Al-Maani’ (The Preventer)

Allah All-Mighty is the Preventer and With-Holder of whatever Allah Ta’aala wants to prevent. The Prophet (Allah’s Peace and Blessings be upon him), after obligatory salaat (prayer), used to say the followings:

لا إله إلا الله وحده لا شريك له, له الملك وله الحمد و هو على كل شىئ قدير. اللهم لا مانع لما أعطيت ولا معطي لما منعت , ولا ينفع ذا الجد منك الجدُ.

(Saheeh Al-Bukhaari and Muslim)

The meaning of the above du’aa is:

“There is no God except Allah, HE is One (God), there is no partner with HIM, to HIM belongs the kingdom and HIS are the praises, and HE has power over all things”.

“O Allah, what YOU give, no one can prevent it and what YOU withhold, no one can give it, and near YOU no one can be benefited by his wealth.”

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So no matter how much wealth or high status a person has but near Allah it will be of no benefit. He is benefited only by the faith of Islam and righteous deeds.

Allah said in the surah Faatir verse 2:

2. Whatever of mercy (i.e. of good), Allah grants to mankind, none can withhold it, and whatever He withholds, none can grant it thereafter. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.

Another translation of the same verse is:

(35:2) Whatever Mercy Allah accords to people, none can withhold; and whatever He withholds, no other will be able to release after Him.⁴ He is Most Mighty, Most Wise.⁵
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Exp. notes 4 and 5:
Exp. note 4:

4. This is also meant to remove the misunderstanding of the polytheists, who believed that from among the servants of Allah, someone gave them the provision, someone the children and someone health to their patients. All these superstitions of shirk are baseless, and the pure truth is just that whatever of mercy reaches the people, reaches to them only through Allah All-Mighty’s bounty and grace. No one else has the power either to bestow it or to withhold it. This theme has been expressed at many places in the Quran and the Ahadith in different ways so that man may avoid the humiliation of begging at every door and at every shrine and may realize that making or marring of his destiny is in the power of One Allah alone and of none else.

Exp. note 5:

5. “He is the All-Mighty”: He is dominant and the owner of Sovereignty: none can stop His judgments from being enforced. Also “He is All-Wise”: every act of His is based on wisdom. When He gives somebody something He gives because it is demanded by wisdom, and when He withholds something from somebody, He withholds it because it would be against wisdom to give it.
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Thus nothing can happen without the will of Allah Azza wa Jall. A single leaf in a tree cannot move. The breath of a person will stop if Allah All-Mighty withholds it from happening. A person will not be able to move a single step. So we must be very humble and obedient to Allah as well as very thankful to HIM for our life and actions etc.

Al-Maani’ also means Al-Mudaafi’. 

See the verse 251 (translation) of the surah Al-Baqarah:

(2:251) Thereupon by Allah’s leave they put the unbelievers to flight, and David killed Goliath,²⁷³ and Allah granted him dominion and wisdom, and imparted to him the knowledge of whatever He willed.And were it not that Allah repelled some people with another, the earth would surely be overlaid with mischief.²⁷⁴ But Allah is Bounteous to the people of the world (and thus extirpates mischief).
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Thus Allah stops / prevents the mischief of the evil people from the good ones. If Allah Azza wa Jall didn’t allow the good people to fight against the mischief makers and repel them then the whole land would be filled up with mischief and killing (like it is happening now because the mischief makers are left free to do whatever they want. This is due to the disobedience of the powerful Muslims to their Lord Allah Ta’aala!!).

Again, all of the heavenly bodies in the universe are held within their orbits only by the All-Mighty Allah. Allah Azza wa Jall is preventing them from collision. So Allah said in the surah Yaseen verse 40:

40. It is not permitted to the Sun to catch up the Moon, nor can the Night outstrip the Day: Each (just) swims along in (its own) orbit (according to Law).

Thus by the Grace of Allah we all live in comfort because all of the stars and planets etc. rotate in their orbits. If Allah didn’t withhold them then collision between the heavenly bodies (Sun, Moon, stars, planets etc.) would happen resulting in killer catastrophe. So we all must be very thankful to Allah Azza wa Jall and we must worship and obey Allah for our prosperity in both of the worlds.

Al-Mu’tee means the giver of all blessings and necessities of life to all mankind and all of the other creatures. Al-Jawaad means the Generous One. Allah is Our Lord Who gives us every good generously. Allah has these Attributes. In the old lists of Allah’s beautiful names, Al-Mu’tee comes before Al-Maani’. Similarly, Al-Mun’im (the Bestower of blessings) comes before Al-Muntaqim (The Avenger) and the name Al-Rabb (Ar-Rabb) comes before Al-Muqsit (The Just One). These names are missing in the new lists of the beautiful names.

