Islamic Ideology - Names of Allâh 1996 : Al-Haleem (the Most Forbearing)

Transcription

1 Islamic Ideology - Names of Allâh 1996 : Al-Haleem (the Most Forbearing) 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-Haleem: Now, w e go ahead to the tw enty-first of Allah s Beautiful Divine Names, Al-Haleem (the Most Forbearing). It is w ell know n that some of Allah s Beautiful Divine Names cannot be attributed to any of His human slaves, such as Al-Khaliq (The Creator), w hile others, such as Ar-Raheem (the Merciful), Al-Haleem (the Forbearing) and Al- Afou (the Pardoner), can be attributed to them. It is remarkable that Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), confirms that: Forbearance is the best of all manners. And it has also been said: A forbearing person is alm ost a Prophet. But w hat is such quality that makes a person almost a Prophet? It is undoubtedly forbearance, w hich is the best of all manners. And Allah, All Mighty, is also Haleem (i.e. Most Forbearing). To this effect, the Quranic Verse goes And if Allah w ere to punish people for that w hich they earned, He w ould not leave a moving living creature on its (the earth s) surface; but He gives them respite to an appointed term; and w hen their term is come, then verily, Allah is Ever All-Seer of His slaves. This Quranic Verse show s clearly that Allah, All Mighty, is Haleem (i.e. Most Forbearing). The w ords And if Allah w ere to punish people for that w hich they earned [XXXV; 45] means that people are w rong doers and that they should be punished, so how can this Divine Name be defined? There is a w rong doer, and there is a punishment for such w rongdoing, but how is Allah s Forbearance manifested? There is a w rong doer or a disobedient, and there is a certain punishment for such w rongdoing or disobedience. But Allah is Most Forbearing in the sense that He delays punishment. But w hy does Allah, All Mighty, delay punishment? This is a very good question! If Allah w ere to hasten punishment for every sinner or w rongdoer, there w ould be no forbearance. Also, if Allah, All Mighty, delays punishment for w rongdoers in order to punish them later on, that w ould be a kind of rancor, w hich does not befit Allah, Most Gracious, because someone w ho harbors feelings of hatred or rancor may delay punishment for some reason or another. He might be w eak, and his w eakness might fill his heart w ith rancor or hatred. He might be strong and pow erful, but he w ould like to delay punishment in order to allow the w rongdoer to do more w rongdoing and hence to deserve the severest punishment. In other w ords, w hen someone delays punishment for w rongdoers because he is w eak and unable to punish them for the time being, this means that he is rancorous; and w hen he delays punishment in order to make the w rongdoer fall in more grievous w rongdoing and in order to increase punishment for him, this is also rancorous. This means that there are tw o types of rancorous

2 people: w eak and strong ones. But delay of punishment on Allah s part has nothing to do w ith rancor at all. When Allah cancels punishment altogether, He does so because He is Forgiving and Pardoning. When He delays punishment in order to give the w rongdoer a respite to reform and repent, He does so because He is Forbearing. In order to make things clear, let us have the follow ing example: Schools are usually meant to be establishments for education and teaching good manners and values. They have certain regulations that maintain discipline and good order. But an intolerant authoritarian principal w ill probably lose a lot of his students. In other w ords, since the purpose of establishing schools is noble and sublime, principals have to be understanding, tolerant and forbearing; otherw ise schools w ill be a great failure. A principal should by no means be authoritarian, hasty or conformist if he really desires his school to be successful. That is w hy Allah, All Mighty, Most Forbearing, says And had it not been for a Word that w ent forth, before, from your Lord, and a term appointed, (their punishm ent) m ust necessarily have com e (in this present w orld). [XX; 129] But w hat is such Word, w ithout w hich Allah must necessarily have hastened punishment for w rongdoers and destroyed them? What is the Word for w hich Allah delays punishment and destruction for sinners and w rongdoers? What is it? It is Allah s Divine Mercy! Allah desires to mercy them! To this effect, in a Divine Hadith, Allah, Most Forbearing, says My Mercy overrides My Anger! My Mercy em braces all things! In His Holy Quran, Allah, Most Gracious, also says And My Mercy embraces all things, but I shall ordain it for the pious w ho give the alms and those w ho believe in Our Signs. Except him on w hom your Lord has bestow ed His Mercy; and for that did He (Allah) create them (mankind). And the Word of your Lord has been fulfilled: Surely, I shall fill Hell w ith jinn and m ankind all together. Say (O Muhammad): My Lord pays attention to you only because of your invocation (to Him). But now, you have indeed denied (Him), so the torment w ill be yours for ever. Unless there is hope that you may know your Lord, Allah, and invoke Him, unless there is hope that you may repent and reform, and unless there is hope that you may evade punishment, your Lord, Allah, w ould never care for you but, rather, He w ould punish you and cause you to perish. Therefore, one of Allah s Beautiful Divine Names is that He is Al-Haleem (the Most Forbearing). It is w ell know n to all Muslims that Al-Hudaibiyah peace treaty seems, on the face of it, a kind of humiliation to Muslims, as it included a lot of concessions on the part of Muslims despite their strong position. Some of the Prophet s venerable Companions considered such concessions as a kind of humiliation and surrender, and they w ere greatly amazed at the Prophet s attitude of accepting the treaty. When he noticed his Companions rejection of the treaty, the Prophet, (BPUH), said I do w hat my Lord commands me to do: to accept this peace treaty. Soon Later, Divine Revelation came dow n from the Lord, All Mighty: [VII; 156] [XI; 119] [XXV; 77]

