AL-AWWAL

The First, The One that always was and always was there

 The One who is the first, the beginning.

 The Prior-Existing (happening before something else) One who existed before all of creation.
Nothing existed before Him.
 The One who is the cause of all the worlds

 The One who was before any thing or any being. The One who is the cause of all the worlds.
 The One who is the beginning of every action, command or thought, without Allah’s
permission we cannot do anything, or think anything.
 

Al Awwal is the First. There is nothing before Allah, and everything comes from Allah. Everything we
see in the world has a beginning. That beginning is with the First, who has no beginning.

ALLAH SHOULD ALWAYS BE THE FIRST FOR US WHENEVER WE DO ANYTHING.

For example, when we wake up the first thing we should do is saying the DUA for waking up. Before
we eat or drink anything, we should say the eating/drinking dua’s. Before we change our clothes, we
should first say the clothes dua. Before we start our travelling, we should say the vehicle dua. Before
doing anything, we should say, BISMILLAH, in the name of Allah.
Muslims should always have Allah in the first place in their lives. For example, when we wake up in
the morning, the First One to think about or remember should be Allah. We should also be eager to
worship Allah first and then move on with our day. There is nothing more important than Allah
subhanu wa ta’aala. If you happen to miss the Fajr prayer on its right time, then you should pray it as
soon as you are up.

There is great goodness and blessing in starting our day with the Words of Allah – the Qur’an in the
morning. Starting our day by remembering Allah and worshipping Him makes our entire day easy,
blessed and happy!

When you hear the adhaan for As-salaah (prayer) you can show Allah Al Awwal that He is The First
for you by taking a break from everything that you were doing and praying the Salaah first.

Allah is Al Awwal, so He should be the First One Who we should try to please at all times. If Allah is
pleased with us, then everyone – angels, your parents, your friends and everyone else will be pleased
with you. We must not do anything that will make Allah displeased with us in order to make someone
else happy.

A good Muslim always wants to be the beloved of Allah at all times because He is the One Who
created us, truly loves us, gives us all that we need and want, takes care of us and He is the One to
Who we all will return.
Allah is the One Who comes before every being, He Who does not have a beginning. Allah is the one
whose existence is without a beginning. The First, there is nothing that came before Him. He has always
existed and nothing came before Him in existence. Everything else in the universe has been created and
gone from a state of non existence to existence, except Allah.

Allah is the first and there is none like Him. This means that there is none prior (before) to Him, that He is self-existent -
He exists all by Himself - that all comes from Him and that He is the cause of all that became.

Allah is the First, meaning that there is nothing that came before Him. He
has always
existed, and nothing existed before Him. The First, the Last, the Outward and
the Inward all come together in the above verse to show the vastness
of Allah and of His knowledge, and that there can be no escape
from Him. Everythingis known by Allah, and none can hide from Him, for
He is the First, the Last, the Outward and the Inward. Anyone who
is having doubts in his or her heart, concerning the religion, is
advised to recite this verse.

Knowing that Allah is the First can give the servants of Allah
a sense of humility (not being proud) in the face of Allah Because
Allah existed before anything else and has always existed, it shows how
our lives are tiny and unimportant in comparison.
They say that if you want to know what your priorities are, reflect on the first thing you think of in the morning. That
thing (or things) which are foremost in your mind not only set the tone for your day, they also determine your
destination. A person who wakes up thinking about money (whether it is because he is in financial difficulty or because
he wants to become rich) will then seek out and prioritize those things that lead him to money. A person who wakes up
thinking of a loved one will probably talk to him or her first thing in the morning and be connected all day if they can.

Allah is, quite literally, the First. He was before anything was. He is also the Last because He is our destination and He
remains when everything else goes away. There are deeper meanings here too. We prioritize things before Allah and
then we wonder why we feel a spiritual void. We may wonder why bad things happen, why we cannot seem to get
something right or why nothing satisfies us despite our pursuit of material means. To know that Allah is al-Awwal (the
First) is to see Allah before seeing anything else, because even the physical means start with Him.

This is why, for example, we do not simply drive to a destination, but we start with the du`a’ (supplication) for travel.
Living the reality of this Name is to seek Allah first even before we seek the means, because the means can only work
with His blessing. This is one of the reasons for the du`a’ of istikhara (seeking good); we are asking Allah for the best
choice when embarking on something. Worshipping Allah by this Name is to realize our complete need for Him, because
we realize that He came before everything and He created the means.
THE FIRST, THE LAST – AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN

And this leads us to His being al-Akhir (the Last): Allah is the destination. We start with Him in everything that we do so
that we can end up with Him. We praise Him at the end of every matter and seek forgiveness from Him for any
shortcomings. Who remains no matter the results. If our intention starts with Him, then no matter the outcome, our
efforts are recorded by Him and are appreciated because they were for Him.

Everything leads to Him

As believers, it may be easy to think that Allah is the beginning of everything and the end. However, if we consider the
example at the beginning of the article, about the first thing we think of when we wake up, living this Name requires
more than just knowing.

