Sermon's Title: Allah, al-Qayyūm
Themes of the Sermon:
1- The meaning of Allah’s Name al-Qayyūm
2- Faith-based and devotional effects of believing in this Name
3- What Allah has commanded us to uphold
All praise is due to Allah, the Ever-Living, al-Qayyūm. He gives life and causes death. To Him belong creation and command, and to Him belongs judgment, and to Him you will return. I testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone with no partner, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and messenger. May Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him in abundant measure.
To proceed: fear Allah, servants of Allah, with true God-fearing piety, and watch Him in private and in public.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ
“O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims.” [Āl ʿImrān: 102]
Servants of Allah:
The Prophet ﷺ met Ubayy ibn Kaʿb and said to him: “O Abū al-Munḏir, do you know which verse from the Book of Allah that you have is the greatest?”
Ubayy said: “Allah—there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, al-Qayyūm. Neither slumber overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth.” Then he recited Āyat al-Kursī [Sūrat al-Baqarah: 255].
Ubayy said: “The Prophet ﷺ struck my chest and said: ‘Rejoice in this knowledge, O Abū al-Munḏir.’” Reported by Muslim.
The greatest verse in the Qur’an is a discourse on the oneness, perfection, and majesty of Allah. In it, Allah mentions two of His Names upon which the rest of the Beautiful Names revolve: al-Ḥayy (the Ever-Living) and al-Qayyūm (the Independent and Sustainer of all).
And because Allah commanded us to worship Him and call upon Him through His Beautiful Names, saying:
وَلِلَّهِ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَى فَادْعُوهُ بِهَا
“To Allah belong the Most Beautiful Names, so call upon Him by them.” [Sūrat al-Aʿrāf: 180]
—we are therefore in great need of living by these meanings: knowing them, acting by them, and embodying them. We must understand the Name al-Qayyūm and perfect our worship and supplication to Allah through it.
So, what is the meaning of al-Qayyūm?
Al-Qayyūm is the One who is independent, who never ceases, whose existence is independent and self-subsisting. His self-subsistence is complete in every way. He is absolutely free of need; He relies on no one and nothing. He has always existed and will always exist, eternal without beginning or end, described with all attributes of perfection. Because of His perfect self-subsistence, He is Ever-Living and does not die or sleep. He is All-Knowing and never ignorant, All-Mighty and never humiliated, All-Powerful and never weak, Able and never incapable, Wise and never acting without purpose.
He is also al-Qayyūm in the sense that He sustains all others besides Him. Everything other than Him depends upon Him for its existence and continuation. All of creation is in absolute need of Him; nothing is independent of Him even for a blink of an eye.
Allah is the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and all who dwell within them. He alone possesses ever-lasting and perfect self-subsistence.
When the Prophet ﷺ rose at night to pray, he would say: “O Allah, to You belongs all praise. You are the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and all who are within them.” Reported by al-Bukhārī and Muslim.
The heavens with their angels, constellations, and celestial bodies, and the earth with all that dwell upon it—humans, jinn, birds, beasts, and all creatures—stand by Him and His command, in their creation, existence, and governance. Allah said:
وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنْ تَقُومَ السَّمَاءُ وَالْأَرْضُ بِأَمْرِهِ
“And among His signs is that the heaven and the earth stand firm by His command.” [Sūrat al-Rūm: 25]
And because He is al-Qayyūm, exalted is He, He has taken it upon Himself to provide His creation with what brings about the soundness of their worldly lives and their Hereafter. He placed upon the earth all things necessary for the livelihood of His creatures, and He legislated for them a religion that establishes and perfects their hearts and souls. Thus Allah said:
الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ * نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَأَنْزَلَ التَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنْجِيلَ * مِنْ قَبْلُ هُدًى لِلنَّاسِ وَأَنْزَلَ الْفُرْقَانَ
“The Ever-Living, al-Qayyūm. He has sent down upon you the Book in truth, confirming what came before it, and He sent down the Torah and the Gospel previously as guidance for mankind, and He sent down the Criterion.” [Sūrat Āl ʿImrān: 2–4]
And from the perfection of His self-subsistence is that neither slumber—a brief drowsiness—nor sleep overtakes Him. How could a Lord who sustains the affairs of His creation be overtaken by drowsiness or sleep?
The Prophet ﷺ said: “Allah, exalted and majestic, does not sleep, nor is it befitting for Him to sleep. He lowers the scale and raises it. The deeds of the night are raised to Him before the deeds of the day, and the deeds of the day before the deeds of the night. His veil is light. If He were to remove it, the radiance of His Face would burn everything His sight reaches among His creation.” Reported by Muslim.
