Is al-Dahr among the names of Allah, or is it a descriptive attribute?
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Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. In the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)Sunan Abi Dawud 5274Sahih (Al-Albani), the question is: Is it said that al-Dahr is among the names of Allah, or is it a descriptive attribute? And what is meant by the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding Allah: "I turn the night and the day"?
Answer:
The hadith explains parts of itself, but some of the youth and some of the pretenders to knowledge rush to raise objections, whereas the hadith explains parts of itself. "The son of Adam harms Me"—how does he harm Him?
[Al-Ahzab 33:57] He harms Him by shirk (associating partners with Allah), he harms Him by belittling Him. So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is pained by this, but He is not harmed [Ali 'Imran 3:176].
So Allah is pained, but He is not harmed (Glorified and Exalted is He). "The son of Adam harms Me"—he curses al-Dahr. When a calamity befalls him, he mostly curses the hour, the day, and the place where he is. He curses and abuses. This is disbelief in the divine decree. Al-Dahr has no power of action.
The power of action is in the hand of Allah, and it is He who caused this thing to happen to you. So you must believe in the divine decree and destiny, and do not curse al-Dahr. His saying (Mighty and Majestic), "And I am al-Dahr," is explained by His saying, "In My hand is the command." The meaning of "I am al-Dahr" is: "In My hand is the command; I turn the night and the day." Have you not seen that the night comes and the day goes, and then the reverse happens: the day comes and the night goes? This is the turning.
[Az-Zumar 39:5]. The difference between the night and the day: this comes and this goes, this lengthens and this shortens. This is the turning [An-Nur 24:44]. So the meaning of al-Dahr is that He turns the night and the day. It is not that Allah is named al-Dahr. This is not permissible by the consensus of the scholars of knowledge, except for what is anomalous, like Ibn Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him), who said that Allah is named al-Dahr. But this is wrong. This is wrong; the consensus is against it. Because the hadith explained that the meaning of "I am al-Dahr" is that He turns the night and the day, and in His hand is the command. So what came to you is not from al-Dahr, but from Allah. So you must be content and submit. You must account for yourself. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. In the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
The son of Adam injures me by abusing time, whereas I am time. Authority is in my hand. I alternate the night and the day
يؤذيني ابن آدم يسب الدهر وأنا الدهر بيدي الأمر أقلب الليل والنهارAnswer:
The hadith explains parts of itself, but some of the youth and some of the pretenders to knowledge rush to raise objections, whereas the hadith explains parts of itself. "The son of Adam harms Me"—how does he harm Him?
who abuse Allah and His Messenger - Allah has cursed them in this world and the Hereafter
يُؤْذُونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ لَعَنَهُمُ اللَّهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِIndeed, they will never harm Allah at all
إِنَّهُمْ لَن يَضُرُّوا اللَّهَ شَيْئًاSo Allah is pained, but He is not harmed (Glorified and Exalted is He). "The son of Adam harms Me"—he curses al-Dahr. When a calamity befalls him, he mostly curses the hour, the day, and the place where he is. He curses and abuses. This is disbelief in the divine decree. Al-Dahr has no power of action.
The power of action is in the hand of Allah, and it is He who caused this thing to happen to you. So you must believe in the divine decree and destiny, and do not curse al-Dahr. His saying (Mighty and Majestic), "And I am al-Dahr," is explained by His saying, "In My hand is the command." The meaning of "I am al-Dahr" is: "In My hand is the command; I turn the night and the day." Have you not seen that the night comes and the day goes, and then the reverse happens: the day comes and the night goes? This is the turning.
He wraps the night over the day and wraps the day over the night
يُكَوِّرُ اللَّيْلَ عَلَى النَّهَارِ وَيُكَوِّرُ النَّهَارَ عَلَى اللَّيْلِAllah alternates the night and the day. Indeed in that is a lesson for those who have vision.
يُقَلِّبُ اللَّهُ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَعِبْرَةً لِّأُولِي الْأَبْصَارِ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [725 -1024] هل الدهر من أسماء الله أم صفة خبرية؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.