It is a known fact that every language has one or
more terms that are used in reference to God and sometimes to lesser deities.
This is not the case with Allah. Allah is the personal name of the One true
God. Nothing else can be called Allah. The term has no plural or gender. This
shows its uniqueness when compared with the word god which can be made plural,
gods, or feminine, goddess. It is interesting to notice that Allah is the
personal name of God in Aramaic, the language of Jesus and a sister language of
Arabic. The One true God is a reflection of the unique concept that Islam
associates with God. To a Muslim, Allah is the Almighty, Creator and Sustainer
of the universe, Who is similar to nothing and nothing is comparable to Him.
The Prophet Muhammad was asked by his contemporaries about Allah; the answer
came directly from God Himself in the form of a short chapter of the Quran, islami
which is considered the essence of the unity or the motto of monotheism. This
is chapter 112 which reads:"In the name of God, the Merciful, the
Compassionate. Say (O Muhammad) He is God the One God, the Everlasting Refuge,
who has not begotten, nor has been begotten,
and equal to Him is not anyone.""
Some non Muslims allege that God in Islam is a
stern and cruel God who demands to be obeyed fully. He is not loving and kind.
Nothing can be farther from truth than this allegation. It is enough to know
that, with the exception of one, each of the 114 chapters of the Quran begins
with the verse: ""In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.""
In one of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) we are told that
""God is more loving and kinder than a mother to her dear
child."" But God is also Just. Hence evildoers and sinners must have
their share of punishment and the virtuous, His bounties and favors. Actually
God's attribute of Mercy has full manifestation in His attribute of Justice.
People suffering throughout their lives for His sake and people oppressing and
exploiting other people all their lives should not receive similar treatment
from their Lord. Expecting similar treatment for them will amount to negating
the very belief in the accountability of man in the Hereafter and thereby
negating all the incentives for a moral and virtuous life in this world. The
following Quranic verses are very clear and straightforward in this
respect:"Verily, for the Righteous are gardens of Delight, in the Presence
of their Lord. Shall We then treat the people of Faith like the people of Sin?
What is the matter with you? How judge you?"" (68:34-36)
Islam rejects characterizing God in any human
form or depicting Him as favoring certain individuals or nations on the basis
of wealth, power or race. He created the human beings as equals. They may
distinguish themselves and get His favor through virtue and piety only. The
concept that God rested in the seventh day of creation, that God wrestled with one of
His soldiers, that God is an envious plotter against mankind, or that God is incarnate
in any human being are considered blasphemy from the Islamic point of view. The
unique usage of Allah as a personal name of God is a reflection of Islam's
emphasis on the purity of the belief in God which is the essence of the message
of all God's messengers. Because of this, Islam considers associating any deity
or personality with God as a deadly sin which God will never forgive, despite
the fact He may forgive all other sins.
The Creator must be of a different nature from
the things created because if he is of the same nature as they are, he will be
temporal and will therefore need a maker. It follows that nothing is like Him.
If the maker is not temporal, then he must be eternal. But if he is eternal, he
cannot be caused, and if nothing outside him causes him to continue to exist,
which means that he must be Self-Sufficient. And if He does not depend on
anything for the continuance of His own existence, then this existence can have
no end. The Creator is therefore eternal and everlasting: 'He is the First and
the Last.' He is Self-Sufficient or Self-Subsistent or, to use a Quranic term,
Al-Qayyum. The Creator does not create only in the sense of bringing things
into being, He also preserves them and takes them islami
blogout of existence and is the
ultimate cause of whatever happens to them."God is the Creator of
everything. He is the guardian over everything. Unto Him belong the keys of the
heavens and the earth."" (39:62, 63) ""No creature is there
crawling on the earth, but its provision rests on God. He knows its lodging
place and its repository."" (11:6)
God's Attributes
If the Creator is Eternal and Everlasting, then
His attributes must also be eternal and everlasting. He should not lose any of
His attributes nor acquire new ones. If this is so, then His attributes are
absolute. Can there be more than one Creator with such absolute attributes? Can
there be for example, two absolutely powerful Creators? A moment's thought
shows that this is not feasible. The Quran summarizes this argument in the following
verses:"God has not taken to Himself any son, nor is there any god with
Him: For then each god would have taken of that which he created and some of
them would have risen up over others."" (23:91)
And Why, were there gods in earth and heaven
other than God, they (heaven and earth) would surely go to ruin.""
