MY LIFE PROJECT – WHO IS MY RABB?

The “MY LIFE PROJECT” encompasses five things we need to reach Allah!!

1. Al Insaan – Who am I?

2. Man Rabuuka? Who is my Rabb?

3. Who are my enemies?

4. What is my goal?

5. What must I do?

Insaan is imperfect...

Allah subhana wa ta’ala created us in this life to worship Him alone and

attach to Him alone. Our hearts should be filled with knowing Allah. There

are some obstacles in the way, and if these are used in the best way, they

will become bridges to reach Allah, to overcome our deficiencies and

imperfections. Allah created man with so many imperfections in order that

he realises what he is and that he needs Allah to reform him. We learnt that

Allah said the human being is hasty, hasty in bad deeds, in judging, in

success, hasty even in good deeds. The only situation where it is good to

take the chance is in good deeds, Allah has told us always to march/go

forward is in good deeds. In order to overcome these weaknesses, we need

to know our Rabb, because our Rabb is the Reformer, the Nurturer, the

Creator and He knows how to reform us.

Man Rabbuka – Surah Baqarah Ayat Number 30...

We can see Allah has described Himself.

Rubbubiyat in Surah Baqarah 30...

And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: "Verily, I am going to

place (mankind) generations after generations on earth." They said: "Will

You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood, -

while we glorify You with praises and thanks and sanctify You." He (Allah)

said: "I know that which you do not know."

Allah says in ayat 30:

This is a conversation between Allah subhana wa ta’ala and the angels

when Allah created a new creation. This incident and story can be used to

understand that Allah is the Reformer, the Creator, the Nurturer and He can

create whatever He wants, and whatever He creates He can take care of it

by nurturing it, reforming it, disposing its affairs etc. No one needs to worry

about the creation because Allah sustains the creation.

Wa id kaala Rabbuka –Remember O Mohamed, when your Lord/Rabb

(Rabbuka) said (kaala)... no one existed at this time but

With Rabbuka in this ayat we need to keep all these rububiyaat in mind:

Al Khaliq The Creator

Al Malik – The Owner

Al Mudabir – The Disposer of Affairs

Al Muslih – The Reformer

All these form the Murabiya, there are so many things we have in Rabbuka

and all this is in the tarbiya(reforming).

We need to consider all these four for this Rabbuka (in this ayat).

Why did Allah ask the angels?

Allah asked the angels about the creation but it was not to take their advice

or opinion. Allah did not ask them for their mashura. It was to bring forth

what they would have to say. From this we can understand that the angels

have the intellect and mind, they don’t have desires but they can

understand.

Allah tells the angels:

Ini jailun fil ardhi khalifan –if we look at this statement, it is jumla ismiya

jamia. All the words contained in this sentence are nouns. When we have a

sentence which is all nouns it is more affirmed, it is more constant, it is a

fact. Ini jailun here means I am going to place – it is a noun!!

Allah subhana wa ta’ala did not want to take their opinions, He told them

that I am creating and He is telling them to bring out what they think.

Fil Ardi –Allah wanted to place in the earth. Subhanallah when Allah

created Adam AS, He subhana wa ta’ala wanted to place him on earth.

Although when Adam AS was first created, he was placed in paradise with

Hawa AS.

Khalifa is not one person but Adam wa duriyati hi generations upon

generations, coming one after the other. There was Adam & Hawa, and then

after them are their children, and then generation upon generation to dwell

on the earth and do the best they can. From this can we tell this is our Rabb,

He can do what he wants & He is taking care of all creation.

What do the malaika respond with?

Kaalu ataj alu fiha man yufsiud fiha wa yasfiqu a dimaa–They respond with

two things:

The first thing they have a is question. They really wonder!!!

1) Kalu ataj alu – will you place on the earth people who will place mischief

on the earth. This question is not like they are rejecting or objecting to

what Allah has said. From this conversation we can see that the angels can

speak, can answer, they can think, can wonder but they are obedient.

Humans have a choice. Angels here are just wondering (not arguing), for

more clarification, not for objection.

Hada ma kana fi dhakilin –This is what is within them. This ayat is an

example in that generally how Allah brings about a situation to bring out

what is in our hearts. This is Rabb!!!

The angels are very clean, pure and very quickly to the point unlike human

beings – and they ask: Will you place someone on the earth who will spread

mischief and especially shed blood. They know whoever will dwell on the

earth will do two things, spread mischief and shed blood. If we look at the

present day situation we can see this, the human is either spreading

mischief (doing sins) or spreading blood (in particular spreading mischief

is to shed blood).

La asuwal la alala wajha -The question is not about rejection.

From where did they get this idea?

They ask because of:

a) ilm un saabit - past experience with other creations. It is said that there

were creations that created mischief and spread bloodshed –Allah hu

Yalam

b) La Yamuna Gaib -because they do not know the unseen and accept this.

2)Wa nahnu nusabihu bihamdi wa nu kadisulaka

Straight away after they have this question, they ascribe the purity, the

whole praise and perfection to Allah. These statements show us how pure

the angels are, transparent like light. This is about Allah – Ar Rabb and this

is what He deserves.

Three things the angels ascribe and they are doing this all the time:

1) Nusabihu - Negate all imperfections from Allah

2) bihamdi –Ascribe all perfections to Allah

3) Nu kadisu – to ascribe more purity to Allah – Ad Quddous

Allah’s actions...

1)All of Allah's Actions are based on His Perfect and Complete Knowledge

2) He creates based on His Knowledge

3) He disposes the affairs based on His Knowledge

4) He nurtures His Creation based on His Knowledge

Hence, there is a lot of wisdom behind the creation of man. Also, when He

creates - He will take care of His Creation. There is no need to worry about

the mischief and bloodshed on Earth as Allah will take care of all the

affairs. This will make us submit!!! Even if we cannot see the hikmah, we

will know that Allah knows best.

Our Rabb is our Creator, our Owner, our Reformer and Disposer of our

Affairs. All His Actions and Decree are Praiseworthy, free from any faults

and based on His Perfect Knowledge.

Reflect: Whatever Decree we go through in Life - every single moment... is

not random, but based on Allah's infinite Knowledge, therefore

always..Raaditi billahi Raaban – I am pleased with Allah as my Rabb!!!