Among the meanings of His self-subsistence is that He is Ever-Watchful, Witnessing, and Guardian over the deeds of His servants. He knows their words and actions, then He holds them accountable and recompenses them on the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds. Allah said:
أَفَمَنْ هُوَ قَائِمٌ عَلَى كُلِّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ
“Is He not Ever-Standing over every soul for what it has earned?” [Sūrat al-Raʿd: 33]
He stands over every soul with perfect justice. He does not wrong His creation even by an atom’s weight. He administers their affairs, placing everything in its proper place with His knowledge, wisdom, and mercy. He legislated for them His religion as an act of mercy and justice. Allah said:
شَهِدَ اللَّهُ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ وَأُولُو الْعِلْمِ قَائِمًا بِالْقِسْطِ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ
“Allah bears witness that there is no deity except Him, and so do the angels and those endowed with knowledge, Ever-Standing with justice. There is no deity except Him, the Mighty, the Wise.” [Sūrat Āl ʿImrān: 18]
And in His standing over His creation, no creature distracts Him from another, nor does one matter distract Him from another.
He knows, hears, sees, and witnesses all of His creation simultaneously. He gives life and causes death, creates and annihilates, provides sustenance and restricts it, gives and withholds, constricts and expands, honors and humiliates, lowers and raises, puts to trial and grants wellbeing, is pleased and angered, loves and hates, forbears and exacts retribution.
He is, at one and the same moment, guiding one who is astray, answering one who calls upon Him, healing one who is ill, returning one who is absent, rescuing one who is distressed, feeding one who is hungry, clothing one who is unclothed, removing an affliction, concealing the faults of a sinner, rewarding the obedient, accepting the repentance of the penitent, granting safety to one who is afraid, mending the broken, aiding the oppressed, destroying the oppressor, assisting the weak, and strengthening the hopeful.
He opens the chest, answers the desperate, removes harm, gathers what is scattered, settles debts, enriches from poverty, and protects from evil.
He guides from misguidance, illuminates after darkness, shields from wrongdoing, establishes His allies with proof, conceals what must be covered, and grants security after fear.
Do you see this single moment we are living right now? In this very instant, exalted is He, He decrees whatever He wills—sending the winds, driving the clouds, causing rain to fall, bringing forth vegetation, splitting the grain and the seed.
Servants of Islam:
The believer who truly believes in Allah, al-Qayyūm, relies on none but his Lord—reliance befitting a servant who is utterly poor and in need, unable to do without his Master for even the blink of an eye. Thus you see him humbled before Allah, not seeing for himself or for anyone else even the slightest ability to manage a single atom of his own affairs or the affairs of any creature. Rather, all his matters are with Allah, and the direction of his heart is toward the Lord of the worlds. His state is like that of our Prophet ﷺ, who relied upon his Master, al-Qayyūm, saying:“O Ever-Living, O Self-Subsisting! By Your mercy I seek relief. Rectify all of my affairs, and do not leave me to myself for even the blink of an eye.” Reported by al-Nasāʾī.
One who is certain of Allah, al-Qayyūm, does not attach his heart to anyone besides Him. He turns only to Allah and seeks help only from Him. He pays no attention to those in shrines, nor to kings of the earth, nor the wealthy of the world. His state is what the Prophet ﷺ expressed in his praise of Allah:
“I stand by You and through You.” Reported by Muslim.
The believer is certain that his heart will not remain upright upon the straight path, nor will he fulfill the duties of servitude, unless Allah establishes his heart by His power and support.
Did not the Prophet ﷺ say: “There is no heart except that it is between two fingers of the fingers of the Most Merciful. If He wills, He sets it upright; and if He wills, He causes it to deviate”? Reported by Ibn Mājah.
If hardship befalls the believer, or if he is afflicted, he seeks relief from Allah, al-Qayyūm, for Allah establishes His servant upon whatever He wills. Nothing incapacitates Him. And how could anything incapacitate Him when He says:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُمْسِكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ أَنْ تَزُولَا وَلَئِنْ زَالَتَا إِنْ أَمْسَكَهُمَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ إِنَّهُ كَانَ حَلِيمًا غَفُورًا
“Indeed, Allah holds the heavens and the earth so that they do not cease. And if they should cease, none could hold them after Him. Indeed, He is Ever-Forbearing, Ever-Forgiving.” [Sūrat Fāṭir: 41]
Such is the state of the one most in need of Allah and the richest through Him—Allah’s Messenger ﷺ. Anas ibn Mālik reported:
“When something distressed the Prophet ﷺ, he would say: ‘O Ever-Living, O Self-Subsisting! By Your mercy I seek relief.’” Reported by al-Tirmidhī.
