13. Al-Musawwir, The Bestower of Forms

I tried to use people who are such public figures that they wouldn't mind the use of their images.

Al-Musawwir, the Bestower of forms (and some say colors), the Shaper.  When I thought about this name, the image that first came to my mind was diatoms, the miniscule organisms whose skeletons make the diatomaceous earth that is white dust in swimming pool filters:

Picture courtesy of Wikicommons

Don't they look like buttons or beads?  I love the amazing variety.  God is an awesome designer.

The connotations of the root of this word:  s - w - r  ض و ر according to the Wahiduddin Web are

to make something incline, lean or bend towards

to form, fashion, sculpt, imagine or picture something

to have an inclination or desire towards something

This is supposed to be the most specific of the three names that have to do with God as creator, and as I thought about that I found myself thinking  particularly about the way God has made each and every person unique.  Of course, this applies not just to our bodies but also to our hearts and minds and spirits. And of course, Allah has shaped many many things other than people.  Lots of things to celebrate.

Al-Musawwir

Al-Musawwir

You give the shape to everything that's shaped

And everything is shaped

Al-Musawwir.

Every little snowflake that drifts from the sky

Has a form and fashion that you did supply.

Every person's body and each person's face,

Bears a special signature that You stamped in place.

The path of every river that flows

The shape of every flower that grows

Fancy guppy tails and the swirling shells of snails

The track of every planet spinning out in space

Each bump and every wrinkle on each rhino's face

Are crafted by the Great Engineer

Al-Musawwir

Listen to the Song

12. Al-Baari, The Shaper

Using colors that are meant to be reminiscent of clay.

This name is found once in the Qur'an (59:24), which is a list of names, and there I find it variously translated as the Evolver, the Shaper out of naught, the Inventor of all things, the Maker, the Originator, The Initiator.
One website tells me that the difference between three of the names that talk about Allah as creator is as follows.

Some scholars differentiated between al-Khaaliq (the Creator), al-Baari’ (the Maker) and al-Musawwir (the Bestower of forms) as follows:
Al-Khaaliq (the Creator) is the One Who created from nothing all creatures that exist, according to their decreed qualities.
Al-Baari’ is the One Who made man from al-baraa, i.e., clay.
Al-Musawwir is the One Who creates various forms and shapes.

But Haj Ali Dirani says that some say it is this name which refers to bringing things into existence from nothing.   Others say it is creation without a model (thus I presume, "the Inventor" and "the Originator").
Apparently the root can also mean cutting or separating something as in cutting a twig, or a woman separating from her husband, or a business partnership being severed.  Finally, it can mean to cure.  Some of the prayers addressed to Al-Baari are clearly based on this last meaning.meaning.

So where do I go to think about this name, with all these bits and pieces of insight, some of which contradict each other?  I ended up writing a poem.  My apologies to any Muslim readers, but for me to pray this one with integrity, I need to be more explicit about Jesus than I usually am in these posts.

Al-Baari

Lord, you spoke the universe into being from nothing.

One step at a time, but stuff out of no-stuff and your word.

Lord, you drew Adam into being, bringing mankind

out of mud.

Lord, you drew me into being

From a tiny speck within my mother's womb

To a squalling baby in my mother's arms.

Lord, you still draw me into being

From nothing to something

From dark to light

Through the curtain of Christ's death

You draw me into the inheritance of the saints in light.

Lord, You are the one who keeps drawing forth

Who keeps shaping something out of nothing.

11. Al-Khaliq

The background for this image was found on this website as a free download.  I am grateful.

This nasheed is attributed on Youtube in different places to both David Wharnsby Ali and Yusuf Israel.  It's popular in a version sung by children, but I don't like that as much, so I'll share this one.  I'm not sure who wrote it originally, but I am sure this is David Wharnsby Ali singing it. Not embedded because they disabled that option.

"So God is the Creator.  Big deal, I already knew that, tell me something I didn't know." I'll admit that this has been my attitude some of the time.    Muslims teach it to their children in songs like the one above. We teach it to little children in Sunday School.  It makes an easy lesson. We hear it so much and say it so much that I think we sometimes lose track of how awesome this is.  That is, when we aren't getting sidetracked into fruitless arguments about exactly what God's creation process looked like, fighting for or against a literal interpretation of Genesis 1.  I believe Genesis 1 contains a true picture of creation.  I am not at all convinced that it is meant to be a detailed scientific description of how the world was created.  God certainly has the power to have created the world in anyway he chose, and taking any amount of time that he chose.  But I do not think that a belief that the book of Genesis is inspired by God requires us to come to conclusions about this.  

Before I was a Christian, I didn't much care who or what, if anything, created the world.  It didn't happen one of the questions that captured my imagination.  When I became a Christian, it was part of the package. "I believe in God, the Father, maker of heaven and earth and of all things seen and unseen..."

