The Ninety nine beautiful names of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) Part one December 2009

By Arfan Shah (Sheikhy Notes) From the all-Merciful to the Subtle

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Sheikh Faisal Abdurrazak
We are commanded with nothing but the love his family A father treats his sons with love How would a grandfather treat his grandson? The grandfather would love him and what about the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) for his grandsons? Hadith, Whoever loves him; loves me; whoever hates him; hates me. He would prolong his prostrations to not disturb Hassan and Hussain when they used to climbing on his when he was praying this was out of respect for them The love for the martyrs of Karbala is a Sunni not a Shia thing Imam As-Shafi (may Allah show him mercy) said, Love of the family of the prophet is obligatory according to us. Saad once asked the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) about the time of the hour. He replied what have you prepared for it? He prepared nothing but love

Sheikh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi

First lesson: day one

"Say: 'Call on Allah or call on the All-Merciful, whichever you call upon, the Most Beautiful Names are His.''" (17:110)

Allah! There is no deity except Him! To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Qur'an 20:8 He possesses the most beautiful names so call on by them This what we will be doing to know him by his names This is something that has been given to us Studying his names is important The least of which is to respond to the divine command in the Quran We need to know their meanings Knowing Allah (the Exalted) is the best type of knowledge this is the highest knowledge The study of theology it means the knowledge of knowing God but it went astray This is the knowledge of Tahweed To know what is necessary for the divine being Allah (the Exalted) is better than everything and you cannot compare him He is creator we are creation You cannot compare anything to him In terms of the order of books Quran, Tafsir, tahweed, hadith, fiqh, usul al-fiqh, philosophy, novels Knowing Allah (the Exalted) is the noblest thing We learn the proofs to his omniscience, unmatchless and the incomparable When we know something in the Dunya we mean something different We know people in a different way but to know Allah (the Exalted) then it is not similar Allah (the Exalted) is unlike created beings Allah (the Exalted) is beyond directions and beyond places Allah (the Exalted) cannot be contained by a place The more proofs you know the firmer your faith will be until you derive from everything that he is one Reflect on everything on an hourly basis this should bring your attention that there is one creator That way youll see more proofs to the existence of Allah (the Exalted) Looking in the books of theology youll find more proofs Fakhruddeen Al-Razi knew over 1000 proofs to the existence of Allah (the Exalted)

The church claims that they have 25 proofs to Jesus being god but these are rejected which lead to a spread atheism in the west Islam laid down these proofs down, one after another Thomas Aquinas uses the proofs of the Muslims Allah (the Exalted) praised the intellect in the Quran Everyone of us has unlimited proofs all it takes is reflection If you want to know Allah (the Exalted) then find proofs from your surroundings Looking at different fruits like the varying names of Allah (the Exalted) Its the flowers are arranged together and indicate to a name; the white and black flower the bringer of live and the bringer of death there is a contrast between the flowers Opposite names is the one who takes the lives of oppressors Al-Mumit If you contrast names from death to live If you look at Al-Mumit alone and it needs to be looked Al-Muhyi There is a bright side to every name These names Allah (the Exalted) revealed for us so that we know him and he wanted us to call upon him It is impossible to know the essence (Dhat) of Allah (the Exalted) We know the way to him metaphorically - as you cannot reach him by traversing a path. None of your worship benefits Allah (the Exalted) but it makes a difference to us The person is affected by the meaning of the name used Whatever name you call upon him makes no difference to but it makes a difference to you I allow me proceed by welcoming you and we are warming you up now We have many freshmen who are here for the first time We have people who have come from far away USA and china This is great honour for me to put your trust in me All my knowledge is from Him (Allah (the Exalted)) The one who trained and taught me is my father read fatiha for him Unless you are grateful then you wont get an increase We ask Allah (the Exalted) to grant us success to complete this course in this cold weather

Learning something is the key to acting upon it We learn so we can practice more This is a course on akhira not Dunya We are not here to boast of what we learnt Calling on his names increases your faith Every name presents an example Someone know Allah (the Exalted) through a particular name Some people see Allah (the Exalted) as the all knowledge and worship through this Some know him as the giving and when they have not then do not know You should know Ar-Razzaq/the provider then you should know Al-Qahir/the compeller Know Al-Wahab/the giver and know the Al-Manni/the withholder This increases your faith and protects you from falling into disbelief or the least stopping from objecting Many of you are going through tough times and are those who are not it is strange When the salaf saw someone who was fit and healthy they would flee from him as they think that is something wrong but now we think the opposite We run from those in tribulations giving is depriving him from reward You need to know these names so you can enjoy worship You know him as the provider and when does not then it is the same This is a manifestation of divine name His names are Him not ours You are not the one who gave him these names he gave names Allah (the Exalted) gives names You cannot address with any name you like or attribute a name to him God is not his name, khuda is not his name, deau is not his name Is there anyone called Khalid here does it work if I call you immortal? Sheikh Faisal what does your name mean? Criterion does it mean the same? When we call Allah (the Exalted) with a translated name then does it work?

