AS-SAMAD

Al-Azhar Quran Teaching | AS-SAMAD

AS-SAMAD

If weakness surrounds you with a narrow prison from which you cannot escape! If needs besiege you, troubles overwhelm you, worries gather around you, and your spirit seeks to escape the unknown!

Then you are in a great need to turn to Him, to Allah, to As-Samad.

Allah’s Name, “As-Samad,” will grant you all that you need to be strong in this life,  face your reality with dignity, and overcome your problems with determination.

Put your trust in As-Samad, establish a new promise with Him, and then be sure that tomorrow will be much better than today.

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In the Shade of As-Samad:

 
As-Samad is a Name; as you see, it has great solemnity, strong letters, and majestic meaning. It is of little presence and remembrance but of special majesty.
 
As-Samad embodies one of the most significant manifestations of sincerity in worship to Him, the Al-Mighty. He who evokes the meaning of sincerity in his worship, his heart gains the attribute of submission to his Lord, to be steadfast to Him, and to turn to none but Him.
 
Now, we are opening the gate to the world of As-Samad to inspire something from the meanings of As-Samad.
 
As-Samad: It is the One to Whom all creations resort. This is one of the most magnificent meanings of this Name, so we will float around this meaning …
 
As-Samad: It is the One to Whom we direct for fulfilling our wishes, to Whom we seek help in times of calamity, and to Whom we refuge in times of distress.
 
This Name is mentioned in one of the greatest and shortest Chapters of the Qur’an, Surat al-Ikhlas (Chapter of Purity), which is equivalent to the third of the Holy Qur’an: “Say, ‘He is Allah, the One; Allah, the Eternal Refuge (As-Samad).”
 
When a person needs a victory, he says: “Oh Allah.”
 
When he needs help, he says: “Oh Allah.”
 
When he needs protection, he says: “Oh Allah.”
 
When he needs guidance, he says: “Oh Allah.”
 
When he needs kindness, he says: “Oh Allah.”
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Waves

 
Allah surrounds you with needs so that you surround yourself with His Names and Attributes; this is the essence of As-Samadiyyah (the attribute of Allah meaning the Eternal Refuge and Self-Sufficient).
 
In every moment of your life, you need Him. If you do not turn to Him willingly, you will eventually turn to him out of necessity.
 
When the farmer finds the harvest delayed, his need for crops grows desperate, and water becomes scarce; he looks to the sky and says: “O Allah!”
 
When waves batter the ship’s passengers, and the fear of death shakes the comfort of life within them, they say: “O Allah!”
 
When the pilot announces that the aircraft’s wheels have failed to move and that he will circle the airport until the problem is resolved, the passengers forget all the important figures in their lives and remember only the One who owns the dominion of all things, the One who grants safety and is never subject to harm.
 
And when your eyes are fixed on the monitor displaying the heart’s rhythm, watching those jagged lines, and your patient’s breathing grows faint, his pulse weakens, and those lines gradually descend, in that moment, you forget the nurse’s name, the doctor’s face vanishes from your mind, and you plead: “O Allah, be with them!”
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Thoughts of Falsehood:
 
An Arab elder named Al-Husain once came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). The Prophet asked him: “How many gods do you worship, O Husain?” He replied: “Seven; six on earth and one in the heavens.” The Prophet then asked: “Whom do you call upon in times of fear?” Al-Husain said: “The One in the heavens.” The Prophet continued: “And whom do you call upon in times of hope?” He answered: “The One in the heavens.” The Prophet then said: “Abandon those on earth and worship the One in the heavens.” Al-Husain embraced Islam (1).
 
He was convinced by the meaning of As-Samadiyyah, for the One you turn to in times of fear and hope is the only One worthy of prostrating to Him.
 
Faith is the simplest concept in existence. It doesn’t require books, philosophy, or complex arguments. It is a single word; say it with sincerity, and then let it distract thoughts of falsehood.
 
The Quran summarizes this saying:
 
“Say, ‘Allah,’ then leave them to their idle talk and play.”
 
The word “Allah” alone is enough to silence the greatest falsehoods of life … Deep within every human being, within every cell, and around every artery lies things that know Allah well, submit to, and glorify Him.
 
Even a disbeliever, when hearing the Quran, is moved to submission.
 
A well-known story from the Prophet’s Tradition: the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) recited Surah An-Najm (Chapter of the Star) to the polytheists of Mecca in the Sacred Masjid. When he finished, they all prostrated—every one of them, even those who had expelled, harmed, and plotted to kill him.
 
At that moment, a great faithful power erupted in those things of their cells and arteries, causing them to fall in prostration.
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Planets:
 
Allah has placed within His servants a profound need for His love, Glory be to Him.
 
