38
In Al-Hilyah, Abu Nu‘aym said that as the Commander of the Believers, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb (may Allah be pleased with him), was walking in the streets of Madinah by night, he heard the voice of an old woman saying to her daughter: “Mix the milk with water.” But the daughter said: “Do you not know that ‘Umar forbade mixing milk with water?” The old woman said: “‘Umar is not here to see us.” Thereupon, the daughter, confident of Allah’s watchfulness over them, said: “If ‘Umar cannot see us, the Lord of ‘Umar sees us!”
There are people who lived in this world in a great status, permanent security, enduring happiness, and steadfastness to the truth, being pleased with their servitude to the Almighty Lord. This is for no reason but that they knew that Allah is the All-Seeing of what they do.
Allah’s name “Al-Basīr” occurs 42 times in the Qur’an. Allah Almighty says: {...Indeed, Allah is All-Seeing of what you do.} [Surat al-Baqarah: 110]
Our Lord sees everything, no matter how minute it is. He sees the creeping of a black ant in a dark night on a solid rock. He sees what is below the seven earths just as He sees what is above the seven heavens.
He is the All-Seeing, the All-Knowing, and the All-Aware of all things and conditions, open and hidden.
He is the All-Seeing Who sees the creeping of ants under rocks and how food runs within their tiny bodies.
And He sees the treacherous glances of the eyes and their twinkling.
Allah Almighty established the attribute of seeing for Himself. He has two real eyes that befit His majesty. We believe in that without distortion, denial, likening, or twisted interpretation. {...There is nothing like unto Him and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.} [Surat ash-Shūra: 11]
The fact that created beings also have sight does not mean that their sight is similar to His. Indeed, the attributes of created beings befit their weakness, inability, and nature; whereas the attributes of the Creator befit His perfection and majesty, Exalted be He. {...There is nothing like unto Him and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.} [Surat ash-Shūra: 11]
Out of Allah’s mercy towards His servants, He addresses them gently and urges them to obey Him and be sincere to Him, though He is in no need for them and their worship. In His Noble Book, He repeats {Indeed, Allah is All-Seeing of what you do} more than forty times so as to remind the believer and alert the heedless that He is watchful over their deeds.
He who knows that Allah sees him will feel too shy to commit a sin or something displeasing to Him. He who knows that Allah sees him will perfect his deeds and worship and perform them sincerely to reach the level of Ihsān (excellence), which is the highest level of obedience about which the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “To worship Allah as if you see Him; but if you do not see Him, He surely sees you.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim]
If he reaches this level, he will enjoy the special company of Allah Almighty, Who said in a Qudsi Hadīth: “And My servant keeps drawing close to Me through supererogatory acts until I love him. And if I love him, I become his hearing with which he hears and his sight with which he sees.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri]
He who knows that Allah sees him and his conditions and afflictions will feel assured and tranquil and become certain that relief is soon to come.
He who knows that Allah sees him will be too shy to be dishonest in his words and actions and deceptive towards others.
Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) headed toward Makkah along with some of his companions. They stopped to take rest on their way. Thereupon, a shepherd descended upon them from a mountain. Ibn ‘Umar said to him: “O shepherd, sell us one sheep.”
The shepherd said: “I am a slave.”
Ibn ‘Umar said: “Tell your master that the wolf has eaten it.” To this, the shepherd replied: “Where is Allah?”
Thereupon, Ibn ‘Umar wept, and he bought the slave from his master and set him free.
If you become alone sometimes,
do not say I am alone, but say: Allah is watching me.
Do not think that Allah can be heedless for a while,
and nothing is hidden from Allah or unknown to Him.
Someone tried to seduce a Bedouin woman. He said to her: “No one sees us but the stars.” Thereupon, she said to him: “Where is the One Who made them stars?”
It was said that whoever heeds Allah with regard to his thoughts and feelings, Allah will preserve him with regard to the actions of his body parts.
If you consider the seven types of people whom Allah will shade under His shade on the Day of Judgment, you will see that the common thing among all of them is that they firmly believe that Allah always sees them, and they worship Him as if they could see Him, thereby attaining this great status.
The good man from the people of Moses used this name as he supplicated Allah Almighty and sought refuge with Him from the evil cunning of Pharaoh and his allies: {...And I entrust my affair to Allah. Indeed, Allah is All-Seeing of His servants.} [Surat Ghāfir: 44] And what was the result?
Allah answered his supplication: {So Allah protected him from the evils they plotted, and the people of Pharaoh were afflicted by the worst punishment.} [Surat Ghāfir: 45]
O Allah, Who sees the motion of the wings of gnats
during pitch-black night,
and Who sees their tiny veins
as well as the marrow of their bones.
Bestow upon me such a repentance
by which You erase my past sins.
The believer should beware of the sins committed in seclusion and avoid persistence in this regard without repentance. Thawbān (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Indeed, I know people from my Ummah who will come on the Day of Judgment with good deeds like the mountains of Tihāmah, but Allah Almighty will make them like scattered dust.” Thawbān said: “O Messenger of Allah, describe them to us and tell us more, so that we will not become of them unknowingly.” He said: “They are your brothers and from your race, worshiping at night as you do, but they are people who, when they are alone, they transgress the sacred limits of Allah.” [Narrated by Ibn Mājah] Those are the people who show off before others, and they remember Allah Almighty only a little.
The way you act when you are alone may raise or lower you. He who extols Allah Almighty in his seclusion, people will revere him when he is in public.
Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali (may Allah have mercy upon him) said: “Minor hypocrisy results from the difference between a person’s outside and inside.” He also said: “Only a person whose inside is good will end his life in a good way, as none can maintain pretence at the moment of death. Only what lies within the heart comes out then.”
O Allah, the All-Seeing, pardon our weakness, shortcomings, and slips, and cause us to die as Muslims, O Lord of the worlds.