BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM
(In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful)
All praise is for Allah. Darood (Blessings) and Salaam (Peace) on Muhammad, his Family, and his Companions.
ALLAHUMMA SALLI ALA SAYYIDINA MUHAMMADIN NABEE YIL UMMEE WA ALIHI WA BARIK WA SALLIM
ASTAGHFIR ULLAHA ALLAZI LA ILAHA ILLA HUWAL HAYYUL QAYYUM WA ATUBU ILAYH
WAW - THE ARABIC LETTER
INTRODUCTION
The Arabic Letter
Waw (
) is equivalent to the letter 'W'
in the English alphabet.
It is letter number 26 in the Arabic character set.
Waw () in Arabic numerology,
which is known as Abjad, has the value of 6.
This article is about
the spiritual meaning of the letter Waw ().
THE LETTER WAW
14 And He is the Forgiving, the Loving,
15 Lord of the Throne of Glory,
16 Doer of what He wills.
[Quran: Al Buruj Chapter 85]
Wadood
- Loving is one
of the Attributes of Allah.
WADOOD - LOVING
-
The word Wadood
-
-
Loving is Wood
Wood- Love. -
Love
has
two parts. And Love and Love +
becomes
Wadood
- Loving. -
Love is something that is not visible. Love is something that is shared between two.
-
We cannot measure love, but we can see the effects of love.
-
A seeker in search of Allah embarks on this course for no other reason than Love for his Creator. So that he may share his Love with Allah.
-
When we first start seeking Allah, Allah will test our love for Him with hardships.
-
These hardships can be as different as the number of different seekers.
-
There are numerous examples in the Quran, but we shall just look at one example.
In the case of Ibraheem
(
) :
124 And remember that Ibraheem was tried by his Rabb (Lord) with certain commands which he fulfilled; He said: "I will make you an Imam to the nations." He pleaded: "And also (Imams) from my offspring!" He answered: "But my promise is not within the reach of evil-doers."
[Quran: Al
Baqara Chapter 2]
What were these
certain commands
which Ibraheem ()
fulfilled ?
-
These commands were to leave his wife and son Ismaeel (
) in the desert, in Allah's care.
Then after that, -
Allah asked Ibraheem (
)
to sacrifice that which was most dear to him. -
And the dearest thing to Ibraheem (
) was his son Ismaeel
(). -
So Ibraheem (
)
offered his son to Allah as a sacrifice. -
And, Allah accepted his sacrifice and preserved Ismaeel (
)
at the last minute. -
Why did Allah do that ?
Because Allah is Al Ghafoor ul Wadood And He is the Forgiving, the Loving.
Allah tested Ibraheem's () love for his Rabb. And when Ibraheem
() gave up that which he loved most
for the sake of Allah, Allah restored his son and reciprocated
that Love.
The moral is that Love is shared between two. If the Love of one is not reciprocated by the other it becomes a trial. When the other responds with Love, it becomes bliss.
A good example of the
effects of love are described beautifully in the book
Layla and Majnun by Nizami.
Layla and Majnun as a story is wonderful from a worldly point of
view. But if we consider this book from a spiritual point of view
we find that all the Messengers of Allah ()
and Awliya Allah (
) went through the
same process. They gave up everything for the sake of Allah's
Love.
And after trying them, Allah returned, or bestowed His Love on them.
96 On those who believe and work deeds of righteousness will (Allah) Most Gracious bestow Love
[Quran: Maryam Chapter 19]
That means we have to believe and be loving towards others for the sake of Allah. Everyone one of us, is His creation. Allah Himself will reciprocate our love for others. Another word for Love in Arabic is Hubb.
31 Say, (Muhammad, to mankind): If
you love Allah, follow me; Allah will love you and forgive you
your sins. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful
32 Say: Obey Allah and the messenger. But if they
turn away, Allah does not love the disbelievers.
[Quran: Al Imran Chapter 3]
In the case of Muhammad
, Allah bestowed on him the Title:
-
Habeeb Allah
- The Beloved of
Allah. -
There is a subtlety in this Title.
-
All the creation that seeks Allah pleasure is in Love with Allah.
