Allāh's Attrubutes of Al-Hadi
(The Guide)
By Dr. Muhammad Ratib An-Nabulsi
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 wa sallam
is His Messenger.
The universe leads to Allāh simply because it puts us face to
face with Allāh’s infinite divine power, might, wisdom, mercy, knowledge, creativity.
Allāh has created the
universe and provided it with His divine light.
The One who continually shows the right
way. The One who kindly guides aright.
The One who sends prophets and messengers
to guide mankind. The One who guides hearts to a knowledge of the Divine
essence.
The One who is the source of all guidance.
The One who faithfully continues to guide aright until the goal is finally
attained.
From the root h-d-y which has the
following classical Arabic connotations:
to guide rightly
to show with kindness the proper path
to guide on the right path until reaching
the goal
to guide aright
to lead the right way
The
word “Hadi” (The Guide) is derived from the Arabic root word h-d-y :
·
to guide rightly
·
to show with kindness the proper path
·
to guide on the right path until reaching the goal
·
to guide aright
·
to lead the right way
God “Al-Hadi” says: “And Allāh invites to the Home of Peace and guides
whom He wills to the Straight Path.” (Yunus, 10: 25)
The straight path is a kind of way and Allāh has given man the
ability to make his own choices; and whosoever desires guidance; Allāh
guides him to a way that leads to the abode of peace for which man has been
created. For that he has been given the ability to make his own choices.
If he chooses the abode of peace
(paradise) Allāh
guides him to the way that leads him to it.
The
same the word “Hidayah” means guidance to the truth; Imam Al-Junaid (rahimahullah)
said: “The
words ‘guide us to the Straight Path’ mean: ‘O Lord! Make our hearts inclined towards You! Make all our work for
You! And guide us unto You!’”
For
that man has been given a free will to make his own choices in life. Allāh
says: “Verily,
We (Allāh) show him the Way,
whether he be grateful or ungrateful.”(Al-Insan, 76: 3)
How
Does Allāh guide His Slaves?
1-
The first and widest gate of guidance to Allāh is His creation, and in this sense
His divine name “Al-Hadi” (The Guide) is derived from His
divine act of guidance.
Allāh says: “Say: ‘Behold all that is in the heavens and the
earth.’ But neither Signs nor warnings benefit those who believe not.” (Yunus, 10: 101)
Hence, the universe leads to Allāh
simply because it puts us face to face with Allāh’s infinite divine
power, might, wisdom, mercy, knowledge, creativity, etc. In other words, Allāh
guides us by means of His creation: “Then
let man look at his food.” (‘Abasa, 80: 24)
“Then let man look
from what he has been created. He has been created from a gushing liquid,
coming forth from the backbone and the ribs. Verily, He (Allāh) is Able to bring him back (to life)!” (At-Tariq, 86: 5-8)
2 - Allāh’s words (the Qur’an) are another gate
of guidance;
sometimes, you look at a wonderful thing whose maker tells you that he has made
it for such and such purpose and that the raw materials from which he has made
it are of the best quality. In other words, the maker gives you direct
information about his make directly from him.
Therefore,
Allāh’s divine name “Al-Hadi” (The Guide) is derived from His divine Self as
possessing the attribute of speech. In that way, Allāh
guides man by His divine words:
“Verily, Allāh is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.” (Al-Hajj, 22: 75)
“Verily, Allāh is All-Powerful over all things.” (An-Nahl, 16: 77)
“Verily, Allāh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Al-Baqarah, 2: 182)
“And among His Signs
is the creation of the heavens and the earth and whatever moving living
creatures He has dispersed in them both. And He is All-Potent over their
assembling whenever He wills.” (Ash-Shura 42: 29)
“And among His Signs
are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Prostrate yourselves not
to the sun nor to the moon, but prostrate yourselves to Allāh, Who created them, if you (really)
worship Him.”
(Fussilat, 41: 37)
“And among His Signs
is that He created you from dust, and then, behold, you are human beings
scattered! And among His Signs is that He created for you wives from among
yourselves that you may find repose in them, and He has put between you
affection and mercy. Verily, in that are indeed Signs for a people who reflect.” (Ar-Rum, 30: 20-1)
The Qur’an, contains rules, principles and
commands. It contains a complete course of life. It contains information about
previous nations and generations and the forthcoming ones. It contains
information about the past, present and future; and it contains information
about Allāh. About the Qur’an, Allāh
says: “All Praise belongs to Allāh, Who has sent down to His slave
(Muhammad Sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) the Book (the Qur’an)
and has made no crookedness therein.” (Al-Kahf,18: 1)
3
- There are also events and incidents ‘divine acts’; things that happen,
rain that falls down, droughts volcanoes, earthquakes …etc, that lead you to Allāh.In this context, Allāh
says: “Then there passed by on it (the
garden) a visitation (fire) from your Lord at night and burnt it while they
were asleep.” (Al-Qalam, 68:19)
Sometimes, a harvest that is worth
hundreds of millions of pounds is devastated by frost in three minutes. Just as
the universe tells about Allāh and the Qur’an tells
about His divine religion, Allāh has divine acts like
frost, winds, hurricanes, floods, volcanoes, earthquakes, diseases, epidemics,
droughts, poverty, oppression, …etc that tell about Him. Consider the following
verses: “And your Lord would
never destroy the towns wrongfully while their people were good-doers.” (Hud, 11: 117) This is
a kind of non-verbal teaching. He says: “Say:
‘Travel in the land and see how has been the end of criminals.” (Al-An’am, 6: 11)
4
- Divine inspiration is another way by which Allāh guides you as, sometimes, He
inspires you to enter a certain mosque in order to offer prayers; but you find
a great number of people attending a religious lecture, so you sit and listen,
and you find so many interesting things that keep you attracted to the mosque
and devoted to it. These are all kinds of divine inspirations.
