ender<strong>in</strong>g it barren, free from vegetation, then He br<strong>in</strong>gs it back to life when it produces. Hebr<strong>in</strong>gs to life His Sunnah by caus<strong>in</strong>g His prophets to <strong>in</strong>herit it from their predecessors, and Hecauses the death <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>novations through the life <strong>of</strong> knowledge.Once the Messenger <strong>of</strong> <strong>Allah</strong> performed the hajj then stood over the safa, overlook<strong>in</strong>g theHouse, the Ka`ba. <strong>The</strong>n he made three takbeers say<strong>in</strong>g, "<strong>The</strong>re is no god except <strong>Allah</strong>, theOne and only God; there is no partner with Him; His is the k<strong>in</strong>gdom; to Him is all Praise due;He br<strong>in</strong>gs to life and causes death; <strong>in</strong> His hand is all goodness, and He can do anyth<strong>in</strong>g atall."Abu Tharr al-Ghifari, may <strong>Allah</strong> be pleased with him, is quoted as say<strong>in</strong>g that whenever theMessenger <strong>of</strong> <strong>Allah</strong> was ready to go to bed at night, he would say, "In Your Name do we dieand live," and whenever he woke up, he would say, "All Praise is due to <strong>Allah</strong> Who hasbrought us back to life after hav<strong>in</strong>g caused us to die, and to Him is our f<strong>in</strong>al return."63. "Al-Hayy"<strong>The</strong> Almighty has said, "... as for the next abode, that most surely is the (real) life, had theyonly known!" (Qura'n, 29:64). He has also said, "And rely on the ever-Liv<strong>in</strong>g Who neverdies" (Qura'n, 25:58).Life is the antithesis <strong>of</strong> death. <strong>Allah</strong> br<strong>in</strong>gs life back to a "dead" land: He causes vegetation togrow <strong>in</strong> it; He br<strong>in</strong>gs it life through ra<strong>in</strong>. When we discuss it as an Attribute <strong>of</strong> the Almighty,it means that He is the ever-Liv<strong>in</strong>g Who is self-Susta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g s<strong>in</strong>ce time immemorial and willcont<strong>in</strong>ue to be so forever. Every liv<strong>in</strong>g be<strong>in</strong>g besides Him is not alive on its own; it does notby itself susta<strong>in</strong> its life; rather, its life is susta<strong>in</strong>ed by al-Hayy. Al-Hayy never dies. <strong>The</strong> HolyQura'n states the follow<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Surat al-Zumar: "Surely you shall die, and so shallthey" (Qura'n, 39:30).Al-Hayy is the Doer, the Aware; any deed without an orig<strong>in</strong> or an awareness is dead. <strong>The</strong> leastdegrees <strong>of</strong> awareness is awareness <strong>of</strong> one's own self. Anyth<strong>in</strong>g which is not aware by itself isa dead <strong>in</strong>animate object. <strong>Allah</strong> is the Absolute Liv<strong>in</strong>g One, and everyone and everyth<strong>in</strong>g thatlive besides Him is alive accord<strong>in</strong>g to the extent <strong>of</strong> its awareness.Anas ibn Malik has said, "I was once sitt<strong>in</strong>g with the Messenger <strong>of</strong> <strong>Allah</strong> <strong>in</strong> our circle when aman was still perform<strong>in</strong>g his prayers. After hav<strong>in</strong>g bowed down, prostrated and made thetashahhud, he supplicated to his Lord say<strong>in</strong>g, `Lord! I plead to You by the very fact that toYou is all Praise due; there is no god but You; You are the One Who gives without rem<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gthe takers, Who created the heavens and the earth; O You Who has all the Honour and all theGlory! O ever-Liv<strong>in</strong>g One, O Susta<strong>in</strong>er! I plead to You...' whereupon the Prophet said, `Hesurely has <strong>in</strong>voked <strong>Allah</strong> by His Greatest Attribute: He answers favourably when He is askedthereby, and He gives when <strong>in</strong>voked.'"