For you to begin thinking of someone like this, every morning when you wake, there has to be something in your heart.
There has to be love. Many of us may know someone who has been in love: that person talks to her beloved in the
morning and the beloved is the last person she speaks to at night. Simply connecting to the beloved sets the tone for
her whole day. Do we have that kind of relationship with Allah and if we do not, then how can we start one?

The secret is living the knowledge that Allah is al-Awwal and al-Akhir. It is making a conscious effort to remember Allah
at the beginning and at the end of everything.

Truly whoever understands that God is the First and the Last, knows that Allah is everything.
1.ALLAH IS THE FIRST HIMSELF

Allah is always The First without any start. There is no one and nothing before Him or with Him. o He precedes all that
exists and He precedes all in His attributes and actions. So He is The Most Merciful before anyone, He is the Most
Generous before anyone. He is absolute in perfection from all aspects and from the start. Unlike humans whom when
they do something for the first time, they still need adjusting to make it better. When people say “who’s first”? Allah is
Al Awwal. He is the first to place an idea.
2 . H E IS T H E O R I G I N O F E V E R Y T H I N G

He initiates (starts) the creation. He first created The Pen as the first creation. Among the humans, Prophet Adam asis
the first one created and the first words he said was “Alhamdulilah” and the first words he heard, “May Allah have
mercy on you”. The first words he said to the angels were “peace be upon you” and the first words they said to him
“and upon you peace and Allah’s mercy”.

Allah initiates (begins) time, numbers and all the creation. The first House of Allah (masjid) on this earth is Bait Allah Al
Haram in Makkah. The Holy Prophet pbuh is the first to enter paradise and his ummah are the first to enter paradise.
The Holy Prophet pbuh is the first to intercede (to use your influence to persuade someone
in authority to forgive another person, or save this person from punishment) with his Lord on the Day of Judgement.
Prophet Ibrahim as is the first to be dressed on the Day of Judgement.

Prophet Nuh as is the first to create a ship, but it is Allah the First to show him. The first woman to accept Islam is Hazrat
Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her). Hazrat Abu Bakr is the first man to accept Islam and Hazrat Ali is the first
youth to accept Islam. Allah is the first to start feelings of faith, gratitude and any kind of goodness. He is the First to
give us an idea, He is the First for all the favors and blessings we have.

Allah needs to be first in our life. We have to believe in Him first, to love Him first, to run to Him first. He told us “honey
is cure for the people” so we should believe in Him first and not believe after a scientist proves it.
We want to be the first to believe and not the first to disbelieve, especially when we have a Book. When we know Allah
is Al Awwal, we want to always put our trust and tawwakul in Him before any means. The muttawakileen free
themselves from attaching to the means. If someone tells us something is broken, we quickly think “how can we fix it?”,
instead of asking Allah first to fix it. Allah comes before all of the means. He is before the Books, Messengers and Angels.
The good muslims take the means if they have them, but they do not trust the means; they trust only Allah. For
example, if we are sick we will take the medicine, but we will not believe it is the medicine that makes us better, we
believe that it is Allah who cures us, and if He wills, He will put the cure into the medicine, and if He does not will, then
He will not, and the medicine will not make us better, no matter how much we take.

And if they do not have means, they still go forward. Just as Prophet Zacharia (as) who did not have means to have a
child, yet he still asked Allah for a child. The means are a test for us in this life. But in the hereafter there are no means,
whatever the dwellers of paradise think of, they will get. We will be grateful when we appreciate Allah is First and
attribute the blessing to Him. We appreciate all that He is doing for us. When we see any good quality in a person, such
as being patient or knowledgeable, we need to remember Allah is First. All of blessings we have are first from Allah. He
is the One Who first puts the thought in someone to give us a gift. When we believe Allah is Al Awwal in everything,
then surely the second and third steps will be correct and easy. Every deed is based on the intention that we believe in
Allah and we hope for all the rewards from Him.

Allah is Adh Dhahir, The Most Apparent - visible - His ayat are so visible that no one can avoid them and He’s Al Batin,
The Most Hidden, no one can be more hidden than Him. ▪ Al Awal Al Akhar surrounds us with time and Adh Dhahir Al
Batin surrounds us with place.

Allah is Al Awal, someone might compete to be first, but Allah is before him. Someone receives provision, but Allah is
before it. Someone is guided, Allah is before it. You’re the first to give sadaqah, but Allah is First, He is before it. Allah
precedes (comes before) everyone and everything. ▪ Allah is Al Akhar, The Last, and only He can be The First and The
Last at the same time though they’re opposites, subhan Allah. Allah is Adh Dhahir Al Batin, only He can be apparent and
visible at the same time. ▪

▪ When an idea comes to our mind, Allah is The First. Sometimes we discover something new on the phone but we’re
not the first; Allah is The First. At the same time Allah is The Last, He’s the One Who comes after the means; He’s The
One Who gives us the result. This truly surrounds us. ▪ If something is so visible, how can it be discreet at the same
time? Allah is Adh Dhahir Al Batin at the same time; His ayat are apparent over all ayat and His actions are apparent
over all actions.

