The name of Allah (The All-Prevailing One)
Selections from the Book The Prophet Minister Joseph al-Siddiq…
Written by Dr. Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi...
Episode (19)
The name of Allah (The All-Prevailing One) was mentioned in the Holy Qur’an six times in which it was associated with His name (The One), including the Almighty’s saying: {[It will be] on the Day the earth will be replaced by another earth, and the heavens [as well], and they [i.e., all creatures] will come out before Allah, the One, the Prevailing} [Ibrahim: 48].. And other verses...
Al-Khattabi said: "The Dominant" is the One who subdues the tyrants among His creation with punishment and overwhelms all beings with death.
"The All-Prevailing One" is an intensified form (The omnipotent) and it refers to The One before whom everything submits and everything is humbled by His greatness and power. Nothing is beyond His control, management, and dominion. He subdues all creation with death. This helps explain, Allah knows best, the connection between His name "The One" and His name "The All-Prevailing One", as one of the implications of His name "The One" in His lordship, sovereignty, divinity, names, and attributes is that He is the prevailing, overpowering, and dominant force over everything. Nothing on Earth or in the heavens can overpower Him, and there is no creature except that He, Glory be to Him, takes hold of its forelock and carries through it wisdom in which His decree is just: {There is no creature but that He holds it by its forelock [i.e., controls it]. Indeed, my Lord is on a path [that is] straight} [Hud: 56].
The fact that Allah is (The One) necessitates that He is (The All-Prevailing One). His oneness and His domination are intertwined. The One cannot be anything other than The All-Prevailing One, and The All-Prevailing One cannot be anything other than The One. This negates any form of association or partnership in any aspect. Domination is inherent in oneness; there cannot be two equally dominant entities. The one who dominates all things is The One who has no equal, and He alone deserves to be worshipped, just as He alone dominates. This association implies a unique aspect: domination and subjugation by worldly kings is through their supporters, armies, and numbers, while Allah dominates all creation alone, independent and self-sufficient, without any aid or assistance. The combination of these two names indicates His perfection in His oneness and His perfection in His domination.
Indeed, Joseph (peace be upon him) called to the oneness of Allah by defining His beautiful names. In his call to his fellow inmates in prison, his discussion revolved around "The One" and "The All-Prevailing One)", exalted be He.
- Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi, The Prophet Minister Joseph al-Siddiq, pp. 318-319.
- Tafsir Al-Saadi, (4/308) - (4/199).
- Matching the Most Beautiful Names of Allah to the Requirement of Context, Najla Al-Kurdi, p. 492.
For further information and review of the sources for the article, see:
The Book of The Prophet Minister Joseph al-Siddiq on the official website of Sheikh Dr. Ali Muhammad al-Sallabi:
