Respecting the Name of Allah Ta‘ala

Hazrat Bishr Haafi (rahimahullah) was a very pious and great saint of his time. However, in the beginning of his life, he was not pious, but Allah Ta‘ala blessed him with piety because one very special action that he carried out..

This action was so special and so beloved to Allah Ta‘ala, that when he carried out this action, Allah Ta‘ala blessed him to change his life and become a great saint and pious friend of Allah Ta‘ala. That special action which he carried out was the action of showing respect to the name of Allah Ta‘ala.

Hazrat Bishr Haafi (rahimahullah) was once walking in a certain place when he saw a piece of paper lying on the floor. On seeing the paper, he picked it up and saw that it had the name of Allah Ta‘ala written on it. Hazrat Bishr (rahimahullah) was very sad when he saw that the page with the great name of Allah Ta‘ala was lying on the floor. He was so affected that he picked up the paper and said, “O Allah! How can the paper with Your blessed name be thrown onto the floor like this!” He then cleaned the paper with a lot of love, and placed it in his pocket with a lot of respect.

At that time, the only money that Hazrat Bishr (rahimahullah) had was the small amount of two dirhams. He went to the itr shop, and even though he had so little money, he used all his money to buy some itr. Then, he applied the itr onto the piece of paper so that it would be fragrant and smell nice. Thereafter, he went home, and out of respect for the name of Allah Ta‘ala, he placed the paper on a high shelf on the wall.

That night, when Hazrat Bishr (rahimahullah) went to sleep, he had a dream in which he was told, “O Bishr! Because you raised the name of Allah Ta‘ala, Allah Ta‘ala will raise your name in this world and the next!” And that is exactly what happened. Allah Ta‘ala raised the name of Hazrat Bishr (rahimahullah) so high that even today, after more than one thousand years, Muslims around the world still speak of Hazrat Bishr (rahimahullah) and his great piety. (Kitaabut Tawwaabeen – Ibnu Qudaamah pg. 216, Tahzeeb-ul-Kamaal 4/103)

Lessons:

1. A Muslim must always show respect to the name of Allah Ta‘ala. That is why when we speak of Allah Ta‘ala, then we do not only say “Allah”. Rather, we also add words of respect such as saying, “Allah Ta‘ala” or “Allah Azza wa Jall” or “Allah Rabbul Izzat”.
2. Just as we must respect the name of Allah Ta‘ala, we must also respect everything that is connected to the deen of Allah Ta‘ala. We must respect the name of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) by making sure that we say “sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam” with his name. We must respect the azaan by not speaking at the time of the azaan, by replying to the azaan and by males going to the musjid for salaah. We must respect the Qur’aan Majeed by keeping it in a nice cover, placing it in a high place, carrying it in our right hands on our chests, and making sure that we never touch it without wudhu. We must respect the musjid by not making noise in the musjid and by keeping the musjid clean. We must respect the qiblah by not stretching our legs towards the direction of the qiblah, and by not facing the qiblah or turning our backs to the qiblah when we are in the toilet.
3. The more a person shows respect to Allah Ta‘ala, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) and deen, the more happy Allah Ta‘ala will become with him and the more Allah Ta‘ala will bless him in this world and in the Aakhirah.