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, as in "gods," or made feminine, as in "goddess." It is
interesting to notice that Allah is the personal name of God in Aramai c, 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 Qur'an, which is considered to be the essence of
the unity or the motto of monotheism. This is chapter 112, which reads:“ In the
name of Allah, 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 and is not loving and kind.
Nothing could be farther from the truth than this allegation. It is enough to
know that, with the exception of one, each of the 114 chapters of the Qur'an
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 kind than a mother to her dear child”. On the other hand, God is also
Just. Hence, evildoers and sinners must have their share of punishment, and the
virtuous must have God's 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 should not receive similar treatment from their Lord as
people who oppress and exploit others their whole lives. Expecting similar
treatment for them would amount to negating the very belief in the
accountability of man in the Hereafter and thereby negate all the incentives for
a moral and virtuous life in this world. The following Qur'anic 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?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 concepts that God rested on the seventh day of
creation, that God wrestled with one of His soldiers, that God is an envious
plotter against mankind, and 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 that 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 that God will never forgive, despite the fact that 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 caused Him to come into existence, 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 Qur'anic 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 its repository” (11:16).
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 Qur'an 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 Qur'an 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 yourself 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 one of
the idolators” (6:76-79).
The Believer's Attitude
In order to be a Muslim, that is, 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 called Tawhid Ar-Rububiyyah,
is not enough. Many of the idolators knew and believed that only the Supreme God
could do all this. But this was not enough to make them Muslims. To tawhid
ar-rububiyyah, one must add tawhid al-'uluhiyyah. That is, one acknowledges the
fact that it 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 that 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 stated 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 Qur'an 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 Qur'an:“ 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 the 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 Almighty, the All-Wise” (59:22-24). “ There is no god
but He, the Living, the Everlasting. Slumber seizes Him not, nor 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 it is for you. God is only one
God. Glory be to Him -- (He is) above having a son” (4:171).