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God Is Al-Mu’min: What Does It Mean?

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Allah to Whom be ascribed all perfection and majesty knows his self, his name and everything he has got

No king would allow anyone from his pasture to be named after him although he is human, he eats, drinks, and sleeps as we do. He has a body, he gets thirsty, hungry, mad, sick and he dies.

There is no difference between him and any of his followers; nevertheless, his pride and dignity refuse to let anyone to be named after him. But, Allah, the Great and Almighty called us, after we had known Him and obeyed his order, “believers”, (mu’mineen). It is the plural form of the word “believer”, (mu’min), that is by Allah’s saying:

He is Allah, than Whom there is no other god, the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One, Peace, the Keeper of Faith, the Guardian, the Majestic, the Compeller, the Superb. Glorified be Allah from all that they ascribe as partner (unto Him). (Al-Hashr 59:23)

But this name needs a moment of thinking, Allah (the Great and Almighty) is a believer, believer in what? We believe in Allah, his messenger, the Day of Judgment, but what does Allah (the Great and Almighty) believe in?

Provider of Safety

It was said “believer” (al-mu’min) is an agentive derived from the verb “to become safe”. The verb “to become safe” has two meanings; the first one is ‘believing’.

When the imam reads Surat Al-Fatihah (the 1st chapter of the Qur’an) and when he finishes, all the people in the mosque say “Amen” (Ameen), which means God, we believe what this imam said and we are with him, so the verb “to become safe” (amina) means believe on the one hand, and there is a verse which emphasizes this, Allah (the Great and Almighty) said:

They said: “O our father! We went racing with one another, and left Yusuf (Joseph) by our belongings and a wolf devoured him, but you will never believe us even when we speak the truth”. (Yusuf 12:17)

On the other hand it means ‘being safe’, Allah the Great and Almighty said:

(He) Who has fed them against hunger, and has made them safe from fear. (Quraish 106:4)

Allah’s name “the believer” (Al-Mu’min) is taken from believing or being safe! How do you understand this name with the first meaning?

The truth is that man may or may not understand his self. If he didn’t know his self and got involved in something beyond his level, he would have a great loss. We would say: ”If you had known what you have had, you wouldn’t have got involved”. He who does something beyond his level doesn’t know the essence of what he has or what his capabilities are. That person doesn’t know his self.

On the other side there is another who knows his self quite well, all his deeds are compatible with what he has. That example clarified some facts to you, the first meaning of “the believer” that Allah to Whom be ascribed all perfection and majesty knows his self, his name and everything he has got, that is the first meaning.

Believing

The second meaning: Allah the Great and Almighty believes His messengers. He sent Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a messenger, He believed him; that is He made people believe him through a miracle.

He sent Moses as a prophet and believed him; that is He made people believe him through a miracle. He sent Jesus as a messenger and gave him a miracle to make people believe him, so the second meaning is “believing”.

This means that Allah keeps His promises by His deeds, keeping Allah’s promises is a confirmation of His promises. He promised you the good life. If you have the good life, it means that He kept His promise. Keeping the promise is evidence to the truthfulness of His prophets.

That is He gives them the proofs that make people believe them. He gives the believers proofs. Dear brother, you read the Qur’an, what makes you cling to it and be attached to it? Because all the events you are living are confirmation of this Qur’an. If you buy and sell honestly, you will have great comfort and Allah will provide you with good income and draw people to you. If you are honest, Allah will lift your name among people.

So if you apply what you are asked to do, all the events come to confirm this promise or show you that this promise is true. It is one of the meanings of “the believer” that is; making His prophets as believers supported by miracles makes His Qur’an believable, that is if you believe in it and make good deeds, you will be granted a good life. What made you believe His words; this good life or the wretched life?

If you are rightly guided by Allah the Great and Almighty in all your aspects of life, you will see that all the events confirm what came in the Glorious Qur’an.

Therefore, Allah the Great and Almighty is a “believer”, that is He made his servants as believers, since all Allah’s deeds are confirmation of His promises and threats, Allah To Whom all be ascribed all perfection and majesty said:

Truly, Allah defends those who believe. Verily, Allah likes not any treacherous ingrate to Allah (those who disobey Allah but obey Satan). (Al-Hajj 22:38)

You must have felt in many incidents where Allah inspires someone you don’t know to defend you, when Allah (the Great and Almighty) says:

He (Allah) said: “Get you down (from Paradise to the earth, both of you, together, some of you are enemies to some others. Then if there comes to you guidance from Me then whoever follows My guidance he shall neither go astray, nor shall be distressed. (Ta-Ha 20:123)

You feel you are rightly guided, and have right vision, clear insight and your interpretation of events is right because you followed Allah’s order. Eventually, the events came as confirmation to what Allah said.

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Source: nabulsi.com

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