Asma ul Husna- #33 Al Baseer, #34 As Samee, #35 Al Aalim, #36 Al Aleem, #37 Al Khabeer, #38 Ar Raqeeb, #39 Ash Shaheed

Al- Baseer

The All seeing

>Part 1 Audio Link here<

>Part 2 Audio Link here<

• Allah has said, "He is with you wherever you are, and Allah sees whatever you do" (Qur’an, 57:4). 
• In language, seeing is achieved through the faculty of vision; it is the reflection of light on what can be seen and its impression on the eyes. Seeing is also an insight, a discretion, an innermost conviction. One who is baseer is one who sees deeply, who is knowledgeable, who is an expert. 
• Also, to "see" means not to rush, but to contemplate, to be acquainted with things, and to be firm in adhering to the creed.
• Al-Baseer sees everything, the apparent and the hidden, without using the faculty of vision. 
• When applied to the Almighty, Glory to Him, vision receives the perfection whereby the qualities of anything that can be seen are realized. 
• Al-Baseer fully knows every visible thing, and to Him the truth in their regard is apparent, evident. He knows where vision trespasses and what the breasts conceal. He sees and oversees; nothing in the high heavens nor in the earth, nor in what is between them both, nor what is under the ground, can ever be concealed from His vision, and He is the ever-Present Who is never absent.
• One who realizes that Allah has such an attribute will be disciplined by constantly keeping a vigil on his conduct, by being precise when holding his soul to account. 
• One who safeguards his hearing and vision against incurring the wrath of the Almighty, not committing anything that does not beseem him or is not commendable, is loved by Allah.

As- Samee

The All Hearing

• The One whose hearing and attention comprehends everything. 
• The One who pays attention to every supplication and invocation.
• The One who listens to every voice. 
• The One who hears and accepts every word, thought and secret.
• The One who listens to everything, perfectly, eternally, without limitations.
• From the root s-m-' which has the following classical Arabic connotations:
• to hear, 
• to listen
• to accept
• to receive 
• to be told
•          🔹to pay attention 
•          🔹to pay regard 
•          🔹to understand the meaning
• 🔸Our most secretive speech is an open declaration before Allah. Indeed, He hears even our innermost thoughts. Everything is evident to Him, since He is its Creator and He is the one who enables and sustains all that unfolds.
• Allah answers the prayers of those who beseech Him humbly with firm faith and who perform righteous deeds
• The One Who Answers Prayers
• 🔸The idea that Allah hears every sound and every utterance is the most obvious connotation of His name “The All-Hearing”, but this noble name also conveys the meaning that Allah hears and answers our prayers.
• When we know that Allah hears every word we utter, it should make us fearful of uttering false or evil speech.

Al- Aalim

The Knower of the Seen and Unseen

Al- Aleem

The All-Knowing, The Knowledgeable, The One nothing is absent from His Knowledge

• Emphatic form of Al-Aalim
• Its perfection lies in comprehending everything by knowledge—manifest and hidden, small and large, first and last, inception and outcome. 
• The difference between Allah’s knowledge and human knowledge is that we must necessarily acquire our knowledge by what we see and experience around us. On the other hand, Allah’s knowledge has no beginning or end and is not based on trial and error. Allah (swt) tells us in the Qur’an:

“And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him. And He knows what is on the land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but that He knows it. And no grain is there within the darknesses of the earth and no moist or dry [thing] but that it is [written] in a clear record,” (Qur’an, 6:59). The all-Knower even knows every leaf that falls.

• He knows what our souls whisper to us and He is closer to us “than the jugular vein”. So He knows what you are going through, what you are feeling. Your Lord does not forget either; so do not think that anything you have done has gone to waste. He knows when you prevented yourself from doing bad for His sake, so just because you didn’t see the result of your choice immediately, don’t think that it went unnoticed. But some things need patience, and Allah (swt) teaches us with time. Allah (swt) tells us:

“But perhaps you hate a thing and it is good for you; and perhaps you love a thing and it is bad for you. And Allah Knows, while you know not.” (Qur’an, 2:216

Coming Alive with Allah’s Names:

• The first lesson is that understanding these Names should increase our faith in Allah. His names and attributes are all related, and once we truly understand them and try to live by them, our faith in Allah (swt) should increase as we see the manifestations of His Name in our lives.
• The second lesson is one of humility. When Abu Bakr radi Allahu `anhu (may God be pleased with him) was praised, he would pray: “O Allah! You know me more than I know myself; and I know myself more than they know me. O Allah! Make me better than they say, forgive me what they do not know about me, and do not take me to account for that which they say about me.” We all know our faults better than others, and there are some faults that we do not notice that Allah (swt) knows. It is important to keep ourselves grounded, that no matter how good we become, Allah is All-Knowing and we can always improve.
• It is important to always attribute the good to Allah (swt), because truly all good is from Him. And as we know, whoever is grateful, Allah (swt) increases them in favor.
• Finally, the best knowledge is knowledge of Allah (swt). Al-Ghazali, says, “He who knows all things but fails to know Allah is not called ‘a wise person’.” We are encouraged to increase in knowledge, as Allah (swt) instructs us in the Qur’an:“… and say, ‘My Lord, increase me in knowledge.’” (Qur’an, 20:114)
• Moreover, knowledge is praised. Allah (swt) also tells us:“… whoever is given wisdom is given a great good,” (Qur’an, 2:269)So it is important to keep learning in general in order to better ourselves in this dunya, but it is equally if not more important to keep up our religious knowledge and knowledge of Allah (swt), because that also helps us to put this dunya into context.

