KNOWLEDGE

THE NAME OF ALLAH AL-AWWAL is joined together with the name of Allah Al-Akhir, The Last. These names together are mentioned once in the Qur’an.

WHO IS AL-AWWAL?

• Allah is the First and precedes everything in being first and He is the Last and remains after everything. Therefore, there is nothing that is first except Allah comes before it and there is nothing that is last except Allah comes after it, and this is encompassment by time.
• He is The Most Merciful before anyone is merciful, He is the Most Generous before anyone is generous. He precedes all in His attributes and actions.
• When we know Allah is the First, we will single Him out with humility. We will turn to Him Alone and not turn to or rely on anyone besides Him. We will free ourselves from attachment to the means because Allah’s grace precedes all means.
• The concept of being first is very appealing to humans, but it is important to remember Allah is Al-Awwal – He is The First from all aspects. He is the One Who should be our first priority, the first we think of, the first we speak to, the first we turn to; His right is first before anyone else’s.
• The first House of Allah (masjid) on this earth is Bait Allah Al Haram in Makkah.
• The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is the first to enter paradise and his Ummah are the first to enter paradise.
• The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) is the first to intercede with his Lord on the Day of Judgement.
• Ibrahim (عليه السلام) is the first to be dressed on the Day of Judgement and He is the first to call us “Muslims”.
• The first matter we will be asked about on the Day of Judgement is our prayer.

IMPACTS

• To believe in Allah first when He tells us something. For example, He told us “honey is cure for the people” so we should believe in Him first and not believe after a scientist proves it.
• When we make Allah first in our life, then all the next steps we take will be in place.
• When we are uncertain of what has more priority, we ask Allah Al-Awwal to show us.

IN THE QUR’AN

هُوَ الْأَوَّلُ وَالْآخِرُ وَالظَّاهِرُ وَالْبَاطِنُ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ

“He is the First and the Last, the Most High (nothing is above Him) and the Most Near (nothing is nearer than Him). And He is the All-Knower of everything.”

[Surah Al Hadid [57:3]]

IN THE SUNNAH

“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to order that when one of us went to sleep, he should say: ‘O Allah, Lord of the heavens and Lord of the earths, and our Lord, and the Lord of everything, splitter of the seed-grain and date-stone, and Revealer of the Tawrah and the Injil and the Qur’an. I seek refuge in You from the evil of every evil that You are holding by the forelock. You are the First, there is nothing before You, You are the Last, there is nothing after You, You are The Apparent, there is nothing above You, and You are The Hidden, there is nothing below You. Relieve me of my debt, and enrich me from poverty.”

[Sahih Muslim 2713]