THE CONCEPT OF GOD IN ISLAM – MUSLIM BELIEFS ABOUT GOD

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Belief in one God, is the most important and foundational concept in Islam. Muslims believe in one God who created the universe and has power over everything within it. He is unique and exalted above everything He creates, and His greatness cannot be compared to His creation.

Allah says in Holy Qur’an

“Say: He is Allah,
The One and Only.
“Allah, the Eternal, Absolute.
“He begets not, nor is He begotten.
And there is none like unto Him.”
[Al-Qur’an 112:1-4]

 “No vision can grasp Him
But His grasp is over
All vision: He is
Above all comprehension,
Yet is acquainted with all things.”
[Al-Qur’an 6:103]

 “There is nothing whatever like unto Him.”  [Al-Qur’an 42:11]

 God does not perform ungodly acts

The attributes of Almighty God preclude any evil since God is the source of justice, mercy and truth. God can never be thought of as doing an ungodly act. Hence we cannot imagine God telling a lie, being unjust, making a mistake, forgetting things, or having any such human failings. Similarly God can do injustice if He chooses to, but He will never do it because being unjust is an ungodly act.

The Qur’an says:

“Allah is never unjust In the least degree.” [Al-Qur’an 4:40]

God can be unjust if He chooses to be so, but the moment God does injustice, He ceases to be God.

God does not make mistakes

God can make mistakes if He wants to, but He does not make mistakes because making a mistake is an ungodly act. The Qur’an says:

“…my Lord never errs.”  [Holy Qur’an 20:52]

The moment God makes a mistake, he ceases to be God.

God does not forget

God can forget if He wants to. But God does not forget anything because forgetting is an ungodly act, which reeks

of human limitations and failings. The Qur’an says:

“…my Lord never errs, nor forgets.”  [Al-Qur’an 20:52]

God only performs Godly acts:

The Islamic concept of God is that God has power over all things. The Qur’an says in several places (Al -Qur’an 2:106; 2:109; 2:284; 3:29; 16:77; and 35:1):

“For verily Allah has power over all things”

Further, the Glorious Qur’an says:

“Allah is the doer of all that He intends.” [Al-Qura’n 85:16]

We must keep in mind that Allah intends only Godly acts and not ungodly acts.

Philosophy of Anthropomorphism many religions at some point believe, directly

or indirectly, in the philosophy of anthropomorphism i.e. God becoming a human.

Their contention is that Almighty God is so pure and holy that He is unaware

of the hardships, shortcomings and feelings of human beings. In order to set

the rules for human beings, He came down to earth as a human.

This deceptive logic has

fooled countless millions through the ages. Let us now analyze this argument

 and see if it stands to reason.

The Creator prepares the instruction manual

All attributes should point to the one and same God:

Since there is only one God, all the attributes should point to one and the same God.

To say that Neil Armstrong was an American astronaut who first set foot on the moon, but he was born in 1971 is wrong. Both these unique qualities belong to one and

the same person, i.e. Neil Armstrong. Similarly to say that the Creator of the

universe is one God and the Cherisher is another God is absurd because

 God possesses all these attributes combined together.

Unity of God Some polytheists argue by saying that the existence of more than one God is not illogical. Let us point out to them that if there were more than one God, they would dispute with one another, each god trying to fulfill his will against the will of the other gods. This can be seen in the mythology of the polytheistic and pantheistic religions. If a ‘God’ is defeated or unable to defeat the others, he is surely not the one true God. Also popular among polytheistic religions is the idea of many Gods, each having different responsibilities. Each one would be responsible for a part of man’s existence e.g. a Sun-God, a Rain-God, etc. This indicates that one ‘God’ is incompetent of certain acts and moreover he is also ignorant of the other Gods’ powers, duties, functions and responsibilities. There cannot be an ignorant and incapable God. If there were more than one God it would surely lead to confusion, disorder, chaos and destruction in the universe. But the universe is in complete harmony. The Glorious Qur’an says:

 “If there were, in the heavens

And the earth, other gods

Besides Allah, there would

Have been confusion in both!

But glory to Allah,

The Lord of the Throne:

(High is He) above

What they attribute to Him!”

[Al-Qur’an 21:22]

If there were more than one God, they would have taken 

away what they created. 

The Qur’an says:

  “No son did Allah beget,

   Nor is there any god

   Along with Him: (if there were

   Many gods), behold, each god

   Would have taken away

   What he had created,

   And some would have

   Lorded it over others!

   Glory to Allah! (He is free)

   From the (sort of) things

   They attribute to Him!”

    [Al-Qur’an 23:91]