The Believer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds and blessings upon his messenger Mohammad the true in his promise, the honest. Oh Allah, No knowledge we acquire but the knowledge you taught us, you are the most Knowing, the wisest. Oh Allah, teach us what benefits us and benefit us with what you taught us and broaden our knowledge. Oh Allah, show us the truth in its essentials and bestow upon us to follow it; show us the untrue as faulty and bestow upon us to avoid it and make us among those who hear the speech and follow the best of it. With your mercy, make us amongst your righteous people.
Dear believers:
With the fourth lesson of Allah’s names, dear brothers: It’s not enough to believe in the existence of Allah the Great and Almighty. Believing in the existence of Allah the Great and Almighty is not enough, it means you have done nothing, since Satan himself said when he talked to Allah: “God, By your Grace”. This speech of Satan means that he believed in God. Nevertheless, he’s the head of all atheism. So, it is essential to learn Allah’s names, Godliness, his best qualities and His greatness. Believing in Allah only as a creator is not enough either, Allah to Whom be ascribed all perfection and majesty said :
“Wala’en sa’altahum man khalaqa ssamaawaati wal’arda wasakhkhara shshamsa walqamara layaqoolunna llaahu fa’anna yu’fakoon”
“And if you indeed ask them who has created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon (to His law), they will certainly reply,” Allah” How are they then deluded away (from the truth)?”
soorat al’ankaboot (the spider): aaya (61)
Then, knowing Allah’s names is a requirement of belief and a must to believers. That means, sometimes knowing that someone is your neighbor is not enough, you would like to know some details about him; his education, his ethics, his deeds, his excelling. That is among people, knowledge is not correct unless you know the names and qualities. That is why knowing Allah’s names and qualities is a requirement of good belief.
In the previous lesson about the name (A-SSalam), “the most Peaceful”, I showed you some areas that surfaces the greatness of this name and I asked you to think of this particular name and bring proofs that lead to the name “The most Peaceful”: Either from the creation of man, other creatures, plants or other natural elements, do you have something of the kind?
God made the brain in a bony box to achieve its safety. What would happen if it was made as a connected ball? The skull would be broken at the first shock. Whereas, the skull was made of several pieces connected to each other by movable fixed joints no more than half a millimeter. Any shock on the head is absorbed by these tiny joints, and the brain is saved.
If God made the brain directly in the skull, all the shocks would be transmitted to it!! What did Allah the Great and Almighty make to accomplish the name ‘the most peaceful’ (assalaam)? He made a fluid between the skull and the brain which absorbs the shock on the one hand and spreads it to the whole surface of the brain on the other hand. As a result, the brain is not hurt. This is the name Assalaam, the truth is; All the universe is an embodiment and clearing of Gods names, All God’s names appear to you through the universe. Allah the Great and Almighty himself cannot be realized, for Allah the Great and Almighty’s saying:
(laa tudrikuhu l’absaaru wahuwa yudrikul ’absaara wahuwa llateeful khabeer).
“ No vision can grasp Him, but He grasps all vision. He is Al-lateef, subtle and well aware.”
Soorat Al-an’aam(the cattle), aayah (103)
To see Allah is impossible, but you can recognize His essence through His creation. The universe denotes the creator, a system denotes its maker, impelling denotes the impeller, water denotes the stream, feet denote walking, dung denotes the camel, so don’t a heaven with towers and an earth full of gaps denote the specialist and the wise?
Dear brothers, why should we know Allah? In order to worship Him, why worship Him? In order to be happy near Him in this life and in the after life. Since Allah to Whom be ascribed all perfection and majesty created us originally to make us happy, and we are not happy except with Him, and we can’t approach Him unless we are happy, and we aren’t happy unless we make good deeds, our deeds won’t be good unless we realize His greatness, that’s why Allah the Great and Almighty said in describing some of the people of hell:
(innahu kaana laa yu’minu billaahi l’atheem)
“This was he that would not believe in Allah the Great”
Soorat el ћaaqqah (The Inevitable),aayah (33)
That is, you should recognize Allah’s greatness. Not knowing that, you must surpass His boundaries and break some of His orders. Otherwise, when you recognize Allah’s greatness, and I used to present many examples such as: You received a written order signed by a corporal, your respect to that person is connected with rank, the higher the rank, the more respect is, so what if the commander of the troupe gave you an order?
