16. YA WAHHAB

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Al-Wahhab

The Bestower

Exalted and Glorious

Our Lord! Let not our heart deviate from the truth after You have guided us, and grant us mercy from You.  Truly.  You are the Bestower. (3:8)

My Lord! Forgive me, and bestow upon me a kingdom such as shall not belong to any other after me. Verily, You are the Bestower.  (38:35)

This is the Great and Permanent Bestower. The Prophet Ibrahim, may Allah be pleased with him, was turned out of the borders of his country by the king, but Allah bestowed upon him enormous wealth.  He gave him two sons, Isma’il and Ishaq, may Allah be pleased with them.  Ibrahim thanked Allah for the blessing of their birth.  Allah is the Bestower because He is the real Owner of all sorts of gifts, whether visible or invisible, worldly or in the hereafter.  This name tells us that man owns nothing.  Whatever he owns he holds only with the Munificence of Allah.

He who repeats this name 7 times after the morning prayer, appealing to Allah, his prayer will be answered.  A needy person, or one who has been captured by an enemy, or someone who cannot earn enough money to suffice himself, if he repeats this name 3 to 7 nights, 100 times after the two bows of optional prayer at midnight, Allah will bless him with all his needs and free him from the clutches of an enemy.

Al-Wahhab is the Bestower to His slaves, the One Who bestows without wage, the One Who gives without being asked, the Giver of many gifts, and He continuously gives.  So do not ask anyone but Him, and do not rely on anyone but Him, and thank Him for His giving.

From: The Meanings of the Names of Our Lord by Shaykh Muhammad Sa’id al-Jamal ar-Rifa’i Head of the Higher Sufi Council in Jerusalem and the Holy Land Teacher at the Dome of the Rock (al-Aqsa)

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He is the donor of all, without conditions, without limits, without asking any benefit or return, giving everything to everyone, everywhere, always.  He gives money to the poor, health to the sick, children to those who are barren, freedom to the trapped, knowledge to the ignorant.

From the smallest necessity to the greatest fortune, He is the creator of everything of those who are in need, their needs and the satisfaction of their needs.  If al-Wahhab were not such a giver, no one would receive anything, ever.

When al-Wahhab gives to you, no one can prevent that good from coming to you.  And when He gives to someone else, no force in the world can divert that good to you.

Allah has created a creation of donors who give without expecting return.  But because they are not the creators of the things given through their hands, they are but signs of Allah’s attribute of al-Wahhab.  A person, like a tree, can give only so much to so few, for a limited time.  The ones who receive from these love them and are thankful to them.  How much thanks, then is due to the One who gives infinitely to all His creation?

A person gives, but is in need of a response, at least of recognition or thankfulness from the recipient.  Above all, we need to receive the thing first, in order to give it.  A tree that gives fruit, a goat that gives milk, need care, water, food.  Allah needs nothing, so His is the true gift.

‘Abd al-Wahhab is the one through whom Allah gives whatever He wishes.  Such a person becomes the donor of infinite gifts, without expecting any return, for no particular object, to those who are in need and who are worthy.

Sometimes a person may be imprisoned, or in desperate need of something, or stricken with poverty, and in spite of all efforts to advance materially or spiritually in life, has not realized any of his hopes.  If he performs two cycles of prayer after midnight for three or seven consecutive nights, raising his open hands to his Lord and reciting ya Wahhab 100 times before begging for his need, Allah may accord his wish.

From: The Name & the Named by Shaykh Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi al-Halveti