The Almighty has said,

“... as for the next abode, that most surely is the (real) life, had they only known!” (Qur’an, 29:64).

He has also said,

“And rely on the ever-Living Who never dies” (Qur’an, 25:58).

Life is the antithesis of death. Allah (SwT) brings life back to a”dead” land: He causes vegetation to grow in it; He brings it life through rain. When we discuss it as an Attribute of the Almighty, it means that He is the ever-Living Who is self-Sustaining since time immemorial and will continue to be so forever.

Every living being besides Him is not alive on its own; it does not by itself sustain its life; rather, its life is sustained by al-Hayy. Al-Hayy never dies. The Holy Qur’an states the following in Surah al-Zumar:

“Surely you shall die, and so shall they” (Qur’an, 39:30).

Al-Hayy is the Doer, the Aware; any deed without an origin or awareness is dead. The least degrees of awareness is awareness of one’s own self. Anything which is not aware by itself is a dead inanimate object. Allah (SwT) is the Absolute Living One, and everyone and everything that live besides Him is alive according to the extent of its awareness.

Anas ibn Malik1 has said, “I was once sitting with the Messenger of Allah (S) in our circle when a man was still performing his prayers.

After having bowed down, prostrated and made the tashahHud (‘a), he supplicated to his Lord saying, ‘Lord! I plead to You by the very fact that to You is all Praise due; there is no god but You; You are the One Who gives without reminding the takers, Who created the heavens and the earth; O You Who has all the Honour and all the Glory! O ever-Living One, O Sustainer! I plead to You...’ whereupon the Prophet said, ‘He surely has invoked Allah (SwT) by His Greatest Attribute: He answers favorably when He is asked thereby, and He gives when invoked.’”

Al-Mumeet causes your heart to die when you fail to remember Him, and your soul to die when you continuously permit yourself to slip away from His right path, practicing no self-control, and your mind to die when you permit your desires to take control of yourself. Al-Muhyi brings life to the hearts of those who know and who willingly submit to Him, while al-Mumeet causes the [spiritual] death of those who go against His will.

• 1. Anas ibn Malik ibn Nadar al-Khazraji Al-Ansari أنس بن مالك بن النضر الخزرجي الأنصاري (born c.612 and died 709 or 712 A.D.) was a well-known sahabi (companion) of Prophet Muhammad. He is said as having been born around the year 612 and died in 709, but some sources provide his date of birth as 606 and of his death as 714 A.D. He was an Ansar of the Banu Khazraj, and he is not to be confused with Malik ibn Anas, the last of the Companions of the Prophet who died in Basra in 93 A.H. at the age of 103. P. 177, Vol. 1, of Ibn al-Athir’s encyclopedia titled Usd al-Ghaba, his name is given as Anas ibn Malik ibn al-Nadar ibn Damdam ibn Zayd ibn Haram ibn Jundab ibn ‘Amir ibn Ghanm ibn Adiy ibn al-Najjar ibn Tha’labah ibn Amr ibn al-Khazraj ibn Harithah al-Ansari al-Khazraji al-Najjari, of Banu Adiy ibn al-Najjar. He is described in this reference as a servant of the Messenger of Allah, and he used to be proud of it. In his childhood, he used to meet with the mother of Abdul-Muttalib, Prophet Muhammad’s grandmother, namely Salma daughter of Amr ibn Zayd ibn Asad ibn Khadash ibn Amir. His kunya was”Abu Hamzah”; he was given this kunya by the Prophet. His mother was Umm Sulaym daughter of Milhan. When the Prophet made his migration to Medina in 622 A.D., Anas was ten years old. This puts his date of birth in 612 A.D. as stated above. He served the Messenger of Allah for ten years and narrated a number of ahadith.