ALLAH THE GLORIFIED AND THE EXALTED
                                                  by: Aibah Khan

'La ilaha illallahu Muhammad-ur-Rasulullah'
'None is worthy of worship except Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah'

This is the first Kalima - Kalimah Tayyibah. Tayyibah means "pure". This Kalima declares the Oneness of Allah.

'Say He is Allah, the One and Only. Allah the Eternal, Absolute. He begetteth not. Nor is He begotten. And there is none like unto Him.' (112:1-4)

Surah Ikhlas from the Holy Qur'an reveals that He (Allah) is One and Only. We can't compare Him with others because 'there is none like unto Him'. This was just one Surah from the Holy Qur'an which was revealed to Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu alaihi wa Sallam from Allah. Allah revealed four books which were the Zaboor, Taurat, Injeel and the Qur'an. Allah also sent Prophets for the guidance of mankind. The well known Prophets are Hadrat Adam Alayhissalam, Hadrat Nooh Alayhissalam, Hadrat Dawood Alayhissalam, Hadrat Yousuf Alayhissalam, Hadrat Sulaiman Alayhissalam, Hadrat Moosa Alayhissalam, Hadrat Esa Alayhissalam and Hadrat Muhammad Sallallahu alaihi wa Sallam. All Prophets obey Allah and don't commit any sin. Angels are also a creation of Allah. Allah created everything. The first man Allah created was Hadrat Adam Alayhissalam. The angels are always busy in worship of Allah. They obey every order that they receive from Allah. The well known angels are Hadrat Jibreel, Hadrat Mikaeel, Hadrat Izra'eel and Hadrat Israfeel (may peace be upon them).

He is the Affectionate, Loving, Kind, Benign, Oft-Returning to mercy, Multiplier of rewards, Author of peace and Granter of security. Though he made great things like the sun and the stars, yet He thinks much more of us humans, than He does of others. He made the others for our benefit. Not even the smallest flower or the tiniest bird is ever out of God's sight. He is the Creator. He is the Almighty. He is closer to us than our main vein. His promises are always fulfilled. Allah is forever.

'Say: Call upon Allah, or call upon Rahman: by whatever name ye call upon Him, (it is well): for to him belong the Most Beautiful Names.' (17:110)

We all praise Allah and solicit His blessings for His kind Messenger Muhammad (may peace be upon him) for the true knowledge of Allah and His attributes have come to us through him. He taught us that Allah is the only One God, Who has ninety-nine attributive names. "Allah" is a proper noun in a consolidated form meaning, "God". No plural can be formed out of it nor any derivation is possible. It connotes the attributes of Perfection and Beauty. Allah is the name of the Divine One, as distinguished from all other attributive names called Asma-ul-Husna, the most excellent names. There are ninety-nine Epithets of His attributes mentioned through the Holy Qur'an.

Sayyidatina Aisha (Allah be pleased with her) mentioned that Ya Rabb (O Lord) is the greatest name of Allah.

The essential difference between a judge and a master is that the judge is found to do justice and must punish the evil-doer while the master can exercise his discretion, and may either punish the evil-doer or forgive him, as in the verse below:

'Say: O' my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: For Allah forgives all sins, for He is Oft- Forgiving, Most Merciful.' (39:53)

Power is another glorious attribute of Allah Almighty. His decrees are immutable and His commands unalterable. It is this which has brought forth all creation at His first call: He uttered the word kun and they came to life and in position.

There is all possible perfection in God. In Him is absolute fullness. The source of all life is God. All wisdom is in God. He is the Wise. All purity is in God. All righteousness is in God.

His name is Allah and we can call on Him by other sacred names also which are attributive or qualitative with great benefits and blessings. Nevertheless, He must be remembered, or called upon only with one of the names by which the last Prophet and Guide, Muhammad Sallallahu alaihi wa Sallam is known to have remembered or called on Him. The reason for this is simple. Allah Almighty is beyond human comprehension and, therefore, to call on Him by names out of one's own imagination may be unbecoming to His Omnipotence.

