week, if I'm still alive, or
you are still alive, you read the next
person's names.
So, this is my promise to you.
If you memorise it, I listen to you.
If what you say is good and correct,
I'll give you your sanad to us.
Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
Salatu wa alayhi wa sallam Who wants to
try?
Okay, good.
So, the first one who comes to me,
but it shouldn't be someone who already memorises
the 99 names, because that's not fair.
The first one who memorises it gets one
of my preferred books about the names of
Allah, subhana wa ta'ala.
And then I hope, inshallah, that I can
find the same one.
He gets a book about the names of
Allah, subhana wa ta'ala, from me, inshallah,
from which he or she will benefit a
lot.
Okay?
So, the race has started.
If you have someone going like this, I
say, watch out, that's not fair.
Okay, let's start.
I will be nice and then I'll even
say, in the name of Allah.
We are going to start with these names
or these defined names of dominion and kingdom.
We are going to talk about the king,
because Allah, subhana wa ta'ala, is the
king of kings.
He doesn't want anybody to call himself king
of kings, like an emperor, for example, which
in the native language would be the king
of kings.
The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said that
on the Day of Judgment, subhana wa ta
'ala, the Day of Judgment, people who call
themselves king will be called separately by Allah.
And he said, ayna mulukul ardi?
Where are the kings of the earth?
As I am the king of kings.
And then they come.
And then Allah, subhana wa ta'ala, said,
where is your dominion now?
Where?
Where is your kingdom?
Where is your dominion?
Allah would say, like in the Qur'an,
to who belongs the dominion in the kingdom
today?
Nobody belongs.
It belongs to Allah, the One, the Ruler,
who rules over everything.
So Allah, subhana wa ta'ala, is the
king of kings.
And the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said,
there is no name more disliked or hated
by Allah than someone who calls himself king,
or king of kings.
And this reminds me when Al-Junaid, who
was from the third century, Al-Junaid, was
one of these great worshipers.
And he had a lot of students.
He was always talking about purification of the
soul.
And the story goes, a true story, that
one day, the Qami, was fed up with
Junaid.
He said, this man keeps on talking and
saying things we don't know.
So let him and his students come to
the king.
Let him and his students come to the
king.
So they handcuffed them, and I don't know
if you say that, but they feet cuffed
them, hand and feet cuffed them with a
chain around the neck, and they took them
to Egypt.
They had to go to the grave And
they sat in front of the door, and
the Qami, who was under the rulership of
that king, he said, we need to get
rid of these people, because Junaid gets too
much importance.
It's like he's a ruler.
Everybody sits at his knees.
Scholars, Qamis, everybody.
He says, he's a danger for you, king.
So he said, okay.
And he said, take them.
And they sat all in front of the
palace, and he called all the Fuqaha of
his country, the biggest Muftis in everybody, said,
you know what we're going to do?
We're going to talk to Junaid, and you
scholars, hundreds of scholars are going to listen.
And when he commits an error or a
mistake in aqeedah or anything, we chop off
his head and the heads of all these
students and we get rid of them.
So then they brought Junaid in.
They asked him one question, and he gave
an answer.
And then the king said, has anybody amongst
you have more knowledge than Junaid?
Because he was impressed by the knowledge of
Junaid.
And they said, actually we don't.
Not in fiqh, not in aqeedah.
They said, then how are you going to
question him?
And then, okay, what are we going to
do?
The qadi said, you know what?
Ask the most foolish one amongst them to
come forward because he can't hide the truth.
Junaid is too smart and he might be
saying things and hiding other things.
But a foolish man just says what he
has in his mind.
They said, okay, but how are we going
to find out the most foolish man?
Because they are all doing zikr in front
of the palace.
They described him, this is what Imam Qushayli
mentions a part of the story in Risalat
Qushaylian.
So they were all doing zikr in front
of the palace, praying, doing dua.
They were all singing a nasheed, you know,
halal nasheed.
So they were all, they were very happy.
They were happy.
So they said, look at these people.
I mean, they're supposed to be frightened.
So they said, the most foolish man is,
we send our general and he says, who
wants the sword?
And the most foolish man will not understand
what he's saying.
And he thinks that you want to give
him the sword.
But actually you're saying who wants to die?
So you go out and you say, who
wants the sword?
And the general went out and he said,
who wants the sword?
He didn't even finish the sentence or someone
jumped up and he said, me.
