In continuation of the article titled “Almighty Allah as introduced by Islam”, we shall discuss other positive attributes of Allah.
Allah, The All-Hearing, The All-Seeing
إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ بَصِيرٌ؛
Allah is All-hearing and All-seeing. (1)
He hears and sees, not through certain organs- ears, eyes, nerves, etc. as does a human being. He has ultimate knowledge of the nature of any phenomenon, object or thing.
Allah, The Self-Subsisting
للَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ؛
Allah is He besides Whom there is no god, the Everliving, the Self-subsisting by Whom all subsist; (2)
Allah is self-subsisting, by whom all subsist. He is self-sufficient, whom all need. None gives Him aid and blessing. He is complete and perfect. Waiting, amendment, shortage, evolution, etc. are meaningless to Allah. He is perfect, boundless, and absolutely free from want; whose grace and blessing, all, in whatever condition or position, need; and all exist in pursuit of His will.
Allah, The Almighty And Compassionate
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. (3)
Jehovah the god as introduced in the Old Testament is a harsh and almighty God; a majestic compeller who treats merely in accordance with his justice and forgives not the least negligence and disobedience within what he has already laid down. He is so important and so serious that man dares not communicate freely with him. Firmness, terror, and power remind one of Jehovah.
On the contrary, Jesus, the god of Christianity, is an intimate, friendly and hearty god who descends from the sky, co-habits with man, becomes his father and finally takes the embodiment of a human being.
But Allah, the God of Islam, possesses both characteristics. He is Almighty and Compeller, while at the same time, Compassionate and Merciful. He is the Mighty, Protector and Vengeful. He is Kind and Compassionate. On the one hand.
His domain of sovereignty and governance extend’ between two extremes of the world: on the other hand. He is closer to all creatures than they themselves are to each other. All creatures can communicate and attain proximity to Him, solicit His favour and worship Him without an intermediary. To have a clear conception of the God of Islam, i.e. Allah, one must combine endless affection and kindness with constant power.
Acts of Allah
Allah created the world along with all that exists in it. He brought them into existence and He maintains them. In fact, everything exists in pursuit of His Will and no phenomenon, change or transformation takes place but through His Will.
بَدِيعُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ؛
Wonderful Originator of the heavens and the earth! (4)
Creation consists of two stages. The first one consists in initiating creation, that is bringing into existence. Allah «initiated the whole creation most initially.»(5)
The second step in creation is the change and transformation that phenomena of the world undergo, the same as a human embryo which at first is created from the male and female cells and then grows with its nourishment from the human blood. The blood, too, is composed of elements which are actually existent in nature.
According to the Quran, Allah is the Creator of the whole universe, and the sole initiator of change and transformation, from the most trivial to the most important phenomenon in nature. Darkness and light, the pouring rain, the grain which splits beneath the ground, the blowing wind, the ripening fruit, the seeding in gardens and farms, the rotating planets, the shining sun, the glowing moon, the flowing flood, the blowing typhoon, earthquakes and thunders, the germinating plant, the withering leaves in autumn, even the very act of the falling leaf from a tree, the bees’ attempts at gathering nectar, all in all, are accomplished through the providence of Allah.
Allah created the stars, mountains, oceans, lands, animals, plants, flowers, fruits, human beings, birds, pastures, jungles, forests, underground waters, lakes, rivers and on the whole, whatever exists in Nature. (6)
Examples of these can be found repeatedly throughout the Quran, enabling us to conclude that:
1. Islam negates all gods and intermediaries whom various nations used to assume for different things and affairs. Almost all ancient religions of Iran. India, Greece, Rome and pre-Islamic Arabs admitted the existence of numerous gods and goddesses whose numbers often exceeded scores or even hundreds. Islam negates all these gods and goddesses and attributes the realization of all things and actions to Allah, the unique God, the Omnipotent, and the Omniscient.