We ask Allah to increase us in beneficial knowledge and in iman (faith).🎀

Al- Khabeer

The Aware

• The One who knows the truth of things
• The One who knows the internal qualities and meanings of all things.
• The One who has perfect knowledge and understanding of the true reality of all things.
• The One who knows and understands the meaning of even the most hidden secrets.
• The One who knows the inner truth of every condition and situation.
• The One who knows and understands secret requests and unspoken prayers. 
• The One who knows and understands the real condition, the inner reality, of everything.
• From the root kh-b-r which has the following classical Arabic connotations:
• to know, or be aware of the real inner nature of something
• to have understanding of the inner, intrinsic nature of something
• to know the reality of something
• to know the secret inner state of something
• to prove, try, test by experience (resulting in inner knowledge)
• He is the One Whose Knowledge encompasses all the outward and hidden matters, the open and secret, all those things that must necessarily occur, all those things that are impossible to occur and all things that can possibly occur, of the affairs of the whole of creation, of the past, the present and the future. There is absolutely nothing that is hidden from Him.

Related names:

• 'Alîm denotes knowing with certainty, especially intuitive knowing, omniscience.
• Khabîr denotes an understanding of the inner qualities, secrets and true reality.

Ar- Raqeeb

The Ever Watchful

• Linguistically, ra-qa-ba (the three-letter root of Raqeeb) means to be erect in order to care for something.         
• A marqab is a high place that the watcher stands on to observe what is beneath him. 
• And from this comes ar-raqaba, which is the neck, because it is erect, and one must be upright when he is observing.
• And from this root comes ar-Raqeeb. Al-Ghazali states that the All-Observant “is one who knows and protects. For whoever cares for something to the point of never forgetting it, and observes it with a constant and persistent gaze.”
• So Allah (swt) is watching over us, all the time, out of His care for us. And this should have a profound effect on the way we live. Allah tells us,

“Does he not know that Allah sees?” (Qur’an, 96:14)

• One could say, ‘Of course we know Allah watches over everything. That’s the most obvious thing.’ Yet, there is a huge difference between knowing Allah is Ar-Raqeeb, and living with the effect of that knowledge. `Umar bin al-Khattab radi allahu `anhu admired those who knew Allah is ar-Raqeeb, we know the two stories from the life of ‘Umar.
• There is a well-known story of the milk seller. While `Umar (ra) was walking at night as he usually did to check on the people, he heard a mother ordering her daughter to dilute the milk they were going to sell with water.  The daughter replied, “Do you not know that `Umar the commander of the believers has forbidden that?”  The mother said, “Well, `Umar does not see us now.”  She replied, “If `Umar does not see us, his Lord sees us.”`Umar (ra) was so impressed by this young woman and her certainty that Allah is All-Observant, that his son ‘Asem married her. ‘Umar Ibn Abdul-Azeez, the well-known and just ruler who is also regarded as one of the rightly guided caliphs, is descended from this woman.

• There is another incident that concerns ‘Umar (ra). He wanted to check up on his people. So he found a shepherd taking care of some sheep, and asked if the boy would sell him one. The boy replied that it was not his. `Umar wanted to see how the boy would react if he was presented with an offer. He said to him “If your master asks you, tell him that the sheep was eaten by a wolf.”  He looked at him and said, “And what would I say to Him (i.e. Allah)?”  `Umar cried and said, “By Allah, you are right.  What would you say to Him?” The milk-seller and the shepherd were regular people. They were people who were presented with a temptation, but their faith that Allah is All-Observant, meaning He both sees and cares for His servants, prevented them from being blinded. They were mindful that Allah (swt) is All-Observant, and thus they were observant over their own selves.
• Knowing Allah is the All-Observant
• You are never alone
• One of things that should warm our hearts when we know Allah is ar-Raqeeb is that we are never, ever alone. When we are up late at night working on an essay, or awake in the early hours of the morning getting ready for work, Allah is with us.
• Watch yourself
• Al-Ghazali states, “The attribute of watchfulness is only praiseworthy in man if his watchfulness is directed to his Lord and his heart”. Just like the milk-seller and the shepherd, we should also be watchful over ourselves.
• Desire to impress
• This Name should also make us want to impress Allah (swt). When we know our parents or someone we love is watching us, we try to do better—so we should be like that when we know Ar-Raqeeb. The All-Observant does not only see our bad deeds, but also our good deeds. Let’s give more charity because we know He is watching; let’s be good to people despite the fact that we may not be feeling it at the moment, all for Allah because we know He sees all.

Ash- Shaheed

The Witness

• Allah is a witness to everything that goes on, He knows everything that is obvious as well as hidden. When we think of committing a sin, although no one is looking at us – know that Allah is ‘As Shaheed’, He is ‘the witness’ and He witnesses exactly what you do.
• Today, what do people do to hide themselves of a wrongdoing? They’ll put disguises on, they will imitate someone else, they will use enticement into having people to tell them everything. They will go through such extents to make sure that something stays concealed or stay undisclosed, but why? Because guess who already knew your every move? Ash-Shahid.
• Allah is Ash-Shahid. When it comes to thoughts, we are not held responsible for the things we think, or the things that cross our conscience, but what if Allah did play out all our thoughts? What a scary thought! Yet at this very moment, Allah knows our thoughts.
• Ya Shahid, forgive us for the thoughts that pass our minds. Make them just a passing moment, nothing we consider over. Make us people that are always aware of you whether in secret or in public, always conscious that you are there.

Allahuma Ameen.