Quddus

   What’s in the name

     Quddus

                The word quddus comes from the base word quds (qaf-dal-seen) the word quds holds the following meanings in the dictionary

1.   To go far away in the country side

2. To be pure

3. To hollow, sanctify, consecrate

4. To declare God far removed from evil

5. To bless, to be the blessed

  
 This amazing name of Allah reveals that Allah is so infinitely far removed from our physical universe that He is literally hallow, that although He is omnipresent, everywhere, all the time, that is by virtue of His knowledge and control but as far as physical presence is concerned, He is far, far removed. The physical realm is a realm of limitations and physical urges that have to be fed, but for one to be free of obligations, necessities, laws and rules one has to be outside the system. Like the hermit who has gone to live in the jungle is free from the social constraints of the sedentary life; Allah is pure of all constraints, as He is the creator and sustainer of all systems, not a part of any system. So He is pure, in terms of all virtues, all powers, all knowledge, He is absolutely blessed and the distributer of holiness in the universe.   

          
The nonbelievers have always tend to relate God with the physical attributes that they themselves experience but Allah repeatedly says to them in the Quran

   “…pure is He of all that they attribute on to Him…” (6:100)            

     
 In fact He is so far removed and independent, He is in a kind of hollow, as compared to our physically dimensioned world (with many undiscovered dimensions yet). But in His own realms, unimaginable realms, sophisticated and ultra-high-tech realms, He might be in any form of existence as He wishes goodly for Himself.

              
 In the Quran this word comes only twice as Allah's name, that also in combination with another name:The sovereign king, the very sanctified, hallowed ;

      “… al Malik al Quddus.”                       (5:23)

     “…al Malik al Quddus.”                         (62:1)

    

The other eight sightings of this word in the Quran are: in four places the word is used to describe Gabriel, as the Rooh ul quds, twice it has come for the sacred place where Moses encountered the voice of the Lord, Wadil muqaddas i tuwwa, and once for the promised land, the Ard el muqaddasa.  And in one place, amazingly, as a verb, when the angels say to Allah;

   “…and we hallow ourselves for Thee.”             (2:30)

       
Here too, the angles mean to say that they move themselves from one realm of existence to a totally other one and keep repeating that, to hallow themselves and to experience, in a lesser scale, what there Majestic Lord experiences to absolute degrees. The same is encouraged in man, when the Prophet (PBUH) asks the mommineens to ‘cultivate the attributes of Allah in themselves’. Man can rightly ‘far remove’ himself from the filths of this life, yet be in total control, only by observing the true balance laid down by the Quran and Sunnah.

      
This word, not only, holds beautiful meanings but also has an amazing historical perspective, I believe that the words good and God have been derived from the word Quds :
 The words ‘ haMalech haKodesh’ and ‘Elohim Kedoshim’ are present in the Hebrew bible; it follows in Jewish and Christian traditions that Jesus, son of Mary, the Christ, used to call Allah by the name ‘Malech Kodesh’, frequently in his last days, also when he had to, he would quicken the dead, by Allah’s command, by calling them in the name of ‘alMalech alKodesh’. When this revered name of the AlMighty, travelled with the Christian followers from the sematic language zone into the European speakers, it changed from Kudus to Gudus, Goodes, Goods, Gods and God, also Gott in German. The same word when travelled east, became Khoda in Persia and Koodda in the subcontinent. The currency of this name proves not only that all the prophet were preaching the same Deen but also that the name might have travelled from the time of Noah, Hud or Abraham into these diverse cultures. It certainly did after Jesus and the spread of Christianity in Europe. Whereas with Noah, Hud and Abraham civilization has spread in the middle east and downwards.

          
AlMalik AlKaddoos, in combination, draw a most pleasing scene of the kingdom of a King who possesses everything, yet who is the most noblest, most hallow; not an arrogant king ready to use his power to inflict upon others, but a purely good King ready to disperse His goodness upon His subject. It gives a picture of serenity and solemnness, of the kingdom of eternity and goodly providence, as show in the words of the Quran:

 “and when you see it, you will see abundance and an amplified kingdom.” (76:20) 


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