Al-Mumeet causes your heart to die when you fail to remember Him, and your soul to diewhen you cont<strong>in</strong>uously permit yourself to slip away from His right path, and your m<strong>in</strong>d to diewhen you permit your desires to take control <strong>of</strong> you. Al-Muhyi br<strong>in</strong>gs life to the hearts <strong>of</strong>those who know and who will<strong>in</strong>gly submit to Him, while al-Mumeet causes the [spiritual]death <strong>of</strong> those who go aga<strong>in</strong>st His will.64. "Al-Qayyum"<strong>Allah</strong> has said, "Alif, Lam, Mim. <strong>Allah</strong>, (there is) no god but He, the ever-Liv<strong>in</strong>g, the self-Subsist<strong>in</strong>g, the One through Whom all th<strong>in</strong>gs subsist" (Qura'n, 3:1-2).One who is qayyim is a master and organizer <strong>of</strong> affairs. <strong>The</strong> "qayyim creed" is the Hanafifaith. <strong>The</strong> day <strong>of</strong> qiyama is the Day when everyone will stand before <strong>Allah</strong>, Lord <strong>of</strong> theWorlds, for judgment. Al-Qayyum is never created, Who manages all affairs.Al-Qayyum exists absolutely on His own, not through others, while every be<strong>in</strong>g exists throughHim and because <strong>of</strong> Him. Noth<strong>in</strong>g, no life whatever, can ever be susta<strong>in</strong>ed without Him. Al-Qayyum is the ever-Last<strong>in</strong>g, the Eternal Who never suffers ext<strong>in</strong>ction. He effects justice andequity, Who is self-Susta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g, Who never sleeps.Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Abdullah ibn `Abbas, whenever the Messenger <strong>of</strong> <strong>Allah</strong> used to stand up toperform his night prayers, he would say, "Lord! All Praise is due to You! You are the Lord <strong>of</strong>the heavens and the earth! All Praise is due to You! You are the Qayyum <strong>of</strong> the heavens andthe earth and everyth<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> them; all Praise is due to You! You are the Light <strong>of</strong> the heavensand the earth; all Praise is due to You! You are the K<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the heavens and the earth; allPraise is due to You! You are the Truth; Your promise is true, the meet<strong>in</strong>g with You is true,Your speech is the truth; Paradise is true; the fire is true; the prophets are truthful;Muhammed is truthful, and the Hour is true! Lord! To You have I submitted; <strong>in</strong> You have Ibelieved; upon You have I relied; to You is my return; for Your sake do I dispute; Yourjudgment do I seek; so, I implore You to forgive my s<strong>in</strong>s, the ones I have committed and theones I may commit <strong>in</strong> the future, what I have concealed and what I have declared, for You arethe One Who advances and Who postpones; there is no god but You, and there is no strengthnor might except <strong>in</strong> <strong>Allah</strong>."Accord<strong>in</strong>g to another tradition, he has <strong>in</strong>voked His Maker say<strong>in</strong>g, "O Hayy! O Qayyum! Wesolicit Your help by Your mercy! Lord! I <strong>in</strong>voke You to mend my affairs, all <strong>of</strong> them, and notto permit me to rely on my own self even for a tw<strong>in</strong>kl<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the eye, nor for a shorter time, noron anyone from among Your creation."Imam `Ali has said, "Dur<strong>in</strong>g the Battle <strong>of</strong> Badr, I participated <strong>in</strong> the battle for some time, thenI came to the Messenger <strong>of</strong> <strong>Allah</strong> to see what he was do<strong>in</strong>g, and I found him mak<strong>in</strong>g sajdahwhile repeat<strong>in</strong>g, `O Hayy! O Qayyum!' So I went back to the battle-field, then I came back to
- Page 2 and 3:
AllahThe Concept of God in Islam (a
- Page 5 and 6:
IntroductionIn any theistic religio