3 And w ere it not for believing men and w omen, w hom you did not know, that you may kill them and hence, because of (killing) them unknow ingly, m ay com m it a (horrible) sin. [XLVIII; 25] In Mecca, there w ere men and w omen w ho believed in Islam but kept their belief secret as they w ere living among pagans of Mecca and, therefore, could not announce their conversion to Islam, lest they should be persecuted or even killed. It w as Allah, Alone, Who knew about such secret Muslims in Mecca, so He, Most Gracious, desired to delay the conquest of Mecca by Muslims and bade His Messenger, (PBUH), to accept the peace treaty offered by pagans of Mecca, although such treaty seemed to be humiliating to Muslims. Allah did so in order to give those Muslims w ho concealed their Islam in Mecca the chance to announce their conversion to Islam. Hence, Allah is Most Forbearing. In this context, in a Divine Hadith, Allah, Most Forbearing, says O My slave! You have an obligation to fulfill for Me, and I have provision to provide for you. Even if you fail to fulfill your obligation for Me, I never fail to provide provision for you. He, Most Gracious, also says If they (My slaves) repent, I am their Lover, but if they do not repent, I am their Physician: I afflict them w ith disasters in order to purify them from sins and defects. Some of Allah s Beautiful Divine Names have t do w ith His Divine Self, some w ith His Divine Attributes, and some w ith His Divine Acts. Which type does Allah s Name Al-Haleem (the Most Forbearing) belong to? Since Allah delays punishment for w rongdoers, his Name Al-Haleem (the Most Forbearing) has to do w ith His Divine Acts. This is because Allah, Most Gracious, loves all of His slaves. To this effect, a Divine Hadith goes If those w ho turn aw ay from Me knew how earnestly I w ait for them and look forw ard to their repentance of their sins, they w ould turn to pieces in Love for Me, and they w ould die of eagerness to (m eet) Me. To the same effect, Jesus addresses his Lord, Allah, saying You know w hat is in my inner-self, but I do not know w hat is in Your inner-self. Verily, You are the All-Know er of all that is hidden (and unseen). Sometimes a person does not punish a w rongdoer, but he burns w ith anger from inside, saying I w ish I could tear him up into pieces! This is by no means forbearance. Forbearance is manifested clearly w hen one s heart is filled w ith peace and tranquility and has no rancor or hatred against his enemies or w ish to destroy them. An ordinary believer w ho is forbearing has a heart that is pure, peaceful and free from rancor or hatred. So how w ould it be w ith Allah, Lord of all w orlds?! Therefore, w hen you hear or read in Prophetic Hadith or the Holy Quran that Allah is Angry w ith or curses someone, you should know that Allah does not actually hates His slave but only his sins and misdeeds, and curses only His slave s sins and misdeeds. Allah loves His slaves just like a mother loves her son w hen he returns to the right w ay. I once told the story of a know ledgeable scholar, called Thun-Noon Al-Masri, w ho felt depressed, confused and lost. He asked, Where is my heart gone? Where is my heart lost? While he w as w andering in his hometow n, he suddenly saw a door open and a mother beating her son severely, throw ing him out of the house, and closing the door behind him. The boy sat crying, as he felt desperate and helpless. When his mother sent him aw ay, he did not know w here to go, w ho to ask for food or shelter, or w here to sleep. All he could do w as sit at his mother s door crying and beseeching her to open the door for him. The boy s compassionate mother, w ho w as w atching him from a hole in the door, [V; 116]

4 suddenly opened the door and took her boy in her arms saying, My love! My love! It w as you w ho forced me to do this to you! Had you obeyed me, I w ould have never done you any harm! When the scholar saw the compassionate mother embrace her son and kiss him lovingly, he said, I ve found my heart! I ve found my heart! Hence, Al-Haleem (the Most Forbearing) is one of Allah s Names that have to do w ith His Divine Acts. It means that He delays punishment for the sinners and w rongdoers. It can also be used to refer to Allah s Divine Self or Attributes in the sense that He, Most Forbearing, does not have any initial rancor or hatred against any of His slaves. In the same context, in a Divine Hadith, Allah says O My slaves! I have forbidden injustice for Myself, and I have made it forbidden among you. O My slaves! If the first and last and the jinn and humans from among you had the heart of the most pious and dutiful one of you, this w ould increase nothing in My Kingdom. O My slaves! If the first and last and the jinn and humans from among you had the heart of the most profligate one of you, this w ould decreases nothing from My Kingdom. O My slaves! If the first and last and the jinn and humans from among you stood in one line to ask Me and I gave each and every one w hat they ask for, this w ould not decrease a thing of that w hich I have except as a needle w ould take from the ocean if it w ere dipped therein. In His Holy Quran, Allah says [Narrated by Muslim on authority of Abu Thar] And Moses said: If you disbelieve, you and all those on earth together, then verily, Allah is Self-Sufficient (Free from all needs), Ow ner of all Praise. He, All Mighty, also says He (Allah) likes not disbelief for His slaves; and if you are grateful (by being believers), He is pleased therew ith for you. [XIV; 8] [XXXXIX; 7] Allah, Most