Al-Majid · The Glorious

In the well-known list of names transmitted by al-Tirmidhi, Al-Majid stands right after Al-Wajid, the One who finds and possesses everything He wills and lacks nothing. The pairing tells a story: He has everything, and He is noble with it. Many rich people are tight-fisted; human glory often grows proud and stingy. His glory shows itself in giving.

Al-Majid shares a root with Al-Majeed, and both speak of majd, glory with abundance. Scholars such as al-Ghazali note that their meanings are very close and that Al-Majeed, the Quranic form, is the more emphatic. Where Al-Majeed speaks of the fullness of His glory, Al-Majid speaks of that glory at work: the noble Host who acts gloriously, honouring guests with more than they knew to ask for.

His nobility needs nothing from anyone. Our praise does not raise Him and our neglect does not lower Him. In a hadith qudsi He says that if every human and jinn from first to last were as pious as the most pious heart, it would add nothing to His kingdom, and if they were as wicked as the most wicked heart, it would take nothing from it (Sahih Muslim). He is glorious whether or not we notice, and still He turns to us with gifts.

The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah's right hand is full; spending night and day does not diminish it. Look at all He has spent since He created the heavens and the earth, and it has not lessened what is in His hand (Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim). Every sunrise, every harvest, every heartbeat is spent from a treasury that does not go down.

In the same hadith qudsi in Sahih Muslim, He says that if all of creation stood in one place and asked Him, and He gave each one what they asked, it would take from what He has no more than a needle takes from the sea when dipped into it. That is majd in action.

Compare it with everything else you rely on. Whatever you have will run out, and what is with Allah remains (16:96). Your savings, your energy and your helpers all have limits. Al-Majid's generosity has no bottom.

Some people ask Allah timidly, as if worried about overdrawing an account. Asking small out of fear that He will run short treats the noble Host like a struggling shop. Ask for this world and the next, for yourself and for others; it costs Him nothing.

Trust Him with the feeling that there is not enough to go round: not enough jobs, not enough rizq, not enough blessing for both you and your neighbour. What one person receives from Al-Majid is never taken from another. Let that free you from envy and from hoarding, and give as someone who knows the source does not run dry.

You are filling in a dua list before Umrah and notice you have crossed out half the requests because they felt greedy. You are asking Al-Majid, whose hand is full and whose giving never lessens it. Write them all back in, and add the ones you were too shy to write.

We admire people who are great, and we love people who are generous; when someone is both, and gives to us in honour rather than pity, the heart is won. Al-Majid is glorious beyond measure, and He gives to you as an honoured guest, again and again, with treasure that never shrinks.