Al-Qahhaar

﷽

The fifteenth name we will be discussing and learning about is ‘Al-Qahhaar’ – The Ever-Dominating, The Conqueror, The Prevailer

Al-Qahhaar is the One who prevails over all of creation; the One who overcomes all obstacles. The One who is victorious over any opposition; the One whose will is irresistible. The One who is dominant; the Ever-Dominating One. The One who is master of all; the One to whom all submit.

Allah calls Himself Al-Qahhaar six times in the Quran. The word ‘Qahhaar’ comes from the root ‘qaa-haa-raa’, which points to three main meanings.

The first main meaning is to overcome, overpower, dominate, or prevail
The second to subdue and subjugate
The third main meaning is to compel against someone’s wishes

So, how can we live by this name?

1) Submit.
Islam means “submission” and in the religious context means “submission to the will of God”. It means you submit and you surrender to the Lord of the Worlds. ‘As his Lord said to him, Surrender, (i.e., be Muslim) he said, I have surrendered to The Lord of the worlds.’ [Quran 2:131] Surrender your heart, your limbs, your actions, your speech, your senses, your talents, and your skills all to Him by using them to do good deeds. Don’t submit to your desires and whims that’ll take you further away from Him; submit to Al-Qahhaar willingly. Know that submission is not a sort of humiliation but rather a beautiful glorification. He gave us life, use it to do all you can to please Him.

2) Ponder how Al-Qahhaar expresses His will
The sea or the wind can be at times deadly and at other times beautiful and calm. Look at how Al-Qahhaar commanded nature to change at His will: the fire that didn’t burn Ibrahim ‘alayhi sallam, the knife that didn’t slaughter Ismaeel alayhi sallam, the whale that swallowed Yunus ‘alayhi sallam but didn’t digest him. Learn about the stories of the Quran and ponder the effect of His will all around you, like gravity, water, and fire. Everything is under His command, nothing happens without His will, turn to Him with sincerity in every situation, there is nothing He cannot do, He says ‘Be’ and it is.

3) Be kind and good to people
Be compassionate and kind to people, especially to the orphans and the poor. ‘Then, as for the orphan, then do not subdue (him), and as for the beggar, then do not scold (taqhar).’ [Quran, 93:9-10] Be kind and shower everyone with your love and mercy. Remember this overpowering attribute of Allah ﷻ‬ and be motivated to treat people well. Umar Ibn al-Azeez ordered his servant to remind him of Al-Qahhaar in case he saw him oppressing anyone. Remind yourself of Al-Qahhaar and be good, just, and fair to others at all times and have full faith in Allah, to give you justice when you are oppressed. ‘The Day they come forth nothing concerning them will be concealed from Allah. To whom belongs [all] sovereignty this Day? To Allah, the One, the Prevailing.’ [Quran 40:16] Imagine facing The Subduer, The Ever-Dominating, on the Day of Judgement, having had oppressed people. Indeed the sins committed by the oppressors are big; therefore, the misfortunes in this world are not enough for their penalty and their penalty is left to the hereafter as only that can be fair penalty for their crimes.

4) Abandon your sins.
The Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Two eyes will not be touched by Hellfire: An eye that cries from the fear of Allah, and an eye that spent the night in a guard post in the path of Allah’ [At-Tirmidhee] Al-Qahhaar compels your tongue at the time of your death and you might be unable to say la ilaaha illAllah because of your bad deeds. A simple phrase that you can say it without even moving your lips, still it is the will of Al-Qahhaar that will enable you or not enable you to say it. So abandon your sins and remember the power of Al-Qahhaar to subdue your limbs. But also work to lead a life full of as many good deeds as you possibly can.

5) Ask Al-Qahhaar.
Turn towards Him when faced with unjust opposition and when you find yourselves in positions of vulnerability. Ask Him to give you the strength and power to keep going, ask Him to aid you in overcoming all obstacles in your path. Ask Him to grant you justice and victory against any oppressors.

Call upon Allah, Al-Qahhaar, knowing that He overpowers everything. Ask Him to make us of those who bow to Him in Islam, and aid us to surrender our hearts and actions to Him and in His cause. Ask Him to remind us of His power, abandon our sins, and be kind to the people. Ask Him to increase us in strength and grant us victory against those who wish to silence us. May Allah shower His peace upon you all, answer your prayers 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 I wanted to take a minute to thank all of you for reading this far, we’re on our 15th name, and you guys have been amazing so far with reading these daily. May Allah bless you all immensely.

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