Knowing Allah (swt) with His beautiful names

Dear Readers,

One of the ways of knowing The Great Creator as our Islamic jurisprudence scientists stated is learning His beautiful names. As you can remember I wrote in one of my previous articles "Knowing an existence is achieved by understanding its characteristics, qualities and attributes. The more we know about the characteristics of an existence, the more we know and are familiar with it". Many outstanding characteristics and attributes of our Allah (swt) became names for Him and He introduced Himself to us with these names in His book, Qur'an, which is a divine grace for us. Therefore, knowing and understanding these names are one of the best methods for knowing Allah (swt) without doubt.

It is ordered in Qur'an that:

"To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names" (Hashr, 24)

"The most beautiful names belong to Allah: so call on him by them; but shun such men as distort His names: for what they do, they will soon be requited." (Araf, 180)

In Hadith, it is also ordered that:

"Allah has 99 beautiful names. Whoever memorizes them (believes and knows by heart) goes to Paradise" (Buharî, Muslim)

# Names of Allah cannot be changed...

“The names of Allah cannot be changed. In other words, only names that are mentioned and allowed to be said about ALLAH (swt) in verses of Qur'an and hadiths can be used. No random names can be added. (Annotation of Testament of Birgivi)

The beautiful name Allah is the real name of Him. Therefore, it includes all of the beautiful qualities and divine attributes that the other names express. The other names express only their own meanings. Therefore, no other name can replace the name Allah.

The name Allah, which is a name peculiar to Almighty Allah only, has not been used for any being other than Him even metaphorically. That name cannot be given to anybody except Allah.”^[1]

There is no drawback to giving other names to beings other than Allah; like giving the names Qadir, Jalal, etc. to people. However, it is better to add the word “abd”, which means slave, before those names when they are given to people; like Abdulqadir, Abdulkarim... 

# Other names of Allah (swt)

"The names of Allah are not composed of only 99 names. In verses of Qur'an and hadiths, other names are attributed to Allah apart from these 99 names.

Some of the names attributed to Allah are as follows:

Al-Ehad instead of Al-Vahid; Al-Kahir instead of Al-Kahhar; Ash Shekûr instead of Ash-Shâkir; Al-Kafi, Ad-Daim, Al-Munewwer, As-Sıddık, Al-Muhît, Al-Karîb, Al-Vitr, Al-Fâtır, Al-Allâm, Al-Ekrem, Al-Mudebbir, Ar-Refî', Zittavl, Zulmeâric, Zulfadl, Al-Hallâk, Al-Mevlâ, An-Nasîr, Al-Gâlib, Al-Hannân, Al-Mennân...

The name Allah was mentioned in Qur'an 2800 times. The name Rab was mentioned the most after Allah. It is mentioned 960 times. Rahman, Rahim and Malik are the most mentioned names in Qur'an after Rab. Those four names mentioned after Allah are named as Rububiyet Attributes of Allah (swt) in Surat Al-Fatiha.

The real meaning of Rab which contains meanings of nurturing, growing and raising is: The one who guards something until it reaches to its goal by raising it level by level."^[2]. 

# Asmaul Husna (The beautiful names of Allah (swt))

99 names which were written in the Hadiths are as follows:

Allah, ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim, al-Malik, al-Quddus, as-Salam, al-Mu’min, al-Muhaymin, al-Aziz, al-Jabbar, al-Mutakabbir, al-Khaliq, al-Bari’, al-Musawwir, al-Ghaffar, al-Qahhar, al-Wahhab,

ar-Razzaq, al-Fattah, al-Alim, al-Qabid, al-Basit, al-Hafid, ar-Rafi, al-Muiz, al-Mudhill, al-Basir, as-Sami’, al-Hakam, al-Adl, al-Latif, al-Khabir, al-Halim, al-Azim, al-Ghafur, ash-Shakur, al-Aliyy, al-Kabir, al-Hafiz, al-Muqit, al-Hasib, al-Jalil, al-Karim, ar-Raqib, al-Mujib, al-Wasi’, al-Hakim, al-Wadud, al-Majid, al-Baith, ash-Shahid, al-Haqq, al-Wakil, al-Qawiyy, al-Matin, al-Waliyy, al-Hamid, al-Muhsi, al-Mubdi, al-Muid, al-Muhyi, al-Mumit, al-Hayy, al-Qayyum, al-Wajid, al-Majid, al-Wahid, as-Samad, al-Qadir, al-Muqtadir, al-Muqaddim, al-Muakhkhir, al-Awwal, al-Akhir, az-Zahir, al-Batin, al-Wali, al-Mutaali, al-Barr, at-Tawwab, al-Muntaqim, al-Afuww, ar-Rauf, Maliku’l-Mulk, Dhu’l-Jalali wa’l-Ikram, al-Muqsit, al-Jami’, al-Ghaniyy, al-Mughni, al-Mani’, ad-Darr, an-Nafi’, an-Nur, al-Hadi, al-Badi’, al-Baqi, al-Warith, ar-Rashid, as-Sabur.

