Al Ghazali's Commentary on The Names of God

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:06]Sorry for the delay guys. I was not home so just got home. So just starting this.

[00:00:13]So today we're going to continue with Imazali's Maknah. His commentary on the 99 names of Allah Subhanah.

[00:00:22]Last time we finished off with his chapter on commanding good and forbidding evil. And today we're going to continue with this alakadasa.

[00:00:33]Today we're going to be covering a bit more than we usually do. So usually we cover five names. Uh today we're going to be covering eight names. And the reason for that is simply because I think uh if we cover more names like eight or maybe 10 names uh every other week then we can cover the book quicker and then we can inshallah move on to perhaps after uh there's at least uh I think maybe 23 to 24 chapters left of so that's another 23 streams for that and for if we cover about eight uh more in terms of alakan then we should be able to get it done in seven eight streams if we cover 10 then we should be able to get it done in six more streams so I want to cover another book with the field within proper other than enough but I'm not sure yet but anyways uh just going to give you guys a moment if others want to join inshallah and then we can start this uh I don't know how do we say can we get this roadie on the road something like that but anyways so yeah let's just start then okay love and wisdom the names of God.

[00:02:00]So this uh uh this time uh after covering these eight names we will almost be at the halfway mark. So we will be at uh uh 48 names with only 51 names remaining. So in uh essence we would have covered half of the book. So yeah, alhamdulillah starting with the first name which means al-hass the recer.

[00:02:27]So the one who suffices for he is all one needs who belongs to him. So uh the meaning of this name is the one who suffices for one's all needs. Now this name cannot be applied to anybody other than Allah subhanana wa ta'ala. The reason being for two or three main purposes. The first being that a person needs his existence in order to need anything else. So if he's not alive or he if he's not existent then he doesn't need guidance. He doesn't need anything as a matter of fact. And so the one who provides him uh with the thing that he's most destitute of which is his existence is none other than Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Now, Imm Gazali goes back into the discourse that Allah subhana wa ta'ala is the only one who exists by virtue of his own essence whereas all other beings exist by not their own essence. So they are granted existence as a gift. It's almost like a overflowing river right that Allah subhanaa tala is existent and out of his utter generosity he grants existent existence to other possible things right so not to other possible things because obviously he is necessary but it grants existence to possible things so in that sense uh no one else can be the recurren because it is only Allah subhana wa ta'ala whose cause and whose generosity allows us to exist to begin with as We by our own essences are not existent. We are only existent by virtue of Allah subhana wa ta'ala granting us existent existence. So that is point number one.

[00:04:06]So but there's another point over here uh which is just as important which is that when a when some other individual fulfills our needs. So for example we need water and someone gives us water.

[00:04:17]We need food and someone gives us food.

[00:04:19]We need advice and someone gives us advice. We need clothing and someone gives us clothing and so on and so forth. Now from uh the perspective of the person this seems as though this external person is fulfilling our needs.

[00:04:30]Either it be our parents, either it be our friends, either it be some stranger down the road. But in reality it is only Allah subhanana wa ta'ala who is fulfilling our needs through that person. That person is simply used as a tool in order to grant us what we need.

[00:04:48]And what we need comes directly from Allah. So the reason for this as Imm Gazali goes on to say under the name is that Allah subhana wa tala is the creator of all actions. So the action that the other did in order to provide us with need. It is not he in fact who is the creator of that. It is Allah subhanana wa ta'ala who is the creator of that action. He is the one who provides the means by which we can be helped. So a person let's say we need sustenance or let's say we need money.

[00:05:16]So this individual will even if he desires to help us he requires some means in order to help us. So Allah subhanaa tala creates the means he creates the action and he creates the intention and the will inside of the person to help us. So in reality it is only Allah subhanana wa ta'ala who is fulfilling our needs and not other external people. The people are simply being used as tools and they will be rewarded for that usage and they do deserve u let's say our praises for helping us but the only one who deserves actual praise for anything that comes towards us uh or fulfilling our needs is only Allah subhanahu waala now I imali gives the example of this that just like the child needs the mother and he needs the mother for both his existence so the mother cares for him and for his sustenance for the mother feeds him. Now both the feeding and the taking care of that child is provided by none other than Allah because it is Allah who is the creator of the mother. He is the creator of the sustenance inside the mother and he is creator and he is the creator of the care that the mother gives to the child.

