Al-Mutakabbir

﷽

The tenth name we will be discussing and learning about is ‘Al-Mutakabbir’ – The Supremely Great, The Possessor of all Rights, The Perfection of Greatness.

Al-Mutakabbir is the One who is supremely great; the One who is greater than all of creation. The One who manifests greatness in all things and in all ways. The One who has rights, privileges and attributes which others have not.

Allah calls Himself Al-Mutakabbir on one occasion in the Quran. The word Mutakabbir comes from the root kaaf-baa-raa, which has three main meanings.

The first main meaning is to be great in size, rank, or dignity
The second to to be great in age and in learning
The third main meaning to have rights, privileges, and attributes that others don’t have

So, how can we live by this name?

1) Be humble.
Humility can be our guide to Paradise, in the same way arrogance can lead us into Hell- arrogance was, after all, the cause of Iblees’s downfall from Paradise; when he refused to humbly obey Allah’s command and prostrate before Adam (as). Righteousness and piety are reached once we have cultivated a true sense of humility. ‘And turn not your face away from men with pride, nor walk in insolence through the earth. Verily, Allah likes not each arrogant boaster.’ (Quran 31:18) When one comes to know about Allah and recognises His greatness, worshiping and respecting Him, loving and being in awe of Him, they learn about humility; it also comes from knowing about oneself and one’s own faults, and weaknesses amongst other things. Allah gives this characteristic to those who struggle to become close to Him through their deeds of piety and righteousness.

2) Respect others for the sake of Allah.
‘O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule [another] people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule [other] women; perhaps they may be better than them.’ [Quran, 49:11] Your knowledge of others is only by perception- it is only what you are shown by them and Allah, never the whole story of who they are. Don’t mock or insult others and be kind to them for many, many different reasons but one of them is that they might have a higher position with Al-Mutakabbir than yourself. You don’t know what people do in the privacy of their homes, you don’t know of their good deeds and intentions and not even they know the weight of those deeds in the eyes of Allah. Treat everyone with respect regardless of their beauty, knowledge, wealth, fame, social status, skin colour, etc etc. We were all created equal- be kind and loving towards others, treat them as you would wish for someone else to treat you. You never know, someone who you see as being ‘less pious’ than you could be in a better position than you tomorrow, where Allah gives to you He could take too, where He hasn’t given to another He could give tomorrow. Stay humble, and treat people with love, they are a creation of your Lord- the one who you love and who loves you, also does the same towards them. We are all humans on our own very personal journeys towards Allah and have different relationships with Him. If Allah has guided you today then be grateful for it and never forget to pray for those who may seem misguided to you, always always- if you see someone, anyone and everyone that comes across your mind, pray for their guidance and also your own, pray He keeps you all guided too. Allah guides those who He wills. Do not fall into the trap of ‘religious arrogance’, we are all on different journeys- be understanding and full of love, help guide others with your actions and advise them in private with the best of manners if you can. Arrogance and disrespect towards others is not a characteristic of a believer. The beloved Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Whoever possesses an atom’s weight of kibr (arrogance) will not enter into the paradise’ [Muslim]. Abu Bakr radiyallaahu ‘anhu said: ‘Let not any Muslim belittle another Muslim, for the lowest of the Muslims is great in the Sight of Allah.’ I clearly feel very strongly about this point so please, out of love for Al-Mutakabbir, be kind and treat His creation with the same mercy and love you wish to receive from Him. Respect others, always; and if you do disrespect them then apologise and seek forgiveness immediately- both from them but also from Allah as it is His creation you have been unjust towards. May Allah forgive us for when we have been arrogant and guide us and all those we love. Ameen.

