THE EXISTENCE OF GOD ALMIGHTY SHOULD
BE CONSIDERED FROM FIVE PERSPECTIVES
One is His Essence as Divine Being―Zāt, in Islamic terminology. His Essence cannot be known by anyone except God Himself. A Prophetic Tradition says: Do not reflect on God’s Essence, instead, reflect on His works and acts
- “Say: He is Allah,The One and Only
- “Allah, the Eternal, Absolute (Assamad)
- “He begets not, nor is He begotten.
- And there is none like unto Him. (Holy Qur’an 112:1-4)
The second is that God has no partners, likes and resemblance, which is pointed to by the verse: There is nothing like or compared unto Him.
The third perspective is that the God’s Essential, “Innate” Qualities as being God. These are the source of the Attributes.
The word ‘Assamad’ means absolute existence, which can be attributed only to Allah (swt), all other existence being temporal or conditional. It also means that Allah (swt) is not dependent on any person or thing, but all persons and things are dependent on Him. These four line definition of Almighty God serves as the touchstone of the study of God
The fourth perspective is that of His Attributes. The Attributes have three kinds:
- One is His Essential Attributes, which are: Existence, Having No Beginning, Eternal Permanence, Being Unlike the Created, Self-Subsistence.
- The second is the Positive Attributes, which are: Life, Knowledge, Power, Speech, Will, Hearing, Seeing, and Creating.
- The third is the “Negative” Attributes. The Negative Attributes are innumerable but can be summed up in a definition: God is absolutely free from any defects and shortcomings.
The fifth is that the Attributes are the sources of Names. Life gives rise to the All-Living, Knowledge to All-Knowing, Power to All-Powerful, etc. God has many Names, about one thousand of which are known by human beings. The Names are the sources of the Acts. For example, giving life has its source in the All-Living; knowing everything down to the smallest originates in the All-Knowing, etc. God is “known” by His acts, Names and Attributes. Whatever exists in the universe, in the worlds, material and immaterial, is the result of the manifestation of God’s Names and Attributes. For example, the universal and individual provision points to His Name, the All-Providing; the All-Healing is the source of remedies and patients’ recovering from illnesses. Philosophy has its source in Wisdom, etc. The acts, Names and Attributes are the “links” between God and the created, or the “reflectors” with which to have knowledge of God.
- No vision can grasp Him
- But His grasp is over All vision
- He is Above all comprehension
- Yet is acquainted with all things Holy Qur’an 6:103
ALLAH IS ALONE (THE ONLY ONE)
If there were more than one God it would surely lead to confusion, disorder, chaos and destruction in the universe. But the universe is in complete harmony. The Glorious Qur’an says:
- If there were, in the heavens And the earth, other gods
- Besides Allah, there would Have been confusion in both!
- But glory to Allah, The Lord of the Throne:
- (High is He) above What they attribute to Him!” Holy Qur’an – 21:22
IF THERE WERE MORE THAN ONE GOD, THEY WOULD HAVE TAKEN AWAY WHAT THEY CREATED. THE QUR’AN SAYS:
“No son did Allah beget,
Nor is there any god Along with Him: (if there were Many gods), behold, each god
Would have taken away What he had created,
And some would have Lorded it over others!
Glory to Allah! (He is free) From the (sort of) things they attribute to Him!” Holy Qur’an – 23:91
GOD DOES NOT BECOME A HUMAN BEING
AND OR TAKES A HUMAN FORM
The Holy Qur’an speaks against all forms of anthropomorphism (God in Human form). The Glorious Qur’an says in the following verse:
There is nothing whatever like unto Him.” Holy Qur’an 42:11 In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Glory be to Him in Whose hand is the kingdom and inner dimensions of all things. (36:83)
O you who attribute all things and events in this world to the law of causality. The causes to which you ascribe creativity are only veils covering the operation of Divine Power, for God’s Dignity and Grandeur require such veils. However, the Eternal Divine Power, absolutely independent of everything, is ever-active and creates, for Divine Unity and Glory require that it be so.
Since most people cannot discern the beauty and wisdom behind events, they complain and object. In order to divert such complaints from God, causes are placed as an intervening veil (between people and God’s acts). However, those who see the real beauty and wisdom in events know the truth of what is going on. A parable clarifies this point: The Angel of Death complained to God that His servants would complain of his role as the taker of souls. God answered him: “I will put illness and misfortune between you and them so that they will complain of them, not of you.”