But I think perhaps we get a glimpse of the power of this aspect of God's nature when we see it play out in a situation where the people were not monotheists.  When Jonah was running from God, he told the people that he was running away from YHWH.  When a storm arises, they woke him up to come and pray. (I think their reasoning was that they should call on as many gods as possible--perhaps one of them would answer.).  But then they cast lots to decide that Jonah was the reason for their problems.  That's when he told them that the God he worshiped was the creator: "I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."  When they realize with which god he has tangled with, from which god he is running, they are terrified.  And rightly so.  This is no little, local "god."  This is God.

And as I ponder the vastness of what it is that God has created, as I begin to unpack that simple statement that God created the universe, I find myself drawn into worship.  Like staring into different levels of a Mandelbrot set, the world is stunningly beautiful and complex at both the macrocosmic and microcosmic levels.  (By the way, this wonderful created universe includes the Mandelbrot set, the mathematics that makes it possible, and the imaginations that figured out how to display it in all its dizzying beauty.)

Al-Khaliq

You spoke the world into being

Creatures both seen and unseen

Spirit and flesh came to life at your touch

My mind can't imagine how you did so much

Every star and every planet

Each electron spinning so fast

Every galaxy whirling so slowly

In the dizzying cosmic dance

Each blade of grass and every kitten

Each grain of sand and each fish in the sea

Thunder and lightning, sparrows and chickens

You made it all; You caused it to be.

You made the whole world 

And you made me.

My Creator created the world--

Fire and water and vacuum and dust

Unthinkable vastness

And hearts that can trust.

My Creator created the world.

Listen to the song

10. Al-Mutakabbir, The Supreme, The Majestic

O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! Psalm 8:1

This is a name that the commentators have some difficulty with because the word would convey pride and arrogance if applied to a person, but of course, this is God, which changes things.  The Wahiduddin website says

Mutakabbir is an empathic [sic -- I think they mean emphatic] form of the root k-b-r which denotes actively using rights, privileges and attributes that are above and beyond the rights of everyone else. In mankind, this would be called pride or arrogance, but for the One this is simply the truth.

The root k-b-r (ك ب ر) is related to being great in size, dignity, age, majesty, knowledge and rights.

From what I have read, the key thought here is not just that God is great and majestic, but that God, in some sense, claims that majesty and displays it.  I liked the interpretation given on this website that Al-Mukatabir is "He Who Reveals His Greatness in Everything".

From time to time, I have spoken with skeptics who complained about a notion of a God who would require worship.  "What kind of a God worthy of the title would care about people bowing and scraping to them, would need to hear their praises constantly being sung?" they ask.  And it's a fair question in one sense--I do not believe that God needs this. And yet, God does claim it, and God, and only God, has a right to do so.  That is at least part of what is expressed in the name Al-Mutakabbir.  God does not need our worship to remind Him of His greatness.  However, as we worship God, we sometimes get a glimpse of that greatness and majesty.

In thinking about this, and in writing the song that follows, I have been informed by a number of passages of biblical passages.  I haven't followed any of them exactly, but many of the images were brought out by reading and thinking about Job 26:7-14, Ezekiel 1:4-28, Isaiah 6:1-5, Revelation 7:9-12, Psalm 93:1-4 and Psalm 104:1.

Al-Mutakabbir

You hung the earth in space

Put the stars in place

You stir up the waves

That crash upon the sand

These are just the outer fringes

Of how glorious You are

Our minds can’t understand

Rainbows and lightning 

And a throne set on high

Where angels forever

Make their “holy, holy” cry

All this is just a likeness,

just a shadow of what’s real

Our minds can’t take it in

Al-Mutakabbir, Al-Mutakabbir

Robed in majesty and splendor

Angels, jinn and people bow down

Al-Mutakabbir, Al-Mutakabbir

We just can’t know how majestic You are

Our best language falters and fails

We have the vision of the prophets

And your glory written on the world

But our words turn to stammers

And our hearts are undone

When a touch of Your greatness assails.

Al-Mutakabbir, Al-Mutakabbir

Robed in majesty and splendor

Angels, jinn and people bow down

Al-Mutakabbir, Al-Mutakabbir[/align]

Listen to the Song

9. Al-Jabbar, The Compeller

This is another of the names of Allah that is used only once in the Qur'an and not used in a way that helps in determining the exact meaning of the name.  The citation is Surah 59:23.  The reference establishes the name, it simply does not explain it.

The stem can mean someone who forces their way on others (which is acceptable when the one doing the forcing is God, but negative when the one doing the forcing is a person.  The 9 times in the Qur'an where this word is used of people rather than of Allah, it is primarily a negative word speaking of tyrants.

So the primary meaning is someone who forces submission.  I have read that according to al Khattaabi, it means: “He is the One who forces His creation upon what He commands and upon what He has forbidden. In other words, whatever Allah wills, His will is executed.”

This can get us into all kinds of issues about free will and predestination.  Christians debate the issue.  There are places in the New Testament where the same writer seems to be on both sides of the issue within the same letter (I feel like this is the case in Ephesians, for instance). My personal conclusion is that this issue is more complicated than it seems, and that somehow free will and predestination are in fact compatible, though I do not know how to reconcile them philosophically. Nor do I feel a great need to do so.  Is everything that we do completely predetermined by God, so that he moves us like a puppet master?  I have no doubt that God could do so if he wished.  The issue is not God's ability and power.  But even if that is the case, it remains true at the same time that we are required to live our lives as if we had free will and are making choices about what to do.  So, for me, the issue of God as compeller is something that applies to those times when we feel as though God were forcing us to do something.