There is a way to address Allah (the Exalted) with perfect adab/manners The word Allah (the Exalted) is his name and He revealed it no one decided to call him this Allah (the Exalted) taught Adam the names of everything including the big and large pot according to Ibn Abbas The Arabic language was revealed according to the linguistics other languages were developments Kitab means book and taught Adam (upon him peace) the name. Adam then showed them to the angels. Allah (the Exalted) commanded the angels to tell him the names but they did not know showing them the virtue of Adam Human beings are better than angels. Common believers are better than common angels. The Prophets and Messenger are better than the angels If Allah (the Exalted) taught Adam (upon him peace) the names of everything then why do we object about the knowledge of the Prophet? How were the names of abstract things like honesty, generosity then showed Adam or generosity was shown in a certain form In one hadith your prayer comes as being on the day of judgement as does your charity Death is shown as a sheep on the day of judgement Death is something abstract as it is the end of life Showing those in their respective that they will remain there eternally Allah (the Exalted) is the name of essence and every other name is an attribute When you saw Allah (the Exalted) you include every attribute So when someone knows Allah (the Exalted) is different to knowing his names When you know Allah (the Exalted) then you are stable and you do not change Only those on disbelief should be unhappy I do not want to see anyone unhappy of you because have Allah (the Exalted) You need to be happy Dont be upset when you dont have a job be happy with Allah (the Exalted) When you have found Allah (the Exalted) then you have the most important thing You need to surrender your will to his

There is no way to translate the word Allah it is matchless When Pharaoh claimed divinity he did not change his name Other names might be shared with some conditions. You can describe someone as being a giver/wahab Merciful/rahim Rabb/ Lord belongs to Allah but this can be used as compound noun as Rabb Al-Usra/ Lord of the family Al-Rahman is not used for human beings Musaylamiah the lair called Ar-Rahman Al-Yamama and his lies were revealed and no one else shares this with him The first thing that any child utters is Allah, Allah In Syria they train children to say Ugha which is assyriaic for Allah. In Morrocco they train children to say Qul Allah The word Allah is so easy to say You can breathe the name of Allah Even your breath should be dhikr The Awliya breathe worship Even invest your breath with dhikr Every part indicates to Allah , Alif means the one delete the first alif then you get Illah removing the first alif means to him then deleting the second alif then it mean huw meaning he. The circle in the ha symbolises His power the scholars emphasis writing Allah in this way You always pause with sukoon when you recite Arabic Autography is the rules of writing and calligraphy is the way of writing There are weak narrations that the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) ordered Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) to make a long ba This tradition is practiced even though it was weak The word dhat meaning essence but it also means the feminine of dhu ilmin which means possessor of knowledge This is different is a feminine but dhat is not feminine when it refers to Allah we do not mean a gender they even make the ta long to indicate this

The name of Allah has no dots similar to the name Muhammad as dots distinguish one letter from another As you do not have veil between you and Allah (the Exalted) Ayn and ghayn only have a dot as a difference ayn is the truth and ghayn is the veil The Sufis say if you want to know Allah remove the dot of the ghayn and the ayn the truth will be revealed to you The dotting system was added during the time of hallaj Half of the letters are dotted and the others are not Dots were the first things to be added to the Quran Some scholars used to write without dots until the fourth century Look at the letters sent to the kings by the prophet People would know because their vast knowledge of Arabic Allah and the name of the Messenger has no dots Allah (the Exalted) loves praise he loves you to do it but Allah does not benefit If you praise Allah (the Exalted) after sinning then the punishment is postponed Shyness is a praiseworthy quality Would you slander someone who is supporting you? Allah (the Exalted) is giving you dont you feel ashamed when you transgress against him or you have bad thoughts about He has been giving you even before you learn to ask! Ibn Abbas did not owe anyone any money but a man claimed that he owed him. The man rushed then Ibn Abbas told him to say wallah and not wallah Al-Azeem. Then he said wallah al-Azeem then left the masjid after making the oath then died. They asked him what did he do but he wanted to praise Allah to delay the punishment. See the impact of praising Allah. The person was a lair

Second lesson

We were talking about the name Allah We cannot translate the names The translation of the names of Allah (the Exalted) so we cannot translate the names

It is less obvious with Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem when we go through the names we shall see that it is impossible to translate them The history of the Arabic word is lost So we cannot give the same meaning or the nuances Use them as they are in Arabic It is not about more or less merciful Translating them literally can give the opposite the meanings which is not recommended as in Bahr Al-Kalam especially to mutashbiah/verses of ambiguous meaning - this is wrong to state as there is nothing like Allah - 42:11. We instead go for the interpretation like in the verse which means the hand of Allah is over their hand we instead say the power of Allah is above their power When Allah said asa/ Adam it does not mean disobey, as we understand, we say Allah knows best its meaning as we know that prophets are perfect people I encourage translators and writers to explain not translate The names of Allah (the exalted) are revealed The sources of the names of Allah are the Quran and Sunnah We have attributes of completion that are impossible for Allah like getting married is completion for us not this is impossible for Allah (the Exalted) We cannot use synonyms like alim for Alieem We cannot affirm the names of Allah (the Exalted) in other traditions What may be perfect for us is not perfect for Allah (the Exalted) Allah (the Exalted) gave these names to himself in a hadith there is a dua about asking Allah (the Exalted) with all the names he has given himself Christology has many disagreements about the pronouncements of the name of Allah (the Exalted). We are blessed that Allah (the Exalted) has allowed us to pronounce his name Jewish scholars cannot pronounce the name of Allah (the Exalted) Imagine if we were unable to pronounce his name in the Quran this is great honour to be able to say his name This is a proof of Islam the word Allah is a treasure Idoni or asdau are names known in Aramaic The Quran is a scared language

