In our journey to gain tranquility of the heart, we explored what we
need to know when faced with difficult situations. We need to understand
that Allah has told us we will be tested, that these tests are for a
reason, and that there will be relief insha’Allah (God willing). When we
are worried thinking about the future, we need to work hard but have
full trust in Allah that He will not leave us, and we must always think
well of Allah because that is what we will find.
Yet in certain circumstances we just feel… broken. Perhaps it is the
death of someone close, perhaps a hurtful word, or perhaps a reason we
can not pinpoint. Yet this feeling of brokenness can be an invitation to
be better acquainted with al-Jabbar.
But isn’t al-Jabbar one of the Names that indicates Majesty and Strength, not Mercy and Beauty?
The root of al-Jabbar is ja-ba-ra and has a wide variety of meanings
indicating Allah’s strength and majesty, which Sr. Amatullah explained
to us in this excellent article.
One of the basic meanings of this name is the One who compels and
restores, and demonstrates Allah’s Majesty and Strength over His
servants. This is a Name for the tyrants and oppressors to be aware of,
because their misdeeds will not go unpunished.
Yet this Name has another dimension: al-Jabbar is the One who is able
to restore and mend what is broken. Some of the great scholars would
supplicate “Ya Jaabir kul kaseer” when they were faced with
overwhelming difficulty, meaning “Oh You who mends everything that is
broken.” The Arabic word for a splint that is used to help an arm heal
when it is broken is “jibeera” from the same root ja-ba-ra.
Thus, when we feel broken, we need to go to the only One who can mend
our state–al-Jabbar. Sometimes when we get this broken feeling, shaytan (satan)
tells us not to go to Allah because we are being hypocritical by only
going to Allah when we are down. Yet this is untrue– Allah has named
Himself al-Jabbar and given Himself this attribute; you cannot go to the
One whose attribute is mending what is broken, and not be healed by
Him.
The example of the Prophet ﷺ is a beautiful one. Imagine being 50
years old, having just lost both your wife of twenty-five years and your
uncle who took care of you as a child. Imagine walking into a town in
order to ask people for their protection, and instead have them throw
stones at you until your feet bleed. How would you have felt? How
exhausted, both spiritually and physically, would you have been? And
yet, the Prophet ﷺ calls out to Allah in one of the most beautiful and
heartfelt du`a’ (supplication):
“O Allah! To you alone I complain my
weakness, my scarcity of resources, and the humiliation I have been
subjected to by people. O Most Merciful of those who have mercy! You are
the Lord of the weak, and You are My Lord too.
To whom have you entrusted me? To a
distant person who receives me with hostility? Or to an enemy to whom
you have granted authority over my affair?
But as long as You are not angry with
me, I do no care, except that Your favor is a more expansive relief to
me. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face by which all darkness is
dispelled and every affair of this world and the next is set right, lest
Your anger or Your displeasure descend upon me.
Yours is the right to reproach until You are pleased. There is no power and no might except by You.”
Read those words carefully. The du`a’ of the Prophet ﷺ was not “O
Allah, please give me x and y.” It was literally the call of someone
broken– complaining to Allah of his situation and expressing to Allah
how he felt. What did Allah give him? A young boy by the name of Addaas
saw the Prophet ﷺ, came to him with some grapes and kissed his bleeding
feet. That is al-Jabbar. Imagine how the Prophet ﷺ must have felt after
that, the relief he must have felt after the cruelty he was subjected
to. And al-Jabbar healed the broken heart of the Prophet ﷺ in another
way – He bestowed upon him the miraculous journey of al-Israa wal
Mi’raaj (when the Prophet ﷺ traveled from Makkah to Jerusalem, and from
Jerusalem to the Heavens in one night).
If we think about the journey, it did not accomplish a great victory
nor did it help to convince the Quraysh that he was a Prophet. Rather,
Allah honored him after all the hardship he had gone through. Think of
the resolve the Prophet ﷺ must have had in his heart and the tranquility
he must have felt after such an experience.
Therefore, we have to always remind ourselves of this blessed name
al-Jabbar; Allah will mend your broken heart. It may be through a kind
word from someone that brightens your day or it may be a talk that you
attend. It may even be something greater. But call on Allah like the
Prophet ﷺ did, recognizing this attribute, and know that He will
manifest this Name in your life.
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