The meanings of some them are as follows:

•  "Ar-RAHMAN (The All Merciful)

He Who wills goodness and mercy for all His creatures in the pre-eternity; He Who gives innumerable bounties to all creatures that He created without making any discrimination between the ones He likes and those that He does not; He Who gives them all of the sustenance necessary for their lives…

•  Ar-RAHIM (The All Compassionate)

He Who shows excessive mercy; He Who rewards those who use the bounties He gives in a good way by giving them greater and endless bounties... It is understood from the name Ar-Rahman that Allah wanted goodness and mercy in the pre-eternity for all of the creatures that He created. As for the name Ar-Rahim, it expresses the manifestation of a special mercy for His creatures that have a will, especially for believers.

•  Al-MALIK (The Absolute Ruler)

The real owner and absolute ruler of all of the creatures... One Who is free, by virtue of His Own merits and characteristics; from depending on anything in existence, while everything in existence depends on Him. He is the real owner and the absolute ruler of the universe.

•  Al-QUDDUS (The Pure One)

He Who is free from all errors, ignorance, weaknesses, all kinds of imperfection and Who is very pure... Allah is free and away from all kinds of qualities that senses can understand and imagination can design. He is the one who is away from negligence, failure and any kind of deficiency and who is pure. He deserves all kinds of praise. The reality of cleanness that is present naturally in the universe is the manifestation of the name al-Quddus of Almighty God." ^[3]

 Each beautiful name of Allah (swt) written in Qur'an is a symbol of the deep meaning of one of His special attribute that covers all worlds. Accordingly, the one who knows those names with their meanings also knows His Allah (swt). Therefore, Rasulullah heralded the Paradise for the ones who can recite them. May Allah (swt) grant us being wise servants of Him who knows Allah in the best way.

Be entrusted to Allah.

--------------------
[1] Mehmet Ali Demirbas, http://www.dinimizislam.com/detay.asp?Aid=3859
[2] Mehmet Dikmen, http://www.sorularlaislamiyet.com/subpage.php?s=article&aid=2994
[3] http://www.kuransitesi.com/Kuran/Esma-ul-Husna/

Some other attributes of Almighty Allah (2)

Dear Readers,

In my preceding article, i told some attributes of Allah (swt) other than personal attributes. In this article I'm going to tell some others.

• Allah has the power to do anything.

Allah (swt) has the power to do anything. He has the unlimited power to do anything He wants. Everything taking place in the universe happens with the energy, power and strength that He provides. There is nothing that he can't do.

"…for verily Allah has power over all things." (Nur, 45)

The power of Allah is an absolute capacity. It is eternal and perpetual. It is unlimited. It is self-existent. It is not subject to any other source. Although He provides everything with the power and energy, there is no lessening in His Power at all.

The power of creatures is relative. If the Almighty Allah does not give bless them with power and strength, they cannot flap or move their fingers. On the other hand, the power of creatures is based on certain factors. If those factors do not take place, for example if humans do not feed themselves, their power will diminish. He blessed them with power and strength that is fit for the purpose of their creation and disposition, and sufficient enough for them to fulfill their own needs. For example, an ant is able to carry weight that is 16 times heavier than its own weight. A flea can jump to a distance that is 40 times longer than its own height. However, a human being is not able to carry a weight even as heavy as himself. 

• Allah (swt) hears.

The Almighty Allah hears. However, He does not need an organ or means to hear. No matter it is a word said in whisper or out loud, He hears them all. He even hears those said in silence.

