The Names of Allah: Al-Hayy, Al-Qayoom –29th March 2015 [PART II]

We previously mentioned that every soul shall taste death and it is Allah Al Hayy that is the one with the perfect life so we should attach ourselves to none other than Him. We musn’t attach ourself to this temporary life and we must prepare for death and work for the hereafter. We should learn about Allah, His names, attributes and actions from the Qur’an and Sunnah. Allah’s perfect life entails perfect attributes. All the names of Allah fall under Al Hayy, Al Qayoom. We have to understand the Qayoomiyah of Allah and notice its impact such that we attach ourselves to Him alone and fulfill Tawheed. 

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Now we are going to discuss the Qayoomiyah of Allah in the Qur’an.

In Surat Al Qasas Verse 76:

إِنَّ قَارُونَ كَانَ مِن قَوْمِ مُوسَىٰ فَبَغَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ ۖ وَآتَيْنَاهُ مِنَ الْكُنُوزِ مَا إِنَّ مَفَاتِحَهُ لَتَنُوءُ بِالْعُصْبَةِ أُولِي الْقُوَّةِ إِذْ قَالَ لَهُ قَوْمُهُ لَا تَفْرَحْ ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْفَرِحِينَ 
Indeed, Qarun was from the people of Moses, but he tyrannized them. And We gave him of treasures whose keys would burden a band of strong men; thereupon his people said to him, “Do not exult. Indeed, Allah does not like the exultant. 

Allah is mentioning the story of Qarun. Allah had given him huge treasures, the keys of which were so heavy that even strong men found it difficult to carry.

Verse 77:

وَابْتَغِ فِيمَا آتَاكَ اللَّهُ الدَّارَ الْآخِرَةَ ۖ وَلَا تَنسَ نَصِيبَكَ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَأَحْسِن كَمَا أَحْسَنَ اللَّهُ إِلَيْكَ ۖ وَلَا تَبْغِ الْفَسَادَ فِي الْأَرْضِ ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُفْسِدِينَ 

But seek, through that which Allah has given you, the home of the Hereafter; and [yet], do not forget your share of the world. And do good as Allah has done good to you. And desire not corruption in the land. Indeed, Allah does not like corrupters.” 

His people advised him to use whatever Allah had given him to seek the reward of the Hereafter, They advised him to do good as Allah had done good to Him.

Verse 78:

قَالَ إِنَّمَا أُوتِيتُهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ عِندِي ۚ أَوَلَمْ يَعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ أَهْلَكَ مِن قَبْلِهِ مِنَ الْقُرُونِ مَنْ هُوَ أَشَدُّ مِنْهُ قُوَّةً وَأَكْثَرُ جَمْعًا ۚ وَلَا يُسْأَلُ عَن ذُنُوبِهِمُ الْمُجْرِمُونَ 

He said, “I was only given it because of knowledge I have.” Did he not know that Allah had destroyed before him of generations those who were greater than him in power and greater in accumulation [of wealth]? But the criminals, about their sins, will not be asked. 

After the people told him of Allah’s actions towards him, he said he was given it due to his own knowledge.

It was said that Qarun had knowledge of turning metal into gold. This was knowledge Allah bestowed on Him. But he attributed the blessings to himself, not to Allah.

Verse 81:

فَخَسَفْنَا بِهِ وَبِدَارِهِ الْأَرْضَ فَمَا كَانَ لَهُ مِن فِئَةٍ يَنصُرُونَهُ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُنتَصِرِينَ 

And We caused the earth to swallow him and his home. And there was for him no company to aid him other than Allah , nor was he of those who [could] defend themselves. 

Allah made the earth swallow him, and none could help him against Allah.

Verse 82:

وَأَصْبَحَ الَّذِينَ تَمَنَّوْا مَكَانَهُ بِالْأَمْسِ يَقُولُونَ وَيْكَأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَيَقْدِرُ ۖ لَوْلَا أَن مَّنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْنَا لَخَسَفَ بِنَا ۖ وَيْكَأَنَّهُ لَا يُفْلِحُ الْكَافِرُونَ 

And those who had wished for his position the previous day began to say, “Oh, how Allah extends provision to whom He wills of His servants and restricts it! If not that Allah had conferred favor on us, He would have caused it to swallow us. Oh, how the disbelievers do not succeed!” 

There are people whom Allah makes wealthy and others whom He makes poor. This is in Allah’s hand. This is according to His will. He knows whom to make rich, and whom to make poor. He knows when to give provision and when to withhold it because He is the All Wise, Al Hakeem.

Allah knows when wealth may destroy a person so He withholds it.

Allah favoured them by not making the earth swallow them with Qarun.

Verse 83:

تِلْكَ الدَّارُ الْآخِرَةُ نَجْعَلُهَا لِلَّذِينَ لَا يُرِيدُونَ عُلُوًّا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فَسَادًا ۚ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ 

That home of the Hereafter We assign to those who do not desire exaltedness upon the earth or corruption. And the [best] outcome is for the righteous. 