All Muslims recite the Quran in Arabic tell me how many Christians can recite their prayers in Aramaic? They distorted the name of Allah (the Exalted) with the misunderstands of the letters The best Jewish works are in Arabic not in Hebrew as it was abandoned then it was developed later Letters are divided into various natures some are hot and some are cold. Some are wet and others are cold Letters have natures Sometimes we do not appreciate things until we see the opposite When Jews recite the name Allah (the Exalted) they cannot pronounce it they say idoni imagine if were forbidden to say Allah (the Exalted) One important features of Al-Fatiha, I like to ponder why there is this word and not another, some letters of the Arabic are not in it There are two verses which contain the twenty eight letters of the Arabic in Sura Al-Anfal, Thum anzal alikum gham.... and the second Sura Al-fath, Muhammad rasulullah waldhina makum... We are asking for things with the name Rabb as this means the one who provides Using the word Allahumma includes all the names as well There is only one example of the Quran using Allah Rabanna The Quran says call on Allah or call on Ar-Rahman which means we can make dhikr of him Six times say ya Allah When we call someone we say ya When we say ya Allah it does not mean distance This is not because he is far from us but we are far from him As much as you veil yourself from him are you far from him Ibn Taymiyyah said you cannot say Allah on its own as it is not a sentence the refutation of this is by the Prophet Yusuf (upon him peace) who said Ya Allah. Yusuf originally was Ya Yusuf then the particle was deleted Imam As-Shadhali said saying Allah is more effective than saying ya Allah alone Everything perishing but Him (the Exalted) In court people say wallahi this is an oath So be careful if you say I swear then it is an oath

When you make dhikr/remembrance of the name Allah then you are giving a different meaning every time you are affirming the creator Each one affirms a different attribute We are not just repeating So this the beautiful proofs of reciting the beautiful names If you recite the name Al-Tawab then youll repent even if you do not like it so if you keep it up then people will repent at your hand This is an example of one the names of Allah (the Exalted) Abu Hurayrah narrates that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him), Allah has ninety names anyone who innumerates them enters Paradise. Al-Bukhari We praise Allah (the Exalted) for making us Muslims and knowing him It is a great honour to say Allah (the Exalted) This is enough of a blessing We need to embrace their meanings instead of the word innumerate as there are other definitions to this word Al-Qahar/ the oppressor so how do we benefit from this name. Al-Qahar means the will of him which is executed above all other wills It is haram/unlawful to oppress Some things were are not aware of like the night of power in Ramadan Umar ibn Al-Khattab did not deviate after he was promised paradise. He continued doing good actions Five names of Allah are mentioned in Al-Fatiha: Malik, Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim, Allah, Rabb Some words are one word others are two or compound nouns Next time you read the Quran and reach a name then pause and reflect

Sheikh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi Day two

Lesson three We talked about names now we are going to talk about how much we need to call Allah (the Exalted) Allah informed us of his names, say Allah is one (112), Allah (the Exalted) is the creator of all things When you say Allah what do you think of? An apple? A book? You should not envision anything (it is prohibited) There is no way that the human mind can visualise anything you can visualise the divine name Distractions can be something as small as a fly If you call upon Allah (the Exalted) for some of his bounties and it does not work because only those with nothing are given. You claim knowledge then how could you ask for more? You have to leave all your claims and then ask for more An increase needs a feeling that you need more Great Arifeen do five minutes of dhikr which is better than your 10 hours because of their sincerity, intention, presence of heart etc. You should not be concerned about time but concerned about your concentration Do not count the time that you are doing dhikr One of the Awliya asked are you counting for Allah? He was seen with a tasbih in his hand. No I am not counting Allah I am counting for myself I am counting what I present to him The benefit of the dhikr comes back to you All secrets are attained through the name Allah Seekers who make dhikr with the name Allah will be kings of the seekers Ibn Arabi said Allah is the king of all names When you make dhikr you drown in an ocean of what is accessible and what is not accessible The barzargh is the transition period between death and life this is unseen to us (the grave) When you forget about Allah then it might be taken from you This name burns all lust maintain dhikr of Allah (the Exalted) to burn it away do it seven times every prayer for those who are not in tariqah and see the impact of it on your lusts

The disciples of Imam Abu lHassan As-Shadhali (may Allah be pleased with him) would say Allah from morning to evening, they prayer, they work but they do not speak any unnecessary words. They say Allah, Allah, Allah When you can gesture then you do not need to speak Maintaining the dhikr of Allah replaces and effaces your passions If there is a disease in your heart then to say Allah (the Exalted) removes it Make your breaths dhikr Allah none stop dhikr In the Guinness book of records someone sang for 18 hours I should not have any complaints against their partner One man complained about his wife praying when he came home her obligation her is to her husband Doing the obligation of the time that you are in Sidi Ahmed Zarruq said that numbers defined in the sacred law have secrets like 33 time subhanullah and you do not apply the sunnah when do 34. According to an hadith the Prophet stood at the minbar and told about the events to the end of time The number seven has a significance seven layers of heaven; seven times we go around the Kaaba The Arabic letters contain a secret The words abjad hawaz not alif, ba , ta In a weak narration they state that they are names of angels

1,2,3,4 -5,6,7 8, 9, 10 20, 30, 40, 50 60, 70, 80, 90 100, 200, 300, 400 500, 600, 700 800, 900, 1000 (its in reverse order) The numbers allow you to reach a goal The chess board of the Gnostics is different written by Ibn Arabi space of nifaq/hypocrisy, yaqeen/certainty etc The least of chess is that it is controversial with some conditions People get promoted and can move faster After promotion you get struggle If you do not struggle then there are no words

