Understanding the Ninety-Nine Names of Allah: Al-Mu’min
Al-Mu’min means The Faithful. Being faithful entails being trusted and there is no being worthy of our trust other than Allah. Allah has made many promises in the Qu’ran and although we might not see the manifestations of these promises immediately, we must believe that Allah will fulfill promises of mercy and ease despite the hardships we face in life. One of the awliya wrote that the highest form of tawakkul is to trust in Allah’s mercy. “And He was Merciful with the believers.” [Quran 33:43].
Having nothing but poverty, the only way we can be faithful to Allah is to acknowledge this state of poverty that He created us in and act based upon it the way He commanded. There is also an inward dimension to this and this entails knowing that it is not our actions have no effect on Allah’s decree and success only comes from Allah. We must not be like Pharaoh who said, “I am your lord most high.” [Quran 79:24]. Rather, we should be like Moses’s mother who threw her baby into the raging river upon receiving the warid. [Quran 28:7] Most believers do not get the warid on a regular basis and have to rely on the messages of the prophets, most notably from the master of messenger, Mohammed, may Allah’s salutations and blessings be upon him. Despite the meteoric plunges we have to take in sacrificing for Allah and His messenger on a day to day basis, we must do so faithfully knowing that, in the end, those who are obedient will be felicitous.
May Allah help is be faithful to Him in ease and hardship and may He multiply our reward for doing such and may He forgive us for our slipping into faithlessness.
Allah Impoverished Servant,
-Ibraheem Shakfeh
