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Misconceptions about Allah (part 1 of 3): Is Allah God?
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Description: Who is one true God?
By Aisha Stacey (© 2009 IslamReligion.com)
Published on 16 Nov 2009 - Last modified on 20 Nov 2011
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Category: Articles
> Beliefs of Islam
> About God
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_001.jpg) Yes, Allah is God. He is Allah, the One and Only. He is
the same God worshipped in the Jewish and Christian faiths and is recognisable
as such. Across the globe and throughout history people of all faiths and beliefs
have turned towards God, or a supreme deity, the Creator of the universe. He
is Allah. Allah is God. God the Creator. God the Sustainer.
The word God is spelled and pronounced differently in
many languages: the French call him Dieu, the Spanish, Dios and the Chinese
refer to the One God as Shangdi. In Arabic, Allah means the One True God,
worthy of all submission and devotion. Jewish and Christian Arabs refer
to God as Allah, and He is the same One True God referred to in the Biblical
passage,
“Hear O Israel, the Lord your God is One”.
(Deuteronomy 6.4 & Mark 12.29)
In all three monotheistic religions (Judaism,
Christianity and Islam) God and Allah are the same. However, when asking
the question, Is Allah God, it is equally important to understand who Allah is
not.
He is not a man, nor is He an ethereal spirit, therefore
when Muslims talk about Allah there is no concept of a trinity. He was not
begotten nor does He beget, therefore He does not have sons or daughters. He
does not have partners or underlings; therefore, there are no demi gods or
minor deities inherent in the concept of Allah. He is not part of His creation
and Allah is not in everybody and everything. Consequently, it is not
possible to become allahlike or attain allahhood.
“Say (O Muhammad): He is Allah, (the Unique) One. Allah,
the Eternal (Foundation). He begets not, nor was He begotten; and
there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him.” (Quran 112)
The Quran, God’s book of guidance for all of humankind
was revealed in Arabic; therefore, non-Arabic speakers can become confused
about terminology and names. When a Muslim says the word Allah, he is talking
about God. God the Supreme, God the Magnificent, God the Omnipotent. The
Creator of all that exists.
“He has created the heavens and the earth in truth. High be
He Exalted above all they associate as partners with Him.” (Quran 16:3)
Muslims believe that Islam is the final message of God
to humankind, and they believe that God gave the Torah to Prophet Moses as he
gave the Gospel to Prophet Jesus Muslims believe that Judaism and Christianity,
in their pristine forms, were divine religions. In fact, one of the tenants of
Islam is to believe in all of God’s revealed books. The Prophets of Islam
include the same Prophets present in Jewish and Christian traditions; they all
came to their people with the same message – to recognize and to worship the
One God.
“...were you witnesses when death approached Jacob? When
he said unto his sons, ‘What will you worship after me?’ They said, ‘We
shall worship your God, the God of your fathers, Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac,
One God, and to Him we submit (in Islam).” (Quran 2:133)
Muslims love and respect all the Prophets and Messengers
of God. However, Muslims believe that the Quran contains the only concept of
God that has not been tainted by man made ideas and idolatrous practices.
He, Allah/God made it very clear in Quran that He had
sent messengers to every nation. We do not know all the names, or the dates;
we do not know all the stories or the calamities, but we do know that God did
not create even a single person and then abandon him. God’s message of mercy,
love, justice, and truth was made available to all of humankind.
“And verily, We have sent among every community or nation, a
Messenger (proclaiming), "Worship Allah (Alone), and avoid all false
deities... ". (Quran 16:36)
“And for every nation there is a messenger...” (Quran 10:47)
For thousands of years humankind has lived and died
across this wide earth. Every time a woman looks towards the sky in search of
a Creator, she is turning to Allah. Every time a man buries his face in his
hands and begs for mercy or relief, he is asking Allah. Every time a child crouches
fearfully in a corner, his heart is searching for Allah. Allah is God. Whenever
a person is thankful for the bright new day, or the cool refreshing rain, or
the wind whispering in the trees, he or she is thankful to Allah, thankful to
God.
Humankind has taken the purity of God and mixed it up
with wild imaginings and strange superstitions. God is not three, He is One. God
does not have partners or associates; He is Alone in His majesty and in His dominion.
It is not possible to become godlike because there is nothing comparable to God.
God is not part of His creation; He is beyond it. He is the first, and the
last. God is Allah, the Most Merciful.
“… There is nothing like unto Him…” (Quran 42:11)
“And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him.” (Quran
112:4)
“He is the First (nothing is before Him) and the Last (nothing
is after Him), the Most High (nothing is above Him) and the Most Near (nothing
is nearer than Him). And He is the All-Knower of every thing.” (Quran 57:3)
Yes! God is Allah.
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Misconceptions about Allah (part 2 of 3): Allah – the One and Only
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Description: If God is One why does Quran use the word We?