May Allah bless me and you with the Great Qur’an, and grant benefit to us all from its verses and its wise remembrance. I seek Allah’s forgiveness for myself and for you, so seek His forgiveness; indeed, He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.
The Second Sermon:
All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, his companions, and all who follow him. To proceed:
Servants of Allah:
Indeed, Allah, al-Qayyūm, is upon a straight path. He has established for us the pure religion, in which there is no crookedness and no deviation. He legislated for us this upright faith, which guides to what is most correct, and we have no stability except through it. He, exalted, said:
فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفًا فِطْرَتَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
“So set your face toward the religion, inclining toward truth—the natural disposition of Allah upon which He has created people. There is no change in the creation of Allah. That is the upright religion, but most people do not know.” [Sūrat al-Rūm: 30]
And in order to preserve the establishment of this religion, our Lord—who stands over all things with justice—commanded us to stand for Allah with justice. He said:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا كُونُوا قَوَّامِينَ لِلَّهِ شُهَدَاءَ بِالْقِسْطِ
“O you who believe, be steadfast for Allah, witnesses in justice.” [Sūrat al-Māʾidah: 8]
The meaning of standing for Allah is that we uphold the truth in everything He has commanded us to uphold. We stand for Allah by fulfilling the command of Allah.
He, exalted, commanded us to establish His religion, His law, His Book, and the Sunnah of His Prophet ﷺ—through knowledge, teaching, practice, and governance—in our own selves and in every aspect of our lives. He, exalted, said:
شَرَعَ لَكُمْ مِنَ الدِّينِ مَا وَصَّى بِهِ نُوحًا وَالَّذِي أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ وَمَا وَصَّيْنَا بِهِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمُوسَى وَعِيسَى أَنْ أَقِيمُوا الدِّينَ وَلَا تَتَفَرَّقُوا فِيهِ
“He has ordained for you of the religion what He enjoined upon Nūḥ, and what We have revealed to you, and what We enjoined upon Ibrāhīm, Mūsā, and ʿĪsā: that you establish the religion and not become divided in it.” [Sūrat al-Shūrā: 13]
Did not Allah say to the People of the Book before us:
قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لَسْتُمْ عَلَى شَيْءٍ حَتَّى تُقِيمُوا التَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنْجِيلَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ
“Say, O People of the Book, you are upon nothing until you establish the Torah and the Gospel and what has been sent down to you from your Lord”? [Sūrat al-Māʾidah: 68]
He commanded us to establish the prayer, to establish testimony for Allah, and to establish His boundaries.
The establishment of this religion can only occur through people who strive for its sake—with proof and clarification, and with strength and force—sacrificing their wealth and their lives for it.
The Prophet ﷺ said: “This religion will continue to stand. A group of Muslims will fight for it until the Hour is established.” Reported by Muslim.
Establishing the religion of Allah as He revealed it is the only path to salvation. As for abandoning the religion, neglecting commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong, and showing flattery or compromise within it—this is the path to ruin and destruction.
The Prophet ﷺ said: “The example of those who uphold the limits of Allah and those who violate them, or those who are lenient regarding them, is the example of a people who drew lots for positions on a ship. Some of them obtained the upper deck, and some obtained the lower deck. When those on the lower deck needed water, they passed by those above them, causing them disturbance. So, they said: If we were to make a hole in our portion, we could obtain water without harming those above. If those above leave them to do what they intend, they will all perish; but if they restrain them, they will all be saved.” Reported by al-Bukhārī and Aḥmad, and this is his wording.
O Allah, grant victory to Islam and honor the Muslims, and destroy the Zionist criminals. O Allah, send tranquility into the hearts of those who strive in Your path, rescue Your oppressed servants, and raise high the banner of the religion by Your might, O Mighty, O Strong.
O Allah, forgive the Muslim men and women, the believing men and women, the living among them and the dead. O Allah, grant success to our leader to that which You love and are pleased with, and guide him to righteousness and piety. Our Lord, grant us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.
Servants of Allah: remember Allah often, and glorify Him morning and evening. And our final supplication is that all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
