99 Attributes of Allāh: Al-Bāqī - The Infinite, The Eternal

Allāh, the Al Bāqī " ٱلْبَاقِي " is The Infinite, The Eternal, The Ever-Surviving, The Everlasting - The Ever-Present.

Al Bāqī attribute of Allāh exhibits His absolute immortality - His unending existence. Allāh has been there when there was noting and will still be there when there would remain nothing. He is Ever Present and Everlasting - the absolute Infinite.

Allāh proclaims this attribute of His in the 27th verse of Surah 55 Ar Rehman as:

وَّيَبۡقٰى وَجۡهُ رَبِّكَ ذُو الۡجَلٰلِ وَالۡاِكۡرَامِ​ۚ‏ 

And there will remain the Face of your Lord, Owner of Majesty and Honor 

"Al-Bāqī" is from the root from baqa': the opposite of extinction - the Everlasting. This attribute mans that Allāh is before time, since He Himself created time, and nothing in Him changed, and He was before time, and He remains after His creation of time just as He has always been and will always be.

This attributes thus exhibits that Immortality and non-decaying only pertains to Almighty Allah on whose greatness this whole universe is giving evidence because of whom we have got the blessings and advantages. No man or jinn can proclaim to be immortal for every living being created by Allāh has to see its end and become extinct forever. What remain thereafter is Allāh and none else.

Therefore, the believers should pursue the everlasting life in Paradise by being disinterested in this mortal world and become keen on worship and obedience of Almighty Allah. He should control his desires and abstain from the forbidden ones.

You may refer to our post "99 Attributes of Allāh" for complete list of 99 attributes of Allah Almighty with meaning and explanation.

You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran

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Eid ul Fitr 2020 in Trying times

Alhamdolillah, the month of Ramadan, the month of countless blessings, has come to an end with the sighting of the crescent of month of  Shawwal 1441 AH.  Those who adhered to obligations of the month of Ramadan, kept all 29 fasts, recited the Qur'an and gave away charities, In Sha Allah, they will be rewarded of their self sacrifices. 

The dawn of 24th May brings glad tidings for all believers to celebrate Eid ul Fitr " عيد الفطر ". The day dawns with the special Eid prayer congregations all over the Muslim world, which is followed by embracing each other to greet the blessings of the day.  On this day, sweet dishes are prepared, for which this Eid is also known as the Sweet Eid. Friends and relatives visit each other houses and greet the families while the children are given away Eid money, a ritual of specially liking for the children. Families thereafter move out to recreational parks where children take rides and enjoy the day. Special meals are prepared to celebrate the day with families and relatives.

One of the hallmark of the Eid ul Fitr is giving away charities, called Fitr or Fitrana,  before the special Eid prayers to the poor and needy. This ensures participation of the poor in the Eid day celebrations. Many believers give away cooked food to the poor. Believers also visit grave yards to pray for the forgiveness of their near and dear ones buried there.

However, this year, the Eid will be celebrated in trying times of Corona pandemic which has plagued the entire world. Many of the rituals like Eid prayer congregations will be curtailed and embracing each other may not take place in order to ensure the minimum social distance required to arrest spread of the Corona virus. Likewise the recreation too will be heavily scaled down as almost all recreational parks and playgrounds are closed. 

For reverts who will be celebrating their first Eid, this day will not be the same as they may have been excitedly and anxiously waiting for. But times would change and In Sha Allah, next year the clouds of Corona Virus will be lifted to enjoy Eid in traditional ways.

Instead of personal visits, technology and Social Media will assist in video chats to talk to each other and share Eid greetings. In fact, creativity in celebrating the Eid will be add to the otherwise dull environment due to Corona virus. One may dish out cooked meals and sweets to friends and families while maintaining social distance, while not forgetting to keep envelopes containing money for the children. In fact this Eid will be a virtual Eid rather than a physical activity.

So do not make it a dull day due to restrictions and celebrate the happiness of the day virtually and as best as it be made happy by innovating one's activities. 

We at Islam: My Ultimate Decision, wish all our readers a very happy Eid. May Allah accept or fasting during Ramadan and Qur'an recitations and our charities and Zakat. Aameen

You may watch the video below as despite all constraints, Muslims around the world continue to celebrate the coming Eid while still adhering to the precautions:

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99 Attributes of Allah: Al Kabīr - The Incomparably Great

One of the many attributes of Allah that exhibits the unchallenged greatness of Allah is Al Kabīr " ٱلْكَبِيرُ " The Incomparably Great, an attribute that forcefully shows the unlimited and boundless capacity of Greatness of the Creator of the Universe. The Attribute "Al-Kabīr" is repeated five times throughout the text of the Holy Quran. 

