Islamic Ideology - Names of Allâh 1996 : Al-Hakeem (The All Wise)

Transcription

1 Islamic Ideology - Names of Allâh 1996 : Al-Hakeem (The All Wise) Praise be to Allah, the Lord of Creations, and Peace and blessings be upon our prophet Muhammad, the faithful and the honest. Oh, Allah, w e know nothing but w hat You teach us. You are the All- Know er, the Wise. Oh Allah, teach us w hat is good for us, and benefit us from w hat You taught us, and increase our know ledge. Show us the righteous things as righteous and help us to do them, and show us the bad things as bad and help us to keep aw ay from them. O Allah our Lord, lead us out from the depths of darkness and illusion, unto the lights of erudition and know ledge, and from the muddy shallow s of lusts unto the heavens of Your Vicinity. Allâh s Beautiful Name: Al-Hakeem: In His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, Allah, the All Wise, says And w hosoever is granted w isdom is indeed granted abundant good. This holy Quranic Verse takes us to the tw enty-fourth of Allah s Beautiful Divine Names, Al-Hakeem (The All Wise). Dear reader! Allah s Beautiful Divine Names are quite numerous, ninety-nine, as mentioned in authentic religious relics. And Allah s Divine Names are all Beautiful, because Allah, Glory to Him, is Existent, One and Perfect. In fact, All of Allah s Divine Attributes can be summed up in three main notions, namely that He, Glory to Him, exists, that He is One: in His ow n Self, Attributes and Acts, and that He is Perfect. How ever, some of Allah s Divine Names are nearer than others to human beings; and the nearest of all of Allah s Divine Names to human beings is The Lord, simply because He, All Mighty, is their Lord. To this effect, the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, says So w ait patiently for your Lord s Decision, for verily you are under Our Eyes; and glorify the Praises of your Lord w hen you get up from sleep. This Quranic Verse show s clearly that decision of all issues and matters belongs only to Allah, the Lord, Who know s everything, Who is Most Gracious, and Who is All Wise. Also, Allah s Divine Name Al-Hakeem (the All-Wise) is nearest to human beings. Why did I put forw ard the foregoing introduction? The answ er is: because sometimes, man sees or meets things that he does not like, i.e. unpleasant things, as Allah, All Mighty, sometimes afflicts man w ith things that seem to be unpleasant to him, i.e. things that he does not like. How ever, it is most unw ise and ignorant of man to get angry or discontented w ith his Lord; it is w ise for man, under all circumstances, to be contented w ith his Lord, and w ith His Foreordainment and Divine Decree. It is necessary for man to know that nothing has happened, happens, or w ill happen, since the beginning of creation of the universe until its end, except by Allah s Divine Will and Pow er. In other w ords, if anything in existence happened against Allah s Will, He w ould cease to be the Omnipotent, the Irresistible, the All Pow erful, and the Self-Sufficient. If anything in the w hole universe happened against Allah s Divine Will, all His Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes w ould be rendered void and meaningless. Therefore, nothing in the w hole existence, w hich is Allah s Dominion, happens except by His Divine Will. Now, I w ould like my dear readers to excuse me for repeating the foregoing fact over and over again. This is because Allah, the All-Wise, very often repeats Quranic facts; and w e repeat Surat Al-Fatihah (the first [II; 269] [LII; 48]

2 Chapter of the Holy Quran) in each and every prayer, tens of times everyday, till the end of our lives: In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All the Praises and Thanks belong to Allah, Lord of all w orlds. I reiterate: all things in the w orld happen only by Allah s Divine Will, i.e. if Allah w ills that something should happen, it happens. Moreover, there is no other Dominator of the w hole universe except Allah. This is Islamic monotheism: in the w hole existence, there is only one Hand that controls everything, namely the Hand of Allah, the Irresistible, the Omnipotent, the All-Wise, the All-Pow erful, Who is Free to honor or dishonor, give or w ithhold, provide or deprive, exalt or disparage. Also, I w ould like to emphasize the follow ing facts: Everything happens by Allah s Divine Will; everything that Allah w ills happens; and Allah s Divine Will is associated w ith His Absolute Divine Wisdom. To make this point clear, let us have the follow ing example: Sometimes, someone says something that he does not really believe in. He does this because of a certain pressure or allurement. His w ords might be unw ise simply because of pressure or allurement. This is the case w ith w eak people: they fall under either pressure or allurement, i.e. they are sometimes forced and sometimes allured; and in both cases, they lose w isdom. In other w ords, a person might behave irrationally if he is subjected to pressure or allurement. Also, he might behave unw isely because of ignorance. In other w ords, irrationality, foolishness, and clumsiness may also come from ignorance. In short, there is no w isdom w ith pressure, ardent desire, or ignorance. Now, ignorance, compulsion, and allurement are impossibly attributed to Allah, for there is no other god to compel Allah; and Allah is far Exalted above, and Free from, any such imperfection as ignorance or allurement. Once again: all of Allah s Divine Acts are associated w ith His Absolute Divine Wisdom, w hich is, in turn, associated w ith the Absolute Good. This is the golden motto of human happiness. Everything has its ow n reality; and no human can ever attain the reality of true faith until he believes that w hat afflicts him is impossible to miss him, and w hat misses him is impossible to afflict him. Mistakes and errors are only human qualities; they are by no means possible for the Creator, Allah, the All Wise. The seemingly w rong, unjust or unfair things are not really as such; they