Who is Allah ?
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Who is Allah?
III&E
Brochure Series; No. 2
(published by The Institute of Islamic Information and Education (III&E))
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:
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