This attribute of Allah has vast meanings for He is The One whose expansive essence holds and embraces all of creation. A Creator Who has created boundless creations has to be All Prevailing to keep His creations under His fold:
وَلِلَّهِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ ۚ فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
"The East and the West belong to Allah. To whichever direction you turn, you will be turning to Allah. Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing." [Surah 2 Al Baqarah: 115]Many believe God to be confined to His throne up in the seven skies. But they just cannot fathom the instant presence of Him at any point in time for He is Boundless and no matter in which direction one seeks Him, He is there. He is everywhere and He is neither limited, mean, narrow-minded, nor poor in resources. All such notions about God, which arise from considering Him as essentially similar to human beings, are erroneous. God's realm is boundless and so is His vision and the range of His benevolence and mercy. Moreover, God's knowledge is all-embracing. He knows who remembers Him, as well as where, when and why he does that.
اَلشَّيۡطٰنُ يَعِدُكُمُ الۡـفَقۡرَ وَيَاۡمُرُكُمۡ بِالۡفَحۡشَآءِ ۚ وَاللّٰهُ يَعِدُكُمۡ مَّغۡفِرَةً مِّنۡهُ وَفَضۡلًا ؕ وَاللّٰهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيۡمٌۚ ۙۖ
"Satan frightens you with poverty and bids you to commit indecency whereas Allah promises you His forgiveness and bounty. Allah is Munificent, All-Knowing." [Surah 2 Al Baqarah: 268]Good and evil draw us opposite ways and by opposite motives, and the contrast is well marked out in charity. When we think of doing some real act of kindness or charity, we are assailed with doubts and fear of impoverishment; but Evil supports any tendency to selfishness, greed, or even to extravagant expenditure for show, or self-indulgence, or unseemly appetites. On the other hand, God draws us on to all that is kind and good, for that way lies the forgiveness of our sins, and greater real prosperity and satisfaction. No kind or generous act ever ruined anyone. It is false generosity that is sometimes shown as leading to ruin. As God knows all our motives and cares for all, and has everything in His power, it is obvious which course a wise man will choose. But wisdom is rare, and it is only wisdom that can appreciate true well-being and distinguish it from the false appearance of well-being.
For the faint hearted, who get scared by the machinations of the Satan / Iblees that of they follow the path of Truth, they would be left behind, stripped of wealth and honour with a view to entice them to indecency and malpractices, this verse is strong in Divine rebuttal in which Allah assures His servants of forgiveness and unlimited bounties and rewards. For certainly He, the Al Wāsi‘ is Munificent, All Knowing ( Al Alīm " ٱلْعَلِيمُ "yet another attribute of Allah).
" Wāsi‘" is from the root w-s-' which in classical Arabic means: (1) to be sufficient in capacity or size, wide, spacious (2) to be ample, plentiful, bountiful, rich, and (3) to comprehend, embrace, include, take in, pervade. Thus The One whose power, knowledge, mercy and generosity are boundless.
The word wasi' occurs in the Qur'an in three contexts. (1) The first context is the narrow-mindedness and mean outlook of certain people, in contrast to which God is not 'narrow'. (2) The second context is the denunciation of miserliness, meanness and niggardliness, in contrast to which God is Generous and Munificent. (3) The third context is the ascription of finite, limited concepts to God as a result of their limited imagination, whereas the truth is that God is infinite.
The following verse from Surah 5 Al Maida: 54 is yet another strong reminder for people who have a weak faith and who may give in to flashy life of the world and throw away the restrictions that Allah imposes on His servants so that He could reward them for their forbearance. But if the believers after believing follow the path of worldly pleasure and deviate from Allah's path, Allah reminds them of His wrath:
يٰۤـاَيُّهَا الَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا مَنۡ يَّرۡتَدَّ مِنۡكُمۡ عَنۡ دِيۡـنِهٖ فَسَوۡفَ يَاۡتِى اللّٰهُ بِقَوۡمٍ يُّحِبُّهُمۡ وَيُحِبُّوۡنَهٗۤ ۙ اَذِلَّةٍ عَلَى الۡمُؤۡمِنِيۡنَ اَعِزَّةٍ عَلَى الۡكٰفِرِيۡنَ يُجَاهِدُوۡنَ فِىۡ سَبِيۡلِ اللّٰهِ وَلَا يَخَافُوۡنَ لَوۡمَةَ لَاۤـئِمٍ ؕ ذٰ لِكَ فَضۡلُ اللّٰهِ يُؤۡتِيۡهِ مَنۡ يَّشَآءُؕ وَاللّٰهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيۡمٌ
"Believers! If any of you should ever turn away from your faith, remember that Allah will raise up a people whom He loves, and who love Him; a people humble towards the believers, and firm towards the unbelievers; who will strive hard in the way of Allah and will not fear the reproach of the reproacher. This is the favour of Allah which He grants to whom He wills. Allah is vast in resources, All-Knowing."
In following the religion of Allah, in implementing His injunctions, in judging things to be either right or wrong according to the criteria of the faith, the believer will be afraid of nothing. He will be impervious to opposition, reproach, denunciation, name-calling and scorn. Even when public opinion happens to be hostile, and his efforts to follow Islam single him out for the scorn of the whole world, the man of faith will still follow the way which he recognizes in his heart to be true.
And it is for such believers who are firm in their belief and love Allah more than anything that Allah grants His favours to them for He is Vast in resources.
Al-Wasi` thus is Allah Who can enrich everyone who is indigent, Whose mercy encompasses everything. His authority never ends; His benevolence is unlimited; His domain is endless. He never stops giving; He is never distracted by knowing something from knowing another, nor by one issue from taking care of another. His knowledge encompasses everything.
You may refer to our post "99 Attributes of Allah" for complete list of 99 attributes of Allah Almighty with meaning and explanation.
In following the religion of Allah, in implementing His injunctions, in judging things to be either right or wrong according to the criteria of the faith, the believer will be afraid of nothing. He will be impervious to opposition, reproach, denunciation, name-calling and scorn. Even when public opinion happens to be hostile, and his efforts to follow Islam single him out for the scorn of the whole world, the man of faith will still follow the way which he recognizes in his heart to be true.
And it is for such believers who are firm in their belief and love Allah more than anything that Allah grants His favours to them for He is Vast in resources.
Al-Wasi` thus is Allah Who can enrich everyone who is indigent, Whose mercy encompasses everything. His authority never ends; His benevolence is unlimited; His domain is endless. He never stops giving; He is never distracted by knowing something from knowing another, nor by one issue from taking care of another. His knowledge encompasses everything.
You may refer to our post "99 Attributes of Allah" for complete list of 99 attributes of Allah Almighty with meaning and explanation.
Photo | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
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