Page 131 - Names of Allah

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A AL-MU’ AKHKHIR / AL-MUQADDEEM
The Deferrer, The Keeper Behind
The Advancer
If Allah were to punish people for their wrong actions, not a
single creature would be left upon Earth. But He defers them
until a predetermined time. When their specified time ar-
rives, they cannot delay it for a single hour or bring it for-
ward. (Surat an-Nahl, 16:61)
Allah leaves behind and brings forward whoever He wills.
Being the sole Creator of everything, He has the power to do what-
ever He wills with anything that exists. He determines the time for
every event and, as the actual master of every being and its destiny,
predetermines the events of every being’s life. When the specified
time arrives, what has been ordained takes place, according to His
will. Allah calls attention to this fact in the Qur’an, as follows:
Every nation has an appointed time. When their time
comes, they cannot delay it a single hour or bring it for-
ward. (Surat al-A‘raf, 7:34)
No one except Allah knows this appointed time. No leaf falls
before its appointed time, and every moment of a living being’s life,
from its birth to its death, is subject to this divine timing. However, if
Allah wills, He can delay or bring forward any event, for the human
concept of time being divided into the past, present, and future does
not apply to Him. As the Qur’an states:
Do not consider Allah to be unaware of what the wrongdo-
ers perpetrate. He is merely deferring them to a Day on
which their sight will be transfixed. (Surat Ibrahim, 14:42)

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