In this journey through Allah’s Names, we have learned about both His attributes of Beauty and of Majesty. The intention is to inspire fear, hope and, ultimately, love. If we misunderstand Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala (exalted is He), we may not see the wisdom behind the things that happen in the world or in our personal lives. We might not understand how Allah (swt) fits into our life. We may also find it difficult to love Him, because how can you love someone – deeply love someone – you do not know?

Thus it is hoped that these Names have increased our knowledge of our Creator, and have made apparent how Allah (swt) is with us in every moment.

Today’s Name should inspire in us ‘khashya’ and ‘hayba’. These words are sometimes both translated as ‘fear’, thus removing the important distinctions between the two words. In the ‘Sweetness of Prayer’ series, we explained the difference between the different types of fear:

‘Khawf’ is to flee from the thing that you fear, and requires no knowledge of that which is feared. You can be afraid, or have ‘khawf’, of the dark. ‘Khashya’, on the other hand, is fear with knowledge. The more a servant has knowledge of his Lord, the more ‘khawf’ turns to ‘khashya’. As Allah (swt) says in the Qur’an:

“Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge” (35:28).

‘Hayba’ is fear associated with respect, awe and glorification. You could, for example, fear fire. But the reason for your fear is that the fire may harm you, so fire earns no ‘hayba’; you do not glorify it. However, you could have a certain ‘hayba’ of your father; you could be afraid to do something wrong in front of him, but that fear is out of respect.

Al-Qahhar: The Dominator

Allah’s Name al-Qahhar comes from the Arabic root qaf-haa-ra (ق-ه-ر). It means ‘to dominate over’ or ‘to subdue from above’. Allah (swt) says in the Qur’an in Surat al-An`aam;

“And He is the subjugator (al-qaahiru) over His servants. And He is the Wise (al-Hakeem), the Acquainted [with all] (al-Khabeer). (6:18)

Someone with this attribute might be considered a tyrant, which is why Allah (swt) tells us that this attribute is possessed by the One who is also the Most Wise and the One who is Best Acquainted with everything. This reference is also for the benefit of those who doubt this attribute, and might ask “why has Allah not overpowered the tyrants of today, of whom there are many?” Allah (swt) is reminding us that there is ultimate wisdom in whom He chooses to subdue at any point in time. This is where our understanding of the holistic nature of Allah’s Names should come in: we spoke before about how Allah (swt) is Forbearing and Patient, and He gives people – even tyrants – the opportunity to turn back.

Thus we see in the Qur’an that Allah sends Moses and Aaron `alayhimaa as-salaam (may Allah’s peace be upon them both) to Pharaoh – and calling Pharaoh ‘oppressive’ would be an understatement! – telling them initially to speak to him gently. Pharaoh rejects them. Moses then shows him proof of his prophethood. Pharaoh rejects him again, insisting on enslaving the Children of Israel. Finally, Allah (swt) overpowers him by drowning him, using someone from the very people that Pharaoh was oppressing, who grew up in his own house. Such is the way of al-Qahhar, who manifests His power by subduing tyrants through the objects of their tyranny.

This is why Imam al-Ghazali describes al-Qahhar in this way: “The Dominator is the one who breaks the back of the powerful among His enemies… Indeed there is no existing thing that is not subject to the domination of His power, and powerlessness in His grasp. That is all.”
Therefore, when we look at events today and wonder “where is al-Qahhar?”, we should remember the story of Moses. Remember that Moses prevailed. Remember that Pharaoh was overpowered.

