Quran: The Image Of Allah
In the Quran, Allah is the absolute one, the all knowing master of the universe and the only Creator of everything in existence. Allah has described himself in the Quran as strictly singular (Tawhid), unique and inherently One (Ahad). Tawhid, affirms that God is one and incomparable. The Quran describes Allah as the First and the Last. The worshipping of anyone except for Allah is seen as shirk which is the greatest sin in Islam. The entirety of the Quran as well as a Muslim’s faith rest on the principle of Tawhid which as mentioned above is the Oneness of Allah. This paper will talk about the nature of Allah as described in the Quran and His various qualities and attributes including merciful, omnipotent, all-Knowing, transcendence, immanence etc.
The Oneness, Sovereignty and power are clearly described in Ayat-ul-Kursi (2:255). Allah is described as an ever-living being that never gets tired or exhausted and hence never feels the need to sleep. The Quran says everything in this earth and in the heavens belongs to Him and nothing can even move from one place to another without His permission. He knows everything about the beings on the Earth while they know nothing except for what He wishes to tell them. He is the most High, the most Great and the most Wise, as described in the Quran.
As Tawhid reaffirms, Allah is only One but the Quran mentions 99 different names of Allah, each of which evokes a different attribute of the same God. This shows the various different qualities and attributes that are associated with the same one God, Allah. One of the most emphasized qualities of Allah in the Quran is that He is all-Merciful (17:44, 22:65, 28:73, 34:2, 35:2, 40:7, 57:9, 67:2-3). All blessings and favors, in this world and the next are a proof of Allah’s mercy. After all, His creations and this world would not have existed if it was not for Him and His Mercy. One of the verses of the Quran (28:73) talks about how Allah created the day so that we could do good deeds and seek His blessings and bounties and created the night so that His beings could rest and wake up the next day to busy themselves in worshipping Allah and in seeking His blessings. The God of the Quran never burdens a soul more than it can carry on its shoulders and that in itself is a sign of His mercy. Mankind was not left alone to face the struggles of this world, Allah sent down prophets to guide and protect the people, which again show His mercy upon His creations.
Allah is also the all-Forgiving which is another sign of His mercy (2:37). He understands that all His creations are able to commit sins but He overlooks their shortcomings with leniency as long as they sincerely repent to Him. The Quran mentions how even the punishment given by God is also only temporary to the extent that there will come a point where His mercy will partake even the punishment of hell. To think about it, even the punishment of Allah can be seen as a form of Mercy because it actually helps mankind to reform themselves and their actions. His Mercy encompasses everything. He forgives us and does not deprive us of His blessings and favors and also gives us numerous amounts of chances and ways to mend our mistakes. A verse of the Quran (17:44) talks about how Allah is the forbearing and the forgiving. He is so Great that everyone bears witness to the fact that their Creator is free of any faults. Humans tend to make faults and mistakes but He forgives them and therefore is only worthy of praise and nothing else.
Another quality of Allah mentioned in the Quran is that He is Omnipotent and Omnipresent. He has infinite power and is present everywhere at all times. Allah can do any and everything that can be done, without the need of any other being. All power rests with Him alone. He can do whatever He wills and whenever He wills and nobody can question Him regarding whatever decisions He makes. A man being born in the woman’s womb is an example of Allah’s omnipotence. In fact in the Quran, Allah has asked mankind which signs and gifts of His will we deny, the very own existence of mankind is in itself a symbol of Allah’s omnipotence.
Transcendent and Immanent are other qualities used to describe Allah. He is above and beyond anything that exists and is close to everything within the earth. Transcendence and Immanence can be used as contrasts because transcendence talks about God being outside the material world while immanence talks about Allah being manifested within the world. However, the God of the Quran is both immanent and transcendent at the same time because He is the creator of the universe and therefore is not limited by the physical world which shows Him as being outside the world, yet He is also within all things on the earth and is compassionate towards His creations which shows Him as being involved within the world at the same time.
A verse of the Quran (58:7) talks about how Allah knows of everything that is on the Earth and in the heavens which shows his transcendence. It talks about how we may want to hide things from people around us and not want to share our plans with anyone but nothing is hidden from the God of the Quran. Humans may be able to escape from all kinds of power in the world but they cannot escape from Allah and His plans which show His existence beyond the physical level.
Allah is also described as the all-Knowing (2:115, 2:255, 2:32, 6:96, 6:101). He is the all-Knowing and the most Wise. He knows everything that is in the heavens and in this world, His knowledge knows no ends. Humans like us need to perform trial and error runs, to know what is right and what is wrong and how something works but Allah already is aware of everything including the unseen even. Nothing in the world or outside the world goes unnoticed by Allah. A lot of times we do not understand when something is good for us or when something is bad for us but Allah knows all along. He knows things that we do not know. His knowledge knows no limitations and Him and His knowledge are perfect which is why Muslims are to worship Him alone. A verse of the Quran (2:115) talks about how Allah does not belong to the east or the west but instead all the directions including the north and the south are His alone and that whichever direction you take, you will find the God of the Quran there, knowing everything that is happening everywhere.
All these various qualities and attributes shed light on the nature and existence (Wujud) of the God of the Quran and how He has described Himself in the Quran. Quran, the Holy book of the Muslims describes their God as eternal and as everlasting. He has neither any beginning nor any end. Since He is described as eternal, it is fair to say that Allah is also self sufficient and independent of any thing and anyone else and He does not resemble or share any characteristics with anyone else either. For example, as discussed in the paragraphs above Allah does not ever get tired and never feels the need to rest unlike us human beings who get tired and exhausted and need sleep to function the next day. Even the life of living things cannot be compared to Allah’s life as all living things have a beginning and an end whereas the life of Allah is just one of his many various attributes.
Speech, Sight and Hearing can also be categorized in the outstanding and well known array of qualities and attributes that God possesses. Allah can see, hear and speak without needing any instruments. His abilities to do all three never change or develop as Allah is already perfect and eternal where he needs no change or development overtime. He can hear whatever is near or far away and he can also see that which no one else can see. Allah speaks to His creations through his Holy Book, He does not make any sound, write any letter nor speaks a language, He simply uses His book to convey His message of what is right and what is wrong. One of the verses of the Quran emphasize on Allah’s ability to see everything within and outside the earth (64:2) . It talks about how Allah sees everything that His beings do whether they are good or bad deeds but Allah is all seeing at all times.
The Holy Quran emphasizes on all the qualities mentioned above to describe the nature of Allah. The vast array of qualities and attributes that are mentioned in the Quran only further shed light upon the Greatness and Uniqueness of the God of the Quran. To conclude, one of the verses from Surah Mulk (67:3) further explains to us the Greatness of the God of the Quran talking about how He created the seven heavens without any inconsistency or flaw and without the help of any other being and that due to all His qualities and attributes, He is only worthy of praise and worship.
