Muslims believe that there is only One God. The Arabic word for God is ‘Allah’, which is a combination of two Arabic words, “Al” and “ilah”. “Al” means “The”, and “ilah” means “God”. These two words come together and refer to “The God”, which implies “The Only God” or “The Only One to be Worshipped”.
Nothing else can be called Allah. The term has no gender (he’s neither male nor female) – Muslims only use the word ‘He’ out of respect and dignity, not for gender. It also has no plural – the Qur’an sometime uses ‘We’ but this is used only as the “Royal WE” just as in English for royalty. This shows that the term ‘Allah’ is unique when compared with the word “god” which can be made feminine (i.e. goddess) or plural (i.e. gods).
Some qualities of Allah:
- Allah is eternal, omniscient, and omnipotent. He has always existed and will always exist. He knows everything that can be known.
- He is All Powerful and can do anything that can be done.
- He Created the earth we live in, the air we breath, the food we eat, the water we drink, the sun, the moon, the skies, the stars, the galaxies and the entire universe.
- He Provides sustenance to all of His creation.
- He Gives life and Causes death.
- He is Just and Merciful, and rewards and punishes fairly.
- He does not depend on anyone, rather all depend on Him.
- None resemble Him whatsoever and He resembles no one.
- Allah has no shape or form – He can’t be seen nor heard. He does not have eyes, ears, hands, nose, organs or a body like that of human beings.
- He is Pure from all faults.
- All Muslims believe that there is one God, and He has no children, parents or partners. He was neither created nor is there anything equal to him.
قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ
لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ
وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ
- Qul huwa Allahu ahadun
- Allahu alssamadu
- Lam yalid walam yooladu
- Walam yakun lahu kufuwan ahadun
Surah 112 Al-Ikhlaas (Sincerity)
“Say: He is Allah, the One! Allah, the eternally Besought of all! He begetteth not nor was begotten. And there is none comparable unto Him.”
How to connect with Allah
Muslims worship only Allah as He is only worthy of worship.
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A believer can have direct access to Allah without the need for any intermediaries such as idols, saints, angels, priests, planets, animals, graves or statues. This is achieved through dua (salutation), salah or namaz (prayer), and by reciting the Qur’an.
The Qur’an says that Allah is closer to man than his jugular vein yet He cannot be encompassed by human intellect.
Walaqad khalaqna alinsana wanaAAlamu ma tuwaswisu bihi nafsuhu wanahnu aqrabu ilayhi min habli alwareedi
Surah 50 Qaf (The Letter “Qaf”), Ayat (Verse) 16
“We verily created a man and We know what his soul whispereth to him , and We are nearer to him than his jugular vein.”
Source: Londoni.co