▪ Allah is Al Batin and He’s closer to us than we are to ourselves. He knows all our hidden secrets. Never think you can
do something or hide something while Allah doesn’t know about it. Where is Allah?( He is above the seven heavens, He
rose over the Throne in a manner that suits His majesty. He’s not with us physically. ▪ Allah knows all that we conceal,
even what’s inside the ‘lining’ of our hearts. Don’t think it’s ok if I say something in front of certain people, and not
others.

▪ When we want anything, The First is Allah. Sometimes we say ‘I’m the first who thought of this’, no one is the first,
Allah is The First and we are after. At the same time He is Al Akhar and nothing is after Him. This means the result,
judgement and creation belongs to Him. Everything goes back to Him. ▪ Who made the angels to make dua for us? Allah
Al Awal. When we know Allah is Al Awal then we should go to Him first. No one can solve our problems first and console
us first except Allah When we know Allah is Al Akhar and the result and judgement is in His Hand then we should make
Him your goal. His Words are final, so don’t go to someone else.

▪ Sometimes we start things but it doesn’t get completed. We might be downloading something and it says ‘download
incomplete’ or ‘interrupted’ or ‘disconnected’. ▪ Sometimes we’re taking all of the means but there’s no result. For
example we’re told if we attend ten treatment sessions then there will find results but there’s no change. Only Allah is
Al Awal Who comes before the means and Al Akhar Who comes after the means; only He brings the result.
▪ The names Allah Al Awal Al Akhar surrounds us by time. Sometimes we don’t see the picture as complete. When did
Prophet Yusuf (as) see the realization of his dream? After forty years. If we pick the fruit before it’s ripe then we end it
then.

▪ Knowledge about Allah is greater than any treasure, gold or silver. You might not have any means but Allah is Al Awal;
He’s the One Who brings the means to you. And when you have the means, only Allah Al Akhar can complete the means
for you. Knowledge is not a goal, our goal is Allah and we want to learn in order to reach Allah.

Meaning in the deen

▪ Allah is Al Awal before anyone and He’s First without any boundary, so no one can say ‘when did Allah come?’. Unlike
ourselves when we say when we’re born, or we say when something is discovered. ▪ Nothing can be before Allah

– Allah knows about everything in detail before it takes place. The first level of believing in the decree is knowledge of
Allah. We need to believe Allah knows everything in detail. We cannot pass the knowledge of Allah and that’s why He’s
Al Awal. ▪ Allah is First in His knowledge and this should never make us proud of having knowledge because we are
bound to get stuck in knowledge, and what gives us console? Allah Al-Awwal.
Allah is The First – In Life ▪ A person might be the first in age, but last in energy. A child is born weak and dies weak. The
person needs to be washed and carried by others. But Allah is Al Hayy – The Ever-Living Who never dies and that’s why
He’s the First in Life.

– the one you attach to is Ever-Living and never dies and He has the perfect life. He never gets tired or has any kind of
deficiency.

– When we look at the entire world, it’s all flowing in harmony, there’s no shutting down or taking breaks because Allah
is The First in life. For example if a factory owner dies, then production gets disrupted and someone else takes his place.
Our life is not running or depending on someone who dies. ▪ Allah is The First in Life and no one can replace Him or
change Him. For example a company has an owner and employees, who’s first? The owner and the employees come
afterwards. Who’s the most stable? The owner. And to Allah is the best example.

We need what’s constant and we only have Allah. So we should rely on the One Who never dies. We can’t depend on
someone who changes and dies. If we rely on the One Who’s constant in life then we will be in peace. If we rely on The
First then our matters will be solved because He will give us everything first. But if we go to variables in the middle then
we will not get things first; we’re only prolonging it for ourselves.

We want provision to come to us first, we want the solution to come to us first, so what should we do? Go to The First.
If we rely on Allah then He will brings things first to us. ▪ We should put our trust in The Ever-Living Who never dies;
Allah doesn’t ever sleep or slumber

▪ When we say Allah is Al Awwal, we’re saying He’s First in Knowledge and Life and He’s Last so we will return to Him.
He’s Adh Dhahir and Al Batin, knowing our secrets and the secrets of everyone else. We’re asking Allah to settle our
debts. When we’re asleep, we cannot fulfill the rights of others or settle the debt. So many things are incomplete and
we say ‘I’ll pay this bill tomorrow’, ‘I’ll say sorry to so and so tomorrow’. Only Allah Al Awwal is alive and He knows what
we owe, so we’re asking Him to fulfill our rights. Even if a person dies and there are debts which are not settled then
Allah (will bring forward the means and complete it.. For example, there are those who passed away while owing debt
and then someone else comes and pays it for it. Or they had an issue with someone but then the other person says
‘they’ve passed away now, I’ll pardon them’.

▪ To fulfill the debt is something which needs to be given but we’re asleep, in minor death, so we can’t give it. ▪ To be
enriched from poverty is to receive something and a person will not be enriched until all debts and rights are settled and
solved. ▪ From this we learn to solve our debt while we’re alive, and to fulfill the rights of others, the parents, connect
with relatives, and then enrichment will come
Recap ▪ When we know Allah is the First in Knowledge, then we need to first learn about Him. It’s important to have
knowledge before actions. The first word revealed upon the Holy Prophet pbuh - was – read. ▪ Allah is The First in Life.
He’s the Ever-Living. When we know He’s the First in Life then we should rely on Him. We shouldn’t go to variables like
us, but go to the Ever-Remaining.