And those times do come.  I suspect that the overwhelming majority of the time, God's compelling is more like the compelling of a compelling argument.  God's ways are extremely gentle. Sometimes they can seem too gentle to us. John Donne complained that he wished God would come and be more forceful with him.

Batter my heart, three-personed God, for you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
I, like an usurped town, to another due,
Labour to admit you, but Oh, to no end.
Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
But am betrothed unto your enemy:
Divorce me, untie or break that knot again,
Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.

But there are times when we resist the gentle leadings, and discover that God does have more forceful ways of leading us.

The stem ج ا ب ر  (j-a-b-r) has other meanings as well.  It can mean tall, and lofty, when it describes a palm tree, and perhaps even when it describes people, as in the Qur'an 5:22, where the people are described with this word, by the men complaining to Moses that they are reluctant to enter the land.   It gets translated as "powerful" and "tyrannical", but I am reminded of the Old Testament passage describing this incident (Numbers 13:32-33) in which the complaint is both that the people of the land are too powerful and that they are too tall.  "We became like grasshoppers in our own sight and so we were in their sight."  This does not get us too far in considering God, except that it can translate into lofty, or exalted, and indeed it has been said that this name means the same thing as Al-Mutakabbir.  Perhaps this is so, but then little is gained from this name in terms of a unique consideration.

This same stem can also mean to repair the broken, reform, restore.  Algebra comes from this meaning, and the word for a splint for a broken bone is based on this stem.  Jinan Bastaki says that some of the great scholars prayed, " 'Ya Jaabir kul kaseer' when they were faced with overwhelming difficulty, meaning 'Oh You who mends everything that is broken.'"

Amatullah says that when you make up something that is deficient this is jabr, and suggests that the implication for understanding the term Al-Jabbar is that,

When we find our resources to be incomplete, Allah (swt) completes them. When we are unable to reach our goals, Allah (swt) assists us. He is the One who amends the affairs of His creation. It means if a slave is unable to reach His goal, Al-Jabbaar will enable Him and provide Him with the sources to reach this goal.

Of course, for a Christian this notion of God as a repairer and restorer who enables us to reach a goal we cannot reach on our own resonates strongly with our understanding that God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself.  What we are unable to do (live a sinless life) was accomplished through Jesus' life and death on the cross, and is transferred to us through faith.  I understand that the idea that this was Jesus' mission is foreign to Islam, but it is central to Christianity, and it inevitably comes to mind as I meditate upon God as restorer.

Scholars warn translators about something called ITT: Illegitimate Totality Transfer.  The problem is that one word can have many meanings, but it does not have all of those many meanings at the same time.  In English, when we say, "John had a ball," it can mean, "John had a round object which is used for playing," or "John had a great time," or "John hosted a party which involved dancing."  But it does not mean, "John had a great time at a party that involved dancing and round objects."  That example sounds silly, but when novice translators begin working with translations of religious works, the temptation to jam several unrelated meanings together becomes greater, because one tends to find things that sound like they have great mystical significance.  For this reason, I am skeptical of a translation or explanation of this name as "The one who forces the world to be restored."

However, when we work with a name, especially a name for God that describes his attributes, I am also not entirely convinced, despite the concern about ITT, that one name cannot carry two different meanings.  Certainly, Muslim scholars have worked with both in conjunction with this one word.  And I find that both are aspects of God's nature that ring true to my understanding, and so I have ventured to address both in one song.

Al-Jabbar

Al-Jabbar, the One who can force me

Al-Jabbar, the One who compels

Al-Jabbar, the One who can force me

Al-Jabbar, the One who compels

God, I don't want to feel your compelling

That is not my idea of fun

But I want to say now you have my consent

To do what must be done

Al-Jabbar, the One who can force me

Al-Jabbar, the One who compels

Al-Jabbar, the One who can force me

Al-Jabbar, the One who compels

Well, sometimes my heart is like a stubborn child

Or like a mule that needs a good kick

I would rather be guided by your gentleness 

But if you must, then bring the stick.

Al-Jabbar, Al-Jabbar, Al-Jabbar

Al-Jabbar, the One who restores me

Al-Jabbar, the One who repairs

Al-Jabbar, the One who completes me

The One who carried the burden that we could not bear.

Al-Jabbar

Listen to the Song

I want to make it clear that this song is not about the proper treatment of mules, about which I know nothing.  Perhaps there is no such thing as a mule that needs a good kick.  But Proverbs 26:3 suggests to me  that there may be times when I need a stick, at least a metaphorical one for my heart.  I find encouragement that this is a sign of God's love in Hebrews 12:3-11

Here are three websites that helped me a great deal as I considered the meanings of this name:

Relationships with the Divine: Al-Jabbar the Compeller
Al-Jabbar: Healing the Broken Heart
Asma Al-Husna:  Al-Jabbar

8. Al-Aziz, The All-Mighty

Perhaps not the ideal metaphor, but I intended the grey text here be reminiscent of steel. 

