Who is Allah – Understanding Allah’s Names and Attributes #18
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Channel: Tom Facchine
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AI Generated Summary ©
The speaker discusses the importance of people in the world and how they are the most important people. They stress that the world is a place where people are the most important. The speaker also describes the importance of being the most important person and emphasizes that the world is a place where people are the most important.AI Generated Transcript ©
Rahim Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa salatu salam ala Ashoka MBA almost sitting Amina awkward Latina Muhammad Ali Abdullah sada or Eska Tasneem hola hola. I think that'd be Nyan sourdough and found out in that item was eaten and out of the army.
Today insha Allah
will talk about two of the laws names of all week
and Al Mateen.
The author, Sheikh Razak and brother happy to Hawa he puts them together in the same chapter because they both have to do with strength
Kawi is a little bit more general in meaning and enmity.
And then the team has implications of intensity
that are explicitly communicated
rather than simply implied in the name of Yahweh.
So, it will call we
the general meaning is that Allah is the strongest
Allah has perfect strength. Recall, the principles that we had talked about in the beginning of this class that shakeup was mentioned in his introduction to the book.
He said all of a laws names, first of all,
they point to an attributes or a characteristic
those attributes and characteristics they can be
essential
to Allah
or they can deal with parts of Allah's activity
or they can talk about both.
So, one of the examples by which this becomes clear, for example,
Allah is a had the unique
This is an essential attribute. How can we tell because it's not possible to separate or stop or pause. This particular quality of the loss pounced on it is inseparable from his essence.
Right, so this is one of Allah's attributes of essence, whereas something such as a car bill,
and bass,
the one who restricts the one who
extends or gives or grants.
They are tied to a loss activity. And so Allah does them when and as He wills.
And there are some that exist in both categories such as,
for example, the fact that Allah speaks.
Allah, we know speaks, he has his ability to speak, his capacity to speak is something that's essential to him, it's not possible to separate it
out from who Allah is. And yet the instances of him speaking, happen in real time at particular moments, sometimes a lot chooses to speak and sometimes he doesn't.
Right? So
along these kinds of categories, and they're simply lenses to get us to understand deeper the contours of these meanings and the attributes that they represent.
Both alcohol we and Al Mateen.
Do you think that I'll ask you the question,
are they
names that represent attributes that are part of Allah's essence?
Or they reflect activities of a law or both?
What do you think?
Okay,
I was concerned for a second there. Brother will have usually when you ask a yes or no question
or an either or question, someone says, yes, they're messing with you know, Mashallah. Okay. Yeah, we can definitely, we're certain that it has to do with his essence. Okay. And then I can also see, I can also see an argument for somebody that wants to say that they are, that it's both essence and activity.
Right? Depends on specific circumstance. So there's no doubt that strength is an essential quality of a lost cause honor. And if we think about it, if we think about it in terms of activities that demonstrate his strength, then those are things that happen in real time a lot chooses to do them when, and however he wills. So at least we can say at least it's certainly an essential quality. And it might also be, that might also be
part of the loss activity.
What do we mean when we talk about a loss strength? I'll turn it over to you again. Because let's admit with even in the way that we use this adjective, strength, or strong strength,
the noun, there's different types of strength. We say someone has to be strong
when they have to
bear something, whether it's internal emotionally or it's external, physically
mashallah, yes?
That's a lovely analogy.
So
what are the ways in which a lot is strong?
What do we mean when we say a lot is strong?
We can't have a literal definition because if we say that he can lift heavy things
there could be a way in which that's true and a way in which that that might be
getting a little too close to
making a likeness between Allah and human beings, depending on our intention or our phraseology.
So what do we mean what are what are types of lost strength?
Or how does he demonstrate his strength?
Okay, Mashallah.
So we have one answer says, in knowledge, the seen and unseen, that's one thing, okay. So knowledge is power. That's a very popular thing that we were told in school in the States, knowledge is power. And so because he knows the most, he is the most powerful. And then I really liked the second part
where you said
to say B and it is okay. So the ability to implement and apply the ability to realize your will
without any sort of obstruction, interference,
preventative power, that is a form of strength. Yes.
He does not need anyone's strength as being one good, masha Allah. So there's an element of independence with strength, right?
We say this in our
everyday culture all the time, these twin ideas of strength and independence. He's a strong independent person. She's a strong independent person.
The Hola, wala Quwata.
Is that that is the attribute, right? Yes. What?
Yes, with a timeout, what's at the end? So if you're going to pronounce the whole word that what's a cool one is from Kobe, you're right. So Allah is alcovy. And the attribute is a cool one.