He said, this must be a real fool,
he says.
So he said, don't you know what I'm
trying to say?
He says, yes.
You're asking me who wants to get killed?
He said, why did you stand up then?
He said, well, one, it's not suicide.
You're going to kill me.
And two, I get to go quicker to
Allah and my friends, they can worship Allah
longer.
I said, so it's good for everybody.
So this general didn't really understand what's going
on.
So he said, anyway, he's a fool.
So for me, it's not.
So he said, yeah, I found the foolish
one, most foolish one amongst them.
And then they, you know, the king was
also the qadi of qadis.
And then they said, everybody stand up.
The qadi of qadis.
The judge of judges will enter now.
And this man fainted.
This foolish man just lost consciousness.
And then he sat with him.
He said, why did you faint?
He said, this is already qiyamah.
This is already yawm al qiyamah.
He said, what are you talking about?
And then he said, qadi qudah, the judge
of judges is Allah.
And then the king or the judge of
judges sat in front of him.
And then he looked at him and said,
are you qadi qudah?
He said, did you not find any other
name than to call yourself the judge of
judges?
If you are the judge of judges and
Allah is a judge, then who is Allah
for you?
Then all of a sudden, the qadi of
qudah started turning.
And then they went on.
I want to cut a long story short.
They kept on talking until the qadi of
qudah said, I am a qadi.
I am a student of Junaid.
Get these people out before the la'na
of Allah comes down on me.
So all the students and Junaid as well,
they just were to let go.
But they said at the beginning, if you
find a fault in Junaid, we chop off
his head.
And if we don't, you chop off ours.
So now he said to Junaid, this is
what we said.
What do you decide?
He said, ask the foolish man.
Ask the one you call a fool.
And the foolish man said, only Allah takes
life.
And only Allah gives life.
Let us go.
And they went.
So all these palaces turned into pious worshippers.
So why was I saying this?
What was the connection to what I said
before?
Allah is al-malik and malik al-muluk.
Now malik al-muluk.
Malik al-muluk, the king of kings.
You see?
And he hated when people called themselves king
of kings.
So they will be the smallest people on
the day of judgment.
The king will be smaller than ants.
And a bully, humiliation will come to them
from each direction.
Subhanallah.
So yes, Allah is the king of kings.
And Allah is malik.
There is a difference between malik and malik.
Malik is king and malik is possessor.
Malik is king.
Malik is possessor.
The one that possesses things.
So Allah is al-malik, meaning al-malik
because some kings have no power.
They are kings but they have no power.
And some people have power but they haven't
got any authority to use their power.
So they are restricted.
They are powerful but they have no authority
whatsoever to implement their power or to manifest
their power among them.
He is malik and malik.
He possesses everything.
Everything is his and he is the king
of it.
So he can do what he wants, whatever
he wants and however he wants.
So we need to get started from that
point that Allah is the king and that
everything is his possession, even you.
You are Allah's possession.
You are not yours.
You are not yours.
This is why Allah decides what you can
and cannot do with your body.
Look at this, not at that.
If it were my eyes, I do with
it what I want.
He says look at this, don't look at
that.
Listen to this, don't listen to that.
Speak about this, don't speak about that.
Even your teeth, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam said it's haram to make a hole
between your teeth, any small gap between your
teeth, which in the time of the Arabs
used to be one of these characteristics of
beauty.
So they would do it on purpose, you
know, that little gap.
So he said it's haram.
Even your skin, it's haram.
Tattoo is haram.
So you see that Al-Qaza is haram,
that you, for example, you have like your
hair like this and here you have nothing.
It's haram.
So we're not even allowed to do with
our eyebrows or with our eyes, with our
teeth, with our skin, with our hands, with
our feet.
We are Allah's possession and we are always
confronted with it, but we just don't seem
to understand.
And this is why we always need to
repeat it, Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen, Ar-Rahman Ar
-Raheem, Malik Yawm Al-Deen.
Malik is the one who possesses.
Malik, in short, Malik is the king.
So Allah possesses everything.
And this is why when a Musiba, when
affliction, when we are afflicted, what do we
say?
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raje'un.
We are Allah's.
So when something happens which we do not
like, we need to remind ourselves of the
very fact that we are Allah's and He
does with us what He wants.
As long as we don't let go of
this, we didn't understand what it means to
be Allah's slave.
