The concept of God in Islam

[abd allah]

hi,

The concept of God in Islam :

It is a known fact that every language has one or more terms that are
used to refer to God and sometimes to lesser deities at the same
time. 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, as in “gods,” or made feminine,
as in “goddess.” It is interesting to note that Alah 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 Allah. 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 Allah
Himself in the form of a short chapter of the Quran, which is
considered to be the essence of the unity or the motto of monotheism.
This is chapter 112, which reads:

“In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.”

“Say (O Muhammad), He is Allah, the One God, the Self-Sufficient, 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 and is, consequently, not loving and kind.
Nothing could be farther from the 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, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, we are told
that:

“God is more loving and kind than a mother to her dear child.”

On the other hand, God is also Just. Hence, evildoers and sinners
must have their share of punishment, and the virtuous must have God’s
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 should not receive similar
treatment from their Lord as people who oppress and exploit others
their whole lives. Expecting similar treatment for them would amount
to negating the very belief in the accountability of man in the
Hereafter and thereby negate 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?” (Quran
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 human-beings as equals. They may distinguish
themselves and get His favor through virtue and piety only.

The concepts, such as God resting on the seventh day of creation, God
wrestling with one of His soldiers, God being an envious plotter
against mankind, or God being 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 that 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 that God will never forgive, despite the fact that 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, therefore, that nothing
is like Him. Furthermore, if the Maker is not temporal, then He must
be eternal. If He is eternal, however, He cannot be caused, and if
nothing caused Him to come into existence, 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, so the
Creator is, therefore, eternal and everlasting. Hence we know that He
is Self-sufficient or Self-subsistent, and Everlasting or, to use a
Quranic term, Al-Qayyum: “He is the First and the Last.”

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…” (Quran 39:62-63)

And God says:

“No creature is there crawling on the earth, but its provision rests
on God. He knows its lodging place and its repository...” (Quran
11:16)


for more information :

http://www.islamreligion.com/category/51/

http://sites.google.com/site/islamicsitesaddr/

thank you for your visiting.