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Allah ﷻ in Islam: Piece 6

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  I’ve been hesitant to include this one in the “Portrait” because it doesn’t seem to be a Name or an Attribute you would expect. However, after reflecting on it, I’ve come to see it as an essential piece of the puzzle . Let me try to explain why. As you read the Qur’ān , you will notice a sudden, sharp shift in grammar. Since we started, we have been talking about God: His Name, His Mercy, His Nurturing nature. But suddenly, without warning, the ‘ He ’ becomes ‘ You. ’ The third person becomes the second. It feels like a distant observation has suddenly become an intimate encounter. This is the pivot point of the human story. It is the moment our soul stops being a spectator—overwhelmed by His Majesty—and becomes a seeker of Divine closeness. Once the intellect is convinced by the beauty of the Divine character, the heart simply surrenders. The conversation is no longer about Him. It is with Him. After all, you cannot talk about someone you’ve fallen in love with for l...
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Allah ﷻ in Islam: Piece 5

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  When I first moved to Tunisia, I thought I knew what to expect. I knew the streets would look different, the food would have more spice, and the dialect would take some time to master. But I did not expect to find a ‘mystery’ in the very first prayer I attended. In Egypt, like most of the Muslim world, we grow up reciting Sūrat al-Fātiḥah according to the Hafs tradition. We say: “ Māliki Yawmi d-Dīn ” (The Owner of the Day of Judgment). But as I stood in the mosque in Tunis, the Imam recited it differently. He said: “ Maliki Yawmi d-Dīn ” (The King of the Day of Judgment). At first, my mind did a double-take. Did he miss a letter? In Arabic, that tiny vertical stroke—the alif —changes everything. It is the difference between a long " aa " and a short " a ." I knew there were ten recognized canonical recitations to the Qur’ān ( al-qira’at al-’ashr ), but experiencing it in real-time was different. It was not a mistake; it was the Qālūn transmission of recitat...
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Allah ﷻ in Islam: Piece 4

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  My recent conversations with a dear friend—who proudly identifies as ‘secular’—reminded me of how I felt when I first met an atheist years ago. She was decent, kind, and well-educated, yet her worldview was shocking to me at first. In her words, the universe is just a "beautiful accident." She saw it as the result of a series of random, cold events with no one at the helm. She could spend hours defending that view, but what stayed with me was not just the argument—it was the feeling it carried. A kind of quiet loneliness . What unsettled me even more was where it leads: that we are on a ship with no captain, drifting through a void that neither knows nor cares for us. The consequences are exhausting. We spend our energy trying to hold everything together, burdened with being our own ultimate providers and protectors. I believe this is why the next attribute Allāh mentions—immediately after His Mercy—is Rabb al-ʿĀlamīn (The Lord of ALL Worlds). This name shifts the focus fr...
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Allah ﷻ in Islam: Piece 3

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  I still remember the first time I heard the name Ruḥaym . I was an intern at a pharmaceutical company in Cairo, and the name immediately struck me. In Arabic, this is a diminutive form of Raḥīm —a linguistic form that makes  a name sound more tender, intimate, and beloved. I was drawn to it right away. I even told myself that if I ever had a son, that would be his name. Of course, those plans evaporated the moment I got married. It turned out my wife had already named our future children long before we even met—one of those childhood dreams you don't argue with. But the reason that name stayed with me is because of the meaning it points to. As you might have guessed, the next attribute Allāh reveals about Himself, immediately following the mention of Ar-Raḥmān , is Ar-Raḥīm . If you feel confused about the difference between these two names— Ar-Raḥmān and Ar-Raḥīm —you are not alone in that. Part of the confusion stems from the fact that both names emerge from the same roo...
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Allah ﷻ in Islam: Piece 2

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  In 2010, fresh out of military service, I attended a coaching session with a career advisor from Canada. Her questions were a turning point—but one question in particular is most relevant here: If you could choose only three adjectives to describe your life on your gravestone, what would they be? We do not really do that where I come from, but the answer came to me immediately. I said it without hesitation… (I’ll leave that for my biography). The point is, most people struggle to describe themselves. And if you’re not deeply connected to the Islamic tradition, you might want to pause here and ask yourself: What attribute would God choose to describe Himself in the very first verse of the Qur’ān? If this reflection resonated with you, the full version continues here: [ Piece 2 ]  
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Allah ﷻ in Islam: Piece 1

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  As I mentioned in the Preface , I started this journey with many questions. The first one was simple: Does God have a name? In the Islamic tradition, every Muslim knows that God has “ 99 beautiful names ,” and there are hundreds of books written about them. So what, exactly, was I looking for? To be honest, I’ve always struggled with the idea. It felt easier to think of God as having one name —and the rest were attributes or descriptions . That made sense to me as a child… and, to my surprise, it still does. * * * * * So I went back to the Qur’ān . And as expected, the answer is there. * * * * * If this reflection resonated with you, the full version continues here: [ Piece 1 ]  
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Allah ﷻ in Islam: Preface

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  I still remember the day my mother took my hand after helping me put on a new white jalabiya and a small turban. I was really proud—felt like everyone was looking at me—as we walked to Bilal Ibn Rabaḥ Mosque , a small neighborhood mosque just a few blocks from our home. I was five years old and, as you might expect, had no idea what was waiting for me there. I sat with a group of children and started reciting the Qur’ān . I enjoyed it. I really did. It was never something I did just to please my mother or because I had to. I felt comfortable there. I was… happy. That feeling never really left me— wa al-ḥamdu lillāh . Until today, every time I enter a mosque, I feel a sense of familiarity. And whenever I travel to a new city, the first thing I look for is a mosque. I still remember the look on my friend’s face after we spent three days camping in the Tunisian desert. When he asked what I liked most, I said: praying in the Mosque of ʿUqbah ibn Nāfiʿ . When I think a...
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