Allah is taking care of every

detail in our life. We’re asleep
and He’s taking care of us. He’s
taking care of all our affairs
without us even asking.

▪ The word ‫ قيوم‬comes from ‫ قام‬which is to be straight, upright, fixed and stable. Allah is Self-Sustaining and He’s
Sustaining all of us. Someone who’s ‫ قيوم‬is always alert and on stand-by. For example, a mother is alert and on stand-by
for her baby, until he’s able to eat on his own, pray on his own, etc. And when we grow, we need to take care of our
parents and be alert and on stand-by for them. ▪ Allah is Al Hayy Al Qayoom. He’s not only Ever-Living Who has the
perfect life and not doing anything, but He’s Al Qayyom. We might have a problem and someone comes to console us or
we hear the solution in a lecture. This is all because Allah is Al Qayoom over us. ▪ A mother who’s qayoom on her
children is checking in on them, checking their rooms, checking their drawers, their phones, who they’re calling, what
they’re watching. Nevertheless we’re limited.

Every day He is (engaged) in some affair (such as giving honour or disgrace to some, life or death to some, etc. Allah is
always Qayoom. When we know Allah is the First in Sustaining all of us, then we need to make Him First and go to Him
First.

Allah is The First – In Mercy

▪ All of us have mercy, and depending on our situations is how much mercy we’ll be given. For example in marriage,
Allah puts love and mercy between the spouses.

That’s why a nanny cannot show the same kind of mercy as a mother. ▪ Who’s The First to give us mercy? Allah. Who’s
The One Who put us in this life? Allah. So Who’s The Most Merciful? Allah ▪ Allah’s mercy is not changing like ours.

The first word Prophet Adam (as) said is ‘alhamdulilah’ and the first words he heard were ‘may Allah have mercy on you’
Allah is The First to show you mercy. ▪ Imagine when you come to a lecture for the first time and you’re new and don’t
know anyone, and someone asks ‘what’s your name, do you want some water’, you’ll always remember that first
person for showing you mercy. And to Allah is the best example, Allah is The First to show us mercy.

Allah is not only First in mercy, but is vast in His mercy. The punishment of Allah is restricted though the mercy of Allah
is by default. And how much we’ll get of His mercy depends on how much we have taqwa, establish the prayer, give
zakat and believe▪ When we show mercy to others, it’s because we’re in need of good deeds. But when shows us mercy,
it’s not because He needs anything. He’s shows us mercy purely, so we should be pure and sincere to Allah, we should
not not make Him second. What’s required from us when we know Allah is The First in mercy?
 Allah knows everything
about this world and He
is the first to know of
anything that happens,
like tsunamis.

▪ Be merciful to yourself; do good deeds, abstain from sins, and follow the Sunnah of the Prophet pbuh,

(If you’re not merciful to yourself then you can’t be merciful to others. ▪ Be merciful to those closest to you from family,
children, and helpers. ▪ Be merciful to the creation.

Allah is asking ‘did you see when you plant anything? Are you the one who makes it grow? We are only digging the soil
and placing the seed, but Allah is the One Who splits the seed and makes it grow. When we light the fire, Who gave us
the trees? Allah (is The First and there’s nothing before Him. He’s First before the means. He’s the One Who will bring
down the rain, the One who makes the plants grow and trees come out.

Allah Al Awwal – There is nothing before Him.

1. When we know Allah is the First in Knowledge, then we need to first learn about Him. It’s important to have
knowledge before actions.

2. Allah is The First in Life. He’s the Ever-Living. When we know He’s the First in Life then we should rely on Him.

3. Allah is The First in Al Qayoomiah; He’s the First to take care of us, so we should be responsible for ourselves first. 4.
Allah is The First in Mercy. Before anyone shows us mercy, He’s the First to show us mercy.

Allah is The First in ability and power. The meaning of ability is to have something happen in the way you want. Allah is
The First in Ability and He can do whatever and whenever He wants. That’s why the decree is the ability and power of
Allah. Allah knows about everything in detail before it’s even written in the Preserved Tablet. ▪ Some people might have
power but they use it without wisdom. Allah has all the treasures but He will not bring it down except in a precise
measure. ▪ Sometimes we want to say something, but what does it mean to have ability? We stop ourselves from saying
it in the wrong time. For example, when Yusuf ‫ لسالم عليه‬dreamt, he didn’t say it to any of his brothers, and when the
dream became realized, he only told his father.
Allah is The First – In Hearing and Seeing ▪ We hear and see, jinn hear and see, angels hear and see, but when Allah tells
us about His seeing and hearing, no one is like Him.