We reach him when we please him with our servitude towards him Some scholar played sixty boards without looking There are names referring to the essence Allah (the Exalted) is with us always and sometimes different names are manifest but not physically As there are different attributes at different times When you ask for something you do not deserve then you are not that is not written for you just ask for Allah (the Exalted) When you want Allah (the Exalted) then he will give you everything Business people have everything so dont you think the Awliya have everything the difference that business people are scared of losing things Whatever occurs to you mind you occupy space in the mind of the Wali so he answers When you opt for Allah (the Exalted) then you get it but you opt for anything else then you will never be happy with it Happiness stems from your love of Allah - be a true servant To be a true servant be in need of Allah There are people who work for 20 years and get more debt and they accept it Not all people have this We shall move on to the rest of the names

Sheikh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi

Day two: second session

The most merciful, the most compassionate These are two names derived from rahima it means mercy and compassion but these are dissimilar to human traits. In the forms Allah (the Exalted) is beyond perfection

Mercy is an inclination of the heart Mercy for us is tenderness or softness in the needs of others who need assistance We cannot bring our understandings and compare it to his attributes This is an action of the heart (mercy) This is not the same for Allah Ya Arham Ar-Rahmeen this is not a name Ar-Rahman is not shared with anyone this is attribute of the essence of Allah Some opinions are Ar-Rahman is for great things and Ar-Raheem is for minor things Sidi Ahmed Zarruq (may Allah show him mercy) said describes his essence and it shows the need of all things to him A fatha on the mem followed by and alif alludes to the vastness of the mercy because the mouth has be opened He was the all-merciful before time was created The throne is absorbed, as well as creation, in his mercy Ar-Rahman contains secrets to other names He has prescribed mercy for himself meaning that his mercy it not recorded for him not prescribed but nothing can be wajib/necessary for Allah (the Exalted) The numerical value for Ar-Rahman is 299 additional letters mean additional meanings There is transitive and intransitive mercy A generous is generous even if there is no need for it Whole works have been written about Bismillah Ar-Rahman is that he created the world and Ar-Rahim is that he sustains the world Every name of Allah has impact on you Part of this mercy is postponement of the punishment to the disbelievers is a sign of the mercy to them Belittle the sin is not the same because sinners can repent You cannot address any non Muslim with Islam by hatred The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bestow peace and blessings be upon him) used to feel grief because they did not accept Islam

Cry at home because people have not accepted Islam Islam has been distorted by Muslims before non Muslim - the distortion of Islam started during the colonial period This is why we have not seen mass conversions to Islam We have changed our understanding of the mercy of Islam Allah (the Exalted) describes the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) as merciful and compassionate to the believers Allahs mercy is leading you to worship There is no mercy for unbelievers We receive mercy in whatever state we are in We need to show people merciful Do not look down on the sinner as he may become great men of Allah We show unbelievers kindness so they become Muslims You cannot address any non Muslim with hatred Islam has been promoted wrongly in the west funded by oil money Even four hundred years ago there were mass conversions because we have changed the core of the Islam which is mercy There one part of mercy is present and the rest are with Allah (the Exalted) O Allah show us this mercy afterlife, to forgive us, leading us to you

The King The absolute ruler or king They describe part of it but it does not give the full meaning Malik is the one who owns everything without being in need of everything Political protocol, emperor, king and president

A king cannot be called a king without kingdom this does not apply with Allah (the Exalted) Allah (the Exalted) owns us Some of the impact and the secrets of this name, if you say ya Malik ninety times then you are given control over your lusts You cannot say ya Malik to become a king because they will kick you out of this country Allah (the Exalted) is not asked what he does but they will be asked A sale of something you do not own is invalid We are owned by Allah (the Exalted) He is the owner of the day of reckoning so should he not be an owner of you in this life? There will no one who claims anything on the day of judgement

The sanctified It means being beyond similarity and change. He cannot be addressed with any deficient descriptions Allah (the Exalted) is no need of anything nor does he change Sura Al-Ikhlass tells us about him Change is a sign of contingent beings/hawdith (I.e. Humans) Each one of his attributes are unchangeable Kings change in malyaisa every five years they mean sultan If you do this dhikr you will be purified from darkness these two are perfect praise of Allah (the Exalted) as they negate imperfection People who do this will purify their hearts These dhikr prefects any negation on your reputation, people will praise you


The source of all peace We do not change Islam according to political times Islam is a religion of peace The greeting Salam alikum is not something new Peace does not mean we surrender our lands, or surrender our resources Modernists tell a different story as they focus on this but Islam is more than one thing These people are speechless when someone quotes the Quran about killing disbelievers You are not allowed to kill anyone in this country When there is a war between countries when you fight in war under the ruler of a country Jihad is not untaken by individuals We do not make ourselves nice for them They have been killing us but we have nice to them for centuries Islam is peace, we gave the flowers and they sent flowers In a poem I wrote Every religion is a source of peace but they have been distorted Christianity does not allow fighting Salam protects between two ends Enemies who meet in the street and exchange greetings Salam means peace and safety There are red lines that people do not cross saying salam is for Allah (the Exalted) and you do not turn away. Visit him if he is sick You people argue in the houses of parliament they look like they are going to kill each other but tomorrow youll see them having dinner This is balance between other qualities The name protects against the opposite like anger This is the middle course of two ends

