Al-Mu`ti in the Prophet’s Sunnah
That name Al-Mu`ti (the Giver) was not mentioned in the Noble Qur’an, but it was mentioned in the Sunnah. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
Allah the Almighty prohibits in order to give, takes in order to give, lowers in order to raise.
“Whosoever Allah means goodness for is educated in religion, and Allah is the Giver and I am the divider, and from this nation, there will still be some people who are conspicuous for those against them until Allah’s order is manifested while they are conspicuous.” (Al-Bukhari)
Knowledge .. the Greatest Gift from Allah
The first inclination of the hadith is that the dignity of knowledge is the greatest, Allah the Almighty said:
.. and He taught you that which you knew not. And Ever Great is the Grace of Allah unto you (O Muhammad). (An-Nisaa’ 4:113)
Because Allah the Almighty created a power of perception in man. Unless man seeks knowledge, he will be degraded from his level of humanity to a level that does not suit him.
Therefore, the dignity of knowledge is the greatest to Allah the Almighty, if you want the world, you must seek knowledge, and if you want the afterlife, you must seek knowledge as well.
Are those who know equal to those who know not? (Az-Zumar 39:9)
..Allah will exalt in degree those of you who believe, and those who have been granted knowledge. (Al-Mujadalah 58:11)
Allah adopted work and knowledge in the noble Qur’an as two favorite values among His creation, for man’s heroism is that his excellence criteria are the same as those in the noble Qur’an. People in the world honor the rich and powerful people, but the noble Qur’an showed us that the rank of knowledge is the highest one.
Are those who know equal to those who know not? (Az-Zumar 39:9)
Knowledge of Allah, His Creation and His Orders
As you all know, there is knowledge of Allah, knowledge of His creation and of His orders. Knowledge of His creation and His orders needs a thorough study, a book, a teacher, a certificate, a test _ that is the thorough study, but knowledge of Allah needs mujahadah (fight).
The first indication in the hadith is:
“Whosoever Allah means goodness for, educates him in religion.”
Heroism is not to seek knowledge in your marginal time, it must be part of your life scheme. Because there are people who seek knowledge in their free time, but they have primary things that nothing can exceed.
But to the believer, seeking knowledge is a major part of his life which nothing is more important than. `Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “O son, knowledge is better than money, because knowledge guards you, and you guard money, money is decreased by spending and knowledge thrives with spending, my son! the money treasurers died while they were still alive, and scholars are alive forever, their dignitary are missing and their lessons exist in the hearts”.
Therefore, man has low needs and high needs, the high need is seeking knowledge. Unless man seeks knowledge, he will never get high to the level of his humanity. And in the noble Qur’an, man without knowledge was described as:
They are only like cattle_ nay, they are even farther astray from the Path (i.e. even worse than cattle). (Al-Furqan 25:44)
The likeliness of those who were entrusted with the (obligation of the Torah) (i.e. to obey its commandments and to practice its laws), but who subsequently failed in those (obligations), is as the likeliness of a donkey which carries huge burdens of books (but understands nothing from them). (Al-Jumu`ah 62:5)
.. So his parable is the parable of a dog: if you leave him alone, he (still) lolls his tongue out. Such is the parable of the people who reject Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) (Al_A`raf 7:176)
Even more eloquent than that:
…they are as blocks of wood propped up. (Al-Munafiqun 63:4)
So seeking knowledge is what raises man to the level of his humanity, and to a level that suits him.
The Giver, The Preventer
Always with the beautiful names of Allah, there are names that must be mentioned together such as: the name “the Harmful” and the name “The Beneficial”, we say “The Harmful the Beneficial”, “The Giver the Preventer”, “The Honoring the Degrader”, why is that? How Allah is the Giver and the Preventer? Because Allah the Almighty prohibits in order to give, takes in order to give, lowers in order to raise, humiliates in order to honor. He is the Giver. As man took charge and failed to achieve that, then comes the treatment.
The difference is very clear, between someone who appoints an employee and gives him six months under probation. The employer’s mission is to count the employee’s mistakes, but mercilessly, if they are too much, he will cancel the contract. But if that employee is his son, he will watch him, stop him at every mistake and guide him.
Because the father’s mercy requires follow up, and because Allah the Almighty is merciful with His creatures, if man makes a mistake, He will continue with him with the treatment.
I imagine if Allah does not discipline his slaves, most of them will go to hell. But some were educated by disease, others with worry or with the phantom of a catastrophe, or with a specific hardship. Allah, the Almighty, drives us to His door, and that is from the graces of Allah the Almighty, He is a Giver and a preventer, a degrader and a raiser, honoring and humiliating. It was mentioned in the quotes:
“This world is a world of twisting not evenness” (Ibn Omar reported)
The world does not get even to anyone, and that is for a great wisdom Allah wanted.
“and a house of grief not of joy”
It has sorrow, pain, separation of the loved ones, diseases that inflects the children sometimes.
“and a house of grief not of joy, whosoever knows it..”
That means: whoever knows the fact of life.
“will never be pleased for a welfare”
Because it is temporary.
“ and will never grief a hardship”
Because it is temporary. Death ends everything, it ends the power of the powerful, the wealth of the wealthy, the intelligence of the smart, the health of the healthy, therefore:
“Whoever understands it will never be pleased for a welfare, and never grief for a hardship, Allah the Almighty created the world as a house of affliction”
..for sure We are ever putting (men) to the test. (Al-Mu’mimun :30)
Therefore:
“Allah the Almighty created the world as a house of affliction, and the afterlife as a house of reward, so He made the affliction of the world a reason for the reward of the afterlife, and the reward of the afterlife as a compensation for the world’s affliction, so He takes in order to give, and afflicts in order to reward.”
The Giver, the Creator, the Guider
Our Lord is the one who gave each thing its form and nature then guided it aright:
The last point in this lesson, Allah the Almighty said:
Who then, Musa (Moses), is the Lord of you two? (Ta-Ha 20:49)
Pharaoh asked our master Musa:
Musa (Moses) said:
Our Lord is He Who gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it aright. (Ta-Ha 20:50)
What is the meaning of the Prophet’s saying?
“Give the worker his wage before his sweat dries out” (Ibn Majah)
He did not say: give him a wage, but give him the wage that suits his effort and gives him his dignity. On the other side:
Musa (Moses) said: “Our Lord is He Who gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it aright.” (Ta-Ha 20:50)
Allah is the Giver that He gave us the perfect form and nature.
He created man a perfect stature:
Verily, We created man in the best stature (mould). (At-Tin 95:4)
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Dr. Al-Nabulsi is an outstanding Syrian Islamic scholar. He has written a number of Islamic books, most remarkable of which are: “Encyclopedia of the Beautiful Names of Allah”, “Encyclopedia of Scientific Miracles of the Holy Quran and Prophetic Sunna”, “Outlooks on Islam”, besides articles for some Syrian, Arab, Islamic, and Western magazines and newspapers. He also delivers a number of lessons, symposiums and interviews on Arab, Islamic radios and TVs.
