When You Feel Lost | Allah’s Names | Dr. Omar Suleiman | Ep. 5

When You Feel Lost

You don't only want to be his friend. You want to belong to him. Because friendship brings comfort. But servitude brings purpose. And servitude to Allah is not humiliation. It's actually the purest kind of honor.

Ar-Rabb: The Master Who Raises

Allah is Ar-Rabb. The master who raises. If you look at the Qur'an, it begins with, الحمد لله رب العالمين.

And then it ends with, قل أعوذ برب الفلق. And قل أعوذ برب الناس. From opening to closing, Allah frames your life through his lordship.

Everything starts with praise for the Rabb of the worlds. And then it ends by seeking refuge in the Rabb of every creation. He is رب العالمين, Lord of all that exists.

Master of the world in the grandest sense. But he's also your personal lord. And when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, ذكر رحمة ربك.

A mention of the mercy of your lord to his slave Zakariya. He didn't say, ربه or ربه. He said, ربك.

Your lord. So that you wouldn't turn him into a lord of the past who only was close to a select few in history. Throughout the Qur'an, the du'as that you hear are, ربي and ربنا.

Notice you don't hear إلهي. Because the worshiper seeks an إله. But the beloved servant longs for his Rabb.

He is the Rabb of all places and all times. And of you throughout your entire existence. And the day of judgment will either be a reunion with a loving lord.

Or the moment when false masters disown the followers who worship them. And stand alone in front of a lord that they ran away from. But as Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahu Allah said, Everything you fear in life, you run away from.

But with Allah, you run to him. فَفِرُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ Flee to Allah. Even if you fear him.

As the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam used to say:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 4, Hadith 1695)

O Allah, I seek refuge in your pleasure from your anger. And in your pardon from your punishment. And I seek refuge in you from you.

This is the language of someone who knows that refuge is only found in the very one he fears to disappoint. The name Rabb means you don't have a cold master. But you have a loving lord involved in your life, arranging your growth, helping you realize your bigger purpose and giving meaning to every small act that you do.

The Meaning of Tarbiyah

Rabb carries the meaning of Tarbiyah which is to nurture something, to grow something and to bring something to its potential. And the root of the verb refers to a farmer planting a plant. And think of that image of the farmer measuring the soil and then measuring the water and then shielding that plant from harsh wind and constantly giving it its nutrients and exposing it to sunlight so that it doesn't just survive but it bears its maximum potential in terms of fruit.

And then think of a murabbi who mentors you and who gives you the right advice that you need to refine your character. And then he checks on you or she checks on you constantly to make sure that you're getting to where you need to be. Or a mentor who you invite to critique you so that you can be the best version of yourself.

Think of a mother as a murabbi who calibrates the sleep and diet of the child and then teaches her child basic manners and letters and numbers and knows when to be firm and knows when to be soft. Knows not to break the child but to build the child. You see, your rabb commands everything outside of you from nature to the people around you to everything that goes inside of you as well.

And then he grows you to your potential. And only he has that full command over you. So the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2552)

Don't call anyone my slave for all of you are the slaves of Allah.

And let not the servant say rabbi to anyone but let him say sayyidi which could mean my master or my leader. Mawla and sayyid can describe people especially the Prophet ﷺ. But rabb exclusively belongs to Allah ﷻ. And that's why when Salman al-Farisi رضي الله تعالى عنه was describing how he was sold from slave owner to slave owner before being freed by the Prophet ﷺ. He said, I went من رب إلى رب from one master to another. And Abu Huraira explained that he didn't yet know that we don't use that word for anyone but Allah.

Because you're not slaves in the holistic sense of the word to anyone but he who is the only master in the true sense of the word. But the image of a master who has complete control over you shouldn't cause you despair or make you feel restricted. He's a loving Lord who wants to grow you not break you.

