So, do you like your hot chocolate? Yeah, it's good. Thank you.
Don't worry. Your uncle will be fine. Allah will always make it alright. How did you know what I was thinking?
Didn't you know that I have superpowers and I can read minds? Just like my mom. But, it doesn't take a lot to see how much you love your uncle.
I'm just worried about him because if anything happens to him, my mom would be sad. So, for your mom's sake, inshallah, Allah will keep him safe.
And, I'm sure that he loves you too. He loves me? He can't wait to get rid of me and send me to that boarding school.
And, do you want to live with him instead? Does it even matter? It isn't even my choice.
Adam, Allah's plans are always better than the choices that we make ourselves. And, I'm sure He has something good waiting for you. You just need to believe in it.
You have the why questions. And, those are answered by Al-'Aleem, Al-Hakeem, Al-Lateef, Al-Khabir. And, then you have the when questions. And, those are answered by Al-Qahhar, Al-Jabbar, Al-Mutakabbir.
But, then you have the how questions. The how questions are when you look at a situation and go, how in the world is this going to change?
And, there's a particular type of helplessness that comes from staring at what appears to be the end of the road and submitting yourself to an outcome of defeat. Whether it's on a personal or an ummah level.
Think about Laylat al-Qadr, the night of decree which we will be seeking in these last ten nights to come. The root word of Qadr being divine decree also shares in the root of power.
And, so it's not wrong to say that one of the meanings of Laylat al-Qadr is that it's also the night of power. Because, who has the power to decree for everyone, forgive everyone, monitor everyone, and record everyone all in one night?
Who other than Allah is able to change the whole world while filling the heavens with angels who descend and ascend at His command without missing a single thing?
So, if you're talking about your personal issues, Allah has the power to forgive you for everything you've ever done. And, to rectify your situation. And, to write for you a lifetime of good deeds without any objection or limitation.
And, if it's the situation of the ummah, Allah can destroy a tyrant and collapse an empire. And, also restore the oppressed in an instant without any objection or limitation.
إِنَّمَا أَمْرُهُ إِذَا أَرَادَ شَيْءًا أَن يَقُولَ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونَ Verily, His command when He wants something is to simply say, Be, and it is. Be, and you're forgiven.
Be, and a blessing you thought was impossible arrives. Be, and an obstacle you thought was insurmountable vanishes. He lets you exhaust every plan so you can finally see that power doesn't live in your effort, but in His permission.
That's what separates believers from spectators of miracles. The believer knows that the command Be still echoes in everything around. He is power itself. And, His power lives behind all of His names.
See, some people have good qualities, but they don't have the power to execute those qualities. So, you may be kind, but you don't have the means to show kindness. Or, you may be brilliant, but you don't have a platform for that brilliance.
Behind every name and attribute of Allah is His qudrah, His power. Because if He had mercy without power, it would just be sympathy. And if He had wisdom without the power to intervene, it would just be good advice.
So, He is Ar-Rahman, and He shows His rahmah as He pleases, because He can. And He is Al-Jabbar, who breaks or mends as He pleases, because He can.
He knows what and how to do everything, which is why you ask Him, because He can. You know, I notice when I go to certain places, and you ask someone for something, they have a way of responding in that particular culture.
So, in Malaysia, they say, can, can. You ask, is it possible to do this? And mashallah, they say, can, can. But of course, Malaysians are humans just like the rest of us. Only Allah can say, kun faya-kun, be and it is.
And look at His three names that unfold that reality systematically. Allah is Al-Qadir, Al-Qadir, Al-Muqtadir.
Al-Qadir is the one who is specifically able to answer your specific challenge that feels impossible to you. What do I mean by that? Whether it's a young man sitting in his room at night with his head full of questions about his failures.
Or a father in Gaza holding a candle in the dark rubble of his ruined home with questions about his future. Different worlds, but the same word is echoing in both of their hearts. How?
Sometimes it feels safe to say in the broadest sense, don't worry, Allah can change anything. But then someone says, but can He do that? It can feel like a cop-out to go general when you have a specific challenge that you can't seem to overcome.
So Al-Qadir is used in the Quran to answer the specific questions. How will He possibly bring the dead back to life? Alaysa thalika biqadirin ala an yuhya almawta
Is not Al-Qadir able to give life to the dead? Well, can He send a sign? Qul inna Allaha qadirun ala an yunazzila ayah Say, Allah is certainly able to send down a sign. But can He create us again in full form?
Awalaysa allathee khalaqa assamawati wal arda biqadirin ala an yakhluqa mithlahum Is not He who created the heavens and the earth able to create the likeness of them again?
You'll notice these specific challenges all center on resurrection because the Arabs at the time of the Prophet (ﷺ) used to deny life after death. So Allah answered their specifics with this name Al-Qadir.
But for us, can He fix this marriage? Can He heal this body? Can He guide that person? Can He forgive me after all this?
Or how about, can He give life to Gaza after it's been shattered to rubble? Al-Qadir says, I can. When your heart asks in specifics, Al-Qadir answers in specifics.