are under Allah s Absolute Divine Wisdom. To make this point clear, let us have the follow ing example: A young w oman, w ho had got the high school grade, applied for a teacher s job, and w as, therefore, required to carry out some medical tests, w hich, unluckily for her, show ed that she had Tuberculosis. She suffered a lot and had to go into medical quarantine and complete isolation. This made her turn to the Lord, Allah, Most Gracious, w ith sincere devotion and faithful repentance. She began to offer prayers and practice Hijab (Islamic Veil). Some time later, her brother consulted the hospital and w as greatly surprised w hen they apologized to him that the results of the medical analysis, w hich show ed that his sister suffered from Tuberculosis, belonged to someone else. They told him that his sister w as perfectly healthy and had no Tuberculosis and that she w as given the results of someone else s analysis. In other w ords, Allah, Most Gracious, caused the people w orking in that hospital to commit such seemingly horrible, but unintended, mistake so that the young w oman may return to Him. Another Muslim sister, w ho attends lectures in this mosque, An Nabulsi mosque, w as sent to one of the Arab oil countries in order to teach math there. How ever, the school headmistress asked her to teach Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and Quranic interpretation instead of math. When she apologized for not being able to teach such subjects, as they w ere not her specialization, the headmistress threatened to cancel her application and send her back to Syria. In other w ords, she had no other choice but teach Fiqh and Quranic interpretation. She had to read religious books in order to prepare for the lessons she had to give. By the w ay, that teacher did not believe in Hijab (Islamic Veil). How ever, w hile she w as reading the Quranic Verses that had to do w ith Hijab (Islamic Veil), she suddenly burst into tears because she w as greatly touched by them. In other w ords, that teacher s repentance came w hen she w as forced to read such Quranic Verses and teach them to her students. Allah, Most Gracious, made the headmistress insistence a means to the teacher s sincere repentance. The foregoing examples show clearly that all things happen by Allah s Divine Will, that w hatever Allah w ills [I; 1,2]

3 w ill inevitably come to pass, that Allah s Divine Will is associated w ith His Absolute Divine Wisdom, and that His Divine Wisdom is associated w ith Absolute Good. No leaf of a tree could ever fall dow n except by Allah s Absolute Divine Will and Wisdom. Too many seemingly evil things turn out good in the end; and in Allah s Kingdom, there is no injustice, in the real sense of the w ord. Even unjust tyrannical rulers or leaders are, as it is said, Allah s Sw ord in the earth: He retaliates by them and then He retaliates from them. Therefore, w henever w e hear of an incident that seems to have any kind of injustice on Allah s part, w e should not give hasty judgments or think that Allah is unjust or unfair, since w e do not know the w hole story. If w e knew the w hole story, w e w ould firmly believe that Allah is All Just and All Wise. Hence, the nearest of Allah s Divine Names to you are The Lord and The All Wise. You may ask: Then w hy do some people suffer from diseases? The answ er is: You should say: This belongs to Allah s Absolute Divine Wisdom. This is because if you had enough time and pow er to trace all the facts as they really are, you w ould inevitably find out that things are best as they are. In this context, people may ask: Why is such person barren? Why did such person die so early of age? Why did such one live long? Why is such one rich? Why is such one poor? The answ er is alw ays: This belongs to Allah s Absolute Divine Wisdom. I reiterate: You should attribute all things that you see or hear to Allah s Absolute Divine Wisdom. It is the same w hether such things are seemingly pleasant or unpleasant. That is because it is impossible that Allah, Glory to Him, acts unw isely, for He is The Omniscient, the One, the Existent, the Perfect and, hence, the All Wise. Allah is Infinitely Pre-Existent; and if you ask, Where is Allah? your question means that He does not exist. Nay! Allah, All Mighty is Pre-Existent. To this effect, He, Glory to Him, says Think not that Allah is unaw are of that w hich the w rong-doers do. Nay! He only gives them respite up to a Day w hen the eyes w ill stare in horror. [XIV; 42] Once again, Allah is Pre-Existent; and He is One and Only. No existence is like His Infinite Divine Existence. He is Absolute and Perfect, and hence, He is All Wise. The foregoing facts are only an introduction to our main topic, namely Allah s Divine Name Al-Hakeem (The All Wise). Now, the w ord Hakeem (The All Wise) is mentioned thirty-three times in Allah s Divine Book, the holy Quran. Some examples are: And if all the trees on the earth w ere pens and the sea (w ere ink w herew ith to w rite), w ith seven seas behind it to add to its (supply), yet Allah s Words w ould not be exhausted. Verily, Allah All Mighty, All Wise. Allah is Ever All-Sufficient, All Wise. and abundant spoils that they w ill capture. And Allah is Ever All Mighty, All Wise. And Allah is Ever All Mighty, All Wise. And Allah is All-Know ing, All Wise. Verily, your Lord is All-Know ing, All Wise. [XXXI; 27] [IV; 130] [XLVIII; 19] [LX; 10]

4 Alif Lam Ra: A Book, the Verses thereof are perfected and then elaborated from the Him (Allah), Who is All Wise, Well-Acquainted (w ith all things). And had it not been for the Grace of Allah and His Mercy on you, and (had it not been that) Allah is All-Pardoning, Most Merciful. Falsehood cannot come to it (the Quran) from before it or behind it; (it is) sent dow n by the All Wise One, the One Worthy of all Praise (Allah). [XII; 6] [XI; 1] [XXIV; 10] There is something delicate I w ould like to call the readers attention to: When Allah s Names come in couples, such as Verily, Allah is All Mighty, All Wise w e should be very careful not to understand that Allah is All Wise simply because He is All Know ing. In Islamic theology, it is w rong to consider any of Allah s Divine Names dependent on another. For example, it is w rong to say that Allah is All Wise because He is All Know ing, or that He is All Mighty because He is Most Merciful, etc. In other w ords, Allah s Names are by no means interdependent. Allah is All Wise just because He is All Wise; and He is Praisew orthy just because He is as such. Also, Allah s Book, the Holy Quran is described as being Hakeem (i.e. a Book full of w isdom. To this effect, Allah, the All Wise, says Alif Lam Ra : Such are the Verses of the Book, Al-Hakeem (i.e. full of w isdom). Ya Seen. By the Quran, Al-Hakeem (i.e. full of w isdom)! [XLI; 42] [X; 1] [XXXVI; 1] Verily, Allah conferred a great Favor upon believers w hen He sent to them a Messenger from am ong them selves, reciting unto them His Verses (the Quran), purifying them, and instructing them (in) the Book (the Quran) and w isdom (Prophetic Sunna), w hile before that they had been in manifest error. Our Lord! Send among them a Messenger from among them w ho shall recite unto them Your Verses and instruct them in the Book (the Quran) and w isdom (Prophetic Sunna) and purify them. Verily, You are the All Mighty, the All Wise. In this context, scholars of Quranic interpretation hold that w henever the w ord Hikmah (i.e. w isdom) comes together w ith the Holy Quran, it means Prophetic Sunna and Tradition, because the Prophet s Hadith and Tradition are the best interpreters of the Holy Quran. Also, Al-Hikmah (w isdom) should be used in the Call for Allah and His Religion. To this effect, Allah All Mighty, says [III; 164] [II; 129]

5 Invite to the Way of your Lord w ith w isdom and fair preaching and argue w ith them in a w ay that is better. Verily, your Lord know s best w ho has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aw are of those w ho are rightly guided. [XVI; 125] Al-Hikmah (w isdom) can also be granted to people. I w ould like to say here that if Allah, All Mighty, gave you the best w oman in the w orld, but He did not give you w isdom, you w ould make the w orst w oman of her. If Allah gave you the w ealth of Korah, but He did not give you w isdom, you w ould soon w aste it and make of it a source of sorrow and regret for you on the Day of Judgment. If He gave you good health, but He did not give you w isdom, you w ould use your health in trivialities and foolish things. And if He gave you good children, but He did not give you w isdom, your ow n children w ould be the cause of your entering Hell-Fire. In other w ords, if you lack w isdom, everything leads you to endless sorrow s and losses on the Day of Resurrection. That is w hy Allah, Most Gracious, says He (Allah) grants w isdom to w homsoever He pleases; and he w ho is granted w isdom is indeed granted abundant good. But none rem em ber except those possessed of understanding. With w isdom, you can be the happiest person in the w orld although your income might be little; and w ith foolishness, you incur misery w ith your big income. With w isdom, you are happy w ith your w ife, ordinary and simple as she might be; and w ith foolishness you are miserable even w ith the best and most beautiful w oman in the w orld. With w isdom, you help make your children happy and successful; and w ith foolishness, you make them unhappy and unsuccessful. Yes, indeed! Wisdom is the source of every success and happiness, just as foolishness is the fountain of misery and w retchedness. I reiterate: Allah, All Mighty, may give you the w ealth of Korah although He does not like you. To this effect, Allah Most Gracious, says Verily, Korah w as of Moses people, but he behaved arrogantly tow ards them. And We gave him of the treasures w hose keys w ould have been a burden to a body of strong men. Remember w hen his people said to him: Do not exult. Verily, Allah likes not those w ho exult. Allah, All Mighty, gave Korah great w ealth although He did not like him. Also, Allah might give you pow er although He does not like you. To this effect, He, Glory to Him, says [II; 269] [XXVIII; 76] Verily, Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and made its people sects, oppressing a group from among them, killing their sons and sparing the lives of their females. Verily, he w as of those w ho do mischief. Therefore, Allah may give you w ealth and pow er although He does not like you. But if He loves you, He gives you both know ledge and w isdom. He, Praise belongs to Him, says And w hen he (Moses) attained his full strength and w as perfect in manhood, We bestow ed on him w isdom and religious know ledge; and thus do We rew ard the good-doers. [XXVIII; 4] [XXVIII; 14] As a true believer, you should consider w hat Allah has conferred upon you: If He has conferred upon you w isdom and know ledge, you are beloved to Him, just as holy Prophets and righteous people are. If, after that, He endues you w ith w ealth and good health, or increases you in pow er, you should praise Him and be thankful

6 to Him. The first and foremost thing is that Allah provides you w ith w isdom and know ledge. In this context, the venerable imam and scholar, Al-Ghazali, says, He w ho know s all things but fails to know Allah is not called a w ise person. Once, I met a person w ho had tw o Ph.D. degrees, in both education and physics. I thought he w as a great man. Then, I knew that he did not offer prayers to Allah although he w as fifty years old. By Allah! He dropped in my estimation! All this know ledge yet, he does not offer prayers to Allah! Doesn t such Great Creator deserve our w orship and gratitude?! Once again, I repeat Al-Ghazali s w ords: He w ho know s all things but fails to know Allah is not called a w ise person. I w ould like to express that as follow s: There are tw o kinds of intelligence: partial and total. Partial intelligence is manifested w hen one is, for example, a doctor w ho is w ell versed in science and has a great experience and understanding. Nevertheless, he