Glorify Allah and His Wisdom | Ramadan Immersion | Mufti Abdul Rahman Waheed

Glorify Allah and His Wisdom

Everything in this earth, whatever is in the skies and the earth, glorifies Allah. He is the Almighty and He is All-Wise.

The Meaning of سَبَّحَ

Now, it's important to understand what this word سَبَّحَ means. Linguistically, سَبَّحَ means to keep afloat. Because anything that's maintaining itself and it's floating — even Allah talks about the universe:

It doesn't have to be in water only. Talking about the moon, the stars, and the sun — they're all in their orbits, they're staying in their place. So floating and swimming are almost the same thing, but to keep yourself afloat so you don't drown in the ocean, you don't drown in the lake — that's what سَبَّحَ means.

Glorifying Allah in Times of Difficulty

So what does that mean for us? Imam Razi speaks about many many things about سَبَّحَ, but I'll just say one or two things. The first thing is Allah wants us to glorify Him. Before this surah, Surah Al-Waqi'ah, Allah says:

Glorify Allah. Why? In the Qur'an, glorifying Allah in times of difficulty helps you. Allah says:

O Prophet of Allah, we know it hurts you. We know it hurts you when you hear what they say. So that happens to us — every time we get hurt when we hear a comment, every time we see something bad on the news that's happened to a Muslim, we should do that which Allah commanded the Prophet to do:

Say سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ. Do Tasbeeh. Because doubts can creep into our mind and say: why is Allah treating Muslims like this? And why is every Ramadan, for the last few years and so many years, in Palestine — right when Ramadan comes, things pop up over there, things become difficult for the Palestinians and Muslims all over the world in Ramadan. Why?

You basically keep testifying. Keep reminding yourself. سُبْحَانَ means that Allah is pure of all faults. Allah's plan is pure from all faults and vices. Allah is perfect. Even though it seems that it doesn't make sense, Allah is perfect. He has no imperfection. His plans have no imperfections.

One of the first surahs that was revealed:

Allah is telling the Muslims in Makkah in the first years when they're going through difficulties: don't get confused. Keep reminding yourself that the plan of Allah is perfect. That takes a lot of courage. So it starts with saying it.

Allah says in the Qur'an:

Be patient — and then how do you make yourself patient, and how do you make it easy for you to be patient? Say سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ. Say سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الْعَظِيمِ. Say سُبْحَانَ رَبِّيَ الْأَعْلَى.

Allah says in the morning and evening. And:

Tasbeeh Is Therapeutic

When I open the Qur'an and I see Tasbeeh, I always find it after some difficulty. Whenever I feel pain from some difficulty I've gone through, my older brother always puts his hand on my back and he says:

I know we believe that, but there is an element of saying it — it's therapeutic to say it, so that we remind ourselves: okay, it doesn't make sense right now, and it's really painful right now, but it's gonna be alright, it's gonna be alright.

The Hadith of the Two Light Words

The Prophet ﷺ said:

This is so easy to say, it's so light upon the tongue, but it's so heavy in the scales of Allah and they're so beloved to Allah. Saying سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِ, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِ, سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِ.

So everyone who's listening to me right now — say سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ. Say سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ. Say سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ. And as you say it, try to internalize it. One thing is verbal — that you say it — and one thing is through your حَال, through your condition, that with your gestures, with your physical self, with your motions, you just believe.

So when you go through difficulty — when Abdullah ibn Umar found out someone passed away, right away he prayed Salah, did Sujud — because now that Sujud is showing Allah that you still believe in Him, and that you're still prostrating in front of Allah, and you still believe.

In your whole Salah, one of the most frequently recited Tasbihaat is سُبْحَانَ. You start with:

Even in Janazah — you're praying the Janazah of your brother, and you're just so confused about how everything just happened, things happen so fast, boom boom boom, and the world has changed — and when it's Janazah, the first thing you have to say after Allahu Akbar is:

You have to say: O Allah, I still testify that You are perfect, You are pure, You are far, far from any faults, free of anything. When we start Salah — Thana' — we go on Ruku', سُبْحَانَ. Always saying سُبْحَانَ to remind ourselves over and over again.

الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ — The Almighty, The All-Wise

That is the first message from:

Understand that Allah is Almighty. He is the one in control. No one is in control but Allah. And Allah is الْحَكِيمُ — the All-Wise. Don't worry about what you think. What you think would be better — know that Allah's plan is much better. It doesn't matter what you think; what matters is what Allah knows is better for you. So that is الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ.

I'll give you some homework — look for how many times Allah pairs these two names together. Because الْعَزِيزُ — He is Almighty — that can scare you. Oh, He has all the might and He can do whatever He wants, He can change anything. But الْحَكِيمُ — He's all-wise. He does things, and nothing that He does is without wisdom. So don't ever be afraid that something's gonna happen to you and it's not gonna be better for you. Whichever condition you're in is a condition that Allah wants you to be in.