When skeptics and atheists talk to people who believe in a God who is active in the universe, one of the questions that comes up a great deal of the time is, "Do you believe that God is all-powerful? If you do, do you believe he can make a stone so strong that he can't move it?" The more sophisticated version of this question is, "If God is all-powerful and all-loving, then why does he let bad things happen?"

Without any attempt to give a sophisticated answer to this question (there is a whole branch of theology called theodicy which does nothing but study aspects of this), I was delighted to learn that in the Qur'an many of the references to God as Al-Aziz are coupled with the idea that God is all-wise and all-knowing. He has the ability to do all things (except logical impossibilities), but he does not choose to do foolish things, and we in our limitations, frequently don't have a full understanding of what that entails.

I am reminded of a snatch of a song a friend of mine, Joel Davis, once sang, giving words speaking as if from God, to a young woman who was going through the normal difficulties of adolescence. This is the half remembered form of the song that has stuck with me through the years:

I could make you all big and grown-up
With all the wisdom that a grown-up ought to have
And I could make you never feel any pain--
I could make the rivers turn to sand
And I could make the flowers never bloom again.
I could easily do all these things,
But I would not deprive you.

Listen to this fragment of a song.

Other aspects of this name of God include the idea that God cannot be conquered; God is the one who conquers all, and God is also the one who is the most worthy of honor.

As I pondered this name, this is the song that came:

Al-Aziz

Al-Aziz, Al-Aziz

All Mighty, All Powerful

All Mighty All Powerful

There is nothing You can't do

No one wins when they fight against you

All Mighty, All Powerful

All Mighty, All Powerful

I bow before You,

Al-Aziz

Listen to the Song

7. Al-Muhaymin, The Guardian

These feathers don't look much like wings, but I hoped with the blue they might make one think of the wings of heaven.

Al-Muhaymim is another one of the names that is mentioned in the Qur'an only in a verse that is a listing of Allah's names (59:23).  So a study of the Qur'an itself will not help with understanding it.  It is related to the same root as Al-Mumin, but most commentators seem to focus on the aspect of protection and watchfulness.  I chose feathers for the backdrop of my title for this name because muhaymin is a description for a bird that protects its young by gathering them under its wings. That image, of course, instantly brings to my mind Jesus' lament over Jerusalem: "“Jerusalem, Jerusalem... how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing" (Matthew 23:37; Luke 13:34). But it also reminds me of several passages in the Psalms that speak of God's protective love in terms of the metaphor of being under His wings:

"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge." Psalm 91:4
"How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings."  Psalm 36:7
"Keep me as the apple of your eye.  Hide me under the shadow of Your wings." Psalm 17:8

This aspect of God makes me think of what Jesus said when he was teaching his followers not to be scared.

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." Matthew 10:29-31

A lot of the commentary on this name talks about the watchfulness of God--particularly in the sense that God is always watching and keeping track of what we do.  I am reminded of the song that Christians sometimes teach their children to sing, called "Oh be careful" that reminds children in the chorus "For the Father up above is looking down in love, so be careful...(what you do, say, think, etc)".



This song has never been a favorite of mine, because it gives an impression of God as someone who sits up in heaven and peers down, and also because there is a bit of a "Big Brother is watching" feel to it that I don't much care for.  But, in truth, I have to concede there is an aspect of God's watchful care over us that is meant to remind us that there is never a moment when God is looking the other way, so that we can "get away" with whatever it is that we would like to get away with.  His mercy is new every morning and endures forever, but his mercy is not a mercy that is unaware of the things that we do.

In the awareness that God is Al-Muhaymin, I want to commit my ways to the one who, as Jude says, "is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy" (Jude 1:24).

Al-Muhaymin

Al-Muhaymin, You are always watching

Al-Muhaymin, You are always there

Al-Muhaymin, You are always watching

And You always care.

You watch over all of creation

You see every sparrow that falls

Every hair on my head you have numbered

And you hear me when I call.

You never sleep and you never slumber

You watch peasants as you watch kings

As a mother hen gathers her children

You long to bring us under your wings

Every move that I make you are watching

Every step that I take you can see

You long to welcome me into Your presence

Completely whole, completely free

Al-Muhaymin, You are always watching

Al-Muhaymin, You are always there

Al-Muhaymin, You are always watching

And You always care.

Listen to the Song

6. Al-Mumin, Trustworthy, The Guardian of Faith

 I have selected a granite background for the name to suggest the rock-solid quality of Allah's faithfulness that is implied in this name.

The root here, which is apparently ا م ن  a-m-n  has the meanings

to be secure, safe, free from fear
to be quiet, tranquil
to grant protection, safeguard
to be trusted, trustworthy
to believe in

It seems like most commentators on this name have focused on the aspect of protection, while I have focused on the aspect of faithfulness.  But it is in being faithful to us and to His word that God does protect us.

As I thought about this name, a song came.

