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CONCEPT OF GOD IN ISLAM
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 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
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(Peace Be Upon Him) 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 life for His sake and people
oppressing and exploiting other people all their life 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 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 caused him to come into
existence, nothing outside him caused 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 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. No creature is there
crawling on the earth, but its provision rests on God. He knows its
lodging-place and its repository.
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 off that which he created and some of
them would have risen up over others. And Why, were there gods in earth
and heaven other than God, they (heaven and earth) would surely go to
ruin.
The Oneness of God:
The Quran reminds us of the falsity of all alleged gods. To the
worshiper of man-made objects it asks: Do you worship what you have
carved yourself or have you taken unto you others beside Him to be your
protectors, even such as have no power to protect themselves?
To the worshiper 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 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 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 idolaters."
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 TawhidAr-Rububiyyah is not enough. Many of the
idolater 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
it is God alone who deserves to be worshiped, and thus abstains from
worshiping 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 Takes together these mental states and
actions are the proof for 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 in 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 in
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
Messenger of God, and His Word that He committed to Mary, and a Spirit
form 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-that He should have a son. (4:171)
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Source:
WAMY SERIES On Islam
World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY)
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