Allah is informing us of a fact. He is exhorting his believing Slaves and inspiring them to aspire for the reward of the hereafter.

The hereafter is for those who don’t want haughtiness on earth.  It is for those who are humble and show humility. These are the winners on the Day of the Judgement.

Whenever we describe a wealthy person, we are supposed to say  Allah has given him wealth or Allah has provided for him, etc and not simply say he is rich, or he is successful or knowledgeable.

We need to inculcate the actions of Allah in our speech. We need to attribute the blessings to Allah. This is having good manners with Allah.

In Surat Al-‘Anbiya’

Verse 78:

وَدَاوُودَ وَسُلَيْمَانَ إِذْ يَحْكُمَانِ فِي الْحَرْثِ إِذْ نَفَشَتْ فِيهِ غَنَمُ الْقَوْمِ وَكُنَّا لِحُكْمِهِمْ شَاهِدِينَ 

And [mention] David and Solomon, when they judged concerning the field – when the sheep of a people overran it [at night], and We were witness to their judgement. 

Verse 79:

فَفَهَّمْنَاهَا سُلَيْمَانَ ۚ وَكُلًّا آتَيْنَا حُكْمًا وَعِلْمًا ۚ وَسَخَّرْنَا مَعَ دَاوُودَ الْجِبَالَ يُسَبِّحْنَ وَالطَّيْرَ ۚ وَكُنَّا فَاعِلِينَ 

And We gave understanding of the case to Solomon, and to each [of them] We gave judgement and knowledge. And We subjected the mountains to exalt [Us], along with David and [also] the birds. And We were doing [that]. 

Allah informs us about an event that happened with Dawood  and Suleiman (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon them). They judged concerning a field. It was said that one man had a flock of sheep and another man had a farm. One night, the sheep ran to the farm and destroyed the crops. In the morning these men went to Dawood and Suleiman (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon them) to judge between them. Dawood (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to let the owner of the farm take all the sheep. Suleiman (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to let the owner of the sheep give his sheep to the owner of the farm and benefit from it until he reforms his field again.

And Allah was a witness over their judgement.

Allah made Suleiman (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) understand the situation. He gave them both judgement and knowledge and subjected the mountains and birds to glorify with Dawood(Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). These are all actions of Allah.

Whenever we understand something we should say Allah made us understand and attribute the blessing to Allah. It’s not due to our intelligence, experience, or our knowledge.

Verse 80:

وَعَلَّمْنَاهُ صَنْعَةَ لَبُوسٍ لَّكُمْ لِتُحْصِنَكُم مِّن بَأْسِكُمْ ۖ فَهَلْ أَنتُمْ شَاكِرُونَ 

And We taught him the fashioning of coats of armor to protect you from your [enemy in] battle. So will you then be grateful? 

The relation between the beginning and end of this verse is that We must be grateful to Allah, as He is the one who taught us. We praise the teacher and forget to thank and praise Allah for the knowledge. Allah is the One who taught the teacher to teach you. It is Allah who teaches us.

Allah mentioned His action of teaching in many verses.

In Surat Al-Baqarah

Verse  31:

وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الْأَسْمَاءَ كُلَّهَا ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى الْمَلَائِكَةِ فَقَالَ أَنبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاءِ هَٰؤُلَاءِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ 

And He taught Adam the names – all of them. Then He showed them to the angels and said, “Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful.” 

Verse 32:

قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ 

They said, “Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise.”

Allah will not give the knowledge of the religion to everyone. He will only teach those who are truthful and sincere.

Surat Al-Qasas begins with the story of Musa (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and Fir’aun.

In Verse 4, Allah mentions the actions of Fir’aun.

Fir’aun exalted himself, divided the people, opressed them, killed the boys and kept the females alive.

Both Qarun and Fir’aun sought haughtiness in the land.

In Verse 5 and 6, Allah tells us five (5) of His actions:

1-Allah willed to bestow favour to those who were oppressed,

2-Allah wanted to make them leaders, inheritors

3-Allah wanted give them power and authority in the land.

4-Allah wanted to show Fir’aun and Hamaan what they feared.

5-Allah wanted to show Fir’aun that His will overpowered Fir’aun’s will.

If you read this story in Surat Al-Qasas, you will see how Allah’s will overpowered Fir’aun’s. He gave authority to Musa (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and Bani Israeel and drowned Fir’aun. Notice the actions of Allah.

When you attribute all the blessings to Allah you will rely on Him alone in all your affairs, because you know Allah is Qayoom over you. You will not worry or fear. In this way your Eeman will increase.

In Surat Al-‘Anbiya’  Verses 9-11

The actions of Allah mentioned are, Allah rescued the Prophets (Peace and blessings be upon them) and their followers, He destroyed the wrongdoers and brought out a new generation

Whenever you hear that a town has been completely destroyed in the news, know that it is the action of Allah. He destroyed that town and He did not wrong them, but they wronged themselves.

Attribute the correct actions to Allah, the ones mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah. This should be our manners with Allah.