This attribute has been mentioned in Surah 31. Luqman: 30 :

ذٰ لِكَ بِاَنَّ اللّٰهَ هُوَ الۡحَقُّ وَاَنَّ مَا يَدۡعُوۡنَ مِنۡ دُوۡنِهِ الۡبَاطِلُ ۙ وَاَنَّ اللّٰهَ هُوَ الۡعَلِىُّ الۡكَبِيۡرُ 

All this is because Allah, He alone, is the Truth and all that which they call upon beside Him is false. Surely Allah, He alone, is All-High, Incomparably Great.

That is, “He is the Highest of all before Whom everything is low, and He is the Greatest of all before Whom everything is small.”

His Essence is unimaginably great Perfection, in might, power, wisdom and mercy in all His Attributes. He is the Most Great. He is far too great to be compared to any of His creatures; His creatures can never be like Him.

All powers rest only with Allah. Man may make as strong and suitable ships for his sea journeys as he likes, and may achieve whatever perfection in marine science and in the related knowledge and experience, these by themselves cannot avail him anything to perform safe voyages especially when confronted by the terrible forces at the sea, unless he is succored by the grace of Allah. As soon as Allah’s grace is withdrawn, man immediately realizes how meager and insufficient are the means and resources and knowledge of the sciences. Similarly, man in the state of peace and security may be a hardened atheist or polytheist, but when his boat loses balance in the storm at sea, even the atheist comes to realize that there is God and the polytheist that there is only One God.

ذٰ لِكَ بِاَنَّ اللّٰهَ هُوَ الۡحَـقُّ وَاَنَّ مَا يَدۡعُوۡنَ مِنۡ دُوۡنِهٖ هُوَ الۡبَاطِلُ وَاَنَّ اللّٰهَ هُوَ الۡعَلِىُّ الۡكَبِيۡرُ‏ 

(Surah 22. Al-Hajj: 62) So shall it be because Allah, He is the Truth, and all whom they invoke instead of Him are false. Allah is Most High, All-Great.

As Allah is in fact the Sovereign of the universe, His worshipers will surely attain true success and the worshipers of false gods will meet with utter failure.

" ٱلْكَبِيرُ " is derived From the root k-b-r (Kaf-Baa-Raa) which in classical Arabic mean (1) to be great in rank, dignity, nobility, majesty, (2) to be great in learning, most knowing, (3) to be great in age, oldest, (4) to be great in size, vast, formidable.

عٰلِمُ الۡغَيۡبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ الۡكَبِيۡرُ الۡمُتَعَالِ‏ 

(Surah 13 Ar-Ra'd: 9) He knows both what is hidden and what is manifest. He is the Supreme One, the Most High.

All attributes mentioned in the Qur'an of Al Kabīr glorify the Greatness of Allah  for Who else can be greater than glory and greater than greatness than Allah who is the master of the entire universe. When someone invents a thing, we glorify him beyond limits but have we ever paused to ponder on the Incomparably Greatness of the Creator of the fathomless universe, the ends of which may raven be found by the man.

Ibn `Abbas is quoted saying that the Messenger of Allah used to teach his companions a supplication whereby they could shun all ailments and types of fever which said, "In the Name of Allah Al-Kabīr; we seek refuge with Allah al-Azim from the evil of any feverish vein, and from the inferno of hellfire."

Other attributes of Allah related to Al Kabīr include: (1) Al-Jalil (الجليل) - The Majestic, The Glorious , (2) Al-Azim (العظيم) - The Supreme Glory, The Most Grand, and (3) Al Mutakabbir (المتكبر) - The Supremely Great.

"Allahu Akbar!" is a statement derived from "Al-Kabīr" and is pronounced to initiate the obligatory prayers, during the time of ruku`, sujood or qiyam, that is, when bowing, prostrating or standing during the performance of obligatory prayers. It is called takbeer, Glorification of al-Kabīr, the Great One, the Most Great. Takbeer is required on several occasions such as the athan, iqama, prayers, both feasts, funeral prayers, upon seeing the Ka`bah, throwing the stones [during the pilgrimage], and announcing the time for jihad, holy war. The Messenger of Allah is said to initiate anything of significance with "Allahu Akbar!"

