Rabb-il-Alamin

               Today I will be talking about “Rabb-il-Alameen,” which is just one of the 100 names or attributes of Allah. ‘Rab,’ means the Lord and sustainer. In the Holy Qur’an, it is described as Rabbil ‘Alamin. So, when we say Rabbil ‘Alamin or “Lord of all the worlds,” what do you think of worlds? Maybe heaven and the Earth? Possibly a Solar System? Perhaps a galaxy? A universe? Well, there are many deeper meanings of this attribute of Allah. I am going to explain only one of the meanings of this attribute which is the fact that Allah knows, sustain and nourish everything.

In the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Verse 256 known as Ayat ul kursi, Allah the Exalted says, “Allah — there is no God but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining. Slumber seizes Him not, nor sleep. To Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. Who is he that will intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them; and they encompass nothing of His knowledge except what He pleases. His knowledge extends over the heavens and the earth; and the care of them burdens Him not; and He is the High, the Great.” 

Ayatul Kursi (translated above) explains that Allah is Ever-Living, Self-Subsisting and Self Sustaining. As such, He is eternally awake and alert otherwise the Universe will cease to exist. Allah does not suffer from boredom as He takes great interest in His creation. 

There is one famous prayer of the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) which  he used to pray believing the vastness of this attribute during Ruku in the words;

“O Allah, I have bowed for Your sake and have believed in You. I am obedient to You and trust in You. You are (my RAB) my Sustainer. My ears, eyes, flesh, bones, nerves and my head are bowing in submission to the One Who sustains all the universe.” 

In his book “Our God,” pg.40 Hadrat Mirza Bashir Ahmad, Razi Allah Anho says, “The closer a man gets to his Lord the clearer his vision becomes, and so does his knowledge and understanding of God. There is no limit to this nearness and no end to this knowledge and understanding, for God Himself is Limitless and knowledge about Him cannot be limited.”

What is the overall meaning of Rab-ul-Alamin? Well, we just observed that Rabb means Lord, Master, Creator and one who sustains and develops. One who brings to perfection by degrees is also a meaning of Rabb. Al-Alamin is the plural of Al-Alam, meaning to know everything in its entirety when you specify something. So this brings us to the conclusion that Allah has created everything and encompasses full knowledge of it. He knows about your world and my world and he also knows about other worlds what we all don’t know and he sustains them forever.

 Let’s take an example of dark chocolate. It has several known benefits and many known harmful effects. We do not know all of the benefits nor all the harmful effects. We know that dark chocolate has 60% or more cocoa than milk chocolate. It may also reduce the risk of heart disease and may protect your skin from the sun. it could also improve brain function.  But we also know that dark chocolate increases your chance of kidney stones. It may also trigger the symptoms of a migraine. These are a few of the KNOWN benefits and harmful effects.

 If we look micro, we can see the atoms of cocoa and other ingredients. But we don’t know all the parts of the atoms of all ingredients and their interactions. Their inherent properties, life cycle of its growth, maturity and seed preparations, Now if we look at the macro world of cocoa, milk, and other ingredients, We can see the size and where the ingredient comes from, for example, weather, environment, soil conditions and water resources. But we don’t know the actual science behind these ingredients interactions in every minute detail. Why are cocoa beans so big. Why and how do cows produce milk. We just don’t know. But Allah does. He possesses all of this knowledge. Even the best scientists or the most famous biologist wouldn’t be able to answer these questions if Allah didn’t want him to know. But he became merciful and told us these answers.

This was just one out of the millions of examples. Think of all the knowledge that Allah Almighty has.

 When we say “All praise belongs to Allah alone, Lord of all the worlds,” we are thanking and praising Allah – Almighty for creating and encompassing full knowledge of everything like the world, humans, animals, etc.

Let’s all pray that may Allah Almighty give us a vast variety of knowledge and may he increase our knowledge abundantly and accept prayer of Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in our favour too. Ameen