"If thou pronounce the word aloud, (it is no matter): for verily He knoweth what is secret and what is yet more hidden." (Ta-ha, 7)

His hearing is strong enough to hear even the lowest voices in all worlds. If millions of people pray at the same time, he hears them. His hearing is unlimited, eternal and perpetual.

The hearing of His creatures is limited, impermanent and to the extent that Allah permits. They are given hearing abilities that are enough to meet their needs and suit for their functions in the divine order. They need organs such as ears and sonic waves at a certain frequency. They mostly cannot perceive another voice when focusing on one. Therefore, if two-three people speak at the same time, they will not be able to understand any of them. 

• Allah (swt) sees.

Allah (swt) sees. His quality of vision covers all worlds. It is unlimited, eternal and perpetual. However, He does not need a light, an organ or means to see. Hidden or out in the open, He sees everything. Nothing taking place in the universe is out of His vision. Seeing one thing does not prevent Him seeing another thing.

"...Verily it is Allah (alone) who hears and sees (all things)." (Mu'min, 20)

Creatures’ ability to see is relative, limited and impermanent. They need light to see. They need the light at a certain level to be able to see. They need certain means and tools such as eyes, spectacles, and microscope to see. They end up not seeing even if they have a small eye problem.

• Allah (swt) speaks.

Allah (swt) speaks. However, His speaking is not in sound or letters. The content of his speech is not known. However, he spoke with prophets through his speech attribute and revealed books to them. He gave orders through this attribute, he banned certain things and he gave information on certain things.

"It is not fitting for a man that Allah should speak to him except by inspiration, or from behind a veil, or by the sending of a messenger to reveal, with Allah's permission, what Allah wills..." (Shura, 51)

"Say: If the ocean were ink (wherewith to write out) the words of my Lord, sooner would the ocean be exhausted than would the words of my Lord, even if we added another ocean like it, for its aid." [Kahf, 109]

Allah (swt) partially granted of his speaking quality to humans. However, the speaking quality of humans is to the extent that is blessed by the Almighty Allah. It is limited to certain number of words and concepts. They need a mouth, tongue and vocal cords to speak. If they have a problem in their vocal cords or hit by a nerve stroke, they are not able to talk. 

• Allah (swt) is the Creator.

Allah (swt) is the Creator. Everything in the universe was created, arranged and organized by Him.

"Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the Guardian and Disposer of all affairs." (Zumar, 62)

Creating something means bringing them into existence. This is an attributes unique to Allah.

Allah (swt) partially gave humans this quality in terms of changing the objects that are already in existence, shaping, arranging and organizing them, therefore not in respect of bringing them into existence. Therefore, humans are able to make changes on earth, shape the earth, establish varies systems, orders and organizations and manage them with the quality and skills that they are blessed with and to the extent that is permitted by his Lord.

Dearest Readers,

I have so far tried to tell you about the Almighty Allah through short anecdotes. One cannot entirely know and understand the Almighty Allah without witnessing His work and Subutî Attributes just as not being able to describe the pain of burn without actually experiencing it. Therefore, let us see the things happening around us through His divine light and by learning lessons from them and surrender ourselves into Him with great faith. If we do this, we can personally experience his Subutî Attributes i.e. his vision, hearing, wisdom, and power.

Let's not think that the Almighty Allah is not aware of us or careless just because we and others around us live reckless. The Creator is aware of everything all the time.

"Wasting your time in vanities?" (Najm, 61)

"Think not that Allah doth not heed the deeds of those who do wrong. He but giveth them respite against a Day when the eyes will fixedly stare in horror." (Ibrahim, 42)

"…We are never unmindful of (Our) Creation." (Muminun, 17)

" thy Lord is not unmindful of anything that they do." (An'aam, 132)

"…and thy Lord is not unmindful of all that ye do." (Hud, 123;  Naml, 93)

Be entrusted to Allah..

Some other attributes of Almighty Allah (1)

Dear Readers,

Besides the "Personal Attributes" that are only unique to Almighty Allah and no other living being possesses, He also has some other attributes. These are called the "Subutî Attributes". Unlike the "Personal Attributes", He granted humans and some other living some of these Subutî Attributes partially so that they understand these attributes and meet their own vital needs. However, the similarity of these qualities to those granted to living beings are only in respect of meaning and function. These qualities that living beings are blessed with cannot even be compared to those that Almighty Allah possesses. Almighty Allah is an absolute being. Like His own existence, every attribute He has is also absolute, inclusive of all created things, eternal and perpetual. Whereas all the attributes, qualities and skills that He granted to the living beings that He created are mortal, temporary and limited to meeting their own biological needs only.

