God is the Sustainer of the worlds.

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God is the Manager of all AffairsExplanation of Mafuradat

The first verse is that which we repeat in our daily prayers: “All praise is for God the lord of the worlds” This sentence has been often repeated in the Qura’n at times from God and at times from men; it sometimes refers to this world and sometimes to the hereafter. (1)

Actually this verse carries a meaningful argument and proof about God being the most powerful and praise worthy because he is the actual benefactor of the beings that exist; the creator and the Sustainer. He is the owner and takes them to perfection; he completes their work and shows them the difference between goodness and evil; he is their teacher as well as their guide. The point to be noted here is that when “Alhamd’ is used as a material then in includes all kinds of praise and when ‘Aalimin” comes with ‘Alif’ in the plural form then it includes all beings material and spiritual, intelligent and non-intelligent (It is used in plural form for the intelligent because of the abundance of those with intelligence. (2)

If some people nurture others, educate and sustain then it is a reflection of God’s lordship; if a person has ownership then it is a ray from the ownership of God and before we praise those people and thank them for having obliged we should praise God and thank him.

Since this praise and thanks is for the help that he bestows Fakhr Razi has briefly mentioned the grace of God and says, “If we look just at the human body then according to the physicists it contains nearly 5000 components and umpteen veins that benefit us and which he has gracefully included in it. What we know is much less then what we will know or learn about in the future and the knowledge that we now have is like a drop in the ocean that we will discover later.

He then mentions the signs of God’s Lordship and His arrangement of the universe and says, “If we reflect upon these things we learn that there are at least one millions facts in this world. We also see that God has made all things subservient to man but till date he has discovered but a few of them so we understand that “Praise is for God” means the praise for all that we have discovered and all that we have not”.(3)

Fakhruddin Razi was talking as per the knowledge of his time but if you compare that with the knowledge we have after these thousands of discoveries then it seems miniscule. Now we know that the human body has one billion pores which receive the grace of God and protect the human body and we realize that it imperative that we thank God for this grace. If man tries to count these pores physically then he will need three hundred thousand years to do so. How can we truly thank God? No matter how much he is grateful it will still not be enough.

God says in the second verse addressed to the Messenger “Say, ““shall I seek other than God for a Lord while He is the Lord of all things?” Why do you want to keep away from the origin of this complete system when God (alone) is the sustainer of all beings? So why we don’t accept Him as our Lord?

It is possible that we take for god something which has been created by him and bring the created on par with the creator and make the servant equal to his master? What sort of decision are you taking?

If we consider the meaning of the word ‘Shaiy” which includes everything existing except God then the oneness of lordship is clearly understood from this verse. In the two verses preceding this verse the messenger is clearly commanded to tell the idolaters. Verse 162 of Surah Anam says, “Verily my prayers, my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are all for God, the Lord of the worlds.” Why should I worship someone other than God? Why should I prostrate before anyone else but God? Why should I be alive to remember others? Why should I sacrifice my life for others? My creator, owner, guardian and sustainer is only He. We find the oneness of worship and oneness of lordship amalgamated here and presenting a divine example. (4)

In the third verse too is addressed to the Messenger and it speaks about the lord of the heaven and earth. The reality is that there is hardly any difference between the ‘Lord of the worlds” and the “Lord of all things.” though the words are seemingly different. It says, “who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth?’

Since the idolaters could not claim that these idols made by humans, and taken as gods are responsible for the management of the beings on the earth and the heavens, or that they nurture them so the Holy Messenger was commanded to ask as well reply to his own question and say, “Say, “God” (is the manager of the affairs of the heavens and the earth.)

Then say goodbye to all others, keep your heart aloof from them and rely only on His divine presence. Give your heart to Him and prostrate before his glory. What relation should you have with the idols that cannot even look after themselves? How will they help others?

 The verse 3 of Surah Furqaan says, “but are themselves created and possess neither hurt nor benefit’

God’s Lordship over the throne is mentioned in the fourth verse but the verse begins by mentioning His dominance, “Most exalted is God; the True King” This sentence concludes because in the earlier verse it is said, “ If the Judgment Day is not fixed then the creation will become meaningless because the limited life of this world does not merit the purpose that it be regarded as the cause of origin of creations( this is an important proof about the Judgment Day we will discuss it in details when we deal with Qiyamah)

It is then added, “There is no God but He; He is the Lord of the Throne.”

The word “Malik” is sued to denote the ruler and the owner and this attribute is not true for anyone but God because creativity has its own glory and needs and since there is no other creator there can be no other ruler or owner. He is then adjudged to be the Truth and only He is taken to be the lord because worship is the true lord only. The term “Lord of the great Throne” is used to complete His glorious des c r i p tion. All these four attributes are to prove the presence of the Judgment Day that has been mentioned earlier.

The term “ Arsh Kareem” or Lord of the Supreme Throne denotes all the creation because “Arsh” means the throne of the rulers and God’s throne oversees all the universe and this is compatible with the term “ Lord of all that exists’ mentioned earlier.

The word “Kareem” means the most beneficent and the throne has been mentioned with it to described the attribute of God being the “Most beneficent Ruler” Some commentators believe that the term “Kareem” is to denote the entity who sits on the throne because this cannot be used for just the throne and so this attribute is for God and not for the throne. But the Kareem can be used for the non-intelligent too as has been used in verse 50 of Surah Hajj that says, “For them is forgiveness and generous provision”

The fifth verse describes God’s lordship over mankind and records the words of Apostle Elias when he spoke to his people about worshipping the famous idol of “Baal”. He said, “Why have you forsaken God the best of the creators and adopted this idol?” And then added, “He is the lord; the lord of your forefathers”

This actually is a very irrefutable answer to all the idolaters of this world because when they asked why they worship the idols they explain their doings by saying, “this is the way of our forefathers and we are not the ones to leave their path” Apostle Elias wants to impress that the entity worth worship is only God who is the lord of the worlds; it is he who manages the affairs and nurtures mankind and it is he who is their Lord and the Lord of their forefathers. If the elders have been wrong in recognizing the true God then why are they following their wrongful ways?


 

1. Surah Anam Verse 10
2. This is the reason that Moses invoked God as The lord of the Worlds and he asked “who is the lord of the worlds?’ Moses replied, “The Lord of the beings on heavens and the earth and all that exists between them.”
3. Tafsir Al Kabeer Vol. 1 Page
4. Nusuk is an individual word and most linguist take it to mean all kinds of worship but some have taken it as a special kind of sacrifice but there is no proof for it. We discern from the verse that it means all manner of worship and so has been mentioned after daily prayers which is a common Zikr or remembrance.
5. To get more information about the meaning of “Arsh ‘ in Qura’n and lug hat see Tafsir Namuna Vol.6 Page 204 verse 54, Surah A’raf Vol. 8 Page 219 verse 3 of Surah Yunus.
6. This verse speaks about God with a Zabar so it is in replacement of “The best of the creators” which has been mentioned earlier. Some feel that God has been mentioned here as addition.

 

God is the Manager of all AffairsExplanation of Mafuradat
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