The whole story is that you must know who Allah is in order to obey Him, approach Him, hope for what he has got and fear His threat. You won’t fear His threat, hope for what he’s got, approach Him, pursue Him, surrender to His fate and accept His judgment unless you know Him. If you know Him, you will accept His fate, gain wisdom like you have never experienced, and realize science, kindness, compassion and justice. The more you know Him, the more you surrender to Him, approach Him, subdue to Him, obey His orders and avoid His prohibitions, the more you go forward to worshipping Him and serving humanity. We should know Allah,
Saying Allah is the creator of the universe is not enough to prevent you from committing the forbidden. This knowledge doesn’t make you obey Allah. You say Allah is the creator of the universe and you commit a lot of misdemeanors, you say Allah is the creator of the universe and you deviate a lot from what is right, you say Allah is the creator of the universe and you have a lot of worldly ambitions. But if you know who Allah is, and that is the aim of this lesson, and you broaden your knowledge of Allah, you will increase your submission, obedience, fear, approach, surrender, satisfaction, redemption, sacrifice and loyalty. That means the size of your deed equals the size of your knowledge, the size of your happiness equals the size of your deed. That means religion can be squeezed into three words; knowledge, obedience, happiness. The degree of your knowledge of Allah, the degree you obey Him and the degree of your obedience decides your happiness.
Therefore, it’s not enough to know the 99 attributes of God and their accurate definitions, but we should have tens, say hundreds, say thousands of pieces of evidence originated from the universe on these attributes. That is why talking for hours about the attributes of Allah is considered an indication of your knowledge of Allah the Great and Almighty. Talk about the name ‘The most kind’ (allateef), or ‘The most Merciful’ (arraћeem), or ‘ the one and only’ (almalik), or ‘the Most Holy’ (alquddoos), or ‘the most peaceful’, (assalaam). What I hope and wish for form Allah that one of you would make a self study and wander around the universe to discover the clear proofs on the 99 attributes of Allah. It’s worthier to ponder each time or a while with one of the attributes of Allah. Dear brothers: From the creation of man, there are some indications of the name ‘the most peaceful (assalaam) such as; the existene of the brain in this bony box, the bone marrow in the spinal column, the red cells factories in the bone marrow, the heart in the thoracic cavity, the eye in the eye socket, the uterus in the woman’s pelvis, the skin, the arteries inside the muscles and veins outside them, the first , second, and third electric generators in the heart_ if the first one malfunctions, the second one operates, and if the second one malfunctions, the third one operates_ whenever a blockage in an artery occurs, another artery opens, the healing of bones after long sleep, the healing of cuts. There are other indications to the name ‘assalaam’ from the world of plants; If water is cut off from the tree, it consumes the water in the leaves, then the water in the branches, then the water in the twigs, then the water in the trunk, and finally the water in the root. There are also indications to Allah’s name ‘assalaam’ from the animals world; Each animal has got something to protect it against heat and cold, the wool of the lamb is an example on that. I hope you would wander in this universe until you achieve deep knowledge or more knowledge of the attributes of Allah,
If another one spoke about the name “the most peaceful (assalaam), and mentioned Moses story as one of Allah’s deeds about the name ‘assalaam’, Allah the Great and Almighty said about the name ‘assalaam’:,
(wa’awћayna ila ummi mousa ‘an ardi’eehi fa’ida khifti ‘alayhi fa’alqeehi fil yammi wala takhaafi wala taћzani innaa raaddoohu ilayki waja’iloohu minal mursaleen)
“So we inspired Moses’ mother to suckle him, but when thou hast fears about him, cast him into the river, but fear not nor grieve. Verily, we shall bring him back to you and make him one of our messengers”.
Soorat al qasas (The Narration), aayah (7)
Then this person would be right and alerting to others.
