Al-Haqq- The Absolute Truth

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Allah is al-Haqq, the Absolute Truth. Al-Ghazali says:

“Al-Haqq—the Truth—is the one who is the antithesis of falsehood, as things may become evident by their opposites…

“Therefore, ‘true’ applies to existence in individuals, to existence in the intellect, which is knowledge; and to existence in speech, which is utterance. The thing which most deserves to be [called] true is the one whose existence is established by virtue of its own essence, forever and eternally, and its knowledge as well as the witness to its truth forever and eternally. So all that pertains to the essence of the truly existing One, and to nothing else.”

If Allah is the Truth, then His Words are the truth; His Promise is the truth; His Threat is the truth; and His Acts are the truth.

Thus if we are the creation of the Ultimate Truth, and we worship Allah the Truth, then we have to live this life by the principles of truth. As Allah tells us in the Qur’an:

“For that is Allah, your Lord, the Truth. And what can be beyond truth except error? So how are you averted?” [Qur’an, 10:32]

If we truly love Allah and His attributes, then we need to be sincere lovers of truth over all else—even over our own selves and interests. Some may wonder what the difference is between truth and justice. Justice is the implementation of the truth. Truth is a value, and justice is its implementation.

Be a Truthful Person

So what are the practical effects of this Name? Allah says in the Qur’an:

“And do not mix the truth with falsehood or conceal the truth while you know [it].” [Qur’an, 2:42]

As we know, the Prophet ﷺ (peace be upon him) was known as as-Sadiq al-Ameen; the truthful and the trustworthy. He had a deep conviction in his principles, and revelation only made him stronger in them. When he wanted to publicly announce the message of Islam, he called out to the people. He said to them, “If I were to tell you that there is an army behind this mountain ready to attack, would you believe me?” and their answer was, “We never heard you tell a lie before.”

Being truthful means being truthful in our speech and in our actions. So we are not dishonest in our interactions because we know truth is something to be lived, and not simply spoken. We strive for justice in all our actions because that is true living in accordance with the principles of truth. Being truthful in words means saying the truth but also being wise with it. Remember that the Prophet ﷺ taught us to “show gentleness, for if gentleness is found in anything, it beautifies it and when it is taken out from anything it damages it.” (Abu Dawud) There are truths that have to do with justice, and these must be said in a manner that is in the spirit of the way of the Prophet ﷺ.

A man once came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked him, “When is the Hour?” He said “Wait for the Hour when trust will be destroyed.” One of the signs of the ends of time is that these principles are lost.

Understanding the Truths We are Taught

We believe that Allah is the Truth, and we believe that His Words are true. Therefore, what He has promised us is also true. So what truth does the Qur’an teach us? The truth of purpose, of accountability, of return to our Lord, of benefitting humanity, of cooperating with others for good, of standing up for the oppressed, and of the fact that Allah is with us and protecting us when we stand for truth, no matter what Pharoah is standing before us.

If we truly believe in the truth of the Qur’an, then we need to understand the purpose of our lives. We must work for something greater. We must take comfort in Allah’s promise when things are difficult for us.

Recognize Small Truths

The beauty of Islam is that it recognizes small truths. The Prophet ﷺ tells us, “The statement of wisdom is the lost property of the believer, so wherever he finds it then he has a right to it.” (Tirmidhi) So we shouldn’t dismiss something because it is does not seem to be, in our view, as emanating from Islam. It is actually our duty to seek the truth as an affirmation of Allah’s Truth.

Be a Seeker of Truth

Try to seek truth in all its forms. As al-Ghazali says, realizing this Name means that a person “is so absorbed in the Truth that he has no room for anything else.” Imagine if all you ever wanted from your dealings is to ascertain the truth. It doesn’t matter if the truth is for or against you, whether revealing the truth means your co-worker would get the promotion and not you. What is important to you is that you are a follower of the truth.

Salman al-Farisi, one of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, was a sincere seeker of truth. He came from a wealthy Persian family. He was even entrusted with keeping the fire that they worshipped. But one day, he heard some Christians speak about their faith. And he was astounded. He wanted to convert to their religion, so his father put him under house arrest. When he finally escaped, he accompanied a seemingly pious Christian leader. But that man turned out to be corrupt, taking people’s charity meant for the poor for himself. At that point, Salman radi allahu `anhu (may God be pleased with him) could have turned away. He could have said “What a hypocrite! What a religion! I don’t want anything to do with this!” But he didn’t. He knew that the Truth had nothing to do with the evil actions of men. He left the corrupt man, and continued seeking.

He finally found a pious Christian monk. He accompanied him and learned much from him, until that man was about to die. Salman asked him for advice concerning what he should do and whose company he should seek. So the monk told him of some of the signs of a prophet who was coming: a man who did not take charity but would accept gifts, in a place between two mountains, who had a seal on his back. So Salman (ra) set out to go to Arabia. He met some Arabs and told them he would give them money if they would take him to Arabia. But they took his money and kidnapped him in order to sell him as a slave! A Jewish man bought him, and eventually he was taken to Madina to serve one of the men from the Banu Nadheer tribe, one of the Jewish tribes of Madina. This was before the Prophet ﷺ arrived.

Imagine how you would have felt at that point. What do you think was going through his mind? ‘O God! I did all this for you, to seek the truth, and then you turn me into a slave?? I used to be a nobleman!’ But again, Salman wasn’t concerned with his hardships. He was concerned with seeking the truth. When the Prophet ﷺ arrived, Salman (ra) heard that a man who people believed to be a prophet had come. So Salman tested the Prophet (pbuh), looking for the signs he was told about. And they were all there. So Salman (ra) wept, and kissed the hands of the Prophet ﷺ, and told him his story. The Prophet ﷺ collected money from all the companions in order to buy Salman’s freedom.

For this reason, all the companions wanted to claim him. The Muhajireen (immigrants from Makkah) and the Ansar (the supporters in Madina) both said that Salman was from them. When the Prophet ﷺ heard them, he said “No. Salman is from us, the people of the house,” i.e. the family of the Prophet ﷺ. Imagine arriving at such a station, by being a seeker of the truth.

A Beautiful Du`a’ (Supplication)

اللهم أرنا الحق حقاً، وارزقنا اتباعه، وأرنا الباطل باطلاً، وارزقنا اجتنابه

Allahumma  arina al-haqqa haqqan warzuqna ittiba’ah, wa arina al-batila batilan warzuqna ijtinabah

O Allah! Show us Truth as Truth and give us ability to follow it and show us Falsehood as Falsehood and give us the ability to avoid it.

May Allah make us seekers of The Truth.