Islamic concept of God

Islamic concept of God

Muslims belief in God and this is not unique but some details differ from other religions.

In Islam we understand God to be one but not in a numerical sense. Rather in sense that there is one God and no other. In the chapter of the sincerity or ikhlass we find the negation of eight types of disbelief.

We cannot understand God not according to minds therefore we must look beyond that. We have been given great blessings and the greatest are the Prophets and the Messengers that God sent to us. God has manifest and unbound mercy he has sent us Messengers and Prophets for us to know and understand our place in the world.

Through them we have come to know our creator. The first line in the chapter of sincerity is, “Say: God is one.” Again this is not in a numerical sense because in the Arabic language one is not a number. The numbers start with two not one. We say this to negate other beliefs of multiple deities. We also say that there are no intermediaries to God.

“God is the Sustainer.” We say that all of creation is sustained by God and if it was not for this then we would perish. This also negates anyone who believes that God has created us then left us. This is impossible because if we were abandoned then there would be nothing else that could sustain us. We are sustained with provision and many other things that we need for our existence.

“He was not born nor does he give birth.” I have simplified this translation to make things clear for the reader. This is negates that God posses a human nature because these are the characteristics of creation not creator. This is also further explained by the following verse.

“There is nothing that resembles him.” God according to the Islamic creed was not born because anyone thinks then falls into a loop. Then who created the Lord? Is the next logical answer but we do not accept that here. We say that God was before anything and he is as he was. We believe that God is uncreated and everything else is created.

“There is no one comparable to him.” There is nothing that comes close to any comparison to God. There is God alone and then everything else. As we explained above God is uncreated so any comparison is hopelessly invalid. Why? You can compare like items, for example two pens because they are the same but you cannot compare what is uncreated and what is created. As the uncreated transcends time and space and creation needs time and space. So the comparison is invalid and fruitless. We affirm that God does not need time or space or direction to be because he is the creator of time, space and direction.

This in a nutshell is the Islamic belief about God. We do call God Allah but this does not mean anyone else. This means the creator of all. When we say we believe in Allah we do not mean that there are other deities and ours is called Allah. No, we believe that there is one God called Allah. God is Allah and Allah is God.

We believe that God has delivered messages to mankind in all the different regions of the world who have proclaimed the oneness of God. This was the call that they all shared. The first Prophet was Adam (upon him peace) and the Last is Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him).

So now we understand that God did not leave us alone to find out the purpose of our existence. He sent us Prophets to show us the way and to tell us how to get home. What is our home? Paradise but it is only for the believers. So now we look for the Messenger of our time to follow, which one shall we follow? The final one, the last one, sent to all mankind Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him).




Sources

Fiqh Al-Akbar by Abu Hanifa
Quran 112:1
Quran 112:2
Quran 112:3
Sura As-Shura 42:11
Quran 112:4