There are people who do greet each other so when the lesson finishes greet each other for the sake of Allah (the Exalted) You cannot tell your wife that she is stupid or insult her or when you disagree with her father. What has it to do with her? Salam is safety the best type is safety from sins This destroys their lust with this There are actions of Allah (the Exalted) and attributes cannot be derived from them Salam and Islam are similar but one has no alif at the beginning Our ancestors had red lines that they never crossed When you disagree on one thing then that does not mean war between two parties When you say ya salam then you are accepting the decree of Allah (the Exalted) We need to make worship natural in our bodies and this should be like breathing Allah (the Exalted) controls our hearts and this is not done according to our will but to his So your worship should move against your will Islam means to submit and surrender to the divine Hadith, A Muslim is he who does not harm anyone by his tongue or his hand. Bukhari and Muslim We are not tired to eat but we are tired to pray We struggle to worship Allah (the Exalted) Your last breath is taken against your will We pray that Allah (the Exalted) takes us in the best form with the best ending The slavery system in the west is something totally alien to Islam You see people who worked as porters cannot rid themselves of the same behaviour because they are accustomed to it

The granter of security Is the one who gives security and not threat or the source of security

He confirms our true statement of him The best humans are the Prophets (upon them peace) Allah (the Exalted) did not task with tomorrows prayers but guaranteed you tomorrows provision There is no suffering without wisdom Allah (the Exalted) does not breach his promise You should not be shaken the victory is close This is statement of the followers not the prophets (When is the victory of Allah?) No one should doubt the promise of Allah (the Exalted) Allah (the Exalted) loves us and our relationship with his is not that of an oppressor and the oppressed When anything does wrong it due to our behaviour When they ask why Allah (the Exalted) is allowing suffering There is mercy in everything done to you The father gives the child the injection although the father is seeing the child suffering the mother flees out of mercy but the father gives the injection This pain is to prevent a greater pain In the child unsafe with their parents? Normally parents take care of their children but we are in safe hands with Allah (the Exalted) Allah (the Exalted) loves you before you loved him and you did not repent but that he had already accepted it Do you think your dua was the cause? Allah (the Exalted) has already decided (to forgive you) before the worlds were created May people get happy when they get dua answered but this was decreed before the heavens were created that he was going to give you what you asked. It is a great blessing to open your hands This strengths your faith It grants you safety and the people will believe you if you spoke the truth; as long as it is truth or the punishment is severe if you are not telling the truth

The guardian Allah (the Exalted) is witnessing everything as he is with us by his authority and superiority It is not like a person who is passing by and witnesses something This refers to speech and knowledge Wherever you go you aware that you are being watched Ibrahim ibn Adam (may Allah be pleased with him) asked for advice to commit a sin somewhere he told him to go somewhere were someone wont see him, or eat from other than his provision Should we not feel embarrassed or ashamed? When he witnesses us How can you disobey Allah (the Exalted) when he sees you? You might see something but your eyes might deceive you One of the ways that our eyes deceive us is when we put a stick into water and it looks as if it bends Like the stars look so close and so small Your nafs comes under your control and awareness of Allah (the Exalted)

The almighty Meaning the unreachable and the untouchable No one can overcome him or overcome his authority Part of the meaning is power Everything is under his authority Iz means overcomer and rare Mighty belongs to Allah (the Exalted) who grants it to his Messenger and the believers Something that is rare is aziz and aziz can be mighty

A servant of Allah (the Exalted) chooses Dhikr Someone who recites this wont be defeated Every servant take honour from the one they serve so what about the one who are servants to Allah Allah (the Exalted) called us our servants ibadhi It is wrong for a Muslim to display arrogance over others Youll chose worship over the Dunya One of the greatest books is by Hakim at-Tirmidhi called Al-farooq a book of several qualities One of the companions was showing his power before battle. The Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) said this is a walk that Allah dislikes except here. In battle. This is why the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) commanded to show their strength when performing tawaf to show the disbelievers their might When I landed I told them that I would give each name five minutes then I thought that I would give ten minutes and now I think that we wont finish the course! Someone accepted Islam after this lecture

Sheikh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi Day three: lesson one

The compeller The one who amends all affairs when they are about to go wrong Al-Jabbar is the one who comes to broken hearts to mend them No one can go against him He amends the broken and forces someone to do something against their will Filling the hearts of the broken with joy it does not take money

Cheering up a person who has lost a loved one or someone who has a loss of wealth Hadith, A good word is charity. When you do dhikr of the name youll be protected from oppressors Allah will support you and you benefit from them You can recite ya jabbar 206 times on the broken bone and it will heal quickly Imam Ghazali (may Allah show him mercy) said Jabbar is the one who is followed and does not follow The Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) took the guidance of earlier Messengers but not themselves it was from Allah (the Exalted) He said, If Musa was alive he would follow me. They followed his guidance He said, I am the master of the children of Adam without boast. At-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah

The Majestic This is the one whose authority is untouchable and the one who surrender their command to It is praiseworthy quality for Allah (the Exalted) It is an attribute of his essence It is dissimilar to human pride This is an attribute of perfection A person of noble lineage, knowledge and wisdom even if he works in a low job he will be honoured Allah (the Exalted) is beyond all examples We begin our prayer with the word Allah akbar/ Allah is the greatest When you raise your hands you are showing that nothing is more important than prayer

When people know that Allah is Mutakabir then they leave this People have to have full reliance when using this name When someone needs to have certain conditions when they do this or ask for the quality and they will be punished If you are void of good works

