God in Islam: Who is Allah?
بسم الله والصلاة على رسوله
In the name of Allah, and salutations on His Messenger
The Qur’anic Description of Allah:
Allah ﷻ has described Himself in numerous places in the Qur’an.
The Qur’an starts with بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم (In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful) which mentions one of the most emphasized attributes of His - Divine Mercy. Every chapter starts with this sentence. Describing His mercy in one more place, Allah ﷻ says:
ورحمتي وسعت كل شيئ My Mercy encompasses everything
The first three verses of the first chapter, al-Fatihah (the Opening):
الحمد لله رب العالمين . الرحمن الرحيم . مالك يوم الدين . (All) praise is (due) to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. The All-Merciful, The Ever-Merciful. Sovereign of the Day of Recompense.
Here, we have been told that Allah is the Lord of all that exists. He is the one who is merciful to His creation. Then, we are made aware of the fact that we are not here except with a purpose, and one day, we will all be made to stand before Him to account for our deeds. This purpose has been described at another place as:
وما خلقت الجن والإنس إلا ليعبدون And I have not created the Jinn and mankind except to worship (me). (51:56)
Describing Oneness, the most important quality of Allah, Allah (swt) says:
و إلهكم إله واحد لا إله إلا هو الرحمن الرحيم And your god is one God. There is no deity (worthy of worship) except Him, (He is) the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful. (2:163)
Then, Allah describes Himself in a comprehensive manner in the greatest verse of the Qur’an, the Ayah al-Kursi (verse of the Throne). It is the best description of Allah:
الله لا إله إلا هو الحي القيوم لا تاخذه سنة و لا نوم له ما في السموات و ما في الأرض من ذا الذي يشفع عنده إلا بإذنه يعلم ما بين أيديهم و ما خلفهم و لا يحيطون بشيئ من علمه إلا بما شاء وسع كرسيه السماوات و الأرض و لا يؤده حفظهما و هو العلي العظيم Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of (all) existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is (presently) before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most-High, the Most-Great. (2:255)
Allah ﷻ describes himself in the closing verses of Surah al-Hashr with many of His blessed attributes.
هو الله الذي لا إله إلا هو عالم الغيب و الشهادة هو الرحمن الرحيم . هو الله الذي لا إله إلا هو الملك القدس السلام المؤمن المهيمن العزيز الجبار المتكبر سبحان الله عما يشركون . هو الله الخالق البارئ المصور لا الأسماء الحسنى يسبح له ما في السماوات و الأرض و هو العزيز الحكيم He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity, Knower of the unseen and the witnessed. He is the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful. He is Allah, other than whom there is no deity, the Sovereign, the Pure, the Perfection, the Bestower of Faith, the Overseer, the Exalted in Might, the Compeller, the Superior. Exalted is Allah above whatever they associate with Him. He is Allah, the Creator, the Inventor, the Fashioner; to Him belong the best names. Whatever is in the heavens and earth is exalting Him. And He is the Mighty, the Wise. (59:22–24)
How the Prophet Musa (Moses) described Allah to the Pharaoh:
Pharaoh said, "And who is the Lord of the worlds?" [Moses] said, "The Lord of the heavens and earth and that between them, if you should be convinced." [Pharaoh] said to those around him, "Do you not hear?" [Moses] said, "Your Lord and the Lord of your first forefathers." [Pharaoh] said, "Indeed, your 'messenger' who has been sent to you is mad." [Moses] said, "Lord of the east and the west and that between them, if you were to reason." [Pharaoh] said, "If you take a god other than me, I will surely place you among those imprisoned." (26:23–29)
How the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) described Allah:
(Allah is) The one who created me, and He is the one who guides me. And it is He who feeds me and gives me drink. And when I am ill, it is He who cures me. And who will cause me to die and then bring me to life. And who I hope will forgive me my sin on the day of Recompense." (26:78–82)
Surah al-Ikhlas which describes the Islamic concept of God’s Oneness and Independence:
قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ (1) اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ (2) لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ (3) وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ (4) “Say: He is Allah, the One! Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is begotten. And there is none comparable unto Him.” (112:1–4)
Essential Islamic Beliefs About God (Allah):
Imam Abu Ja’far Al-Tahawi in his Bayan As-Sunnati Wal-Jama’ah enumerates the following beliefs every Muslim must hold about Allah, in order to have a sound creed:
Allāh is One. He does not have a partner (or equal). There’s nothing like Him. Nothing can overwhelm Him (or prevent Him from His will). There is no god but Him. He is Pre-Eternal without a beginning, Perpetual without end. He will never perish and He will never come to an end. Nothing occurs except what He wills. No imagination can conceive of Him and no understanding can fathom Him. He does not resemble the creation. He is living; He will never die. He is sustaining; He never sleeps. He creates without His being in need to do so. He provides (for His creation) without any effort. He causes death without any fear, resurrects without any hardship. He is now as He always was, eternally with His attributes, before His creation came into being. Nothing was added to His attributes through their existence that He was not attributed with before. Just as He was eternally attributed with His attributes, He will never cease to be attributed with them. Neither did He gain the name Al-Khaliq (the Creator) after creating, nor by bringing creation into existence, the name Al-Bārī (the Originator). [ie He was always the Creator and Originator, and these names weren’t added to Him later] He has the attribute of Lordship, not depending on the existence of subjects. [ie He does not need subjects to be the Lord unlike the worldly kings and rulers] He has the attribute of being the Creator, not depending on the existence of a creation. Just as He is attributed with giving life both before and after He gives it, He is attributed with being the Creator before giving existence. This is because He has the Power over everything, and everything is dependent on Him, and there’s nothing difficult for Him. He is in no need of anything, “There’s nothing like unto Him, and He is All-Seeing, All-Hearing.” (Quran 42:11)
The Necessary Attributes:
Here’s a summary of Allah’s necessary attributes from Risalah fi Ilm at-Tawhid of Al-Bajuri:
Note: There’s one more attribute which is differed upon by scholars. It’s called “Takwin” (Creating). Some scholars consider it a part of the Qudrah (Absolute Ability), while others considered it a separate attribute altogether.
The Divine Names:
Allah ﷻ says in the Quran:
قل ادعوا الله أو ادعوا الرحمن أيا ما تدعو فله الأسماء الحسنى Say (O Muhammad SAW): "Invoke Allah or invoke the Most Merciful (Allah), by whatever name you invoke Him (it is the same), for to Him belong the Best of Names. (17:110)
In a Hadith, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said,
“Allah has ninety-nine names, i.e. one-hundred minus one, and whoever knows them will go to Paradise.” (Bukhari, and a slight variant in Muslim)
Each name represents an attribute of Allah.
Check this link for more details:
You can also listen to these Names in this beautiful recitation:
May Allah grant us all His ma’rifah (gnosis) Ameen