disobeys his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, because he does not think of w hat w ill be after death, because he does not think of the One Who created him, because he does not heed the Creator s Religion, because he does not aspire to attain His Lord s Good Pleasure, and because he does not see the Majestic Greatness of such Lord. Therefore, he is unintelligent, even if he w ere the most intelligent of all mankind. Hence, there is partial intelligence that has to do w ith the different disciplines of human know ledge, such as medicine, physics, math, etc, and there is total intelligence that has to do w ith totalities and fundamentals of human life in the present w orld and the w orld to come. In other w ords, if you are heedless of your Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, if you deviate from His Religion, and if you get indulged in sins and misdeeds, you are stupid even if you w ere the best and most experienced in your scientific or professional specialization, and even if you had the highest scientific degrees. Also, people usually congratulate one another on having bought a house, occupied a prominent social position, having got a high scientific degree, having got a baby, having got married, having bought a new expensive car, having been dispatched for a mission abroad, etc. But I reiterate that congratulations are deservedly offered only to those w ho have know n the Lord, Allah, Most Gracious, and are in good terms w ith Him. Some religious scholars used to congratulate their disciples most sincerely if they saw sincere repentance and devotion of them. In His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, Allah, All High, says (Allah) Who created you, fashioned you perfectly, and gave you due proportion. [LXXXII; 7] How come that you forget your Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Who created you, fashioned you, and gave you due proportion?! Some know ledgeable religious scholars used to invoke, O Lord! What does he w ho finds you miss? And w hat does he w ho misses you find? They also used to invoke, If Allah is w ith you, w ho can ever be against you? But if He is against you, w ho can ever be w ith you? Such invocations undoubtedly bespeak great w isdom! Now, a learner s honor is determined by the kind of know ledge he acquires. If know ledge is honorable, the learner is. Imagine someone w ho studies a book about how to rob banks, for example! Even w hen you see him study such a book hard, w ould you have any respect for him? Of course not! If someone reads and studies carefully a book that teaches people how to forge money, does he deserve any honor or respect?! Of course not! Such things are not only evil but also criminal! Therefore, honor of the learner is derived from the kind of know ledge he acquires. The more sublime and noble know ledge is, the more honorable and respected the learner is. Some people study such branches of know ledge as physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, history, psychology, sociology, atomics, etc, all of w hich can help man attain sublimity and nobleness. A person can attain more respect so long as the know ledge that he acquires is rare and needed. But w hat w ill the case be w ith those w ho get to know Allah, All Mighty? This is a very good question. The answ er is: Those w ho acquire know ledge about some of Allah s creatures attain a noble and respectable status in the

7 sight of people. For example, those w ho acquire know ledge about poetry: imagery, metaphors, simile, style, ideas, etc, are highly respected by a great many people. So how w ould the case be w ith those w ho acquire adequate know ledge about Allah, Lord, of all w orlds, and study His Divine Words and analyze them? They are indeed the w isest, w hile those w ho do not acquire adequate know ledge about Allah, Glory to Him, are by no means w ise. I alw ays reiterate that know ledge is of several kinds: know ledge that is interesting, know ledge that is both interesting and useful, and know ledge that is interesting, useful, and conducive to happiness. A rare specialization is know ledge that is both interesting and useful. Any kind of know ledge is interesting, i.e. any book that you read is usually interesting, because know ledge is interesting; and spread of know ledge is a holy job. Furthermore, the more sublime and noble your know ledge is, the more respected and honored you are. Some religious scholars say, He w ho know s Allah s Words, uses w ords that differ from those of other humans. Does a person w ho know s Allah stay up until 1 a.m. talking about kinds of food, for example? Does he spend five hours of his life playing trick track or chess, or slandering people? That is impossible except for the silly and foolish-minded! Those w ho get to know Allah, Praised and Exalted, and His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, speak out w isdom and their w ords are sublime and noble. It is rightly said, Every pot gushes out the liquid it has. I have alw ays given the follow ing example: some vessels are filled from the top and have a tap at the bottom. The liquid that comes out of the tap must be the same liquid that exists in the vessel. If you fill the vessel w ith w ater, you get w ater from the tap. If you fill it w ith milk, you get milk from the tap. If you fill it w ith lemon, you get lemon from the tap. If you fill it w ith brackish w ater, you get brackish w ater from the tap. In other w ords, each human being has his ow n fountain from w hich he gets his know ledge; and man usually speaks out w hat is inside his mind, w hich he fills just like a vessel. A person w hose know ledge is derived from indecent magazines, love stories, and low TV series and programs is inclined to speak about trivial silly things. This is w hat he know s about life. This is w hat he has filled his mind w ith. A person w hose mind is filled w ith know ledge about Allah, Most Gracious, His Messenger, (PBUH), and his venerable Companions, speaks about noble sublime things. He speaks out