الآية رقم (3) - وَهُوَ اللّهُ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَفِي الأَرْضِ يَعْلَمُ سِرَّكُمْ وَجَهرَكُمْ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تَكْسِبُونَ

(3) - (And He is Allah, [the only deity] in the heavens and the earth. He knows your secret and what you make public, and He knows that which you earn.)

(… وَهُوَ اللَّهُ) (And He is Allah ): Glory be to Him, Allah, the name for the One who necessarily Exists. It is the name He named Himself with, as He tells us:

 هَلْ تَعْلَمُ لَهُ سَمِيًّا

(Do you know any other who merits His name?) (Maryam: 65)

Can any human being dare to name himself or his son with this name, since the time Allah created Adam (PBUH), till today?

The answer is never! For this is the name that Allah (swt) chose for Himself, and it gathers all the Attributes of Perfection. As for the other Attributes, which we call (The Glorious Names), such as Al-Hayy, Al-Qayyum, Al-Haleem…. These are all His Attributes.

(… وَهُوَ اللَّهُ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَفِي الْأَرْضِ ) (And He is Allah, [the only deity] in the heavens and the earth.): A question might arise here: When Allah (swt) says that He is Allah, in the heavens and the earth, it seems that He has defined a space for Himself. Is this true?

The answer is that this is not true. The verse means: And He is Allah, i.e., The One obeyed, in the heavens and the earth. This is because, the attribute of Godship necessitates worship, and worship means obedience. Thus, He is the One obeyed in the heavens by the angels and on earth by mankind.

     There is a difference between the existence of something and the perceiving of it, so beware of confusing these two things! Allah (swt) says:

 لاَّ تُدْرِكُهُ الأَبْصَارُ وَهُوَ يُدْرِكُ الأَبْصَارَ وَهُوَ اللَّطِيفُ الْخَبِيرُ

(No vision can encompass Him, but He encompasses all vision. For He is the Most Subtle, All-Aware) (Al-An’aam: 103)

When a person does not perceive something, this does not mean that it is non-existent. There are many things which we believe are existent, but we are not able to grasp them through our senses. For example, if we were in a room and we do not see, smell or touch the bacteria around us, does this mean it is not there? The answer is that of course it is there, although we do not perceive them with our senses! So, Allah (swt) exists, although we are not able to perceive Him, for with respect to us, He is of the unseen. There is another verse which says:

 وَهُوَ الَّذِي فِي السَّمَاء إِلَهٌ وَفِي الْأَرْضِ إِلَهٌ وَهُوَ الْحَكِيمُ الْعَلِيمُ

(It is He Who is (the only) God in the heavens and (the only) God on the earth. For He is the All-Wise, All-Knowing) (Az-Zukhruf: 84)

Regarding it, those who are prejudiced and continually doubt say: The word (God) in the verse are both times in the form of indefinite nouns. Since they are in this stated form, it means that there are two Gods. In answer, one of the scholars, who was blind, said: The Arabic word (Who) in the verse is a relative pronoun, i.e., it is definite. So, the meaning of the verse is that He is the One obeyed in the heavens and the One obeyed on the earth. Thus, there is no (meaning of an) adverb here, for Allah (swt) is not subjected to any adverbial of time and place.

(… يَعْلَمُ سِرَّكُمْ وَجَهْرَكُمْ… ) (…He knows your secret and what you make public,): Allah (swt), knows the secrets, as deeds are according to their intentions. A question might arise here: Allah (swt) tells us that He knows the secrets, but why does He tell us that He knows what is made public? The answer is: This is so that human beings do not think that Allah (swt) knows the secrets but not what is in the open. Even if tens of thousands of people were in a single place talking openly all at once about a variety of things, Allah (swt) would know every single word said.

(  وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تَكْسِبُونَ… ) (…and He knows that which you earn.): i.e., what you do. Allah’s (swt) Knowledge and Wisdom do not cancel out or negate efforts carried out. Rather, Allah (swt) has linked causes (i.e., effort) to effects (i.e., product). This is very important for us to understand. Allah’s decree does not mean compulsion, but it means that He has linked causes and effects. Since He is All-Wise and All-Knowing, there is no conflict whatsoever between His Will and what we do through our own freedom of choice.

A person might say: ‘If Allah (swt) knows what we do, why does He count our deeds? Since all that I will do has been decreed, it means that I have been forced to do what I have done, and it is not my choice. So, if I commit any wrongdoings, it is according to Allah’s Knowledge and Will, so I’m not at fault.’ These words are uttered to sow doubts in our mind. In answer, we say: What this person is doing is that he is trying to apply and understand Allah’s Attributes using his intellect, which is in fact limited. So, he applies what he is used to, or what his mind can grasp, on Allah (swt). This is a grave mistake.

Allah The Almighty has linked causes to effects, for example, He says: If a person drinks, his thirst will be quenched. If he eats, his hunger will be gone. However, he is free to eat or not to eat. If he chooses not to eat, he will die. But he cannot say, it is not my fault if I don’t eat and drink and anything happens to me, because Allah knows of this and has it written.

This is because, Allah’s Knowledge is one which reveals, and is not at all linked to the connection between cause and effect. Allah (swt) will not question us regarding His Knowledge, as we will never know its essence nor its workings. However, He has shown us the way and told us what is right and what is wrong. He has also connected between causes and their effects, which will lead to the outcomes. So, a human being is held responsible for the effort he puts in to reach the results. As for the fact that Allah Knows beforehand of what we will do, He will not hold us responsible for this Knowledge of His, but for our actions. The workings of Allah’s Knowledge, Decree and Wisdom are specifically for His Divine Essence, we will never be able to perceive and understand them. In summary, you choose the way to go, the means to utilize and efforts to put in. You have been entrusted the intellect to choose between the available alternatives. Allah (swt) has shown you which is the right way to go, and which is not. If you choose the wrong way, you will be responsible for your mistake, and it has nothing to do at all with what Allah (swt) Knows beforehand nor with what has been decreed.