[00:06:23]And so in reality it is only Allah subhana wa tala who fulfills the needs of the children. And so this is also why that when the child is in the womb, Allah subhana t describes him as protecting him, him as breaking him up, right? Because in reality it is none other than Allah who brings us up and it is none other than Allah who sustains us while we are in the wombs because he's the creator of the womb and all of the processes of the womb. Now uh in terms of man and what counsel he can derive from this name Gazali actually doesn't give any counsel like the council is just a negation so uh man cannot understand this name for man cannot suffice anyone for their needs and if he is sufficing other for his needs that's only in a metaphorical sense for in reality and actuality it is only Allah subhanaa tala who suffices for needs and Kazar is in fact extremely adamant on this point. He is uncompromising because he even calls the metaphor to be insufficient. So it is none other than Allah who provides for needs. Human beings just simply cannot.

[00:07:29]It's a rational absurdity for the imam.

[00:07:32]But anyways moving on the next name is Al Jal the majestic.

[00:07:39]So he is the one qualified by the attributes of majesty. Now the attributes of majesty are might, dominion, sanctification, knowledge, wealth, power and and other attributes we have mentioned. And the one who combines all of them is the absolute majestic.

[00:07:59]So this is the perfection of attributes.

[00:08:01]So the tremendous which is a name that we have already covered refers to the perfection of essence whereas this refers to the perfection of attributes.

[00:08:10]So it is only Allah subhanana wa ta'ala who is perfect when it comes to all of his attributes and it is only hence Allah subhanana wa ta'ala who can be called the majestic. Human beings cannot be majestic in any regard and it's the same with this name as well. Imam Alazali offers no like human comparison to this or let's say even human wisdom derived from this. The best thing for the human being to do is to recognize that Allah subhanaa tala is the majestic and to get to know his attributes.

[00:08:38]That's the counel. But now uh there is much to be said about this specific name because majesty is very similar to beauty because beauty at the end of the day is the perfection of attributes. It is the perfection of characteristics.

[00:08:53]Now in humanly body what we see is that when a person loves another individual by the external appearances they are loving them in so far as they are perfect in their perception.

[00:09:05]So when a spouse loves another spouse usually they do for let's say inner workings but let us say that they love them for their appearance. The only reason that they are loving them from the for the appearance is that they believe to some capacity that the individual's appearance is a form of perfection and so therefore they love them because that which is beautiful is naturally loved. And similarly in terms of individuals who are who go beyond in their loving or who go beyond in their understanding and their hikma and their wisdom are individuals who love others for their characters. So for example we love the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam for his immense character. We love the righteous for their immense character. Just like we love let's say a book for its knowledge. Knowledge is not a thing that is let's say physical. It is a thing that is abstracted. And similarly of many different things such as we love poetry for its completeness.

[00:10:02]We love calligraphy for its completeness and perfection. So these things are something that are far deeper and they go beyond simply what is tah simply what is on display. And so they are a far greater form of knowing uh beauty. Now there is none other than Allah subhana wa ta'ala who is the utterly beautiful and the reason for this is that he is the utterly perfect. So I im Gazali actually recommends his book on love in Alumin for a person to read if he wants to understand this better. But uh the love of beauty is in reality nothing other than the love of Allah subhana wa ta'ala. For everything in the world that is beautiful and that is supposedly perfect comes from nothing other than his attributes. So there is let's say indication of his attributes on every single thing that is seen as perfect in the dunya.

[00:10:55]So the mother is his mercy, right? So the mountain is his power. And so all of these different things that we see and we perceive and we find beautiful, they are nothing other than the effects of Allah subhanaa tala's attributes. And it is only he who is perfect in those attributes. And therefore there is nobody that is more beautiful than him.

[00:11:16]He is the most beautiful of all beings.

[00:11:19]uh another uh thing that Imam Galari talks about over here is that for a person should not really stop his aspiration to heaven or hell. So that's uh a lower form of faith because heaven and hell are creations. They are not God, right? And so to be afraid of creation or to only desire creation is a deficiency. A person is supposed to be afraid of only God and he's supposed to desire only God and nothing other than that. Heaven is s only in so far as it indicates the pleasure of God and hell is hated only in so far as it indicates the displeasure of God. Apart from that they should neither be hated nor loved because they're just creatures and creations. To be afraid of our creation and only for that uh fear to worship Allah is a deficiency. Similarly, being loving a creation and only loving Allah in so far as Allah subhanaa tala will provide you with that creation is the deficiency because both in both of these instances the fear is not for the for Allah and the love is not for Allah.

[00:12:29]Both of these times it's for creation.

[00:12:31]Right? So it is conceivable for example that a person who only loves Allah subhanaa tala in so far as Allah subhanaa tala will grant him paradise may stop loving Allah subhanaa tala if there was another way to attain paradise and he would stop following Allah subhanaa tala if the following of some other guidance would have led him to paradise so it's a deficiency of faith it's a deficiency of knowing Allah subhana wa t'ala the appropriate way to uh go towards Allah subhanaa tala is to only love him and only fear him and heaven and hell are secondary and they are only loved or hated in so far as they indicate Allah's pleasure or displeasure that's the appropriate way to approach Allah subhana wa ta'ala now man has no share in this name if it is said of him it can only be said of him metaphorically not in any actual sense and so the only way man can relate to this name or not even relate man can understand or let's say have some portion of the knowledge that this remain their name refers to is by seeing beyond the dah seeing the inner qualities of others seeing the inner perfection of their attributes seeing the perfection of Allah's attributes displayed in creation that's how he can understand the name al jal the majestic so now moving on wait did I skip a name yes we have al karim the generous so it relates to three primary things.

[00:14:00]So it is Allah subhana wa ta'ala who forgives. So forgiveness is a generosity. So uh when we forgive someone while we have the power to exact retribution, we have been generous towards that person. So similarly Allah subhanaa tala has the power to punish everybody and it is only he who has the power to punish everybody and it is only he against whose commands at the end of the day all wrongs are done for the only reason that uh creation is honored is because God told us to honor it and even though let's say when we wrong creation we are doing a wrong against creation and we will be held accountable by creation on the day of judgment but the only reason that was even a wrong against creation was because Allah said it was. So therefore, it is only him against whom wrongs are done and it is only him who has the power to ultimately punish them and so when he forgives he has the most perfect generosity. The second is that he fulfills his promises.

[00:15:01]So fulfilling promise uh fulfilling your promises is a form of generosity and it is none other than Allah subhana wa ta'ala who fulfills his promises.

[00:15:13]The last is that he gives more than what is hoped. So many times individuals ask for something but Allahh grants them something better. And uh this largely relates to paradise in which no matter how much a person hoped he would be given more than what he hoped. For as Allah subhanaa tala says it is something that no eye has seen. It is something that no heart has heard. Uh it is something that no mind has conceived in terms of paradise. So it is something that is completely beyond our imagination and so Allah subhanaa tala obviously gives more than what we hoped for. We can't even imagine his bounty.

[00:15:50]So this relates uh in terms of the generous and this can only apply to Allah subhana wa ta'ala as we previously talked about because it is only him against whom transgressions transgressions are done because even the trans transgressions that are done against humanity are only transgressions in so far as he says that they are transgressions and it is only he to whom promises are made and it is only he who fulfills his promises and it is only he who has the capacity to give to begin with and it is only he who gives far more than than what we could have ever conceived. Now this name does apply to human beings. Uh so the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said that the Muslim is generous. Right? So what this means is that the person forgives others when he has the ability to punish them.

[00:16:37]He fulfills his promises and he gives them more than what they hoped to receive from him. So one of the examples is that you shouldn't turn a beggar away. Now a beggar is not the same as you know we have professional beggars over here but uh the beggar refers to a person in need. So you should fulfill the needs of others by giving from what Allah has provided you. So that is a form of generosity. Another form of generosity is for you to wish for others the same that you wish for yourself or better than what you wish for yourself.

[00:17:08]So there's actually a very beautiful incident of Iban Omar in regards to this but we will talk about it uh later because another name relates to a similar wisdom.

[00:17:20]So moving on we have al-Rib the observant.

[00:17:25]So it is the one who knows and protects for whoever cares for something to the point of never forgetting it and observes it with a constant and persistent gaze. So that if one to whom it was forbidden knew about the surveillance he would not approach it such as the one called observant. So Allah subhanaa tala is the absolute observant.

[00:17:45]Absolute observant. Uh we cannot even observe our own inner selves. We cannot even observe beyond rooms. We cannot even observe the unseen. We are not observants in any capacity compar in comparison to Allah subhana wa ta'ala.

[00:17:58]But Allah subhanaa tala is the one who observes everything without a doubt. Now being the observant also has the connotation of protection. So for example when I say that I am watching over you. So that is in some like in some contextes that could be taken as to say that I am protecting you right. So as the father says don't worry I'm watching o over you that could be said to be a form of protection. So Allah subhanaa tala's name this one also refers to him protecting uh the believers the righteous and protecting them by uh adverting calamities from them and also by protecting them by giving them paradise on the day of resurrection. So he is the completely observant. So as the imam says that if a person actually knew to what capacity Allah subhana wa tala was the observant then he would think a million times before doing a sin and this is why the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said that god consciousness is to worship Allah as if you can see him and if you cannot see him it is to know that he sees you so the first degree would be to see Allah subhanaa tala obviously but uh since I don't believe any human can attain that the beautiful vision in this type or if even if some of the let's say the mystics attained it they only attained it to some capacity and obviously the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam saw but the uh the form that is applicable to all of us is to know that he sees us. So if we know that he sees all of our inner thoughts, he sees all of our inclinations, he's observant over all of our deeds, either those that are hidden or those that are manifest, then we would think a million times before doing anything. So that is in essence the council as well. So as Immali says, the attribute of watchfulness is only praiseworthy in man if his watchfulness is directed to his Lord and his heart.

[00:20:00]And that will be the case when he knows that God most high observes him and sees him in every situation as well as knowing that his own soul is an enemy to him and that Satan is his enemy. So there are two main enemies to a man.

[00:20:14]First is his own nature. So man's desires, man's anger, man's ambitions, all of these are enemies to him because they take him away from the path of God.

[00:20:24]Desires. So as Allah subhanaa tala says in the Quran do not follow your desires for they will surely lead you astray.

[00:20:32]So your desires do not come from he may like perhaps the the devil may incite them but your desires are in it. They come from yourself. So you don't you can't blame everything onl.

[00:20:46]They come from yourself and you can either abstain from them or you can either give into them thereby strengthening them. And so therefore you should know that your own soul is an enemy to you in so far as it incites to evil in so far as it incites you to give it to indulge in the world more than what is beneficial. So glutiny for example is an evil it's an enemy not only in the spiritual sense because it promotes other desires because the the belly is the wellspring of desires when your belly is fulfilled you other desires follow. It's just like drugs, right? So if you're having so I believe what's it weed is called a gateway drug, right? So when you take uh weed right or marijuana uh it's called a gateway drug because it starts you on the path of drug abuse. So after you take it you're far more likely to do other hard drugs. Similarly with glutiny if you eat a lot then you're far more likely to indulge in other desires like uh you know sexual desires like desires of the ego like desires of laziness and so on and so forth. As a matter of fact eating a lot is directly related to being lazy. So yeah and second is thatl is an enemy to you. So these thoughts that you have of doing evil things they are incited to you by the devil and he is a clear enemy to you as Allahh says to you is a manifest enemy so take him as an enemy right so yeah uh your attribute of watchfulness is by defeating both of your enemies by making sure that you're observant of what happens inside of you in terms of your spiritual illnesses in terms of the enemies inside of you and in terms of where your heart inclines to. This is your task. And if you are observant of what occurs inside of you, you may understand something of the name of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, which is the observant.

[00:22:45]Now moving on. Uh al- Mujib the answerer of prayers is the one who responds to the requests of those who ask by assisting them to the call of those who call upon him by answering them and responds to the plight of the poor with all they need. In fact, he blesses before the request and grant favor before the infrequent to his people. He's always respondent to his slaves. So the last line over here is the most beautiful part is that he blesses before the request and he grants favor before the intreaty.

[00:23:27]So there are countless times in our lives when we do not know that we even need something that we do not know that there is a request that we have. Whereas Allah subhana wa tala being the utterly generous lord that he is he grants it to us before we even ask.

[00:23:44]Now in terms of the first three bits that he is the one who responds to the requests by assisting them to the call uh call of those who call upon him by answering them in response to the plight of the poor with all their need. There is uh a nuance over here is that Allahh answers all prayers. So if a prayer is made properly then Allah subhana wa t'ala answers that prayer. It is never rejected. But we have a different understanding of answering of the prayer than what people may perceive. People think answering the prayer means that Allahh gives you what you ask for. Well that's not really what it means. So there's a hadith from that Allah subhanaa tala answers a prayer in three ways. By giving the person what he asked for. This is the lowest form actually. The second is by adverting a calamity from him. And the third is by stroning his reward in the day of judgment.

[00:24:40]So sometimes you made a prayer and you do not get what exactly you asked for.

[00:24:46]That doesn't mean that the prayer is rejected. It might be stored for you on the day of judgment or some calamity might be adverted from you. That is also a form of answering of the prayer. So just because this question comes up quite a lot. So and there's another neos over here is that intention is a pillar of asking Allah subhana wa ta'ala just like you know that there are pillars of the salah they are pillars of asking of Allah subhana wa t'ala and intention and knowledge is one of them. So the knowledge over here is what is uh uh relevant is that you intend and you know that Allah subhanaa tala will answer you. So there must be certainty yen in your heart that he will answer you. So many times people call upon Allah subhanaa tala while doubting that Allah will give them something and then when that prayer is not answered they are shocked. Well you're insulting God. How do you expect him to answer answer an insult? Right? If you doubt that he will give you something, if you doubt he is capable of giving you something or if you doubt anything of that regard while you're making the dua, then that's not really a dua. That's an insult towards Allah subhana tala. And then you should not be s surprised if he does not fulfill what you ask.

[00:26:03]So many times when people say, "Oh ya Allah give me this xyz whatsoever." And in their heart they think that Allah won't give it to them or in their heart they think that you know this answer this prayer probably will not be answered. Right? So they have shak they have shouba in their heart that if Allah subhanaa tala will give them x y or z and so this is an insult towards Allah and so this is one of the reasons why many of the prayers are not accepted because they come with shouba they come with insults towards god so when you're supposed to ask Allah subhana wa tala you're supposed to have absolute certainty in your heart that he will grant you that's how a prayer is supposed to be made and if you do not have that certainty which many people don't then it is a form of insulting Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala. So the counel for this is in terms of how man can relate to this name to some capacity which is that man needs to be responsive to firstly the commands of his lord. So he must answer to what Allah subhanaa tala has commanded him. He must pray. He must fast. He must do all of the things that Allah subhana wa ta'ala has made obligatory upon him and he must go above and beyond in order to fulfill the pre to fulfill the requirements of the dean.

[00:27:20]That's is number one. Number two is that he must be responsive to the servants of God and this is by wishing for them what he wishes for himself. And remember I told you that there is a beautiful incident of Ibn Omari that we will get to. So now's the time. So the incident is that Omar Radi he was uh he was ill.

[00:27:45]He had some issue I believe with his stomach or something like this and uh he talked to a physician and the physician told him that he needs to eat a specific type of fish.

[00:27:56]Now this fish was quite expensive and it was it also only came in a certain season. So he had to wait a few month and he had to gather around uh some money in order to afford that fish because he was not really a wealthy man.