- Page 7 and 8:
eminded him of the bloody and shame
- Page 9 and 10:
Knowing AllahMuhammed, the Messenge
- Page 11 and 12:
All Praise is due to Allah, the One
- Page 13 and 14:
The Praised One has said, He is the
- Page 15 and 16:
you then made you complete, then He
- Page 17 and 18:
The Ninety Nine Attributesof AllahI
- Page 19 and 20:
The Almighty is Endless regarding H
- Page 21 and 22:
produce it. They will also realize
- Page 23 and 24:
Who grants mercy beyond which there
- Page 25 and 26:
Unity of Allah (Tawhid)Islam falls
- Page 27 and 28:
is Allah, your Lord; so, worship Hi
- Page 29 and 30:
keep closing their eyes to the fact
- Page 31 and 32:
Abu Abdullah Imam Ja`fer al-Sadiq h
- Page 34 and 35:
descends during the night of the mi
- Page 36 and 37:
and the Exalted One, whereby He des
- Page 38 and 39:
perfected their design and computed
- Page 40 and 41:
[14] Ibid., p. 59.[15] al-Tusi, Al-
- Page 42 and 43:
How to Supplicate to AllahBefore ad
- Page 44 and 45:
me, and if I try to amend my steps,
- Page 46 and 47:
Al-Qudds is the One Who is above ne
- Page 48 and 49:
finished his prayers, he would seek
- Page 50 and 51:
e overcome or in any way harmed, th
- Page 52 and 53:
Holy Qura'n bestows the Attribute o
- Page 54:
stage of life without needing you o
- Page 57 and 58:
They desire to put out the light of
- Page 59 and 60:
e called badee' at all; so, this At
- Page 61 and 62:
said, "And most surely We bring to
- Page 63 and 64:
Al-Saboor, Glory to Him, is the Cle
- Page 66 and 67:
Whenever the Messenger of Allah pro
- Page 68 and 69:
Linguistically, "al-Qahhar" is deri
- Page 70 and 71:
descends from the heavens, the sky
- Page 72 and 73:
desires to be blessed by it. Among
- Page 74 and 75:
"Thul-Jalali wal Ikram" means: the
- Page 76 and 77:
The subject of jami`, gathering or
- Page 78 and 79:
apparent.Allah is the Enricher, yet
- Page 80 and 81:
The Messenger of Allah used to say
- Page 82 and 83:
Allah and is affected either throug
- Page 84 and 85:
There are many derivations from thi
- Page 86 and 87:
up so that I may get you out of you
- Page 88 and 89:
too, perished. Then he saw a fourth
- Page 90:
the sun and the moon subservient (t
- Page 93 and 94:
A servant of Allah should never tir
- Page 95 and 96:
your Lord do magnify. (74:3). To Hi
- Page 97 and 98:
In the Holy Qura'n, we read: "Whoev
- Page 99 and 100:
Were we to think for one moment abo
- Page 101 and 102:
limit what is limitless," meaning t
- Page 103 and 104:
wise even if his share of all other
- Page 105 and 106:
The perfection of such following is
- Page 107 and 108: (being left) behind them, have not
- Page 109 and 110: Allah has said, "Is it not sufficie
- Page 111 and 112: has said, "Labbayka Haqqan Haqqa!"
- Page 113 and 114: for He is al-Wakeel, and He is your
- Page 115 and 116: eached you; therefore, beware!"This
- Page 117 and 118: thirsty. Tawd is a prerogative, a p
- Page 119 and 120: overwhelming Power, controls all Hi
- Page 121 and 122: something else has been dealt with
- Page 123 and 124: Whom there can be no doubt entertai
- Page 125 and 126: The root word of "al-Muta`ali" is `
- Page 127 and 128: The Attribute "al-Basit" does not e
- Page 129 and 130: Lord is Wise, Knowing" (Qura'n, 6:8
- Page 131 and 132: servant of His more than one who is
- Page 133: and to Him the truth in their regar
- Page 136 and 137: whatever brings one closer to Allah
- Page 138 and 139: The Messenger of Allah has desired
- Page 140 and 141: penalty for it equal in size and ki
- Page 142 and 143: This Attribute is derived from "mer
- Page 144 and 145: His creation, and the norms of His
- Page 146 and 147: perfection of the Self. All qualiti
- Page 148 and 149: eminding those whom He forgives of
- Page 150 and 151: "Wait, therefore; surely they (too)
- Page 152: The Messenger of Allah used to say,
- Page 155 and 156: taken account in a clear Book. (36:
- Page 157: ing the dead to life, and He shows
- Page 161: thoroughly" (Qura'n, 27:88).The roo