The creator, the Maker, the fashioner of forms The creator al-Khaliq bring something from non-existence into existence Allah (the Exalted) created you and your actions Is the creator similar to creation? No, they are not the same I recommend using the word create when you create a file on Microsoft file Creation belongs to Allah (the Exalted) You are changing something Cloning does not represent any challenge to our dogma because it is development it is not creating something from nothing They can clone something as we see everything is cloning things as we are accustomed to see things If you want to challenge the scientist then bring them into an empty room and then put them in their for a thousand years and ask them to bring a monkey They might bring a monkey and two people or two or three monkey Al-Bari prepares everything to take its form and Al-Musawir is the one who gives it form Al-Bari means to originate Al-Bari precedes Al-Khaliq Al-Khaliq refers to decree, Al-Bari to desire and Al-Musawir to wisdom Look at the perfection of the human form Look at the eyes of humans, the insects that change colour

Allah (the Exalted) prepared animals in their environments Fish to breathe in water Why the camel does not get thirsty due to its water storage Khalid ibn Walid was in Qadiyyasah and Abu Ubaydullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) was in near Damascus. Umar heard that there was a great amount of enemy being prepared for the battle of Yarmuk. Khalid picked the most courageous fighters and the best horses then made them thirsty then gave them lots of water. Then did not allow the horses to urinate. No one crossed the Syrian Desert, not Alexander. They would have to come either south of Syria or in Atlas mountains in Turkey this would take too long. They killed some of the camels and horses then they carried the water from the camels and horses. He arrived and they took the Byzantines by surprise Who made camels able to bear thirst? If you have a good voice then chant for us If you want camels to travel faster then you need to train faster with monochrome You can recite slowly and then speed up There was a reciter called Salama was asked to show his skills by Haroon Ar-Rashid. He told him to bring camels and make them thirst, bring them to me and give them water. They began to drink then he sang and they stopped to listen to him I met people who walked to Mauritania to Damascus to go to hajj - they came walking I met a person Sheikh Muhammad Al-Tibir he walks in Medinah barefoot because of his adab with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bestow peace and blessing upon him). To show respect to the land of Medinah. If you do it then youll have cuts Allah created everything with great wisdom look at the camel Allah (the Exalted) did not make anything imperfect Al-Khaliq wa Al-Khallaq is the bringer of something new Dont lend your ears to satan he only whispers to those who lend an ear This gets rid of bad thoughts Then this develops until it destroys him Recite Al-Khallaq to remove this Allah (the Exalted) will bring new character in you Reciting this bring new thoughts Al-Bari is from to heal

Recite seven thousand times for two three years and youll gain the power to heal and if you want to be a healer you have to work One of my relative studied in Russia for seven years he asked for a dhikr This is too long, cant you give something thatll take a few days You were patient to study for seven years and you cannot be patient for a few years for Allah You have to be ready Some people are turned away True murids are few and the Awliya a fewer Some find me the world population in 600, 622, 632 140,000 or thirteen thousand companions Many people decided not to meet him When you practice you religion then youll meet with lots of opposition Most people will go against you when you practice your deen The Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) yearned to see those he called his brothers because they found no helpers Would you want to give everything to see him? We are not far from him; he sees our actions and supplicates for us Anyone who wanted to practice the religion and they would have lots of support, a hundred years ago People who come to a person who fell of the straight path If you want to taste the pleasure then you have commit yourselves You cannot pick up what you like and sometimes doing what you do not like You need a guide and this will help Try to leave your worries with your shoes Leave everything behind you and learn how to pray with pleasure Religion is doing what Allah (the Exalted) likes and not doing what you like Al-Musawir is for those who want children a brother was married for seventeen year and after this dhikr he got twins, someone in California has no children in twelve years and then they had children that year

One of the jobs of scholars is to give answers If you do not answer then ask They will give a prescription

Sheikh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi Day three: lesson two

First all I would like apologise You are entitled to a full refund )its a free course) I am not feeling well

The ever forgiving The forgiving it stems from two roots erasing and covering up Covering is covered in the name Al-Satar Maghrifah means that the sinner is not responsible for his sin by erasing the consequences Covering in the world and on the day of judgement Al-Afu is the one who does not punish Al-Ghafar and Al-Ghafur mean not to open the sin and cover it Allah (the Exalted) calls sinners my servants even those who are addicted to sins This is glad tidings for sinners It is Allah (the Exalted) authority to forgive There are many verses that talk about sins Do not think that your sins cannot be forgiven

There are many people who think they are beyond forgiveness and they think that they cannot be forgiven This is a trap of satan who makes you think that your sins cannot be forgiven Allah (the Exalted) says that those who sin should not despair of the mercy of Allah; As Allah (the Exalted) forgives all sins for believers And for mankind in general is that they will be forgiven if they do not commit shirk People can be weak and they often come back Nuh commanded his people to repent; rain, provision and male offspring will be given The scholars say if you want offspring or male children do istighfar and they will have male children. I have this to a man who had eight girls then he got son and anther because of repentance When someone sins and repents they are not persisting on a sin The people of Taqwa repent when they realise the tricks of satan from the Quran then they see everything clearly This is commentating by Ibn Ataulllah from this verse in the book of illumination This is not about sinners but people of Taqwa Ya ibada is an idadfah tashrif/ possession particle of honour Do not lose your hope in Allah When he repents he should believe that this is the last time that he is going to commit the sin We can pardon people begin with family and partners Getting upset destroys the nervous system Dont count each other mistakes You see each other in the morning and the evening Smiling takes less energy than frowning Getting angry destroys your inner being

