Ramadan Day Nineteen
Every Name of Allaah points to both the Dhaat (Essence) and Sifah (Attribute), that is one; it also points to Tadamun (Inclusivity) and Luzuum (Exclusivity).
For example, the Name of Allaah, as-Samee, refers to the Essence and Attribute of Hearing, on one hand, and to Essence alone, then to Hearing alone upon Inclusivity.
His being called 'al-Hayy' - the Living One can also come exclusively from His Being as-Samee - All-Hearer. Living is an integral indication of hearing, and vice versa.
This will become more vivid when we refer to Allaah as 'Al-Aliyy' - the Most High.
Here, we would understand that the 'Highness' is absolute in all ramifications.
It is absolute whether in terms of Uluwwudh-Dhaat (Highness of Essence), Uluwwul Qadr (Highness of Status) and Uluwwul Qahr (Highness of Might).
So whoever strips Allaah of Highness of Essence has denied the other components of His Highness.
So also is when we say Allaah is adh-Dhaahir - the Apparent Lord, from the proper understanding of that is to believe that there is nothing above Him, as the Messenger of Allaah - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam - said, 'You are the Dhaahir, there is nothing above You.' (Saheeh Muslim).
So Allaah is above everything. Whoever denies that has denied other implications of the Name, adh-Dhaahir.
So Adh-Dhaahir is not that He is High in Status alone, just as the people of the language do say, 'Gold is higher in status than silver'.
Also, His being adh-Dhaahir can't be with respect to being High in Power and Might alone.
Therefore He must be understood to be Dhaahir in all the ramifications.
His Name 'al-Baatin' can be compared with 'adh-Dhaahir'. The Messenger of Allaah - sallallahu alayhi wa sallam - explained it, 'You are the Baatin, nothing is beyond You.'
Al-Awwal (the First) and al-Aakhir (the Last), being other Names of Allaah, can be compared too.
He is the First Whom there was nothing before, and He was the Last Whom there will be nothing after (when He caused everything to die on the Day of Resurrection).
So also is His Name al-Hakeem (the Wise). That Name establishes for Allaah the Attribute that He has wise goals and objectives in what He does.
Not only that, He rightly places those goals where they belong and cause them to occur in the best of the manners.
Denying any of those goals is denying the Name and Its implications.
The list can go on about the rest of the Names.
Click here to listen to its audio version in Yoruba
