Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

مَّن كَانَ يُرِيدُ ثَوَابَ ٱلدُّنْيَا فَعِندَ ٱللَّهِ ثَوَابُ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْءَاخِرَةِ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ سَمِيعًۢا بَصِيرًۭا

"Whoso desires the reward of this world, with God is the reward of this world and of the world to come; God is All-Hearing, All-Seeing." Qur'an An-Nisaa 4:134

Knowing one attribute of Allah should be sufficient to change our lives but when Allah mentions two of His Names together in His Speech, we should start feeling smaller than we already are.

We know that Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing. This should guide us towards sincerity (ikhlas) in our actions. We don't long for people to hear or see our good deeds and acts of obedience. It is sufficient that Allah hears and sees all of them because Allah is the One who can reward us. The highest reward that we can conceive is in terms of this life. But Allah can reward us not only what we can conceive but something beyond our imagination--the reward of the Hereafter.

Often, people are very careful to make sure that other people don't see or hear what sinful things they are engaging in--gossiping, looking at bad sites, cheating on their spouses, engaging in unlawful seclusion, beating their wives, stealing, drinking, or gambling, etc. They close the doors and windows so people don't see or hear their acts of disobedience. The moment they hear footsteps or they see the curtain moving (from the wind blowing it), they stop or scramble or hide, afraid getting caught. How about Allah? Are they not afraid of the One who punishes, hearing and seeing their bad acts? Allah can see even a black ant under a black stone in a pitch black night. Allah can hear even the tying of a shoelace. So, there is really no place to hide from Allah, the only One we should fear.

وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ شَدِيدُ ٱلْعِقَابِ

"....And fear Allah, and know that Allah is strict in punishment." Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:196

May Allah make us among the God-fearing. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam