In Thy Name We Live

Episode 12- The Almighty

In the name of Allah (God)[i], The All-Merciful, The Ever-Merciful.  All Prayers and Blessings of Allah be upon our master, the most noble Prophet Muhammad (SAWS)[ii]. 

In today’s episode we will tackle Allah’s most beautiful Name “The Almighty”.  Before we start, I would like to ask you a question: are you a true worshipper of The Almighty?  Well, you should be and, in fact, you should be proud of it. 

This beautiful Name has four meanings.  The first meaning is that The Almighty is He who has no peer or equal.  The second is that The Almighty is He who is always victorious and is never defeated.  Allah (SWT)[iii] says what can be translated as, “…And Allah is Overcomer with (Literally: Over) His Command, but most men do not know” (TMQ, 12:21)[iv].

The third meaning is that it is He, The Almighty, who reinforces you and supplies you with power and strength in order to make you victorious.  Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “As We sent to them two (men). Yet they cried them lies, so We reinforced them with a third…” (TMQ, 36:14).  It is just like in the army; troops are provided with supplies to strengthen them in order to achieve victory. 

The most beautiful Name, The Almighty, is mentioned in the Qur’an about 95 times.  It is mostly accompanied each time by one of four other beautiful Names:

   1.               The Ever-Wise, which is mentioned 47 times, showing that Allah’s (SWT) Might is based on Wisdom.

   2.               The Ever-Merciful, which is mentioned 14 times, showing that His Might is based on Mercy. 

   3.               The Ever-Powerful, showing that His Might is based on Power.

   4.               The All-Knowing, showing that His Might is based on Knowledge.

Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “And the sun runs to a repository for; that is the determining of The Ever-Mighty, the Ever-Knowing” (TMQ, 36:38).  It is He, The Almighty, who holds the earth from being pulled by the gravity of the sun by making the earth rotate around its axis.  The same goes for the sun, which is not pulled by the gravity of other bodies because of its rotation as well. 

In the Battle of Badr, the Muslim army consisted of 313 men, all infantry except for two horsemen.  On the other hand, the disbelievers’ army consisted of one thousand men: 300 horsemen and the rest were riding camels.  Although it was an unfair battle, The Almighty brought victory to His believers, who after having done their best and having got themselves well prepared, made dua’a (supplication) to The Almighty to bring them victory.  Allah says what can be translated as, “… and in no way does anyone know the hosts of your Lord except He…” (TMQ, 74:31).  Allah (SWT) sent His supplies to give might to the believers.  First, He made the whole Muslim army sleep to strengthen and refresh their power.  Second, He sent a vision to the Prophet (SAWS) that the disbelievers’ army was insignificant.  Third, He sent down rain that was light and gentle for the believers in order to wake them up and solidify the land under their feet and, meanwhile, heavy for the disbelievers in order to hamper them in a muddy land under their feet.  Finally, He sent angles to fight on the side of the believers.  He is The Almighty, The Ever-Wise. 

In the Battle of the Trench, the disbelievers were ten thousand surrounding Madinah. The believers defended Madinah, dug the trench and made dua’a to The Almighty to save them.  The Almighty defeated the disbelievers by sending them a very cold weather and a very strong wind that blew away their camps. He is the Almighty, The Ever-Powerful. 

You must be well-prepared with power, knowledge and education so that you can put good plans for bringing a peaceful victory to the ummah (Muslim nation).  Do not ever feel helpless or powerless!  Have confidence in The Almighty, Who takes revenge from whoever challenges Him.  Fir’awn (Pharaoh) called out upon his people and said, “O my people, is not the kingdom of Misr (i.e., Egypt) mine, and are not these rivers running from beneath me? ...” (TMQ, 43:51).  As a result, The Almighty drowned him in the sea.  We used to know about Allah’s name “The Almighty”, but from now on we need to feel it and live with it. 

The fourth meaning of Allah’s Name “The Almighty” is related to the question I have just asked in the beginning of the episode: are you a true worshipper of The Almighty?  The Almighty is He who refuses that His worshippers to be ever humiliated. 

The first half of shahadah (Muslim declaration of faith) is “There is no god to be worshipped but Allah”.  By this, you are practically saying, “I refuse to humiliate myself to anyone on this earth because I am proudly Allah’s worshipper and servant.  It is only Allah, The Almighty, whom I should humiliate and humble myself to.

