Al-Ghaniyy
The Self Sufficient, the Rich One
Exalted and Glorious
And Lord is Rich (Self-Sufficient), full of Mercy; if He wills, He can destroy you, and in your place make whom He wills as your successors. (6:133)
They say: “Allah has begotten a son!” Glory is to Him! He is Rich (Free of all needs)! His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. (10:68)
Oh mankind! It is you who stand in need of Allah. But Allah is Rich. Worthy of all praise. (35:15)
This attribute of Allah expresses the superiority of the Almighty over the necessities and requirements of mankind. Man needs Allah and depends on Him all his life.
He who repeats this name will be contented and will not be envious. If the ones who are in material need recite this name 1060 times on Saturdays, they will not need help of others.
Al-Ghaniyy is the All-Rich. He Who does not dispute about anything is the Rich One above all else to Whom all who are needy come running. If you know that Allah is the only All-Rich, then do not ask of any other than He.
Allah Allah Allah
From: The Meanings of the Names of Our Lord by Shaykh Muhammad Sa’id al-Jamal ar-Rifa’i Head of the Higher Sufi Council in Jerusalem and the Holy Land Teacher at the Dome of the Rock (al-Aqsa)
AL-GHANI
Allah is the Rich One who is sufficient unto Himself. His essence and attributes have no relationship to anything else. Someone whose existence and perfection depend on other needs to earn that existence from the other. Only Allah has no needs and does not earn. His riches are independent of others, yet all else is dependent on Him.
Allah says in Surah Muhammad (38):
Allah is the Rich and you are the poor.
Some people who see themselves as superior to the rest of creation fall into the pitiable state of arrogance and conceit. They cannot see and be thankful for the honor of being created as the supreme creation and for being given the function of being Allah’s khalifah, His deputy in the universe.
True human supremacy depends on being thankful and humble, serving Allah’s servants and that which Allah has placed in our charge. The arrogant, by contrast, push their conceit to the point of denying their Creator, their Lord. In their arrogance, they cannot accept to be servants of Allah. Yet they see nothing wrong with being slaves to each other!
Such people cannot see that even to live they need Allah’s air, water, and food; as food for their souls, they need worship. In fact, in all creation, there are no creatures whose needs are greater than ours. Nothing but Allah is rich enough to satisfy all those needs. If Allah has sent His books and His prophets and established religions to teach us what to do and what not to do, it is not for His need, it is for ours- to enable us to exist in this world and in the Hereafter as we were meant to exist. Even the scientists, sociologists, and economists of today say that the prescriptions, canons, and religious laws of Allah lead people to the best of physical, moral and economic existence. Indeed, all that Allah has created and ordered is beneficent.
To be a servant of Allah is the highest level to which a human being can aspire. When we praise our Prophet, the Beloved of Allah (pbuh), we say ‘abduhu wa rasuluhu, His servant and His messenger. The good servant of Allah knows that Allah does not need a servant, nor does He need to be served. He needs nothing. He also knows that his own duty is to serve Allah’s servants and Allah’s creation, including himself. Though in reality Allah has no need of servants to serve His servants, for as the Satisfier of needs, He Himself serves them. He honors whomever He chooses to appear as a means, as a tool of His service to His servants.
In reality, the good servant serves only himself in serving Allah. He obtains the greatest of gifts, coming close to Allah in knowing Him, in finding Him, and in being with Him. Service and faithfulness (the quality of being a mu’min, faithful) become a common denominator, a common name and attribute, and thus are the only means for servants to know their Lord. When Allah addresses us in His Qur’an as “O you who believe,” or “O you faithful,” He calls upon us with His own attributes, with His own Name, al-Mu’min, on of his 99 beautiful Names.
Faith is a treasure from the treasury of Allah. The faithful person is the richest among people, for such a one knows that there is no need of anything from anyone else except from Allah, the only true Rich One.
‘Abd al-Ghani is the rich one who is provided with the satisfaction of all needs without having to ask from Allah. This servant performs all the duties of servantship not in order to receive benefits from Allah, but only because they have been ordered by Allah.
If the ones who are in material need recite this Name 1060 times on Saturdays, they will not need the help of others, for Allah will satisfy their need from most unexpected places.
From: The Name & the Named by Shaykh Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi al-Halveti