And He places everything in due proportion and appointed time. faqaddarahu taqdeera It's not random force. It's precise, measured power. Every planet in orbit and every creature runs under His command.
inna kulla shay'in khalaqnaahu biqadr Verily, We created everything with perfect measure. Notice the word here, everything. And that's His name Al-Qadir.
The all-powerful, who is always able. Look how it comes in the Quran. awalam yaraw anna Allah allathee khalaqa assamawati wal arda walam ya'ya bi khalqihin biqadirin ala an yuhyi almawta
bala inna hu ala kulli shay'in qadir Have they not seen that Allah, who created the heavens and the earth and did not tire in their creation, is qadir, is able to give life to the dead?
Yes, indeed, He is over all things, qadir. The Prophet 'Uzayr (عليه السلام) once stood before a destroyed town and he asked, anna yuhyi hadhihi allahu ba'da mawtiha How will Allah give this life after its death?
Now think of it like when we look at Gaza reduced to rubble. He wasn't asking out of disbelief. He was inquiring, how will this dead city come back to life? fa amatahu Allahu mi'ata aamin thumma ba'tha
So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years and then He brought him back. But He didn't just bring him back, He brought that whole town back, the people, the markets, the life. And when 'Uzayr (عليه السلام) saw that, he said,
a'lamu anna allaha ala kulli shay'in qadir Now I know that certainly Allah is over all things powerful. So Al-Qadir is the answer to your specific how. Al-Qadir is the reminder that there are no exceptions.
So before the specific doubt even comes where you need to be reminded that He is qadir, you've already trained yourself to know that He is qadir, always able. Think of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (رضي الله عنه)
when the Prophet (ﷺ) was taken on the journey of Al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj. They went to him mockingly and they said, your companion claims that he went to Jerusalem and through the heavens and came back in one night. Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) did not even flinch.
He said, if he said it, he's telling the truth. Why? Because he always tells the truth. I trusted him with everything before, so why wouldn't I trust him now? So with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
I already knew that He could do everything before anything else happened. But then there is one more name in this family and it's the rarest of the three. Al-Muqtadir, which is the perfect in power.
Al-Muqtadir is power that executes without resistance. Because sometimes someone is capable but they lack position. There are many qualified people that never get to serve.
But with Al-Muqtadir, He doesn't just have ability, He has authority. So it's not only that He can, it's that He does. And that's a big difference. Think of it as Allah having power over His power.
And at what point will you see the realization of that power? While the hypocrite and the oppressor is being crushed in hellfire for eternity, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
إِنَّ الْمُتَّقِينَ فِي جَنَّاتٍ وَنَهَرٍ فِي مَقْعَدِ صِدْقٍ عِندَ مَلِيكٍ مُّقْتَدِرٍ That verily the righteous will live securely among gardens and rivers,
secure in the presence of Al-Malik Al-Muqtadir, the King and the powerful who executes at will, with no holes, with no resistance, with nothing to take it away.
Similar to how Yusuf (عليه السلام) could recognize Al-Lateef fully in hindsight, when the curtains on this world close like a movie coming to an end, when some people applaud and others tremble,
and the gates of Jannah open up bi-idhnillahi ta'ala for us as well. At that point, we'll recognize Al-Muqtadir, perfect in His power, with a perfectly executed plan all along,
and you will be next to prophets and martyrs and righteous ones, and all of you together are seeing how every delayed justice, every unseen mercy, and every promised reward came to be exactly as He said it would.
And just like with His lutf, with His subtle kindness, if you look deeper now, you'll already find Al-Muqtadir in action. How many times has Allah taken you out of an impossible situation before?
What makes you think He can't do it again, if it's best for you? So He is Al-Qadir upon it, Al-Qadir over all of it, and Al-Muqtadir in every bit of it. Nothing slips His grasp, nothing resists His will.
He is the one who split the sea for Musa (عليه السلام), who cooled the fire for Ibrahim (عليه السلام), who preserved Yusuf (عليه السلام) in a well and in a prison before placing him on a throne. If He could do all of that for them,
do you really think your story is going to be the first one that He can't finish? So ask Him to write what you can't write, to fix what you can't fix, to open what you can't open, and to carry what you can't carry,
because He can, and He does. Ya Qadir, nothing is beyond your power. As you part the seas and revive the dead, lift our people from beneath the weight of this world.
Show us that no injustice is too deep for you to overturn, and no despair too dark for you to light again. Ya Qadir, every decree rests in your command.
Write victory for the oppressed, freedom for the prisoners, and safety for every child who sleeps beneath fear. Only you are able to turn tears into triumph and rubble into resurrection.
Ya Muqtadir, your power is perfect, your execution without flaw. Let those who boast of might see how small they really are. Crush the arrogance that claims control over your creation,
and remind us that even the most helpless are not weak. And remind us that even the most helpless among us are upheld by you alone. Grant us strength without cruelty, faith without fatigue,
and victory that only humbles us before you, until we dwell in that place where our oppressors can no longer reach us, and only those you love stand before you.