[00:28:11]And so when that fish hit the market, he sent uh one of his servants to go and get him the fish. And so the fish was brought it was cooked and it was placed right in front of him. Now, as he was about to eat the fish, the door bell.

[00:28:25]Well, not there wasn't a bell back in the day, so the door, you know, someone knocked on it. And so, they opened the door and there was a beggar and he said that I am hungry. If I can have some have some food, I would be grateful. So, Iban Omar gave this fish away. And so, his servant protested. He said, "We waited months for this fish. We gathered up money in order to afford it. we can give him some other food.

[00:28:53]Why giving him this?

[00:28:55]And so Iban Omar did not want to hear any of it and he said do as you are told. Give him the fish. And so the fish was given to the beggar.

[00:29:06]And but the servant you know he can't he couldn't swallow this. He couldn't swallow that you know we waited for this fish for such a long while. you know, he is sick and he requires this as a medicine and he spent so much money on it and we're giving it to a beggar. And so what he did was that he took out his own savings and he went to the beggar, he gave him the money and he said, you know, I'm purchasing the fish back from you. And he came back to Iban Omar and he gave him the fish and he said, you know, well, I've purchased it back. So Iban Omar actually got extremely furious on this. He got very angry and he commanded him to go back and give him the fish back and also not to take back the money from him. And after arguing with Ibar to some for some time, the servant did so. And so when he came back, he said, "Well, I have done what you have asked for of me, but I just want to know why like we waited such a long time for this fish, then we got it, then you gave it away, then I bought it back, and you still gave it away. So what's the reason for this?" And so Iban Omar said that I was with the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said that none of you believe unless you want for your brother what you want for yourself. So since I desired that fish my brother deserves it. So that's the appropriate way of handling the servants of God that you give them exactly what you want for yourself. Nothing more, nothing less. It would be better if you gave them something that was something more than what you want for yourself.

[00:30:35]But that's very hard to really conceptualize. So the best thing is that you give your brothers and you give Muslims and the servants of God exactly what you would want for yourself. Not less than that. Not even by an iota. For if it is by an iota, then you have not really uh loved the servants of God because you consider them lesser than yourself if you're giving them something that you yourself would not use or you or you yourself would not uh let's say uh you yourself would not uh uh prefer.

[00:31:14]So uh for questions I will answer after.

[00:31:17]So there are two names left. After those two names are finished then I'll move on to questions inshallah. So just wait know five more minutes maybe 10 minutes.

[00:31:26]So the next name is alas the vast.

[00:31:30]So this is derived from expansiveness and expansiveness is sometimes linked to knowledge when it extends to and comprehends a multitude of objects and other times it is linked to charity and widespread blessings extending as far as possible to whatever they decide upon.

[00:31:46]So the absolute vast is God.

[00:31:50]So this also applies only to Allah subhanaa tala. So in terms of knowledge, this does not refer to knowledge only of concrete things. It refers to knowledge of the most higher of realities and the most higher of things. Right? So the abstract things and the higher things as they called sometimes the divine realities. So obviously it is only Allah subhanaa tala who knows himself. So uh everyone denies the knowledge of the essence of God apart from obviously it existing. You cannot know it itself because it is so beyond human conception. It is so beyond even human thought that it cannot really be known directly and it cannot really be reached. And so the only one who knows himself is Allah subhana wa ta'ala. No one knows him apart from himself. And so he is the only one who can be said to be awaiti the vast because the most because the highest level of knowledge cannot be attained by anyone other than him. It's impossible. In fact, not even the prophets can know his essence. So it's an absolute rational absurdity for his essence to be fully known by anyone other than him. So therefore nothing can compare to him subhanahu wa'ta'ala.

