Islamic call is based on Tawhid – divine unity and the acknowledgement of Allah, the real God, the Creator of the Universe, the One we must recognize and worship, a God free from all embellishments, superstitions and fancies; devoid of all legends, imaginations and myths; destitute of every contamination and weakness; simple and understandable to everybody.
This itself is a great service to man’s thought, contemplation and intellect and to the development of the God-seeking nature of man. Moreover, as we shall see later, pure tawhid is the basis of the worldview, the social and ethical philosophy of Islam.
Allah, The Universal God
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ؛
All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. (1)
Allah, as introduced by Islam, and to Whom all the peoples are called, is «Lord of the Worlds»; namely, the Lord, Creator, and the Master of the whole creation. He is Allah. Thus, all limits attributed to their gods by followers of various schools, sects and religions disappear. The Jews, for example, have a racial and national god.
That is to say, the Jews regarded Jehovah as their own god and expected that his care and grace be bestowed upon them solely, though Judaism was a religion of Tawhid and worship of God. Therefore, other races and nations must look for another god.
Or in ancient Greece, which was the centre of civilization, science, and philosophy, whose scientists and philosophers were universally renowned, there also existed various racial and national gods, though at the head of all these gods, a god of gods has sometimes been conceived. But Allah, the God of Islam, is a universal and eternal God for all nations and inhabitants of the world. He is neither the only heavenly or the earthly God, nor is He merely the god of the Semitic nation, Aryans or any other races.
Allah, The Unique
Allah is one, i.e., contrary to all those who believe in polytheism and speak of god of species, that is to say, assign a particular god to a certain act and position: Lord of Fertility, Lord of War, Lord of Desert, Lord of Famine, Lord of Power, etc., Islam introduces one God for all objects and affairs. He is called “Allah.” (2)
Or think of Zoroastrianism which although might have basically been a monotheist religion, its followers have gradually spoken of duality: God and Satan- god of good and god of evil.
Or consider Christianity which assigned a son, Jesus, to God. Its main scientific and philosophical debate was to discuss Jesus’ nature to determine whether he himself is God, whether he has detached from Him, whether he is His manifestation, or the same as the providence of God, or still, whether he has been co-substantial with God, or has appeared after Him.
This altogether constituted the discussion leading to God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and the Trinity in Christianity.(3) Or else, consider the pagan Arabs of the pre-Islamic era, who assumed angels to be God’s daughters. (4)
سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ؛
Glory be to Allah (for freedom) from what they describe (5)
Islam says that God is one. He has neither a son, a daughter, a mother, a father, nor a partner or colleague. (6)
مَنْ ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِنْدَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ؛
who is he that can intercede with Him but by His permission? (7)
Even, there is no intercessor who can act as an intermediary without His Will and Permission. Allah has no partner, that is to say, no person or object collaborates with Him in His affairs. But Allah Himself may decide to create particular means, agents and causes for certain affairs. He has, for instance, created the sun to give heat and light and for some other uses or food for man to eat and enjoy. But the sun and food are not associates of Allah who help Him in bringing heat and food to man. These are merely certain means created by God to fulfill His commands.
So is the case with intercession: as the sun gives heat and light by Divine will, the Holy Prophet leads people to the right path, good deeds and prosperity in pursuit of His Will. Whenever Allah deems it advisable, the Prophet seeks His blessing and forgiveness for certain people.
He himself forgives no one and causes no confusion in the Divine system of punishment and reward. Nor does he ask for Divine grace on behalf of anyone unless the latter does merit it. Therefore, people have no absolute master and guardian on the earth except from Allah (8).
قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ تَعَالَوْا إِلَىٰ كَلِمَةٍ سَوَاءٍ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ أَلَّا نَعْبُدَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ وَلَا نُشْرِكَ بِهِ شَيْئًا وَلَا يَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُنَا بَعْضًا أَرْبَابًا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ ۚ فَإِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَقُولُوا اشْهَدُوا بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ؛
Say: O followers of the Book! come to an equitable proposition between us and you that we shall not serve any but Allah and (that) we shall not associate aught with Him, and (that) some of us shall not take others for lords besides Allah; but if they turn back, then say: Bear witness that we are Muslims. (9)
All people are Allah’s creatures. They are weak and in need of His blessing. So, those who obstinately claim lordship or those base and mean people who praise and worship earthly, man-made masters and gods and regard them as beings possessing independent wills, are but idolaters who assume partners for Allah.
Allah, The Ever-Living
اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ؛
Allah is He besides Whom there is no god, the Everliving, the Self-subsisting by Whom all subsist (10)
Allah is a living being not like those creatures who are identified with motion, growth, breathing, procreation, and nutrition… Allah is the reality of existence. Allah’s Being is the same as His Omnipotence and Omni sovereignty.
Allah, The Eternal And Immortal
هُوَ الْأَوَّلُ وَالْآخِرُ وَالظَّاهِرُ وَالْبَاطِنُ ۖ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ؛
He is the First and the Last and the Ascendant (overall) and the Knower of hidden things, and He is Cognizant of all things.(11)
Allah, who is the essence of life and origin of existence, is immortal, that is to say, He has always existed and will continue to exist. We must know that Allah is eternal. It means that there exists neither a past, a present nor a future for Him. We usually live for a short time, say a period of sixty, seventy years or a bit longer. We live on the earth, surrounded by an atmosphere, which rotates permanently and sees the sunrise and sunset alternatively.
We are beings who grow up gradually. Thus, we are in a state of motion and subject to the time element. But Allah is free from time. He is Himself the creator of time, motions and rotations. For Allah, time is meaningless: that is, past, future, eternity or present do not exist for him.
Allah, The Sovereign
وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ؛
Allah has absolute sovereignty and jurisdiction over the whole of creation.(12)
He is superior to everything and is not subject or confined to worldly creatures. He is timeless, influenced by nothing and needless of others’ favours and grace. He is the Sublime.
Allah, The Omnipotent
إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ؛
surely Allah has power over all things. (13)
Allah is Omnipotent, i.e. He possesses absolute power which is beyond all knowledge and imagination. How much can He do? When can He do it? Can He do?
Such questions cannot be applied to the providence of Allah. His domain is fathomless, so much so that He is capable of creating whatever He wishes, and of bringing about any sort of change regardless of time and place. Therefore, His sovereignty is limitless, going beyond human understanding. In other words, Allah is thoroughly unrestricted. This is a topic which calls for a great philosophical debate.
We are beings who possess but a tiny portion of our whole existence. But Allah’s existence is limitless, not in the sense that His existence can be conceived to extend between two ends. He does not have a physical embodiment. He embraces the whole existence (This is a subject we shall deal with later.)
Allah, The Omniscient
وَعِنْدَهُ مَفَاتِحُ الْغَيْبِ لَا يَعْلَمُهَا إِلَّا هُوَ ۚ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ؛
And with Him are the keys of the unseen treasures– none knows them but He. (14)
Allah is Omniscient. Past and future, open and hidden are known to Him. He is even aware of the thoughts and intentions of each being.
Unlike a human being whose knowledge is restricted and who can only focus His attention on certain things at one time, Allah is All-knowing and is aware of the whole universe at all times. He ignores nothing. He acquires knowledge from no source, and He has a complete understanding of everything before its creation. He, who is the Creator, has created the world together with its rules and laws.
NOTES:
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1. The Holy Quran 1:2
2. The Holy Quran 2:22,117,165
3. The Holy Quran 5:75, 4:170
4. The Holy Quran 37:159
5. The Holy Quran 37:159
6. The Holy Quran 112:1-4, 37:159
7. The Holy Quran 2:255
8. The Holy Quran 6:14
9. The Holy Quran 3:64
10. The Holy Quran 2:255
11. The Holy Quran 57:3
12. The Holy Quran 2:255
13. The Holy Quran 2:20
14. The Holy Quran 6:59
