Episode 3 | Knowing Allah | Al Hayy & Al Qayyum

Al-Hayy: The Ever-Living

We remember when we are ill, we remember when we're on our deathbed, we remember when something's going wrong. But when we're healthy and we're fine, we forget that we need Allah even now. So let us understand and look at what is the meaning of Al-Hayy and Al-Qayyum.

Al-Hayy comes from the root in Arabic Hayyah — to be alive, the living. And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the living. He is the ever-living. He never dies. That's why in the Qur'an when Allah calls himself Al-Hayy, he adds to it another description: He is the alive and he never dies.

You might think this is obvious, but actually it's not obvious. And do you imagine there is a day in which people forgot about this? The companions of the Prophet ﷺ — they forgot about this, or they were confused on a certain day and they were reminded by this verse: the day the Prophet ﷺ died.

You see, when I tell you human beings are alive, the only thing is one day they will come to an end. Mortality. It's hard to face up to this. As you grow older and as your beard goes gray and your hair goes gray, you start to realize more and more — my death is coming soon. My time is coming soon. And that realization, it hits you in the face. As a young man, as a young woman, this realization might not really resonate with you, but talk to the uncles and ask them: how does it feel to be 50 or 60 and to know that you may only have 5 or 10 years left? How does that feel? It's hard to describe. How does it feel to be in that position, to know that tomorrow I might die? But really, we should all feel this way.

The Day the Prophet ﷺ Passed Away

The day the Prophet ﷺ passed away, the majority of the Prophet's companions were in denial. They couldn't accept it. This is what happens when you have shock. Which of the Prophet's companions was in the most denial? He couldn't accept it. Umar ibn al-Khattab stood up and he said, "Whoever says Muhammad ﷺ has died — what will I do? I will take his head off with this sword."

And who is the one who corrected him? Abu Bakr as-Siddiq. People were attached to the body and the persona of the Prophet ﷺ. Can you imagine? More attached than we are to our mothers and fathers. Their attachment was to the Messenger ﷺ. However, the day he died, it was like a train hit them in the face. It was shocking.

And in this moment in time, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq did not come up and remind them that Muhammad ﷺ is just a human being and we don't need him anymore. No, he reminded them of something greater than that. He said: "Whoever was worshipping Muhammad, know that he has passed. But whoever is in service of Allah, know that Allah is ever-living. He never passes away."

Allah's Creation is Always Unique

When Allah creates, when He interacts with creation, everything He does is unique. This is something we learn later about Allah's name, Al-Badi'. Every snowflake is different. Every fingerprint is different. They're not identical. Identical twins are different. I'm a twin — I have a twin sister. I'm four minutes older than her. She's there on the sisters' side. I always remind her I'm four minutes older than her. But we are so different — chalk and cheese. We are completely different. And we are twins.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — this is what the meaning of Al-Hayy is. He's always there. He's always listening. He's always observing and He's active. He creates. He intervenes. Anything you see in this world — sometimes we get used to the idea that human beings are doing things, that things are doing things.

Pavlov's Dogs and the Illusion of Cause

There's a famous experiment. There's a psychologist by the name of Skinner. And Skinner, he did this experiment on dogs. What he did — he was trying to see how can I condition the dog. So what he would do, he would ring a bell. And the moment he would ring the bell, he would give food to the dog. Then the next day, he rings the bell, and the moment he rings the bell, he gives food to the dog. Now, what's happening in the dog's head? 20 days later, when he rings the bell, what do you think the dog does? He starts to feel hungry. Saliva starts dripping. Because he has linked the bell with food. So in the dog's mind, bell equals food. The moment the bell goes — food. He thinks the bell is bringing the food. But in reality, they are not connected to each other. They have nothing to do with each other. One person is ringing the bell and he's deciding to give them food.

It's quite a subtle point, but this is how all the things in this world are. And when we realize Allah is the living and He's always living, that means He's always listening — at all times. When everybody's asleep and dead, He's always listening. Human beings become unreliable because they sleep, because they disappear, they have their own needs, they're deficient. So you feel like, "I don't want to bother him, it's 2am. My car broke down on the motorway, I don't want to bother him." Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala never has a moment in which He sleeps, or He's drowsy, or He's out of service. He's always active.

You know, we all have that friend — whenever you go on WhatsApp, it says "online." Always online. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is always active. He's never — to use a human term for closeness — He's never offline. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is always active.

This is why Allah links His being Al-Hayy with us asking Him and relying on Him. You know, when you find out that there's a shop that's 24/7, or a gym that's 24/7, you feel, "I can rely on this shop. Anytime I need, I can go there. It's not going to close on me." Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — 24/7 — Allah is available for your requests. That's why when Allah in Surah Al-Furqan talks about Him being the living, He says: if you want to rely or trust someone, trust the one that is always living and He never dies.