Forbearing, desires to make Himself know n to us, so He has made the family system that overtly consists of father, mother, children, and bringing up, but is covertly meant to know Allah by w ay of similitude. Let s have another more general example: How does Allah make the food that w e eat, i.e. meat? Due to His Divine Wisdom, He makes the animal s stature similar to that of a human being. Not every one of us is a physician, and not every one of us can see w hat is inside a human being: stomach, liver, intestines, lungs, heart, veins, arteries, muscles, nerves, glands, kidneys, brain, eye, bladder, ureter, etc. But w e see all of these parts of body every day at a butcher s shop, w here w e can see and buy all of these things. At a butcher s, w e can see the different parts of the body. We buy a brain in order to eat it, but w e should remember that it is the factory w here the red blood corpuscles are made. It is due to Allah s Infinite Divine Wisdom that He has made animals bodies like the human body. Those w ho do not go to a faculty of medicine can see the human body at a butcher s. Let s go back to the parental system of the family. The father sometimes neglects himself for the sake of his children and in order to satisfy their needs, and so does the mother. Although the children are, quite often, impolite, rude, and disobedient to their parents, the parents hearts are so strongly attached to their children. Whenever a disobedient child returns to his father or mother w ith repentance, he/she is most w armly accepted and w elcomed. I think that the parental system in the family has another purpose than only bringing up of children. It is meant to help us know Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, by w ay of similitude. A father or mother does not have any rancor or hatred tow ards their children. On the contrary, parents are ready to sacrifice everything for their

5 children and their happiness. In this context someone w as asking Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), How is it possible for Allah, the Most Merciful and Most Gracious, to cast a human being into Hell-Fire? At that moment, a w oman w as standing aside w ith her beloved baby, kissing it tenderly. Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), asked the man, Is it possible for that w oman to cast her baby into the fire? Of course not! The man replied. Allah s Messenger said, I sw ear by the One Who has Muhammad s soul in His Hand! Allah is more Merciful to His slave than that w oman is to her baby! A loving father does not forsake his child, nor does a loving mother w hose heart is full of love and compassion. But w ho has imbedded such amazingly great mercy and tenderness in the heart of the mother, w ho gets up several times in the night for the sake of her little baby, w ho cries earnestly if anything goes w rong w ith it, and w ho desires to give it her food, health and life? Hence, the family system has tw o goals, to bring up children and, more importantly, to know something about Allah s Infinite Divine Mercy. Sometimes, you see a horrible accident in w hich Allah s Infinite Divine Mercy and Care are manifested clearly, for everybody is safe and w ell. Quite often, Allah s Infinite Divine Mercy and Care make difficult things easy and turn distress into happiness and despair into hope. To this effect, the verses go: Many a catastrophe a fellow m ay fail to bear, With Allah is the w ay out thereof. It had befallen, but after its rings had been so tightly w rought, It w as so easily, though so unexpectedly, unw rought. Al-Khandaq Battle (the Ditch Battle) is not unknow n to you, dear reader. In this battle, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, desired to test truthfulness, perseverance, endurance and sincerity of true believers. To this effect, the Quranic Verses go O you w ho believe! Remember Allah s Favor to you: w hen there came against you hosts, and We sent against them a w ind and forces that you saw not. And Allah is Ever All-Seer of w hat you do. When they came upon you from above you and from below you, and w hen the eyes grew w ild and the hearts reached the throats, and you w ere harboring doubts about Allah. There, the believers w ere tried and shaken w ith a mighty shaking. And w hen the hypocrites and those in w hose hearts is an ailment (of doubts) said: Allah and His Messenger promised us nothing but delusion. [XXXIII; 9-12] But afterw ards, Allah, Most Forbearing, w as Most Merciful to true believers, as He, All Mighty, honored them and granted them His Divine Help and Victory, although it seemed to believers that Islam w as about to be eradicated from the surface of the earth, because that battle w as not a matter of victory or defeat but of existence, i.e. to be or not to be, as is the case w ith all decisive battles. I reiterate that Allah, All Mighty, is Most Forbearing; and it is w ell know n that He loves perfection, that He is Good and accepts only good things, that He loves laudable things. In this context, dear readers should not understand from my w ords that Allah likes to be praised. Nay! He only loves perfection. He loves w ork that makes man praisew orthy. He loves forbearance He loves mercy. He loves equity. And He loves justice. It is also w ell know n that Allah s Messenger, Muhammad, (PBUH), is the best human being and the most beloved to the Lord, Allah, All Mighty. During his lifetime, a w oman committed adultery and, therefore, had to be punished by stoning. Her people came to the most beloved man to Allah s Messenger, Usamah Bin Zaid, may Allah be please w ith him, asking him to intercede w ith him for her. Usamah came shyly to Allah s Messenger asking him to have mercy on the w oman. Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), turned red w ith anger and said O Usamah! Do you intercede in one of Allah s Divine Punishments?!