▪ Allah hears and sees, but His hearing is not like anyone’s. He hears all the sounds, all the movements, even the
movement of the blinking of your eyes, the movement of the blood inside our body. And no sound overpowers another
sound. He hears everything. We can’t hear everything, we need devices to make others hear us from a distance. ▪ If we
could hear all the sounds in our body, it would be very annoying. There are things which we don’t need to hear and
there are things we don’t need to see. We don’t need to see the jinn or angels, or the germs all around us. ▪ Allah is
above the seven heavens, He rose over the Throne and He can hear all sounds; there are no boundaries to the hearing
and seeing of Allah.

▪ Allah is The First to hear and see anything, and when we know this, we should not call on anyone besides Him. When
we tell anyone a secret, they’re not the first – Allah is The First and even if they’re next, there is a big distance from
being First and next. There’s no delay when Allah hears anything. Unlike ourselves, when we hear or see something on
TV, it’s actually delayed. ▪ If we want to call on anyone we should call on Allah because He’s the First, and this should
make us devote ourselves to Him and be loyal to Him.

▪ We should make our seeing and hearing first for the sake of Allah. We should make all of our limbs to serve Allah.What
does that mean? We should use our eyes and ears to increase in faith and knowledge. We should not use our eyes and
ears for misguidance and disobedience. ▪ Hearing and seeing are inlets to the heart, so whatever we hear and see will
affect our heart. Sometimes we see things and are careless about, this will surely come inside our heart. If we’re not
cautious about what we see and hear then it will start to show on our speech as well.

▪ We should protect our eyes from looking at what’s haram and we should protect our eyes from listening to haram,
backbiting, and slander. We should look at and hear Allah’s ayat, hear the Quran.

When we know Allah is Al Awwal then we should take care of our hearing and seeing. (7) Allah is The First – In
Responding ▪ Sometimes we say something to others and they hear us, but they don’t respond, or they respond only
after some time. Though Allah is the First to respond to us. ▪ For example we could be calling our children at home,
there are those who don’t hear, there are those who hear but are lazy, and there are those who hear and are quick to
respond. Or sometimes we call a call center, and no one answers and if they answer, they don’t know what to do. Or
sometimes it’s a machine, and you have to select which option you want, and the options go on. And when you finally
reach speaking to someone and you explain your situation, the line cuts off.

Allah is The First to hear you and respond to you, and you don’t have to explain your situation.
– Allah responds to the one who’s desperate, as if they have a ‘special’ hotline. And Allah’s response to the believers is
surely different from His response to others. Allah’s response to the believers is with love and closeness because Allah
loves the believers. When a disbeliever is caught in the middle of the sea and all his phones are cut-off, Allah will still
help me. ▪ We like it when others respond to us, and to Allah is the best example, He’s the First to respond to us. If we
want guidance or cure, He’s the First to respond to us. Allah is responding to trillions of the creations. ▪ When we know
Allah is the First to respond to us, it gives us so much hope. We should go to Him first and no one else. And we should
respond to Him first. The Companions were the first to respond. And this teaches us to be the first respond to the call of
Allah.

Everything in the
world that people
make was used
using one of
Allah’s natural
resources found in
our environment.

Shirk in Allah’s actions: Allah is The Creator, The Sustainer, The Provider and there are those who saying others sustain
(to keep alive, to give strength and to grow) and provide and this is shirk. Allah is Al Awal, He’s the Only Provider. When
we get a gift, the person who gives us is only a mean and Allah is Al Awal, He’s the First to put it in the person’s mind to
get us a gift, to give him money to buy it, the transportation to buy it, the factory to produce it, etc. Major shirk happens
when we put a rival with Allah.

For example it rains, people might say ‘you came and brought us the rain’; this is shirk. Rain is Allah’s action and not a
person coming. When a person is upgraded or downgraded in work, it is not because of the people but because Allah is
the One Who honors whomever He wills and humiliates whomever He wills. There are reasons in between. ▪ Even when
we’re writing, Allah is Al Awal because He’s the One Who is enabling and allowing our actions. ▪ Sometimes people give
credit to others but they don’t know Allah is Al Awal before anything. ▪ Shirk can be with heart, devotion, fear, attention,
etc. To commit shirk is torture and torment in this life and the next.

▪ Shirk in our actions: Shirk in dua: Allah tells us to call on Him alone. When we know Allah is Al Awwal then we will go
to Him first and He’s Al Akhar because He’s our ultimate goal. Shirk is when we invoke someone else. Even when calling,
if we’re calling on someone as if we’re begging them and there’s so much humiliation before them then this is shirk
because it’s as if we made them Al Akhar, as if they’re our goal. Feelings of humility and breaking should be for Allah
alone.
Shirk in love: when we see good qualities in someone, we end up loving them, but Who’s the One perfect in all
attributes? Allah, so we should make Him Al Awal. When we make Allah Al Akhar in our love then there’s no one we love
more after Him. There are those who love the Holy Prophet pbuh like they love Allah, or even more and this is shirk.

Shirk in intention:

Allah is Al Awal and He’s the First to tell us about intentions and worshipping Him and He’s Al Akhar to make our
intentions for Him. We should make our intentions for Allah and no one else. Shirk in fear: Allah is Al Akhar and He’s the
One we need to fear. Even when we fear a sin it’s because we fear displeasing Allah. There are those who fear awliya
thinking the wali will harm him or they’re afraid of a magician.