3) Battle your arrogance.
It is so easy to fall into arrogance, thinking you know better and transgressing the limits set by Allah Al-Mutakabbir. May Allah forgive us. So keep checking your heart for feelings of arrogance creeping in and deal with them straight away by reminding yourself of the greatness of Allah. Al-Hasan al-Basri said: ‘I wonder at the son of Adam! He uses his hand to wash himself from his waste once or twice a day, yet he seeks to compete with the All-Mighty?’ Don’t get carried away with your wealth or achievements, know it is all from Al-Mutakabbir and not from yourself; these are all worldly things which will remain here when we return to Allah, the only things we will be taking with us are our deeds. Nothing happens without His will and He is always Greater than it all. Remembering Allah and doing dhikr is a great way to avoid feelings of arrogance, we should all make it a habit to instantly thank Him for any good that comes our way, say Alhamdulillah often and mean it with sincerity. Allah ﷻ‬ says: ‘If you are grateful, I will give you more’ [Quran 14:7] Thank Allah often and remind yourself that success is only given by Him and He is The Greatest, above all else.

4) Be humble to increase your knowledge
Abdullah ibn Mu’tazz radiyallahu ‘anhu said: ‘The humble student is the one who gets the most knowledge, just as the lowest places on earth collect the most water.’ So always be humble towards your teachers and remember them in your duas. The more you learn, the more humble you should become- whether that be about life, religion or any other area. There is always something to learn, something new to discover and understand, there is always more. So remain humble when you gain academic success and learn new things- yes you have learnt a lot but there is always more.

5) Ask al-Mutakabbir.
Know that Allah is Greater. Your problems in life may be big- the bad news you receive, the obstacles that seem insurmountable, the fears that try to control you- these may even be bigger than you know. But Al-Mutakabbir is always bigger, and His promises to you are stronger and surer. Let this fact fill you with hope and faith. It will completely shift your perspective, it makes you focus more on Allah, who says ‘Be, and it is’ and less on how impossible the task at hand may seem, makes you focus more on Allahs wisdom and His mercy and less on how negative the circumstance may seem. It makes you turn to Allah, makes us choose to turn to the One who will help us overcome. The greatest strength that one can attain is to have true reliance upon Allah ﷻ‬ and to seek His support in hardship and ease, no task is too large for Him. He is always there to answer our prayers. Ask Him to ease your troubles and fears and give you strength to get through tough times.

Call upon Allah, Al-Mutakabbir, knowing that He is the supremely Great. Ask Him to guide our hearts and actions to humility towards Him, our Deen and His creation. To protect us from arrogance and assist us to ways to cure any arrogance that has entered our hearts. Ask Him to give us strength and increase us in imaan, to help us overcome the trials we face in this life. Ask Him to make us of those with good character who remain humble and respect His creation and meet them with love. May Allah shower His peace upon you all and may He guide our every step. May He protect us and our loved ones and allow us to enter His kingdom of Jannah with them. May He purify our intentions and increase us in imaan. Ameen.

JazakAllah khayr for taking the time to read this, I pray it has benefitted you – please share this with anyone who you think may benefit as well – and as mentioned in previous posts, I am raising funds this Ramadan for much-needed permanent homes in Azad Kashmir, if possible please share and donate to this link. Tonight could be Laylatul Qadr- even as little as £1 could go a very long way and would be as though you have given that much for 83 years- please donate as much as is within your means to help these people.

The blessing of having a roof over our heads, clean drinking water and warm food, access to healthcare are blessings we very easily take for granted. These are things others can only dream to have so help us today by donating to build homes for those less fortunate in the impoverished villages of Azad Kashmir. Each home will have 2 Rooms, a Kitchen, bathroom, enough to house 6 people, clean drinking water, electricity and best of all, the residents will have free healthcare for life! Zakat is applicable as well.

You can also donate via PayPal to: Info@salamcharity.org.uk
Please note down the amount transferred and write a note to the supporting cause: Rimsha’sHomeAppeal – MUSPakSoc

Don’t forget to share this with any friends and family you think might be interested in supporting as well and feel free to ask any questions you have via Instagram as well @muspaksoc @salamcharityuk

JazakAllah Khair for all your efforts

References: information in this post was collated from understandquran.com and the beautiful names of Allah series on wahiduddin.net.