00:00So how does it all start? Allah, nothing else. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he says,
00:22كان الله ولم يكن معه شيء. First there was Allah and there was absolutely nothing
00:27else. No throne, no pen, no water, no clouds, no skies, no nothing. And Abu Razeen, there's
00:35an authentic hadith in Sunnah Tirmidhi where Abu Razeen, he asked the Prophet sallallahu alayhi
00:40wa sallam, he says, well where was Allah before all of this? And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi
00:45wa sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, كان افي عما ما تحته هوا وما فوقه هوا
00:48There was no air beneath him, no air above him. It was just Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
00:54And you think about that and how amazing that is. And actually there's a sign in that where
00:59the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he basically tells us that there is nothing but Allah
01:02that's worth it. Creation needs Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and nothing else because in the beginning
01:08there was Allah and there was nothing else. And so the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
01:12he says that the أصدق بيت قاله الشاعر, he said that the most truthful poem that a poet
01:18has ever spoken, أَلَا كُلُّ شَيْءٍ خَلَ اللَّهَ بَاطِلُوا That verily everything but Allah
01:24subhanahu wa ta'ala is disposable. Because it was just Allah and nothing else. Now a lot of times, you know what
01:30Abu Razeen radiya Allah ta'ala anhu was doing when he asked the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that and what we do
01:34at times when we see various ahadith where Allah is described, we try to limit Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by our human dimension. So for example,
01:44Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala descends in the last third of the night and he asks, هَلْ مِن مُسْتَغْفِرٍ أَخْفِرَ لَهُ
01:50The very famous hadith, is there anyone seeking forgiveness so I may forgive him? Is there anyone calling upon me so that I may answer him?
01:57And we start to think to ourselves, well wait a minute, the last third of the night here is different from the last third of the night there.
02:02And so how is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala hearing everyone and how is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you know, how does he judge what's the last third of the night?
02:09And what about Laylatul Qadr? And how does that all work? The problem is you're limiting Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by your human dimensions.
02:16Allah is not subject to your time, Allah created time. So when you say, can Allah really hear everyone's prayers? Right?
02:23I mean on the day of Arafah, think about that momentous occasion of Arafah, you've got millions of people in one location, all calling upon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in different languages.
02:32And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is hearing each and every single one of their prayers. Why? Because that's Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
02:39He is the creator of time subhanahu wa ta'ala, so he is not subject to our dimensions of time. He's not subject to our human dimensions of anything.
02:48And that's why the ulamat, the scholars, they have a very important principle that they say,
02:53Every time you think of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, anything that comes to your head in terms of an image or in terms of trying to assign a human quality,
03:05just know that Allah is different from what you just imagined. You're not going to be able to do it.
03:10You won't be able to actually grasp Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala cannot be grasped by our human minds.
03:18So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he makes a beautiful du'a on the basis of this,
03:24كان الله ولم يكن معه شيء. First it was Allah and there was nothing but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
03:29The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he taught us to say,
03:31اللهم أنت الأول فليس قبلك شيء.
03:34Oh Allah, you are the first and so there is nothing before you.
03:38وأنت الآخر فليس بعدك شيء.
03:41And you are the last and so there is nothing after you.
03:44وأنت الظاهر فليس فوقك شيء.
03:47And you are the manifest, the apparent and so nothing is above you.
03:51وأنت الظاهر فليس دونك شيء.
03:54But at the same time you are the hidden and so nothing is beyond you.
03:58And so the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, what he's teaching us here is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the first,
04:03but he's also the last.
04:05And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the manifest, but he's also the hidden.
04:08And that's why you have the very famous ayah in Surah Al-Hadeed which actually combines these names together where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
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