w isdom and admonition. He speaks about facts and basics of human life. He speaks about noble human behavior and character. This is w hat he know s about life. This is w hat he has filled his mind w ith. The most important thing in this regard is w here to get know ledge from. From w here should you drink? What should enter your ears and then your heart? What should enter you eyes and then your heart? This is because your ears and eyes are your gates to the w orld. What you read bespeaks your ow n personality. What you hear influences your ow n character. Tell me w hom you sit w ith and w hom you accompany, I tell you w ho you are. Tell me w hom you befriend, I tell you w ho you are. This is because, as it is rightly said, birds of a feather flog together. Tell me w ho is your preacher, I tell you w ho you are. Undoubtedly, there are lots of sources of know ledge, some of w hich are pure and clean, w hile others are dirty and brackish. A person s thoughts and w ords reflect clearly the source from w hich he received his know ledge and experience. If a person s speech is indecent, his interests are crude and sexual, his w ords are biting, and his criticism is hurting, this means that the source of his know ledge is evil and the fountain from w hich he drinks is stinky. It smells of adultery, treason, treachery, disloyalty, selfishness, arrogance, tyranny, aggression and brutality. That is w hy it is forbidden in Islam to speak about deviant profligate people, because the speech about them is evil and breeds nothing but discomfort and misery. How ever, the speech about the righteous and pious people breeds comfort and happiness. Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), says The zenith of w isdom is to fear Allah. This Hadith show s clearly that if you do not fear Allah, you possess no know ledge or w isdom. In other w ords, a w ise person is someone w ho condemns himself and w orks for the Afterlife, and a desperate helpless person is someone w ho follow s his ow n desires and caprices and raises false hopes as to Allah. A helpless desperate person is someone w ho lives his present moment and indulges in the perishable pleasures

8 and enjoyments of this ephemeral w orldly life. A w ise person, how ever, is someone w ho gets ready for the Hereafter. To have a few things that suffice one s needs is better than to have too may a thing that distracts one from one s main mission in life. I asked someone, How are you? He answ ered, Very w ell. Praised be Allah! We have been afflicted w ith the invocation of him w ho invoked against us. I w ondered, May Allah forbid! Who invoked against you? The man said, Haven t you heard that Allah s Messenger invoked, O Allah! Make provision for those w ho love me sufficient only for their living! I answ ered, Yes, I have. Allah s Messenger invoked his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, to provide those w ho love him only w ith that w hich they need for a decent living, and nothing more. Yes, indeed! By virtue of the foregoing Prophetic Hadith, Allah s Messenger invokes Allah, Most Gracious, to provide true believers w ith money that helps them make a decent living and not distracts them from their Lord. It is sufficient for a believer to be healthy and to earn a decent living in a simple lodge w ith his entire essential needs fulfilled. This is real richness! Real richness is not to w aste your life multiplying your w ealth and property. In this context, Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), says He w ho is healthy as to his body, secure w ith his people, and has his food (that suffices him) for one day, (this means that) the entire w orld has been granted to him. He, (PBUH), also says Try to be pious if you desire to be the most devoted of all mankind, and try to be contended w ith w hat Allah as allotted to you if you desire to be the most thankful. It is of a person s good Islam to leave things that are none of his business. Happy are those w ho get admonished by that w hich happens to others. Silence is w isdom, and too few are those w ho are silent. Contentment is a never-ending treasure. And: Patience is one half of Faith; and certitude is the entire Faith. All the foregoing w ise Prophetic Sayings are available to everyone; and everyone can buy a book, or books, that contain such w ise Sayings. How ever, there is a great difference betw een buying and reading a book and adopting the things therein in one s daily life. You are a real hero not w hen you buy or read the Prophet s Sayings, but w hen you adopt them for yourself and put them into reality and practical behavior. Now, let us go back to Allah s Beautiful Divine Name Al-Hakeem (The All Wise), w hich has three essential meanings: First meaning: The Arabic w ord Hakeem means someone w ho is w ell experienced and w hose w ork is perfect, i.e. faultless. It also means someone w ho calculates and measures things most accurately and properly. For example, if a carpenter fails to cut a piece of w ood accurately, his w ork is not satisfactory enough. In this case, w e could say, If his calculations w ere accurate, his w ork w ould be perfect and faultless. And the more accurate calculations are, the better and more faultless w ork is. Expensive machines are usually perfect and faultless, w hile bad cheap ones are full of faults and defects. In fact, accuracy and faultlessness are essential elements in good machines. This is w hat makes them more valuable and more expensive. A friend of mine, w ho w orked in textile, once told me that a w hole roll produced by a certain cloth machine that w e have imported to our country is sold at the price of only 200 Syrian Pounds, w hile w e buy one meter, only one meter, of the production of the same machine in another foreign country for 700 Syrian Pounds. This is because accuracy and perfection of w ork makes a big difference. Therefore, the w ord Hakeem means someone w ho does his w ork most accurately and perfectly, because