And here is another quranic verse which emphasizes the name ‘assalaam’ directed to our Master Ibrahim, Allah Almighty said:
(Lahu mu’aqqibaatun min bayni yadayhi wamin khalfihi yaћfathoonahu min amrillaah inna llaaha laa yughayyiru maa biqawmin ћatta yughayyiru maa bi’anfusihim wa’itha araada llaahu biqawmin soo’an falaa maradda lahu wamaa lahum min doonihi min waal)
“For him (each person), there are angels in succession, before and behind him guarding him by Allah’s command. Verily Allah will never change the (good) condition of a people as long as they do not change their state (of goodness) themselves (by committing sins and by being ungrateful and disobedient to Allah). But when Allah wills a people’s punishment, there will be no turning back of it, and they will find besides Him no protector”
Soorat er ra’d,(the thunder) aayah (11)
This preservation is from the name (assalaam), “the Most Peaceful”
Now, let’s move to another name from the attributes of ‘Allah, that is “The Believer”, (Al-Mo’men)
Dear Brothers
No king would allow anyone from his pasture to be named after him although he is human, he eats, drinks, and sleeps as we do. He has a body, he gets thirsty, hungry, mad, sick and he dies. There is no difference between him and any of his followers, nevertheless, his pride and dignity refuse to let anyone to be named after him. But, Allah, the Great and Almighty called us, after we had known Him and obeyed his order, “believers”, ( mu’mineen). It is the plural form of the word “believer”, (mu’min), that is by Allah’s saying:
(huwa llaahu llathi laa ilaha illa huwa lmaliku lquddoosu ssalaamu lmu’minu lmuhayminu l’azeezu ljabbaru lmuutakabbiru subћaana llaahi ‘amma yushrikoon)
“He is Allaah beside Whom La ilaaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), the King, the Holy, the One Free from all defects, the Giver of security, the Watcher over His creatures, the All-Mighty, the Compeller, the Supreme. Glory be to Allah! (High is He) above all that they associate as partners with Him”
Soorat El ћashr,(the gathering) , aayah (23)
But this name needs a moment of thinking, Allah the Great and Almighty is a believer, believer in what? We believe in Allah, his messenger, the day of judgement, but what does Allah the Great and Almighty believe in? It was said “believer” (almu’min) is an agentive derived from the verb “to become safe”, (amina, ya’manu, amnan, and amaanan). The verb “to become safe” has two meanings; the first one is believeing. When the imaam reads “ alfaatiha” and when he finishes, all the people in the mosque say “Amen” (aameen), which means God, we believe what this imaam said and we are with him, so the verb “to become safe” (amina) means believe on the one hand, and there is a verse which emphasizes this, Allah the Great and Almighty said:
(qaaloo yaa abaana inna thahabna nastabiqu watarakna yoosufa ‘inda mataa’iina fa;akalahu thi’bu wamaa anta bimu’minin lana walaw kunna saadiqeen)
“They said: “O our father! We went racing with one another, and left Yousuf (Joseph) by our belongings and a wolf devoured him, but you will never believe us even when we speak the truth.”
Soorat Yousuf(Prophet) Joseph, aayah (17)
On the other hand it means ‘being safe’, Allah the Great and Almighty said:
(Allathi at’amahum min joo’in wa’aamanahum min khawf)
“(He) Who has fed them against hunger, and has made them safe from fear”
Soorat Quraish, aayah (4)
Allah the Great and Almighty’s name “the believer” (almu’min) taken from believing or being safe? How do you understand this name with the first meaning?
The truth is that man may or may not understand his self. If he didn’t know his self and got involved in something beyond his level, he would have a great loss. We would say:” If you had known what you have had, you wouldn’t have got involved”. He who does something beyond his level doesn’t know the essence of what he has or what his capabilities are. That person doesn’t know his self. On the other side there is a an who knows his self quite well, all his deeds are compatible with what he has. That example clarified some facts to you, the first meaning of “the believer” that Allah to Whom be ascribed all perfection and majesty knows his self, his name and everything he has got, that is the first meaning.