So he has strength
Yeah, so yeah. So now we have the ability to create as well well done, not the artists who takes materials and make something beautiful but rather creates everything and gives the site to enjoy the beauty that has created Yes.
Yeah. So that
anything we achieve
is because of his strength? Yes.
Definitely. If part of a laws if a lot of strength
is
present
in his ability to
To realize and actualize his will
consider that part of his will is your risk, right? Whether it is your money or your talents, or anything else.
So we have something such as his strength that's coming in and
coloring in flexing his other attributes.
His risk
and strength manifests in very, very similar, if not identical instances where he is bestowing
because someone could be a Razzak in the sense in the sense that they provide, but it could be a struggle for that person. Every head of the household, wakes themselves up early in the morning shakes the sleep out of their eyes, splashes some cold water on their face goes to work,
is patient in the commute, maybe gets yelled at by their boss
maybe has to do backbreaking labor. This is how we, as human beings, get risk for we should say take the means to secure Allah's risk, or how provision happens the means that a law created for them, the man gets his paycheck at the end of the week, or the end of the month, or the woman gets her paycheck. And they have provided for their family. But think about all of the struggle and toil and obstacles that were in the way. And so Allah isn't merely the provider, but he's also alcohol II, which means that his provision there is no
obstacle, there is no barrier, there is no force
that can repel or slow down or make difficult or make strenuous or arduous
that process of giving sustenance
a set up oh man the shahada family is on a roll tonight Mashallah.
People give and it takes away from their portion
whereas the last panel of the other gives and needs nothing. Yeah, so
Masha Allah
Yes, all of these things.
So what I have written down
and it's very much he can defend the wrongs I his art and his pistol, His justice, Allah is alcohol the overcome are eligible, the Compeller
right. elements I can't be the glorious
very good in Allah's ability to take the oppressor to task.
Natural disaster is also very good, yes. Who can move if, if, if human beings had the ability to cause a tsunami or an earthquake whenever they wanted to, to
fight against their enemy, they would have done it. Of course, they would do it.
And the lost pounds either is able to cause these things
very, very easily
to orchestrate orchestration
of
we could go planetary as well. Right? Meteors
the orbit of everything, how stars are born and then they die in the spectacular display of a supernova. Right? The black hole all of these sorts of things that are now in our awareness that necessarily weren't in people's awareness the same way 1000 years ago, more and more demonstrations of a law strength
Yeah, so I was gonna come to most of my show on beat me to it. parting of the sea and making it dry Awa Allah says in the Quran, he made it dry.
How can you you take a piece of ground that's been under the water
for millennia, perhaps.
And not only that a lot caused the seeds apart but made it dry in an instant for musante he sat down and his followers to cross
Excellent. Oh, excellent. Excellent examples.
I
By
using current events, we have a virus you cannot see.
I said we can't use that example.
Oh, no, no, no, that is a good example, about lifting, I was simply saying, I didn't mean to come across as saying, you can't use that because of course, Allah was able to lift something. There's no doubt about that. But what I was trying to contrast it with was a particular mechanistic understanding of how things are lifted when they're talked about as humans, right. So when we're talking about things, as humans, I have to lift the lid.
Right, I have to exert pressure with something material that belongs to me, such as my organ or my muscle or something, perform work that work is fatiguing. It has to be in the direction that I want it to create this lifting
in the world. Right. So all I was trying to say, and I wanted to get to other types of strength that you mentioned. So I wanted to pass over was that if we're going to live to use using the lifting example, then we just have to be certain that
we
are free, or we give due right to Allah, in not making him seem like he's dependent on the same materialistic means that we are just like a lost balance on the seas.
But he doesn't require
light, and something that have a pigment and the lights to reflect off of that thing in order for him to see because once we get into the materialistic mechanisms by which we experience those capacities, then we get into limitation.
Right? We can only if, if color, there are certain colors, we can't see if if lights for example, if we say that vision is dependent upon light, light is a wave, okay, there are certain frequencies of waves that we can see. And certain frequencies of waves that we can't see, we can't see ultraviolet light. There are animals such as I think, I believe bees and other animals can see ultraviolet light. Right? We don't even know what that means. You can imagine what does it even mean to see ultraviolet light? I have no idea. Right? So when we enter into the case, the how, then we we run up against the limitation. So there's nothing wrong with saying Allah lifts Of course, Allah Allah,
Allah, Allah just Jebel told exactly like you said. But we have to be sure that people understand that if we're going to use the lifting example, that we
it's not
the, it's not occurring through a physical medium, such as we do it. And so therefore, it's not subject to any limitations as when we do it.