9 he know s how to calculate, measure and design perfectly w ell. And the Lord, Allah, Praise to Him, is Hakeem in the sense that He, All Mighty, All Wise, creates all things in perfect faultless measurements. To this effect, He, Glory to Him, says Verily, We (i.e. Allah) have created all things w ith due measurements. Consider your human body: The blood that runs through your veins and arteries contains a very accurate amount of salt, 0,7%/8. If this very accurate amount of salt decreased, blood corpuscles w ould shrink and cause immediate death. If it increased, the corpuscles w ould burst and also cause immediate death. Who has made the ratio of salt in the human blood fixed? It is Allah, Most Bounteous, Who makes the kidneys maintain such fixed ratio of salt in the blood! Blood viscosity is determined by special hormones of both coagulation and delusion, w hich are produced at a most accurate ratio. If the ratio of the hormone of coagulation increased more than that designed by the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, blood w ould stagnate in the blood vessels and cause immediate death. And if the ratio of the hormone of delusion increased, man w ould bleed to death even if slightly w ounded. Once, I visited a friend of mine in hospital; and I w as greatly surprised to find a big mass of bandage on his mouth, about eight centimeters thick. I asked, What s matter? I suffer from a deficiency in the number of blood platelets! He answ ered. In fact, these blood platelets are exactly like stones of w hich a w all is made: w henever a hole is made in the w all, they block it. The man suffered from a deficiency in the number of blood platelets in his blood. Usually, there are nearly 700,000 platelets in each cubic millimeter of blood. These special blood cells are there in order to block any opening in the blood vessels. What a Great Divine Wisdom! Our brother specialist doctors know many more amazing things about the human body. It is, indeed, Allah s Infinite Divine Wisdom! Also, there are 2,5 billion types of tissues in the w orld. This means that only one human being in the w hole w orld has a type of tissue similar to yours. Also, in the nucleus of the human cell, there are lots of programmed genes, only 800 of w hich have been so far know n. So, w hat does Hakeem mean? It means someone w ho does his w ork most accurately and perfectly, because he know s how to calculate, measure and design perfectly w ell. In this context, Allah, All Mighty, All Wise, says He (Allah) has created everything and has m easured it exactly according to its due measurements. Therefore, Al-Hakeem is He Who perfects all the things that He creates. To this effect, the Quranic Verse goes: It is He (Allah) Who has created seven heavens, one above another; you can see no fault in the creation of the Most Gracious. Then, look again: can you see any rifts? [LIV; 49] [XXV; 2] [LXVII; 3] Consider creation of an ant, a fly, an elephant, a galaxy, an atom, or any other creature! They are all perfect, and they bespeak the Creator s Absolute Divine Wisdom! This is the first meaning of Allah s Beautiful Divine Name Al-Hakeem. The follow ing Quranic Verses make this meaning clear: It is He (Allah) Who made everything that He has created perfect, and began the creation of man from clay. [XXXII; 7]

10 Then, a person w ill know w hat he has sent forw ard and left behind. O man! What has made you careless about your Lord, the Most Generous, Who created you, fashioned you perfectly, and gave you due proportion? In w hatever shape He w illed, He put you together. Verily, We created man in the best stature. [LXXXII; 5-8] He has created everything and has m easured it exactly according to its due m easurem ents. Verily, We have created all things in due measurements. Someone might ask you: Have you tested your eye-pressure? This gives rise to the question: What is eye-pressure? It is really something amazing! In the eye, there is a fluid that has to be constantly renew ed. But how is the fluid renew ed? The fluid comes into the eye through a special canal that has an opening at its end. If the end is blocked, the eye becomes congested as the pressure of the fluid increases, and, therefore, less blood flow s to it. Ophthalmologists measure eye-pressure to make sure the eye is all right. Such things are very accurate. A doctor once told me that they give patients undergoing surgical operations certain accurate amounts of Potassium. Should there be any mistake in the amount of Potassium given, the patient soon dies. In the human body, there are most accurate and most amazing secrets and miracles that go beyond human imagination. This is one meaning of Allah s Beautiful Name Al-Hakeem (The All Wise). Second meaning: Al-Hikmah (Wisdom) is to possess the best know ledge; and Allah s Divine Know ledge is Infinite, w hile man s human know ledge is limited. To this effect, Allah, the All-Wise, says And over all those endow ed w ith know ledge is the All-Know ing. [XCV; 4] No matter how much know ledge he acquires a true believer alw ays says, I still know nothing. And the remarkable thing about real know ledgeable scientists is modesty, i.e. the more know ledge they acquire, the more modest they become. Imam Ash-Shafi i, may Allah have mercy on him, says, The more know ledge I acquire, the more I find out how ignorant I am. But w ho is the Omniscient? The answ er is: Allah, Alone. And the w ord Al-Hakeem is attributed to the One Who is Omniscient, Allah, Whose Divine Know ledge is Infinite, All-Embracing and Free from all kinds of ignorance, imperfection or defect. No human being can ever claim to have acquired all know ledge or experience, not even doctors, engineers or scientists. They often make mistakes. But Allah, Alone, is the One Who is the Omniscient. That is w hy Imam Al-Ghazali says, No one know s Allah except Allah (Himself). Third meaning: Al-Hakeem (The All Wise) is He Who is far above doing things that should not be done. In other w ords, He does the proper thing in the proper w ay in the proper place and the proper time. This is the third meaning of Allah s Beautiful Divine Name Al-Hakeem (The All Wise). As human beings, w e sometimes do the proper thing but not in the proper w ay. Sometimes, w e do the proper thing in the proper w ay but not in the proper place. And sometimes, w e do the proper thing in the proper w ay in the proper place but not in the proper time. A w ise person is someone w ho does the proper thing in the proper w ay in the proper place and the proper time. Such is a Hakeem (a w ise person). Now, w hat is your share of this beautiful Divine Name Al-Hakeem (The All Wise)? In fact, this Divine Name Al-Hakeem (The All Wise) is one of Allah s Names that can be adopted by human beings, according to the saying that goes, Adopt Allah s Names and Attributes In other w ords, a true believer should be w ise. But w here should his w isdom come from? Where should he derive his w isdom? The answ er [XXV; 2] [LIV; 49] [XII; 76]