Our Lord Who Laughs

And he's a Lord who laughs when you think you have no one to save you right before he actually does. The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 181)

Our Lord laughs at the despair of his servant while relief is near. And the Prophet ﷺ was asked, wait a minute, does the Lord laugh? And the Prophet ﷺ said, yes.

And the man replied, then how can we be deprived of goodness by a Lord who laughs? Now someone might think, why would Allah laugh at the despair of the servant? To Allah belongs the highest example. But I want you to imagine a child walking in the mall who loses sight of his mother. In that instant, his whole world crashes and he cries uncontrollably as if he can't breathe.

Then his mother appears laughing softly, not in mockery, but in mercy. Almost to say, did you really think that I was going to leave you? I'm right here. We're that child.

We despair when we can't see our Lord's plan at times, though he never leaves us. And to Allah belongs the highest example. So he laughs not to mock you, but because you don't know what mercy awaits you.

He's a different type of master. And servitude to him is of the type that liberates you. And that's why Rabbi Ibn Aamir radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, when he entered into the palace of Rustum, he says in the face of that pompous ruler:

إن الله ابتعثنا لنخرج العباد من عبادة العباد إلى عبادة رب العباد

We are a people who were sent to take people from being slaves to other slaves, to being slaves to the Lord of all slaves. And from the suffocation of this world to the vastness of this life and the next. And from the oppression of all other ways to the justice of Islam.

Slavery to Allah is freedom from everything else. And that's why Allah says even the Messiah and the angels nearest to Allah are not too proud to be his عباد, to be his slaves. And every time you testify, أشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله I bear witness that Muhammad salAllahu alayhi wasalam is his slave and messenger.

You're not insulting the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam. You're actually praising him. And when you trust his care as your Rabb, he protects you from all other than him.

Al-Mawla: The Master Who's On Our Side

Hence the name, al-Mawla, the master who's on our side. Now the word Mawla can be applied to many different people. As Ibn Al-Athir Rahimahullah mentions, it can refer to the Lord, to an ally, the lover, the freed slave, and so many more categories.

But with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala it has a very specific connotation. Mawla is close in meaning to Wali. But it usually appears in contrast to those who have no other protector.

So when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

That is because Allah is the protector of those who believe while the disbelievers have no protector. At Uhud, do you remember when Umar radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu replied to Abu Sufyan after the battle and he said, الله مولانا ولا مولى لكم Allah is our Mawla and you have no Mawla. And this is what the people of Gaza have been saying to their enemies all along.

The Mawla is the one who is exclusively on the side of the believers. أَنتَ مَوْلَانَا فَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ You are our protector. So grant us victory over a disbelieving people.

So think of it this way. When you need help, you look first to whoever is closest and most capable. The Mawla says, I've got you in a way that no one else can.

So when Zubayr radiyaAllahu ta'ala anhu was dying and he feared these massive debts he'd leave behind, he told his son Abdullah to pay off as much as you can. And if you struggle to pay off what I owe, استعن بمولاي then seek help from my Mawla. So Abdullah said, By Allah, I could not understand what he meant until I asked him, Oh my father, who is your Mawla? And he said, Allah is my Mawla.

So he said, After he died, whenever I struggled to pay his debts, I would make this dua and I would say, Ya Mawla Zubayr, Oh master of Zubayr, pay his debts on his behalf. And Allah would open a new door for me. And it got to the point where so much money came back to his estate that where he died leaving nothing, his estate was full of wealth.

نِعْمَ الْمَوْلَىٰ وَنِعْمَ النَّصِيرُ What an excellent protector he is and what an excellent helper he is.

An-Naseer: The Helper Who Loves to Aid You

Which takes us to this name. When you find comfort in him being on your side, he shows you his power to help.

Allah is An-Naseer, the helper who loves to aid you. Now what's the difference between Mawla and Naseer? Because they come right next to each other and they seem very similar. Think of المولى as the one who is with you even in defeat and النصير as the one who guarantees you victory at the end.

