Understanding Salat — Page 47
Qiyam 47 Allah Almighty cannot be achieved without reflect- ing on and benefitting from the affirming attributes of God. A person who simply extols the holiness of God, he only says that God Almighty is a supe- rior being. However, a person who praises God, he demonstrates Him to be a living God. He benefits from the attributes of God, and he causes their ben- efit to reach others. ( Tafs ī r-e-Kab ī r, vol. 1, pp. 286) Let’s use the example of distance and nearness. When we say ‘holy are You’ ( َ سُبْحَانَك ), we remove the misconception that Allah is distant. The emphasis here is not on how near Allah Almighty is, but on how He is not distant. When we say ‘and all praise is Yours’ ( َ وَبِحَمْدِك ), the emphasis here is on how near He is. We say that Allah Almighty is praiseworthy and is closer to us than we can imagine. We don’t just say that Allah is not deaf, but we reflect on His praiseworthy attribute of being the All-Hearing; ‘It is He Who hears all things, and is ever-near. ’ (34:51) We don’t just say that he is not blind, but we reflect on His praiseworthy attribute of being the All-Seeing; ‘And He is with you wheresoever you may be. And Allah sees all that you do. ’ (57:5) We don’t just say that he is not mute, but we reflect on His praiseworthy attribute of being the Answerer of Prayers; ‘And when My servants ask you about Me, say: “I am near. I answer the prayer of the supplicant when he prays to Me. ”’ (2:187) We don’t just say that Allah is not oblivious,