11 is: He should derive his w isdom from his know ledge of Allah. Let s have the follow ing example: If you have a very complicated and sophisticated machine, and you have the operation instructions, it is w ise to follow such instructions because they come from the manufacturer. This is very clear and easy. If you read and understand Allah s Divine Book, the Holy Quran, and Prophetic Sunna and Tradition, and if you commit yourself to Allah and His Messenger s Commands, then, you are a w ise person. For example, low ering one s gaze at indecent or forbidden things is most w ise; and if you low er your gaze at w omen, Allah w ill help you have only one w oman (i.e. your w ife) in your life, and, as w isdom necessitates, you w ill be more loving and compassionate to her than if you have other w omen in your life. There is a very delicate point that I w ould like to make clear: In logic, it is said, Making use of something is not part of know ing it. In other w ords, w e may give a most developed and sophisticated car to a Bedouin, someone from the desert, w ho know s nothing about cars, and teach him how to drive it until he becomes a perfect driver. He w ill certainly get full benefit of the car: its speed, air-conditioning, low noise, luxurious furniture, etc, although he know s nothing about how it w as made or w ho made it. Most people, now adays, have, and use, lots of sophisticated machines such as TV s, air-conditioners, w ashing machines, dishw ashers, fridges, hi-fi stereo sets, cars, airplanes, etc, but it is not necessary for them to know how they w ere made or the law s that govern their w ork. It is enough for them to push certain buttons, and they enjoy all the benefits of such machines, very complicated as they are. Once again: Making use of something is not part of know ing it. Now, once you carry out Allah s Divine Commands, no matter w hether you know the Infinite Divine Wisdom behind them or not, no matter w hether you study them deeply or not, you get all the benefits of such Divine Commands. This is w hat I w ould like to make clear to you. Allah commands you to low er your gaze at taboo or indecent things, He commands you to be honest and trustw orthy, it is most w ise to obey Him; and if you do obey him, you reap all the good fruits of decency and honesty. I w ould like to retell the story of the handsome young taxi driver w ho w as allured by a beautiful young w oman w ho invited him to have an indecent and forbidden sexual relation w ith her, offering him a big amount of money. The man disobeyed his Lord, Allah, All Mighty, and slept w ith her. Before leaving, she gave him the money and an envelope. When he opened the envelope, he w as greatly shocked to read: You are w elcome to the AIDS club. By the w ay the money w as also forged, and w hen he w ent to the bank to change it, he w as arrested and taken to prison. The w oman had the AIDS, and she just w anted to retaliate from other people by transferring it to them. Now, I w ould like to ask: Could a true believer fall in such a trap? It is impossible! A true believer obeys Allah s Commands and never commits such an indecent sinful deed! When you obey the Divine Commands of Allah, the All Wise, you are w ise. You need no justifications or excuses. You should say: I shall never cheat anyone simply because Allah bids me to be honest. I shall never tell lies because Allah forbids me to tell lies. By the w ay, some developed countries give loans to poor ones. By such loans, poor countries are caught up in big loans that put them under the mercy of such strong developed countries. This act on the part of rich countries is dishonest, and such economic law s and relationships are unfair. The system of Zakat (Alms Tax) in Islam prevents such unfair and unjust relationships and loans. Rich Muslims have to pay a certain amount of Zakat (Alms Tax) to the poor and needy. The money they pay enables the poor Muslims to buy the things they need w ithout humiliation incurred by asking the rich ones for help. Also, w hen the rich Muslims give the Zakat to the poor, they do not strip the poor of their money or make them poorer, but rather enable them to be more pow erful; and w hen the poor are pow erful and happy, the rich are. The system of Zakat in Islam makes the entire society prosperous and pow erful. A w estern w riter, called Alexy Carlil, w rote a book, Man: that unknow n, in w hich, after long study and research, he confirms that human life does not w ork w ell unless the sexual relationship betw een men and w omen is done under the umbrella of married life. Even if you have not read the book, it is enough for you to obey Allah s Command of low ering your gaze and abstaining from any sexual relation except w ith your ow n w ife. In other w ords, you have to be w ise. And how can you be w ise? The answ er is: It is enough to obey Allah and His Messenger. A doctor may keep telling you for long hours about the danger of bad food habits. Irrespective of the doctor s long advice about food habits, it suffices a true believer to stick to the Prophet s Hadith: We are a people w ho do not eat unless w e are hungry; and w hen w e eat, w e are never full.

