Allah is Al-Latif - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

Amma ba'du — for indeed the best of speech is the book of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace be upon him), and the worst of affairs are the newly-invented matters, and every newly-invented matter is a bid'ah, and every bid'ah is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the fire.

The Quran as a Universal Guide

Allah describes the Quran at the very beginning of the Quran. It is the first description that Allah gives of his own book. In verse number 2 of Surah al-Baqarah, Allah says:

This is the book in which there is no doubt — it is a guide for the people of piety, for the muttaqeen. Allah tells us that the Quran is a guide; within it we find guidance. And it is not only the basic element of guidance that Allah is referring to — the guidance of tawheed, the guidance that in order for us to achieve success in this life and the next we must worship Allah alone and stay away from every form and type of shirk. That is the guidance that the Quran is also referring to, but Allah in his Quran speaks about guidance not only in that form or in that context of tawheed and shirk — Allah also speaks about guidance of every other kind as well. The guidance that we need in every single issue of our life, in everyday matters.

Allah says:

There is nothing that we have left out from this book — the Quran — meaning any challenge or hardship or difficulty that you come across, the Quran contains guidance for you. It tells you the way to overcome that problem, speaks about the solution, tells you what you need to do in order to overcome that challenge. That is part of the guidance of the Quran.

So when we watch the news or we are on the internet and we are reading the news or we are reading a newspaper and we see the problems and challenges that we are facing as a community — whether it is because a small segment from amongst us have done some ignorant actions, or it is because we are the brunt of oppression and people are oppressing Muslims in many different ways and forms, or we are being attacked within the media and within certain political quarters — or if it is not to do with Islam and the Muslims and we are feeling the brunt of the economic recession, we are feeling difficulty within our paychecks — or if it is nothing to do with the economy, then all of us have individual and family problems and challenges that we are facing: with our spouses and our children, with our health and our everyday living — every single one of those issues, no matter how great or how small, no matter how general or how personal it may be, Allah says that in the Quran there is guidance for it. It is hudal lil muttaqeen — there is guidance within the Quran.

But the guidance of the Quran comes in a different way than the way that many of us want and expect. The guidance of the Quran is not that Allah has listed every single issue and problem that will ever occur in the space of time. Allah hasn't mentioned every single issue that will occur until Yawm al-Qiyamah and its solution as an individual thing — because that is illogical, and it wouldn't be possible for the Quran in its current form to contain all of that. But rather what Allah does instead is that he gives us principles that we learn and that we can then apply to all of those situations. It is those principles that Allah focuses on in the Quran.

Because that is also the methodology that we as parents, and as teachers, as elders of our community, should impart to our youngsters and our youth as well — rather than guiding them on every single issue, where they have to come back and ask you in every single issue what to do and what not to do, we teach them principles instead. This is how the schooling system works. We teach our children principles. And likewise in Islam we teach our children principles, so that as they go on in life and as they grow up and become successful adults, it is because they know those principles that will bring them success. They know how to overcome those problems.

The Names and Attributes of Allah — The Greatest Principles

One of the ways that Allah gives us those principles within the Quran is by mentioning to us his names and his attributes. The names and attributes of Allah are from the greatest principles and foundations of the Quran, and that is why they are repeated and mentioned so many times. Each one of those names and attributes of Allah has meanings that pertain to certain issues and problems that we may face within our lives. It is for this reason that one of the most common endings of a verse in the Quran are the names and attributes of Allah.

Allah says to us in the Quran:

To Allah belong the most beautiful names, so call upon him using those names. To call upon Allah using those names doesn't just simply mean to recite them, or to read them, or to memorize them — but it is to understand the context of your own du'a and which one of those names is most befitting and appropriate, and then to internalize the meanings of those names so that when you use them in your du'a it comes from the heart and you have knowledge of Allah and that particular name.

Our Prophet told us (peace be upon him) in the hadith of Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him):

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2736; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2677)

Allah has 99 beautiful names — 100 minus 1 — and no one memorizes them except that they will enter into Jannah. "Memorizes them" means that you understand them, that you know them, and that you internalize the meaning — so that you understand what it is that Allah is referring to. Not just simply the translation: ar-Rahman means the Most Gracious, ar-Rahim is the Most Merciful, al-Karim is the Most Generous — but that we actually know how that applies to our individual situation. It is to internalize those meanings and then to use them and apply them into your daily life: in your du'a, in the way that you conduct yourself as a Muslim, when there are issues and problems and challenges that you are facing, you seek solace in those names of Allah. It is an overarching principle of the Quran.