6 Another story goes: Narrated A ishah, may Allah be pleased w ith her, that the tribe of Quraish w ere concerned about the w oman, from Makhzoom, w ho had stolen, and w ondered w ho w ould talk to Allah s Messenger for her. They said, Who dare do so except Usamah Bin Zaid, w hom he loves so much? They w ent to Usamah, w ho, in turn, w ent to Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), and talked to him for the w oman. Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), said angrily, O Usamah! Do you intercede in one of Allah s Divine Punishm ents?! Then, he (PBUH), stood up am ong his Com panions saying, Verily, those w ho w ere before you w ere destroyed because w hen an eminent person from among them stole, they w ould leave him go (unpunished); but if an insignificant one stole, they w ould punish him. I sw ear by Allah! Even if Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad, w ere to steal, I w ould cut her hand off! Allah does love w ork that entails praise to its doer. He loves good noble manners [Sahih Al-Bukhari] Verily, Allah is Most Generous; and He loves generosity. He loves Sublim e issues and abhors low ly ones. [Narrated by Al-Khara iti on authority of Talhah Bin Ubaidillah Bin Kuraiz] In fact, Allah loves you to be noble and highly respected by people. Allah, All Mighty, loves those w ho are forbearing, because He is Most Forbearing, i.e. the Forbearing loves those w ho are as such. That is w hy our relationship w ith this Divine Name, Al-Haleem (the Most Forbearing), is that w e should alw ays be forbearing. But how can w e be forbearing? This is a very important question. Since Allah, All Mighty, loves all good qualities, one of w hich is forbearance, how can I be forbearing? In fact, contemplation on this Divine Name, Al-Haleem (the Most Forbearing), enables us to be forbearing. Another w ay is to feign forbearance, i.e. to simulate being forbearing. Each and every one of us has got a certain status w ith Allah. Suppose a low -status person had to face a provocative situation: for example, after a long day of hunger, toil and trouble, he entered his home to find that his w ife had gone to visit her family w ithout his permission and had made no food for him. An ordinary person may reproach his w ife severely, call her bad names and even beat her. But w hat does a true believer do? Allah, Most Gracious, says and those w ho repress anger and pardon (other) people; and verily, Allah loves the good-doers. In this Verse, Allah, the Most Forbearing, praises repression of anger and encourages His slaves to it. Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), also encourages Muslims to simulate forbearance even though they might not really be forbearing. He invites them to control themselves at times of anger and to simulate forbearance even though they might be burning from inside like a volcano. They should feign being forbearing and show adequate patience. This is simulated forbearance. But if you ask yourself, Why did I suppress my anger? you answ er yourself, For the sake of Allah and because I love Him and seek His Divine Love, because I w ould like to be intimate to Him, because I w ould like to obey His Messenger. One time after another, you feel that Allah, Most Gracious, loves you and is pleased w ith you if you covenant Him to be forbearing. Moreover, once you get connected w ith Allah, All Mighty, you realize that good manners are only His and that once He loves a slave of His, He grants him good manners. In fact, there are tw o kinds of forbearance, one that is real and another that is simulated. The latter kind of forbearance is attainable by suppressing one s anger and controlling oneself, despite the great anger and resentment burning inside. In this context, the venerable Companion, Abuddarda, may Allah be pleased w ith him, w as quoted as [III; 134]

7 saying, know ledge is acquired by learning, and forbearance (is also acquired) by simulation of being forbearing. Goodness is given to those w ho seek it, and protection is also given to those w ho seek it. The above saying means that real forbearance is attainable by simulation of forbearance. In other w ords, after affecting forbearance one time after another, you become really forbearing. In this context, it has been rightly said, A hero is not someone w ho commits highw ay robberies but someone w ho is pious and dutiful to the Lord, Allah, All Mighty. To this effect Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased w ith him, quoted Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), as saying A strong person is not someone w ho fights others; a strong person is someone w ho controls him self in anger. Anas Bin Malik, may Allah be pleased w ith him, also narrated that Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), passed by a w oman crying at a grave. He, (PBUH), addressed her, Fear Allah and be patient. The w oman, not know ing w ho the speaker w as, said, Leave me alone! You don t have a disaster as mischievous as mine! When she w as told that the speaker w as Allah s Messenger, she w ent to him and found no gatekeepers. She apologized, I m sorry! I did not know it w as you! He, (PBUH), said, Patience is but at the first shock. [Sahih Al-Bukhari] A few days ago, a man passed aw ay, and one of his relatives uttered some angry w ords that do not befit Allah, All Mighty. After some time, he came round from his shock and sorrow fully regretted uttering such bad w ords. In other w ords, he failed the test. Yes, indeed! He failed the test, even if he had apologized a thousand times to the Lord. This is simply because patience is