12 That is all. This is preventive medicine. I reiterate: You can reap the fruits of all human know ledge w hen you apply Allah s Commandments. Hence, the question: w ho is a w ise person? A w ise person is someone w ho applies the Maker s instructions! Sometimes, how ever, there is no relevant Quranic or Prophetic text relevant to a certain sudden situation. In this case the Almighty Lord, Allah, Glory to Him, inspires w isdom to you. In other w ords, Allah, Most Gracious, grants you w isdom either by a certain Quranic or Prophetic text or by Divine Inspiration. Since you seek Allah s Good Pleasure, He, Praise to Him, helps you be w ise in all of your deeds and attitudes, particularly under circumstances for w hich there are no relevant Quranic or Prophetic texts, by His Divine Inspiration, through His angels. To this effect, Allah, All Mighty, says And We inspired Moses mother: Suckle him! But w hen you fear for him, then cast him into the river! And fear not, nor grieve; verily, We shall bring him back to you and w e shall make him one of (our) Messengers! [XXVIII; 7] This Verse refers to a kind of Divine Inspiration that Allah gave to Moses mother. It w as not Divine Revelation such as that given to Prophets and Messenger but rather mere Divine Inspiration. While you are unaw are, Allah, Most Gracious, drives to you lots of good things and protects you from lots of bad ones. Therefore, w isdom necessitates that you should alw ays be w ith Allah. Whenever you face a situation for w hich there is no relevant Quranic or Prophetic text, Allah, All Mighty, inspires you to do the right thing. This is exactly w hat Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), meant w hen he invoked the Lord, Allah, Glory to Him Help us see the truth as it really is and help us to adopt it. And help us see falsehood as it really is, and help us to shun it. Hence, you are w ise w hen you follow the Commands of Allah, All Wise, and His Messenger, (PBUH). As a true believer, w henever you feel comfortable, or uncomfortable, tow ards something, you should know that such a feeling is a kind of inspiration from the Lord, Allah, All Mighty. And the more believing a person is, the w iser he/she is. Moreover, Allah s Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), w as the w isest of all mankind because he w as the nearest and most devoted to Allah, the Fountain of all Wisdom. A person may sometimes have to w alk along a dark rough w ay that is full of pits, obstacles and harmful insects. But on both sides of the w ay, there are fruitful trees. If he has a lamp or a torch, does he make mistakes? No! With his lamp or torch, he can see the pits and obstacles and avoid them, he can see the insects and kill them, and he can see the ripe fruits and eat them. Where does foolishness come from? It comes from blindness! Allah, All Mighty, addresses this issue Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts, w hich are in the breasts, that do (grow blind). Sometimes, a man may foolishly and unreasonably divorce his w ife. Such is real blindness! In other w ords, foolishness, w hich is very dangerous, is the fruit of blindness, w hile w isdom is the fruit of Divine Inspiration. In this context, Allah, All Mighty, says But w hosoever turns aw ay from My Reminder: verily, for him is a life of hardship, and We shall raise him up, on the Day of Resurrection, blind. He w ill say: O my Lord! Why have you raised me up blind, w hile I had sight (before)? He (Allah) w ill say: Like this: Our Signs did come to you, but you disregarded them, and so, this Day, you shall be disregarded. [XXII; 46] [XX; ] Yes, indeed! He w as blind to Allah s Commands, w hich symbolize Absolute Divine Wisdom, in the life of this present w orld, and turned aw ay from them. Therefore, he w as forgotten and neglected. As true believers, w e

13 derive our w isdom from Allah s Book, the Holy Quran, and Prophetic Sunna and Tradition. The more devoted and committed w e are, the w iser and more rightly guided. O Allah! Grand us w isdom and guide us to the Right Path! Finally, I w ould like to tell you a story that might be already know n to you. The story took place some fifty years ago, and its hero is the imam and orator of Al-Ward mosque in Damascus. One night, this imam dreamt of Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), telling him, Tell your neighbor, so and so, that he w ill be w ith me in the Garden of Paradise. Just imagine! The neighbor w as a mere grocer, but the imam w as a know ledgeable religious scholar and orator! How ever, The imam w ent to the grocer s house and told him, I have good new s for you. But I m not going to tell it to you unless you first tell me your secret and w hat you have done in order to be so beloved by Allah and His Messenger. At first, the man refused to tell the imam his secret, but upon the imam s great insistence, the man told the follow ing story: Five months after I had got married to a w oman, I suddenly found out that she had been pregnant for nine months and that she had committed adultery before w e got married. How ever, most regretfully and sorrow fully the w oman, w ho had recently become my w ife, beseeched me to keep that secret and not to tell it to anyone. At f irst, I thought that I had all the right to defame her publicly and to destroy her reputation and that I could divorce her. But then, after she had profoundly and sincerely asked for forgiveness, I felt sorry for her and decided to w ait and give the w hole matter a second thought. I w aited until she gave birth to the child, w hich w as a male baby. When it w as time for the Daw n Prayer, I w rapped the baby w ith a blanked, put it under my Aba (w oolen w rap) and took it to the mosque. I w aited outside until prayer began and everybody stood behind the imam to perform prayer, and then I put the baby behind the door and joined in prayer. When prayer w as over, the people noticed a baby crying behind the door. Everybody w ent over to see w hat it w as, and I w ent w ith them, asking, What s that? as if I really knew nothing. It s a new born baby! They said. Give it to me! I ll take care of it! I said; and I took the baby and told everybody that I w ould adopt it. I took it back to its real mother, my w ife, and took it as my son. In other w ords, instead of punishing his w ife for a sin that she had ignorantly and naively committed before their marriage, the man w as so tolerant and merciful. He did not only forgive the w oman and keep her sin secret, but also adopted her baby and took him for a son. This is how he deserved Allah and His Messenger s love! This is how good righteous people act! This is how w ise people behave! Such simple grocer is really a w ise man! Translation : Khaled Al-Athmeh Auditing :