The first part of the Muslim confession of faith (the Shahadah) is the basis for the concept of God in Islam. The Muslim bears witness that: “There is no god but Allah”. The revealed Scripture of Islam, the Qur’an, is like a vast commentary on this simple statement, drawing from it all its implications for human life and thought.
This conception of the Deity is strictly monotheistic and Unitarian. Allah (God) alone has absolute being, totally independent and totally self-sufficient. Whatever exists or ever could exist does so by His will. He has no partner either in creating the universe or in maintaining it in existence. He is not only the First Cause, but also ultimately, the only cause, and He is Himself uncaused. The Qur’an says: “Say: He is Allah. One, the utterly Self-sufficient, He begets not neither is He begotten, and there is nothing that is like unto Him”. (Surah al-Ikhlas).
A further implication of the first part of the Shahadah is that there can be no power, force or agency in the heavens or on earth which is independent of God. Everything that exists and everything that happens is subject to His control; there is nothing that can compete with Him or that escapes His grasp, nothing that does not bear witness to His creative power and majesty. The seven heavens and the earth and all that is therein praise Him. The Allah says: “And there is not a tiling that does not hymn His praise, though you understand not their praise”. (Al-Qur’an).
In conclusion, God in Islam is the only creator of all that exists and could exists in this world and in the Hereafter; He is only Who deserves worships, the all-powerful and all knowing Creator and the Lawgiver. Man is His creature and His ‘Abd [loving servant], his duty in this world is to worship Allah [al-‘Ibadah] and to fulfill Allah’s commandments by establishing His Law as a Khalifah [vicegerent] of Allah on earth.
REFERENCE:
Hasan Abdul Hakim, The Concept of God in Islam (Egypt: Conveying Islamic Message Society).
www.islamic-message.net
This conception of the Deity is strictly monotheistic and Unitarian. Allah (God) alone has absolute being, totally independent and totally self-sufficient. Whatever exists or ever could exist does so by His will. He has no partner either in creating the universe or in maintaining it in existence. He is not only the First Cause, but also ultimately, the only cause, and He is Himself uncaused. The Qur’an says: “Say: He is Allah. One, the utterly Self-sufficient, He begets not neither is He begotten, and there is nothing that is like unto Him”. (Surah al-Ikhlas).
A further implication of the first part of the Shahadah is that there can be no power, force or agency in the heavens or on earth which is independent of God. Everything that exists and everything that happens is subject to His control; there is nothing that can compete with Him or that escapes His grasp, nothing that does not bear witness to His creative power and majesty. The seven heavens and the earth and all that is therein praise Him. The Allah says: “And there is not a tiling that does not hymn His praise, though you understand not their praise”. (Al-Qur’an).
In conclusion, God in Islam is the only creator of all that exists and could exists in this world and in the Hereafter; He is only Who deserves worships, the all-powerful and all knowing Creator and the Lawgiver. Man is His creature and His ‘Abd [loving servant], his duty in this world is to worship Allah [al-‘Ibadah] and to fulfill Allah’s commandments by establishing His Law as a Khalifah [vicegerent] of Allah on earth.
REFERENCE:
Hasan Abdul Hakim, The Concept of God in Islam (Egypt: Conveying Islamic Message Society).
www.islamic-message.net
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