These Subutî Attributes are:

1. Hayat [Life]  (He is alive)
2. Ilm [Knowledge]  (He knows everything)
3. Iradah [Will]  (He has the ability to do what He wants)
4. Qudrat [Power]  (He has the power to do everything)
5. Sam [Hearing]  (He hears everything)
6. Basar [Sight]  (He sees everything)
7. Kalam [Speech]  (He has the saying)
8. Takwin [Creating]  (He creates)

I will try to explain these to you in detail.

The personal attributes of the Creator are no doubt unique to Him. No other living being that He created possesses those attributes. He, on the other hand, partially granted of his Subutî Attributes to other living beings. In other words; the Creator sees, hears; human and other living beings hear and see too. However, the way the living beings see and hear is not the same the way the Creator sees and hears, just as a camera and human seeing differently. The Creator is an absolute being. His attributes are absolute too; they are inclusive, eternal and perpetual. However, all living beings live under His existence; they are relative beings who survive through Him. Therefore, their qualities are not the same of those that the Creator possesses, they are the representatives of His attributes and limited to a proportion that He bless them with; they are relative, partial, limited, temporary.

Just as the existence of the creatures is a blessing and gift of the absolute reality Almighty Allah, the qualities they have are also the blessing and gift of Almighty Allah.

• Allah (swt) is alive.

 Allah (swt) is alive. However, this aliveness is not the same with the aliveness of the created living beings. The aliveness of the living beings is subject to Allah blessing them with the necessary energy so that they can meet their needs. For example, if they are not able to feed themselves, get oxygen or meet their water requirement their aliveness ends. When they do some activity, they get tired and need to rest. They sleep, fall asleep. However, Allah has a self- aliveness. This aliveness is eternal and perpetual. It is unlimited. There is no lessening, decrease or ending to this aliveness.

"And put thy trust in Him Who lives and dies not..."  (Furqan, 58)

"Allah. There is no god but He,-the Living, the Self-subsisting, Supporter of all. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep..."  (Al-Baqarah, 255) 

• Allah (swt) has wisdom.

Allah (swt) has wisdom (knowledge). Allah's wisdom is indefinite. It is eternal and perpetual. It involves the material and spiritual worlds. Allah (swt) not only knows the things happened in the past but also those that will happen in the future. He not only knows the obvious but also those that are not known. There is nothing hidden or unrevealed to Him. Secret or not, He created everything. Just as a person who invented a complex machine would know everything about that machine, the Almighty Allah also knows everything about the living beings He created.

"Should He not know?"  (Mulk, 14)

"He has full knowledge of all things."  (Hujurat, 16)

"He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) before or after or behind them."  (Baqarah, 255)

Just as He knows every event and process happening in our bodies, he also knows our thoughts in our minds and intentions in our hearts.

"And whether ye hide your word or make it known, He certainly has (full) knowledge, of the secrets of (all) hearts. Should He not know,- He that created?"  (Mulk, 13-14)

Therefore, we must control our hearts well and never move away from decency.

We can only know the things we can perceive with our five senses. The knowledge of the creatures like us is limited. Those we do not perceive, we try to learn about them by using tools and equipment such as magnifying lenses, microscope, telescope and digital machines. We neither know what goes on in the hearts of others nor at places that are far from where we are in terms of time and location. However, Allah (swt) knows everything.

The knowledge that humans have is limited to the extent that Allah blesses them with or permits.

"He knoweth what (appeareth to His creatures as) before or after or behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He willeth."  (Baqarah, 255)

When this is the case, how presumptuous it is that some stand up to Allah by relying on the blessings that Allah gave to them. 

• Allah (swt) is able to do anything when he wants.

Allah (swt) does anything he wants. Whatever He wants happens and whatever he doesn't want doesn't happen. He is not liable to anyone for the things he does. No one and nothing can force Him. He does not need to think, plan or project to do something. Ability to think, mind, reasoning are the skills that the almighty Allah created unique to humans. In other words, they are the qualities that were created subsequently along with humans. The Almighty Allah does not need these skills to do or create something. He just wishes and things happen.

