Who is God?
Cont’d from page 1
When he saw the moon rising, he said, “Maybe this is my Lord!” When it disappeared, he said, “Unless my Lord guides me, I will be with the strayers. (6:77)
But, this is not about proving them wrong, but rather using this article and taking a step back and posing the question “Who is God?”
Linguistically we know who God is, but the words which we use I don’t believe get much thought. To each attribute of God there is its root meaning and at times we don’t even think about those meanings. As children and even into our adulthood and throughout maturity God is marketed to us, in a bid to buy whose version of God is the best or better. The whole concept: “My God is bigger than yours.”
When I was a Catholic I could remember seeing images of a blonde haired blue eyed man on statues and paintings and being told this is God. We see television Evangelists preaching that the only way to God is through His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, and if you don’t accept that, simply put, you are going to hell. I have attended debates and read apologetics of the equality of humans but at the same time they say that my way is the only way or my God is the only God.
Growing up I got to see different faiths by those who knocked on the door. Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Baptists all would knock on the door and ask if we had received the truth today and were telling us who God is, and my way or the highway. When I began studying Islam, it appealed to me because of the lack of a clergy and one was given the freedom to learn and understand at his own consequence.
It wasn’t long until I was told how to follow and who to follow and that there was in fact an Islamic clergy in Saudi Arabia. Above all, I was told
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that God’s literal name is Allah. I didn’t give it much thought and I came to understand it the same way, which is until I came into the path of submission to God alone. I had come to understand that Jesus is not God, and even that Allah is not God, nor is “God” God, but rather these are meanings. Of course Jesus being God is idolatrous so we can immediately eradicate that from the understanding. Allah is the name for God in Arabic or literally “The God.”
Who is God in the Quran?
We learn from the Quran who God really is. It is also clear that our God is One and the same:
For each congregation we have decreed rites whereby they commemorate the name of GOD for providing them with the livestock. Your god is one and the same god; you shall all submit to Him. Give good news to the obedient. 22:34
Say, “Call Him God, or call Him Most Gracious; whichever name you use, to Him belongs the best names.” 17:110
[59:22] He is the One GOD; there is no other god beside Him. Knower of all secrets and declarations. He is the Most Gracious, Most Merciful. 59:22
[59:23] He is the One GOD; there is no other god beside Him. The King, the Most Sacred, the Peace, the Most Faithful, the Supreme, the Almighty, the Most Powerful, the Most Dignified. GOD be glorified; far above having partners. 59:23
[59:24] He is the One GOD; the Creator, the Initiator, the Designer. To Him belong the most beautiful names. Glorifying Him is everything in the heavens and the earth. He is the Almighty, Most Wise. 59:24
‘Best Provider’ 5:114, 22:85, ...
‘Best Supporter’ 3:150
‘Best Schemer’ 3:54 |
‘Best Judge’ 7:87, 10:109, 12:80...
‘Most Accurate Reckoner’ 6:62
‘Best Forgiver’ 7:155
Proclaim, “He is the One and only God. The Absolute God. Never did He beget. Nor was He begotten. None equals Him. Sura 112
Say, “I seek refuge in the Lord of the people. The King of the people. The god of the people. From the evils of sneaky whisperers. Who whisper into the chests of the people. Be they of the jinns, or the people. Sura 114
The agonizing moments through which I have passed during the last few years have also drawn me closer to God. More than ever before I am convinced of the reality of a personal God. True, I have always believed in the personality of God. But in the past the idea of a personal God was little more than a metaphysical category that I found theologically and philosophically satisfying. Now it is a living reality that has been validated in the experiences of everyday life.
God has been profoundly real to me in recent years. In the midst of outer dangers I have felt an inner calm. In the midst of lonely days and dreary nights I have heard an inner voice saying, “Lo, I will be with you.” When the chains of fear and the manacles of frustration have all but stymied my efforts, I have felt the power of God transforming the fatigue of despair into the buoyancy of hope.
I am convinced that the universe is under the control of a loving purpose, and that in the struggle for righteousness man has cosmic companionship. Behind the harsh appearances of the world there is a benign power.
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