Our role is to strive against this oppression, knowing that ultimately this is what we will be asked about, and everything is subjected to the Will of Allah (swt). Indeed, so many tyrannical powers eventually come crashing down, bowing to the will of al-Qahhar. Unfortunately, we may not attribute it to Him, but as Allah (swt) tells us:

“The Day they come forth nothing concerning them will be concealed from Allah. To whom belongs [all] sovereignty this Day? To Allah, the One, the Prevailing (al-Qahhar).” (40:16)

On that Day, all will be apparent. All those who oppressed, in both seemingly small and big ways, will be before Allah, al-Qahhar. Then, there will be no ambiguity.
Living with these Names

1 – Balance fear and hope

Today’s Name might cause us to be afraid. This is not a subject we like to talk to about, because it is so much more reassuring to focus on those attributes that enable us to relax. But remembering that Allah (swt) has attributes of Majesty should instill in us the ‘khashya’ and ‘hayba’ described earlier. Moreover, Allah’s Names are to be looked at holistically. He is al-Qahhar and He is also al-Lateef (the subtle, the most kind).

2 – Dominate your lower desires
In previous articles, we talked about how we should emulate the attributes of Beauty. But what about attributes of Majesty? How do we apply them? Al-Ghazali counseled: “The dominator amongst men is the one who subdues his enemies. The greatest enemy of man is his soul, which is within him. This soul is more of an enemy to him than Satan, of whose enmity he is wary. Whoever conquers his passions conquers Satan, since Satan lures him to ruin by means of his passions.”

3 – Use that fear to stop at least one sin

To know that Allah is al-Qahhar is to burn the desire for sin in the heart. Because Allah (swt) is the Dominator, we should fear that perhaps al-Qahhar, al-Mumeet (the Life-Taker) might take our soul as we are committing the sin. This should alert us that despite it seeming as though we are being allowed to oppress our souls, we may still face the fate mentioned in this verse:

“So when they forgot that by which they had been reminded, We opened to them the doors of every [good] thing until, when they rejoiced in that which they were given, We seized them suddenly, and they were [then] in despair.” (Qur’an, 6:44)

These people used the gifts of Allah (swt) in the opposite manner to that for which they were intended, and then they were seized. In another chapter, Allah (swt) describes to us the people of the garden, who took an oath that they would reap all of their fruits and leave nothing for the poor. Allah (swt) caused their garden to be completely burned to the ground, but the owners of that garden understood the lesson. They willed something, but Allah (swt) overpowered their will, and so they turned back to Him.

Hence, this fear should not paralyze us from doing good, but it should paralyze us from doing bad. We should try to choose at least one thing – like backbiting or lying – and do our best to use this Name to help us stop it.

4 – Do not oppress others

The surest way to earn the wrath of al-Qahhar is to oppress others. Allah (swt) says in the Qur’an: “So as for the orphan, do not oppress [him] (fa laa taqhar)” (93:9). The word ‘taqhar’ comes from the same root of the name al-Qahhar. We should understand that oppression is not simply for unjust leaders or cruel human traffickers. We may also be oppressing others in more subtle ways, and thus we should be diligent to avoid this.

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When the time for prayer came, Ali (radi Allahu `anhu – may Allah be pleased with him) would begin to shake and the color of his face would change. When he was asked, “What’s wrong?” he would reply, “The time has entered for a trust that was offered to the heavens and the earth and the mountains and they declined to bear it (Qur’an, 33:72), and I undertook it.”

Their prayer differed from ours, because their feelings towards the prayer differed. We want to increase these feelings in our heart to truly taste the sweetness that is in prayer.

So we progressed from having a present heart, to understanding, to rajaa (which was defined in the previous post). And now we would like to balance that rajaa with something else.

Before starting, I’ll remind you that we still did not unlock the key of tasting the sweetness of prayer. We’ll uncover it soon… but not today.

Hayba

Hayba is a kind of fear that we should have towards Allah. Unfortunately when translated into English, words like ‘hayba,’ ‘khashya,’ ‘khawf,’ and so on are lost in translation and simply translated as ‘fear,’ when there are actually subtle but important differences between them.

Ibn Al-Qayyim shows us the discreet but important differences:

‘Khawf’ is to flee from the thing that you fear, and requires no knowledge of that which is feared. You can be afraid, or have ‘khawf’ from the dark.