5
- Good dreams are undoubtedly further kind of divine guidance. Sometimes, people have
good righteous crystal clear dreams in their sleep. Such dreams motivate them
to be more obedient and dutiful to Allāh.
To this, Prophet Muhammad (Sallallāhu
‘alayhi wa sallam)
says: “A good righteous dream is one part, out
of forty-six parts, of Prophecy.”
Thus, if Allāh
desires to teach you something directly and without the need for any inference,
contemplation, or awareness on your part, or any divine acts as indicated by
this verse: “Say: ‘Travel in the
land and see what was the end of the beliers (those who rejected the truth).” (Al-An’am, 6: 11)
6
- Also, Allāh
sometimes guides you by making you meet, quite accidentally, another person,
who tells you something or provides you with certain information that leads to
your guidance.
In other words, when I meet someone who tells me something, I should wonder,
one way or another, “Who has made me meet such person?” It is certainly Allāh who has! “Who has made
such person say what he said?” It is Allāh.
“Who has inspired such person?” It is certainly Allāh.
When you are not on the right way, and someone comes to show it to you, you
should firmly believe that Allāh
has made such person come and show you the right way. This is another kind of
divine guidance, namely by means of other fellow humans.
7-
Feelings of spiritual comfort or discomfort are is another gate of guidance. For example, sometimes
you intend to travel somewhere; but when you are about to leave, you suddenly
feel uncomfortable, or comfortable, about it; and also you find that things go
on smoothly and easily or awkwardly and most difficultly.
8
- Also, Allāh
sometimes makes man unable to think or make a decision about something, but He
drives him to do it easily though unintentionally. In this context, Allāh
says: “Glorify
the Name of your Lord, the Most High, Who has created (everything) in perfect
proportion, and Who has decreed and guided, and Who brings out the pasturage
and then makes it dark stubble.” (Al-A’ala, 87: 1-5)
Scholars
Classify Allāh’s
Divine Guidance into Four Types:
1- General Divine
Guidance
Allāh
has provided you with the sense of smell, for example, which enables you to
distinguish the smell of gas, which is sometimes very dangerous at home. This
means that He guides you by means of the senses, one of which is the sense of
smell. You sometimes hear a noise in the next room and hence guess that there
is somebody in it. This means that Allāh guides
you by the sense of hearing. Also, Allāh has given you the
ability to think and deduce, just as He has granted you knowledge, experience,
and awareness.
In this context, Allāh
says: “He (Pharaoh) said: ‘Who, then, is the
Lord of you two, o Moses?’ He (Moses) said: ‘Our Lord is He Who gave to each
thing its form and nature, then guided it aright.’” (Ta-Ha, 20: 49-50)
2
- Divine Guidance to True Faith
By virtue of this type of divine guidance,
Allāh guides mankind to Him,
to His book, the Qur’an, and to the truth.
3
- Divine Guidance to Success
Regarding this type of guidance Allāh
says: “We
narrate unto you their story with the truth: Truly, they were young men who
believed in their Lord (Allāh), and We (Allāh) increased them in guidance.” (Al-Kahf 18: 13)
4- Divine
Guidance to Paradise
To that Allāh says: “But those who are killed in the Way of Allāh, He will never let their deeds be lost.
He will guide them and set right their state, and admit them to the Garden (of
Paradise), which He has made known to them.” (Muhammad, 47: 4-6)
And Allāh
Almighty Knows best.
Related Links:
At-Tawab
(The Granter and Acceptor of Repentance)
Allāh’s Name As-Salam (The Source of Peace)
Allāh's Name Al-Lateef (The All-Kind, Most Gentle)
Allāh's Name Al-Ghaffar (The All-and Oft-Forgiving)
Allāh’s Name Al-Fattah (The Opener)
Allāh’s Name As-Salam (The Source of Peace)
Allāh's Name Al-Lateef (The All-Kind, Most Gentle)
Allāh's Name Al-Ghaffar (The All-and Oft-Forgiving)
Allāh’s Name Al-Fattah (The Opener)
[Excerpted from “Toward
Understanding Allāh's Attrubutes of Al-Hadi
(The Guide)” By Dr. Muhammad Ratib An-Nabulsi, Via On Islam,
Saturday, 04 December 2010 .Dr.
Muhammad Ratib An-Nabulsi is a Muslim Syrian preacher and
writer. He has written a number of Islamic books, most remarkable of which are:
“Encyclopedia of the Beautiful Names of Allāh”, “Encyclopedia of
Scientific Miracles of the Holy Quran and Prophetic Sunnah” , “Outlooks on Islam”
and “Contemplations on Islam”. He delivers a number of lessons, orations,
symposiums and chat programs broadcasted on the Syrian, Arab, and Islamic
radios and Televisions. This article is a summarized version of
the article (Al-Hadi) by the author, published at his web site www.nabulsi.com]
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