You may refer to our post "99 Attributes of Allāh" for complete list of 99 attributes of Allah Almighty with meaning and explanation.

You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran

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What is Itikaf and how it is Observed in Ramadan

The month of Ramadan has almost come to an end with its lat ten days remaining. While the believers have observed fasting throughout the month and offered Taraweeh prayers in the masjids (or at home due to restrictions paced on offering Taraweeh in the masjids due to Coronation Virus), the two hallmarks of the month of Ramadan in which believers can draw maximum benefit of Allah's blessings are Itikaf and finding the Night worth Thousands of Nights (Laila tul Qadr) - a night i which the Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

We have already written about the Saum (fasting), Taraweeh Prayers, and Laila tul Qadr. In this post we will talk of Itikaf " اعتكاف‎ ".

In the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast during day and impose upon them an embargo by abstaining from eating and marital relations with one's spouse from dawn till dusk. However, besides these two restrictions they carryout all daily chores of their life, like attending to their office, business and performing all matters related to the sustenance and management of the their houses and family.

But there still remains yet another sacrifice from the believers during the last ten days of the month of Ramadan, in which the men relocate themselves to the masjids and remain there from night of 21st Ramadan till the Eid moon is sighted.This relocation is called Itikaf. Women can also observe Itikaf in masjids if adequate arrangements are made. Else she can find a corner in her house where she can observe Itikaf without being disturbed.

Thus Itikaf or E'tikaf is a period of retreat in a masjid, during the last ten days of the month of Ramadan. Literally translated, it is an Arabic word that means "to isolate oneself and to stick or adhere to something."

During this period, a person sitting in Itikaf is not supposed to leave the masjid and has all his needs like food or clothes provided to him by his family inside the masjid. However, he is allowed to take bath or attend to nature's call using the washrooms and toilets of the masjid. 

During this period, while he attends to all five prayers and Taraweeh prayers in the congregation, he is also lucky to be there in the masjid when the Laila tul Qadr appears during the odd days of the month of Ramadan. Since, the happening of this night is only known to Allah, the men in Itikaf are lucky to be there in the masjid and are benefited to find it by virtue of their Itikaf.  

The time spent in Itikaf is in fact a time for self-reflection. It provides an excellent opportunity to establish a close bond with Allah for he has secluded him from all other worldly needs and requirements of the outside word. During his stay in the masjid, a man should recite Quran as mush as possible to be spiritually benefited from it and repent of his sins throughout. However, it should be noted that one must not while away his time in gossiping with others present in the masjid about worldly affairs. Instead they may talk or discuss affairs related to the religion or better understanding of Qur'an.

Please listen to Dr Zakir A Naik, an eminent scholar on Itikaf:

For more Q &A about understanding Islam, please refer to our reference page: Understanding Islam: Frequently Asked Q & A.

You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran.

May Allah show us the right path so that we do not go astray due to what man has interpreted verses of religious scriptures to suit their own religions and faith. Aameen.

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99 Attributes of Allah: As-Sabūr - The Most Patient

As-Sabūr " ٱلْصَّبُورُ " - The Most Patient - That is The One who is not moved by haste to carry out any action before it's proper time. The One who does not quickly punish the sinners.

The name Sabūr is not specifically used as a Beautiful Name in the Qur'ān, but is derived from root "s-b-r - صَّبۡرِ" which appears at many places in the Qur'an:

اِلَّا الَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا وَ عَمِلُوا الصّٰلِحٰتِ وَتَوَاصَوۡا بِالۡحَقِّ   ۙ وَتَوَاصَوۡا بِالصَّبۡرِ

(103:3) save those who have faith and do righteous deeds, and counsel each other to hold on to truth and counsel each other to be steadfast.

The root s-b-r in classical Arabic means: (1) to be patient, to be enduring, (2) to be steadfast, constant, (3) to be contented in trial or affliction without show of complaint.

We must appreciate that early Muslims saw the worst of oppression at the hands of the disbelievers of Makkah. One's body shudders when one hears the torment through which they went. But hats off to them that they remained steadfast in the name of Allah and bore all punishments, bodily and spiritually, with perseverance and patience. And the end result was the best rewards they collected from their Creator, Allah, the As-Sabūr.

