Al-Lateef

Lateef means a being who is filled with kindness, indulgence and tolerance. Likewise it may refer to the one who has knowledge of everything in all its details. It also means one who is very subtle in whatever he does. He does things in such a discreet and unnoticed manner that it makes it difficult to be assimilated and grasped.

Allah Ta'ala is Al-Lateef because He is extremely good and generous to the extent that He is the one who bestows all that which his entire creation is in need of. There is no necessity, big or small, that can be granted by anyone other than Allah Ta'ala. There are those who receive a lot just as there are those who receive little or very little. Allah Ta'ala is acting with kindness to his servants in this regards also. Allah Ta'ala Himself knows who to give and how much to give. In other words, everyone gets the dosage that he needs.

Allah Ta'ala protects a category of people by granting them in abundance, just as He protects another category by granting them less. For some, abundance is a burden which is harmful to them. And for others, poverty is like a very light object exposed to strong winds which prevent it from being stable. Thus, only Allah Ta'ala knows best who must have what to remain stable or for his burden to decrease.

Allah Ta'ala is Al-Lateef in the sense that whatever He does is very subtle and cannot be grasped by just anyone. He unites by separation just as He separates by union. That is, He unites two persons by separating them first. He creates circumstances that lead to separation. But in reality it is these same circumstances that result in a union forever. Sometimes, He unites two persons to finally separate them forever. It depends on how Allah Ta'ala creates and uses circumstances. He can use the same thing for two people in two different ways. He uses the same kind of wealth for the prosperity of one person and the destruction of another. He uses the same fire as a punishment for one person and as a source of well-being for another. It is in this perspective that sometimes a person is right in considering failure in his examination as an important factor of his success. Thus, sometimes Allah Ta'ala uses a failure to grant success and sometimes success leads to a less favourable point. This may give us some understanding of the verse where Allah Ta'ala says:

"You bring forth the living from the dead, and bring forth the dead from the living..." (S 3: V 27)

Allah Ta'ala is called Al-Lateef because His knowledge encompasses everything. Not even the least atom in the universe escapes the knowledge of Allah Ta'ala. Allah Ta'ala is aware of any development that is happening anywhere and it is Him who causes this development. Allah Ta'ala created everything and He knows all its details. One can hide something which is smaller than an atom in a great desert but it is not hidden from Allah Ta'ala. Allah Ta'ala sees it better than us seeing something on the palm of our hand.

Allah Ta'ala is Al-Lateef because He is filled with kindness and grace. He gives great rewards for simple actions. For example, the reward He gives to a person who does Tasbeeh after Farz Salaah. According to a Hadith, a person who reads Subhaanallaah 33 times, Alhamdulillaah 33 times and Allaahu Akbar 33 times and then reads once:

"لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له له الملك وله الحمد وهو على كل شيئ قدير"

then his sins will be forgiven, even if they are equivalent to the foam of the ocean. The more one meditates on this name, Al-Lateef, the closer one will be to Allah Ta'ala. One will have no alternative but to stay in His obedience. One will always have hope in Allah Ta'ala and that will always keep one cheerful, confident and enthusiastic.

[English version of "Al-Latweef" – Al Jamiat – Vol.7 No.1]