‘Say “It is all the same whether you call Him God or the Beneficent. To Him belong the most beautiful names”‘

Q 17:110

In 2010 or summink, I wanted to get to know Allah more, so Here I introduce you to the 99 names revealed to us in the Qur’an by which God describes himself (see below). For the sake of peace dear reader, Allah and God are used interchangeably. God does not specifically reference a Christian deity, which is what a lot of us grew up believing (LOL, I know). These names are attributes, rather than physical descriptions of himself. Not just empty attributes but manifestations of Himself. Not like conjuring or realising Him in the physical sense dictated by physical laws. But the spiritual manifestation of how He relates to his Creation.

You see the word encircled in red? (Al)-Lateef is the name, and, to the right are two meanings: Affectionate, or, Knower of internal affairs. The context is what determines the precise meaning in a given context. Before we tread any further, please note some grammar; all of God’s beautiful names begin with the definitive article ‘Al’ to mean ‘The’. I omit the ‘Al’ purely for ease of comprehension.  When I was composing and learning these names, I encircled Al-Lateef for some reason. I’m reflecting on why Lateef, why this name? Back in 2010, I was definitely heavily buried in the closet. Like an old coat ravaged by moths despite wreaking of them smelly mothballs, stinking up the back of the closet with that pungent damp/musty and moulding stench. I was setting off to Med School that Summer so I made the conscious effort to keep in touch with my faith and maintain that connection with God. I will reveal the reason later. Keep reading. That’s also why I took up Arabic language privately at night school.

Try this for size; pick up a book written in a foreign modern foreign language and read it. The language obviously has to be in an alphabet you recognise. Now back to me. English is my first language and Bengali, Urdu, Arabic and French are others.

Juste une phrase aléatoire que j’ai composée

Just some random sentence I composed in French. No really, that’s the translation. Before knowing French, to me the letters would have looked familiar, some words would have sound familiar and hey, even a word or two could have been understood! But the syntax would have completely eluded me and I wouldn’t have even dared get into the grammar. That it what Arabic is like to most Muslims (as most Muslims are non-Arabs). So to sit there and read this Qur’anic language that has some vague relevance to me, and to acknowledge that what it speaks of is essential to my life on Earth and into the Afterlife, and by these words I act and base my ethics upon…you would think I should bloody well know what it says, right?

Now let’s go back to the 99 names. Alphabetised, transliterated, numerated, and annotated. This was my way of learning about God.

Again, why Al-Lateef of all names? Annotated in red are other descriptions of God where this name  manifests as such. Courteous, Obliging, Gentle, Solves things, Affection. That one name embodies all those characteristics that God tells us about Himself. It really was a no-brainer. I genuinely believed God to be these things to me.

Putting it all together, what would you, dear reader, say about how I understood my relationship with Allah to be?

For years I had been fighting to get into Medical School, pulling all the stops; I gave resourcefulness another dimension in meaning. When that offer letter finally came through my letterbox (albeit not addressed to the Boy Under The Stairs and not accompanied by a Hogwarts owl) from Birmingham Medical School, it was God who was Obliging….Courteous about my desires and Solved the ‘how to get into med school’ dilemma that no doubt plagues all those whom apply. Look all the way over to the right of that yellow card, now lower, lower still, in the corner? We find  Under the W’s; Wadood (not just loving, but MOST loving), Wajeed (finder), Wali (guardian), and Warith (after everything perishes, he remains/long-lived). Putting it all together, what would you, dear reader, say spoke to me about what I understood my relationship with Allah to be?

Anyway, with a whoosh and a whirl, a twist and twirl, the next 9 years would make their mark and take their toll….and I forgot, completely forgot about this yellow card of names.

The Pragaymatic Muslim

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• His-story (14)
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