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When the believers learn about Allah’s name “Al-Wāsi‘”, their hearts get attached to His remembrance and they long to see Him. Indeed, their hearts can only be satisfied by being humbly submissive to Him, performing Tawāf (circumambulation) around His House, standing in prayer to Him, getting out of bed for His sake, and sacrificing everything in His cause. Allah Almighty says: {...But My mercy encompasses everything...} [Surat al-A‘rāf: 156] He also says: {...Allah gives kingship to whom He wills, and Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing.} [Surat al-Baqarah: 247]
Our Lord is the All-Encompassing, the Self-Sufficient. His self-sufficiency and generous giving encompass all His creation.
He is the All-Encompassing in His essence, names, attributes, actions, dominion, and authority. No one can extend adequate praise to Him. He is as He has praised Himself. No matter how His servants try to describe Him, they would never be able to come close to His true nature or encompass Him in their knowledge.
Our Lord encompasses all things in His knowledge: {...Our Lord has full knowledge of everything...} [Surat al-A‘rāf: 89] Nothing whatsoever is hidden from Him, Exalted be He. He hears the creeping of a black ant on a solid rock in a dark night. Everything in the heavens and the earth is known to Him.
His knowledge comprises the secrets of the hearts and the good or evil intents contained therein. {He knows the sneaky glances of the eyes and what the hearts conceal.} [Surat Ghāfir: 19] {...And know that Allah knows what is in your hearts, so be cautious of Him and know that Allah is All-Forgiving, Forbearing.} [Surat al-Baqarah: 235]
Our Lord, Exalted be He, is All-Encompassing in His forgiveness. He forgives all those who repent and return to Him, no matter how great their sins may be. {...Indeed, your Lord is ample in forgiveness...} [Surat an-Najm: 32]
Our Lord is All-Encompassing as He provides much room for His servants with regard to the religion and does not charge them with things beyond their capacity. {To Allah belong the east and the west; wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah. For Allah is All-Encompassing, the All-Knowing.} [Surat al-Baqarah: 115]
I testify that there is no god other than Allah.
He is Generous, Merciful, and upon Him we pin our hopes.
When He is asked, He gives abundantly.
And He removes harms and afflictions.
Indeed, He bestows generous favors upon His servants,
making them self-sufficient and satisfied.
No matter how much we praise Him,
He is far Greater and more Majestic.
If we understand the meaning of Allah’s name “Al-Wāsi‘”, our fears will go away and be replaced with tranquility and hope within our hearts.
When the farmer who finds the harvest of his crop delayed, as the water becomes scarce and his need for his fruits increases every day, knows that Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing, he looks up to the sky, gets attached to his Lord, and calls out: O Allah, the All-Encompassing in giving, the All-Encompassing in mercy and generosity, give me from Your blessings and favors.
And when the barren man, who is greatly grieved and distressed due to his unfulfilled need for a child to play with and to fill his life, remembers that Allah is the All-Encompassing, the Most Generous, Who does not turn down a supplicant, a new life emerges within him and he calls out: {...My Lord, grant me by Your grace virtuous offspring...} [Surat Ᾱl ‘Imrān: 38] {...“My Lord, do not leave me childless, for You are the Best of the Inheritors.” So We answered his prayer and gave him John, and made his wife fertile. They used to hasten in doing good deeds and used to call upon Us with hope and fear, and they were humble before Us.} [Surat al-Anbiyā’: 89-90]
And the sick person who suffers severe pains, when he remembers that Allah is the All-Encompassing Giver, the Healer, and the One Who grants His servants sufficiency, he calls out: {...I have been struck by adversity, and You are the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.} [Surat al-Anbiyā’: 83]
Allah Almighty, thus, removes the grief and distress and grants the remedy. Indeed, He is the All-Encompassing Lord.
The person in heavy debt feels greatly anguished and thinks that there is no way out of his tough problem. Yet behold! Allah opens up his heart and makes him resort to Him, the All-Encompassing, the Most Generous and he, thus, calls out: O You Who fulfill our needs and You are All-Encompassing in Your giving! {Is He [not better] Who responds to the distressed when he calls out to Him, and Who relieves suffering...} [Surat an-Naml: 62]
In response, Allah Almighty helps him repay his debt and He provides for him from where he does not expect. Then, the smile appears on his face and he feels calm and tranquil. {Say, “Allah rescues you from it and from every distress...} [Surat al-An’ām: 64]
The scholar may experience a tough problem and he finds the solution elusive and does not know the right thing to do. At this point, he stands in humiliation before his Lord, implores Him, and calls out: O You Who are All-Encompassing in Your giving and knowledge. O You Who taught Abraham, teach me! O You Who granted understanding to Solomon, grant me understanding!