You see?
If I were to come next week, Khayyam,
and you would, for example, put green maps,
green, instead of blue.
Or you would paint the doors green, instead
of blue.
And I come in, I say, Khayyam, this
is impossible, what do you do?
He says, what's wrong, Suleyman?
I say, why are the doors green?
Astaghfirullah, I don't like green, why did you
do this?
Why didn't you ask my permission?
Imagine Khayyam, that compliment.
You say, okay, that's good, you can just
go back home now.
So, I would consider to be crazy.
Why?
Because I'm trying to command something which isn't
mine.
To decide over something which isn't mine.
If my neighbor all of a sudden wants
a palm tree in his garden, I should
be commanding, why a palm tree?
I wanted roses in your garden.
When you do this with people, you understand
that something is wrong with their mind.
If someone were to visit me in my
house, and they would say, why is the
television there?
It should be there.
Why is the couch here?
You should put your dining table here, and
your curtains, they don't match the wall.
I say, oh, calm down, it's mine.
So, when it comes down to people, we
seem to understand it.
But in relation to Allah, we seem to
forget it.
Allah doesn't need to give us any explanation
of what He does with our lives, with
our honor, with our money, with our children,
with our time, with our possessions, nothing.
He does, He does, He does, and we
just remain silent.
Because it's not ours.
If people do something with it, we can.
Why?
Because Allah swt is responsible temporarily over what
is His.
It's never ours.
We have responsibility over what He has given
us temporarily, but we need to give it
back in the same way that He gave
it to us.
We were born with pure hearts, He wants
us to come back to Him with a
pure heart.
Our mission is to go back to Him
like the very day we were born, pure.
That's our only mission, to go back to
Allah like in the state of the very
day our mothers gave birth to us.
You can say, Suleyman, now you're exaggerating.
No, I'm not.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that
when someone is afflicted time after time, time
after time, and he's content with this affliction,
meaning accepted, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
said that his sins will fall from his
or her body, that he goes over the
face of the earth in the same state
as the very day where his mother gave
birth to him, meaning no sins.
Ajeel.
Wallahi, people without sins, I think, are very
happy people.
Can you imagine that if you just look
at the face of a baby, you see
nothing but innocence.
It's shiny, it's light, it's innocence, it's beauty,
it's happiness.
Where did that go?
Because that is who we are.
That is who we are.
It is not due to the afflictions in
life, it's due to the way that we
handle afflictions in life.
We take it to the heart and the
soul, while it should go no further than
our minds.
You see?
So, yes, if you know that Allah is
many, and you know that He can do
with you what He wants, and you say,
look at the verse in Surah Al-Baqarah.
We will test you with a little amount
of fear.
Subhanallah.
Look now at the people in Syria, people
in other places around the world who didn't
fear.
Allah says this is but a little amount
of fear.
The biggest fear someone had on the face
of the earth is a little amount of
fear.
Because in Al-Akhirah, in Jahannam is a
true fear.
Yawm Al-Qiyamah, Day of Judgment is true
fear.
When the sky is open and the angels
come down and they're looking to get you
in front of Allah and that you need
to talk to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
like the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said
and there is no translator between you and
Allah and Allah says read your sins, my
slave.
That is fear.
Not knowing 50,000 years whether you are
for * or you are for paradise, that
is fear.
We will test you with a little amount
of fear.
Bishay'in nal khawr.
One jewel, and hunger.
There are people dying out of hunger today.
That's a small amount of hunger.
When you don't eat 50,000 years and
that in a normal state in this life
you would have died already, you are still
alive because your bodies when they are revived,
they were not revived to die again.
Say the people of * fire, will we
not die then?
And he said we will never die again,
always be in this state.
And these are people of Jannah sorry.
Won't we die?
They rejoice but it's the same for the
people of what?
The people of *?
The people of Jannah they are happy that
they don't die.
And the people of Jahannam, they are sad
that they don't die.
So, we will test you with a little
amount of fear.
One jewel, and hunger.
Wa naqsin minal amwal, poverty.
Wa thamarat, meaning your business that collapses.
Wa thamarat, and then?
Wa al-anfusi wa thamarat, and lives and
thamarat.
Meaning people who die around you, being your
mother, your father, your children.
Like my grandmother, subhanallah, my father died when
he was 53.
And a year and a half later, my
father died.
Because of sadness.
