Allahs attribute The revengeful
Mu' meneen
Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa
Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be
upon all of you)
One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:
AssalamAlaikum Brother Burhan. may Allah Subhanah
reward you appropriately for your great services for Muslim Ummah.
My question is about one of the 99 Names of Allah Subhanah
" Al-Muntaqim
"....which basically means " The Revengeful ". could you please tell me what does this attribute of Allah Subhanah actually mean ? we are
told that Allah Subhanah is " Al-Rehman & Al-Raheem " ,
if Allah is the most Merciful then why is He " Revengeful " at the
same time ??? please clarify it since this question is
bothering me too much .
waiting impatiently for your explicit reply in the
light of Quran and Hadith.
Jazak Allah.
(There may be some
grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not
change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our
readers for circulation in confidentiality.)
Answer:
Allah’s attribute “The Revengeful”
In the
name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness.
Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray,
none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no
person, no grave, no prophet, no imam,
no dai,
nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
May Allah Subhanah reward you with the best of this world and the
Hereafter for your kind comments of encouragement for our humble efforts in the
propagation of the Truth. We humbly hope, beg,
and pray the Merciful Lord
accepts our humble and weak efforts,
forgives us our shortcomings, and
saves you, us, and all the believers
from the torment of the Hell Fire. Ameen.
May Allah Subhanah bless you for asking such a thought provoking and
very important question. May Allah Subhanah
open yours and our hearts, and give you and us the wisdom to comprehend His
Mighty and Noble Attributes.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 15 Surah Hijr verses 49-50:
49 Tell My servants that I am indeed the Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful;
50 And that My Penalty will be indeed the most grievous Penalty.
Allah Subhanah is indeed, without an iota of a doubt, The Most
Merciful on His creation; but He is also the Most Just or Al-Aadil. And it is His
this Attribute of being Most-Just, which demands that He take Revenge from all
those arrogant people who dare to defy, deny and outright challenge Him, His
Messengers, and His Message!
We must realise both sides of Allah's
Attributes: His Mercy, His Grace, and His Forgiveness are unbounded; but if one
takes the option, of his own free will to reject all this, His Justice and
Punishment will also be beyond all that one can conceive!
What is
it other than the boundless Mercy of Allah Subhanah
that He gives unasked: life, and wealth, and children, and health, and all
kinds of ‘khair’ even to those who dare to deny Him,
or associate others as partners with Him?
And it is nothing but the limitless and unending Mercy of the Merciful
Lord that He has given time to anyone who wishes to turn to Him in sincere repentance, that He may forgive all his past sins; no matter
how huge they are! Sins as grave as
adultery, or murder, or disobedience of parents…or even sins as henious and seemingly unforgivable as ‘shirk’ or
disbelief…No matter what one has done; if one turns to the All-Merciful in
sincere repentance, He has promised to forgive all the sins of the person,
provided one turns to him before his appointment of death. Such is the unending and limitless Mercy of
our Merciful Lord!
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 54: When those
come to you who believe in Our Signs, say: "Peace be on you! Your Lord had inscribed for Himself
(the rule of) Mercy. Verily if
any of you did evil in ignorance, and thereafter repented and amended
(his conduct), Lo! He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verses 53-54: (O
Prophet) say: “O My servants who have wronged their
own souls….Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy! Surely, Allah forgives all sins. He indeed is the All Forgiving, All Merciful. Return to your Lord and submit to Him before
the scourge overtakes you;
for then you may get no help from anywhere.”
But if some
people, in their arrogance and ignorance, dare to disregard the limitless Mercy
of Allah Subhanah, and dare to deny and defy Him, His
Messengers, and His Message … then it is the Sunnah
or Way of Allah Subhanah that He extracts Revenge
from such evil and wicked people; but not before He, in His Mercy, has given
them a considerable long period of time to repent for their evil deeds.
The
people of Aad, and Thamud,
and Madyan, and Aikah, and
the Pharoah, and Prophet Lut,
etc. are examples in the Quran of how Allah extracts
revenge from the people who deny Him and His Messengers, after all His Signs
are explained and shown to them! The
people of Prophet Nooh (a.s.) were given 950 years to turn back to Allah Subhanah in submission; but they rejected and denied His
Messenger and His Message; only then did Allah Subhanah
extract His Just Revenge from the transgressors.
His Noble
Attribute of being the All Just demands that He take Revenge from the
disbelievers and the evil doers. Because
if the Merciful does not take Revenge from such people, there could never be
Justice!
Allow us to
relate a simple example to make our point clearer. If there is a government which is extremely
merciful to all its citizens and forgives everyone who commits a crime, there
would be absolute anarchy in the land.
The criminals would go on a rampage and no one’s life, or property, or
honor would be protected, for the criminals would know that their merciful
government will always forgive everything they did! It is only when the criminals know that the
government will bring them to justice for their deeds and extract a just
punishment, will they fear the law and allow the righteous people in the
society to live their lives in peace.
Justice
demands that the evil doers be punished, and full revenge be taken from them
for their evil deeds.
Just look
at the state of the weak and oppressed in
- Who can repay the tears of
the millions of widows whose husbands were blown to pieces by the tanks
and bombs of the unjust invaders and rulers?
- Who can repay the plight of
the millions of orphans whose fathers were maimed, tortured, and murdered
in front of their very eyes?
- Who can repay the plight of
millions of refugees who were forced to leave their lands and their houses
by unjust oppressors?
- Who can repay the tears of
the millions of mothers and fathers who have carried their infants and
their young to the graveyard?
- Who can repay the
helplessness of the weak whose hands, or legs, or eyes, were blown away by
the ‘smart’ bombs that rained on these places?
Do the strong
think that they shall be left unaccountable for their evil and heinous
deeds? Will or Should
not Allah Subhanah extract a full and comprehensive
Revenge from the unjust oppressors?
Indeed Allah Subhanah is Merciful; but not to those who are unjust
oppressors and deniers of the Truth.
Allah will be Merciful to those who submit to Him, and obey Him and His
Messengers… and it is a condition of His being All Just, that He extract
Retribution and Revenge for the weak from the evil and unjust oppressors!
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 83 Surah Mutaffefeen verses 4-12:
4 Do they not think that they will be called to account
5 On a Mighty Day?
6 A Day when (all) mankind will stand before the Lord of the Worlds?
7 Nay! Surely the Record of the Wicked is (preserved) in Sijjin
8 And what will explain to thee what Sijjin
is?
9 (There is) a Register (fully) inscribed.
10 Woe that Day to those that deny!
11 Those that deny the Day of Judgment.
12 And none can deny it but the Transgressor beyond bounds, the Sinner!
Thus beloved
sister in Islam, our Lord is indeed the Most Merciful of all those who show
mercy; but His Mercy will be bestowed upon those who obeyed Him, His
Messengers, and His Message and did righteous good deeds. But those who denied Him and His Messengers,
and did evil unjust deeds; Allah Subhanah in His
capacity as the All-Just Judge, will extract a full Retribution from these evil
doers.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 15 Surah Hijr verses 49-50:
49 Tell My servants that I am indeed the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful;
50 And that My Penalty will be indeed the most grievous Penalty.
Whatever written
of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and
whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone
Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
Wister