Ever looked at the towering mountains while in a valley - how majestic, overpowering and dominating they look. In fact one is overawed when amidst mountains. In fact only the mountaineers can appreciate the might and domination of the mountains when climbing up. And the mountains are just a small demonstration and signs of The Ever Dominating attribute of Allah. If mountains could be so dominating, how dominating would be the One Who created these and the fathomless universes.
Linguistically, "Al-Qahhar" is derived from "qahr," which has the following classical Arabic connotations:
- to dominate over, prevail
- to overpower, master
- to subdue, subjugate,
- to overcome, conquer
- to compel against one's wishes
"Al-Qahhar" is a superlative of "al-Qahir", the Victor or Subduer. Allah, indeed, is the One Who, by His Might, has subdued everything He created to His Authority and Power, using His creatures as He pleases, whether they like it or not.
In Holy Qur'an, the attribute Al-Qahhār has been used at many places. In the following three verses, the attribute Al Qahhar is usd with another attribute of Allah: Al Wahid:
قُلِ اللّٰهُ خَالِـقُ كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ وَّهُوَ الۡوَاحِدُ الۡقَهَّارُ ......
" ..... Say: "Allah is the creator of everything. He is the One, the Prevailing." [Surah Ar-Ra'd 13:16]
The Arabic word Qahhar literally means “The one who prevails over / rules over all by virtue of His own power, and keeps all under His complete control.”
This fact that He is “the One, the Prevailing” follows naturally from the preceding fact that “Allah is the Creator of all things” for this fact was also acknowledged by the mushriks and was never denied by them. This is so because the Creator of everything should logically be Unique, and every other thing or being must necessarily be His creation. Therefore nothing could be the equal of the Creator or partner in His Being, attributes, powers and rights. Likewise, the Creator must have complete power and control over His Creation.
For, it can never be imagined that the Creator would create anything over which He has not full control. Therefore, the one who acknowledges Allah to be the Creator must also acknowledge Him to be the Unique and the All-Powerful. After this, there remains no reason why one should worship anyone other than the Creator or invoke someone else for help in resolving his difficulties and fulfilling his needs.
يَوۡمَ تُبَدَّلُ الۡاَرۡضُ غَيۡرَ الۡاَرۡضِ وَالسَّمٰوٰتُ وَبَرَزُوۡا لِلّٰهِ الۡوَاحِدِ الۡقَهَّارِ
"[It will be] on the Day the earth will be replaced by another earth, and the heavens [as well], and all creatures will come out before Allah, the One, the Prevailing." [Surah Al-Ibrahim 14: 48]
يٰصَاحِبَىِ السِّجۡنِ ءَاَرۡبَابٌ مُّتَفَرِّقُوۡنَ خَيۡرٌ اَمِ اللّٰهُ الۡوَاحِدُ الۡقَهَّارُؕ
"O [my] two companions of prison, are separate lords better or Allah, the One, the Prevailing?" [Surah Yusuf 12: 39]
And those who continue to resist Al Qahhar and many signs of His being the Most Prevailing, will be one day stand so humiliated in front of Him that they would readily and loudly cry out that Allah indeed is the Most Overpowering and Dominating. But then it would be too late to do so:
"the Day when they will emerge and nothing of them shall be hidden from Allah. (On that Day they will be asked): “Whose is the kingdom today?”27 (The whole world will cry out): “It is Allah's, the One, the Overpowering.” [Surah Al Mu'min 40:16]
Sometimes a person fights an enemy and defeats him, but he might not be able to defeat a second or third enemy. But when we say that God is the one, the Irresistible Subduer, this means that all creatures are constantly subdued by His infinite divine power and dominated thereby. The One who prevails over all of creation. The One who overcomes all obstacles.
We must therefore truly submit to the will of Al-Qahhār and never ever try to invoke his anger for His wrath is severest of all wordily pains and miseries. Al-Qahhār is surely the most Prevailing, and Ever Dominating and mischief and rebellion of none against Him can ever succeed.
Please watch an enlightening commentary on the Attributes of Allah: Al Qahhar and Al Kareem:
And those who continue to resist Al Qahhar and many signs of His being the Most Prevailing, will be one day stand so humiliated in front of Him that they would readily and loudly cry out that Allah indeed is the Most Overpowering and Dominating. But then it would be too late to do so:
يَوۡمَ هُمۡ بَارِزُوۡنَ ۚ لَا يَخۡفٰى عَلَى اللّٰهِ مِنۡهُمۡ شَىۡءٌ ؕ لِمَنِ الۡمُلۡكُ الۡيَوۡمَ ؕ لِلّٰهِ الۡوَاحِدِ الۡقَهَّارِ
"the Day when they will emerge and nothing of them shall be hidden from Allah. (On that Day they will be asked): “Whose is the kingdom today?”27 (The whole world will cry out): “It is Allah's, the One, the Overpowering.” [Surah Al Mu'min 40:16]
That is, though in the world many vain and self-conceited people publicly proclaimed to be the kings and sovereigns, whose, in fact, is the Kingdom today? Who is the Owner of the powers and authority and Whose is the command? If a person hears these words in his right senses, he will be filled with terror, no matter how mighty a king or dictator he might be posing himself to be, and will immediately come to his senses. Here the mention of an historical event will not be out of place. When the Samanid ruler, Nasr bin Ahmad (301-331 A.H.), entered Nishapur, he held a court and after ascending the throne desired that the proceedings be started with recitation from the Quran. At this an elderly pious man came forward and recited this very section of this Surah. When he came to this verse, Nasr was struck with awe; he descended the throne trembling, took off the crown and fell down in prostration, saying: O my Lord, Kingdom is Thine, not mine!The many meanings of the attribute Al-Qahhār exhibit the qualities of Allah, the Absolute Vanquisher / the Conqueror: the one that has absolute victory and that can defeat his enemies any time. In this sense, the name Qahhar became manifest in many nations that rebelled against Allah like the nation of Ad, Thamud and Noah. Allah, The Al-Qahhār, overpowered and destroyed those nations. The signs of Allah's wrath on the people who rebelled against Him are scattered throughout the world which are manifest of this attribute of Allah and when a believer goes past these, he cannot resist but to say: “O Allah, You destroy those whom You wish. Your destruction occurs with Your justice. You hold the reigns of everything with Your hand of power. No rebel can escape your destruction and no oppressor can defy you. You grant a delay to people but you do not ignore and forget them…”
Sometimes a person fights an enemy and defeats him, but he might not be able to defeat a second or third enemy. But when we say that God is the one, the Irresistible Subduer, this means that all creatures are constantly subdued by His infinite divine power and dominated thereby. The One who prevails over all of creation. The One who overcomes all obstacles.
We must therefore truly submit to the will of Al-Qahhār and never ever try to invoke his anger for His wrath is severest of all wordily pains and miseries. Al-Qahhār is surely the most Prevailing, and Ever Dominating and mischief and rebellion of none against Him can ever succeed.
Please watch an enlightening commentary on the Attributes of Allah: Al Qahhar and Al Kareem:
Please watch the video below by Professor Javed Ahmad Ghamidi, a Pakistani Muslim theologian, Quran scholar, Islamic modernist, exegete and educationist, on the subject. The video is in Urdu, but has English subtitles for those who cannot understand Urdu:
Photo | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Photo | For Q&A about understanding Islam click here
Photo | For Q&A about understanding Islam click here
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.
.jpg)