(21:22)
The Oneness of God
The Quran reminds us of the falsity of all
alleged gods. To the worshippers of man-made objects, it asks:"Do you
worship what you have carved yourself?"" (37:95) ""Or have
you taken unto you others beside Him to be your protectors, even such as have
no power either for good or for harm to themselves?"" (13:16)
To the
worshippers of heavenly bodies it cites the story of Abraham:"When night
outspread over him he say a star and said, 'This is my Lord.' But when it set
he said, 'I love not the setters.' When he saw the moon rising, he said, 'This
is my Lord.' But when it set he said, 'If my Lord does not guide me I shall
surely be of the people gone astray.' When he say the sun rising, he said,
'This is my Lord; this is greater.' But when it set he said, 'O my people,
surely I quit that which you associate, I have turned my face to Him Who
originated the heavens and the earth; a man of pure faith, I am not of the
idolaters.'"" (6:76-79)
The Believer's Attitude
In order to be a Muslim, i.e., to surrender
oneself to God, it is necessary to believe in the oneness of God, in the sense
of His being the only Creator, Preserver, Nourisher, etc. But this belief -
later on called ""Tawhid Ar-Rububiyyah is not enough.""
Many of the idolaters knew and believed that only the Supreme God could do all
this. but that was not enough to make them Muslims. To tawhid ar-rububiyyah one
must add tawhid al'uluhiyyah, i.e., one acknowledges the fact that is God alone
Who deserves to be worshipped,
and thus abstains from worshipping any other thing or being. Having achieved
this knowledge of the one true God, man should constantly have faith in Him,
and should allow nothing to induce him to deny truth. When faith enters a
person's heart, it causes certain mental states which result in certain
actions. Taken together these mental states and actions are the proof for the
true faith. The Prophet said,"Faith is that which resides firmly in the
heart and which is proved by deeds.""
Foremost among those mental states is the feeling
of gratitude towards God, which could be said to be the essence of 'ibada'
(worship). The feeling of gratitude is so important that a non-believer is
called 'kafir,' which means 'one who denies a truth' and also 'one who is
ungrateful.' A believer loves, and is grateful to God for the bounties He
bestowed upon him, but being aware of the fact that his good deeds, whether
mental or physical, are far from being commensurate with Divine favors, he is
always anxious lest God should punish him, here or in the Hereafter. He,
therefore, fears Him, surrenders himself to Him and serves Him with great
humility. One cannot be in such a mental state without being almost all the
time mindful of God. Remembering God is thus the life force of faith, without
which it fades and withers away. The Quran tries to promote this feeling of
gratitude by repeating the attributes of God very frequently. We find most of
these attributes mentioned together in the following verses of the
Quran:"He is God; there is no god but He, He is the Knower of the unseen
and the visible; He is the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate. He is God,
there is no God but He. He is the King, the All-Holy, the All-Peace, the
Guardian of Faith, the All-Preserver, the All-Mighty, the All-Compeller, the
All-Sublime. Glory be to God, above that they associate! He is God the Creator,
the Maker, the Shaper. To Him belong the Names Most Beautiful. All that
is in the heavens and the earth magnifies Him; He is the All-Mighty, the
All-Wise."" (59:22-24)"There is no god but He, the Living, the
Everlasting. Slumber seizes Him not, neither sleep; to Him belongs all that is
in the heavens and
the earth. Who is there Information of islam that shall intercede with Him save by His leave? He
knows what lies before them and what is after them, and they comprehend not
anything of His knowledge save such as He wills. His throne comprises the
heavens and earth; the preserving of them oppresses Him not; He is the
All-High, the All-Glorious."" (2:255)"People of the Book, go not
beyond the bounds in your religion, and say not as to God but the truth. The
Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only the Messenger of God, and His Word that He
committed to Mary, and a Spirit from Him. So believe in God and His Messengers,
and say not, 'Three.' Refrain; better is it for you. God is only one God. Glory
be to Him - (He is) above having a son."" (4:171) "