And really, I just wanted to get away from lifting just because there's many different types of strength and lifting is the easy one that comes to our, our minds, but it's definitely a legitimate example. And as I said, had a family said, the virus, excellent. You can't even see it. But it's killing humans, of all walks of life, despite the technology, despite that festival, the boastful pride that we have in our martial law, or the developed West, the advanced world, and we can go to the moon and go to Mars, and we can
freeze people's bodies and maybe revive them at a later date and all of these conceits that we have about our ability and Allah has brought the world to its knees
with something that is microscopic.
Yes,
and I mean, while we're talking about it, and Allah knows best as to all of these things, but it is remarkable to me that the nations that are the most profoundly affected by it seem to be
the quote unquote, it's a problematic term, but the quote unquote, first world nations, not that it hasn't been bad in other places, but it tends to affect populations that are older, which happens to also be in the first world. So you have Yes,
the nations that pride themselves on life expectancy, one of the very, very common criteria by which standard of living is judge quality of life.
I believe the UN calls it, right.
And nations have been feeling pretty happy about themselves for quite a while due to their life expectancy. And all of a sudden, they're brought to their knees by,
by this virus, Allah
subhanaw taala.
So this is a wonderful conversation. If I look at my notes, what I came up with, it's mostly what everybody already said.
So, there's a negative way in which we can look at a loss of strength. And that is to say that there's nothing he can't do. Okay, like he's capable of everything, or not incapable of anything. Right.
And there are many manifestations of this such as Allah's ability to create, as we said, to split, right?
To split this the grain seed, right, and to cause it to grow. This is a type of strength, to weather and weather, things like mountains, alright, to cause meteors or comments to come hurtling across the cosmos and take out a planet, put it on a whole new course, maybe kill all the living creatures on it, these sorts of things, right?
The ability to resurrect, okay, this is something that allows power to audit talks about in the poor and where people are doubting the resurrection. Allah is saying, I've created you in the first instance, which was a much more difficult and nothing is difficult for a lot. But he's saying it's much more impressive. Let's say, it's much more impressive to have created you in the first instance, do you really think it's much it's any more difficult to join you back together to re gather the cells and the atoms that used to make up your body? No, not at all. It's easier.
Right? So his ability to resurrect his ability to exact justice, right? This is something that's just common sense.
I always bring back the example of, you know, let's say there's a little kid, and there's a grown adult and the grown adult, you know, maybe steps on the little kids toe.
And a little kid kind of threatens the adult and says, Oh, you know,
you should be thankful that I'm gonna let you off the hook this time. Because next time, you're not going to be so, so fortunate. We would laugh, it would be funny to us. Why would it be fine to us, because the little kid doesn't have POA. He doesn't have power. And so because he doesn't have power, he's not able to implement justice. Right? Or take the task or to return right actions that have been done to him. So a lost power to Allah is that we'll call we use the strongest and he's able to return actions.
I'll get back to that guy in a second. That reminds me of something else he's he's able to bring to justice. Right, he brings the most
severe fall boots, such as Peter Allen, and the likes of him to justice Mujahid, and the other Quraysh cheap and He does it through an extremely elaborate plant. This is all part of Allah's strength. While we
and I had forgotten the other aside, I was gonna be on.
Oh, that's right. There are other things that Allah does in the Quran with verbs, okay with verbs that don't make it into his names, or even his attributes like for example, a lot of other Bacara he says, yes, that has he will be him. Allah who says he will be right when ALLAH is talking about the hypocrites, how they mock Allah. Allah mocks them back.
Right? Does that make Allah Elmo Stassi? Does that make Allah the the mocker? The one who mocks? No, it doesn't. Which is why on principle, we can't automatically derive one of Allah's names from a verb in the Koran.
But why does a law mock them because it's retaliation. It's a return. It's responding in kind. And to not be able to respond in kind is a type of weakness. Right? So Allah is able to respond in kind, and that is part of his strength. Right? He's able to dish it out. Just as other people try to
even though they don't, they don't harm a lot. They attempt to and so a lot is able to turn it right back around and do the same thing to them.
and actually have it cause and effect.
And we also mentioned implementation, right, his perfect ability to implement that as part of his strength.
If someone is not able to achieve what they want, even if someone struggles, hard to achieve what they want them, their strength is not total. It's not complete strength, it's qualified strength. There are other strengths out there, that were a net drag, if you will,
a hindrance to achieving what that person wants it.
And so that person's strength is not absolute. Whereas the lost pounds are that he has absolute strength.
There's no degree of resistance.
