If Allah is al-Salam, is Peace a Balance between Mercy and Trial?
Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick
Question
One of the names of Allah is al-Salam, but how can peace be the balance between mercy and tribulation? Doesn’t peace mean being completely immersed in mercy, without any trace of tribulation? Wouldn’t that be a better concept of peace? And if peace is the balance between tribulation and mercy, why be constantly careful not to harm others? Wouldn’t that make this an unbalanced treatment?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate.
Al-Salam does not mean a balance between mercy and trial. It means Allah is free from every defect. Your trials do not go against His Name, and you reflect this by avoiding harm to others.
What al-Salam Means
Allah Most High calls Himself “the King, the Most Holy, the All-Perfect” [Quran 59:23; Khattab, The Clear Quran], and “the All-Perfect” refers to al-Salam. Imam Ghazali (Allah have mercy on him) says al-Salam is the One whose essence has no defect, whose attributes have no deficiency, and whose actions are free from evil. All safety comes from Him. [Ghazali, al-Maqsad al-Asna]
Trials Hold a Greater Good
Ghazali clarifies that the evil His acts are free of is absolute evil: evil wanted for itself, with no greater good within it. No such evil exists, so every trial carries a good greater than its harm. [Ibid.]
Your Share of the Name
The servant’s share, Ghazali says, is a heart free of deceit, malice, envy, and the wish to harm, and limbs free of sin. No one deserves to be called a person of peace unless other Muslims are safe from his tongue and hand. [Ibid.] So you avoid harming others because you are reflecting this Name in your own life.
Say It After Every Prayer
After each prayer, the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) would say, “O Allah, You are al-Salam, and from You is peace. Blessed are You, Possessor of Majesty and Honor.” [Muslim] Say it with its meaning in mind, and may Allah grant you His peace.
And Allah knows best.
Shaykh Irshaad Sedick
Related Answers
One. The Home of Peace (Dar al-Salam) — Shaykh Yusuf Weltch: Paradise as the abode of true peace.
Two. The Reality of Allah’s Mercy and the Divine Wisdom Behind Suffering — Sidi Abdullah Anik Misra: The purpose behind suffering.
النصوص · Source-Texts
[الغزالي، المقصد الأسنى] «السلام: هو الذي تسلم ذاته عن العيب وصفاته عن النقص وأفعاله عن الشر حتى إذا كان كذلك لم يكن في الوجود سلامة إلا وكانت معزية إليه صادرة منه»
«وقد فهمت أن أفعاله تعالى سالمة عن الشر أعني الشر المطلق المراد لذاته لا لخير حاصل في ضمنه أعظم منه وليس في الوجود شر بهذه الصفة»
«كل عبد سلم عن الغش والحقد والحسد وإرادة الشر قلبه وسلمت عن الآثام والمحظورات جوارحه … فهو الذي يأتي الله تعالى بقلب سليم»
«ولن يوصف بالسلام والإسلام إلا من سلم المسلمون من لسانه ويده»
[مسلم] «اللهم أنت السلام ومنك السلام، تباركت يا ذا الجلال والإكرام»
Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar Shaykh Taha Karaan. Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Mawlana Yusuf Karaan, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others. He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has served as the Director of the Discover Islam Centre and Al Jeem Foundation. For the last five years till present, he has served as the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town. Shaykh Irshaad has thirteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town. He is currently building an Islamic online learning and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy living and fitness.
