96 - الْبَاقِي

[Bint e Aisha]

الْبَاقِي

 

Translation

الْبَاقِي is translated as The Everlasting and The Ever-Present. 

 

Definition

Imam Ghazali (Rahimahullah) says it is The One Whose existence is necessary in itself. 

 

In the Arabic language there are different types of “Forever”: 

•    Baqaa – is understood to be related to the future

•    Qadeem – is pre eternal i.e. from the past

•    Abad – is eternal i.e. in the future (always will be)

•    Azal – always was

 

الْبَاقِي embraces both “Abad” and “Azal.” His existence is both Abadi and Azali. 

 

It is that Being Who never goes through an end (never has a Khaatimah). It is that Being Who is Awwal (The First without a beginning) and Aakhir (The Last without an end.) 

 

In the Qur’an

الْبَاقِي  is not used in the Quran in this form but is used in a verbal form in different ways. 

 

كُلُّ مَنْ عَلَيْهَا فَانٍ  - “Every being on earth is bound to perish”

 

وَيَبْقَىٰ وَجْهُ رَبِّكَ ذُو الْجَلَالِ وَالْإِكْرَامِ 

There remaineth but the countenance of thy Lord of Might and Glory. [Surah Ar-Rahmaan:26-27]

 

فَان means something that is temporary and will end and يَبْقَىٰ  is infinite, something that is always there. The word وَجْه meaning face/countenance, is not literal. It means the Dhaat of Allah ta’ala is Baaqee.

 

The terms “Fanaa’ - Faanee” and “Baqaa - Baaqee” are found in our Deen and in the Qur’an. In spiritual terminology it refers to people going through different stages in their spiritual development.

Allah ta’ala is capable of having something terminated/ annihilated i.e. taken out of existence. So something that was non-existent then came into existence and then its existence can be terminated. 

 

The question arises that in the Aakhirah people will go to Jannah or Jahannam and stay there forever in their state so isn’t that Baqaa?

 

The answer scholars give is that people are still Faanee (temporary) as there still remains the possibility of them being non-existent because Allah ta’ala has that power to make them non-existent and they were also at one time non-existent (before their existence).

 

Therefore Faanee is something that is temporary and will end and only Allah ta’ala is Baaqee.

 

That which is with Allah is Eternal
Allah ta’ala says in the Quran,

مَا عِنْدَكُمْ يَنْفَدُ ۖ وَمَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ بَاقٍ 

Whatever is with you is transitory and what is with Allah is everlasting. [Surah Nahl: 96]

 

Scholars say that whatever is with Allah ta’ala i.e. whatever is connected with Allah ta’ala like the deeds done for Allah ta’ala, wealth spent for Allah ta’ala, emotional states of sadness and happiness which one bears for Allah ta’ala etc. are included in مَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ – “what is with Allah” and are eternalized. Therefore Allah ta’ala Himself is Baaqee and whatever we do for the sake of Allah ta’ala (With Ikhlaas) is connected to Allah ta’ala and so becomes Baaqee as well. We are Faanee but the deeds done for Allah ta’ala are Baaqee.

 

It is mentioned in a Hadith that a sheep had been slaughtered and the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam instructed ‘Aisha RA to distribute the meat. When he returned he asked her what was left and she said, “Nothing remains of it except its shoulder.” The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam said, “All of it remains except its shoulder” meaning what was distributed is Baaqee and not what’s left.

 

We usually feel what we gave away is lost and what we saved, we have however it’s the other way round. 

 

In another Hadith the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam said, 
“A servant says, My wealth. my wealth, but out of his wealth three things are only his: whatever he eats and makes use of or by means of which he dresses himself and it wears out or he gives as charity, and this is what he stored for himself (as a reward for the Hereafter), and what is beyond this (it is of no use to you) because you are to depart and leave it for other people.” [Muslim]

 

Therefore whatever is with us is wasted and whatever is with Allah ta’ala is eternal and the مَا of مَا عِنْدَاللَّهِ includes everything done for the sake of Allah ta’ala. 

 

The World is Temporary

Another verse of the Qur’an mentions the concept of the world being temporary, 

 

وَلَا تَدْعُ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَٰهًا آخَرَ ۘ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ۚ كُلُّ شَيْءٍ هَالِكٌ إِلَّا وَجْهَهُ ۚ لَهُ الْحُكْمُ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ

Invoke no other God besides Allah. There is no God but Him. Everything is perishable except Him. To Him belongs the judgement and to Him will you all be returned. [Surah Qasas: 88]

 

Everything will be destroyed except the countenance of Allah ta’ala meaning His Being. 

 

The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam was not a poet but he said, 

“The truest words (ever) uttered by a poet is the saying of Labid: ‘Behold! Everything besides Allah is vain” [Abu Dawood]

 

In Arabic: “Alaa kullu shai-in maa illallaahu baatil”

 

Counsel

When facing loss of someone or something beloved or when facing disloyalty from someone close, remind yourself that only Allah ta’ala is Baaqee and everything and everyone else is temporary. Those who are close to Allah ta’ala have the reality of this concept in their hearts that Allah ta’ala is Baaqee and everything else is Faanee and they do not get attached to anything. 

 

Therefore to realise that everything is temporary and only Allah ta’ala is forever. He always was and always will be. This realisation will lead to the heart being detached from the world. 

 

We search for friends who will be forever however only Allah ta’ala is forever and it is His friendship we should seek.  

 

Story 

Mufti Shafi’ relates a story of a man who lived in India. He was a simple man who worked hard. He built a big home, planted a mango tree and began to live there. The mangoes had just begun to ripen when the partition occurred and he had to leave India. He went to Pakistan and said afterwards that from the moment he left the house he never thought about it. This shows that he must have been so detached from it even though he had worked hard for it.

 

Often things happen suddenly for which one is not prepared and if the person is attached to something it will become a very difficult test. To realise that Allah ta’ala is Baaqee and everything else is Faanee, helps in grief and strife. Even the loved ones who die are forgotten after some time. 

 

Du’a 

“Allahumma wa maa zawaitanee ‘annee mimmaa uhibbu faj ‘alhu faraaghallee fee maa tuhibbu”

O Allah, free my heart from those things of my liking that You have withheld from me, that I may turn towards those things that are to Your liking

    
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