"To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. He creates what He wills..."  (Shura, 49)

"He cannot be questioned for His acts, but they will be questioned (for theirs)."  (Anbiyaa, 23)

"For to anything which We have willed, We but say, "Be", and it is."  (Nahl, 40)

Allah's will is absolute. He wants, does and creates trillions of things simultaneously in the universe. These are not difficult for Him.

The will of His creatures on the other hand is relative, limited and little. It is relative because it is subject to the Almighty Allah's abundant will. They can't do anything if He does not want to. It is limited and little because they can only do a certain thing at a time. 

Be entrusted to Allah..

(to be cont'd)

Personal attributes of Almighty Allah

Dear Readers,

Knowing something means knowing the characteristics of it. "Knowledge" isn't nothing but a judgment about the "existence-quality" relation. Don't we ask so many questions to the sales assistant and try to learn the qualities of a kitchen appliance that we are shopping for?

This principle also applies for our Almighty Lord, Allah, who is the reason for our existence, creates us, provides our livelihood, maintains our survival with the blessings He grants, educates and turns us into beautiful, moral and mature human beings. The more we familiarize ourselves with the attributes of our Lord, the more we know His almighty entity. The established term "attribute" is used to describe the qualities of the Almighty Creator. Our Fiqh (Islamic Law) Scholars reviewed the content of Qur'an, and Hadiths, and put forth the attributes of Allah and transferred them to us in detail. 

# The second method of Marifetullah (knowing Allah) is transference

Excluding the methodological knowledge that is called "usul", Islamic sciences comprises of five main departments; Qur'an and Tafsir (Exegesis), Hadith (Prophetic Tradition), Kalam (Islamic Theology), Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), Tasawwuf and Akhlaq (Sufism and Morals).

The department engaged with Islamic Law is called "Fiqh". Fiqh is a department of science which presents the information and provisions in relation to Islamic Belief, Worship, Morals, Life style and Law based on the verses of the Qur'an and Hadiths. The word 'fiqh' means understanding something thoroughly. An expert who specializes on fiqh are called "Faqih".

According to Faqihs, knowing Allah is only possible by understanding his attributes as were explained in the verses and hadiths.

Knowing Allah by the information sent through the prophet, in other words by the attributes mentioned in the verses and hadiths and the way our faqihs forwarded is called the "transference" method. This method is the second one after the "reasoning" method which is the first step towards getting to know Allah as we tried to explain in our previous articles.

Some of Allah's attributes are those which only He possesses. No living being but Allah Himself possesses those attributes. These are called the "Personal Attributes" of Allah. They are:

1.      Wujud  (existence)

2.      Qidam (no beginning of His existence)

3.      Baqa (no end of His existence)

4.      Wahdaniyah (oneness, existence of no other deity)

5.      Qiyam bi-nafsihi (being able to survive Himself without the need of another being)

6.      Muhalafatun lil-hawadith (no similarity to beings He created)

# The personal attributes of Almighty Allah are unique to Him

Dear Readers,

Allah's personal attributes are unique to Him, which no other being possesses them but Him. Assuming the existence of these attributes in other beings would be blasphemy. Therefore, everyone who has even a little faith in their heart must know, understand these and avoid speaking or behaving against these.

My today's article is about these personal attributes.

• Allah exists.

Allah exists. However, existence of Allah is not like the existence of an object. The existence of Allah is absolute. His existence does not relate to the existence of other things. Should everything else but Allah disappeared, Allah would still exist.

Material and Spiritual worlds are created afterwards. Existence of living beings is only possible by Allah's blessing for them to survive. Their existence completely relies on Allah. If Allah (swt) does not keep them in existence, they will not be able to survive. Therefore, the existence of the created beings is a relative existence. In a sense, their existence do not has a true meaning like the existence of Allah but a metaphorical meaning. Some verses from the Qur'an order:

“That is because Allah - He is the Reality;” (Hajj, 62)

“On that Day Allah will pay them back (all) their just dues, and they will realize that Allah is the (very) Truth, that makes all things manifest.” (Nur, 25)

• The existence of Allah is eternal and perpetual.

There is no beginning or end of the existence of Allah. However, all the created things have a beginning and end.