[00:33:05]Now in terms of man's council for this and how he can let's say understand this name better man needs to become vast in his knowledge and his character. His knowledge relates to knowing Allah subhanaa tala to the extent that he can know him. So he can know Allah subhanaa tala's blessings. He can know Allahh's actions. He can know Allah subhanaa tala's attributes. He can try to you know ascend the ranks of spiritual attainment and know something of the divine realities and thereby expanding and making sure that his knowledge becomes vast. Now in terms of his character it is by improving his character. It is by becoming vast in his generosity. It is by coming becoming vast in his mercy. It is by becoming vast in his compassion. It is by becoming vast in all of the attributes of humanly perfection. So that is how he could understand the name the was.

[00:33:53]Moving forward we had we have al-hakim the wise. So he is the truly wise because he knows the most sublime things by the most sublime modes of knowing.

[00:34:04]For the most sublime mode of knowledge is the eternal everlasting knowledge whose extinction is inconceivable.

[00:34:12]So Allah subhanaa tala is the most wise because not only does he know everything, he knows the appropriate place of everything. He knows the most sublime of throats. He knows the most sublime and and everlasting of knowledge and it is only to him that this is disclosed. So he is known only by himself and the most sublime and the most appropriate of uh places of things is only known by him. So justice for example is described by Imam Gazali in this book and the basic uh kalami definition as well is the exact same which is a placing a thing in its proper proper place and a proper place of a thing is only known by God.

[00:34:52]So by his very knowledge he is just.

[00:34:58]Now the way that man can relate to this is that man must know God and prepare for the life to come. So we already deal with the first aspect of this council in the previous name. Now we're going to deal with the later part of this council. So a man who knows that the hereafter is something that is indeed approaching and that he will be judged for all of his actions and he will be granted either eternal damnation or eternal bliss. It would be utterly ignorant for such an individual and it would be absolutely opposed to wisdom for such an individual to spend his life upon this earth preparing for anything other than this actuality.

[00:35:36]Now the only reason that the vast majority of mankind including Muslims do not prepare for the day to come is because they have doubts in their mind regarding the day to come. So many Muslims even though obviously they are Muslims they have some inner shock that might even be let's say subconscious they have inner shouba in regards to the day of judgment and therefore they do not prepare for it as they should because what other thing explains this absurdity. So imagine there's a train approaching you and you were told that there is a way for you to avoid this train in order to save your life. Would it be wise for you to just ignore that and just go beyond your just keep on going and ignore this?

[00:36:16]It would be utterly ridiculous for you to do so. And similarly, if you truly believe in the day of resurrection, you truly believe in a day of judgment, then every single second that is spent of your life not preparing for it is against wisdom completely. And hence the only wise thing for a man to do is to prepare for the life to come. This is why Omari said that uh a man should take himself to account before he is brought to account. He should judge himself before he is judged. This is wisdom.

[00:36:47]And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, "Wise is the man who prepares for the day of resurrection because if uh the day of resurrection is true, which obviously it is, then anything that is done in a person's life which is not to prepare for that is completely and utterly opposed to wisdom.

[00:37:06]And this is why the vast majority of mankind is unwise. So there's a hadith from that the angel of death comes to man twice a day. Twice a day and he looks at him and he's surprised by man having aspirations, having ambitions and not even thinking about death. Right? That's the last thing we think about even though it's the most certain of all realities that will occur to him occur to us. All of us will die like you may hate it but that will occur and there is a life to come. You may hate that as well but that will occur. And so if you do not prepare for that then that is the biggest uh form of being ignorant and being unwise that there can be.

[00:37:54]So moving on uh we have the last name that we will cover today which is Alvad the loving. So he is one who wishes all creatures well and accordingly favors them and praises them. His loving kindness consists in his intending honor and blessing uh in uh in his favor and grace and he transcends the natural inclination usually associated with love and mercy. One is loving, kind among God's servants who desires for God's creatures whatever he desires for himself and whoever prefers them to himself is even higher than that. So we will not talk about the council because we in essence talked about this previously as well. So the last two names have a very similar council. So the council in being the Ling is the one who prefers God creatures over himself.