Thereupon, help and success arrive and the problem gets solved out of the bounty of Allah, the All-Encompassing.
The husband and wife fall in dispute and get separated, destroying all bonds of love between them. Thereafter, each of them goes through a hard time after divorce. But then, they resort to their Lord, the All-Encompassing.
Thereupon, He compensates each of them by someone better than his or her previous spouse: {But if they choose to separate, Allah will compensate both out of His abundance, for Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Wise.} [Surat an-Nisā’: 130]
Fearing poverty, a person may refrain from spending and it all goes back to the devil’s whispering to him that he will be in trouble and need and calls upon him to be stingy. {Satan threatens you with poverty and orders you to commit shameful acts, but Allah promises you forgiveness and bounty from Him. And Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing.} [Surat al-Baqarah: 268]
And then the believer remembers that Allah, the All-Encompassing and the Generous, has made this promise: {Who is it that will lend to Allah a goodly loan, so He will multiply it for him manifold? It is Allah Who withholds and gives in abundance, and to Him you will be returned.} [Surat al-Baqarah: 245] And he remembers this verse: {Say, “All bounty is in the Hand of Allah; He grants it to whom He wills. And Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing.”} [Surat Ᾱl ‘Imrān: 73] Thereupon, he spends out of his money, giving a goodly loan to his Lord, being sure that Allah Almighty will compensate him in this world and in the Hereafter. As a result, he begins to receive abundant mercy and blessings from the All-Encompassing and Most Generous Lord.
When the believer remembers his great sins and numerous misdeeds, he feels so sad and his eyes begin to shed tears profusely out of fear from the All-Powerful God. Yet, at this point, he recalls the verse that says: {...But My mercy encompasses everything...} [Surat al-A‘rāf: 156] And the verse that says: {...Indeed, your Lord is ample in forgiveness...} [Surat an-Najm: 32]
Thereupon, he declares his repentance and returns to his Lord hoping to be included in this verse where Allah Almighty says: {Except those who repent and believe, and do righteous deeds; for them Allah will change their evil deeds into good deeds, for Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.} [Surat al-Furqān: 70] Moreover, he recalls the invocation made by the angels: {...Our Lord, Your mercy and knowledge encompass everything, so forgive those who repent and follow Your way, and protect them from the punishment of the Blazing Fire.} [Surat Ghāfir: 7] So, repentance eliminates agony within his heart and the pain in his soul, and Allah makes him one of those who often repent and purify themselves and then endows him with uprightness till he passes away, after which he enters Paradise, where he will hear: {Indeed, this is Our provision [for the righteous] that will never cease.} [Surat Sād: 54]
Our Lord is the All-Encompassing Whose mercy encompasses all creation. {...Your Lord is the possessor of infinite mercy...} [Surat al-An‘ām: 147]
Allah Almighty has made His religion easy for people and removed undue restrictions and hardships from them. He eases the duties for the sick, the travelers, the elderly, and those who have valid excuses. He does not charge them with things beyond their capacity. {...No soul is obligated beyond what it can bear...} [Surat al-Baqarah: 233] And he who finds the land restricted for him should know that Allah has made the land broad for His servants. He says: {...And Allah’s earth is spacious...} [Surat az-Zumar: 10]
The most encompassing favor Allah bestows upon His servants is patience. The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) is authentically reported to have said: “Whoever tries to be patient, Allah will give him patience, and no one is given a better or a more encompassing gift than patience.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhāri - this is his wording - and Muslim]
Patience is involved in all matters related to worship. A person needs patience to perform acts of obedience, refrain from sins, and endure the afflictions predestined for him. Indeed, our life requires patience all the way until we meet our Lord, Exalted be He.
Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy upon him) said: “Patience is one of the treasures of goodness, which Allah does not give except to a servant who is honorable in His sight.”
O Allah, You succor Your servants after they become hopeless,
show mercy to those who extend their hands to You in total need and submission.
You have accustomed them to Your generous giving without a reason,
except for a good hope in You to which they are clinging.
O Allah, the All-Encompassing Bestower, give everyone of us more than what we have asked for; indeed, You are competent over everything.
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