The Name of Allah: Al-Latif

I want to give you an example of one of those names and apply it within the context I mentioned in today's khutbah. And that name is the name of Allah — Al-Latif.

Al-Latif is often translated as "the subtle," or "the gentle," or "the acquainted." These are all translations of the name al-Latif. But like all of the names of Allah, it is difficult to compress the vast meaning of one of the names of Allah into a single word. The English language doesn't compare to the Arabic in its eloquence, so when we give it a single-word definition it is not the full scope of the meaning of that name of Allah.

Al-Latif has two primary meanings that it refers to, and it is mentioned some seven times in the Quran. Allah uses his name al-Latif in various contexts.

First Meaning: Allah's Subtle and All-Encompassing Knowledge

The first of those meanings is that Allah has knowledge of everything — he is well acquainted not only with what is going on in the apparent and in the open, but Allah has knowledge of even that which is subtle, that which is hidden, that which we hide even from our own families and from our own loved ones, and sometimes that we even deny to ourselves as being a reality. Allah has knowledge of all of that. That is from the meanings of al-Latif.

Allah says in the Quran in Surah al-An'am:

Our vision does not perceive Allah, but Allah's vision perceives everything, and he is al-Latif al-Khabir. Al-Khabir is the one who is acquainted, who is aware, who knows everything — but al-Latif is not just the knowledge of the apparent; it is the knowledge of the hidden and the subtle as well.

And this is the meaning that Allah mentions in the Quran in Surah Luqman. Luqman the wise — Luqman al-Hakim — in that surah named after him, he gives advice to his son. He speaks to his son in principles and foundations. He doesn't tell him that if you go here, do A, B, C, and D — no, he gives him overarching principles that if he learns and embeds within himself and applies, he will be someone who comes closer to Allah. From the advice that he gives to his son, Luqman says in the Quran:

O my dear son, if there is even a mustard seed of something — an atom's weight of something — and it is hidden either within the heavens or within the earth or within the mountains, Allah will bring it forth. For indeed Allah is al-Latif and al-Khabir and he will bring it forth. Allah knows everything. As the Prophet told us (peace be upon him), Allah sees the black ant on a black rock in the middle of a moonless night. Allah perceives and Allah hears the calling of that ant, even though nothing around it may see it or perceive it. Allah knows and is well and fully aware and acquainted with the situation of that ant.

So Allah, no matter what it may be or where it may be, no matter how big or how small, no matter how private and personal it may be to you or how open or shared it is — Allah knows every single thing. And that is why when you turn to Allah and you make du'a, Allah doesn't require from you that you explain your situation in the minutest of detail. Even though to show your poverty and to explain your situation is recommended in du'a, it is not because Allah needs to know the information. It is not because Allah is unaware of what's going on. It is to show your poverty and your need in front of Allah. Allah knows your situation better than you can even explain.

Those emotions that you have within your heart that you can't utter, that you can't enunciate, that you can't find the words to explain — those feelings that no other person understands, even those people who may be going through a similar trial to yourself but are unable to understand your particular situation because everyone's dynamics are slightly different — those feelings and emotions Allah knows, because Allah is al-Latif al-Khabir.

Allah says to us in Surah al-Mulk:

Whether you are apparent in your words and speak openly, or whether you conceal and hide them within yourselves, Allah knows them — for indeed he has knowledge of what the chests and the hearts contain. And should he not know, when he created you? And he is al-Latif and al-Khabir. Allah knows everything. And that is why on Yawm al-Qiyamah, when the people come to stand before Allah, it is not only the apparent actions and deeds and words that Allah will judge — but Allah will judge us for our intentions as well. And it is that intention, when coupled with the action, that will determine the gravity of that deed, the weight of that deed.

Also from that type of knowledge is that Allah understands our needs and what we need. So Allah understands that we need provision, and so Allah provides for us. As Allah says in the Quran:

Do you not see that Allah causes rain to descend from the skies, and because of it — as a result of that rain — the ground turns green, it becomes vegetation and plants? And indeed Allah is al-Latif and al-Khabir. And Allah says:

Allah is Latif to his slaves, to his servants, to his creation, and he provides for whomsoever he wills. So every single creature upon the face of this earth, no matter how great or how small, Allah gives his provision to it in the way that it needs. That is from the meanings of al-Latif — that Allah knows your situation and he responds to that because of his knowledge.

