TREASURY OF BLESSED KNOWLEDGE

Not to recognize at least one hadith [1] or not to follow at least one of the hadiths of the Prophet ﷺ after its authenticity has been confirmed by Muslim scholars (imams of hadith) means not to follow the Prophet ﷺ himself. May the Almighty ﷻ save us from this! The Creator ﷻ made a special mention of the Prophet ﷺ, endowing him with the ability to deliver brief, wise and deeply meaningful speeches.

No one can know the essence of the Quran and the hadiths of the Prophet ﷺ, except for people of a certain level of religious knowledge. The true meaning for us is that which is revealed by the interpreters of the Quran (mufassir) and hadith (muhaddith) in their interpretations (tafsir). If someone tries to interpret by himself, relying only on his own knowledge and on himself, this leads him into error. May Almighty Allah ﷻ protect us from such interpretations and interpreters! Our Prophet ﷺ did not invent a single word himself and did not say anything of his own. He said only what the Almighty ﷻ sent down to him through revelation. Allah ﷻ revealed to him all the knowledge that benefits the ummah and there was nothing left that the Prophet ﷺ would not convey to people regarding this world and the world of eternal life.

What are the attributes of the Almighty?

Almighty Allah ﷻ has 99 names. They are called” beautiful names” (al-asma ul-husna). All of them are His attributes (sifat) and one must be convinced of this. Once the Creator ﷻ asked the prophet Adam, "How many names do I have?" Adam replied, "Everything is Your name, my Lord!" Adam knew that everything around him was created by the Almighty ﷻ so he saw the Almighty ﷻ and His power in everything. Everything is precisely embedded in the words of the prophet Adam "Everything is Your name!" as is the meaning of the manifestation of God's power in everything.

Which of the attributes of Allah ﷻ are called "subuti" and which are "salbi” [2] and why are they so called?

The attributes "subuti" and "salbi" are included in the previously mentioned 99 names of Allah ﷻ.

There are seven subuti attributes:

Kudra (omnipotence).
Irada (will).
Hayat (life-giving).
‘Ilm (knowledge).
Kalam (speech).
Sam’ (hearing).
Basar (vision).

Kudra (omnipotence)

A Muslim must know and be convinced that there is nothing that would be impossible for Almighty Allah ﷻ. He is omnipotent in everything. It is enough for Him to say, “Be!” and He is able to create whatever He wants. Once Satan asked the prophet Idris, "Can Allah ﷻ contain the whole world in a nutshell?" In response Idris poked him in the eye with a needle which he held in his hand and said, "If it is God's will, He can put the whole world in the eye of a needle as well." In this case, we should not question how the whole world can fit into the eye of the needle, even for a moment. This would mean doubting the omnipotence of Allah ﷻ. If the Almighty ﷻ wills, He will enlarge the eye of the needle so that the whole world will fit in it or He will reduce the world so that it fits into the eye of the needle. A Muslim must be firmly convinced of all the power of Almighty Allah ﷻ. In other words, we must know that no one in this world has strength and power, except through the omnipotence of Allah ﷻ.

Irada (will)

Every Muslim should know that without the will of Allah ﷻ nothing happens. For example, when the prophet Ibrahim, angry at the knife that did not obey him and did not cut the flesh of his son Ismail, threw it to the ground, the knife said, “Why are you angry with me?” Ibrahim replied, "Several times I passed you across my son's throat, so why did you not cut him?" Then the knife reminded Ibrahim, "When King Namrud threw you into the fire, why did it not burn you?" “Because the Almighty ﷻ ordered the fire not to burn me,” Ibrahim replied. "So behold, said the knife, if the Almighty ﷻ once ordered fire not to burn you, then He ordered me seven times not to cut the flesh of Ismail.

Another incident happened with the prophet Musa. Once, when he had a toothache and did not know how to cure it, a revelation was sent to him that a grass grew on a certain mountain. If one held it in one’s mouth, it became a medicine for a toothache. He went to the mountain, found that herb, plucked it and held it in his mouth. It did not hurt anymore. Musa was pleased that he had finally found a cure for toothache. After a while, he had the same toothache again. Musa returned to the mountain and again held this herb in his mouth but this time it did not help at all. He was very surprised. Then the Almighty ﷻ addressed him, “Musa, only by My will and My permission, can that herb become healing. If My will is not there, it will not be of any use."

In the end, what sense should we draw from this?

The One who made the knife cut and gave it the power to cut is Allah ﷻ. If someone, dismissing the power (kudra) and will (irada) of Allah ﷻ, thinks that the knife itself has a cutting power, then this is disbelief (kufr). For example, if you are asked, "How did you cut your hand?" - how do you answer? If you say that the Almighty ﷻ cut it, this will be true, but to what, then, should the knife be attributed? If you say that you cut yourself with a knife, that would also be correct, but what about the omnipotence and will of Allah ﷻ? It would be more correct to say, “I cut myself with a knife in accordance with the will and omnipotence of Almighty Allah ﷻ.”

One more example. A patient goes to a doctor, although there is Almighty Allah ﷻ in whose jurisdiction everything of this world and the eternal world is connected. Is this correct? Yes, because Almighty Allah ﷻ, who through His omnipotence and will can do whatever He wants, made the doctor an instrument for healing diseases. What, then, should a sick person believe with his heart if he goes to see a doctor? A Muslim must be sure that only Almighty Allah ﷻ heals and that doctors and medicines are only the means that Allah ﷻ gave to heal the sick. If someone, dismissing the omnipotence and will of Allah ﷻ, considers that doctors and medicines themselves do the healing, then this is disbelief. How can a Muslim be so ignorant? It seems to me that he is not so; however, true knowledge is only from Allah ﷻ.

Once I heard the story of an Avar, who was born in Turkey and whose ancestors were from the Dagestan village of Chirkei. Once upon a time, during the times of Khrushchev or Brezhnev, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR visited Turkey. There he met the engineer of a large bridge which was under construction at that time. The Russian minister, highly appreciative of the scale of the construction, asked the engineer, "When are you planning to complete the bridge?" The Turkish engineer replied, “We will complete it within a year, if Allah ﷻ wills.” To this the minister said, "OK - but one thing is wrong." "What?" the engineer asked. The minister replied, “Why, having put so much effort into this work, are you shifting the responsibility for everything onto Allah? Will He come and build the bridge for you?" Here, dear brothers, before you is an obvious example of godlessness - and about the rest – think about it!

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[1] Hadith - traditions about the sayings, actions and way of life of the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ.

[2] For the meaning of the concepts "subuti" and "salbi" see further below.

TREASURY OF BLESSED KNOWLEDGE