God’s Omniscience

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

Shaykh ‘Utsman Nuri Tufbas wrote, in “Islam, Spirit & Form”, when Allah (s.w.t.) Commands a thing, that thing is bound to happen.  Therefore, we should not fall into the error of thinking about the Omnipotence of Allah (s.w.t.) with our weak mind as we have limited power.  Allah’s (s.w.t.) Endless Power is exempt from any of the limitation and impotence humans are subject to.  Therefore, there is no being who is not impotent before His Endless Power.  Our power is only as much as He Ordains. 

History has witnessed the defeat of many who rose against this Power.  Among them were Nimrod, Croesus, Abu Jahl ‘Amr ibn Hisham al-Makhzumi, and many others.  They left the world empty-handed.  Allah (s.w.t.) Took their lives bringing them into derision.  In particular, the death of Nimrod, who claimed to be a divine being, is a striking one, providing a message regarding the Divine Power.  Nimrod died from a mosquito bite.  The termination of Abraha and his soldiers who attacked the Ka’bah, counting on the elephants he had, by the birds of Ababil is again a striking one. 

Mawlana Jalal al-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi (q.s.) said, “Though this world is too great and endless in your view, it is not even a particle before Allah (s.w.t.).  Open your eyes and look around; what an earthquake, a hurricane, and a flood does to the world and its contents!” 

Truly, the Power of Allah (s.w.t.) sometimes Makes Itself Manifest in extraordinary ways that we are not used to.  For example, the positive quality of fire, water, wind, and other natural elements are sometimes transformed into a destructive quality by the Divine Power.  In this regard, one is supposed to see the Divine Will in the background of the events taking place in the nature.  Those who cannot see it are stuck with a blind perspective.  Mawlana ar-Rumi (q.s.) warned those heedless people: “Sometimes elevates it and sometimes lowers it.  It sometimes makes the world sound, and sometimes unsound.  It sometimes carries the world to the right, and sometimes to the left.  It sometimes makes it a rose garden, and sometimes a thorn garden ...” 

These facts are frequently touched upon in the Qur’an: 

سُوۡرَةُ البَقَرَة

أَلَمۡ تَعۡلَمۡ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَهُ ۥ مُلۡكُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ‌ۗ وَمَا لَڪُم مِّن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ مِن وَلِىٍّ۬ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ (١٠٧) 

Know you not that to Allah Belongs the Dominion of the Heavens and the Earth?  And besides Him, you have neither patron nor helper. (Surah al-Baqarah:107)