Because human beings, they let you down. Shops, companies — they let you down. Today, if you want to fix your broadband, how long do you have to stay on the phone listening to the music, waiting for your turn? "You're number 34 in the queue." You feel like, why did I even pick up the phone and call them? It's so unreliable. This is how we are used to with each other. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is not like that.

And this is why the Prophet ﷺ linked this name. He said: "Your Lord is always living and so generous." He feels shy — that if you were to open your hands to Him and ask Him something, He feels shy to give you nothing in return. So knowing Allah is always living and He's always there means we should constantly rely on Him. We should constantly trust Him. We should ask Him. Human beings may let us down, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will never let us down.

Al-Qayyum: The Self-Sustaining Sustainer of All

The second name: Al-Qayyum. Now I'm going to take you on a journey in the Arabic language. Who knows what is the meaning of Qama Yaqumu? To stand. Qama — to stand. Qa'imun — someone who's standing, but also somebody who's looking after something or someone.

In Arabic, there are forms of words. If you want to make something frequent, if you want to exaggerate something, one of those is the form Fa'aal — Qawwam. Who does Allah describe in the Qur'an as Qawwam? Men.

Men — males, real men — they are Qawwam upon women. That means they are looking after them. They are maintaining them. They are protecting them. They're taking care of them. Constantly. Qawwam means you are doing it constantly, frequently. No break. You don't get a break. You are Qawwam. This is the definition of a man. Masculinity. This is what masculinity is about — stepping up, taking responsibility.

This is a side point. But a lot of the time, young men say, "Oh, are we ready for marriage? When can we get married? Why don't we get married young, like the Sahabah used to get married when they were young?" I say, Habibi, look — you're 26 years old, you still spend most of your time playing PlayStation. The uncles are shaking their heads. From age 15, they were working on the factory floors, in the shops — and they get their 26, 27-year-old young lad and he's playing PlayStation saying, "Oh, I want to get married quick." Habibi, first learn to be Qawwam. Then you become a man, then you can get married. Don't inflict any damage on a poor young lady.

The Meaning of Qayyum

So Qawwam. Now let me come to the next one: Qayyum. This is a form — Fay'ul in Arabic — that's very rarely used. Because a Qawwam, someone who's maintaining or looking after something, they can also fall asleep. They can also get drowsy. They can make mistakes. They can get bored. They can get negligent. But Qayyum — never, not even for a moment, stops taking care of what's in his responsibility.

Qayyum — مَن قَامَ بِنَفْسِهِ وَقَامَ بِهِ كُلُّ شَيْء — He stood by Himself; He is the reason for His own existence, and everything is reliant upon Him. Everything stands because of Him. Everything breathes and exists because of Him. That's what Qayyum means. If it wasn't for Him, everything would be dust — nothingness.

You exist. What brought you into existence? The things around us — what made them be when they were nothing? Al-Qayyum. He made everything standing and then He looks after it constantly. That's what Qayyum means.

Now, interestingly, when Allah describes Himself as Qayyum in the Qur'an, He also describes the opposite. Lā ta'khudhuhu sinatun wa lā nawm — and what does Sina mean? You know, when you're driving on the motorway at midnight and you're very tired and this happens — you just kind of close your eyes for a moment. This is Sina. When Allah says He is Qayyum, never for a moment does He get drowsy.

Never for a moment does gravity stop working. If gravity stopped working in this room, what would be happening to all of us? We'd be floating like in space. SubhanAllah. These things we don't realize. Some people — you fracture your pinky finger, the smallest finger in your hand, and suddenly you realize how many things you needed this finger for: to write, to move, to hold, to grip, to cook. You need this finger for so many things. And you thought before, "I thought this was such an insignificant, small part of my body." We can all relate — when we fall ill, we feel so helpless. We didn't realize the blessing of health.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala looks after gravity, looks after you, looks after me. Our hearts beat. Everything in this world — we think that there is some nature looking after this. No, Allah is looking after every moment. And if Allah decided for a moment, He could wipe us all out.

This is why when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Qur'an — to Allah prostrate, sujood, everyone in the heavens and the earth, whether they like it or they don't like it. What does that mean? Because a disbeliever does not do sujood to Allah. So how can Allah say everyone in the world is doing sujood to Him? A disbeliever may not do sujood physically to Allah, but their whole body is subservient to Allah. Allah is controlling every atom in their body. This is what Al-Qayyum means.

The Prophet ﷺ and These Two Names

These two words — Al-Hayy, Al-Qayyum — the Prophet ﷺ had a special, special, special relationship with these two names of Allah. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud radiyallahu 'anhu narrates in al-Tabarani's al-Mu'jam al-Saghir that the Prophet ﷺ, in the worst situations of his life, would say to Allah: "I seek your help and your mercy."