2. Contrary to those people who believe that Allah has resigned the governance of the world and assume that He created the universe, put it in motion and then gave it up, as the Jews who according to the Quran have said:
وَقَالَتِ الْيَهُودُ يَدُ اللَّهِ مَغْلُولَةٌ؛
«The hand of Allah is tied up». (7)
Islam preaches that Allah is the absolute sovereign of the world:
يَسْأَلُهُ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۚ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ هُوَ فِي شَأْنٍ؛
«All those who are in the heavens and the earth ask of Him; every moment He is in a state (of glory)» (8)
And nothing is done but through His Will His grace, blessing and favour are permanent. Should Allah decide not to govern the functions of the world, the whole existence will come to an end.
Knowing Allah And Science
It is worth noting that the reality of natural phenomena, laws, causes and effects, is not contrary to attributing the execution of all acts to Allah, for the Author, Creator and Preserver of these laws, causes and effects is Allah. In other words, neither the very existence of laws of Nature in coming into existence and transformation of natural phenomena oppose the belief in the existence of Allah, nor belief in His existence should induce us to maintain the idea of disorder and anarchy in the world.
Certain people who claim to be theists but have no scientific knowledge suppose that it is Allah who, for instance, sends down the rain and that when He does so, a hole must therefore appear in the sky without any reason and calculation, through which rain will pour from a reservoir upheld there.
If they are told that oceanic water vaporizes when warmed by sunshine, that the wind displaces the condensed vapour, and wherever the temperature is low, the vapour is transformed into drops of water and rain, and if the temperature is still lower, the drops take the shape of snow and hail, they may ask: So what part does Allah play in this process? They argue that this argumentation is contrary to the Supreme Power and Providence.
They should be answered that according to the Quran, everything is subject to law and order:
الشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ بِحُسْبَانٍ؛
«The Sun and the Moon are made punctual.» (9)
وَالسَّمَاءَ رَفَعَهَا وَوَضَعَ الْمِيزَانَ؛
«And the heaven. He raised it high, and He established the balance. » (10)
Allah could create the human being all at once, but He ordained the creation of the baby through certain processes and particular means. He established rules and orders for every phenomenon, regardless of its size and volume. These rules and orders mean exactly the laws and causes of Nature.
By discovering the laws and mysteries of Nature, man will become more knowledgeable about the essence and transformation of natural phenomena, and by applying his gained knowledge, while profiting from natural gifts, he can improve his living conditions.
However, the same as the recognition of laws and mysteries of nature cannot harm the stability of theology, so also, the reality of natural laws and mysteries cannot be the sole means of recognizing Allah. But a universe, well organized and systematic, can help us in knowing Allah, The Sage and the Mighty.
Every phenomenon m the world is the result of certain agents and causes already existent in Nature, but the embodiment of all phenomena is in accordance with Allah’s Will. He brings forth birth, He causes to die, He provides us with daily bread and He sends the rain because it is He who has established the causes and agents of these happenings. The world together with all laws and principles was originated and created by Allah.
What Cannot Be Attributed To Allah (Negative Attributes)
So far we have pointed out the qualities that could be attributed to Allah, such as power, eternity etc., which constitute the very essence of Allah. Recognizing the positive qualities of Allah, we arrive automatically at those qualities which cannot be attributed to Him.
Those qualities should be clearly pointed out through a critical study, because we are material and thus bonded beings, and we generally like to adapt the Creator of the universe to the domain of our own perception.
We like, for instance, to imagine Him as an incarnate, material and temporal being, whereas it is evident that assigning such qualities to Allah will imply that He is imperfect and needful, qualities which cannot be attributed to Him. We shall discuss the subject in the following paragraphs.
Continue in the next article: ( Almighty Allah as Introduced by Islam 3 )
NOTES:
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1. The Holy Quran 58:1
2. The Holy Quran 2:255
3. The Holy Quran 1:1
4. The Holy Quran 6:101
5. The Holy Quran 6:101
6. The Holy Quran 6:95-105, 13:2-4, 13:13-19, 6:13, 6:14, 16:2-17
7. The Holy Quran 5:64
8. The Holy Quran 55:29
9. The Holy Quran 55:5
10. The Holy Quran 55:7
