Let us spend some time today with verses 26 and 27 from Sura aal-Imran:

Say , “O Allah, Master of the dominion, You grant dominion to whomever You will and You strip dominion from whomever you will, and You honor whomever you will and You humiliate whomever you will; in Your hand is all goodness. You are indeed All-Powerful over everything. You cause the night to penetrate the day and cause the day to penetrate the night, and you bring the living out of the dead and You bring the dead out of the living, and You provide for whomever You will without measure.”

When people cling to deities other than Allah, they should ask simple question: does this deity has dominion and command on everything? Does Jesus have command on everything? Does USA has command on everything, etc.

This verse gives a clear benchmark on what qualities to check in a deity before worshiping him. When a sensible person with unbiased intellect finishes his or her analysis, only one answer remains. These qualities are available only in One true God who is Allah.

No one has such a claim on kingship and dominion as Allah. All other worldly kings have limitations both on time and space. They are king today, but no more king after their death. They are king of a certain country or regions, but their kingdom never extends to the entire globe. They are king in this world, but only Allah is the King of this world as well as the world hereafter. Read these two verses from the Quran.

Master of the Day of Judgment. [1:4] the day when they emerge; nothing about them is hidden from Allah. “To whom does the dominion belong today?” “To Allah, the One, the Subduer.” [40:16]

In early days of Medina prophet Muhammad gave glad tidings to the growing Muslim community that Allah will soon make them inherit the lands of the two superpowers at that time: the Persians and the Romans. Jews of Medina laughed and mocked on such wishful thoughts. Only in 13 years or less a small society of believers inherited the lands of Persian and Romans. No parallel of such victory exists in past history and might not repeat in future.

Allah stripped the two superpowers at the time of Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him (i.e., Persians and Romans) and He granted their land and property to the believers. Similarly, He stripped Pharaoh from his dominion and granted that to the Children of Israel who followed the Prophet Moses.

If all goodness is only at the hands of Allah, then one should not run towards anyone else except Allah for search of goodness, dominion, and prestige.

Since Allah has control over the dominions, He gives it to whom He wills and prevents it from who He wills. The Qureish suggested that prophethood should have been given to prominent personalities from Makkah or Taif rather than to an orphan called Muhammad. Allah refuted their claim and defended His beloved Muhammad peace be upon him. Read verses 31 and 32 from Sura Zukhruf:

They also said, “If only this Quran had been sent down to any great man from the two towns”. Is it they who allocate the mercy of your Lord? It is We who have allocated their livelihood in the Earlier Life. And We elevated some of them by degrees above others, that some of them may employ one another in service. But your Lord’s mercy is better than what they hoard.

Note the specific word Allah used to indicate how he stripes (in Arabic Tanze’a) kingship from whomsoever He wants. No king would give up his kingdom easily. It is usually taken forcefully from him while he is sticking firmly to his throne. Allah drowned Pharaoh and stripped him from his dominion. Similarly, today Allah stripped USA from its hold on Afghanistan and gave it to the hand of Taliban in such a fast pace that the most expert analysts could not comprehend. This word in Arabic is used to describe the graphic scene of forcefully extraction for example a molar tooth.

One might then ask: to whom Allah gives dominion on earth? Is it purely random? Is there any criteria to win Allah’s favor and get kingdom on earth?

Quran has answers to such questions. Read verse 55 from Sura Nur, for example:

Allah has promised those of you who believe and do good that He will certainly make them successors in the land, as He did with those before them; and will surely establish for them their faith which He has chosen for them; and will indeed change their fear into security—˹provided that˺ they worship Me, associating nothing with Me. But whoever disbelieves after this ˹promise˺, it is they who will be the rebellious.

In another location (Sura al-Anfal verses 45,46), we find that the key to the dominion on earth is unity among Muslims and staying away from disputes with one another and patience:

O believers! When you face an enemy, stand firm and remember Allah often so you may triumph. Obey Allah and His Messenger and do not dispute with one another, or you would be discouraged and weakened. Persevere! Surely Allah is with those who persevere.