✨The Light of Allah

All our knowledge about Allah Almighty is from Allah Almighty. He informed us that He is our Lord, our Creator and our God. And He showed us some of His signs and creation. And he informed us some of His names, attributes, and actions. And no matter how much we magnify Allah Almighty in our hearts, and praise Him through our speech and actions, and describe Him by our tongues and pens, indeed Allah is greater than what we say or write, and beyond what we know and think, and higher than we express and describe. And no creation will ever reach the perfection of His praise, tribute and glorification. For who can contain the praise and tribute for the One Who that if all the trees of the earth were made pens to write His Words and all the oceans were made ink for those pens, the oceans and pens would run out and His Words would not run out. And who can contain the description of the One who has innumerable Names and Attributes. For He did not disclose them to a close Angel or Messenger. And who can encompass the knowledge of the One Whose knowledge encompasses everything and has comprehensive knowledge of everything. He is due all praises, praises that cannot be counted, as He praised Himself.

And Allah Almighty is Light. And An Noor (The Light ) is from His Names and Attributes in a manner befitting His majesty and grandeur. Allah Almighty said:
An Noor 35: Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth.

Shaikh Al Suddi (may Allah have mercy upon him) said: The heavens and the earth are illuminated by His Light. And Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy upon him) said: The text in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet called Allah the Light of the heavens and the earth. And the texts also informed that Allah is Light. And also informed that He veils with light. Therefore, these are the three lights found in the texts.

And the Sunnah came with what the Quran came with regarding the Light of Allah Almighty. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he rose for night prayer recited a long supplication that he opened with:
You are the Light of the heavens and the earth and all that they contain.[Bukhari 6317, Muslim 769a]

And Ad Daaramy related that Ibn Masood (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Indeed your Lord, Blessed and Exalted, has neither night nor day, the light of the heavens is from the Light of His Face.

For He the Glorified is Light. And His veil is Light and if He lifted it His Light would burn everything. It has been authenticated that Ibn Omar (may Allah be pleased with them) said: Allah veiled Himself from His creation by four things: By fire and darkness and light and darkness.

And Musa, peace be upon him, asked his Lord to honor him by seeing Him. So He the Almighty informed him that no one is able to see Him in this wordily life and gave him a practical evidence of that:
Al Araf 143: He said, “My Lord, show me [Yourself] that I may look at You.” [Allah] said, “You will not see Me, but look at the mountain; if it should remain in place, then you will see Me.” But when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He rendered it level, and Moses fell unconscious. And when he awoke, he said, “Exalted are You! I have repented to You, and I am the first [among my people] of the believers.”

Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) said: If His light is manifested, nothing can bear his light.

And Abu Dhar (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: Have you seen your Lord?! He replied: Light is how can I see Him, And in another narration: I saw light. [Muslim 178a]

And its meaning is that His veil is light so how can I see Him?!

And Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood up among us and said five things. He said:
Allah does not sleep, and it is not befitting that He should sleep. He lowers the Scales and raises them. The deed done during the night is taken up to Him before the deed done during the day, and the deed done during the day before the deed done during the night. His Veil is Light – and in a narration Fire- and if He were to remove it, the Glory of his Face would burn everything of His creation, as far as His gaze reaches. [Muslim 179a]

From this hadith, His Veil is light and He the Glorified is Light and the Light of His Face burns everything. Because the meaning of the Glory of His Face is Light, Splendor and Majesty.

And the mind stands bewildered before this Majesty, Light and Greatness. And especially if we know that Allah Almighty describes aspects from His creation to the degree that the human minds can bear. Otherwise, the reality is greater than what was described. Paradise and its delights were described to us in the Quran and Sunnah with many descriptions. And Paradise is greater than what was described to us. And the evidence is the Almighty’s statement in the Hadith Al Qudsi:
I have prepared for My righteous worshipers what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived. And that is testified to in Allah’s [the Mighty and Sublime] Book: No person knows what is kept hidden for them of delights of the eyes (32:17). [Bukhari, Muslim]

Muslim added in his narration “aside from the bounties about which Allah has informed you”. Leave out what you have been informed of. For what you were not informed of is greater. It is as it is insignificant in relation to what he did not inform you about. So if the human minds do not grasp except what was described to them of Paradise and what was concealed is greater, then how can the Light of Allah Almighty be described and it is from Him.

And Sidrat-ul-Muntaha (Lote-Tree of the Utmost Boundary) is the utmost part of Paradise. And the knowledge of the angels, peace be upon them, ends at it. And it is from Allah’s creation. And the Prophet ﷺ saw it as an honor from Allah Almighty. And he was fascinated when he saw it and he said regarding its description:
Gabriel then travelled with me till we came to the utmost lote tree. It was covered with many colors which I do not know. [Bukhari 3342, Muslim 163]

And in a narration: Then I was raised to Sidrat Al-Muntaha (utmost lote tree) so I saw a magnificent light at it.