God is the Creator of all things, and He is guardian and watcher over everything. To Him belong the keys of the heavens and Earth. (39:62-3)
There is not a moving creature but He has grasp of it by the forelock. (11:56)
The Eternal Monarch has officers, but they have no authority of their own to execute His orders independently. Thus they are not partners to His Sovereignty; rather, their only functions are to serve as media through which His Lordship’s acts and executions are watched and known, and as observers and witnesses. By doing so, they obey His laws and commands of creation and thereby perform their duty of worship, which is required by their nature and disposition.
Belief in God’s Unity has two degrees. The first degree believes superficially that God has no partners, and that the universe belongs only to Him. Such believers may be susceptible to deviation and confusion. The second degree is being firmly convinced that God is One, that everything belongs to Him exclusively, and that only He creates. Such believers see His seal and observe His stamp on all things. Free from all doubt, they feel themselves always and everywhere in His Presence. Their conviction cannot be diluted by deviation or doubt.
For a Human Being to acquire such conviction in God’s Unity, we consider the following arguments.
ARGUMENTS FOR GOD’S EXISTENCE AND UNITY
LIFE IS THE BRIGHTEST EVIDENCE OF GOD
Who makes everything out of one thing and makes one thing out of many things?
God Almighty sets a special seal on each thing He makes, showing that He is the Creator of all things. He sets a special stamp on each creature, demonstrating that He is the Maker of all things. On each “letter” that the Power “writes,” there is an inimitable signature specific to the Eternal Monarch.
The one who made the honeybee an index of most things, and who inserted in human nature most parts of the Book of Creation, must be the same and single Creator.
For example, look at the seal He has put on life. Consider how, through life, one thing is made into many, and many things are made into one. For example, God transforms the water we drink into a means for forming innumerable animal organs and systems. Through His command, a single entity becomes “many.” Conversely, He changes many varieties of foods into a particular body or skin, a whole system or subsystem. Thus “many” things become, by God’s command, a single entity. Whoever has an intellect, consciousness, and a heart must conclude that making a single, simple entity from many things and using a single entity to make many things is a seal special to the Creator of all things.
He encoded the future life of a fig tree in its tiny seed, and made the human heart a small-scale copy of thousands of worlds, as well as a window opening onto them. He recorded humanity’s past life and everything related to it in human memory. The One Who has done these and many similar things can only be the Creator of all things, and His doing so is a stamp specific to the Lord of the Worlds.
The universe resembles a tree, which has grown from a seed containing the program of the future full form of the tree. So, all things in the universe are closely interrelated with one another. Each particle in the body, for example, a particle in the pupil of the eye, has relations with the eye itself, as well as with the head, and the powers of reproduction, attraction and repulsion, with the veins and arteries, and with other veins, and motor and sensory nerves, which serve the circulation of blood and the working of the body, and with the rest of the body, and it has also duties in relation to each. This evidently shows one who is not blind that the whole of the body, including every particle, is a work of an Eternal, All-Powerful One and operates under His command.
Also, in each particle are two further true witnesses to the necessary existence and Unity of the Maker: despite its absolute powerlessness, each particle is able to do a great variety of significant duties, and despite its lifelessness, by acting in conformity with the universal order; each particle displays a universal consciousness. That means, each particle testifies, through its impotence, to the necessary existence of the Absolutely All-Powerful One, and through acting in conformity with the order of the universe, to His Unity.
The seeds of all flowering and fruit-bearing plants are the same in composition: they are all composed of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen
They only differ on account of and in respect of the program of their progenitor deposited in them by Divine Destiny.
ABSOLUTE BALANCE, ORDERLINESS AND DISTINGUISHING DESPITE THINGS BEING ALMOST INFINITELY MINGLED
Look at the stamp pointed out in: Look at the prints of God’s Mercy, how He revives the Earth after its death.
ARGUMENTS FOR GOD’S EXISTENCE AND UNITY
LIFE IS THE BRIGHTEST EVIDENCE OF GOD
Who makes everything out of one thing and makes one thing out of many things?
God Almighty sets a special seal on each thing He makes, showing that He is the Creator of all things. He sets a special stamp on each creature, demonstrating that He is the Maker of all things. On each “letter” that the Power “writes,” there is an inimitable signature specific to the Eternal Monarch.
The one who made the honeybee an index of most things, and who inserted in human nature most parts of the Book of Creation, must be the same and single Creator.
