Published on Oct 09 2009 

Huzoor (aba) expounded upon the Divine attribute of “Al-Qawi” – All Powerful, The Mighty in the Friday sermon today. The term “qawi” (mighty) has a different significance for human beings, meaning one can be advanced in his physical, intellectual or academic abilities, but for God, the term signifies that He encompasses the ultimate power in all respects, there is no comparison of His power to anything or anyone else as He surpasses in everything. In the Holy Quran, God addresses this attribute of His in reference to those who commit “shirk” (associating partners with God) and warns them in these words:

“And there are some among men who take for themselves objects of worship other than Allah, loving them as they should love Allah. But those who believe are stronger in their love for Allah and if those who transgress could now see the time when they shall see the punishment, they would realize that all power belongs to Allah and that Allah is severe in punishing.” (2:166)

At first glance, the verse directly addresses the idolaters, warning them of the results of their transgression; at the same time, it also turns the attention of the believers to the objective of their creation, which is to love God and to remember Him. However, it reminds those who pay heed that it is easy to forget one’s objective in this world and instead of paying due attention to the remembrance of Allah, they set their focus on worldly gains and create apparent and hidden idols for themselves, so much so that the love for these idols gains in strength till God is nowhere in sight. For a true believer however, the love of God is the first and foremost objective of his life and he practices this love in every aspect of his life.

This verse warns those who create these apparent as well as hidden idols for themselves that none other than God Almighty has the power to help them. At another point in the Holy Quran, God says that shirk (associating partners with God) is a transgression that will not be forgiven. The love for this temporary abode will only lead to a terrible end, whereas the love for Allah as a true believer practices will reap the favors of Allah in this world and in the hereafter. A believer also bears in mind that love for God cannot be complete without loving the Holy Prophet (saw). Invocating durood on him and offering salat are ways to express this love of God and the Holy Prophet (saw). A believer should also love other human beings for the sake of obtaining the love of God, as this is Divine commandment also. However, not recognizing the existence of God (such as the idolaters) or forgetting God due to worldly or other distractions can bear the same consequences i.e. disfavors from Allah. Therefore, there should be a visible difference between one who does not believe in God and one who believes God as All Powerful: the first incurs the wrath of God, whereas the latter is a seeker of love of God at every step of the way. The Promised Messiah (as) sheds some light on this type of love when he says that this love for God is not something which takes on a false pretense. Such loves comes from the depths of all human faculties, till the heart is completely inundated with nothing but the love of God. When the heart is fully inclined as such, that is when one sees the wonders of his love and his beloved. The truth of the matter is that when one loves someone, he is fully engrossed with his beloved such that he has ingested him, meaning that he begins to reflect the qualities of his beloved so that when one sees the lover, he is indeed seeing the beloved. Hence, when a man loves God completely, he begins to reflect His Light. The word “muhabbat” has its roots in the Arabic language which means to be full of something. So in order to harvest the favors of God Almighty, one must be prepared to offer every type of sacrifice in His way and then he will witness Divine succor.

Huzoor (aba) then made reference to another Quranic passage in which God gave permission to a weak group of Muslims to defend themselves against a powerful enemy to combat the cruelties being inflicted by the enemy.

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