النصير speaks to decisive outcomes and promised victory. And when an oppressed person calls out, Allah سبحانه وتعالى answers, والله لأنصرنك ولو بعد حين I swear I will deliver for you even after some time. But he is المولى with you throughout that process.

النصير to give you the promised outcome. So does Allah سبحانه وتعالى give نصر only to those whom he loves? Sometimes Allah gives نصر because of a circumstance, not because of the person. So for example, when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says, دعوة المظلوم, the prayer of the oppressed, has no hijab between it and Allah.

Even if the one making the prayer is a disbeliever, Allah سبحانه وتعالى is not granting نصر to that person because he loves them, but because he hates injustice. But when he is both your مولى and your نصير, his help comes to you both from his love as well as his sense of justice. So think of when Nuh عليه السلام said, رَبِّ إِنِّي مَغْلُوبٌ فَانتَصِرْ Oh my Lord, I am overpowered, so help me.

And help came in forms he never imagined. Sometimes Allah سبحانه وتعالى changes the world around you. And sometimes he changes you from within.

But his help always arrives in the way that saves you best. And when you're obeying your رب, and you're loving your مولى, and you're trusting your نصير, you submit to his perfect authority. And you see others as legitimate only to the extent that he recognizes them.

As-Sayyid: The Master of All Masters

And that's when you know him as السيد, the master of all masters. Now a سيد could also be a person. And unlike مولى, which has many connotations in the human sense, سيد always comes with some connotation of leadership or honor.

We call the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم سيدنا محمد. Umar رضي الله تعالى عنه said, Abu Bakr is our سيد. And he freed our سيد, meaning Bilal.

And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم held Al-Hasan رضي الله تعالى عنه. And he said, this son of mine is a سيد. Yet interestingly enough, even with the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, when a delegation came to him and said, you are our سيد.

He said, السيد الله تبارك وتعالى The سيد, the سيد, is Allah سبحانه وتعالى. And he cautioned them, say what you will, or part of it, but do not let Shaytan carry you beyond bounds. Now again, perhaps the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم recognized that maybe they meant something beyond when they said that to him.

Among people, سيد means leader. But for Allah, it means unmatched mastery. Every leader leads only by the light that he lends.

And every ruler rules only within his kingdom. Knowing that truth frees you from fearing people or wanting too much from them. Because you see that all command ultimately returns to him.

Yahya ibn Mu'adh رحمه الله said, the slave estranges himself from his master through his own sins. Yet he never leaves his doorstep knowing that a slave's honor lies only in the shade of his master. Then he recited:

قُرَّةَ عِينِي لَا بُدَّ لِي مِنكَ وَإِن أَوْحَشَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكَ زَلَلْ
قُرَّةَ عِينِي أَنَا الْغَرِيقُ فَخُذْ كَفَّ غَرِيقٍ عَلَيْكَ يَتَّكِلُ

The coolness of my eyes, I cannot live without you, even though my slips have estranged me from you.

The coolness of my eyes, I am the one that's drowning. So grasp the hand of a drowning man who depends only on you. Al-Muzzini رحمه الله used to say, Who is like you, O child of Adam? Whenever you wish, you purify yourself and whisper to your Lord with no veil and no interpreter.

But who is like you, O our Lord? You look at the slave of yours with a mercy and majesty that does not alienate, but only draws near.

Du'a

O Lord, raise me the way you raise every seed from the soil. Shape my growth with all you continue to give. Let every season you place me in become a lesson in your care.

O Lord, be my protector when I have no one else to stand up for me. Take charge of my affairs when I lose control of them. Hold me near when fear surrounds me. And make your guardianship always enough for me.

O Helper, help me in every battle I cannot see. Grant me triumph without arrogance and victory only in a way that brings me closer to you.

O Master, teach my heart that true honor is to only serve you. Let my dignity be in humility, my leadership in obedience, and my freedom in surrender.