Glimpses of God’s Name Al-Aziz (The All-Mighty)

By Dr. Muhammad Ratib An-Nabulsi


Allah alone is “Al-Aziz” because existence and survival of all things depend on Him
“Al-Aziz” (the All-Mighty) is a quality of God’s perfection since being “Aziz” (All-Mighty) is that He is one and only so that everything needs Him so badly for everything, that He is too difficult to reach, none could ever encompass Him in knowledge, not even Prophets, for no one knows God except He, Himself. Thus, a man can only reach Him as a created slave of His.

A king is ”Aziz” (mighty and honorable): If he has all matters under his control, and if all of his subjects, young and old, venerable and disreputable, go to him for their affairs. In other words, the more needed you are, more Aziz (the mightier and more honorable) you are.

If a true believer is badly needed, he is Aziz (mighty and honorable), nevertheless, he is modest. But if a disbeliever is badly needed, he is arrogant and tyrannical.

Often repeated at the end of the Quranic verses: {And He is Al-‘Aziz (the All-Mighty), the All-Wise}. God’s divine name “Al-‘Aziz” occurs in many Quranic verses, such as when Jesus said in the Quran: {If You punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, verily, You, only You, are Al-Aziz (the All-Mighty), the All-Wise.} (Al-Ma’idah 5: 118)

Another verse is: {And His (Alone) is the Majesty in the heavens and the earth, and He (Alone) is Al-Aziz (the All-Mighty), the All-Wise.} (Al-Jathiyah 45: 37) And a third verse is: {They (the hypocrites) say: ‘If we return to Madinah, indeed the mightier will expel from it the less mighty.’ But ‘Izah (might, honor and power) belongs to Allah, to His Messenger and to the believers, but the hypocrites know not.} (Al-Munafiqun 63: 8)

A fourth: {Glorified is your Lord, the Lord of ‘Izah (Might, Honor, and Power)! (He is Free) from what they attribute to Him.} (As-Saffat 37: 180) In the fifth verse Satan says to God in the Quran: {(I swear by) by Your ‘Izah (Might, Honor, and Power) that I will surely mislead them (mankind) all.} (Sâd 38: 82)

Different Meanings of God’s Name “Al-Aziz”:

1- “Al-Aziz” is He the like of whom is none, rival to whom is none and equal to whom is none. He is unique and nothing is like Him. This name is attributed only to God, the one and only, the like of whom there is nothing and equal to whom is nothing.

This name is one of God’s names of “Tanzeeh” (names that denote His being free from any anthropomorphic elements).

2- “Al-Aziz” is the one who overpowers and is never overpowered. If a person is overpowered, he is by no means ‘Aziz (mighty or honorable) but rather weak and humble. The one who overpowers him is likely to over-humiliate him. In other words, “Al-Aziz” is one of God’s names, which means “the one who overpowers and is never overpowered”. To this effect, God says: {And Allah has full power and control over His Affairs, but most of men know not.} (Yusuf 12: 21)

This name belongs to names of “As-Sifat” (Names that are Attributes of God).

In a Divine Hadith, God says: “You (O My slave) will (something) and I will (something). If you surrender to Me concerning what I will, I fulfill what you will; but if you do not surrender to Me concerning what I will, I tire you out with what you will, and then there will never be except what I will.”

If all people knew that God has full power over all things, they would obey Him, they would rely on Him, they would trust in Him, they would turn to Him with love and devotion, and they would turn away from others than Him.

“Al-Aziz” is the Mighty and forceful, as derived from the Arabic word “Azza”, which means “reinforces and makes stronger”.

3- “Al-Aziz” is the Mighty and forceful, as derived from the Arabic word “Azza”, which means “reinforces and makes stronger”. To this effect God says: {When We sent to them two Messengers, they belied them both; so We ‘Azzazna (reinforced them) with a third. And they (the Messengers) said: ‘Verily, we have been sent to you as Messengers.} (Yasin 36: 14) This meaning of God’s name “Al-Aziz”, the All-Mighty, the All-powerful, also belongs to names of “As-Sifat”.

4- “Al-Aziz” is the one who grants power and honor to His slaves. This name belongs to names of “Al-Af’al” (Names that denote God’s acts). To this effect, the Quranic verse goes: {Say: ‘O Allah, Owner of the Kingdom! You grant the kingdom to whom You will, and You take away the kingdom from whom You will. You endue with honor whom You will, and You humiliate whom You will. In Your Hand is the good. Verily, You are Powerful over all things.} (Al-Imran 3: 26)

5- “Al-Aziz” is the one who is too rare, who is so badly needed, and who is too difficult to reach. Something, a metal for example, might be too rare, but, at the same time, it is not so badly needed. Such a thing is not called in Arabic “Aziz”. We call something “Aziz” if it has three qualities: It is too rare; it is so badly needed; and it is too difficult to reach. Something else, like air for example, might be so badly needed, but it is not rare. Water is so badly needed but it is not rare in most places.

Such qualities, however, have to do with perfection and non-perfection. In other words, the more available a certain thing is, the less ”Aziz” it is; the less badly needed it is, the less ”Aziz” it is; and the easier to reach it is, the less “Aziz” it is.

If something becomes so rare that it becomes only one, unique, it becomes the most “Aziz”, which is a paramount quality of perfection and is given only to God, alone, who is the one and only creator, who is so badly needed by all things and who is too difficult to reach. Therefore, God, alone, deserves to be called “Al-Aziz” in Arabic.

6- God alone is “Al-Aziz” because existence and survival of all things depend on Him. In other words, no one, except God alone, is needed by all things for all things. That is why He is “Al-Aziz”.

God says: {Allah: there is no god but Him, the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists.} (Al-Imran 3: 2) In other words, existence and survival of all things are in God’s hand, for He is the source of life and survival for all things.

7- God is “Al-Aziz” the “All-Mighty”, some scholars say, in the sense that He, in the oceans of whose Majesty the minds get drowned, whose graces and blessings cannot be properly enumerated or conceived, whose perfection and beauty cannot be described by human tongues. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) summed up the whole thing as follows:

Narrated Abu Hurairah on authority of Aishah: “I missed Allah’s Messenger from my bed one day. I searched for him, and my hand touched the soles of his feet while he was on the floor prostrating himself to the Lord, invoking: ‘O Allah! I seek refuge in Your Contentment from Your Wrath, in Your Forgiveness from Your Punishment; and I seek refuge with You from You. I cannot praise You enough, for You are as You praised Yourself.’” (Muslim)

Hence, if you know God as “Al-‘Aziz” and obey Him, it is impossible for you to humble yourself to anyone else. This is because God says: {But honor, might and glory belong to Allah, His Messenger and believers, but the hypocrites know not.} (Al-Munafiqun 63: 8)

Edited from:
http://www.onislam.net/english/reading-islam/understanding-islam/belief/allah/449811-glimpses-of-gods-name-al-aziz-the-all-mighty.html