The Concept of God in the Qur’an
All Muslims across the world believe that there is only one God, who has created ‘the heavens, the earth and what is between’. The expression of this faith takes place in the first part of the shahada, or the statement of faith: ‘there is no deity but God and Muhammad is His Messenger’. The statement is repeated by Muslims in their five daily prayers, in the call for prayer and in their daily lives. To believe in one God constitutes the central issue in Islam. The Qur’an presents the Arabic name of God as Allah. Unlike the ancient Greek god Zeus, or the Hindu god Vishnu, Allah, who has ninety-nine beautiful names, is the same God of Christianity and Judaism.
Etymology
According to Muslim theologians, the name Allah can be defined as ‘The proper name of the One who is necessarily existent in himself and deserves all praises’. Indicating the oneness of God, the word has no plural form and no one can be named with it except God. Creatures can be related to it as ‘abd or servant, such as (Abd-Allah or the servant of God. The root of the name is al-ilah, meaning ‘the God’. The word ilah (pl. (aliha) in Arabic is used as a generic term for deities. In order to ease the usage, Arabs frequently contract the words based on certain grammatical rules. Therefore, the two words, al and ilah, were contracted into one and became Allah. The name (Allah’ is referred to in the Qur’an 2,697 times. Despite their polytheistic traditions, Arabs before Islam were also familiar with the name Allah as the name of the Supreme Being in heaven, which is evident in the Prophet’s father’s name, (Abdullah, the servant of Allah. The Qur’an refers to their familiarity with Allah in the following verse: ‘If you ask them who has created the heavens and the earth, they will say Allah’. Accordingly, the Holy Book speaks of false gods of Meccans, who were considered mediators between human beings and Allah. The Holy Book ridicules them for worshipping powerless stones and wood. Although scholars link the name Allah with El or Elohim, terms for God in Hebrew, most Muslim theologians and linguists believe that the origin of the name is Arabic. Regardless of the origin of the name, Muslims believe that Allah is the same God as that of Christianity and Judaism. It is he who sent the Torah to Moses and the Gospel to Jesus. He is the true God of all creation.
Existence of God
Scholastic Muslim theologians have developed many arguments to prove the existence of God. Two of them are well known in Islamic theology: huduth (creation) and imkan (contingency) arguments. The first argument proves that the universe existed and cannot come into being without the One who originates it. Therefore it cannot be created by itself. Unlike the Aristotelian argument, which operates on the principle of causality, in this argument the world is not eternal. The Qur’an uses the huduth argument in various verses without referring to the term itself. Therefore, the world is originated and needs an originator. In other words, whatever exists must have a sufficient cause for its existence. The latter argument is based on the view that what exists is divided into two categories. The first category is one whose existence is necessary in itself. The other category is one whose existence depends on others. The goal of this argument is to prove that there is only one thing that necessarily exists. It argues that the world’s creation is contingent (mumkin), and a contingent thing cannot be created by another contingent thing. Otherwise it would lead to an infinite series of contingent causes. Consequently, it needs the One who is necessarily existent in himself. All other causes found in the universe are contingent, thus there must be an uncaused cause or the Cause of Causes (musabbibal-asbab) to create them. Through a sustained examination of the Qur’anic verses, one finds a variety of arguments to prove the existence of God. Besides the above-mentioned two arguments, the argument from universal consent and teleological argument are among those arguments found in the Qur’an under various names. The wonderful design of the universe, which is the basis of the teleological argument, is frequently referred to as a point of contemplation in the Qur’an. This marvellous and interrelated system of order cannot have been brought about by chance. As thinkers such as Nursi point out, whoever created the eye of the mosquito is the same person who created the solar system. That is because they are interrelated; the eyes of a mosquito are designed in accordance with the level of the sunlight. ‘It is He who has created seven heavens in harmony. You cannot see any fault in the Beneficent One’s creation; then look again: Can you see any flaw?’ (67.3) The Holy Book invites human beings to contemplate the ways of God. The Qur’an calls it ‘signs’ or ayat. Various verses condemn those who do not use their minds and reason to understand the signs of God in the universe and in their own creation.
The Qur’an encourages people to appreciate God’s signs, since they are intelligent creatures. The verse says: ‘We have sent down upon you signs, clear indications, and none denies their truth save the transgressors’ (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:99). The word ‘sign’ is repeated many times in the Qur’an. Everything in the heavens and the earth gives news of God, and they are signs of God. Everything that happens tells us something about God. Therefore, in the heavens, in the natural world, in historical events, and inside us, are signs of God. ‘We [God] have appointed the night and the day as two signs’ (Surah Al-Isra’, 17:12). ‘A sign for them is the dead earth which we brought to life, and from which we brought forth grain that they eat’ (Surah Ya-Sin, 36:33). ‘And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and earth, and the variety of your tongues and colours’ (Surah Ar-Rum, 30:22). ‘Of His signs are the ships that run on the sea like landmarks’ (Surah Ash-Shurah, 42:32). ‘In the earth are signs for those having certainty, and in yourselves’ (Surah Adh-Dhariyat, 51:20–21).
In short, everything is a sign because all things are God’s creatures. Referring to the verse ‘For people who think intelligently there are signs in the creation of the heavens and earth and in the alteration of night and day’ (Surah Al-‘Imran, 3:190), the Prophet of Islam says, ‘Woe to those who read this and do not contemplate’.
The Qur’anic text provides another significant reference to the signs of God: “Your God is one God: There is no God but He. He is the most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. For a people who think intelligently, there are signs in the creation of the heavens and earth, in the alteration of night and day, in ships which voyage on the seas to benefit people, in the waters God sends down from heaven giving life to the earth after it was dead, in the populating of the earth with every kind of living creature, in the hither and thither of winds and clouds harnessed to His purposes between sky and land.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:163–4).
Muslim theologians such as Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (d. 944 CE), Sayf al-Din al- ‘Amidi (d. 1233 CE), Nasr al-Din al-Tusi (d. 1274 CE), Adud al-Din al-‘Iji (d. 1355 CE) refer to the Qur’anic verses relating to the creation of heavens and earth as well as the creation of human beings in their arguments designed to prove the existence of God. The Qur’an contains many verses that refer to the amazing design and order in all creation. Abu Hanifa (d. 767 CE), founder of the Hanafi school of Islamic law, offers the parable of a ship in the ocean. Such a ship needs to have a captain who will guide it in the right direction.
The Qur’an also refers to aesthetic arguments on various occasions. On the creation of heavens and earth the Book says that God has ornamented (zayanna) the sky for you with stars (Surah Al-Mulk, 67:5), and that He has made your water pure (ma’in) (Surah Al-Mulk, 67:30).
Furthermore it eloquently refers to the beautiful creation of the human being and rebukes the heedless: ‘man! What has seduced you from your gracious Lord? He who created you, and fashioned you, who proportioned you suitably, and in the form He wished He contrived you’ (82:6–8). ‘Surely We have created human beings in the best fashion’ (Surah At-Tin, 95:4). The Qur’an emphatically refers to God’s attribute of creation (al-khaliq): ‘Have they not beheld the heaven above them, how We established and adorned it in its unbroken reach? The earth We stretched out, setting there on the mighty hills, where We made every kind of joyous thing to grow; a vision and a reminder for every penitent servant’ (Surah Qaf, 50:6–8). With reference to the creation of the human being, the Qur’an repeats again the beauty of its form. ‘He created the heavens and the earth with the real, formed you and made your form beautiful, and to Him is your return’. (Surah At-Taghabun, 64:3)
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