Allāh Attributes Of al-Qayyûm

Allāh Attributes Of  al-Qayyûm

The Self-Subsisting,  The Self-Existing One upon Whom all others depend

By Ibn Saleh

In the name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful;

All the praise and thanks is due to Allāh, the Lord of al-‘ālameen. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allāh, and that Muhammad, Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wasallam is His Servant and Messenger.

al-Qayyûm

 

The Self-Subsisting,  The Self-Existing One upon Whom all others depend

It means Allah Almighty is:

The One whose nature it is to exist. The One who is free of any dependence on anything else for existence.

The One through whom all things arise. The One by whom all things are eternally managed aright.

The Ever-Living, Self-Existing One who is the foundation upon which all things exist.

From the root q-w-m which has the following classical Arabic connotations:

·        to stand up, to rise up, to ascend, become high

·        to begin, to start, to come to pass

·        to arise, to set out

·        to be on-going, to exist

·        to be founded, to be built on

·        to undertake, to carry out, to manage

·        to make aright, straighten out, accurate, exact

·        to make righteous, upright

This name is used in the Qur'ân. For example, see Al-Baqarah verse 255 (AyatulKursi):

Allāhulāilāhailla huwal hayyul wayyūm

“Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence.” 

[Al-Baqarah,2:255]

 The attributes of al-Hayy and al-Qayyûm are often used to together, with al-Hayy signifying the attribute of ever-lasting life, and al-Qayyûm signifying the attribute of self-existing life. Thus, the attributes of al-Hayy and al-Qayyûm express two aspects of the One Life.

Abu Hurairah (radiyallahu’anhu) reported that whenever the Prophet, (Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wasallam), was faced with a serious difficulty, he would raise his head to the sky and supplicate, "Subhan-Allah al-'Azim (Glory be to Allah, the Mighty)." And when he implored seriously and strongly, he would say "Ya Hayyu, Ya Qayyum (O Ever-Living One, O Self-Existing One upon Whom we all depend)."    (Hadith of Tirmidzi)

The attribute of al-Qayyûm is also nicely described by the words of Acts 17:28 which say:

 “ in Him we live and move and have our being”

God is the only Being and all other existences are only His becomings.

The word mustaqîm, also from this same q-w-m root, means straight, righteous, upright, rising upwards or ascending.

(Also written as al-qayyum, al-qayyoom, the Self-Existing: Ya Qayyum, Ya Qayyoom)

Wal-Hamdulilahi Rabbil ‘ālameen, Was-Salātu was-Salāmu ‘ala Sayyidil Mursaleen waimamil Muttaqeen, Wa ‘ala ālihi waahli baitihi wasahbihi ajmaeen (And Praise is to Allāh, the Lord of the universe; Salawāt and Sālam on the sayyid of all the Apostles and its righteous followers, his family, members of his household and all the companions).

And Allāh Almighty Knows best.

[ Adapted from Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist , Longmont, Colorado, USA]