Category Archives: The Quranic Concept of Rabb

>Rabb – part 1

>The root letters of the word rabb are R-B-B. Verse 17/24 provides an undisputed meaning for its derivatives:

17/24:And lower for (your parents) the wing of humility through mercy, and say: “My Rabb, have mercy upon them as they have (RaBBayani)nourished me/developed me/brought me up when I was small.

It gives the meaning of developing/nourishing/bringing up, as in the role of parenting a child.

Rabbil Aalameen

The word Allah/God by itself does not convey any meaning. God-hood can only be understood by the Divine attributes in the Quran. ‘Rabbil Aalameen’ is the Divine Attribute mentioned right in the beginning:

1/1: Praise be to Allah, Rabbil Aalameen,

The root Ayn-Lam-Meem gives the meanings >>> to mark/flag, by means of which one knows or distinguishes one from another.

Al-aalam can refer to a realm, in which something particular/distinct prevails, or a distinct/special area/field of activity. Al-aalameen explained:

26/24: Pharaoh said: And what is the Developer of Al-aalameen/the Realms?
26/25: (Moses) said: Developer of the Heavens and the Earth and what is between them both, if ye had but certainty;
26/26: (Pharaoh) said unto those around him: Hear ye not?
26/27: (Moses) said: Your Developer and the Developer of your ancestors.
26/28: (Pharaoh) said: Lo! your rasool who hath been sent unto you is a madman indeed!
26/29: (Moses) said: Developer of the East and the West and all that is between them, if ye did but sense.

Allah is the Rabb/Developer of all realms of existence, all areas of activities whether individual or social, religious or political. His rabubiat cannot be confined to a specific sphere. It cannot be confined to the heavens or the earth, past or present, east or west.

The verses below further explain Allah’s “parenting role as the rabbil aalameen:

26/77: Lo! they(those that you give your ibadah/service to besides Allah) are (all) an enemy unto me, save the Rabbil Aalameen/Developer of the Realms,
26/78: Who created me, and He guides me,
26/79 And Who feeds me and waters me.
26/80: And when I sicken, then He heals me,
26/81: And Who causes me to die, then gives me life (again),
26/82: And Who, I ardently hope, will forgive me my mistakes on the Yaumaddeen.


Fahad