Going into comments we have a part of strength is also having the ability not to do too much or too little, but having the perfect balance of that strength, something like fitness. And, you know, I'm really glad that you mentioned that she had a family because
one thing that we mentioned in the beginning of class is that some no rather many names in flecked others, right, so just like we talked about how we could imagine that there's such a thing as a provider that doesn't have strength, or perfect strength or absolute strength. But because Allah has is the provider and has absolute strength, it has, each of them complement each other. Right? Just like Allah subhanaw taala is the strongest. But he's also an Hakeem. He's also the most wise, he's also the rock man. He's also a rock man, the Most Merciful. So these names inflect, Allah's strength, so that it doesn't become some sort of buffoonish misapplication of force, there are
plenty of strong people in the world, that their strength is actually used for oppression or is used in a way that it doesn't affect the desired outcome.
So Allah subhanaw taala, His strength is always perfectly applied in the perfect degree and in the perfect manner, and in the perfect direction, informed by his wisdom, and His mercy.
Now, the comment says, What is scary is when we think about strength in dunya returns, we can see the building of that strength, whether it is manufacturing, arms bodybuilding training in an army, but when I lost pounds, the ATA exact says justice or punishment, there is no sign, there is no warning, he does not build strength or work to a position of strength. Yes, yes.
That's a lovely reflection. Because to have to build strength,
would imply a time in which there was not string, right? This was another one of Chicago's EPS principles in the in the introduction, that every name
and every attribute that Allah has,
it has three things that are attributes did not have.
There was never a time when it didn't exist. Okay, so that attribute had no beginning. Because it's part of a loss of data, that attribute has no end.
Because it's part of a loss of power data, and a law has no end. And during that entire
manifestation of that attribute, there is no deficiency or weakness in it, there is no ability to improve it. And maybe to use your analogy. And so therefore, it is perfect. And it is absolute.
And that is a little bit scarier, right. Because if an army or if a nation is stockpiling weapons, right, making, you know, purchasing,
F 15, or F 16, fighter jets, amassing,
you know, nuclear arms, these are all things that nations and their intelligence agencies attempt to ascertain. They attempt to observe and keep track of everybody's capabilities.
But a loss Contrada you know, there's no building of capability that needs to happen. It's the if you want to use the analogy, you know, the bullets already in the chamber, it's already locked and loaded. You know, there is just as Brother Mohammed said, couldn't play a coin, merely the word and with perfect speed and perfect implementation it exists,
which is something that we forget about,
which is the scary part. Not sure
All very good.
So, we also mentioned that this is something that everybody said, anyway, it makes people defiant almost. Which brings us back
to the importance of Vica.
Right? Because the last common to all that can't be seen
in the same way that
everybody sends spies to take stock of the enemy's army, you know, Arsenal, and weaponry. And their stockpile, right.
Uh, last comments all that, in a way, is out of sight. And so out of mind, for a lot of people. We forget because we're so used to interacting with the dunya, we causes that Allah subhanaw taala created, we become tricked into thinking that those are the only causes that those are the that's the oh, that's the real reality.
When in fact, that's all the contingent secondary reality,
to Allah's absolute necessary reality.
And so they can is what breaks that
this is the thing that keeps your memory and your awareness and your consciousness
on a loss Pousada and his capabilities, not only in the fearful way, like his capabilities that would make you you know, watch out, but also have these capabilities of justice, and mercy. So that you may have hope. And that's some of the other things that I had written down. So for example, to know and to remember with vicar that no one can stop his will,
that there is no opposing force, to his control or power.
These are things that should
lead us to not despair, and not regret, not despair on what has missed us.
Because the laws will was done.
There was no other force of evil, and we'll get to that in a second,
or randomness that overcame a laws will, or turn something away from you know, it was all allows well.
And so if Allah willed things to be like this, and we know that he's the most merciful, and we know that he's the strongest, and we know that he is the wisest,
then that requires us to submit to it.
Whether it's the thing that we wanted to have happen, or not, also looking towards the future, knowing that even the worst calamities that go on now, that Allah is alcohol, he is the overcomer he's the Compeller he's the conqueror, all of these things,
that
Allah's Will, and justice will be done, it will happen. The rope that he gives to people is not to cause more harm is not to necessarily
let anyone get away with anything.
That Allah has the perfect ability to implement and to take someone to task to bring them to heal, hold them to account.
And when Allah wills that to be done, it will happen instantaneously.
And so we need not despair,
to excessively for the hardship and the oppression that occurs in our lives.
The fact that Allah has power to Allah has no resistance is important to our conception of evil in Islam. This is one of the main dividing points between Islam and Christianity, either historically or originally, Christianity has tended over the centuries to conceptualize evil as a force that seems to at times overcome the ability of Allah.