at the first shock. Upon receiving the painful new s of his relative s death, he should have said contentedly, O Lord! Praise belongs to You. We are content w ith Your Divine Decree. Such w ords reflect real Faith in Allah and contentment w ith His Infinite Wisdom and Divine Decree. Such good w ords reflect know ledge that Allah is All Wise and that all His Divine Acts bespeak His Absolute Divine Perfection, Justice and Mercy. Therefore, forbearance is attained by constant simulation of being forbearing under all circumstances. Simulated forbearance, w hich is that of beginners, leads in the end to real forbearance. In other w ords, long sincere honest faithful strife to be forbearing is inevitably conducive to real forbearance. If you w ere to open the heart of a true believer, you w ould find it filled w ith peace and forbearance. When once a man addressed one of the Prophet s venerable Companions w ith severe provocative w ords, the latter said calmly, If w hat you say about me is true, I beseech Allah to forgive me. But if w hat you say about me is not true, I beseech Allah to forgive you. A lot of people destroy their future w ith their severe irrational reactions w hen they are enraged. Someone divorced his w ife, from w hom he had three children, and, thus, committed a terrible crime. A businessman had a row w ith one of his employees, so he sacked him. In the employer s w arehouses, there w ere some smuggled goods. Therefore, the employee informed the authorities, w ho confiscated the goods and fined the employer 600,000 in the year 1970, i.e. more than six million pounds these days. The employer, w ho got furious w ith w hat the employee did to him, shot the employee w ith his gun and had to spend 30 years in prison. That w as all because of anger and irrationality. Such irrational actions that lack forbearance are really too serious. A great many families, companies, and businesses have been destroyed due to lack of forbearance, w hich protects people from foolish irrational deeds and fill their hearts w ith peace and tolerance. I reiterate: if you w ere to open the heart of a true believer, you w ould find it filled w ith peace, tolerance and forbearance. I have heard of a man w hose w ife w as ignorant of the regulations of Islamic religion, particularly those concerned w ith the w ay w omen should speak to foreigner men in public places. While she w as buying some things at a shop, ad w hile she w as speaking to the shopkeeper, she unintentionally used certain w ords from w hich the shopkeeper misunderstood that she intended to invite him to her house for an indecent relationship. So, he w aited until her husband w as out, w ent to the w oman and rang the doorbell. When the w oman came to open the door, he tried to force himself into the house. The w oman w as greatly surprised and tried to stop him,

8 but he rudely pushed her in and began to seduce her to indecent w ork. The w oman shouted to her little son, w ho w as in the house, and told him to go to his father for help. The boy w ent to his father and told him, O Dad! There is a man in our house, trying to attack my mother! The father furiously rushed to the house, and w hen he saw the man w ith his w ife, he locked the door and called the police, w ho arrested both his w ife and the shopkeeper and took them to the police station. Then, the man unjustly accused his w ife publicly and even divorced her. Later on, he found out that she w as innocent and pure although she w as not careful enough w ith her w ords to the immoral shopkeeper, w ho tried to force her to an indecent relation. He felt regretful and came to me in order to help him reclaim his w ife. Undoubtedly, the w ife committed a foolish naïve mistake by not being careful enough w ith her w ords to the shopkeeper, but the husband committed an even more foolish and serious mistake w hen he defamed his w ife by accusing her publicly and even divorcing her. He w as completely ignorant of the teachings of Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), w hen a similar thing happened to him, w hen his innocent holy w ife, A ishah, may Allah be pleased w ith her, w as unjustly and unfairly accused of indecency. When Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), heard the evil painful slander against his chaste w ife, A ishah, he remained for a w hole month in a state of utmost forbearance and self-control, until Allah, All Mighty, revealed the truth and put an end to such false accusation. In short, w ithout forbearance, anger may turn people into erupting volcanoes that devastate everything in their w ay. In this context, it has been rightly said Forbearance is acquired by sim ulation of being forbearing, generosity is acquired by sim ulation of being generous, and know ledge is acquired by learning. You simulate forbearance, you suppress your anger, you endure patiently, and you strive until you establish a kind of real connection w ith the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious. You fight against your ow n desires and caprices, and you remember Allah s Messenger s w ords that he said after he returned from one of his holy battles: We have returned from the minor strife to the major strife, namely that against our ow n desires and caprices. You turn to Allah, All Mighty, Most Gracious, in order to color yourself w ith His Divine Name Al-Haleem (the Most Forbearing). Then, you really become forbearing, i.e. Allah, Most Gracious, makes you forbearing. What does Allah say in this context? He, Glory to Him, says And seek help in patience and prayer; and truly it is extrem ely heavy and hard except