And in fact, one of the hardest days in the life of the Prophet ﷺ was the day of Badr. Ali ibn Abi Talib narrates: "On the day of Badr, I went forward into war and I was fighting left, right and center. Then I came back just to check on the Prophet ﷺ — I just wanted to know, how is he doing? I came to find him and I found him in sujood." And what is he saying in sujood? He is asking Allah by these two names. And he's not saying anything else. He's not speaking to Allah, He's not asking Him — he just keeps saying them. Meaning he's speechless. He's not asking Allah for anything. He's just calling His names.

(Reported by al-Tabarani in al-Mu'jam al-Saghir; also narrated in Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3524)

"I went back and continued fighting. After a period of time, I came back — and he was still prostrated, the Prophet ﷺ, still saying Ya Hayy, Ya Qayyum."

He also talks about his teacher, who said that my teacher used to have such a special relationship with these two names. He said that from the Sunnah of Fajr to the Fajr prayer in congregation, he would say 40 times:

He said: "In my experience, whoever says this so many times in the morning, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will relieve their distress." Now we have no hadith or narration to support this number specifically, but it is one experience that he is sharing. And it was the opinion of Ibn Taymiyyah that Al-Hayy Al-Qayyum was the greatest name of Allah.

Why Are These the Greatest Names?

Why? What is so special? What makes these two names special? Ibn al-Qayyim says that under Allah's name Al-Hayy — Allah being living — so many other names of Allah come: that He's listening, that He's hearing, that He's active, that He's helping, that He's giving, that He's taking — all of this comes under the name Al-Hayy. Because if you're not alive, you cannot do anything else.

And Allah's name Al-Qayyum — under this name, all of Allah's actions come. Allah maintains, He protects, He takes life, He gives life, He births the child, He breathes the soul — Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grants the soul to the child. All of this activity that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is engaged in comes under the name Al-Qayyum. So it is as though these two names summarize who Allah is. And this is why in the moment of distress, the Prophet ﷺ would simply say: Ya Hayy, Ya Qayyum.

We Are Always in Need of Allah

There's something very important about the name Al-Qayyum — and that is that Allah's name Al-Qayyum means that everybody exists only because He gave them existence. And what does that mean? That means we are in need of Allah. This is something we forget sometimes. We remember when we are ill, we remember when we're on our deathbed, we remember when something's going wrong. But when we're healthy and we're fine, we forget that we need Allah even now.

Ibn Qudama al-Maqdisi says in his final letter, in his wasiyya: "Somebody in the sea holding a piece of wood and kicking and screaming is as much in need of Allah as you and me right now." But at that moment in time, they are screaming and crying and begging for Allah — and you and me right now, we think we're fine. We are independent. We're self-sufficient. And this idea is what has destroyed so many of our lives — when we think we are not in need of Allah anymore.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions this in the Qur'an: when We give human beings good times, blessings, happy times — they turn away from Me and do their own thing. But if something bad happens to them, calamity strikes them, they are constantly making du'a, they constantly feel in need of Allah.

O people, you are the ones in need of Allah. And Allah is the Rich, the Free of Need, the Full of Praise, the Deserving of Praise. If He wants, He can wipe you out and just create someone else. That's not difficult for Allah.

Think of that for a moment. Allah doesn't need you. He doesn't need your salah. He doesn't need your Qur'an. He doesn't need your dhikr. He doesn't need you to be sat here. He could replace you. We are in ultimate need of Him. And He reminds us of this — only when we are in moments of illness, moments of calamity, moments of sadness, we turn to Allah.

When a group of people ride a ship and they see waves and they see a storm, they suddenly call upon Allah with full sincerity. But when they reach safety, they go back to the shirk that they used to do. Now think about that. How often is it that we call upon Allah in a moment of distress and difficulty, but when we're in good times, we don't even realize He's there.

Remember Allah in the Good Times

The Prophet ﷺ said to Abdullah ibn Abbas:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 2803; also reported in similar wording in Sunan al-Tirmidhi)

"Remember Allah in your moments of good times — He will be in your assistance in your difficult times." It's the opposite of what we normally do. Try to remember Allah in your good times. The test of prosperity and safety and success is worse than the test of poverty — because you don't even realize you're being tested. You think, "I am in Allah's VIP books because I'm paying rent, I have a nice car, my family is healthy, I'm chilling." But you don't realize — are we really grateful for those favors? Are we complaining about the little things? Do we feel in need of Allah?

Sometimes we have to remind ourselves and put ourselves in that situation of the person who walks into the shop and begs for a pound. We should beg Allah for every pound that we earn. We should ask Allah for every blessing that we have — because He can take it away at any moment.