Allah (SWT) hates to see His worshippers humiliate themselves for the sake of worldly gains or for the sake of gaining might from any human being.  Allah is the only source of might.  Allah says what can be translated as, “Whoever is willing to (gain) might, then to Allah belongs the might altogether” (TMQ, 35:10). 

However, some might mistakenly doubt this under the pretext that those who cheat and are hypocrites in this world are well respected by all and enjoy might on earth.  Actually, they have no might at all; they are nothing but people who humiliate themselves in order to get this fake might.  The story of the mighty of Egypt, his wife and Yusuf (AS)[v] “Joseph” is a good proof of this.

According to the worldly standards, the mighty of Egypt enjoyed might.  If you look a bit closer, you will find that his wife wanted to cheat on him with Yusuf (AS), who refused, and declared it openly.  However, he asked Yusuf (AS) to keep it as a secret so as to protect his high position and dignified image among people.  Now, was he a true mighty or nothing but a slave of his position?  As for his wife, she was beautiful and very wealthy; she used to act as mighty as a queen, according to the worldly standards.  However, if you look a bit closer, you will find that she wanted to seduce Yusuf (AS), who was her servant.  Now, was she of a true might?  Or was she a slave of her lust? 

Therefore, do not be deluded when you see people who are happy in this life but are away from the path of Allah!  None of us know what their end will be.  Allah (SWT) says what can be translated as, “(The ones) who take to themselves the disbelievers for their constant patrons, apart from the believers; do they (inequitably) seek might in their presence? Then surely might altogether belongs to Allah” (TMQ, 4:139).

He who cheats at work according to his boss’s orders or else he will be fired certainly humiliates himself to his boss and, thus, is not a true worshipper of The Almighty.  He who is a slave of his lusts and desires humiliates himself to get them and, thus, is not a true worshipper of The Almighty.  She, who accepts her husband’s bad treatment and continuous humiliation saying that she has nothing to do about it, is actually humiliating herself as well. 

Allah (SWT) created us honorable and swore by His Might, “All Extolment be to your Lord, The Lord of Might…” (TMQ, 37:180).  Therefore, do not ever humiliate yourself to anyone or accept humiliation form anyone while your Lord is The Almighty!  Have faith in Allah, The Almighty!

When you check the story of Musa (AS) “Moses” with the Israelites, you will find that it is a story of people who were very humiliated on earth and, thus, Allah wanted to grant them might.  However, they stayed astray form the path of Allah.  As a result, they gained nothing but more humiliation.  Allah says what can be translated as, “Said He, “Then surely it will be prohibited for them for forty years (while) they go astray in the earth. So do not feel sad about the immoral people” (TMQ, 5:26).

Do you now feel the essence of Allah’s Name “The Almighty”?  The only reason for the critical state of the ummah nowadays is that it does not live in the Name of The Almighty and, thus, it lacks might.

Our history has many wonderful figures that stand as symbols of might.  Omar Ibnul-Khattab (RA)[vi] is a great symbol of a mighty Muslim.  He is the one who said, “Since when have you enslaved people while they were born free?”  Asma’ Bint-Abu-Bakr (RA) is also a symbol of a mighty Muslim woman. When she was young, she endured Abu-Jahl’s hitting her in order to disclose the secret where the Prophet (SAWS) and her father, Abu-Bakr (RA), were hiding.  When she got older, she told her son’s killer in great might and strength, “You ruined his life, but he ruined your afterlife”.

How do we live in Allah’s Name “The Almighty”? 

         1.         Do not accept humiliation!  However, do not misunderstand this as a call for committing violent actions!  Think how to get rid of whatever humiliates you and whatever is unjust to you, employing wisdom and mercy!

         2.         Help Muslims and Islam gain might!  Whoever can help a Muslim gain might and does not do it, Allah will humiliate him on the Day of Judgment. 

         3.         Humble yourself only before Allah, The Almighty!  Weep before Him and tell Him you are so weak and helpless without Him!  The Prophet (SAWS) used to make the following dua’a, which shows his absolute humbleness and submissiveness to Allah, The Almighty: “O Allah, I am Your bondman, son of Your bondman, son of Your bondmaid; my forelock is in Your Hand; Your judgment is incisive upon me; Your decision is fair to me; …”. 

O you worshippers of The Almighty, be true worshippers of the Almighty!

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