At the same time, Allah also hold back His anger and wrath over those who transgress their limits of power and harm others, As Allah said in many verses like Surah Nuh - Noah said:

‘Worship Allah , fear Him and obey me, Allah will forgive you of your sins and delay you for a specified term. Indeed, the time [set by] Allah , when it comes, will not be delayed, if you only knew.’ “

Al-Khattaabi (RA) said: As-Sabūr is the One Who does not hasten to wreak vengeance upon the sinners; rather He delays that until an appointed time, and He gave them respite for a certain amount of time.

As for believers, Allah never pushes His servants to make haste. Rather He encourages us to take small leaps forward by understanding each tenant of Islam before moving on to other so that we are very clear what is expected us to be done. The Prophet ﷺ reminds us to “Do those deeds which you can do easily, as Allah will not get tired (of giving rewards) till you get bored and tired (of performing religious deeds),” [Bukhari].

Likewise, Allah Who is the Creator of the entire universe, sees patiently for wrong being done to His servants. If He was not the Most Patient, the world would have witnessed His wrath every now and then. But He, the As-Sabūr, an attribute related closely to another attribute Al-Halim (الحليم): the Forbearing - the One who sees the wrong of what people do, but does not hasten to punish. 

“And if Allah were to impose blame on the people for what they have earned, He would not leave upon the earth any creature. But He defers them for a specified term. And when their time comes, then indeed Allah has ever been, of His servants, Seeing.” [Qur’an, 35:45]

Therefore, Allah at many times i Qur'an commands us to be patient as in Surah ii Al Baqarah, verse 153:

يٰٓاَيُّهَا الَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوا اسۡتَعِيۡنُوۡا بِالصَّبۡرِ وَالصَّلٰوةِ ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ مَعَ الصّٰبِرِيۡنَ‏ 

(2:153) Believers! Seek help in patience and in Prayer; Allah is with those that are patient.

It was narrated that Abu Moosa al-Ash‘ari (RA) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “No one is more patient in bearing offensive things that he hears than Allah, may He be glorified and exalted; others are associated with Him, a son is attributed to Him, but He still grants them health and provision.” Narrated by Al-Bukhari (7378) and Muslim (2804).

Imam Al-Ghazali says: “As-Sabūr—the Most Patient—is the one that does not let haste move Him to carry out an action before its time, but rather decides matters according to a definite plan, and brings them about in delineated ways.”

We must draw conclusions from this attribute of Allah and learn how to be patient. We have to weigh our decisions which should not be taken in haste and at the same time it should also be borne in mind that unnecessary delays sometimes are harmful. Therefore, one must use one's wisdom and knowledge to decide, instead of making decisions in an emotional state of mind, for Logic always bears fruits while illogical decisions are always harmful.

As the Prophet ﷺ tells us, “Whoever persists in being patient, God will make him patient. Nobody can be given a blessing better and greater than patience,” [Bukhari]. Patience is the key to that long road to a result that is noble. The Prophet ﷺ also tells us, “And know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction, and ease with hardship,” (Tirmidhi).

You may refer to our post "99 Attributes of Allāh" for complete list of 99 attributes of Allah Almighty with meaning and explanation.

You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran

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If you like Islam: My Ultimate Decision, and to keep yourself updated on all our latest posts to know more about Islam, follow us on Facebook

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Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Holy Qur'an - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.

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99 Attributes of Allah: Al Qābiḍ - The Withholder

Al Qābiḍ " ٱلْقَابِضُ " The Withholder, the Restrainer and the Absolute Seizer. While His graciousness sees no bounds and gives away His countless blessings to every living being, it is His wisdom due to which He sometimes Withholds His blessings for reasons known to Him.

As already mentioned in our earlier post on the attribute of Al Bāsiṭ, the Extender and the Expandera of provisions (rizq), life and death, He sometimes withholds His bounties as Al Qābiḍ as has been mentioned in the following 245th verse of Surah ii Al Baqarah (The Cow):

مَنۡ ذَا الَّذِىۡ يُقۡرِضُ اللّٰهَ قَرۡضًا حَسَنًا فَيُضٰعِفَهٗ لَهٗۤ اَضۡعَافًا کَثِيۡرَةً  ​ؕ وَاللّٰهُ يَقۡبِضُ وَيَبۡصُۜطُ وَ اِلَيۡهِ تُرۡجَعُوۡنَ‏ 

Who of you will lend Allah a goodly loan which He will return after multiplying it for him manifold? For Allah has the power both to decrease and increase, and to Him will you be returned. 