for those w ho obey Allah w ith full submission. By virtue of the above Verses, Allah, Most Gracious, bids you first to be patient and then to perform prayer, w hich brings you a lot of good: forbearance, mercy and equity. In the battle of Al-Khandaq (the Ditch), the holy Prophet, (PBUH), w as accompanied by three thousand venerable Companions. It w as very cold, and there w as hunger and fear. The pagan army w as more than 10,000 fighters w ho came in order to eradicate Muslims from the face of the earth. The holy Prophet w as w ith his venerable Companions in the ditch, digging and fortifying their places, although they w ere stricken by starvation. One of the Prophet s Companions, w ho could not stand the situation any more, stood up and asked permission to go back home in order to make some food for the Prophet. By the w ay, due to their great love for the holy Prophet, his venerable Companions w ould never feel like eating w ithout him. How ever, after some time, the man came back w ith a slaughtered sheep and some bread of ground barley, but the food w as not enough for all of the Companions to eat. Could the holy Prophet eat alone or w ith a small group of his Companions, leaving the others to starve? Of course not! So w hat did he do? He called out: Your brother so and so invites you all to have food w ith him. The man w as so embarrassed, because he had made food that w as enough only for the Prophet and three or four other men, but there w ere thousands of hungry w arriors. The holy Prophet, w ho w as most compassionate and merciful to everyone, did not eat one single piece of food alone, but invited everyone to take part in the meal. He w as, as Allah described him He (Allah s Messenger, Muhammad) is full of pity, kind, and m erciful to believers. [II; 45]

9 [IX; 128] In our modern times of hypocrisy, you find a great many people cunningly feign to be merciful and forbearing. When the electric current w as cut off in one of the American cities for only one hour one night, more than tw o hundred thousand robberies w ere committed despite all of the stern security measures taken. This show s clearly that greatness of religion lies in the fact that it creates in man an inner moral self-deterrence rather than a fake external compulsory deterrence imposed by law s or authorities. Law s are meant to deter people by force. For example, so long as roads are under radar control, no one exceeds the speed limit, but w hen roads are not under control, people usually exceed the speed limit, unless they have an inner self-deterrence. In other w ords, w ithout such moral and value-based self-deterrence that religion creates in people, no one w ould obey man-made law s and restrictions. In fact, moral and religious values make people as pure and holy as angels. Tw o days ago, I attended a party celebrating the Prophet s birthday, and I delivered a speech that I began like this: Abdullah Bin Omar, may Allah be pleased w ith them, desired to test a shepherd, so he asked him, Give me that sheep and I ll give you some money for it. The shepherd said, It does not belong to me. Abdullah said, Tell its ow ner that it died or w as eaten by a w olf. The shepherd said, By Allah! I am in bad need of the money that you shall give me for the sheep! And if I said to its ow ner that it died or w as eaten by a w olf, he w ould believe me, because he trusts me and thinks I am honest and trustw orthy. But man! Where is Allah?! Such shepherd knew the essence of religion. I think it is hard these days to find believers w ho say, Where is Allah? w hen they buy or sell, w hen they speak to others, w hen they describe, or w hen they praise. Very often these days, merchants praise and over-estimate badly selling goods in order to persuade customers to buy them. But w hat does Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), say in this respect? Narrated Al-Asbahani on authority of Mou ath Bin Jabal: Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), said: Verily, the best earning is that of merchants w ho do not tell lies w hen they speak, w ho do not fail to keep their promises w hen they make promises, w ho do not betray w hen they are trusted, w ho do not dispraise things w hen they (desire to) buy them, w ho do not praise things w hen they (desire to) sell them, w ho do not delay discharging their debts w hen they are in debt, and w ho do not put pressure on their debtors w hen they are creditors. It w as related that w hen Abraham, (PBUH), once saw someone w ho w as involved in a sinful deed, he invoked, O Allah! Cause him to perish! But Allah, Most Gracious, revealed to Abraham, If We (Allah) w ere to destroy all sinful slaves, there w ould remain only a few. Nay! if the one of them commits a sinful deed, We give him a respite (to reform and repent). If he repents, We accept him. But if he insists (on committing sinful deeds), We delay punishment for him, as We know that he cannot get aw ay from our Dominion. After one of the Prophet s Companions had converted to Islam and persuaded his parents and w ife to do, he w ent to his people and found them indulged in adultery. He w ent back to the holy Prophet, (PBUH), saying, O Allah s Messenger! Beseech Allah to destroy them! The compassionate holy Prophet, (PBUH), said, No my brother! I shall beseech Allah to forgive them and have mercy on them. A Prophet is not meant to be a curser. Of course, if things w ere left up to people, they w ould destroy one another. But Allah is Most Merciful. It is related that a young man committed a lot of sins, but he did not insist on them, as every now and them, he w ould repent and