Second Meaning: Allah Always Decrees What Is in Your Best Interests

The second meaning of al-Latif that is mentioned in the Quran, and that also applies to our situation — in particular in overcoming challenges and problems that we face — is that al-Latif also means that Allah always does what is in your best interests, even if it is something that you cannot comprehend, or if it is done in a way that is so subtle that you don't even notice. That is from the meanings of al-Latif.

Allah often in our du'as — we call to Allah and we ask him for so many things. And in our du'as we are normally very specific in what we want. We want children, or we want a bigger house, or we want a nicer car, or we want to marry a certain person, or we want a certain job. We are very specific in our du'as. And sometimes Allah responds to that du'a and he gives it to us, and sometimes Allah doesn't respond. But we know from our religion that when Allah chooses not to respond to your du'a, then Allah has actually responded to it — but in a different way. He just hasn't given it in the way that you asked for.

Because sometimes when we make du'a, instead of responding to that du'a directly, Allah removes hardship from us. He removes a calamity from us that otherwise would have struck us. Or sometimes Allah, in return, gives us something better than what we asked for — even though we ourselves can't see it, we don't understand it, we don't know where it came from. And that is from the meanings of the name of Allah al-Latif.

So when you have your issues and your problems and you're making du'a, you're talking to Allah, you're crying at night, you don't have any other door that you can turn to except for the door of Allah, and you make that du'a sincerely from your heart — remember that name al-Latif. Because al-Latif means that Allah is responding to you, but you may not understand that response. It may be beyond your comprehension. Allah has decreed something for you because he knows that it is in your ultimate interest — not your short-term interest necessarily. We want everything to be now and here, because that is the nature of humans. But Allah, when he looks at the interests of the believers and the mu'mineen, he doesn't just look at the dunya or their immediate life, but Allah also considers their akhirah. And that is why Allah is al-Latif — because the way that he deals with the believers and his awliya encompasses far more than just their everyday living.

The Story of Yusuf — A Living Example of Al-Latif

Allah gives us an example of this in the Quran. In one of the most famous and commonly known stories in the Quran, we have the story of Yusuf (peace be upon him), the prophet of Allah. Usually in the Quran, when Allah mentions a story, those stories are divided and dispersed throughout the Quran. The stories of the prophets Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa, Hud, Salih, Shu'ayb, Lut (peace be upon them all) — their stories are normally dispersed throughout the Quran. We find verses here and verses there. But Surah Yusuf and the story of Yusuf is an exception to that rule.

It is one of the few stories of the Quran about a prophet of Allah where the whole of his life is condensed into a single surah. It is mentioned all in one place. And that is because Allah wants us to understand and know the journey that this prophet of Allah went on and the different challenges and hardships that he faced. Because the story of Yusuf (peace be upon him) is ultimately a story of trial and hardship. Yusuf overcomes one challenge only to be faced by a greater one. And he overcomes a second challenge only to be faced by a third, greater one. And each and every single time, his iman and his connection to Allah strengthens and becomes greater.

Yusuf (peace be upon him) is a boy — as we know from that story in the Quran — and he is taken by his brothers and left for dead in a well. Those brothers that should be looking after him, looking out for his best interests — instead of looking out for him, they leave him for dead in a well. That is a trial. Yusuf is found by a caravan of people passing by. They find the boy in the well, and instead of returning him home or taking him to a position of authority so that he can be reunited with his parents, they sell him into slavery. That is a trial. As a slave sold into bondage, he comes into a household where the wife of his master wants to seduce him — she wants him to do haram. And Allah gave to the prophet Yusuf beauty, physical beauty, as our Prophet told us (peace be upon him). And Yusuf doesn't want to succumb to the requests of his master's wife. That is a challenge. And so he is threatened with prison — and Yusuf chooses prison and the difficulty and hardship of prison over committing haram. He enters into jail and stays in jail for a number of years, until finally Allah brings him out. And even when he comes out of jail, he is faced with the challenge of reuniting his family — his brothers come to visit him, and he must speak to them and deal with them and overcome that situation as well.

The whole of that story of Yusuf in the Quran, if you were to read it and analyze it, it is a story of difficulty and hardship — challenge upon challenge. But after every single one of those challenges, and at the end of the surah, when Allah speaks about how Yusuf is reunited with his parents, reunited with his brothers, how Yusuf forgives his brothers, and the dream that he had as a young boy that Allah mentions at the beginning of the surah has come true — Yusuf summarizes his own situation. He speaks about his own situation and he says, as Allah mentions in the Quran:

And Allah was good and benevolent to me when he took me out of prison. And Allah was good to me when he reunited you and me together — after shaitan had come between me and my brothers and had caused animosity between us, Allah has reunited us. And then he says (peace be upon him): Inna rabbi Lateefun lima yasha' — for verily, my Lord is al-Latif to whomsoever he wills.

