Al-Aleem

Al-Aleem means the one who knows everything. And it is Allah Ta'ala. There is no one besides Allah Ta'ala who knows everything. He knows everything with all its details. There is nothing that escapes His knowledge. He knows each change that every atom in the existence is undergoing at every fraction of a second. He knows everything that is going on the mind of a person. Just as He knows whatever one has not thought about yet. He knows the future just as he knows the past. Allah Ta'ala knows whatever a tiny black ant is doing in a very dark night inside a big rock which is buried deep under the earth. Thus, it is futile to ask what Allah Ta'ala knows. One may ask: ‘what does He not know’. The answer is that there is nothing that Allah Ta'ala does not know. Whatever exists is in the knowledge of Allah Ta'ala. Thus, Allah Ta'ala knows everything.

Meditation on this attribute causes a person to adapt his life according to the Deen. This is because he will know and be conscious that he is in front of someone who is watching whatever he is doing. This will create a kind of hesitation that will prevent him from doing whatever he must not do. The degree of this hesitation will depend on the degree of conviction that Allah Ta'ala is watching him and is aware of his thoughts and actions. It is this same hesitation that Rasulullah (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) has qualified as true "Haya". That is, a sense of modesty that prevents a person from committing a wrong.

 [English version of "Al-‘Aleem" – Al Jamiat – Vol.6 No.5]