regret. When Satan noticed this, he w hispered to him, How long w ill you be still doing this: committing sins and then repenting, repenting and then committing sins? In fact, Satan desired to make the young man despair of Allah s Mercy. But w hen the night came, the young man performed ablution and stood up to perform prayer. Then, he looked up, invoking the Lord, Most Gracious, O You, Who have safeguarded those w ho are safeguarded, Who have protected those w ho are protected, Who have reformed those w ho are reformed! If You safeguard me, You shall find me safeguarded! If You neglect me, You shall find me desperate! My forelock is in Your Hand! My debts are in Your Hand! O You, Who cause the hearts to fluctuate (betw een belief and disbelief)! Let my heart cling firmly to Your Religion! Allah, Glory to Him, addressed His angels, O My angels! Don t you hear w hat he is saying? Bear w itness that I have forgiven him all of his foregoing sins! To the same effect, in His Divine Book, the Holy Quran, Allah, Most Gracious, says

10 Say (O Muham m ad) (to) My slaves w ho have transgressed against them selves: Despair not of Allah s Mercy. Verily, Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. [XXXIX; 53] Joseph, the holy Prophet, (PBUH), set an amazing example of truthful modesty and sincere servitude to the Lord, Allah, All Mighty. He, (PBUH), said O my Lord! Prison is more desired for me than that to w hich they (the w omen) invite me. And unless You turn aw ay their plot from me, I w ill feel inclined to them and be one of the (sinful) ignorant. A dear brother, w hom I knew w as an enthusiastic repentant believer, once came to me crying sorrow fully. What s the matter? I asked. I can t low er my gaze! I can t help looking at indecent w omen! He said regretfully. Why don t you repent to Allah? I asked. I ve done, many times! He replied, But I keep breaking my promise over and over again! I can t help it! While the man w as complaining to me, it suddenly occurred to me that w hen he repented to the Lord, Allah, All Mighty, for the first time, w hich w as long ago, he felt so proud of himself and looked upon sinners and w rongdoers disdainfully and accused them of profligacy and infidelity. Therefore, Allah, All Mighty, desired to punish him and made him w eak tow ards w omen and unable to low er his gaze. This soon drove him to turn to Allah w ith repentance most w eakly and humbly. That man might have forgotten that none could ever safeguard man from sins except Allah s Divine Might and that nothing could ever help him obey Allah except His Divine Pow er. He might have forgotten the basic and most important Verse of the first Surah of the Holy Quran: You, (Alone), (O Allah) w e w orship, and You, (Alone), w e ask for help. He seems to have remembered but forgotten You, (Alone), (O Allah) w e w orship and You, (Alone), w e ask for help. Undoubtedly, the feeling of being in bad need of Allah, All Mighty, is very helpful. Abu Hanifah, the know ledgeable venerable religious scholar, had a noisy troublesome drunkard neighbor, a singer w hose loud songs used to disturb the w hole neighborhood. His most favorite song w as: They have ruined me, and w hat a great man they have ruined! To a day of m ischief and a secret plague! One night, Abu Hanifah didn t hear any noise coming from the neighbor s house, so he asked about him, and soon learnt that for some reason or another the governor had imprisoned him. Being highly respected by the governor, Abu Hanifah helped his neighbor, the young profligate singer, to get out of prison, although the governor did not expect that Abu Hanifah, the venerable religious scholar, w ould himself come to intercede for such profligate man. How ever, Abu Hanifah took the young man by the hand and asked him, O man! You say they have ruined me, and w hat a great man they have ruined! Did w e really ruin you?! Such noble compassionate attitude on the part of Abu Hanifah tow ards his irreligious neighbor made him repent and reform. This means that if you are forbearing w ith a deviant irreligious person, that may be the cause of his repentance and reform, but if you reproach him and consider him as a profligate irreligious person, and if you curse him, you may make him even w orse than he is. In this context, w e should follow the good example of our Prophet, [XII; 33] [I; 5]

11 Muhammad, (PBUH), w ho never cursed anyone. We should never curse anyone. We are not judges, and w e are not meant to judge people or call them for accounting. We are only preachers and callers for the Lord, Allah, Most Gracious. Undoubtedly, forbearance safeguards us from committing a great many foolish irrational destructive deeds. Forbearance is also very helpful in guiding people and calling them to Allah, Most Forbearing, and His Religion. Forbearance is something desirable, as it makes one almost a holy Prophet. That is w hy it is rightly said: Forbearance is the best policy. By forbearance you are greatly admired and highly respected by people. That is w hy Malik Bin Dinar, a w ell-know n religious scholar and Imam, said: One of our neighbors w as a profligate irreligious man w ho did a lot of trouble and mischief to his neighbors, w ho detested him and w ere so desirous to get rid of him. One day, the neighbors came to me, complaining about him. I summoned him and told him either to repent and reform or to go aw ay. When he refused to comply w ith our w ishes, w e threatened to complain to the Sultan, but he said, The Sultan know s about me. We said, We shall invoke Allah against you. He replied, Allah is more Merciful to me than you are. His