Nothing can satisfy a sacred kind of love in the servants’ hearts except bowing to Him, circumambulating His House, standing before Him, waking from sleep for His sake, and sacrificing their souls in His path.
 
In all its manifestations, life whispers to you: “The One you are searching for is on His Throne, listening to you.”
 
“The Most Merciful, who is established on the Throne.”
 
Consider the woman who finds herself alone with a wicked man who tries to seduce her, but she refuses. When he says: “No one sees us except the stars,” she responds with pride, “How about the Creator of the stars?”
 
Where is Allah?! This is the heart of one steadfast to Allah, vigilant and certain that He is All-Knowing, All-Aware, All-Hearing All-Seeing, and All-Encompassing.
 
Your steadfastness to Allah with your heart is like that of the worshipper facing the Ka’ba to pray.
 
This is how the heart should be: it distributes its desires in all directions, but the forward direction must be for Allah alone…
 
Place whatever you wish to the right or the left of your heart, but in front, let there only be the pleasure of Allah, the fear of Allah, and the love of Allah.
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And yet, you forget Him:

When you seek something and fail to find it, let it go and occupy yourself with Allah.

He is the One who caused it to be lost so that you would turn to Him, seeking refuge and saying: “O Allah, return what I have lost to me!” And He returns it. He wants you to focus on Him instead of your needs, but instead, you focus on the need and forget Him.

Sheikh of Islam Ibn Taimiyah beautifully explains this concept, so meditate with your heart and then make it close to your pains, distresses, and needs. He says:

“A servant may be struck by hardship, and his goal is to fulfill his need and alleviate his distress. He pursues this through supplication and humility, which is a form of worship and obedience. At first, his focus might solely be on obtaining sustenance, victory, or well-being. However, through persistent prayer and humility, doors of faith, recognition of Allah, love, and delight in Allah’s remembrance and supplication open for him, which are greater and more valuable than the need he originally sought. This is from Allah’s mercy upon His servants, driving them through worldly needs toward lofty spiritual goals.”

During the time of Moses, when rain ceased and the earth became barren, he and his people—thousands of men, women, and children—went out to pray for rain. Moses saw an ant raising its hands to the sky, steadfastly turning to the Lord of the Clouds. Moses knew such steadfastness and humility would surely result in rain pouring down. So he said to his people: “Return, for you have been sufficed.” They left as thunder filled the air and rain began to fall.

In my childhood, I was moved by a supplication from a reciter.”

“O Allah, we have brought our mounts to Your door. Do not turn us away from Your Presence.”

Stopping at Allah’s door, the Generous captures the essence of As-Samadiyyah—the state of turning to the Self-Sufficient, the One who fulfills all needs.

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Hold on Him

You must understand that if He (Allah) hadn’t allowed the medicine to take effect in your body, the illness would not have been lifted from you. So, hold on to Him to heal you.

You must believe that if He hadn’t turned that reckless car away from you, you would now be among the dead. So, hold on to Him to protect you.

You must be certain that if He hadn’t surrounded you with His care when you sailed the sea, you would now be food for the ocean’s fishes. So, hold on to Him to be with you.

This is why you hold on to Him—to find peace, to calm your racing heart. Without Him, you run and pant, stressed and restless.

Listen to those tossed by a ship in turmoil or staring death in the face, and the winds of change batter them. Regardless of their religion, you will hear them calling upon His Name: “Oh Allah!”

It is He Who enables you to travel on land and sea until you are in ships, and they sail with them by a good wind. They rejoice therein; there comes a storm wind, and the waves come upon them from every place, and they expect to be engulfed, they supplicate Allah, sincere to Him in religion, “If You should save us from this, we will surely be among the grateful.”

He instilled within you a great need to call upon His Name. A tranquillity envelops your being when you say, “Oh Allah.” If you do not say it by choice, you will say it out of necessity. If you do not utter it in faith, you will cry it out under compulsion. If it is not your word in times of ease, it will be your scream in times of distress.

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The Compass

Why do we wait for a calamity to return to Him, for a disaster to remind us of His Name, and for a catastrophe to bring us back to the Masjid?

Does He not deserve our submission and reliance without calamities, disasters, or catastrophes?

Is all that He has granted us—life, health, faith, safety, and happiness—so little that we only bow our heads to Him in times of affliction, that makes us forget all our illusions, with only God remaining in our minds?!

Adjust your heart’s compass toward Him, then move toward Him, even crawling on your knees. You will reach Him: “So wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah.”

If you turn to someone among people in the morning, they might shut his door on you by evening.

If he supports you against one person, he might abandon you against another.

If he gives it to you today, he might withhold it tomorrow.

As for Allah, Never!

He is the Ever-Living; there is no deity except Him. So call upon Him.