The second meaning: Allah the Great and Almighty believes His messengers. He sent Mohammad, Peace Be Upon Him (PBUH) as a messenger, He believed him; that is He made people believe him through a miracle. He sent Moses as a prophet and believed him; that is He made people believe him through a miracle. He sent Jesus as a messenger and gave him a miracle to make people believe him, so the second meaning is “believing”. This means that Allah keeps His promises by His deeds, keeping Allah’s promises is a confirmation of His promises. He promised you the good life. If you have the good life, it means that He kept His promise. Keeping the promise is an evidence to the truthfulness of His prophets. That is He gives them the proofs that make people believe them. He gives the believers proofs. Dear brother, you read the qur’an, What makes you cling to it and be attached to it? Because all the events you are living are confirmation of this qur’an. If you buy and sell honestly, you will have great comfort and Allah will provide you with good income and draw people to you. If you are honest, Allah will lift your name among people. So if you apply what you are asked to do, all the events come to confirm this promise or show you that this promise is true. It is one of the meanings of “the believer” that is; making His prophets as believers supported by miracles makes His qur’an believable, that is if you believe in it and make good deeds, you will be granted a good life. What made you believe His words? This good life or the wretched life? If you are rightly guided by Allah the Great and Almighty in all your aspects of life, you will see that all the events confirm what came in the Holy qur’an. Therefore, Allah the Great and Almighty is a “believer”, that is He made his servants as believers, since all Allah’s deeds are confirmation of His promises and threats, Allah To whom all be ascribed all perfection and majesty said:
(inna llaaha yudaafi’u an illatheena aamanu inna llaaha laa yuħibbu kulla khawwaanin kafoor)
“Truly, Allah defends those who believe. Verily, Allaah likes not any treacherous ingrate to Allaah [those who disobey Allaah but obey shaitaan (satan)]
Soorat El ћaj (pilgrimage) aayah (38)
You must have felt in many incidents where Allah inspires someone you don’t know to defend you, when Allah the Great and Almighty says:
(qaala ihbitaa minha jamee’an ba’dukum liba’din aduwwun fa’imma ya’tiyyannakum minni hudan faman ittaba’a hudaaya falaa yadillu walaa yashqa)
“He (Allaah) said: “Get you down (from Paradise to the earth, both of you, together, some of you are enemies to some others. Then if there comes to you guidance from Me then whoever follows My guidance he shall neither go astray, nor shall be distressed”
Soorat taaha, aayah (123)
You feel you are rightly guided, and have right vision, clear insight and your interpretation of events is right because you followed Allah’s order. Eventually, the events came as confirmation to what Allah the Great and Almighty said.
That was one of the meanings of “The Believer”. The fact is, as I mentioned earlier, that the most spectacular thing about religion is that it gives you explanation to the universe, life and man. No matter how long you live, how the circumstances change, how new criteria arise, how much new events arise, all these match Allah the Great and Almighty’s interpretation of this universe, life and man. When you read the holy qur’an, you won’t be surprised by an incident you have not come across in the qur’an. For example, if you give an explanation to a phenomenon, you may be astonished after a while that an incident cancelled your theory. Science came up with a lot of theories then incidents came and cancelled them. But if you read the holy qur’an, and it is from Allah the Great and Almighty, you won’t come across any incident that falsifies what you have read. This is a very delicate point. The qur’an came fourteen centuries ago and science has developed a lot. The facts of the qur’an are true and fixed from the beginning of mankind to fifty years ago on the one hand and fifty years ago to the present on the other hand. With all the scientific development there is no fact in science that contradicts the qur’an.