stubborn rude rejection made me very angry; and w hen it w as the night, I stood up to perform prayer and invoke Allah against the man. Suddenly, a secret voice came from inside me, Do not invoke Allah against him! Invoke Allah to help him repent and reform! How ever, the man repented and reformed and turned to Allah w ith true faith and sincere devotion. Later, w hen it w as time for the Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), Imam Malik saw the man going round the Ka bah w ailing sincerely. Imam Malik Bin Dinar also related another similar story in w hich he said that w hile he w as w alking dow n tow n, he saw a drunkard lying unconsciously on the ground w ith foam on his lips, saying Allah, Allah. The great holy religious scholar, Imam Malik, w as shocked to hear Allah s Name on the defiled mouth of a drunkard. So, he came to him gently and began to w ipe his mouth for him tenderly. The Imam w as very kind to the man although he w as in a miserable repulsive state. When the man came round later, he w as told that the venerable Imam Malik Bin Dinar took care of him w hile he w as lying unconsciously on the ground. The man w as so impressed by the Imam s compassionate attitude that he began to cry both thankfully and regretfully. By the w ay, most sinners and w rongdoers have delicacy of feeling that, very often, makes them cry. How ever, the Imam w ent to bed that night; and in his sleep he dreamed of a voice coming from the Lord, Allah, Most Gracious: O Malik! You purified the man s mouth for Us, so We purified his heart for you. And w hen the Imam w ent out to perform Salat Al-Fajr (the Daw n Prayer) in the mosque, he saw a man standing alone praying and w ailing. The Imam asked the man, Who are you, may Allah have mercy on you? The man answ ered, The One Who rightly guided me (i.e. Allah) told you about me. You cannot imagine how great is a true believer s feeling w hen he guides to Allah a deviant profligate person w ho w rongly believes that Allah is not Just or Merciful. If you can convince someone w ho is far astray and gradually help him obey Allah and stick to His Right Path, you are a real hero. A know ledgeable religious scholar once told his disciple, O son! A good righteous person is not in need of your preaching, but a deviant profligate is. You are a hero w hen you can admonish and help not the righteous and virtuous but the disobedient and deviant. And the prostitute w ho saw a dog that w as dying of thirst and hastened to offer it w ater to drink and w hose sins w ere, therefore, forgiven by the Lord, Allah, the Most Forbearing, is a good example of sincere repentance and faithful righteous w ork, even if it w ere to a brute animal. In Allah s Book, the Glorious Quran, the holy Prophet, Abraham, (PBUH), invoked the Lord My Lord! Grant me good judgment and join me w ith the righteous. [XXVI; 83] And Allah, Most Forbearing, answ ered Abraham s invocation by granting him a forbearing son. Religious scholars say, The Forbearing One is He Who forgives all sins and covers all faults. It is also said: The Forbearing One is He Who forgives after He covers. The Forbearing One is He Who maintains love, keeps promises, and fulfills covenants. The Forbearing One is He Who forgives the disobedient and rebellious. And the

12 Forbearing One is He Who is not angered by disobedience of the disobedient or transgression of transgressors. Whenever a true believer meets a sinful deviant person, he treats him gently and tenderly and is never arrogant or haughty to him. Whenever a true believer sees a sinful person, he thinks to himself, Such a sinful person may, one day, turn to the Lord, All Mighty, Most Forbearing, w ith sincere repentance and truthful devotion, and, thus, become better and dearer to Allah than I am. I reiterate: Never belittle or disparage a sinful person, but beseech Allah to rightly guide him and help him repent and reform. Be kind and merciful to sinners and w rongdoers. Remember w hat the venerable Companion, Habashi, did before he embraced Islam. He killed the venerable Companion, Hamzah. But w hen he returned to Allah w ith sincere repentance and truthful devotion, Allah accepted his repentance and joined him w ith the righteous. Also, remember Souhail Bin Amr, w hose head the venerable Companion, Omar Bin Al-Khattab, w ished to chop off w ith his sw ord, because w hen Allah s Messenger asked Souhail to w rite: This is w hat Allah s Messenger, Muhammad, has agreed upon, the latter refused to w rite dow n or acknow ledge that Muhammad, (PBUH), w as Allah s Messenger, but rudely said, Had w e believed in you, w e w ould never have rejected your call. I shall w rite dow n Muhammad son of Abdullah. In fact, Souhail w as so rude and impolite to Allah s Messenger that Omar Bin Al-Khattab w as on the point of killing Souhail w ith his sw ord. But Allah s Messenger, (PBUH), stopped Omar, saying, O Omar! You may, one day, hear from him (i.e. Souhail) w ords for w hich you praise him. In fact, upon Allah s Messenger s death, Souhail said excellent praisew orthy w ords. Also, Umair Bin Wahab w as more detested to Omar than a pig w hen Umair entered upon Allah s Messenger in order to kill him and rid pagans of Mecca of him. But w hen Umair got out of Allah s Messenger s place after having embraced Islam and become a truthful devoted Muslim, he became dearer to Omar than some of his ow n children. To w rap up, w e do beseech Allah to grant us forbearance, as it is a most laudable attribute, and since w e are studying Allah s Beautiful Divine Names and Attributes in order to color ourselves w ith them. Translation : Auditing :