The subduer or the oppressor which are inadequate

This is one whose authority who is above everyone else authority The mutabshibi does not mean that what it literally means when he said he above the throne or above his servants these are to show authority and it does not mean physical this is metaphorical and beware of anthropomorphisms as this is against the majority of the scholars of Islam Allah (the Exalted) is unlike created beings No one is able to rebel against him Two directions for you 1) Direct yourself to Allah (the Exalted) 2) Taking it and reflecting it onto your nafs not your wife or children You subdue your nafs The dhikr of this name should remove the attachment of the Dunya These are the latif al-Nafs directs to Dunya and Latif al-Rouh is attached to paradise/ substance of the nafs/ego and substance of the soul You need to control your nafs

The bestower The who gives without being entitled Allah (the Exalted) does not have to give but he gives us without being worthy Its enough that Allah (the Exalted) created us and made us know him We do not deserve what is given Sometimes we see people who have money and are confused Wealthy people who studied and are very few When you opt for money knowledge pulls back When you opt for knowledge then money pulls back Our solace is that what we do not get here we get in paradise

See Sura Duha the hereafter is better than the first He gives without reason like the ahl al-bayt Salman Al-Farsi (may Allah be pleased with him) had a secret which attaches him to Ahl Al-bayt/ the Prophetic offspring He travelled for many years before Islam and he was taken as a slave to Medinah He is also at the end of some Sufi chains Ahl Al-Bayt are not sinless which what the Shia believe Ahl Al-Sunnah do not believe that they have to repent for sins If we see a sinner who is Ahl Al-Bayt then we still have to love him as his sin is against Allah (the Exalted) not against us as he may repent and Allah may forgive him said Ibn Arabi Ahl Al-Bayt got this honour without doing anything These are two things that I have not struggled for (lineage and being son of his father) I believe a stone who had my blessings would speak never mind a human being Anyone not interested in wealth You may go to bed in the evening and get up a Wali Not necessarily today But one day You should be grateful to him and look at what you have got This is new shukr is new bounty You get more divine gifts and you should give out If you recite this name it will force you to show gratitude You are going to give people The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) gave without a reason Muadthi sent his daughter with some dates and cucumber to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) gave her two hand fulls of gold He did not fear for tomorrow he kept giving It is not wrong to keep some for tomorrow because you might be Wali but your wife might not be The Awliya of the women are more than the men because some women are reviving the religion It is difficult to teach brothers and sisters because of the liberation movements

We need to be liberated from our nafs/ego

The Provider I think everyone is worried about provision He is one who sustains, supports and provides for everything these are simplest forms For everything there is rizq/provision Living things and animate things Everything has its provision Bird have their provision had you relied on Allah (the Exalted) truly then you leave your homes hungry and come back full like birds Dhul noon al-Misri (may Allah be pleased with him) saw a bird with a broken wing fall on the ground. Allah is the Provider how is it going to reach him. Two small plates came from the soil, one of water and one of sesame seeds. This was the beginning of his journey to Allah he became a great Wali Thoughts, meanings, words are provision from Allah (the Exalted) When someone is sincere then provision will come from the Sheikh From what Allah (the Exalted) is sending to you him Never worry about your rizq Some people wish to have private time I apologise because I would have to meet them and have no time for a class Any question you have shall be answered in the classes Many people get their questions answered I wonder why I speak about some things and then people come up after to say they had this question Someone in Damascus had prepared five questions and they were answered then he said there might be some of you with prepared questions If you do not get it then you lack sincerity or attention This does not depend on private meetings

You get your guidance with classes of the sheikh You got some clarification in the classes In my public talks I pick up a line then speak about it for an hour I speak about things that never occurred to me I was wondering what I was going to speak about because I had two lines and I spoke about an hour It because of your sincerity Allah (the Exalted) made me the means for provision Trust in Allah People with tight rizq may call upon 1000 times every day for example

The opener I do not like it The remover of difficulties It is the one who opens everything without means He widens what is narrow or open the locked Would a part of something be an instrument? There is discussion on it When I speak to non Muslims we do not use much Arabic as this is burden We have to make it easy for them to speak English As they may misunderstand it It opens the door of meaning when it is locked Say al-Fatha to open the mind and meaning Al-Fatha is the treaty of huddyabiyyah Futhat is inspirations and another is Islamic conquests Islam went from being one phase to another Then Muslims travelled across Arabia in safety Not this form of word means does something often

Al-Fathuah means a little bit of money in Morrocco This quality is under Qudrah apportioning I talked about the virtue of silence in New York someone sent a question why are you speaking about silence with you are speaking I warned people to use microwaves and someone asked was how can we heat food without microwaves

The knower of all We do not describe Alam Al-Ghuyb/knower of the unseen as a compound noun Allahs knowledge is not acquired Ignorance is imperfection This is the source of all knowledge This is the source of all revelation Many elements in Islamic medicine was inheritance from Islam and Greek sources it was all from revelation as was all knowledge They still study the miracles of the Prophet in universities Look at the fly that was sank into the drink because one wing had an ailment and the other wing has a cure How can he say that without revelation? Khidr is a Wali not a prophet Allah (the Exalted) gave preference to those seeking knowledge Which better? To be rich or poor? Affluence is better because Allah has wealth. Being poor is something that you can have but not him taking your attribute is better than his If you are really poor then youll be really rich from Ibn Ataullah Honour the people of knowledge and a seeker of knowledge for the rest of your life I have seen people do the least effort and get the best fruits. I have seen people put all efforts in and get no fruits Say ya aleem to cure your lack of understanding

Musa said he knew more and then commanded him to follow Khidr (See Sura Al-Kahf)

Sheikh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi Day four: lesson one