“He is the First and the Last, the Evident and the Hidden.” (Hadid, 3)

“And verily, it is We Who give life, and Who give death: it is We Who remain inheritors (after all else passes away).” (Hijr, 23)

“And call not, besides Allah, on another god. There is no god but He. Everything (that exists) will perish except His Face. To Him belongs the Command, and to Him will ye (all) be brought back.” (Qasas, 88)

Should Allah wishes, He can bless some of the things He created with immortality. He can keep them in existence forever. However, this does not mean that these things have become immortal by themselves.

Assuming that the universe is eternal (like some people, who see materialistic philosophy as a norm of belief, do) is a result of not knowing Allah enough. Neither the material nor anything in the material world is eternal. Everything in the material world has a beginning, development process and an end. Not only every phenomenon that we have the opportunity to observe around us but all the natural sciences and the data obtained by the space and celestial researchers indicate this. The only existence that is eternal is of Allah (swt). One must refrain from crediting other beings but Allah with these attributes.

• There is no other god but Allah.

Allah is unique. There is no divine power but Him. He is unique in His existence, creation and work. Allah creates whatever He wishes. He arranges, organizes and manages the things He creates. He specifies the qualities that every object will possess and designs them as He wishes. He determines and assigns any changes to occur on every object in the future. Then, He realizes these when the time comes. He does not get any energy, help, support, information, power or strength from anywhere, anyone or object in order to realize these. He is the one who creates people, information, energy, power and strength. Everything living or non-living, material or spiritual gets their existence, disposition, skills, power and energy from Him. If He doesn't want, even a fly cannot move its wing. He is unique in His creation, work and act. There is no same or similar being to Him and He has no partners or assistants. One must not worship objects, people, saints or prophets. Prophets and their successors are people who are assigned to tell us the truth, inform us the existence, rules and orders of Allah and raise us as educated mature people. One must sincerely love and respect them. However, one must not worship them. This is a blasphemy. All objects and humans are creatures. Created things cannot be deity. No one but Allah has any power or strength. The power, strength and all other qualities and skills possessed by everything are granted by Allah. The creator of all humans and their actions is also Allah.

Some people are mistaken by the things that Allah (swt) created in the material world, the creation of them based on reasons associated to certain rules and a program and obtaining certain results when clinging to certain reasons. This leads them to regarding themselves as powerful. Whereas Allah is the creator and absolute ruler of everything; He is the absolute master of every information and power. He does not partner anyone to His existence, attributes, creations and managing the universe. He is unique. No one must have any doubt in this. Some verses from the Qur'an order:

“Say: He is Allah, the One;” (Ikhlas, 1)

“Allah. There is no god but He! To Him belong the most Beautiful Names.” (Ta-ha, 8)

“Your God is One God.” (Nahl, 22)

“If there were, in the heavens and the earth, other gods besides Allah, there would have been ruin in both! but glory to Allah, the Lord of the Throne: (High is He) above what they attribute to Him!” (Anbiyaa, 22)

“Say: If there had been (other) gods with Him, as they say,- behold, they would certainly have sought out a way in submitting to the Lord of the Throne!” (Isra, 42)

“Had Allah wished to take to Himself a son, He could have chosen whom He pleased out of those whom He doth create: but Glory be to Him! (He is above such things.) He is Allah, the One, the Over powering.” (Zumar, 4)

• Allah is able to survive on His own.

He is able to survive on His own; He does not need anything to maintain his existence. Whereas all the created things need Allah to survive. Because, Allah blesses them with energy and meet their needs. Let's think about ourselves. If we do not get oxygen for 10 minutes, we die. This applies to all living beings. They would die if they can't get the food, temperature, oxygen etc. that they need to survive. Allah does not need anything, however everyone and everything need Him. He meets the needs of every being and enables them to survive. Some verses from the Qur'an order:

“Allah. There is no god but He,-the Living, the Self-subsisting, Supporter of all. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth.” (Baqarah, 255)

“And among His Signs is this, that heaven and earth stand by His Command:” (Rum, 25)

“Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;” (Ikhlas, 2)

“O ye men! It is ye that have need of Allah. but Allah is the One Free of all wants, worthy of all praise.” (Fatir, 15)

• Allah does not have any similarity with anything He created.

