The All-Encompassing and The All-Wise (ٱلْوَاسِعُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ)       

    The Qur’an continually calls us to reflect upon Allah’s Names and Attributes and to recognise His perfect actions and creation. Knowing Allah through His beautiful Names and Attributes strengthens our connection with Him and deepens our faith. Allah says, “And to Allah belong the Most Beautiful Names, so call upon Him by them.” [Al-A‘raf: 180] Therefore, learning about Allah’s Names is not merely about knowing their meanings; it is a way of knowing our Lord, remembering Him, and turning to Him through His beautiful Names. In this article, we shall explore the meanings and reflections of the Names of Allah: The All-Encompassing and The All-Wise (ٱلْوَاسِعُ ٱلْحَكِيمُ).

 

The All-Encompassing ٱلْوَاسِعُ

This noble Name is mentioned in the Qur’an in nine verses, including:

Allah says:

“So wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah. Indeed, Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing.”

(فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ إِن اللَّهَ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ) [Al-Baqarah: 115].

The Name of Allah, The All-Encompassing, is not limited to a particular attribute, such as knowledge, wealth, or mercy; rather, it encompasses all the attributes of perfection. He is the Generous One, abundantly rich and vast in giving, whose generosity, bounty, and provision encompass all His creation. “And My mercy encompasses all things.” He generously expands the provision and livelihood of His servants out of His bounty and grace. He is the One who encompasses all things and whose knowledge encompasses everything. Shaykh Al-Sa‘di, may Allah have mercy on him, says: ”The All-Encompassing in His attributes, descriptions, and all that relates to them, such that no one can fully enumerate His praises; rather, He is as He has praised Himself. He is All-Encompassing in greatness, authority, and dominion, All-Encompassing in bounty and benevolence, and Magnificent in generosity and munificence.” 

     He is the One who is Self-Sufficient, whose richness encompasses the needs of His servants and whose provision encompasses all His creation. In the language of the Arabs, “wus‘ah” means richness and abundance. It is said, “Allah gives out of abundance,” meaning that He gives out of His richness. The vastness of Allah’s knowledge, mercy, forgiveness, creation, and divine law reflects the boundless perfection of His Name, The All-Encompassing. His knowledge encompasses all things, His mercy and forgiveness are vast, and His creation and works reveal the greatness of His power. Likewise, His divine law encompasses what is best for His servants, and there are no limits to this perfect attribute. 

     Allah says in Surah Ghafir, Ayah 7:

“Our Lord, You have encompassed all things in mercy and knowledge, so forgive those who have repented and followed Your way, and protect them from the punishment of Hellfire.”

(رَبَّنَا وَسِعْتَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ رَحْمَةً وَعِلْمًا فَاغْفِرْ لِلَّذِينَ تَابُوا وَاتَّبَعُوا سَبِيلَكَ وَقِهِمْ عَذَابَ الْجَحِيمِ)

The All-Wise (ٱلْحَكِيمُ)  

Al-Hakim (The All-Wise) is one of the Beautiful Names of Allah. Allah says:

“It is He who forms you in the wombs however He wills. There is no deity except Him, the Almighty, the All-Wise.”
(هُوَ الَّذِي يُصَوِّرُكُمْ فِي الْأَرْحَامِ كَيْفَ يَشَاءُ ۚ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ)
[Aal-Imran: 6]

Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said in his book Madarij al-Salikin:

“Al-Hakim is one of His Beautiful Names, and wisdom is one of His exalted attributes. The Shariah that comes from His command is founded upon wisdom, and the Messenger sent with it was sent with the Book and wisdom. Wisdom is the Sunnah of the Messenger, and it encompasses knowledge of the truth, acting upon it, conveying it, and commanding it. All of this is called wisdom.

Just as nothing that Allah decrees falls outside His knowledge, power, and will, nothing falls outside His wisdom and praise. He is worthy of praise for all that exists in the universe, whether good or evil, with praise that He deserves by His very essence and from which His creation and command originate. The source of all of this is wisdom.”

    The Name Al-Hakim (The All-Wise) is mentioned ninety-four times in the Qur’an. He is The All-Wise in His actions and words; in His wisdom and justice, He places everything in its proper place. When a Muslim knows his Lord through His Name The All-Wise, he should be certain that everything in the universe is planned according to His wisdom, Glorified and Exalted is He. Nothing exists except that Allah has perfected it and created it with perfection and precision. He did not create the universe in vain; rather, none of His actions are without wisdom, whether that wisdom is apparent to a person or hidden from him.