By Aisha Stacey (© 2009 IslamReligion.com)
Published on 23 Nov 2009 - Last modified on 23 Mar 2010
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Category: Articles
> Beliefs of Islam
> About God
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Allah is God. He is the one you turn to in your hour of
need. He is the one you thank when the miracles of this life become clear. Allah
is a word that contains many layers of meaning. It is the name of God (the
master of the universe) and it is the foundation of the religion of Islam. He
is Allah, the One worthy of all worship.
“”He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth. How can
He have children when He has no wife? He created all things and He is the
All-Knower of everything. Such is Allah, your Lord! La ilaha
illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), the Creator of all
things. So worship Him (Alone), and He is the Trustee, Disposer of affairs,
Guardian, over all things. No vision can grasp Him, but His
Grasp is over all vision. He is the Most Subtle and Courteous, Well
Acquainted with all things.” (Quran 6:101-103)
In the Arabic language, the word for God (Allah) comes
from the verb ta’allaha (or ilaha), which means, “to be worshipped”. Thus,
Allah means, the One, who deserves all worship.
Allah is God, the Creator, and Sustainer of the world,
but differences and confusions arise because the English word god is able to be
made plural as in gods, or change gender, as in goddess. This is not the
case in Arabic. The word Allah stands alone, there is no plural or
gender. The use of the words He or Him are grammatical only and in no way
indicate that Allah has any form of gender that is comprehensible to us.
Allah is unique. In the Arabic language, His name is unchangeable. Allah
describes Himself to us in the Quran:
“Say (O Muhammad), He is Allah, (the) One. Allah-us-Samad
(The Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, He neither eats nor
drinks). He begets not, nor was He begotten; And
there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him.” (Quran 112)
This short chapter of the Quran is known as the chapter
of purity, or sincerity. In just a few short words, it sums up the Islamic
belief system; that Allah or God is One. He is alone in His majesty; He is
alone in His omnipotence. He has no partners or associates. He was there in
the beginning and He will be there in the end. God is One. Some may ask, ‘If
God is One, why then does Quran use the word We?’
In the English language we understand the use of the
royal “we”, or the grammatical construction known as the majestic plural. Many
other languages use this construction including Arabic, Hebrew, and Urdu. We
hear members of various royal families or dignitaries using the word we, as in
“we decree”, or “we are not amused”. It does not indicate that more than one
person is speaking; rather it denotes the excellence, power or dignity of the
one who is speaking. When we hold that concept in mind, it is obvious that
there is none more worthy to use the royal we than Allah – God.
“(This is) a Book, which We have revealed unto you (O
Muhammad) in order that you might lead humankind out of darkness into light (of
belief in the Oneness of Allah)...” (Quran 14:1)
“And indeed, We have honoured the Children of Adam, and
We have carried them on land and sea, have provided them with lawful
good things, and have preferred them above many of those whom We have
created with a marked preferment.” (Quran 17:70)
“And if We willed, We could surely take away
that which We have revealed to you (i.e. this Quran). Then you would
find no protector for you against Us in that respect.” (Quran 17:86)
“O humankind! If you are in doubt about the Resurrection,
then verily We have created you (i.e. Adam) from dust...” (Quran 22:5)
Respected Islamic scholar of the 13th century,
Sheikh al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said that, “Every time Allah uses the plural to
refer to Himself, it is based on the respect and honour that He deserves, and
on the great number of His names and attributes, and on the great number of His
troops and angels
The use of the words we, nahnu, or verily
we, inna, in no way indicate that there is more than one god. They have
no correlation at all to the concept of a trinity. The entire foundation of
the Islamic religion rests upon the belief that there is only One God, and
Muhammad is His final messenger.
“And your god is One God; there is none who has the right to
be worshipped but He, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.” (Quran 2:163)
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Misconceptions about Allah (part 3 of 3): The moon god
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Description: Religion in Pre Islamic Arabia.
By Aisha Stacey (© 2009 IslamReligion.com)
Published on 30 Nov 2009 - Last modified on 02 May 2010
Viewed: 8763 (daily average: 7) - Rating: 4.2 out of 5 - Rated by: 5
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Category: Articles
> Beliefs of Islam
> About God
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_001.jpg) Misinformed people sometimes refer to Allah as a modern
interpretation of an ancient moon god. This gross misrepresentation of Allah
is often combined with strange unsubstantiated claims that Prophet Muhammad,
may God praise him, resurrected this god and made him the focal point of the
religion of Islam. This is categorically untrue. Allah is God, the One, and Only,
the Most Merciful. Allah is the God of Abraham, the God of Moses, and the God
of Jesus.
“There is no god but Allah (none has the right to be
worshipped but Allah, the One and the only True God, Who has neither a wife nor
a son). And indeed, Allah is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.” (Quran 3:62)
Very little is known about the religion of the Arabs
before Prophet Abraham. There is little doubt that the Arabs wrongly worshipped
idols, heavenly bodies, trees, and stones, and that some of their idols even
had animal characteristics. Although a number of minor deities across the Arabian Peninsula may have been associated with the moon
there is no evidence of the Arabs ever worshipping a moon god above other
gods.
