Al-Samî`: The All-Hearing

"Behold! a woman of `Imran said, `Oh my Lord! I do dedicate unto You what is in my womb for Your special service so accept this of me for You are the All-Hearing (Al-Samî` )" (3:35).

The All-Hearing is the quality of Allah's perception from which nothing audible escapes even if it is silent. The All-Hearing is conscious of an ant creeping on a huge boulder in the pitch-dark of night. It hears the praise of those who praise Allah and rewards them, hears the invocations of those who invoke Allah and answers them. The All-Hearing hears without having the usual auditory channels. The hearing of the All-Hearing is not to be compared with that hearing to which ordinary speech can gain access. This hearing is of such a nature that by it the perfection of the names and qualities of all things heard is disclosed. It is beyond our imagination, free of any change that may affect it when audible things occur and above that which is heard by the human ear or some device and instrument. Whoever does not examine this view closely will certainly fall into the snare of anthropomorphism. Therefore, we must be on our guard and watch carefully in this matter.