By Masood Azhar
I begin in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As per the holy Quran, describing the attributes of Allah Subhana Wa Ta’ala [SWT] is so vast there if the oceans were turned into ink and they would turn dry and the praises / description would still not be complete.
As to the term Allah, there are two streams of opinion among scholars as to whether the word Allah is derived from another word i.e. it has a root, or whether it has no origin. The former category of opinion says that it is derived from Al Ilaah – meaning the entity that is worshipped, the one to be obeyed and the one to whom people desperately turn to. The latter group is of the opinion is that ‘Allah’ is universal and unique in any language and has no root, the term as introduced by Allah SWT Himself to all the messengers.
In Surah Al Ikhlas, meaning The Sincerity [112. 1-4], there is a four-line-definition of Allah SWT: “Say, Allah is the One. Allah the Absolute Eternal. He begets not; nor is He begotten. There is nothing like Him”.
As per the scholars, the concept of God in Islam does not contradict with that of other religious scriptures. Although it contradicts the practices of followers of other religions, it is well aligned to the description of God in major religious scriptures. Let us look at few examples by extracting the verses directly from the sacred writings:
• In Sikhism [Guru Granth Sahib Vol 1, Chapter 1, Verse 1], it says that God is One. The one Lord who created the world is the Lord of all. The Primal Being is the Giver; He alone is true, the Eternal, the Compassionate, is free from fear or want, etc. In their scriptures God is called as the Creator, Raheem (Merciful), Kareem (Beneficent), Wahi Guru (the One true God).
• In Hinduism, in the Chandogya Upanishad – it is stated that God is One without a second. Almighty God has no true father, has no true mother, has no true superior [chapter 6 section 2 verse 1]. Further it states, of that God, there is no Pratima, there is no likeness image, there is no image, there is no picture, there is no photograph, there is no sculpture, there is no statue [chapter 4, verse 19]. No one can see the Almighty God [chapter 4, verse 20]
• In Christianity – as per Deuteronomy chapter 5, King James Version – Thou shalt have none other gods before me [verse 7]. Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth [verse 8]. Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them….,[verse 9].
It is clear from the above, that the true followers of major religions believe that the God they worship is the same for themselves as well as for others, which is the identical belief in Islam, that Allah SWT is One (Al Ahad).
Although Allah SWT is unseen (Ilm Il Ghaib), the link between Him and humanity is manifested through the holy Quran, that was sent down 1,400 years ago, It is a living miracle as well as one of the evidences of the existence of Allah SWT.
The Quran contains scientific knowledge and other later discoveries that could not have been known 14 centuries ago. It also contains historical facts which took place centuries before prophethood of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). These two facts also prove that Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), being unlettered, could not have authored the Quran and that it is a Divine revelation from Allah SWT to mankind.
The major miracles of Quran can be divided into revelations relating to Zoology [4], Biology [11], Geology [5], History [4], Chemistry [8], Physics [16], Cosmology [11]. Due to space constraint, I will give below the interpretation of few such revelations, that became known to science centuries later:
• Cosmology – [Quran 21.30]. The universe was created in a Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago. The Quran says that the heavens and the Earth were meshed together, tight and compact (Big Bang), and continues to expand it today.
• Zoology – [Quran 27. 18] All male ants have wings. All worker ants are females. Ants that don\\\’t have wings are definitely females. Some queen ants have wings and some don’t.
• Geology – Tectonics. [Quran 27.88] Earth\\\’s crust has been slowly moving for billions of years. Not only mountains are slowly moving but also whole continents.
• Cosmology. [Quran 7.54, 41.9, 50.38] Age of Universe. Our solar system is 4.57 billion years old. Earth started accreting concurrently with the sun and our neighboring planets 4.57 bln years ago. However, the universe is 13.7 ± 0.2 bln years old. This places the age of Earth at one third the age of the universe (4.57 bln/13.7 bln = 1/3). The Quran says that in Allah\\\’s Throne time, Earth is 2 days old while the Heavens, Earth and everything in between are 6 days old (2/6 = 1/3).
• Physics – [Quran 36.36]. Until 100 years ago it was thought that only man and animals were made in pairs (males and females). However, the Quran said that everything from which the land produces, man and what they could not see were also made of pairs. Today we know that all matter is in pairs: matter and antimatter (electrons and positrons, quarks and antiquarks…)
To conclude, Islam emphasizes that Allah SWT is strictly singular (taw?id?): unique (wa?id?), inherently One (a?ad?), also all-merciful and omnipotent. According to the Quran, \\\”No vision can grasp him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things.” He is Malik-e-Youm-e-Deen (Master of the Day of Judgement). Like Christians, Muslims believe that a day will come when the whole universe will be destroyed and the dead will be resurrected for judgement by Allah SWT. On that day, all people will be rewarded or punished according to their beliefs and deeds.
And Allah SWT knows best.
Masood Azhar is a retired banker by profession. He grew up in Chennai, a great city where people of all faiths live in harmony and mutual respect. He spent most of his working life in Dubai, a melting pot of amazingly diverse cultures and nationalities. He moved to the quiet country side of United Kingdom in 2013.
His wife Shehnaz is a British national and dentist by profession. He has 2 sons and a daughter who live in Dubai.
Masood is a keen student of theology especially Islam. His philosophy on religion is based on Quranic teaching – to focus on commonalities between faiths that bring people together.