The restrainer, the expander Al-Basit is the one who gives expansion and the one who gives everyone their portion Make a special fatiha Sheikh Sharif Al-Yaqoubi he was the first of mufti of Ummayyad Masjid Makki Al-Kittani said whoever saw Sheikh Sharif would enter Paradise I saw a dream one of the Awliya who said if he could he could move the world with his little finger He was one of my fathers teacher He was Shadhali Sheikh Al-Qabid is the one who restrains, puts things in order Qabid is getting something in the hand in terms of trade For Allah it is putting things together Allah ordered Ibrahim to kill four birds and say ya Qabid then the birds came to him The scholars say if you call a bird it will rest in your hand Ya Basit removes melancholy The one who putting things into their places Makes them happy It is also means to open It also refers to opening and closing the fist General permission is to do say it every now and then in the Quran

To do a specific wird then you need to see your sheikh

The one who makes humble and the raiser The debaser and the raiser they are together Someone can use both as a balance The invocation of these names mean you will not desire to speak to people The way out is by Salat upon the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings be upon him) Sheikh Abdussalam asked Jafar Al-Kittani to recite Allah without number and he said that he would not be able to take because he was ill if you want to do it in a retreat then you need a lot of strength There is not harm in dhikr but there is preparation for its secrets The last class took a lot of energy because the amount of energy used as I thinking about each word The brain consumes a quarter of the energy of your body Al-Khafid debases someone from a high position to a lower position and Al-Rafia is the opposite We only blame people when they do not give us enough When you are with Allah (the Exalted) then you do not blame human beings When someone does anything wrong to you and say what wrong did I do to Allah (the Exalted) You should be happy that you got an alarm and you got it now. As delaying the punishment is worse All of it is from Allah (the Exalted) Al-Qabid is the taker of the souls Why should you fear poverty when Allah (the Exalted) is raising and debasing

The giver of honour, the giver of disgrace Mudhil is the one whose authority everyone is under

They come in contrast with each other Muiz the giver of honour this is about his actions He gives honour and it can be taken back it is the meaning of Mudhil It could be that a minister becomes a servant All human beings have no rank with Allah (the Exalted) There is no difference between people as he is their creator and master When you work for a boss then you need to work and accept in front of your boss There is nothing wrong with this There is nothing wrong with this being in front of Allah (the Exalted) When you asking for power then ask Allah (the Exalted) We have honour being his servants

The all hearing, the all seeing These are two attributes that come together He is all seeing and the all hearing He hears everything present His vision of you in not limited to a time or place This is should make you feel ashamed from committing sins As he can see you in all your states These two names give you state of realisation of observing oneself Hearing comes before seeing As hearing is important that seeing Like the narration of the hadith is called sama hearing is formed first then eyesight according to embryologists Ya Sama can help their hearing faculty and those who want to obey Allah more can say this frequently

We need to improve our hearing so we can obey more Saying ya basir helps eyesight and understanding Saying ya sama helps your dua Done together they can protect any authority for those doing any wrong

The judge The human understanding or comparison is different Allah (the Exalted) has authority to set rules for human beings To settle conflicts between his creation The one who everyone seeks his judgement We were told to make the Messenger the judge between all of our affairs A judge that Allah (the Exalted) assigned Ahl al-dhikr are authorities for us Knowing that Allah (the Exalted) is only judge and do not seek justice from people We ask Allah (the Exalted) to establish justice When the Prophet (may Allah bestow and blessings upon him) submitted his affair at the events of Taif Do not complain about the things that happen to you Shakwa is submit your case to Allah (the Exalted)

The just Justice according to his standard not ours

Sometimes it take ages for us to understand; as in the story of Khidr and Musa rebuilding a wall so orphans could take the treasure of the grandfather. Anyone would be happier that their reward be given to their offspring rather than themselves Sheikh Ibrahim (may Allah show him mercy) was offered a job in Saudi Arabia because he was concerned about disobeying his great grandfather who went to visit Syria in a time of fitna He was offered a job of 12,000 dinars which was a lot of money He told he that I do not leave Syria My father would not go against my grandfather He never left Syria only to go to Hajj I travel around the world giving classes and doing dawah It is like Allah (the Exalted) is rewarding his father How can you judge the wisdom in ten thousand years We do not know the history of the earth Justice is established but you should not complain Establish justice in all your affairs to have your share

The gentle one is not a correct It is kindness or subtlety The soul is described as subtle substances You cannot lock an angel in a room because of its subtle form Allah (the Exalted) gives everything its subtle qualities A calamity becomes a blessing with this name Look at the story of Dhul noon Al-Misri One of the subtleness is hiding things in their opposites Do not object about what it happening; as long you are you are a believer

Allah (the Exalted) does the best for you all the time There are many ranks that we cannot reach without calamity Look at the story of Yusuf (upon him peace) was taken from his family, enslaved, accused, jailed then he became the governor of Egypt. Anyone without any understanding someone asks why is this happening People ask why are Muslims being defeated? Who are we to disagree? We should surrender to his will without asking Allah (the Exalted) does whatever he wants to his creation We are veiled from the unseen This is the knowledge of the unseen we do not have access to the unseen Imam Tahawai says knowledge is accessible of inaccessible Yusuf said, Inna rabbi latiffya bi ma yasha. If any prisoner recites this then he will be set free Brother Muhammad Al-Hassan was in prison about a residency permit his wife came to me and told him what happened. Can your husband make dhikr ya latif with a certain number. They came to him and the case was re-opened then he was allowed to stay There are other examples

End of notes for this part please see next set of notes