| Who
is Allah?
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, 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.
[Note that
what is meant above applies ONLY to those people who die
in a state wherein they are associating others with God.
The repentance of those who yet live is acceptable to God
if He wills. - MSA of USC]
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
the 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 out 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 it
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 saw 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 saw 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 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)
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© 2000 The Islamic Center of Las Cruces
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