Allah does not have any similarity with anything He created. Nothing is same or similar to Him.

“And there is none like unto Him.” (Ikhlas, 4)

“There is nothing whatever like unto Him…” (Shura, 11)

Dear Readers,

No one can know, understand and comprehend the entity of our creator Allah. We can only understand His existence through His attributes that are given in the Qur'an and hadiths and His work and affect in the material world. He sometimes creates unexpected reasons and makes one of his souls’ pray come true. And sometimes He prevents things happening even humans want them so much, by creating various reason. Everything He does for his souls is good and fair for them and they are His mercy and grace. All the prophets chosen since the beginning of earth have tried to tell us Allah with His six attributes which are summarized in the world "Lailaheillallah" (there is no god, but Allah).

Dear Readers,

You have to accept Allah as described by Allah's prophets who are protected from all lies. Do not try to understand the attributes of Allah as you would comprehend the qualities of an object using your five senses. These [attributes] cannot be comprehended using the five senses. They can only be understood by reasoning. A horse or a dog was created to recognize their owners but they were not created to realize and manage a five-ten year long project. Similarly, you were created to recognize your Lord, manage the world and produce projects that will last for 50-100 years and on using the mind and superior skills that Allah blessed you with, however, you were not created to understand Allah with your sense organs. You do not have the power to do that. Therefore, you have to be contented with the information passed on by His prophets.

Everyone on earth benefit from His mercy and grace. But, only those who truly believe in Him and depend on His rules will benefit from His mercy and grace afterlife. Therefore, do not waste your life by going after the superficial desires of yourself. Don't forget that the Creator's punishment is very severe just as His blessing and goodness are plenty. The earth is a place of acquirement for afterlife. Do not miss this opportunity!... It will be too late for remorse afterwards...

Be entrusted to Allah.

The attributes of Allah concerning His actions (2)

Dear Readers,

I stated in the first chapter of this article that the attributes of Allah, which are related to His providence in Material and Spiritual World (which means the things He created), are called "Actional Attributes". Of course we are competent on the works of Allah only in Material World which is a visible and can be perceived by our five-sense. He notifies His providences in the Spiritual World to the human beings He chooses. The Creator has various works, actions and providences in the worlds. Most of them are represented within the beautiful names of Allah and stated as Asma ul Husna. Four of the actional attributes that we witness appearing every day are Takhliq (Creating), Ihya (Resurrecting and giving life), Imate (Killing) and Tarziq (Blessing His creatures with means of subsistence, in forms of feeding and meeting the needs).

# Takhliq (Creating):

It means the creation of every living and non-living things by Allah out of nothing and equipped with their primary components and qualities. This attribute is unique to Allah. Nothing else but Allah has such power or ability. Assuming that other creatures have such power means having insufficient knowledge about Allah. It means blasphemy.

"Allah is the Creator of all things." (Zumar, 62)

"Say, He will give them life Who created them for the first time! For He fully knows all!" (Ya-Sin, 79)

"The Originator of the heavens and the earth: When He decreeth a matter, He saith to it: Be!, and it is.” (Baqarah, 117)

The word "to create" in English is used for everything meaning producing something new. It is, of course, not true. Creation doesn't mean to form a new and different thing out of created elements but out of nothing complete with its primary components and qualities.

Once there was nothing. Only Allah (swt) existed.

 "He is the First and the Last, the Evident and the Hidden: and He has full knowledge of all things.” (Hadid, 3)

"There was Allah and nothing else before Him" (Buharî, Tirmizî)

Allah (swt) created everything in the universe within certain measurements, forms and qualities without having any examples beforehand, organized and programmed them determining the changes that will occur within their characters and qualities during all times. He creates the programmed events and subjects related to these events when the time is right. In other words, providence (act of God) takes place. He creates many phenomena through the human whom He declares His caliph and the patron of the earth.

"Creation" means creation of something out of nothing whilst "inshaa" (build) refers to producing new and different things out of the created things, which is also a actional attribute of Allah.

"That has created pairs in all things, and has made for you ships and cattle on which ye ride," (Zukhruf, 12)

"It is He Who produceth gardens, with trellises and without" (An'aam, 141)

Through the intelligent and skillful people whom He gifted with extraordinary talents on earth, Allah, today, builds mega structures, dams, airplanes of tones of weight flying in the sky, creates communication networks and even new types of living creatures through the genetic secrets He taught to people. Even though He has a ritual of not breaking the divine order but forming everything based on certain reasons within this order, He can create them without any reason if He wants. Nobody can interfere His providences in the divine order that He created and organized.