Allah is Al Awal and only He’s worthy of fear: we cannot rely and trust anyone after Allah because He’s Al Akhar. He’s Al
Awal because He’s the All-Knowing, Al Wakeel.

Riya’a: is showing off in worship which means wanting people’s praise even if they don’t praise you. This is minor shirk.
Allah is Al Awwal and He’s the One Who commanded us to have an intention and worship. If He’s Al Awal then why do
want people’s praise? Allah is Al Akhar and He’s the One to praise us, but why do we want more than that? This shows
we’re not making Allah Akhar. When Allah praises it’s real praise.

For anything we need in our life, Allah is The First and He will bring the means and only He can bring the results. When
we seek His help, He is Adh Dhahir and He will make things clear to us. ▪ Before our creation, Allah knows who’s truthful
and who’s a liar, who’s a believer and who’s a hypocrite, but we don’t know. Is our reality clear to us? No. How we will
know our reality? Through tests.
 Allah Al-Awwal was never preceded
(nothing came before Him) in existence
by anyone at all; no one else came
before Allah.He does not need anyone
else at all; He is Independent of
everything and everyone. Allah was and
there was nothing with Him, before all of
creation.

"Al-Awwal"
"Al-Awwal" is the first of anything different from Him. He has the upper hand over His enemies, no
one can defeat Allah, the strongest person alive or the highest military power is nothing in front of
Allah. "Al-Awwal" means the timeless, the perpetual - continuing for ever in the same way- the One
Who has neither a beginning nor an end. He is the First without a beginning; He exists on His own
even before His creatures were ever there.
He is the Eternal One – lasting forever- Who has always been and Who is never preceded (no one
comes before Allah) by anyone at all. He, and Only He, has such power to effect death upon His
servants, and He is the First to do so without anyone coming before Him.

He is the First (nothing is before Him) and the Last (nothing is after Him), the Most
High (nothing is above Him) and the Most Near (nothing is nearer than Him), and He
is the All-Knower of every thing.

This name of Allah reveals and establishes His Being prior to and before anything.
Al-Awwal, the First. He is the One Who nothing preceded – came before- in His
existence. He was the First before existence. So believe in Him, and assert that He is
the First of every known and unknown thing.

Allah is first, and no one

comes after Him in
anything. He is the One
and Only and alone in
being a God.

Allah is the First. His being first is not at all related to that which comes after Him
which is all existence, seen and unseen. We should not think that while He is the
First, there is still a second. There is none like Him. His firstness means that there is
nothing before Him, that He is self-existent, that all arises from Him and that He is the
cause of all that becomes. By the grace of this quality, the good servant should be
the first in devotion, worship, and good deeds.
Al-Awwal (The First)
“The statement of Allaah ‘He is the First’ means He is before everything and ‘the
Last’ means after everything.”

He is the First before everything without limit, and the Last after everything without
end.” This is because He was there and nothing existed except Him. And He will be
there after all things perish – are destroyed.

We witness the occurrence (creation) of the animals, plants, etc. and the
occurrences in the air of clouds, rain and so forth; all these occurrences were
nonexistent and then they came into being, so their inexistence and end of their
existence indicate that they did not exist by themselves.

Al-Awwal
The One Whose existence has no beginning, and Who existed before everything without a limit (of beginning).
Al-Awwal deserves to be the first since He existed when there was nothing before or with Him! Allah is the
First. There is nothing before Allah, and everything comes from Allah. Everything we see in the world has a
beginning. That beginning is with the First, who has no beginning.

Allah is the first, the beginning, the foremost. The Prior-Existing One who existed before all of creation. When
we think about the dinosaurs, it puts us in awe that something existed such a long time ago, but imagine Allah
the beginning of existence, the one who created existence, this is something we cannot even imagine. Allah is
the beginning to everything, he created all that was created and is above all creation. A description of Allah is
unimaginable because his existence is beyond our concrete existence. Allah is before what we believe to be
the beginning.
 o Al Awal; You are the First before anybody;
o Al Akhar; You are The Last One, You show the result of everything;

o Adh Dhahir; You are so Apparent and above everybody; there is nobody above You; o Al Batin;
nobody is more closer than You.

Allah is The Judge,

Allah will decide which group you will be from, what will be your end, what is your destination?
Al Awal Al Akhar Adh Dhahir Al Batin - He is the First and the Last, the Most High and the Most Near

You are the One surrounding me, no one else is surrounding me. In every moment Allah surrounds you, in every place
Allah surrounds you, in every corner Allah encompasses you. In the beginning and in the end of every matter, before
and after, Allah surrounds us. The whole of creation is like a mustard seed in Allah’s hand. So for one human being for
sure Allah encompasses (surrounds and includes) everything.

Allah know what you are whispering. And there is an angel recording everything. Your life story is in the
books but the end is either heaven or hell. The end is determined during our life.

