The most concise definition of God in Islam is given in the four verses of Surah Ikhlas, which is Chapter 112 of the 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”. (Qur’an 112: 1-4)
The word ‘Assamad’ is difficult to translate. It means ‘absolute existence’, which can be attributed only to Allah (swt), all other existence being temporal or conditional. It also means that Allah (swt) is not dependant on any person or thing, but all persons and things are dependant on Him.
Surah Ikhlas (Chapter 112) of the Glorious Qur’an is the touchstone of theology. Any candidate to divinity must be subjected to this ‘acid test’. Since the attributes of Allah given in this chapter are unique, false gods and pretenders to divinity can be easily dismissed using these verses.
The following verse of the Glorious Qur’an conveys a similar message:
“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)
BY WHAT NAME DO WE CALL GOD?
The Muslims prefer calling the Supreme Creator, Allah, instead of by the English word ‘God’. The Arabic word, ‘Allah’, is pure and unique, unlike the English word ‘God’, which can be played around with.
If you add ‘s’ to the word God, it becomes ‘Gods’, that is the plural of God. Allah is one and singular, there is no plural of Allah. If you add ‘dess’ to the word God, it becomes ‘Goddess’ that is a female God. There is nothing like male Allah or female Allah. Allah has no gender. If you add the word ‘father’ to ‘God’ it Becomes ‘God-father’. Godfather means someone who is a guardian. There is no word like ‘Allah-Abba’ or ‘Allah-father. If you add the word ‘mother’ to ‘God’, it becomes ‘God-mother’. There is nothing like ‘Allah-Ummi’, or ‘Allah-mother’ in Islam. Allah is a unique word. If you prefix tin before the word God, it becomes tin God i.e., fake God. Allah is a unique word, which does not conjure up any mental picture nor can it be played around with. Therefore the Muslims prefer using the Arabic word ‘Allah’ for Almighty God. Sometimes, however, while speaking to the non-Muslims we may have to use the inappropriate word god, for Allah. Since the intended audience of this article is general in nature, consisting of both Muslims as well as non-Muslims, I have used the word God instead of Allah in several places in this article.
“Say: ‘Call upon Allah, or call upon Al-Rahman. By whatever name ye call upon Him, (it is well): For to Him belong the most beautiful names.”
(Qur’an 17:110, see also 7:180, 20:8, 59:24)
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