-
In the case of Muhammad
, Allah is in Love with Muhammad. -
Hence the reference in the Quran:
56 Allah and His angels send blessings on the Nabee (Prophet): You that believe! send blessings on him and salute him with all respect.
[Quran: Al Ahzab Chapter 33]
FROM
WADOOD TO
WOOD
What do we call these Blessings mentioned in the above reference (Chapter 33 Verse 56) ?
We call these Blessings
Darood
.
In
the word Darood there
is the word Wood
- Love.
-
Now if we look at the word Mahmood
-
Highest in Maqamam Mahmood
-
-
Highest Station and the name of the Person destined for that rank
Muhammad
,
-
we find that the name Muhammad
becomes
Mahmood
-
if we add the Letter Waw (
)
between the second Meem (
) and
the Letter Dal (
). -
Therefore the name Muhammad
becomes
Mahmood
-
which ends with Wood
-
Love. This reference of
Maqamam
Mahmood
-
is mentioned in the Prayer that is said after the Azan - Call to Prayer. Before mentioning Maqamam Mahmood
in the Prayer, there is another
title of Muhammad that -
starts with the Letter Waw (
) which is mentioned
first. -
That is Wasila - Rights of intercession.
WASEET- INTERCESSOR
Waseet
is an intercessor.
-
On the Day of Resurrection, Muhammad
will be asked to intercede for his community. -
And that promise of being a Waseet
- -
Intercessor has already been made by Allah to His Beloved Muhammad
.
Muhammad,Rasool Allah said:
.......'So they will come to me and I will ask the permission of my Rabb (Lord), and I will be permitted (to present myself) before Him. When I see my Rabb (Lord), I will fall down in (prostration) before Him and He will leave me (in prostration) as long as He wishes, and then it will be said to me, 'Ya Muhammad! Raise your head and speak, for you will be listened to; and ask, for you will be granted (your request); and intercede, for your intercession will be accepted.' I will then raise my head and praise my Lord with certain praises which He has taught me, and then I will intercede......
[Sahih Bukhari]
WAQT
79
(Iblees) said: "O my Lord!
give me then respite till the Day the (dead) are raised."
80 (Allah) said: "Respite then is granted to
you
81 "Till the day of the Time Appointed."
[Quran: Saad Chapter 38]
Waqt
is Time.
Satan or Iblees is granted respite until the appointed
Waqt
- Time in the above verse.
Waqt
- Time is one of the many things that man
would like to control.
But it is elusive. We cannot touch or hold time, we cannot taste time,
we cannot see time, we cannot hear time and we definitely cannot smell time.
Time is an elusive concept. It cannot be grasped. It cannot be turned back.
So most people
live for today without a care for tomorrow. In Islam it is the
'tomorrow' that matters. Since Iblees has been granted respite
for an appointed time, he makes us waste our allocated
Waqt
Time by keeping
us busy with worldly matters and turning us away from seeking
Allah's bounty.
Therefore we must put
aside some Waqt
- Time
per day for Tawba - Repentance and seeking Allah's bounty. We
have to put aside some good deeds for which the payment is not
immediately obvious. But nevertheless, these good deeds of today
will be counted 'tomorrow'.
May Allah make us seek His bounties, and seek His forgiveness and bestow His Love on us all. Ameen.
Only Allah Knows Best.
Khalid M. Malik Ghouri
Darood and Salaam on Muhammad, His Family, and His Companions
ALLAHUMMA SALLI ALA MUHAMMADIN WA ALA ALI MUHAMMADIN KAMA SALLAITA ALA IBRAHEEMA WA ALA ALI IBRAHEEMA INNAKA HAMEEDUM MAJEED
ALLAHUMMA BARIK ALA MUHAMMADIN WA ALA ALI MUHAMMADIN KAMA BARAKTA ALA IBRAHEEMA WA ALA ALI IBRAHEEMA INNAKA HAMEEDUM MAJEED
NAMES OF ALLAH
STARTING WITH THE LETTER WA
Al Wadood, Al Wahhab, Al Wahid, Al Wajid, Al Waris, Al Walee
18 December 1999
///////////////////////////////////////////////////// 10 Ramadan
1420
18 / 12 / 1999 /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
10 / 9 / 1420
Darood (Blessings) and Salaam (Peace) on Muhammad, His Family, and His Companions
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