Al-Mu'min

Al-Mu'min, you are faithful

Al-Mu'min, you are true

True to your word and true to your people

We can depend on you

Al-Mu'min

Al-Mu'min, make us faithful

Al-Mu'min, make us true

True to your word and true to your people

Completely dependent on you

Al-Mu'min

Listen to the Song

Let me say something about this song. I do not really understand what happens when I write a song.  It usually begins with looking for a song.  In this case, I was searching for words and a melody that would reflect what I had learned by reading about the meaning of this name.  But then what happens is that lines of the song come to me with a melody, which I hear in different ways.  Over time, as I sing the song to myself, it grows gradually, until it finally settles down and becomes one tune and one set of words.  I wake up singing it, I sing it over and over throughout my day.

As I have thought about this song, and as I have engaged in singing it, it seems to me that the structure of the song as well as the words tells me something about the faithfulness of God.  Because this song is almost like breathing, it can be sung (and I find myself singing it) almost like a chant, that continues on and on without a break.  And that is the way it is with the steadfast faithfulness and protective love of God--it continues on and on like the waves of the ocean.  Like our breath, it is there even when we are unaware of it.

In considering this name, I have been greatly helped by this website, and its associated links, in which a Jordanian man using the pen name Nuruddin Zangi describes his explorations into living with this name.

5. As-Salam, The Source of Peace

According to Tafsir ibn Kathir this carries the meaning "Free from any defects or shortcomings that lessen or decrease His perfect attributes and actions.''  The word Shalom in Hebrew and the word Salaam in Arabic both carry the sense not only of peace, but also of wholeness, completeness and health.

In all three of the Abrahamic religious traditions, we go to God for peace.

God told Aaron and his sons to bless the people.  Here is a rabbi singing (and then praying in English) the traditional Aaronic blessing.

The biblical passage for this is Numbers 6:22-27.

Jesus promised peace to his followers in a number of passages.
More Christian stuff.

Before his crucifixion, Jesus said this to his followers.  "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14:27).

He also said, "“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33)

There is also another way in which Christians understand Jesus to be peace, because the entire purpose of Jesus's life on earth was to bring peace between God and mankind.  His incarnation is a reconciliation, bringing the nature of God and humanity together in one being, and his death and resurrection are even more so.

In thinking about God as our peace however, in all three traditions it also behooves us to remember that there are times when God troubles our peace.  God is not a source of complacency and there are times when drawing closer to God does not instantly result in peace but in increased trouble both in our hearts and in our situations.  Jeremiah called the conduct of people loathsome who, "dress the wounds of my people as though it were not serious.  'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace" (Jeremiah 6:14).  Isaiah warns that there is no peace for the wicked (Isaiah 48:22).  Jesus warned that his teachings would divide families: "I did not come to bring peace but a sword" (Matthew 10:34).

Here is a song that came as I was considering this name, in its various dimensions

As-Salam

As-Salam, As-Salam, As-Salam

When my world comes apart at the seams

When I'm facing the death of my dreams

You're the One who makes me whole

You're the One who's in control

As-Salam, You're my peace

As-Salam

When the storm winds come swirling around

When my life crashes down to the ground

When there's nothing I can do

You're the One who brings me through

As-Salam, You're my peace

As-Salam

MP3 of Song

O God, bring me to real peace.  Where I need to be troubled on my way into your peace, then I ask for the troubles I need, so that I can come to the peace and wholeness that are yours.

4. Al-Quddus, The Holy One, The Pure One

According toTafsir Ibn Kabir, "(Al-Quddus,) meaning "The Pure,'' according to Wahb bin Munabbih, while Mujahid and Qatadah said that Al-Quddus means "The Blessed.'' Ibn Jurayj said that Al-Quddus means "He Whom the honorable angels glorify.'' "

What does it mean to be holy or pure?   If we think about purity in natural things, it is very short-lived, and one might almost say fragile.  We are clean until we get dirty.  A piece of white paper is clean only as long as it is not used.  A cup of water becomes impure as soon as anything is added.   That which is holy is set apart for God, with a certain amount of fear lest it become unclean before the offering is accepted.

It is God alone whose purity is such that God not only remains eternally pure, but has the power  to transfer that purity to others, to make them clean. When the prophet Isaiah saw a vision of the Lord, he saw him

seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”  Isaiah 6:1-3

(Notice that here we do see the angels glorifying God in conjunction with his holiness, as Ibn Jurayj mentioned.)

In the Hebrew, the word is Kadosh, and it is related to the Arabic Quddus.  Isaiah's response was immediately to be aware of his own impurity in contrast to the holiness of God.  He cried out, "Woe to me, I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5).  God sent a seraph to touch his lips with a burning coal to take away his sin.

In the New Testament, it is Jesus who is portrayed as having this kind of contagious purity.

More really Christian stuff:

An unclean woman touches his clothes. Instead of making him impure, she gets healed.  He touches lepers. Instead of getting leprosy himself, their leprosy is healed. And perhaps most startling of all, he claimed the ability to forgive sin.  The people around were offended, and thought this was blasphemy. If Jesus had not been God, it would have been blasphemy. (Anyone can forgive sin against themselves. But Jesus was talking to a stranger with no sense in the story that the man had done something to Jesus as a man.)