On the other hand there is evidence that the sun,
constructed as a feminine god was worshipped throughout Arabia. The Sun
(Shams) was honoured by the several Arabian tribes with both sanctuaries and
idols. The name Abdu Shams (slave of the sun) was found in many parts
of Arabia. In the North the name Amr-I-Shams, “man of the Sun” was
common and the name. Abd-al-Sharq “slave of the Raising one” is
evidence for the worship of the rising sun.
One of Prophet Muhammad’s uncles was named Abdu Shams,
so to was the man nicknamed Abu Hurairah , a renowned Islamic scholar
from the first generation of Muslims. When Abu Hurairah converted to Islam, Prophet
Muhammad changed his name to Abdu Rahman (slave of the Most Merciful).
Muslims believe with complete certainty that, since the
beginning of creation, Allah has sent prophets and messengers to guide and
teach humankind. Therefore, humankind’s original religion was submission to Allah.
The first Arabs worshipped Allah, however, over time their worship became
corrupted by man made ideas and superstitions. The reason for this is shrouded
in the mists of time but they may have fell into the practice of idolatry in
much the same way as the people of Prophet Noah.
The descendents of Prophet Noah were one community,
believing in the Oneness of Allah, but confusion and deviation crept in. Righteous
men tried to remind the people of their obligations to Allah but time passed
and Satan saw an opportunity to lead the people astray. When the righteous men
died, Satan suggested to the people that they build statues of the men to help
them to remember their obligations to Allah.
The people built statues in their meeting places and
their homes, and Satan left them alone until everyone had forgotten the reason
the statues existed. Many years later, the devious Satan appeared amongst the
people again, this time suggesting that they worship the idols directly. An
authentic narration of Prophet Muhammad, may God praise him, sums up the
beginning of idolatry in the following way.
“The names (of the idols) formerly belonged to some
pious men of the people of Noah, and when they died Satan inspired their people
to prepare and place idols at the places where they used to sit, and to call
those idols by their names. The people did so, but the idols were not
worshipped till those people (who initiated them) had died and the origin of
the idols had become obscure, whereupon people began worshipping them.”
When prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael rebuilt the
Holy House of Allah (the Kaba) most of the Arabs followed his example and
returned to the worship of the One God, however as time passed the Arabs fell
into their old habit of worshipping idols and demi-gods. There is little doubt
and much evidence to suggest that in the years between Prophets Abraham and
Muhammad the religion of Arabian Peninsula came to be dominated by idol worship.
Each tribe or household had graven images and statues, the
Arabs believed in seers, used divining arrows to predict future events and
performed animal sacrifices and rituals in the name of their idols. It is said
that the principle idols of Noah’s people were found buried in the area of present
day Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and distributed amongst the Arabian tribes. When Prophet
Muhammad returned triumphantly to Mecca, the Kaba contained more
than 360 different idols.
The most well known idols that existed in pre Islamic
Arabia were known as Manat, al Lat, and al Uzza. There is no
evidence linking any of these idols with moon gods or moon The Arabs worshipped
these idols and called on them for intercession. Allah repudiated this false
idol worship.
“Have you then considered al-Lat, and al-’Uzza (two idols of
the pagan Arabs). And Manat (another idol of the pagan Arabs), the other third?
Is it for you the males and for Him the females? That indeed is a division
most unfair! They are but names, which you have named, you and your fathers,
for which Allah has sent down no authority. They follow but a guess and that
which they themselves desire, whereas there has surely come to them the
Guidance from their Lord!” (Quran 53:19-23)
In the midst of overwhelming paganism and polytheism the
pre Islamic Arabs never called upon a moon god as a supreme deity, in fact
there is no evidence that they ever called upon a moon god. For generation
after generation they did not loose their belief in One supreme ruler of the
universe (even though most of the time they held the wrong concept of belief in
Allah). They were aware of His blessings and His punishment and believed in a
Day of Judgement. Poets of the time referred to Allah regularly.
Nabigha, a well-known poet of the 5th
century CE said, “I took an oath and left no margin of doubt for who else
can support man, besides Allah, and Zuhair b. Abi. Salma affirms
his faith in the Day of Judgement by saying “The deeds are recorded in
the scroll to be presented on The day of Judgement; Vengeance can be taken in
this world too”. Quran also testifies to the fact that the pre Islamic Arabs
were aware of Allah –God – the One.
“If you were to ask them “Who has created the heavens and the
earth and subjected the sun and the moon?” They will surely reply, “Allah.” How
then are they deviating (as polytheists and disbelievers)? Allah enlarges the
provision for which He wills of His slaves, and limits it for whom (He wills).
Verily, Allah is the All Knower of everything. If you were to ask them, “Who
sends down water (rain) from the sky, and gives life therewith to the earth
after its death?” They will surely reply, “Allah.” Say: “All the praises and
thanks be to Allah!” Nay! Most of them have no sense.” (Quran 29: 61-63)
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