Allah (God)
By: Bilal Philips
(taken from his books and tapes)
Islam is the complete submission and
obedience to Allah (God). The name Allah (God) in Islam never
refers to Muhammad (pbuh), as many Christians may think; Allah
is the personal name of God.
What do Muslims believe about Allah?
1. He is the one God, Who has no partner.
2. Nothing is like Him. He is the Creator, not created, nor a
part of His creation.
3. He is All-Powerful, absolutely Just.
4. There is no other entity in the entire universe worthy of
worship besides Him.
5. He is First, Last, and Everlasting; He was when nothing was,
and will be when nothing else
remains.
6. He is the All-Knowing, and All-Merciful,the Supreme, the
Sovereign.
7. It is only He Who is capable of granting life to anything.
8. He sent His Messengers (peace be upon them) to guide all of
mankind.
9. He sent Muhammad (pbuh) as the last Prophet and Messenger
for all mankind.
10. His book is the Holy Qur'an, the only authentic revealed
book in the world that has been
kept without change.
11. Allah knows what is in our hearts.
These are some of the basic guidelines
Muslims follow in their knowledge of God:
1. Eliminate any anthropomorphism (human
qualities) from their conception of Allah. His attributes are
not like human attributes, despite similar labels or
appellations.
2. Have unwavering faith in exactly what Allah and Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) described Allah to be, no more, no less.
3. Eradicate any hope or desire of learning or knowing the
modality of His names and attributes.
4. Belief totally in all the names and attributes of Allah; one
cannot believe in some and disbelieve the others.
5. One cannot accept the names of Allah without their
associated attributes, i.e. one cannot say He is Al-Hayy - 'The
Living' and then say that He is without life.
6. Similarity in names (or meanings) does not imply similarity
in what is being described (referents). As a robotics arm
differs from a human arm, so the "hand" of Allah is nothing
like a human hand, His speech is nothing like human speech,
etc.
7. Certain words are ambiguous or vague in their meanings, and
thus may be susceptible to misinterpretation. Only those
meanings that are in accordance with what is specified by Allah
and His Prophet (pbuh) are acceptable.