Because a parent never expects his child to
die before him.
Now, wa al-anfusi, so your beloved ones
die before you.
Wa al-anfusi wa thamarat, and then Allah
says, wa bashshir as-sabireen, give the glad
tidings to those who have suffered.
Alladhina idha asabathu museeba, when they are afflicted
by museeba, they say, inna lillahi wa inna
ilayhi raji'un.
We are Allah's.
Submission.
But this is the most difficult part in
our religious lives, is submission.
Because everything in us wants something different.
So when it comes, Allah's choice should be
more beloved to us than our own choice.
You see this?
Because we are Allah's.
So you have now, Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala says in the Qur'an, Allah bought
from the mu'mineen anfusahum wa anwalahum bi-anna
rahum, a Jannah.
He bought their lives and their wealth, and
they get Jannah in exchange.
Meaning that when you said la ilaha illallah,
you said Allah is maliki, Allah possesses me.
This I am Allah's possession.
This is what Allah says, Allah bought it.
The moment you buy my phone, I have
nothing to say about it.
So if I were to sell it to
you, and then you say I'm going to
change the background, this I'm not going to,
you know, I don't want a transparent cover,
I want a black cover.
If I keep on following, brother, why black
cover?
It should be white.
Brother, I mean, first what about indoors?
Now it's about phone.
Please go see a psychiatrist.
So this is what we understand it when
we give the examples of creation.
But here it's about Allah, you see?
So the moment you sold yourself to Allah
with your la ilaha illallah, you have nothing
to decide whatsoever about what is going on
in your life.
You make your choices, but Allah chooses the
results.
The results are not always in harmony with
your choice.
Sometimes we make a choice, and we have
expectations, but the result is entirely different.
Like for example, you can want a, what
do you call somebody who stops you on
the road?
I mean, people who like you to hitchhike.
Hitchhiker.
Hitchhiker.
I want to say hijacker.
So you have a hitchhiker who is actually
a hijacker.
So he's hitchhiking and you say, mashallah, do
this for Allah.
No.
You say, I'm doing this for Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
If I help someone, Allah will definitely help
me, brother.
It's not even a brother.
I mean, whatever.
So, you know, you say, brother, come in.
So he sits down.
You say, mashallah, it's nice.
Thank you so much for taking me with
you.
So I said, oh, what's going on?
I was doing good.
What's going on against my face?
It's a joke, right?
No, it's not a joke.
Give me your money.
Give me this, that.
So you made a decision, but you don't
decide over results.
And this is where we go wrong.
We think that our decisions always get us
there where we want.
And how often were we proven wrong?
We choose something, it's exactly the opposite of
what we think.
And sometimes also things like, no, I'm not
going to do this.
This will bring me problems.
I don't mean haram things, whatever.
And are you afraid of something?
And then you do it, you see, it's
nothing.
So you make your choices, but don't expect
Allah to give you what you intended behind
your choices because he's your king.
He will take you where he wants.
And this is why we often see that
our decisions don't get us where we want.
SubhanAllah, ajeeb.
Okay, let's continue.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he bought
our souls and our wealth in Jannah for
exchange.
But a beautiful thing here, look, Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala says, inna Allah ash-shara
minal mu'mineena.
He didn't say minal muslimeena.
And this is the last thing we say
before the break.
Allah says, Allah bought the souls of the
mu'mineen.
He didn't say the souls of the muslimeen
because the souls of the muslimeen aren't worth
it yet.
But the mu'min is the one who does
everything.
He gets rid of haram and he does
these extra things because he wants Allah to
buy him.
I mean, people are yearning to be bought
by Juventus or by Real Madrid.
They do their best on the soccer field
in hope, they are hoping that scouts would
scout them and buy them for 100 million
or whatever.
This is the mu'min.
He's always playing his best, doing his best
in hope for one day to be chosen
by Allah to be bought.
SubhanAllah, look at these football players, soccer players
who are bought by good teams.
They have good money, they have good training,
they have good everything.
The best of best is given to them.
What if Allah buys you?
SubhanAllah, can you imagine?
If Allah buys you, just look at the
people of dunya, how when they are bought,
what they are given.
So what if the lord of lords, the
lord of the universe, the king of kings
buys you?
Maybe not from the materialistic point of view,
but on the inside, you will be the
most happy person ever because you are in
connection with Allah swt.
So this is in brief.