Oh God, I want to have your kind of purity in my life, to be completely and totally given over to your love and your ways.

3. Al-Malik, The King

Here we have a name that God is called that people can also be called.  The King, the ruler, the lord.

American democrats sometimes have troubles with the idea of anyone being a King.  And modern seminaries sometimes have troubles with calling God a name with such "patriarchal" overtones.  The fact remains that traditionally within Christianity and Islam, we have known God as King.

A central prayer in Christianity, the Lord's prayer, which Jesus taught to his followers starts out with "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.  Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

When we call God King, we emphasize the fact that he is the one who has the right to make the rules.  He is the one to whom we give our allegiance, who has the supreme right to tell us what to do, to boss us around, both personally, the way a King sends his vassals on errands, and in general, the way a King makes laws for his kingdom.

One of the spots where the Qur'an talks about Allah and gives him the title Al-Malik is in Surat Taha, (20:114).  In this passage, though not in this specific verse, God tells the angels to prostrate themselves before Adam, and Iblis (Satan) refused.  And, as we all know, Adam didn't do such a good job of obeying God's command to him.  God is King.  He has the right to tell us what to do, even when the command may not make a lot of sense to us (as when Adam was told not to eat one specific fruit, even though it was "good to eat" and "a delight to the eyes" (Genesis 3:6)).  He has the right to tell us to give honor to someone, as in the command of the ten commandments to honor father and mother, and as Iblis refused to do to Adam and Eve.

The New Testament talks about being transferred out of the Kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light (Colossians 1:12-14).  We don't actually have a choice about whether or not we are going to live in a spiritual kingdom--someone will be king over us, whether we choose that or not.  We do have a choice about which King we will have.

For myself, I want to be a member of the kingdom of light, and have God for my King, Al-Malik.

Playing with calligraphy.  I am trying to make a crown from the Arabic words.  I don't know whether this will be obvious to all viewers.

Having said that individualistic Americans sometimes have difficulties with the idea of a King (or anyone) telling them what to do, I should probably also be honest, and say that I find the notion of a King to be very romantic.  I identify quite a bit with the legend of St. Christopher, a warrior who wanted to serve the greatest King.  He works his way up through various kings, then winds up serving Satan because a very great king is scared of the devil.  This of course brings him around to serving God, though the story is more complex than that.

There is a sense in which this is part of the story of how I came to become a Christian.

Aggressively Christian bit follows, read at your own discretion.  

I was looking for a Lord worth serving, and I found one in Jesus, a King who came to his people in humility, and whose humility will someday lead to every knee being bowed, and every tongue confessing that he is Lord.

I will admit that as I think this through I am more and more struck that while in Christian literature both Father and Son are addressed as King, and it is the Father who gives Jesus his throne and kingdom, it is clear that the cry of Christians has been from the beginning that "Jesus is Lord" (and in being the Lord, also our King.)

2. Ar-Raheem, The Most Merciful

Although this word comes from the same three letter root as Ar-Rahman, traditionally this is understood to refer to the love, mercy and compassion that is reserved for the believer. "Ibn Jarir said; As-Surri bin Yahya At-Tamimi narrated to me that `Uthman bin Zufar related that Al-`Azrami said about Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim, "He is Ar-Rahman with all creation and Ar-Rahim with the believers.''

 This concept that there is a way in which God is merciful to believers which God does not extend to unbelievers is something that is very familiar to traditional Muslims and Christians alike. But it is very disconcerting to the modern mind. Why should God care who believes or what it is that people believe?

There are a number of answers to this question, but I think that an important piece of the answer is that for all of the Abrahamic traditions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, belief is not just a matter of intellectual assent, but a matter of trust, and a matter of being willing to come to God. "Taste and see that the Lord is good," says the psalmist, "blessed is the man who takes refuge in him" Psalm 34:8. There is an aspect of God's mercy that you cannot experience without drawing close enough to God to fling yourself upon that mercy.

Christians and Muslims alike have tended to check whether the believers have all the concepts in their creed correctly lined up.  And Muslims and Christians are in sharp disagreement about some of the most important aspects of the content of faith.

  When Jesus answered the questions of one legal expert,  he told the familiar story of the Good Samaritan.  A man who was beaten up by thieves and left for dead is passed by two religious leaders, and then rescued by a good Samaritan. Nobody listening to the story would have thought that the Samaritans had their theology right. They didn't have their blood-lines right either, for those who thought that this what mattered to be accepted by God. The Samaritans were the descendants of people that the Babylonians had moved into the area after they moved the Jews out of the area. The man whom Jesus held up as an example (from the form of the story, probably not a real person but a type) held extremely questionable doctrines by almost anyone's standards, but his actions showed him to be a lover of his neighbors.

I do not mean to imply that God does not care about the content of our faith.  But I do think that it matters a great deal more whether or not we are drawing near to God in love and trust than whether we have all the details right. Ultimately it is God who will judge all hearts. Will we trust in our own ability to have gotten things right, or in the greatness of God's mercy?