He gives day and night. He supports you against all if you are wronged. He never closes His door before you. His hands are outstretched, granting without measure, the Most Generous of the generous.

This is why all creation turns to Him. If you ever try to rely on anyone else, you will for sure return empty-handed.

If you ask someone else, he may not answer you, or he may answer but delay fulfilling your need, or he may fulfill it partially, or he may fulfill it completely. Still with a humiliating comment, or he may not humiliate you. However, your soul might still have felt broken before.

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Empty your heart from anything but Him

Once, I entered the office of a university official, carrying a petition regarding my studies. After explaining some details, he said, “Don’t talk too much!”

People dislike it when you speak excessively, but Allah loves it when you persist in talking to Him. He loves the servant who is persistent in supplication.

So, why do you complain to others and leave Him?!

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to Ibn Abbas: “When you ask, ask Allah. If there is a need worth asking for, let Allah be the One you ask.”

I was inspired by a saying quoted by Abu Hamid Al-Ghazaly from one of the knowledgeable about the Greatest Name of Allah: “Empty your heart of everything else, and then call upon Him with any Name you wish; He will answer you.”

This is the essence of As-Samad; put Allah within your heart, then know that anything you say or do, in pursuit of His pleasure, will bear the imprint of divinity and godliness … Every hardship you pass by is a message reminding you: You have a Lord—turn to Him.

Illness is a message to humble before Him.

Poverty is a note urging you to prostrate to Him.

Weakness is a call to seek strength from the Ever-Powerful.

Life shouts at you: You have a Lord—resort to Him.

In the pre-mentioned Hadith of Ibn Abbas, the Prophet (peace be upon him) says: “Be mindful of Allah, and He will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him before you.”

Preserve Allah in your thoughts, actions, and intentions, and you will find His protection, companionship, and support.

Hearts find no peace until they place their burdens at the doorstep of their Lord, Al-Samad.

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Steps

Look wherever you want, but keep two eyes in your heart that see only His Majesty.

Say whatever you wish, but keep a tongue in your heart that speaks only His remembrance.

Listen to everyone, but make an ear in your heart that recognizes only His words.

Walk wherever you want, but carve steps in your heart that lead to the Throne of the Lord.

Turn to Him with your heart, soul, thoughts, body, will, dreams, and illusions.

When you pick up a pen, ask yourself: Does what I’m about to write please Allah?

When you’re about to speak, ask: Will my words bring His pleasure?

When you take a stand, ask: Is this stand beloved to Him?

Hang a reminder in the highest corner of your heart that its beats say:

What does Allah want? What does Allah want? What does Allah want?

Turn to Him at all times. If you wake up in the middle of the night, remember Him. Your thoughts are dark if they lack His remembrance. Your mind is desolate if His Name doesn’t pass through it. Your dreams are swamps—until the mention of the Ever-Living touches them, transforming them into rivers, trees, and singing birds.

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Majesty

When you teach your soul to remain steadfast in turning to Him, it will feel ashamed to ask too much for worldly things over time. After all, this world is not the purpose for which you were created; all your aspirations should be for the Hereafter.

The Caliph once said to Ibn ‘Umar while circumambulating the Ka’ba: “Ask me, O Ibn Umar.” Ibn Umar looked at him with the majesty of one steadfast in his reliance on Allah and replied: “Are you offering matters of this world or the Hereafter?” The Caliph said: “The Hereafter is for Allah, but I can offer matters of this world.” Ibn ‘Umar responded: “I have never asked for this world from the One who owns it; how could I ask it from someone who does not?”

Being steadfast for Allah transforms you into someone of greatness who does not care for the lords of dust.

The world is a domain unworthy of those who turn steadfastly to Allah.

Once, a ruler told Ibn Taimiyah: “We hear that you wish our kingdom, O Ibn Taimiyah!” He lifted his head with the majesty of a steadfast servant of Allah and said: “By Allah, your kingdom is not worth two pennies to me!”

How a man who spends his nights presenting himself before Allah can humble himself for a piece of clay by day?!

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The Truth…
 
The moment you turn to Him for your needs is when your needs become subservient to you.
 
No desire can be fulfilled except through Allah; no need exists except in His domain, and nothing can come into being except Him. For He alone controls all power and will in existence.
 
Not a single cell moves, not an atom forms, not a drop of water evaporates, nor a leaf falls except by His Power and Strength.
 
The entire world cannot bring you harm unless Allah wills it, nor can it protect you from harm He has decreed.
 
So turn your face to Him, lean your back upon Him, and entrust all your affairs to Him.
 
For He is As-Samad—the One who is eternally sufficient, the One who neither begets nor is begotten, and there is none comparable to Him.
 
O Allah, make our hearts steadfast in turning to You. Let us ask of none but You, seek none but You and cry for help from none of Your creation. Oh Allah…
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