Yusuf has a life of difficulty. But when he summarizes and gives the conclusion of his own story, he doesn't focus on the challenges and the difficulties. He doesn't focus on the trials, and he doesn't ascribe any of that to Allah. But rather he speaks about Allah's gentleness and mercy. Because ultimately, everything that Allah had decreed, and that journey that Yusuf had been on — it was ultimately one of good. Allah chose him to be from amongst his prophets. And Allah honored him with knowledge and with miracles. And Allah gave him and bestowed upon him so many favours that he became one of the most powerful people in the land of Egypt.

All of those are the favours of Allah. So yes, you may have difficulties and problems within your life, but when you balance them with all the blessings that Allah has given to you — in terms of your health and your family and all of those other things that we enjoy but often don't recognize or acknowledge — when you compare the two, indeed Allah is al-Latif. And even when Allah has decreed hardship — as we know from our religion — it is in actuality a means of expiating your sins, of raising your station, of increasing your reward. So Allah is al-Latif even in the way that he decrees hardship for you.

Allah mentions this name in the Quran because it is a name that we need to familiarize ourselves with. It is a name that is pertinent to our situation — whether it be us as individuals or us as a community and as a nation. We need to go back to those principles of the Quran and those names and attributes of Allah, and learn what they mean — not just the translation of the words, but what they actually mean and how we can apply them within our lives.

Second Khutbah — The People of the Cave

Another example that Allah gives in the Quran of that second meaning of the name al-Latif — that Allah always does what is in your best interests — is in the story of the People of the Cave in Surah al-Kahf. That surah that we recite every single Friday — or that we should be reciting every single Friday — Allah mentions the story of the People of the Cave, who were a group of young men, small in number compared to the rest of their community. They were persecuted and tortured for their beliefs because they wanted to worship Allah alone and they didn't want to engage in the shirk of their community. But those people of their community — unlike for many of us who live in non-Muslim countries — did not allow them to practice their religion. They would persecute them and torture them, and even threatened them with death, as is mentioned in some of the narrations of tafsir.

So those young men ran away, seeking some type of refuge in another place. They came to a cave and stayed within it with the intention of taking a short rest, letting things die down, lying low — and then they would leave and carry on their journey elsewhere. But Allah decreed that when they slept in that cave it wouldn't just be a short rest, but they would sleep for over 300 years. 300 years they would stay asleep, and then Allah would bring them back to life again.

Allah in this story is showing another example of the meaning of al-Latif — that Allah always decrees what is in the best interests of his creation. Those people were the minority. Those people were being persecuted. But Allah in the Quran praises them because they stood up for their beliefs, because they were confident in their iman, because they didn't let the oppression of their community overcome and overpower them. And Allah as a result gave them that honor that their story would be mentioned in the Quran.

Allah gives many other examples in the Quran. The story of the People of the Trench is a story of Allah being al-Latif to them. Yes, they would die ultimately in this life and they would be burned in the trench — but Allah in the Quran, when he describes their story, says that what they attained was the greatest of success. Because the success that Allah is looking at, and the interest that Allah sees, is not just the short-term interest of this life, but the greater interest of the hereafter.

And when Allah addresses our mothers in the Quran — the wives of our Prophet (peace be upon him) — Allah says to them: remember and recite that which Allah has revealed in your homes from his verses and from the knowledge of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The Quran and the Sunnah — much of it was narrated and revealed within the houses of the Ummahatul Mu'mineen. Allah says that is one of the greatest blessings that any person could have hoped for. And Allah was Latif to them.

Conclusion — Knowing Allah's Names Is the Path to Success

The message of today's khutbah, my dear brothers and sisters, is that we need to acquaint ourselves with the names of Allah. The hadith that I quoted to you at the beginning — those 99 names: if you understand them you will have Jannah. You will have Jannah because by understanding those names and encompassing and applying them within your lives, you are able to overcome those challenges that will inevitably come your way. You are able, in every single challenge and problem and situation — whatever it may be, however great or small — to find a way of coming closer to Allah. And that journey of constantly coming closer to Allah in this life, irrespective of what life may throw at you, that is the definition of success in this religion.

We ask Allah that he grants us success in this life and the next, and that Allah makes us from amongst those people who know his names and attributes and apply them within our lives. We ask Allah that he showers his mercy, forgiveness and blessings upon our community, that Allah safeguards us and our families from shaitan and his traps, and we ask Allah that he makes our situation and affairs easy.