That means if you read the qur’an you will be relieved. All the movements of everything, the incidents of the universe, the galaxies, the rain, animals and human beings are indications to Allah the Great and Almighty’s words. Allah is a “believer”, that means that His words make you believe Him because His deeds are indications of His words. That is one meaning of the meanings of “The Believer”
Here is another meaning of: that is Allah to Whom be ascribed all perfection and majesty grants man security, how? This is the exact meaning. If steel was hard once and soft another time, you would construct the building feeling frightened, for this steel could be soft again and the construction would collapse. Allah made steel with fixed features. If you put this steel with cement and make your building, you will sleep peacefully even in the ninth storey, what made you feel peaceful? The stability of the features of steel made this, if the features of steel changed, the building would collapse
We could say: the fixed features of things give people peace; the stability of the earth’s movement, that mosque was built many years ago. If there was an earthquake during the revolving of the earth, all these buildings would collapse and fall down. The earth moves with the speed of 30 kilometers per second, and there is great tranquility. For you to know the importance of the stability of the earth’s movement, earthquakes take place in a city, and it is turned upside down in a few seconds. So the earth’s movement with its stability and tranquility are indications of Allah Almighty’s saying;
(amman ja’ala l’arda qaraaran waja’ala khilaalaha anhaaran waja’ala lahaa rawaasiya waja’ala bayna lbaћrayni ћaajizan a’ilaahun ma’a llaahi bal aktharuhum laa ya’lamoon)
“Is not He (better than your gods) Who has made the earth as a fixed abode, and has placed rivers in its midst, and has placed firm mountains therein, and has set a barrier between the two seas (of salt and sweet water)? Is there any ilaah (god) with Allaah? Little is that you remember!”
Soorat ennaml (The ants), aayah (61)
He gave you security, you bought an apartment on the tenth floor. You know that it is a stable house, but if there was a shaking, all the security would disappear. And also if you bought some seeds that produce a kind of plants, life wouldn’t be proper if there was no stability, if you grew watermelon and you harvested tomatoes, things would be confused and life would corrupt. The stability of seeds, since every seed has its characteristics, is a blessing, favor and security. Another thing besides stability, there are thousands of kinds for each plant; this kind is long, another kind is short, another is artificial, this one is for consumption, another one for the table, another resists certain diseases, even the seed has features, and the features are fixed. What gives you security while you are planting? The stability of seeds.
Then we can say that stability of materials’ characteristics gives man security. The sun always rises from the east, there are no surprises, there is no sunrise supplication (du’aa); “Allah the sun has not risen today, Please, make it rise!” He comforted you, the sun always rises and sets, the earth always revolves. It is enough for you to take a paper from the calendar and read: dawn at 5:18, sunrise at 6:30, how long has this been? Five, sixty years, a hundred, a thousand, a hundred thousand years to come, until the end of earth, an extreme accuracy to the level of seconds and minutes.
A whole earth revolves around the sun. Famous watches in the world are tuned to certain stars. One would say he tuned it on “Big Ben”, how are these famous watches tuned? If the watches in our hands are tuned to this famous watch, how is this famous watch tuned? According to the movement of one of these stars.
So the stability of the revolving, the stability of speed, of movement, of corners; all these things give man the stable system with security. So, it could be said: The characteristics of objects made of steel are fixed. A person bought a gold bracelet for twenty thousand liras (about $400), later on this metal would change to tin. This is a problem, gold is gold, tin is tin, steel is steel, silver is silver, aluminum is aluminum. The stability of the metals provides us with bless we don’t recognize because it is familiar and taken for granted. They say: the intensity of closeness is a veil because this bless is very familiar as it has never been although it is a great bless. “The Believer” is one of Allah’s attributes, so He is a believer. If you read His book, all the incidents will be as confirmation to His words, and He is a believer who grants man security through the stability of the characteristics of materials.
The stability of systems, the law of movement is fixed, expansions are fixed, the laws of the body are also fixed. You would also find a doctor at the end of the world making a drug that is used in another part of the world. This drug affects the body, what does that mean? It means all sons of Adam are made the same, there is peace and security. Take the heart for instance; you can find a doctor who has been to America to study about the heart, if he had gone to Africa, to Asia, to Australia, to Europe or any other part of the world and he opened a heart, he would find all the arteries, nerves, and electric centers in exact accuracy. This stability makes it enough to anatomize one human being. Each person you treat will have the same build, nerves, veins, arteries and muscles according to that model. Also, with the stability of systems, comes the stability of the characteristics of materials. Sometimes Allah the Great and Almighty gives opposites to things, Fire is burning and water extinguishes fire; that is He gave for each dangerous thing another thing to get rid of it. Drugs! A vegetarian epidemic, there are drugs that can get rid of this spider or that fungus or this insect. “The believer” is one of Allah the Great and Almighty’s attributes, that is, He gives man security which scientists call as early alarm.
