Allah
calls Himself Al-Hafeedh— The All-Preserver, The All-Heedful, The
All-Protecting— on three occasions in the Quran. He is the One
Who created and preserves the worlds and what they contain. Al-Hafeedh is
Heedful of all we do and He protects us from things we do not even realize,
giving believers many opportunities to earn His special protection!
The Ultimate Preserver, Guardian and Protector
The Ultimate Preserver, Guardian and Protector
Hafeedh and Haafidh come from the root haa-faa-dhaa, which points out to three main meanings. The first meaning is guarding, protecting, retaining and taking care of. The second main meaning of this root is to prevent from perishing or becoming lost and the third is to be watchful, mindful, attentive and vigilant.
This root appears 44 times in the Quran in eight derived forms. Examples of these forms arehaafidheen(“guardians”), mahfoodh (“guarded, protected”) and wahaafidh’naahaa (“and We have protected it”).
Al-Hafeedh is the Guardian of the whole creation, everything is operating under His care of which He is never tired. Al-Hafeedh tells angels to protect us and He revealed the Quran as our guide and it is only Him that can protect us from evil and disasters. Al-Hafeedh is the One Who remembers all that was and all that is, keeping in His divine protection all that there will be! He is the Ultimate Preserver, Guardian and Protector of the whole creation!
Al-Hafeedh Himself says: “..and you will not harm Him at all. Indeed my Lord is, over all things, Guardian.” (Quran 11:57) “.. We might make evident who believes in the Hereafter from who is thereof in doubt. And your Lord, over all things, is Guardian.” (Quran 34:21) and “..And those who take as allies other than Him – Allah is [yet] Guardian over them.” (Quran 42:6)
Knowledge,
preservation and recompense
Allah
‘azza wajal negated forgetfulness on Himself, this means that
Al-Hafeedh knows all and He will protect and guard the knowledge and never
forget it. He says: “And we (angels) descend not except by
the Command of your Lord (O Muhammad). To Him belongs what is before us and
what is behind us, and what is between those two, and your Lord is never
forgetful” (Quran 19:64). Musa ‘alayhi sallam testified to this fact,
saying: “The knowledge thereof is with my Lord, in a Record. My Lord is
neither unaware nor He forgets, ” (Quran 20:52)
We
should know that ‘haafidh’ is made of three aspects; first knowledge (‘ilm),
then preservation (hifdh) and then recompense (hisaab). For example, you
removed a small piece of dirt from the floor so it wouldn’t make someone slip.
Even though no one saw it, you need to be sure Allah knows about it, then you
should be sure He will preserve it (hifdh) and finally you should be certain that
Al-Hafeedh will recompense you for it. This goes for anything anyone does for
Allah’s Sake! Therefore there’s a relation between the Beautiful Names Al-‘Aleem (the
All-Knowing), Al-Hafeedh (The All-Preserving) and Ash-Shakoor (The
Appreciative).
How
Can We Live By This Name?
1. Be motivated by Al-Hafeedh.
Al-Hafeedh is Heedful of everything you do by His Knowledge, Al-Hafeedh is recording and ordering His noble angels to record everything that each human being does, at any time and place, secret and open. Even the smallest deeds, like coming to an Islamic lecture, sitting nicely and making notes, Al-Hafeedh will preserve and appreciate it. When you know this you will really be a slave of Allah and not of people.
2. Fear Al-Hafeedh.
He
is also Al-Hafeedh when you do bad actions. Remember even your “very small”
wrong deed Allah sees, preserves and will recompense you for it unless you
repent. For example in prayer you need presence of the heart, khushoo means
presence of the heart (hudoor al qalb) plus understanding (fahm). Maybe in only
one rukoo you remember Allah and the rest of the time your heart is distracted
or heedless. How Allah is hafeedh, even this He knows. If you only remembered
Him in rukoo
then
He will keep this remembrance in rukoo for you and will reward you according to
this. Depending on whether your deed was good or bad al-Hafeedh will reward you
or punish you, so this Name gives you both hope (ar rajaa) and fear (al-khawf
or khashiyah)!
3. Remember people.
One of the siffaat ul mu’mineen – attributes of the believers- is being mindful and attentive to others. Maybe you met someone once and you lent her your pen and she remembers that so many years later, you would feel happy. The best example of this quality of remembering is the Prophetsallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, who never forgot Khadeejah radiyallaahu ‘anha; he remembered and appreciated her even after she died. It’s a praiseworthy character when someone has this attribute and we look up to people who are like this. Then imagine how you should feel about the real Hafeedh, Allah, the One Who never forgets.
4. Memorize the Quran.
Work hard to be of those who preserve His Book, the Quran, by memorizing it! When memorizing His Book call upon Al-Hafeedh and make dua to Him to preserve and keep it in your mind. You must seek His help to protect what you memorized!
5.
Purify your heart.
The Name Al-Hafeedh helps us purify some sins of the heart. For example you talk bad about someone just out of your desire, not because that person did you wrong. You simply don’t like him or her. Al-Hafeedh will never forget what you did; this knowledge will be preserved with Him and maybe after a period of time you will be put in the same situation where you are innocent and yet someone accuses you wrongly or says something untrue about you. When this happens it is for you to recall and repent for what you did to someone else. Al-Hafeedh is giving it as a test to nurture you because He has this knowledge preserved whereas maybe you forgot or saw it as insignificant!
6.
Strive for the special protection of Al-Hafeedh.
Aboo Tayyib At-Tabaree , an early scholar, was about hundred years old and he was remarkable as his vision and his hearing were sharp. He was physically capable of running and performing actions just like the young man. He once came back from a journey by sea and when everyone was exhausted, Aboo Tayyib At-Tabaree jumped off the boat on the land. People were amazed. He said: “When I was a young man, I preserved these bodily limbs from the disobedience of Allah and allah preserved them for me in my old age.” [Narrated by Ibn Rajab] . To receive the special protection of Al-Hafeedh in your religion and your worldy affairs, the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam said: “Guard Allah(‘s Commands) and He will guard and protect you.” [Ahmad, At-Tirmidhi]
7. Be thankful to Al-Hafeedh.
Al-Hafeedh protects His slaves from all kinds of hardship and evil, many times from matters we don’t even realize. He preserves your body in an amazing way, only imagine if your blood would freely flow into your brain! Be thankful to Al-Hafeedh for the way He preserves you and protects you.
8.
Reflect on your environment and increase your awe for Al-Hafeedh.
Look around you , be amazed by the way Al-Hafeedh is able to preserve even the biggest creations, it is He Who preserved the sky from falling on us. We come up with ways by His Leave to preserve even the food in fridges and by salt so we can use it longer, as well as the money in the bank.
Allah is Al-Hafeedh and He guides humans for a means to even preserve food, health and wealth!
9.
Repent to Al-Hafeedh.
This Name should shake you even more than the Name Al-‘Aleem, because Al-Hafeedh not only implies that He knows everything, He even remembers the smallest things. You need the forgiveness of Al-Hafeedh, so another important impact of this Name is that it will make you not delay but hasten to tawbah!
Wallahu ta’alaa
‘alem.
O Allah, Al-Hafeedh, we know that You preserve all there ever was, is and will be. Give us your special protection by aiding us to fulfill Your Commands, help us to be mindful of even the smallest sins and make us rush to repent and be thankful to You for Your Protection. Honour us by being of those who memorize the Quran and support us in our belief and awareness of Your Knowledge, Preservation and Recompense so we will strive to please You and earn Your Gardens, ameen!
Reference:
http://understandquran.com/and-the-answer-is-al-hafeedh.html