[00:38:39]Right? Uh now in terms of the name itself this is very different from uh this is not like this is very similar to mercy but the difference over here is that mercy requires someone who is in need in order for you to be merciful upon them right so this is why it's called mercy because you are mercy to someone who is needy now love does not require the other person to be needy and so Allah subhana wa ta'ala is loving without the person being needy.

[00:39:11]But in reality, obviously, everyone is needy in front of God. But this neediness in the sense that it is applied to being to the person who's applying mercy to other individuals is not needed in the name Alvad for he loves simply because he is loving. It's as simple as that. So he grants them favors and he praises them. And so uh in reality his loving kindness does not consist of what we perceive as loving because our loving is deficient. So for some people loving uh means like an ache of the heart right suffering and stuff like that. Obviously none of that occurs to Allah subhanaa tala and that's actually an imperfection of love. So his love is perfect and it consists in his intending honor and blessing and his favor and grace and he transcends the natural inclination usually associated with love and mercy. So his love is absolutely perfect.

[00:40:07]So this brings us to Oh wait I forgot to change the title left it with arine fine because this was had to rush a bit but anyways so this is done. We have covered uh eight names today and 40 minutes that wasn't bad.

[00:40:28]So anyways, should one start with Im Vizali as a novice and then move to onto Hadith? Kindly answer my question.

[00:40:37]Okay. So Hadith is a different uh uh field entirely. So I imali largely wrote on three fields. So he wrote on the which means Sufism. He wrote on kalam which means rationality and he wrote on fik meaning law. So he doesn't really have a work on hadith. So that's a different field. Now in terms of uh uh reading Imali, if you want to read the some of his books are the best introductions. So one of his book is called Wat. So let me write that for you.

[00:41:14]Uh my beloved son or dear beloved son, however you want to like translate it.

[00:41:22]So it's one of the best uh introductions into the subwoof that you can find. So it's actually not even it's a subwoof book. It's more so just basic Islam book but it has some flavor of the subwoof in it. So that's the book that you should start with and after that actually you have this book which is the best book uh did that just happen on its own? It seems this book and then this is the best one of the best introductions into sufism which is al kosher so by imi and after that you can read Imam Gazali's works so let me write that down as went for you beginning of guidance is a very good introduction into the subw as well after that you can obviously read maybe you can read al makad You can read well not this quick. You can also read but like yeah these are the books that you should read as a beginning. So you should also readal there's another book over here should be yeah here it is. So Kashwal Majub is also a great book as a like a basic introduction into the Sabu. So Kashwal Majub is by Datasab Ali Alueri. So we call him Datasab over here but it's by Ali Alujeri. Uh and you should also read that as an introduction into the sub. So yeah those are the good books.

[00:42:57]So uh let me know if you guys have any other questions inshallah.

[00:43:02]Hopefully uh the brother didn't leave because I was busy in uh covering the names. But anyways guys let me know if there are any questions.

[00:43:30]Let me know if there are any questions guys. Usually you guys flood when it comes time to ask the questions. Seems like today you have no questions. But if there are no questions and I'm just going to wait 30 seconds or maybe a minute. If there are no questions then we're going to end this inshallah and we're going to continue within uh next week. also did a video on suicide uh and uh the purpose of life as it relates to Islam and how to find meaning in life as it relates to Islam.

[00:44:05]You can watch that uh on my channel if you want to. But yeah, uh let me know if if you have any questions otherwise we shall be ending this inshallah.

[00:44:30]seems like you guys have more question.

[00:44:33]So yeah, I guess then uh uh yeah so I guess then we will be ending this uh inshallah tala. Uh stay tuned uh for next week. I might do like uh a live stream on Ali Aad Bajovich the Bosnian leader and philosopher uh with brother Mis. So brother Miz has been on the channel a couple of times previously.

[00:44:59]We've covered Aladas together and we've covered Dawa together. So hopefully we can cover Ali Azovish together as well. He's a very good great thinker. we would largely be covering his book Islam between east and west and probably if we're going to cover him we're going to cover him this weekend if not this weekend then the next weekend so something like this inshallah and yeah so take care guys it's been a pleasure as always see you next week when we cover until then this is all I have for you stay safe stay faithful and