The Concept of God in Islam
He is Self-sufficient or Self-subsistent or, to use a Quranic term, Al-Qayyum. 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. 
It's a known fact that every language has one or more terms that are used in reference to God and
sometimes to lesser deities. 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, gods or feminine,
goddess. It is interesting to notice that Allah 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 God. 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 Mohammad (PBUH) was asked by his contemporaries about
Allah; the answer came directly from God Himself in the form of a short chapter of the Quran, which
is considered the essence of the unity or the motto of monotheism. This is chapter 112 which reads:
"In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Say (O Mohammad) He is
God the One God, the Everlasting Refuge, 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. He is not loving and kind. Nothing can be farther from truth than this allegation. It's 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
Mohammad (PBUH) we are told that "God is more loving and kinder than a mother to her
dear child."
But God is also Just. Hence evildoers and sinners must have their share of punishment and the
virtues, His 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 and people oppressing and
exploiting other people all their life should not receive similar treatment from their Lord. Expecting
similar treatment for them will amount to negating the very belief in the accountability of man in the
Hereafter and thereby negating all the incentives for a moral and virtues life in this world. The
following Quraniac verses are very clear and straight forward 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 ye ?" (68:34-36)
Islam rejects characterizing God in any human form or depicting Him as favoring certain individual or
nations on the basis of wealth, power or race. He created the human-beings as equals. They may
distinguish themselves and get His favor through virtue and piety only.
The concept that God rested in the seventh day of creation, that God rested with one of His soldiers,
that God is an envious plotter against mankind, or that God is 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 which 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 which God will never
forgive, despite the fact 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 that nothing is like Him. If the maker is not temporal, then he must
be eternal. But if he is eternal, he cannot be caused, and if nothing caused 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 continuous of his own existence, then this existence can
have no end. The Creator is therefore eternal and everlasting:
"He is the First and the Last"
"God is the Creator of everything. He is the guardian over everything. Unto Him belong
the keys of the heavens and the earth."(39:62,63)
"No creature is there crawling on the earth, but its provision rests on God. He knows
its lodgingplace and its repository." (11:6)
The Quran summarizes this argument in the following verses:
God's Attributes
If the Creator is Eternal and Everlasting, then His attributes must also be eternal and everlasting. He
should not lose any of His attributes nor acquire new ones. If this is so, than His attributes are
absolute. Can there be more than one creator with such absolute attributes ? Can there be for
example, two absolutely powerful Creators ? A moment's thought shows that this is not feasible.
"God has not taken to Himself any son, nor is there any god with Him: For then each
god would have taken of that which he created and some of them would have risen up
over others." (23:91) And Why, where there gods in earth and heaven other than God,
they (heaven and earth) would surely go to ruin. (21:22)
To the worshippers of heavenly bodies it cites the story of Abraham:
The Oneness of God
The Quran reminds of the falsity of all alleged gods. To the worshippers of man-made objects it asks:
"Do you worship what you have carved yourself."(37:95)
"or have you taken unto you others beside Him to be your protectors, even such as
have no power either for good or for harm to themselves ?"(13:16)
"When night out spread over him he saw a star and said 'This is my Lord.' But when it
set he said, 'I love not the setters.' When he saw moon rising he said, 'This is my Lord.'
But when it set he said: 'If my Lord does not guide me I shall surely be of the people
gone astray.' When he saw the sun rising, he said, 'This is my Lord; this is greater.' But
when it set he said, 'O my people, surely I quit that which you associate, I have turned
my face to Him who originated the heavens and the earth; a man of pure faith, I am not
of the idolaters."(6:76-79)
Having achieved this knowledge of the one true God, man should constantly have faith in Him, and
should allow nothing to induce him to deny truth.
When faith enters a person's heart, it causes certain mental states which result in certain actions.
Taken together these mental states and actions are the proof for the true faith. The Prophet said,
"Faith is that which resides firmly in the heart and which is proved by deeds".
Foremost among those mental states is the feeling of gratitude towards God, which could be said to
be the essence of 'ibada' (worship).
The feeling of gratitude is so important that a non-believer is called 'kafir', which means 'one who
denies a truth' and also 'one who is ungrateful'.
A believer loves, and is grateful to God for the bounties He bestowed upon him, but being aware of
the fact that his good deeds, whether mental or physical, are far from being commensurate with
Divine favors, he is always anxious lest God should punish him, here or in the Hereafter. He,
therefore, fears Him, surrenders himself to Him and serves Him with great humility. One cannot be in
such a mental state without being almost all the time mindful of God. Remembering God is thus the
life force of faith, without which it fades and withers away.
The Quran tries to promote this feeling of gratitude by repeating the attributes of God very
frequently. We find most of these attributes mentioned together in the following verses of Quran:
"There is no god but He, the Living the Everlasting. Slumber seizes Him not, neither
sleep; to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. Who is there that shall
intercede with Him save by His leave ? He knows what lays before them and what is
after them, and they comprehend not anything of His knowledge save such as He wills.
His thrown comprises the heavens and earth; the preserving of them oppresses Him
not; He is the All-high, the All-glorious."(2:255)
"People of the Book, go not beyond the bounds in your religion; and say not as to God
but the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only the Messenger of God, and
His Word that He committed to Mary, and a Spirit from Him. So believe in God and
His Messengers, and say not, 'Three.' Refrain; better is it for you. God is only one
God. Glory be to Him - (He is) above having a son."(4:171)
The Believer's Attitude
In order to be a Muslim i.e., to surrender oneself to God, it's necessary to believe in the oneness of
God, in the sense of His being the only Creator, Preserver, Nourisher, etc.. But this belief - later on
called Tawhid Ar-Rububiyyah is not enough. Many of the idolaters knew and believed that only
the Supreme God could do all this. But that was not enough to make them Muslims. To tawhid
ar-rububiyyah one must add tawhid al'uluhiyyah i.e., one acknowledges the fact that it is God
alone who deserves to be worshipped, and thus abstains from worshipping any other thing or being.
"He is God; there is no god but He. He is the Knower of the unseen and the visible; He
is the All-merciful, the All-Compassionate. He is God; there is no god but He. He is
the King, the All-holy, the All-peace, the Guardian of Faith, the All-preserver, the
All-mighty, the All-compeller, the All-sublime. Glory be to God, above that they
associate! He is God the Creator, the Maker, the Shaper. To Him belong the Most
Beautiful Names. All that is in the heavens and the earth magnifies Him; He is the
All-mighty, the All-wise." (59:22-24)
And They Ask "Is God A Woman?"
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