تَبَـٰرَكَ ٱلَّذِى بِيَدِهِ ٱلْمُلْكُ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
Blessed is He in whose hand is dominion, and He is over all things competent – (Sural al Mulk: 1)
Allah is the source of all goodness and blessings. There is nobody who is greater or more generous than He. He is far removed from every impurity and imperfection and He is completely Pure and Perfect. And anything or anyone that is attributed to Him also becomes blessed – such as the Book of Allah (Qur’an), the House of Allah (Ka’bah) or the Deen of Allah (Islam). Likewise the night and month in which the Qur’an was revealed is also blessed. So whatever is linked with Allah and whatever is done for Him becomes blessed as well. An important point to note is that people, places or things are not blessed in and of itself. The blessing comes from Allah. A person may seemed blessed, because Allah has placed blessing or barakah in him, by virtue of that person’s taqwa and by virtue of him benefiting others. Similarly a place seems blessed, because Allah has kept blessings in that place, given that people benefit from that place.
So Allah is the Possessor of all goodness. And in His Hand is the Dominion of the heavens and earth. We don’t know how His Hands are, but as Muslims, we are required to believe in Them. The Hands of Allah are Generous and they also provide Cure to the ailing.
The Prophet ﷺ said, “The Right Hand of Allah Is full, and (Its fullness) is not affected by the continuous spending night and day. Do you see what He has spent since He created the Heavens and the Earth? Yet all that has not decreased what is in His Right Hand. His Throne is over the water and in His other Hand is the Bounty or the Power to bring about death, and He raises some people and brings others down.” [al-Bukhari]
‘Aisha (ra) narrated, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to treat with a Ruqya saying, امْسَحْ الْبَاسَ رَبَّ النَّاسِ بِيَدِكَ الشِّفَاءُ لَا كَاشِفَ لَهُ إِلَّا أَنْتَ ‘O the Lord of the people! Remove the trouble. The cure is in Your Hands, and there is none except You who can remove it (the disease).’” [al-Bukhari]
So Allah has complete control, ownership and authority over everything, because He alone created it and so it all belongs to Him.
So even if we think we ‘own’ something, we are in fact not the real owners. When we have this mindset, then even if we lose something or someone, then our immediate reaction will be “inna lillaahi wa inna ilaihi raji’oon”. And this is what enables a person to adopt patience i.e. when you remember you are not the real owner, and that Allah owns and controls everything.
قُلِ ٱللَّـهُمَّ مَـٰلِكَ ٱلْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِى ٱلْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتَنزِعُ ٱلْمُلْكَ مِمَّن تَشَآءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَن تَشَآءُ ۖ بِيَدِكَ ٱلْخَيْرُ ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
تُولِجُ ٱلَّيْلَ فِى ٱلنَّهَارِ وَتُولِجُ ٱلنَّهَارَ فِى ٱلَّيْلِ ۖ وَتُخْرِجُ ٱلْحَىَّ مِنَ ٱلْمَيِّتِ وَتُخْرِجُ ٱلْمَيِّتَ مِنَ ٱلْحَىِّ ۖ وَتَرْزُقُ مَن تَشَآءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ
Say, “O Allah, Owner of Sovereignty, You give sovereignty to whom You will and You take sovereignty away from whom You will. You honor whom You will and You humble whom You will. In Your hand is [all] good. Indeed, You are over all things competent. You cause the night to enter the day, and You cause the day to enter the night; and You bring the living out of the dead, and You bring the dead out of the living. And You give provision to whom You will without account.” [Ale ‘Imran:26-27]
Having this mindset also allows us to be more giving and generous. When we realize that we are the temporary owners of our blessings, then we will not succumb to greed and selfishness. We won’t hoard and amass things. We will begin to share with others. We will spend from what we have. We will extend a helping hand to those in need. We will also begin to use our blessings in the right way. And we wont be afraid of losing them at the hands of someone else, because we know and realize that ultimately everything belongs to Allah and nothing happens without His permission. And this will definitely put our minds at ease.
Because otherwise, when we don’t adopt this attitude, and when we think that we are the real and ultimate owner, then this leads to feelings of greed, selfishness and stinginess. We become afraid of losing our blessings. We become afraid of people taking them away from us. So when this fear takes root in our hearts, then we don’t spend. We wont give. Our minds won’t be at ease and our hearts will only be consumed with fear, worry and grief.
Abu Dharr al-Ghifaree (ra) narrated “The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah said, ‘O My servants! I have forbidden dhulm (oppression) for Myself, and I have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another. O My servants, all of you are astray except those whom I have guided, so seek guidance from Me and I shall guide you. O My servants, all of you are hungry except those whom I have fed, so seek food from Me and I shall feed you. O My servants, all of you are naked except those whom I have clothed, so seek clothing from Me and I shall clothe you. O My servants, you commit sins by day and by night, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness from Me and I shall forgive you. O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and you will not attain benefiting Me so as to benefit Me. O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, and the humans of you and the jinn of you, were all as pious as the most pious heart of any individual amongst you, then this would not increase My Kingdom in anything. O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, and the humans of you and the jinn of you, were all as wicked as the most wicked heart of any individual amongst you, then this would not decrease My Kingdom in anything. O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, and the humans of you and the jinn of you, were all to stand together in one place and ask of Me, and I were to give everyone what he requested, then that would not decrease what I Possess, except what is decreased of the ocean when a needle is dipped into it.’” [Muslim]
And towards the end of this ayah, another attribute of Allah is mentioned. His Qudra, His Power. Allah is Ever-Able. He can do what He wants, when He wants, and however He Pleases. He has perfect Power and Ability over everything.
In the Dunya, people want to be close to those with power, influence and control, They vie for their attention, they try to please them and they want to rub shoulders with them.
But all those who are great, eventually lose their greatness. When people get a little bit of power, they become corrupt. And because of this injustice and corruption, nations fall. Politicians are voted out. And influencers lose their status over-night. But most people don’t realize this, and so they become deceived when they try to seek power in the creation of Allah.
وَٱللَّـهُ غَالِبٌ عَلَىٰٓ أَمْرِهِۦ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
And Allah is predominant over His affair, but most of the people do not know. [Yusuf:21]
Real power belongs to Allah. So seek Him. Turn to Him. Don’t make dua your last resort, after you’ve cried at the feet of so called ‘powerful’ people. Rather turn to Allah first. He is the source of all good and so He alone can resolve any problem in your life. He can mend every broken heart and fix every relationship. Nothing is difficult for Him. And nothing is beyond his Ability. So when you make dua as well, make dua with this attribute. “Ya Allah, you are Qadeer, you are All Able. You have perfect ability over everything, so please make a way out for me. Fix the mess in my life”. And make dua with complete conviction, with the hope that Allah, the one with absolute Power, the one who is the source of abundant and continuous goodness will respond to you.
