There is no deity in the world other than Our Creator, Allah the God Almighty who is worthy of immense praise and being laudable. The attribute Al-Ḥamīd is embodiment of this very attribute of Allah and none other than He is capable of being praised.
وَهُوَ الَّذِىۡ يُنَزِّلُ الۡغَيۡثَ مِنۡۢ بَعۡدِ مَا قَنَطُوۡا وَيَنۡشُرُ رَحۡمَتَهٗ ؕ وَهُوَ الۡوَلِىُّ الۡحَمِيۡدُ
"He it is Who sends down the rain after they despair of it, spreading out His Mercy. He is the Protector, the Immensely Praiseworthy." [Surah 42. Ash-Shurah: 28]
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أَنتُمُ الْفُقَرَاءُ إِلَى اللَّهِ ۖ وَاللَّهُ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ
""O people! You are the ones who stand in need of Allah, while Allah is the self-Sufficient, the Praised One" [Surah 35. Fatir: 15].
In the verse above, two attributes of Allah; Al Ghani " الْغَنِيُّ " and Al Hamid " الْحَمِيدُ ", have been used:
The word Ghani implies that He is the Owner of everything: He is Self-sufficient and Independent of all. He does not stand in need of anyone’s help.
The word Hamid implies that He is Self-Praiseworthy: someone may praise Him, or may not, but He alone is worthy of hamd (praise and gratitude).These two attributes have been used together because one would be ghani even if one did not do any good to anyone by one’s wealth. In such a case one would be ghani but not hamid One will be hamid only in case one does not draw any benefit for oneself but benefits others in every way from the treasures of his wealth and resources. Since Allah is perfect in these two attributes, it has been said: “He is not just Ghani (self-sufficient) but such Ghani as is worthy of every kind of praise and gratitude, for He is fulfilling your needs as well as the needs of all other creatures.
As mentioned above, the Hamid attribute stems from From the root h-m-d which has the following classical Arabic connotations:
- to praise, to laud with deep feelings of adoration and submission
- to praise one for something done by that one's own will
- to speak well of, honor, commend
- to eulogize
الۤرٰ كِتٰبٌ اَنۡزَلۡنٰهُ اِلَيۡكَ لِـتُخۡرِجَ النَّاسَ مِنَ الظُّلُمٰتِ اِلَى النُّوۡرِ ۙ بِاِذۡنِ رَبِّهِمۡ اِلٰى صِرَاطِ الۡعَزِيۡزِ الۡحَمِيۡدِۙ
"Alif. Lam. Ra'. This is a Book which We have revealed to you that you may bring forth mankind from every kind of darkness into light, and direct them, with the leave of their Lord, to the Way of the Mighty, the Innately Praiseworthy, [Surah 14. Ibrahim: 1]
In the verse above, the Al Hamid attribute comes with an other powerful attribute of Allah: Al Aziz " الۡعَزِيۡزِ ". (See explanation here). The word Ḥamīd is more comprehensive than Mahmud. A person will be entitled to be Mahmud only when he is praised. But the Being Who is Ḥamīd, is naturally and permanently worthy of praise, whether anyone praises Him or not, because the element of praise is inherent in Him and is inseparable from Him.
وَقَالَ مُوۡسٰٓى اِنۡ تَكۡفُرُوۡۤا اَنۡـتُمۡ وَمَنۡ فِى الۡاَرۡضِ جَمِيۡعًا ۙ فَاِنَّ اللّٰهَ لَـغَنِىٌّ حَمِيۡدٌ
"Moses said: "Were you to disbelieve - you and all those who live on earth - Allah is still Self-Sufficient, Innately Praiseworthy." [Surah 14. Ibrahim: 8]
Thus it amply explains the very meaning of Al Hamid attribute. He alone is the exalted, praised and glorified by the very existence of creation. The root h-m-d is also the basis of the expression al-hamdulillāh (all praise is for Allah), as well as being the root of the names Ahmad (praiseworthy), Mahmūd (praised) and Muhammad (much praised, or repeatedly praised).
And yet despite in-numerous signs of Allah's magnanimity, the man still does not acknowledge Allah's countless blessings, Allah says He is above all and beyond any need to be praised for He is praiseworthy whether one appreciates it or not:
وَلِلّٰهِ مَا فِى السَّمٰوٰتِ وَمَا فِى الۡاَرۡضِ ؕ وَلَـقَدۡ وَصَّيۡنَا الَّذِيۡنَ اُوۡتُوا الۡكِتٰبَ مِنۡ قَبۡلِكُمۡ وَاِيَّاكُمۡ اَنِ اتَّقُوا اللّٰهَؕ وَاِنۡ تَكۡفُرُوۡا فَاِنَّ لِلّٰهِ مَا فِى السَّمٰوٰتِ وَمَا فِى الۡاَرۡضِؕ وَكَانَ اللّٰهُ غَنِيًّا حَمِيۡدًا
"What is in the heavens and in the earth belongs to Allah. We have instructed those given the Book before you, and you yourselves to have fear [and awareness] of Allah. But if you do not believe, what is in the heavens and in the earth belongs to Allah. Allah is Rich Beyond Need, Praiseworthy." [Surat an-Nisa', 4:131]
If we look around, every living thing seems to be praising Allah for giving life to them. Look at the sweet chirping of the birds, the swaying of the crops in cool breeze or the roar of the gushing water - it seems every living thing is glorifying and lauding Allah. Yet there are the ungrateful who fail to notice the countless blessings Allah has bestowed upon them and fail to utter even a word to thank Allah. It is for such ungrateful, Allah remarks in Surah 17. al-Isra’ - 44:
“The seven heavens and earth and all that is therein glorify Him and there is not a thing but glorifies His praise. But you do not understand their glorification. Truly, He is Halim (Forbearing), Ghafur (Ever-Forgiving).”
So let us be grateful to Allah and praise Him loud and clear for it is because of His countless blessing that we enjoy living our lives. Otherwise who stops Him from bringing His wrath on t us for we are ever sinful and ungrateful.
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 | 7 |
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