Everything Belongs to Allah

When the Prophet ﷺ's child passed away and he was found crying, and his companions said, "O Rasulullah, even you are crying?" He said: "This is a mercy Allah has placed in the hearts of His servants." And he said a very important phrase:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1284; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 923)

"To Allah belongs what He took. My son belonged to Allah — it wasn't mine. He lent it to me. He let me borrow him and He took him back. And to Him belongs what He gave. Everything with Allah has an expiry date."

Think of it this way: everything in your life you have on lease — you don't own. You are renting. Anytime He wants, the landlord can take it back. Anytime. That changes things. The clothes you are wearing — it's borrowed, you don't own it. Allah can take it at any moment. The electricity in this masjid — we don't own it. Allah can take it back. When you start to think of your life in this way — that everything I own is borrowed, it's on loan, it's on lease, I don't own it — you start to look after it properly. You start to respect the caretaker, the maintainer, the landlord much more. Because you know if He wants, He can remove it at any point in time.

And this is the meaning of Al-Qayyum — the one who looks after everything. But He makes it look like things are taking care of themselves. If you take your attention off for a second — you become ungrateful for a second, you think, "This is me, this is my intelligence, my hard work has brought all of this" — Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will take it away. Or He'll make you miserable while you still have it.

How many people — celebrities — with all the funds in the world, with the biggest real estate portfolios in the world, commit suicide out of depression? How many famous examples do we have — from Michael Jackson onwards. Why are they upset? Why are they sad? They own everything. But because they think they own it, and because they believe it is their intelligence and their hard work that got them there, they feel empty inside. They feel miserable.

True freedom is knowing that everything is in the hands of Allah and everything is being looked after. True freedom — that brings you happiness and fills you with light and ease — is to know everything is looked after and I don't need to worry. I don't need to have sleepless nights. Because Al-Qayyum is the one who maintains it all.

The Prophet ﷺ has said, as comes in Sunan al-Tirmidhi:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2344; also in Musnad Ahmad)

"If you really trusted Allah in your outcomes, He would have provided for you like He provides for birds. They leave in the early morning on an empty stomach and they return in the evening with a full stomach. They don't know how, they don't know why, they don't know where. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala provides."

And so Al-Qayyum — the name of Allah Al-Qayyum — gives you a lot of reassurance. That if you do the work, leave the outcome to Allah. Rely upon Him. Trust upon Him. Ask Him. He is listening. He is alive. He doesn't sleep. He doesn't nap. He doesn't have fixed hours. He is never offline. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is always present. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is always in control.

Never let someone make you think that people, or objects, or organizations, or groups are in control. No — Allah controls them. Allah tells the Prophet ﷺ: "You see the disbelievers? They come — large armies, large groups, the Romans, the Persians, big empires. You feel, how on earth am I going to face up to them?" Allah says: "Don't be deceived by these people. Don't be fooled. They just have a short amount of time in power, and then your time will come. Patience." Don't be deceived by people, by numbers, by armies, by politics, by governments, by MPs, by the rising and falling of kings and queens and emperors. All of these things — Allah is in control.

Reflecting on the Meanings of the Qur'an

When the Prophet ﷺ would teach the Qur'an to children, to young Muslims, to his companions, he would never teach it to them without the meanings. Never. This is how we run our madaris, our Qur'an schools — we want children to learn how to read, learn how to memorize. What about the meanings? We don't care about the meanings?

The Prophet's companions who used to teach the Qur'an — how did they teach the Qur'an? When they would teach the Qur'an, they would teach 10 ayahs at a time. They would teach its meanings, and what actions we learn from it, and what we need to do because of these ayahs — and then they would move on to the next. They would not move on from these 10 verses until people truly understood them.

Did Allah say no? He said: "Why don't they think about the meanings of the Qur'an?" Somebody memorizes the Qur'an — great, it's a bonus. But if they have not understood it, then they have truly failed, and that is the real education of the Qur'an.

Conclusion: Al-Hayy and Al-Qayyum

Small tangent aside — today we talked about Al-Hayy, the living; Al-Qayyum, the one who looks after everything in this world. It is close to the name Ar-Rabb, but Ar-Rabb is the one who takes from zero and nurtures and looks after you until you are complete. And Al-Qayyum is the one who makes everything exist and everything is dependent on Him for every single moment.

Don't forget the dog, and the bell, and the food. Because we think the bell brings the food. We think our boss brings the salary. But who is behind the boss? And who is behind the salary? He is Al-Qayyum. And He doesn't fall asleep. And He is always available.

Homework: The Morning and Evening Du'a

One piece of homework before you go — the du'a of the Prophet ﷺ that he used to read every morning and every evening:

"O Allah, the living, the one who takes care of everything — I seek refuge in Your mercy. Look after all of my affairs. And do not leave me to myself for the blink of an eye."

Memorize this du'a, teach it to your children, and read it in the mornings and the evenings.