It has come down to us from the Holy Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa Sallam that Allah Almighty has ninety-nine auspicious names.

Abu Hurairah (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) as saying: 'There are ninety-nine names of Allah; he who commits them to memory would get into Paradise'.

Remembrance of Allah
Islam has greatly stressed on its followers the need of remembering Allah, as it is the soul of the true life of man both in this world and in the Hereafter.

The Qur'an and Ahadith are full of instructions which insist on the faithful to see that their heart is always adorned with the remembrance of Allah.

Man's heart is full of foul and frivolous thoughts, temptations, vices etc., and the remembrance of Allah is the cure for the diseased condition of our hearts. The more we remember Allah the better will be the condition of our hearts, and above all by continuous remembrance we will be able to create the fear of Allah, which serves as a guiding force in our march on the path of Truth. Remembrance of Allah is an act which brings Divine blessings and also great reward. Allah says:

'Therefore remember Me and I will remember you; and be thankful unto Me and be you not ungrateful towards Me.' (2:152)

'Those who believe and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah: For without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.' (13:28)

'And remembrance of Allah is the greatest (thing in life) without doubt.' (29:45)

The above verses clearly ordain the faithful to remember Allah. Among the benefits that accrue from this deed is contentment, blessings, piety and strengthening of faith and abstention from evils and vices. And the best of all is that Allah remembers us, a kindness which can altogether change the trend of life to the best advantage of the believers both here and in the Hereafter.

The Holy Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa Sallam again and again instructed and advised his companions to keep their hearts always illuminated with the remembrance of Allah. According to him, the heart is the source of good and bad thoughts and deeds and when there is slackness on the part of a believer in the remembrance of Allah, bad ideas and thoughts occur in it and ultimately they result in sins or vices. When the remembrance of Allah is in abundance, bad thoughts and ideas are suppressed and good ones occur which lead to good deeds.

Ibn 'Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) reported the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) as saying: 'Shaitan is holding fast man's heart and when man remembers Allah, he leaves the heart and when man becomes careless in remembrance he begins to create ill feelings'. (Bukhari)

The Messenger of Allah also said that everything has a polish and the polish of the heart is the remembrance of Allah.

In short, the remembrance of Allah is the happiest and also the wisest of pastime. Its blessings can never be counted and the satisfaction it brings cannot be measured. We should always keep ourselves busy in the remembrance of Allah, even while doing our work, business and other work. The act of remembrance will save us from bad thoughts and vices and improve both our spiritual and worldly life.


Allah - Proper name of God in Arabic. This name is mentioned 2697 times in the Holy Qur'an.

The Kaaba, House of Allah
The House of Allah, Ka'ba, is so called because it is cube shaped. Allah has called it His house. Its length, height and width are the same measurement. It is also called 'Baytullah', 'Bayt-ul-Haraam' and 'Ka'batullah'. All Muslims turn towards the Kaaba in their five daily prayers. This direction is called the 'Qiblah'. The Kaaba is in Makkah. Hadrat Adam Alayhissalam originally built it. Later on, in the time of Hadrat Nooh's flood, the Kaaba was destroyed. It was reconstructed by Hadrat Ibraheem Alayhissalam and Hadrat Isma'eel Alayhissalam on a command from Allah. The Kaaba was ready on 25th Zilquad. When Muslims go for Hajj or Umrah, they circle the Kaaba seven times. This is known as 'tawaf'.

Know child that God is only one,
And has no partner or any son.
He has made us and everything,
All beasts, all fowls, all birds that sing.
The sun, the moon, the starry sky,
The land, the sea, the mountains high.
He knows whatever we think or act,
By Him is seen the real fact.
And only He does what He wills,
He makes, He keeps, He kills.
Forever the same, no age, no youth,
He is perfection, He is Truth.
Almighty, All-seeing, Wise,
He hath not form or shape or size.
But self-existing is our Lord,
And is always to be adored.
Our God is Just and loves the right,
The wrong is hateful to His sight.
To all His creatures, He is Kind,
He gave us reason that we might,
Know good from bad, wrong from right.