Ad-Darr

The Punisher

God is the creator of harmful just as He is the creator of the beneficial. The attribute of ad-Darr is usually conceived together with the attribute of an-Nafi, He Who Benefits. Sometimes these two attributes are inseparable. What is poison to one is medicine to another; what is sweet to one is bitter to another. Neither Name appears in the Quran. They are the attributes of God on the authority of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

Although God has created evil as well as good, He has taught us to choose the good and escape the evil. He has given us the faculty of discrimination, given us a will and freedom to choose. In the whole of creation, only the human being has a will. Through this will, God has separated humanity into two groups: the good doing good and being led to towards good, and the bad doing bad and being led towards evil.

God does not destroy those who have opted for evil, but keeps feeding them, letting them have time so that possibly they will repent and change.

When one is afflicted with grief, fear, sickness or poverty, know that if we have patience and turn to God, He can dispel it. When we are blessed with happiness, health or success, we should be thankful to God.

“In the Name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy.”

“Whatever good things you possess come from God, and when hardship afflicts you, it is to Him alone you cry out for help, yet when He has relieved your hardship – lo and behold – some of you attribute partners to your Lord.” Quran 16:53-54

“If God touches you (Prophet) with affliction, no one can remove it except Him, and if He touches you with good, He has power over all things: He is the Supreme Master over His creatures, the All-Wise, the All-Aware.” Quran 6:17-18

“It is He who accepts repentance from His servants and pardons bad deeds – He knows everything you do.” Quran 42:25

“If God were to grant His plentiful provision to (all) His creatures, they would act insolently on earth, but He sends relief through rain after they have lost hope, and spreads His mercy far and wide. He is the Protector, Worthy of All Praise.” Quran 42:27-28

And God knows best.

 

Extracts from:-
‘The Name and the Named’ by Shaykh Tosun Bayrak.
‘Ninety Names of the Beloved. Intimations of the Beauty and Power of the Divine’ by Camille Hamilton Adams Helminski.