Rather the Prophet ﷺ informed that no one is able to describe its beauty. He said:
And when it was covered by the Command of Allah, it underwent such a change that none amongst the creation has the power to praise its beauty. [Muslim 162a]

So if the Sidrat Al-Muntaha (utmost lote tree) has this greatness, light, majesty and splendor and no one is able to describe it due to its beauty and it is a creation from the creation of Allah Almighty, then how about the Light of Allah Exalted and how about glancing at His Honorable Face?! We ask Allah to honor us with glancing at Him.

And on the Day of Resurrection when the moon is eclipsed, the sun is wrapped up, and the sky breaks apart and the stars will fall scattering, there will be no light. Rather darknesses until the earth will shine with the Light of Allah Exalted when He comes to pass judgement between His servants.

Al Fajr (89) 22: And your Lord comes with the angels in rows.

Az Zumar (39) 69: And the earth will shine with the light of its Lord

Qatadah (may Allah have mercy upon him) said:
They will not find difficulty in seeing His Light, just as they do not find difficulty in seeing the sun on a clear day when there is no haze.

And on that day Allah will give the creation strength, they will have strength such that the Light of the Exalted will not burn them.

This is what was narrated authentically about the Light of Allah Exalted

That light by which the darknesses are illuminated. And through it, the affairs of this world and the hereafter are established. The people of Paradise will see it when the Veil is lifted. It was narrated by Suhaib (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said:
When the inhabitants of Paradise enter Paradise, Allah, the Glorious and Exalted, will say to them: ‘Do you wish me to give you anything more?’ They will reply: ‘Have You not made our faces bright? Have You not brought us into Jannah and delivered us from the Hell?’ And Allah will remove the Veil. The (dwellers of Paradise) will feel that they have not been awarded anything dearer to them than looking at their Lord. [Muslim 181a]

Allah said:
Al Qiyamah (75) 22-25: (22) [Some] faces, that Day, will be radiant, (23) Looking at their Lord. (24) And [some] faces, that Day, will be contorted, (25) Expecting that there will be done to them [something] backbreaking.

Oh Muslims: As Light is an attribute of Allah, whatever comes from Him is light.
Allah said:
Al Maedah (5) 44: Indeed, We sent down the Torah, in which was guidance and light.

And in the Quran the Glorified Allah said:
An Nisa (4) 174: And We have sent down to you a clear light.

So whoever has that spiritual light penetrate his heart, that is the light of Iman(faith) and Quran deserves to glance at the Face of Allah Exalted in the Gardens of Bliss. And he will be covered by the Almighty’s Light which will increase him in beauty and splendor.

And this spiritual light is a bestowal from Allah Almighty to the believers from what Allah knew of the soundness of their hearts to receive and be filled with it. As the Prophet ﷺ said:
Indeed Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, created His creation in darkness, then He cast His Light upon them, so whoever is touched by that light is guided, and whoever is not, goes astray. [Jami At Tirmithi 2642]

So this is His Light that He sent to His servants and gave them life (faith) through it and made them walk among the people. And it’s source is in their hearts. Then it becomes strong and increases until it appears on their faces, limbs, and bodies. Then, on the Day of Resurrection, that light will shine forth, and through their Iman(faith) their light will proceed before them in the darkness of the bridge so they will cross it. And this will be in accordance to the strength or weakness of Iman (faith) in their hearts in the worldly life. And the hypocrites do not have a constant light in the worldly life. Rather their light was external and not internal. They were given an apparent light that is destined to leaving and darkness. Allah Exalted mentioned His Light in the heavens and the earth, and His Light in the hearts of His believing servants. The moral light that is seen through insight and the hearts. And the physical light that is seen through the eyes and illuminates the world. For they are two great lights, one is greater than the other. And just as if one is missing in a place it is inhabitable for humans and others. And likewise a community missing the light of revelation and Iman(faith) is dead. And a heart that is missing this light is also dead. It has no life at all just as there is no life for animals in a place in which there is no light. And Allah drew an example for the hypocrites. Allah said:
Al Baqarah (2) 17:Their example is that of one who kindled a fire, but when it illuminated what was around him, Allah took away their light and left them in darkness [so] they could not see.

So with the hypocrites, the light of Iman (faith) was taken was taken away by their hypocrisy. And what remained in their hearts is the heat of disbelief, doubts and suspicions that penetrated their hearts. So in this worldly life their hearts are scorching with its heat, harm, toxins, and glare. For Allah Almighty has made its origin on the Day of Resurrection a fueled fire that leaps onto the hearts. This example is for the one who did not have the light of Iman (faith) in the worldly life, rather he exited after having illuminated with it. And this is the case of the hypocrite who knew, then rejected. And affirmed, then denied. For he is in the darkness deaf, dumb and blind.

We ask the Merciful to illuminate our hearts with His Light and make us steadfast upon Iman (faith) and performing righteous deeds. Indeed Allah is Near, All Hearing. Responsive.