In the verse above two attributes of Allah have been mentioned: Al Qābid (The Withholder) and Al Bāsiṭ (The Extender). These these two attributes are opposite to each other. Allah usually and most of the time is at the giving end in Extending His countless bounties to His servants. If we look around, we will fail to count the bounties and blessings of Allah there are which have been laid out and extended to us.

But there are times, when as a test or as a punishment Allah With Holds His blessings and men become helpless and falls at mercy of his Creator. These are times of extreme weather, famine, drought and extreme floods and Tsunamis which sweep away lands and vegetation leaving behind lifeless stretches, devolving man of His blessings. This the display of His wisdom 

The name Qābid is not specifically used as a Beautiful Name in the Qur'ān. However, linguistically, "al-Qābiḍ," is derived from its root verb: Qabd, which  denotes to decrease, to take, hold, seize, grip or catch,  and words meaning like these. It is the holding of something with the hand such as a sword's handle,

The underlying roots of Qābid give a sense of give and take, a movement back and forth, an underlying rhythm of ebb and flow, like the rhythmical folding and unfolding of a bird's wings in flight, or the rising and setting of the sun, or the endless cycles of life and death.

The Arabic lexicon and commentary Tāj al-'Arūs, as interpreted by E.W. Lane, says:

Qabd [Qābid] and Bast [Bāsit] are terms applied by the investigators of truth among the Sūfīs to the two contrary states of the heart, from both of which it is seldom or never free: the former being an affection of the heart withholding it from dilation and joy; whether the cause thereof be known, as the remembrance of a sin or an offense, or of an omission, or be not known...

Thus Al Qābid is the One who decides who is to be given when and who is not to be given. This means both giving and withholding act as test to men. One gets more richer by getting more is tested whether he still remains thankful to Allah and helps those not given like him. And for those whose sustenance means have been squeezed and given less are tested whether they still look towards Allah for ease or follow Satan and indulge in unfair means to increase their means of sustenance. To this effect, God says: 

"And if Allah were to enlarge provision for His slaves, they would surely rebel in the earth, but He sends down by measure as He wills. Verily, He is, in respect of His slaves, the Well-Aware, the All-Seer (of things that benefit them)." [Surah Ash-Shura 42 :27]

Like wise it is His supreme wisdom that clouds come and go, somewhere they bring more rain, somewhere less and at places no rains, for Allah knows by which Measure He has to release His blessings.

There is yet another dimension to this attribute which Allah has infused into our minds. Dur to this ability given to us, we feel depressed and dispirited as soon as we wrong someone or commit a sinful deed, like lying to others, looking at indecent things etc.  We feel Al-Qabd only if your heart is still alive and you are sensitive.

This ability also tells us that there will be good times after we face debacles or setbacks. The Story of Prophet Yusuf  (Joseph, peace be upon him) is characterized by the ups and downs; from the well, to a palace, from prison to Minister, from separation to unity. He made the best of his situation and knew the relief was coming. Have this attitude and strength and you will succeed, no matter the situation!

This has lessons for us: We should too be always on the giving end and should seldom hold out our charities for we do not have enough wisdom as to when to give and when to withhold. To be blessing for others, we should always be on the giving end so as to help those who have less means of sustenance. Those who have adequate and still withhold their hands are those who are the losers in the end.

You may refer to our post "99 Attributes of Allāh" for complete list of 99 attributes of Allah Almighty with meaning and explanation.

You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran

Photo | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

If you like Islam: My Ultimate Decision, and to keep yourself updated on all our latest posts to know more about Islam, follow us on Facebook

Follow @IslamUltimate

Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Holy Qur'an - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.

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99 Attributes of Allah: Al Bāsiṭ - The Extender

Al Bāsiṭ  " الْبَاسِطُ " is the One who extends and expands the provisions (rizq), life and death.

The term Bāsiṭ is not specifically used as a Beautiful Name in the Qur'ān. Instead this attribute has been derived from the many qualities of Allah mentioned in the Qur'an. linguistically, "Al-Bāsiṭ" is from the root baa-seen-ta (b-s-t - bast) which means one who stretches his hand as a gesture of graciousness and good will to help others. And who else is more gracious and best helper than Allah Almighty for He alone extends his graciousness to everyone whether someone believes in Him or not.