Whereas in Islam, we know that the devil has no actual power. He is not an Ocoee he's not even puwede
he does not have power to overcome us.
What it is, is the receptor sites in us if we haven't dealt with them with vicar and worship,
we will want to follow the suggestion and we will end up following we will decide to follow the suggestion
and thus can get wrong and sin and bring evil into the world.
Yes, so
yes. So what we're saying is that, in Islam, evil is not a second god. Okay? Like some people imagine some people imagine good versus evil, God versus the devil in this kind of struggle that puts them on an equal plane.
To think that sometimes God overcomes the devil and sometimes the devil overcomes God at His will or things like this, this is, this breaks how heat, right? This elevates the shape on Elise, and all of his army to the level of a gun.
by imagining that this is what's going on know.
What really is, the reality is that everything is under and submissive to a lost power to honor his will. But he has willed
these suggestions from the devil and the suggestions from your neffs. And the receptor sites within your heart, if you have not trained your hearts are going to listen to those suggestions and decided to commit evil and bring about evil into the world.
So this is not the overcoming of Allah's Will, this is not a second God.
Having his day and overcoming the first. This is something that is much more manageable. If you give evil too much credit,
you actually end up
I don't want to say something as dramatic as something is shipped. But sometimes it could be sometimes it might not be, but you give too much credit to evil and the devil to the point where you are
giving it power that it doesn't have.
Yes, at least
the oblique, at least did at least did ask permission from the last balance audit to have free rein until the Day of Judgment. That's very true.
And the devil actually said, I believe it's an assault on this law. Though I could be incorrect, that he had no power, it's somewhere in there 15 1617
That he had no power over us. Rather, it was our choice to follow his command or his suggestion really.
If we know this, then we should not let ourselves get carried away with conspiracy.
Right? This is not the fitting,
in my opinion, the disposition of a Muslim, when it comes to their sense of the role and power of evil and the role and power of Allah. Allah is that we'll call we and evil, the devil at least, is not going all of the forces of jinn and man even if they are conspiring against them, even if they're conspiring against the Muslims, that stuff might be true,
but to obsess to a certain point.
And to blame everything on these kinds of elaborate conspiracies, as happens in the Muslim community, we have to be careful not to attribute to these evil actors have more power than they actually have.
A last final data is Kawi. And he is able to achieve anything with no resistance with no hesitation.
And so if we are right with Allah, and our faith is strong, and we're doing what he wants, and we take the means that Allah will deliver us and cause
us to this gives us hope. Exactly. Because we don't why is there hoping that because we're not responsible?
Yes, first of all, excellent. Because if it can feel when you when you read too much about the news and too much politics and too much conspiracy theory, it feels like the whole creation is against you and you feel like there's no way out.
You start to minimize in your own perception. The power and ability that allows Katana has
we're not responsible for knowing the how always
we're responsible for the Watts and Allah will take care of the house. What did the Muslims do at the Battle of the Trench? They had a plan. They dug the trench did
They know how the enemy army was going to be defeated and scattered. No, they did not. But they were pious, they were righteous, they took the means that were available to them and then Allah scattered them with a windstorm caused dissension in their ranks, Allah holds their hearts in his hand supine on what's odd, and so he's capable of doing any of that.
And this happened time and time again. We could go through all the historical examples but it would take us far far over time.
One last thought
is that with all of what we know about a lobbying alcovy
al Mateen
the infinitely abundantly absolutely strong
it's thrown throws into relief the folly the pure folly of approaching anything other than a law for our worship or our reward for our needs.
I'm not talking about asking for a cup of sugar we're talking about her blessings for ultimate success
Yeah, so in Allaha resemble the call the team the team yes Masha Allah Rosa will call within the team Masha Allah very good, it's all put together
so if we know that a lot is a call we enmity
then our reliance upon a lost power to others should increase our submission to Allah subhanaw taala should increase and our devotion should become even more exclusive.
When you see the type of power that Allah has the absolute power and you see what pitiful conditional derivative power things like nations and governments and popular culture and all and whatever you have all of them
then you realize that what are we doing putting our faith putting our expectations putting our hopes putting our fears into anything except the last panels on it
and we've gone over time but that was that was fun.
Anybody have any last remarks or questions before we
dismiss for the night?
Yes, health alone the complexity of the human body alone and how it is perfectly balanced by a lost pound Tata and how the slightest thing is off and no matter how quote unquote strong we are,
we are brought to our knees
that's a really nice last word. Mashallah.
Okay, fantastic. Thank you very much everybody for your participation. I really enjoyed it tonight.
And I will see you next time.
Hello, tada alum. I said I'm very lucky because what you