‘Khashya’ on the other hand, is fear with knowledge. The more a servant has knowledge of his Lord, the more ‘khawf’ turns to ‘khashya’. As Allah says in the Qur’an:

“Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge” (Qur’an, 35:28).

But ‘hayba’ is fear associated with respect, awe and glorification. You could, for example, fear fire. But the reason for your fear is that the fire may harm you, but fire has no ‘hayba’; you do not glorify it. However, one’s father could have a certain ‘hayba’; you could be afraid if you do something wrong, but that fear is out of your respect.

First rajaa’, now hayba?

Aren’t these two conflicting emotions? How can we combine them? It isn’t difficult because we do this everyday when we deal with the people around us. A student who submits a bad paper to his kind teacher, will fear failing because he knows that his paper is bad, but at the same time will have hope, rajaa’, that the teacher will pass him because his teacher is compassionate.

It is not so different when you deal with Allah. When you recognize your sin and are before Allah, you have fear but at the same time you hope for the generosity of the Al-Kareem, the Most Generous. This is most apparent in “sayyid al-istighfar” (the master supplication for forgiveness), the du`a’ (supplication) we are recommended to say every morning and every evening, which the Prophet (sal Allahu `alayhi wa sallam – peace be upon him) described as being the best way to ask for forgiveness:

“O Allah, You are my Lord, there is none worthy of worship but You. You created me and I am your servant. I keep Your covenant and my pledge to You so far as I am able. I seek refuge in You from the evil of what I have done. I recognize Your blessings upon me, and I admit to my misdeeds. Forgive me, for there is none who may forgive sins but You.”*

Notice that in this du`a’ you are combining rajaa and fear; you admit to your misdeeds, but you also ask Allah to forgive them.

Gems on this kind of fear

Everything that you fear, you flee from, except Allah. Your fear from Allah causes you to flee to him. Allah says in the Qur’an,

“So flee to Allah” (Qur’an, 51:50).

The Prophet (saw) in his du`a’ said:

“There is no refuge and no asylum from You except with You.”

The Prophet (saw) also said:

“O Allah, I seek refuge in You for Your pleasure and against Your wrath and in Your forgiveness and against Your punishment and in You from You. I am not able to praise You as You can praise Yourself.” (Muslim)

You recognize Allah’s wrath but also you seek refuge in His forgiveness, and know that the only refuge from Him is by fleeing to Him. Ibn Al-Qayyim said about this du`a’ in particular that no one knows the degree of tawheed and knowledge and servitude in these words except those who have deep knowledge. He said that if one were to explore all the meanings of this du`a’, a huge book would be written, and to enter into this realm of knowledge you would see that which no eye has witnessed, no ear has heard, and that which has never been imagined by any human.

Knowledge of Allah and Knowledge of Yourself

This hayba is the highest level of fear, as it is coupled with awe and love and knowledge. This fear increases when the servant increases his knowledge of Allah and increases his knowledge of himself. When you increase your knowledge of Allah, and recognize His power and majesty, you increase in fear. On the night of the Prophet’s (saw) ascension, the Prophet (saw) described Jibreel, who has 600 wings and is the Angel chosen to give the Prophet (saw) revelation, as being afraid.

Then when we remember our own sins, in relation to Allah’s power and majesty, we increase in fear. We realize our shortcomings and our heedlessness, and the fact that we are being given a chance is because of Allah’s forbearance.

Most fears are unnerving, except the fear of Allah, this hayba, because Allah is the One who will guide you to the best of places: Paradise insha’Allah (God willing).

Let us try to couple this feeling of hayba of Allah, with the emotion of rajaa in our prayer.

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*Reference: Whoever recites this with conviction in the evening and dies during that night shall enter Paradise, and whoever recites it with conviction in the morning and dies during that day shall enter Paradise, Al-Bukhari 7/150. Other reports are in An-Nasa’i and At-Tirmithi.