# Ihya  and  Imate (Giving life and Killing):

Allah resurrects the  dead things as He kills the living things.

"That it is He Who granteth Death and Life;" (Najm, 44)

"And Allah sends down rain from the skies, and gives therewith life to the earth after its death: verily in this is a Sign for those who listen." (Nahl, 65)

"And verily, it is We Who give life, and Who give death: it is We Who remain inheritors (after all else passes away)." (Hijr, 23)

Allah associated the occurrence of many works and events to certain occasions, means and reasons. He creates them without any reason or means if He wishes. As a matter of fact, many people have witnessed such events throughout the history. However, creating with reasons is His character. He established His order in the universe on a determinism base. Therefore, the reasons mustn't be idolized and it must never be forgotten that the real creator of the things that take place with some reasons and occasions is Allah. Allah creates the human beings and their works.

"But Allah has created you and your handwork!" (Saffat, 96)

"It is not ye who slew them; it was Allah. When thou threwest (a handful of dust), it was not thy act, but Allah's." (Anfal, 17)

# Tarziq (Providing sustenance):

Allah provides livelihood to all of the living things He created gives them the necessary energy they need to survive and meets all their needs.

"Say: Who is it that sustains you (in life) from the sky and from the earth?" (Yunus, 31)

“Say: Shall I take for my protector any other than Allah, the Maker of the heavens and the earth? And He it is that feedeth but is not fed.” (An'aam, 14)

Allah created Sun as an energy source for earth. Solar energy is transformed to chemical energy by plants contain chlorophyll, bryophytes and algae in the ecosystem through photosynthesis. Then this energy passes to herbivores that eat these plants and to the carnivore that eat them. Soil worms, fungi and bacteria make use of this energy with the death of carnivore. Therefore, the energy becomes a source of life for hundreds of living things without loss by passing one from the other.

Within this energy chain Allah distributes the means of subsistence as He wishes within certain measurements.

"Allah enlarges the sustenance (which He gives) to whichever of His servants He pleases." (Ankabut, 62)

Livelihood comes from Allah. However, as many phenomenon in the universe, earning livelihood is also based on some reasons.

Dear Readers,

The universe is full of eternal appearance of actional attributes of Almighty Allah. A human cannot see his Rabb (Lord). However, he is always aware of the reflection of His actional attributes on the creatures. The whole point is being able to take lessons from events. This is possible with belief. This is the reason why I have continuously been emphasizing the "belief" since my first article "Correct Understanding the Human". Belief is the start of knowing Allah (Marifetullah). As a person is always consumed with his mean desires, there will be no place left in his heart for anything else but the idea of making these wishes come true, unless he truly believes. That person will always be obsessed with these desires. Therefore, he will never learn lessons. A person’s viewpoint will completely change only when he frees his heart from sensual desires under the guidance of a master by remembering Allah and showing interest in the things that will remind him Allah. Only then he will start seeing the appearance of Divine grace in the universe clearly. Briefly, he will start to examine everything from a "Haq" (divine truth) point of view. This point of view of the person recovering from his selfishness is also called "Farasat" (foresight, perception) which is a sign of matureness. It was ordered in the Hadith:

"Fear the foresight of the believer for he sees with the light of Allah" (Tirmizî)

Once, I listened to a Hodja, a competent of Islamic tasawwuf, talking on a radio show about a reference made to "zikr" (remembering Allah) in Qur’an approximately 200 times and ordered approximately 80 times. What is the reason that our Rabb (Lord) wants us to remember Him continuously? Does He need to be remembered by human beings all the time? Of course not! Absolutely not... Never... We are the ones who need this. The Creator wants to complete His blessings for us by ordering us to remember Him, saving us from our own aggression and setting us free. He wants us to be the ones who benefit more from His blessings.

"Allah doth not wish to place you in a difficulty, but to make you clean, and to complete his favor to you, that ye may be grateful." (Maida, 6)

"Verily Allah is full of Grace and Bounty to men: yet most men give no thanks." (Mu'min, 61)

Be entrusted to Allah.