Another aggressively Christian moment, read at your own discretion:

As a Christian, I put my trust in the greatness of God's mercy as it was revealed in Jesus' death on the cross, followed by his resurrection. In the New Testament it is very clear that " if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation" (Romans 10:9-10) and "Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God" (1 John 4:15). But I also believe that God will reveal what is true to those who are looking to follow him (John 7:14).

For this name, I did not write a song, but instead played with making a calligraphy picture.

1. Ar-Rahman, The Most Compassionate

This is part of the full phrase, "Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem," "In the name of Allah, the most Compassionate, the most merciful," which is recited and printed before the beginning of every surah but one in the Qur'an, and which is recited as part of salat, the daily prayers and at other times. It is a very commonly used name of God.

But what does it mean? I have seen it variously translated as The Most Compassionate, The Beneficent, the Most Merciful, The Merciful, The All-Merciful, The Gracious One, and I am sure this does not exhaust the list of possible translations. I want to make it clear that all of these translations are given by Muslims and by scholars. I am not trying to be stubborn or officiously scholarly when I give different translations. On Wikipedia, there is currently a passionate argument that this is simply the personal name of Allah, and as such does not correspond to an attribute. (The author of this particular part of the article does not speak English in a very grammatical way, and I will be surprised if their addition stands for long. But I have been surprised before.)

Arabic is a language of three and four letter roots, which tie together families of related words. The root of this word is R-H-M ر ح مز According to the The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, related words are رحمwhich can mean uterus, womb and relationship or kinship. The related word رحمة is variously translated as pity, compassion, human understanding, sympathy, kindness, and mercy. The Qur'an itself does not give us a lot of clues as to exactly what flavor is best ascribed to this word. In many places, it is used as a name without any particular clues.

So I have turned to the Tafsir Ibn Kathir, because it has been translated into English, and is available on the internet. Ibn Kathir was a mufassir (scholarly commentator on the Qur'an) who was born in 1302 C.E. Tafsir is commentary on the Qur'an which goes word by word, and phrase by phrase. There is a detailed discussion of the distinction between Ar-Rahman and the related name (they share the same root) Ar-Raheem. He cites a tradition (Hadith) judged to be authentic (graded Sahih) that Abdur-Rahman bin `Awf heard Mohammad say "Allah the Exalted said, 'I Am Ar-Rahman. I created the Raham (womb, i.e. family relations) and derived a name for it from My Name." Ar-Rahman is said to embrace a wider scope of Allah's mercies, and it applies to the mercies that are given to all of creation, believers and unbelievers alike. The term Rahman is not an adjective that can be applied to anyone but Allah. People can be Raheem (merciful) but not Rahman.

One of the places which I think gives the best flavor of the word is in the Surah which is named Ar-Rahman (Surah 55). You can hear this recited, with an interpretation/translation here:




This surah starts with the name of Allah, Ar-Rahman, and goes on to talk of the things that he has done: He taught the Qur'an; He created man; He taught him speech, and to extol the wonders of creation. He not only created man from clay, but the jinn from smokeless fire. There is the beautiful repeated line, "Then which of the favors of your Lord will you deny?"

As I think of this Surah, and of the boundless nature of the mercy and favor of God, I am reminded of Psalm 65:5-13,

5 You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds, God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas, 6 who formed the mountains by your power, having armed yourself with strength, 7 who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations. 8 The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.
9 You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it.10 You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. 11 You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. 12 The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. 13 The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.

I also think of Jesus encouraging his followers to pray for their enemies, so that they can be like their Father in heaven. "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:45). The goodness and mercy and generous love of God flow out on everyone as freely and fully as the sunshine. And while we think of the sun as setting daily, in truth we know that the sun NEVER stops shining. It is constantly pouring out its blessing on the earth, just sometimes more fully on those we cannot see or know.

I like the fact that Ar-Rahman in Surah 55 is shown blessing not only mankind and the natural world, but even the jinn. His mercy and love are vast beyond our capacity to imagine them.


Here is the song that came as I considered and prayed about this name, with a WordArt calligraphy picture to illustrate it.

Ar-Rahman

Like the waves keep rolling in the ocean
Like the sun keeps shining up above
Ar-Rahman keeps giving gifts of mercy
Ar-Rahman keeps giving gifts of love

To the righteous one and faithless sinner
for the thankless and the thankful eye
There is still the cooling touch of water
There are still stars shining in the sky

You can't stop the rolling of the ocean
You can't stop the sparkling of the dew
You can't stop the changing of the seasons
You can't stop God's grace from touching you

Like the waves keep rolling in the ocean
Like the sun keeps shining up above
Ar-Rahman keeps giving gifts of mercy
Ar-Rahman keeps giving gifts of love.

MP3 of Song

And here I want to put a final set of thoughts. These are thoughts that I cannot avoid having as I consider this name as a Christian. However, it is not my purpose to be obnoxious and argumentative in this blog. Let me say, as Lemony Snickett did in the children's books, that I have to write this, but you DO NOT HAVE TO READ IT. The following section could be described as aggressively Christian. If you prefer to avoid such material, don't click on the +.