Allah Decides

It is not what we decide, it is not what you decide, Allah decides. You plan, you schedule but Allah Al Akhar as Allah
wants to teach you. There are so many mysteries around you but when you learn the Names of Allah, Allah swt is
showing you – plans change, something works, something doesn’t work.
The Last (nothing is after Him)

Allah word is the last of everything, His words are remaining. Your happiness depends on how much you believe. But
for the people who don’t believe they will be stressed – when things don’t happen you feel frustrated. Allah is ending
all the matters. For the good deeds and for the good words there is no ending of Allah favours – always there is hope,
always there is a window.

Allah is teaching us in this life – He is the One Who brings the means to you; He is the One Who initiates everything
– He is Al Awal – The First.
Firaun thought he was so great he could reach Allah . He didn’t believe Allah is Al Awwal– Firaun felt he could do
anything, he could touch the moon. Al Akhar brings us back to our senses; we are nothing. Firaun thought he could
reach the sky with the pyramids; humans think they can build something to reach Allah but we cannot. So why
associate a partner to Allah ?
We Rely on Allah

He is First One to bring the means and the Last One to show us the result.

- Allah Al Awal - worthy of all your love, your goal

- Allah Al Akhar – I love no one after Allah swt

- Allah Al Awal is before anyone else in my life

He is the First One before anybody in your life;

Before you mother or before your father, before anyone, anyone. Allah is there and He never dies. Everybody else
will die, whether it is in your life time, or whether after your life, and then you will also die.

One and nobody is before Him and that gives us peace, because no one comes before Allah and Allah is the One
to give us favours and mercy. So He should come before anyone else in our life,

Everything has an
expiry date, but
Allah The First!

Before your mother, before your father, before your husband, before your children.
He is the only provider. When a gift comes to you, Allah is the One giving you the gift. If someone gifts you a gift
they are the means. What do you do with the means? Thank you, but you believe who is the first? - Allah because
it is Allah Al Awal who put the thought in that persons head.
 Who is the creator? Who is
al awal, who creates,
sustains and provides?
People commit shirk. People
say there is another
sustainer, another creator,
another provider. He is the
First One Who brings
everything to you.

Allah is Al Awwal to you give you a car. Allah is Al Awwal to you give you money. Allah is Al Awwal to make
/ produce something. Somebody brings you water, somebody made the glass, Allah.

How is Allah Al Awal?

Allah is Al Awwal in the whole process; Allah is initiating (beginning) the thought, Allah is creating the glass,
Allah is providing the water. Allah is actually Al Awwal in the whole cycle even though someone brings you the
water.

Allah is the First One to be loved and deserving of all the love. Why? Because Allah is The First provider, He
sustains me, He created me. There are so many things that make Allah worthy of the love.
Allah Al Awwal – He is the First One. Allah told you to pray, Allah told you to fast. Allah commanded you to do
everything because He is Al Awal. Allah is the Creator, He has the reward. If Allah is Al Awal why do I want the
praise of someone else with Allah ?

Allah who comes first even before the means. He knows everything from before. First is Allah
and last is also Allah. So your start and end should be focused on Allah and not on anyone
else. So your life should revolve around Allah. You don’t know what Allah knows.

The sun
argue
keep and
with
doing moon
Allah
their in are working
submitting
duties. perfectly.
to The
Him.people
But amongst The suncreation
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Allah is Al Awwal and no one is before Him. He is the goal and the ultimate goal for all of us. He
is Dhahir that is no one is more apparent (clear) than Him and He is above everybody. He is
dhahir and He can see everyone and every body at the same time. There is no one more close to
me than Allah. So we need to purify ourselves, we should be the same from inside and out. We
are dealing with Allah in every single action that we do. If we are giving charity to someone then
it goes to the hands of Allah before than person. You are not dealing with people (husband,
wife, children) in fact you are dealing with Allah. Allah doesn’t physically come into the world
and interact with us. He made us have dealings with other human beings, that is what separates
us from the angels. When we deal with other people, our kids, parents, siblings… we should do
it in the way Allah wants us to, because that is the test we face, every single day.
AL Awwal-the first one who hears.

Only Allah is the first one who deserves to listen to you. Allah created us with hearing, we have ears to hear and
eyes to see and this is the same with all the creation. Nobody is like Him and He is all hearer and all seeing. Allah
said nobody is like Allah especially in hearing and seeing. Allah hears the ant moving and all our cries at the same
time. No voice will cover other voice for Him. We can also hear and we need a structure of the ear to listen and
we need to speak loudly to speak to someone far away from us. Allah hears everything. We can hear our
heartbeat but can we hear our blood gushing through our veins? We don’t need to hear everything. There are
no boundaries for hearing and seeing for Allah. He is the first one who hears everything. Allah is the first one to
hear us and he is the first one to see what we do. Anyone else is not number one to hear to us. His hearing and
seeing is perfect. He know exactly what it is and what happens. Go to Him and make Him Al Awwal, don’t run to
any one before Him.
There is no one who comes before Allah in anything. Allah is perfect. He doesn’t need anything
to sustain. He is the one who gives life to others. When you know this then you rely on Allah
alone for everything.
Qayyum means standing, fixed stable and also He fixes others. No body takes care of Him and He
takes care of everyone. Qaaim is the one who takes care of others. Our mothers have taken care
of us and then they need someone to take care of them. So in life we are dependent on others
somehow or other. Allah is the ever living, never dies, no sleep or tiredness takes over Him.
Allah is the one Who doesn’t need sleep and when we are sleeping He takes care of you. Allah is
taking care of us all the time, He never leaves you. Like in the house parents are qaim and they
take care and check what the kids need and keep fulfilling their needs. Only Allah is Al Awwal and
Qayyum taking care of everything. He is first one ever living never dies and on stand by who
never stops taking care of us. Anyone who asks Allah He is listening to everyone at the same time
and even if we don’t ask He is taking care of all of us. We need to believe not only in Qayyum
alone but also He is Awwal and Qayyum that means He is my first priority and I need to be loyal
to Him and worship Him and ask Him.

