Al-Hafizh
The Protector
Exalted and Glorious
Allah is the best Protector, and He is the most Merciful of those who show mercy. (12:64)
Verily, We, it is We Who have sent down the Qur’an and surely, We will Guard it (from corruption). (15:9)
This name is another attribute which means the Protector. All creatures are protected by Allah in many ways that they do not even know. Allah is also the Guardian of the Holy Qur’an. The Holy Qur’an is the Word of Allah and He preserves it. None can do harm to it, or discredit it by his ridiculous taunts and objections.
By repeating this name of Allah, and wearing it written on something you are wearing, calamities are kept away.
This is Hafidh. The letter ‘a’ is alif in Arabic and this means He is al-Hafidh Who is the Protector of al-Qur’an. This name is different from al-Hafidh, meaning the Lord Preserver of and above all the worlds, which was mentioned earlier, in which the letter ‘a’ in Hafizh is a vowel in Arabic.
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-HAFIZ
He is the one who remembers all that was and all that is, keeping in His divine protection all that will be.
He is aware of, remembers, and keeps in His memory all that you do, or say, or think at all times. He preserves all: nothing is lost. In His preservation, there is also protection.
He protects His creation from all harm and disharmony. That is how all the heavenly bodies speeding in great haste revolve and travel within their destined orbits, instead of clashing with each other. As a manifestation of His name al-Hafiz, He has placed in each of His creations an instinct for survival. He protects us by teaching that which is bad for us is unlawful. Lawful food, aged and spoiled, becomes unlawful. Lawful bread, burnt and carbonized, becomes unlawful. They have turned into poison.
So the poisons of alcohol, adultery, gambling and gossip are unlawful, and arrogance, hypocrisy, envy, and ignorance are poisons to one’s spiritual being. As a blessing of al-Hafiz, the Protector, Allah has sent His prophets, His books, His teachers, to teach wisdom, intelligence, the divine law to protect man from material and spiritual harm. But those who are heedless of Allah, His prophets, and His books, who disbelieve and revolt, they are thankless. With their own small will they turn away from the protection and preservation of Allah. So Allah does not treat them with His attribute of al-Hafiz, but with His attribute of ar-Raqib, the Watcher who responds according to each action.
Use Allah’s means of preservation and protection which He has bestowed upon you. Protect yourself from evil, from revolt, from sin; help and protect others; remember and preserve Allah’s words in His Holy Qur’an, His sacred law, and the words of His prophets, and help others to do the same.
‘Abd al-Hafiz is protected in all his states, actions, and words, outwardly and inwardly, by Allah the Protector. The protection of Allah over him is so strong that the ones who are close to him, who are around him, who know or touch him are also protected. It is said that the friends and acquaintances of Hadrat Abu Sulayman Darani (pbuh) who stayed in his company for thirty years never suffered adversity, nor did a bad thought ever come to their minds, nor a negative feeling come to their hearts during that time.
It is believed that if one wears around one’s neck the written Name ya Hafiz and remembers to recite it at least 10 times a day, one will be safe from any kind of hostility, even from wild animals and jinn.
From: The Name & the Named by Shaykh Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi al-Halveti