When your tooth is partially damaged, you have great pain, you go to the dentist to fix that tooth. Should there not be a nerve, there would be no protection to the tooth, so, pain is one of the early alarm systems. For each danger of the world, Allah the Great and Almighty made prevention.
If man asked Allah’s help, he will be protected against the slips of sins for Allah’s saying:
“iyyaka na’budu wa’iyyaka nasta’een”
“You (alone) we worship, and You (alone) we ask for help (for each and everything).”
Soorat el faatiћa (the opening).aayah (5)
For that Al –Imam Ashaafi’I said: “I swear by Allah if the sky were made of copper and the earth of lead and all creatures were my children, I wouldn’t fear poverty”. The fact is if you want to recognize the core difference between the life of believers and that of the non believers, you will find out that security is the main characteristic, Allah the Great and Almighty said:
( wakayfa akhaafu maa ashraktum walaa takhaafoona annakum, ashraktum billaahi maa lam yunazzil bihi sultaanan fa’ayyu lfareeqayni aћaqqu bil’amni in kuntum ta’lamoon)
“And how should I fear those whom you associate in worship with Allah (though they can neither benefit nor harm), while you fear not that you have joined in worship with Allah things for which He has not sent down to you any authority. (So) which of the two parties has more right to be in security? If you but know.”
Soorat el an’aam (the cattle) aayah (81)
You find the hearts of worldly people empty, susceptible to fears, to worries, to fright, and to unforeseen catastrophes. But if you believe in our God the Great and Almighty, He will fill your heart with stability, acceptance to fate, knowledge of His perfection. All these things are from the name, “the believer”
And there is another thing: How can you secure yourself against Allah’s torture in the after life? He gave you the universe and the mind, the instinct and desire, choice and power. All these are elements of survival in the afterlife. Sometimes you feel that if you approach Allah the Great and Almighty, you will secure yourself against worries, sickness, distress, fatigue, and fear. Allah to Whom be ascribed all perfection and majesty is a source of peace and security for mankind. Some areas may worry you, but Allah’s name “the believer” (Al-Mo’min), that is, if you accompany Him and follow His orders, you will have security and peace. This name suits Allah the Great and almighty concerning “the believer”, He knows His self.
There might be a person who does not know his capabilities exactly, this person might do something then regret it, he would say he didn’t know, but Allah the Great and Almighty’s attributes (names) are all kind, His characteristics are gracious, He knows them all, that is the first meaning. The way you believe in Him, He believes in His self the same way.
People are types; Someone who knows and knows that he knows; this is a scholar, follow him, another type is someone who knows and doesn’t know that he knows; this is mindless, alert him, another type is someone who doesn’t know and doesn’t know that he doesn’t know; this is Satan, beware of him, and the last type is someone who doesn’t know and knows that he doesn’t know; this is an ignorant, so teach him.
I want the one who knows and knows that he knows, Allah the Great and Almighty is a “believer”. The second meaning of believing anything Allah the Great and Almighty promised you in the qur’an. Vanishing the universe is easier to Allah than having the events opposed to what He promised you. He promised you with victory, and victory is an absolute fact, He promised to defend you, to keep you, to bestow you, to assure you. He promised you with security and enabling. He promised you with strengthening your religion and succession, promised to be with you. I said in an earlier lesson I hope from Allah the Great and Almighty that you would derive the verses which are the fruits of belief in the world. Whenever you read a verse, you can see that incidents came to make it come true. Therefore, Allah’s words are right; all deeds are indications to Allah the Great and Almighty’s words; that is the second meaning.
The third meaning is that he provides security. Simply, we mention the eye. If you drive your vehicle at daytime, you will feel safe because the vision is distant, but at night you are dazzled with lights and you feel worried. Driving at night is associated with worry and surprises since the light in the vehicle does not reveal everything and it is limited. The longer the sight, the more security there is. Then He gave you the