If I want anything then the first that should come in my mind is Allah. When you look at any blessing then first
thought is thankfulness to Allah. No one comes before Allah. Everything comes after Allah al Awwal. There is
nothing that comes before Allah. Everything comes after Allah Al Awwal. He is the one who is making the angels
to make dua for us and for us to be forgiven. Allah is the one to whom we will return on the Day of Judgment. He
is the first one so whenever you face a problem then you go first to Allah. Nobody can solve your problem like
Allah. If you go to people they cannot solve your problems. You don’t run after people rather you run after Allah
AL Akhir.
Where can you run from Allah? He is dhahir and batin. There is something apparent and
something hidden. Allah is more apparent than anything else in your life. Allah is watching you
and He knows you from the top. He is above all creation and He is taking care of the creation and
He is the one nurturing and providing you with His mercy.

AL-AWWAL is the One whose existence is without a beginning. No one is before Him. He is the
beginning, before the existence of all of creation. He is the beginning of every action, command or action
in the universe. AL-AKHIR is the One whose existence is without end. No one is beyond Him. He is the
last, after all of creation has passed away.

Allah comes before all creation.

Al-Akhir means there is nothing after Him, His form does not end, He is the final destination of all beings. Worship
related to the name al-Akhir is by making Allah the ultimate goal of everything, not depending on all the causes of
life, whether property or position, because everything will end, and only Allah is eternal (lasting forever) and
timeless. So depending on the Supreme End means dependence that will not disappear and end, in contrast to
dependence on other than Him. Worship with the name "al-Awwal and al-Akhir" requires being attached to Allah
solely honestly, always feeling a need for Him, because all things start with Him and end with Him, He is the One
Who is the Beginning.
As a reminder of Al Awwal, one of the first living creatures on earth, is the trilobite, which lived on earth 570 million
years ago.

Allah is Al-Awwal, He is The One whose existence is without beginning. He is truly the first and nothing was
before Him. Allah is Al-Akhir, The One who’s existence will extend past the end of this universe. He will be
the last just as he was the first. Mentioned once each in the Quran. He is the First and the Last, the
Ascendant and the Intimate, and He is, of all things, Knowing.
He is The One whose existence is without beginning. He is truly the first and nothing was before Him. Allah is
Al-Akhir, The One who’s existence will extend past the end of this universe. He will be the last just as he was
the first.
Initiate = begin
Al-Awwal (The First) and Al-Aakhir (The Last): The One who made this all and will
decide when to end this all.
27

Allah has no beginning.

Allah is timeless (doesn’t change with time) and eternal (lasting forever), without beginning or
end. By contrast, all created things have a beginning and end.

The Sun and other celestial bodies are far older than the living things on Earth. But just like
the lives of humans and animals, the stars are born and they die. All things in the universe
must come to an end.

This world will come to an end. However, we shall return to our Lord, and the deeds we did
will determine what our end result is. The one who can enter Jannah without needing to go to
Jahannum is the winner. Maybe in life they were poor, dark skinned, short, fat and ugly.
Maybe they were uneducated and picked up rubbish their whole lives. If they can avoid going
to Jahannum, then they were the winner, coming first in the race.

Knowing that Allah is the First and the Last also helps us to face up to our own demise, and
also that every state that we experience in life will come to an end. We enjoy a period of
youth. If we do not die while we are young, then we will certainly suffer the loss of our youth.
We will grow old, and then we will die. There is no escape from death in either case. This is
the end that Allah has ordained (God having the authority to order something to happen) for
all people. He alone never dies. He alone is eternal, lasting forever, without beginning or
end.

His name Al Awwal tells us that He is The First of all His creations and creatures.

Allah is what existed before anything and everything. He created everything and established this
whole chain. He not only created humans but also He is the first and foremost before everything
else in the universe.

Allah existed before anything else and only He will remain when all else has ended.

 The One who was before anything or any being.

 The One who is the cause of all the worlds.
 Allah is the first, the beginning, the foremost. The Prior-Existing One who existed before all of creation.
When we think about the dinosaurs, it puts us in awe that something existed such a long time ago, but envisions
Allah the beginning of life, the one who created existence; this is something we cannot even visualize. Allah is
the beginning to everything, he fashioned all that was created and is above all creation. An account or
explanation of Allah is unthinkable because his existence is beyond our concrete existence. Allah is before what
we believe to be the beginning.