The two names (Al-Mu’tee and Al-Jawaad) came in the hadeeth shareef.

In a Hadeeth shareef reported in Saheeh Al-Bukhaari, narrated by Mu-aawia rAa. It says that Allah’s Messenger salla Allaho Alaihi wa sallam said:

“For whomever Allah intends Kher (good), HE gives him understanding in Deen (Islam). Allah is Al-Mu’tee and I am Al-Qaasam, and this Ummah will always be dominant on the opponents until the Command of Allah comes and they will be victorious.”

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Another hadeeth narrated by Aanis bin Maalik rAa says: Allah’s Messenger salla Allaho alaihi wa sallam said;

“Surely Allah Azza Wa Jall is Jawaadun-Kareem, feels shy from the Muslim servant that he extends his hand to HIM (Allah Azza wa Jall), then he takes his hands back before HE (Allah Azza wa Jall) puts in them what he asked for.”

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According to a hadeeth, Surely Allah is Jawaad and likes al-jood from HIS servants (generosity). Full hadeeth can be seen in fadaa-il Quraan. It is narrated by Abu Obaid.

According to this Hadeeth Allah wants from HIS servants generosity and good behavior with each other.

Allah is the Unique One in Giving all good, blessings and all necessities of life to everyone. If Allah Azza wa Jall gives then none can stop it, but in case Allah prevents then none can give to whom Allah stops or prevents. Allah’s giving and preventing is only by words i.e. a Command. As Allah said in surah Yaseen verse 82 (English translation only):

82. Verily, His Command, when He intends a thing, is only that He says to it, “Be!” and it is!
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All of the blessings that all mankind have are from Allah’s kindness. Allah’s Kindness, generosity and providing is so vast that in this world all kind of people, believers and unbelievers, righteous or evil people, all are provided whatever they need and want. But in the next world the rule is different. There all good, blessings and mercy shall be only for the practicing believers. Allah Azza wa Jall said in surah Bani Isra’eel (Al-Israa) verses 20 and 21:

20. Of the bounties of thy Lord We bestow freely on all- These as well as those: The bounties of thy Lord are not closed (to anyone).

    
    21. See how We have bestowed more on some than on others; but verily the Hereafter is more in rank and gradation and more in excellence.
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Again here in verse 21 of the surah Al-Israa the statement is about the mo’mineen and muttaqeen. Now see the following verses:

Surah Al-A’raaf verse 32 (translation only):

32. Say, “Who has forbidden the adornment of Allah which He has produced for His servants and the good [lawful] things of provision?” Say, “They are for those who believe during the worldly life [but] exclusively for them on the Day of Resurrection.” Thus do We detail the verses for a people who know.

Surah Al-A’raaf verse 50:

50. And the dwellers of the Fire will call to the dwellers of Paradise: “Pour on us some water or anything that Allah has provided you for your sustenance.” They will say: “Both (water and provision) Allah has forbidden to the disbelievers.”
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Ibn Al-Qayyim rahmatullah alaihi mentioned the wonderful Qualities of Allah that Allah is Ajwadul-Ajwadeen, Akramul-Akrameen, Arhamur-Raahimeen, that HIS Mercy precedes HIS Anger, HIS Forbearance precedes HIS Punishment, HIS Forgiving precedes HIS seizing of the sinners, HE bestowed HIS blessings on HIS creation and decreed on HIMSELF Mercy as Allah Ta’ala said in Surah Al-An’aam verse 54:

54. And when those come to you who believe in Our verses, say, “Peace be upon you. Your Lord has decreed upon Himself mercy: that any of you who does wrong out of ignorance and then repents after that and corrects himself – indeed, He is Forgiving and Merciful.”
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Allah’s beautiful and excellent qualities cannot be written as those are numerous. Also Allah the Akramul-Akrameen wants us to pray and supplicate to HIM and ask our necessities, blessings from HIM. In a hadeeth in Saheeh Al-Bukhaari, Altir-midhee and Al-Imaam Ahmad, the Prophet (Allah’s Peace and Blessings be upon him) salla Allaho alaihi wa sallam said:

““من لم يسأل الله يغضب عليه

“Anyone who doesn’t supplicate to Allah, Allah becomes angry with him”.

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See: Allah’s ruling is such that for one sinful deed there is equal punishment while for one righteous deed the reward is ten times.

Thus we see the Kind qualities of Allah. So we must stay steadfast on the Straight Path so that we stay away from inviting the Anger of Allah Azza wa Jall upon us.