What Is Allah ?
Please forgive us for any disturbance, but we have an im****tant
subject
to address to you regarding FAITH, and we Don't intend to overload
your email with unnecessary messages...
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
contem****aries 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 tem****al and will therefore
need a maker. It follows that nothing is like Him. If the maker is not
tem****al, 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
wor****ppers of man-made objects, it asks:"Do you wor****p 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 wor****ppers 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 wor****pped, and thus
abstains from wor****pping 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' (wor****p).The
feeling of gratitude is so im****tant 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)
For more information about Islam
For more information about Islam
www.imanway1.com
|
