Surah Al-An'am, Ayah 18

Allah is the Irresistible, Able to Bring Benefit and Protect from Harm

Allah states that He Alone brings benefit or harm, and that He does what He wills with His creatures, none can resist His judgment or prevent what He decrees,

وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ اللَّهُ بِضُرٍّ فَلاَ كَـشِفَ لَهُ إِلاَّ هُوَ وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ بِخَيْرٍ فَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدُيرٌ

(And if Allah touches you with harm, none can remove it but He, and if He touches you with good, then He is able to do all things.) Similarly, Allah said,

مَّا يَفْتَحِ اللَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ مِن رَّحْمَةٍ فَلاَ مُمْسِكَ لَهَا وَمَا يُمْسِكْ فَلاَ مُرْسِلَ لَهُ مِن بَعْدِهِ

(Whatever mercy, Allah may grant to mankind, none can withhold it, and whatever He may withhold, none can grant it thereafter) 35:2. It is recorded in the Sahih that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to supplicate,

At the end of verse 18, it was said: وَهُوَ الْقَاهِرُ‌ فَوْقَ عِبَادِهِ ۚ وَهُوَ الْحَكِيمُ الْخَبِيرُ‌ ﴿18﴾ (And He is dominant over His slaves, and He is the Ali-Wise, the All-Aware). It means that the mastery of Allah Ta` ala prevails over His servants in the absolute sense and that everyone remains under His power and control all the time. This is the reason why no human being, no matter how great, whether a prophet close to Allah, or the most powerful ruler of the world, nine of them come out successful in everything they do, nor is every wish of theirs granted.

And then, He is Wise too, for everything He does is essential Wisdom. And then, He is All-Aware too, for He is the One who knows everything. Thus, by the word, al-Qahir (the Dominant) pointed to is the perfect power of Allah Ta` ala and, by the word, al-Hakim (the All-Wise), His all-encompassing knowledge - and the two tell us that perfection in knowledge and power are the sole attributes of Almighty Allah and it is only Him that they belong to.

The different parts of the vast universe spread out before us are so interconnected that for an event to occur, the coordination of the whole universe is necessary. This being so, no human being is capable of causing any event to occur, because no human being is in control of the universe. Here, even a small event takes place only when countless universal factors combine to set it in motion, and God alone is the controller of these factors. Amidst these universal factors, man is only the possessor of a will. The fact is that in this world whether one receives blessings or afflictions, both conditions come about by the direct orders of God. In view of this, it is utter foolishness for a man to think that he can save one or destroy another. It is also quite meaningless for a man to fear or build his hopes on anybody except God.