No soul has authority over another. Guidance and straying is a matter between God and you.


aakwrAllahwbHu


The Ism of Allah, Al-Hayy.

From that which Allah <Al-Rahman Al-Raheem> has referred to Himself in the Quran is the Ism {Name/Description} "Al Hayy":

40:65 He is Al-Hayy; there is no deity except Him, so call upon Him, [being] sincere to Him in religion. [All] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds.



In this write-up, I am calling upon the readers to have a closer look at this Ism of Allah <Al-Rahman Al-Raheem>. Let us begin by having a look at what "hayy" means:

30:19. He brings the living out of the dead and brings the dead out of the living and brings to life the earth after its lifelessness. And thus will you be brought out.

In the above verse, the Arabic word "al-hayyi" has been translated as “the living,” and this is the established and accepted usage of "hayyi".



Let us now look at a verse which explicitly establishes God Almighty’s transcendence over death:

22:58. And rely upon Al-Hayy who does not die, and exalt [Allah] with His praise. And sufficient is He to be, with the sins of His servants, Acquainted.

We see from the above verse that God Almighty is the One Who dies not, and, as such, He transcends death.

Further, as already stated, the accepted understanding of “al-hayyi” is “the living”. Accordingly, when Allah <Al-Rahman Al-Raheem> refers to Himself as Al-Hayy, the understood meaning of this Ism is "The Living". However, we need to exercise some caution over here.



The Quran informs us that God Almighty has neither an equal nor a likeness, so when God Almighty describes Himself, or reveals something which talks about His interaction with His creation, care has to be taken to not associate with God Almighty that which He has not associated with Himself.

As mentioned earlier, the Arabic “al hayyi” means “the living,” and Al-Hayy, an Ism Allah, is likewise translated as “The Living”. However, we should not understand Al-Hayy to denote life or livingness in the same way that we ordinarily understand life or livingness, which is a mundane or earthly understanding.

Allah <Al-Rahman Al-Raheem> has no likeness, and what has been revealed to us in accordance with our grasping and linguistic ability. Therefore, when God Almighty refers to Himself as Al-Hayy, we should not seek to interpret Al-Hayy to mean "living" in the same way that living is one of our (created) functions or livingness is one of our (created) attributes. A clear and definite evidence of this is the verse wherein Allah <Al-Rahmaan Al-Raheem> informs us that He is the One Who created life {hayat} and death {mawt}, and this necessarily implies that God Almighty transcends ”life” itself:

67:2. [He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving.

[blockquote]The Almighty informs us through the above verse that He created mawt and hayat to test us, and this requires us to reject a mundane understanding of His Ism “Al-Hayy”. The Creator of life and death necessarily transcends both life and death, and this verse decisively establishes Al-Hayy as God's Ism even before He created life/hayat, and establishes His Ism Al-Hayy as being other than the hayat that He created to test us.

In sum, God's transcendence over hayat should be borne in mind lest one confuses the creation’s being “hayy” with His Ism Al-Hayy. This also saves one from any misconception that our livingness is an extension or a part of His Ism Al-Hayy.

Finally, it behooves us to not interpret what He reveals about Himself with an anthropomorphic outlook. Allah <Al-Rahman Al-Raheem> encompasses His creation, and it can never encompass Him. And praise is for Allah, the Lord of the worlds.[/blockquote]


Notes:

i. Saheeh International has been used as a translation for the referenced verses, with the modification that the Ism Allah Al-Hayy has been left untranslated.


la ilaaha illaa Allaahu Al-?Atheemu Al-Haleemu, la ilaaha illaa Allaahu Rabbul ?arshil-?atheemi,
la ilaaha illaa Allaahu Rabbus-samaawaati wa Rabbul-ardhi wa Rabbul-?arshil-kareemi
there is no god except Allah, the All-Mighty, the Forbearing; there is no god except Allah, the Lord of the Mighty Throne;
there is no god except Allah, Lord of the heavens, Lord of the earth and Lord of the noble Throne.