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Concept of God in islam
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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 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.

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
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." (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." (11:6)

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 say 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 say 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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For more information about Islam

http://english.islamway.com/

http://www.islamhouse.com/

http://www.discoverislam.com/

http://www.islambasics.com/index.php

http://english.islamway.com/

http://www.islamtoday.net/english/

http://www.islamweb.net/ver2/MainPage/indexe.php

http://www.sultan.org/