How can I read about the most Gracious mercy of God, God's goodness poured out to all, upon all of God's creation, without thinking of what is for me God's greatest act of self-giving? God so loved the world...(John 3:16) and "This is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (John 4:10). "God demonstrates his love for us in this. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:18). How do I talk about this in a way that might make some kind of sense, especially in the light of the fact that the Surah of the Qur'an which uses the name Ar-Rahman the most is Surah Maryam (Surah 19). That Surah talks about the birth of Jesus, and Mary's virgin conception, the gift of a child to a woman who had never been with a man in a sexual encounter.

Surah 19:35 says "It is not for Allah to take [or beget] a son; exalted is He! When He decrees an affair, He only says to it "Be," and it is."

And here are the Christians, saying not only that Jesus is, in some sense God's "only begotten Son," but also that he is God. Christians believe that God, the one God, the only God, is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. That these three are not three Gods (though I can understand that it would feel like that to an outsider looking in) but one God. That forever and always God has been Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

if the issue is that, unlike the Greek gods, who were understood to come to women rather freely, and produced "heroes" like Hercules, God is not such as to have sex with a woman, then I am in complete agreement that God does not and did not do that. But the Qur'an repeatedly rejects the notion that God can have a son at all. And here, of course, Christianity disagrees.

For me, the most central and defining act of God's love and mercy for all humanity, and for the world as a whole is that seeing us all messed up in our sin, God did not stand aloof. He sent his son, and because of the nature of God, that means that he came himself. God who had the ability to be completely apart from us, who in some ways is completely apart and beyond us, also became fully human in Jesus. Having become fully human, and lived a life bound by the many limitations involved in being human, and though he was completely sinless himself, he did not stand aloof from our sin. He could have just come and showed us how it's done, lived a perfect life, and given us a brilliant example that we would not be able to follow. Instead, he did something about our predicament. He died on the cross, taking our sin upon himself, dying our death so that we could have his life.

Not that we loved God, but that God loved us. Not for righteous people but for us unrighteous sinners.

God is truly Ar-Rahman.

Allah

Image by artist Walee ur Rehman, made available for free download at http://www.a2youth.com/wallpapers/calligraphy/allah_metallic/

How do I write about this name, and what can I say? The plan was to start looking at the names by examining the verses in the Qur'an where the name occurs, and right at the beginning, I am unable to do what I said. I would have to read the whole Qur'an--which perhaps I could do, but what would I have to say about it? I cannot do it for this name; better to admit my defeat at the beginning.

Allah is generally not considered "one of" the 99 names of Allah, since it is the name of Allah, but lists vary. Still it seems important to begin here.

Allah is the Arabic name for God, and its use by Christians is controversial, both among Christians and among Muslims. According to some Muslims, the name Allah is a Muslim word, and its use by Christians is wrong. In Malaysia, this became a matter for a court decision.  

There are also Christians who believe that it is wrong or confusing for Christians to use the word Allah, even when they are speaking in Arabic, when they are talking about the Christian God. As an example, Matt Slick of CARM (Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry) in his discussion of Exodus 20:7, Do not take the name of the Lord in vain, says "He did not say his name was Baal, Krishna, or Allah, which are all names given to false god’s by people." This is a misunderstanding, and a pernicious one.

The name "Allah" is the Arabic version of the Hebrew term El or Elohim. There are several different names used for God in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament. This one is frequently translated "God" in English Bibles. Before Islam even began, Christians and Jews speaking Arabic used the word Allah to refer to God. Christians from denominations that have been in the Arabic-speaking world for a long time all use Allah as their word for God.

In fact the English word "God" has a significantly more confusing pedigree than the Arabic word Allah. I do not have any problem using the English word God to speak to God, even though it has roots in other religions. I know, and I know that God knows that I am using this word to speak to God as he is revealed in the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the creator of the universe, and the Lord of all that is created. This is what a Muslim means when s/he prays to Allah, and so, it seems reasonable to me to use both the Arabic word Allah and the English word God.

Are there differences between the Muslim understanding of who God is and my understanding?  Yes. I do not want to gloss over the fact that I am a Trinitarian Christian, I understand that this is not consistent with the Qur'an. But for my part, I will trust that God at least understands who I am talking to when I use the name Allah.

Jews mark the name of God as holy by considering it off limits. Muslims fill their speech with phrases incorporating the name of Allah: Bismillah, Insha'Allah, Masha'Allah, Alhamdu'lillah. If part of the purpose of this exercise is to discover truths that may have been overlooked in my life, then perhaps the first question is: In what ways am I meant to hallow the name of God in my life?

This blog is an exploration of ways for me to do that. Here is the prayer that came as I pondered beginning this project.

Bismillah
(In the name of Allah)

Bismillah, I open
Bismillah, I start
Bismillah, I welcome this new day
Bismillah, I follow
Bismillah, I stand
Bismillah, I'll walk upon Your way.

In the name of Allah
In the name of God
I open up my heart and my mind
Keep me seeking only for your Truth and Love
Help me fully embrace the things I find

Bismillah, I open
Bismillah, I start
Bismillah, I welcome this new day
Bismillah, I follow
Bismillah, I stand
Bismillah, I’ll walk upon Your way.

MP3 of Song