For example, look at the seal He has put on life. Consider how, through life, one thing is made into many, and many things are made into one. For example, God transforms the water we drink into a means for forming innumerable animal organs and systems. Through His command, a single entity becomes “many.” Conversely, He changes many varieties of foods into a particular body or skin, a whole system or subsystem. Thus “many” things become, by God’s command, a single entity. Whoever has an intellect, consciousness, and a heart must conclude that making a single, simple entity from many things and using a single entity to make many things is a seal special to the Creator of all things.
He encoded the future life of a fig tree in its tiny seed, and made the human heart a small-scale copy of thousands of worlds, as well as a window opening onto them. He recorded humanity’s past life and everything related to it in human memory. The One Who has done these and many similar things can only be the Creator of all things, and His doing so is a stamp specific to the Lord of the Worlds.
The universe resembles a tree, which has grown from a seed containing the program of the future full form of the tree. So, all things in the universe are closely interrelated with one another. Each particle in the body, for example, a particle in the pupil of the eye, has relations with the eye itself, as well as with the head, and the powers of reproduction, attraction and repulsion, with the veins and arteries, and with other veins, and motor and sensory nerves, which serve the circulation of blood and the working of the body, and with the rest of the body, and it has also duties in relation to each. This evidently shows one who is not blind that the whole of the body, including every particle, is a work of an Eternal, All-Powerful One and operates under His command.
Also, in each particle are two further true witnesses to the necessary existence and Unity of the Maker: despite its absolute powerlessness, each particle is able to do a great variety of significant duties, and despite its lifelessness, by acting in conformity with the universal order; each particle displays a universal consciousness. That means, each particle testifies, through its impotence, to the necessary existence of the Absolutely All-Powerful One, and through acting in conformity with the order of the universe, to His Unity.
The seeds of all flowering and fruit-bearing plants are the same in composition: they are all composed of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen
ABSOLUTE BALANCE, ORDERLINESS AND DISTINGUISHING DESPITE THINGS BEING ALMOST INFINITELY MINGLED
Look at the stamp pointed out in: Look at the prints of God’s Mercy, how He revives the Earth after its death.
EVERY PARTICLE TESTIFIES TO GOD IN TWO WAYS
Consider each created being as a letter in a Universe (book). Any letter in a book points to itself as a letter and in one respect only. However, it points to its writer in many respects. Similarly, every “created” letter of the Book of the Universe points to itself only as a letter. However, it points to its Maker in many respects, both individually and in the words and sentences in which it is included, and manifests its Maker’s titles, describing them as if it were a long, fine poem.
EVERY PARTICLE TESTIFIES TO GOD IN TWO WAYS
This perfect, purposeful, and well-arranged mutual helping is manifested by all of those things, especially inanimate objects. It is also an evident proof and clear argument that they are servants of an All-Wise Sustainer, workers of a Munificent Manager who work by His command and leave, and by His Power and Wisdom.
The universe resembles a tree, which has grown from a seed containing the program of the future full form of the tree. So, all things in the universe are closely interrelated with one another. Each particle in the body, for example, a particle in the pupil of the eye, has relations with the eye itself, as well as with the head, and the powers of reproduction, attraction and repulsion, with the veins and arteries, and with other veins, and motor and sensory nerves, which serve the circulation of blood and the working of the body, and with the rest of the body, and it has also duties in relation to each. This evidently shows one who is not blind that the whole of the body, including every particle, is a work of an Eternal, All-Powerful One and operates under His command.
Also, in each particle are two further true witnesses to the necessary existence and Unity of the Maker: despite its absolute powerlessness, each particle is able to do a great variety of significant duties, and despite its lifelessness, by acting in conformity with the universal order; each particle displays a universal consciousness. That means, each particle testifies, through its impotence, to the necessary existence of the Absolutely All-Powerful One, and through acting in conformity with the order of the universe, to His Unity.
The seeds of all flowering and fruit-bearing plants are the same in composition: they are all composed of carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen
ABSOLUTE BALANCE, ORDERLINESS AND DISTINGUISHING DESPITE THINGS BEING ALMOST INFINITELY MINGLED
Look at the stamp pointed out in: Look at the prints of God’s Mercy, how He revives the Earth after its death.
HARMONY
EVERY PARTICLE TESTIFIES TO GOD IN TWO WAYS
Also, in each particle are two further true witnesses to the necessary existence and Unity of the Maker: despite its absolute powerlessness, each particle is able to do a great variety of significant duties, and despite its lifelessness, by acting in conformity with the universal order; each particle displays a universal consciousness. That means, each particle testifies, through its impotence, to the necessary existence of the Absolutely All-Powerful One, and through acting in conformity with the order of the universe, to His Unity.
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