اللَّهُ الَّذِي يُرْسِلُ الرِّيَاحَ فَتُثِيرُ سَحَابًا فَيَبْسُطُهُ فِي السَّمَاءِ كَيْفَ يَشَاءُ وَيَجْعَلُهُ كِسَفًا فَتَرَى الْوَدْقَ يَخْرُجُ مِنْ خِلَالِهِ ۖ فَإِذَا أَصَابَ بِهِ مَن يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ إِذَا هُمْ يَسْتَبْشِرُونَ ۝

"Allah is he Who sends forth the winds so they raise a cloud, then He spreads it forth in the sky as He pleases, and He breaks it up so that you see the rain coming forth from inside it; then when He causes it to fall upon whom He pleases of His servants, lo! they are joyful 

In the above quoted verse, from [Surat 30 Ar-Rūm: 48 (The Romans) - سورة الروم)], the attribute of Allah's graciousness is explained that it is He alone who raises the healthy clouds loaded with rain water and then spreads these to wherever He wants to turn the dead earth into life and grows life saving crops for man and animals. And we have seen that in one area it rains while the adjacent area is denied for it is He alone who knows how much is to be given and to whom.

In Surah ii Al Baqarah (The Cow), Allah exhibits this attribute of Him when He endowed His servant Saul (Talut), a mere thirty years old young man, with many intellectual and physical capacities so that he could rule over his people:

وَقَالَ لَهُمۡ نَبِيُّهُمۡ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ قَدۡ بَعَثَ لَـکُمۡ طَالُوۡتَ مَلِكًا ​ؕ قَالُوۡٓا اَنّٰى يَكُوۡنُ لَهُ الۡمُلۡكُ عَلَيۡنَا وَنَحۡنُ اَحَقُّ بِالۡمُلۡكِ مِنۡهُ وَلَمۡ يُؤۡتَ سَعَةً مِّنَ الۡمَالِ​ؕ قَالَ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ اصۡطَفٰٮهُ عَلَيۡکُمۡ وَزَادَهٗ بَسۡطَةً فِى الۡعِلۡمِ وَ الۡجِسۡمِ​ؕ وَاللّٰهُ يُؤۡتِىۡ مُلۡکَهٗ مَنۡ يَّشَآءُ ​ؕ وَاللّٰهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيۡمٌ‏ 

And their Prophet said to them: “Indeed Allah has sent forth Saul (Talut) as your king.”269 They said: “By what right shall he rule over us when we are more worthy than he to dominion, for he is not very wealthy?” He said: “Allah has chosen him over you and has endowed him abundantly with both intellectual and physical capacities. Allah indeed has the power to bestow dominion upon whomsoever He wills. Allah is All-Resourceful, All- Knowing.”

It may be noted that Allah, the Al Bāsiṭ  is always helping His servants and extending as much help that one may require, He sometimes also withholds His blessings as a test or as a punishment as has been said in the following 245th verse of Surah ii Al Baqarah (The Cow):

مَنۡ ذَا الَّذِىۡ يُقۡرِضُ اللّٰهَ قَرۡضًا حَسَنًا فَيُضٰعِفَهٗ لَهٗۤ اَضۡعَافًا کَثِيۡرَةً  ​ؕ وَاللّٰهُ يَقۡبِضُ وَيَبۡصُۜطُ وَ اِلَيۡهِ تُرۡجَعُوۡنَ‏ 

Who of you will lend Allah a goodly loan which He will return after multiplying it for him manifold? For Allah has the power both to decrease and increase, and to Him will you be returned. 

In the verse above two attributes of Allah have been mentioned: Al Qābid (The With holder) and Al Bāsiṭ (The Extender). Thus these two attributes are opposite to each other. Allah usually and most of the time is at the giving end in Extending His countless bounties to His servants. If we look around, we will fail to count the bounties and blessings of Allah there are which have been laid out and extended to us.

But there are times, when as a test or as a punishment Allah With Holds His blessings and men become helpless and falls at mercy of his Creator. These are times of extreme weather, famine, drought and extreme floods and Tsunamis which sweep away lands and vegetation leaving behind lifeless stretches, devolving man of His blessings.

The Arabic lexicon and commentary Tāj al-'Arūs, as interpreted by E.W. Lane, says:

Qabd [Qābid] and Bast [Bāsit] are terms applied by the investigators of truth among the Sūfīs to the two contrary states of the heart, from both of which it is seldom or never free: the former being an affection of the heart withholding it from dilation and joy; whether the cause thereof be known, as the remembrance of a sin or an offense, or of an omission, or be not known...

We will talk more about the attribute Al Qābid (The With holder) in one of our next posts.

You may refer to our post "99 Attributes of Allāh" for complete list of 99 attributes of Allah Almighty with meaning and explanation.

You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran

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