::BELIEVING IN ALLAH::

Iman in Allah Almighty is the principle of faith:

Believing in Allah Almighty is the principle reason for which Allah created the heaven,

earth, Paradise, Hellfire, the balance, the straight path

and all mankind. Allah Almighty says in the Qur'an:

I created Jinn and mankind only to worship Me.

[Al-Dhariyat: 56]

Knowing Allah Almighty and believing in Him requires admitting His Lordship (Rububiyyah), Worship (Uluhiyyah),

Names and Attributes (Al-Assma' wa Al-Sifat)

which are considered the basics of faith.

Muslims must know all of these matters relating to Allah Almighty to have sound faith.

Following is a glimpse on such principles of faith:

What does Iman mean?

- Linguistic meaning: to believe.

- Technical meaning:

Believe in Allah verbally and by heart.

Iman in Allah means the firm conviction that Allah Almighty is the Rabb (the Lord),

Creator, Master, Cherisher of all things;

and that He is the Ilah (diety) who is alone worthy of undivided worship

and that He is distinguished by all the attributes of perfection

and completeness and that He is above any faults or deficiencies.

The three areas of Tawhid (monotheism):

- The Tawhid of Lordship.

- The Tawhid of Worship.

- The Tawhid of Names and Attributes (al-Assma wa al-Sifat).






1- Tawhid of Lordship:

It generally means the firm conviction that Allah is the Lord

, Owner and Disposer of everything with no partner.

Allah's Lordship over His creation means that He alone is their Creator,

Master, and Disposer of their affairs.

To attribute leadership solely to Allah means:

conviction that He alone is the Creator,

the Master of mankind, the One who gives them life and death,

who bestows benefactions and visits with hardship;

the One who responds to their supplication,

the One who gives and deprives and has power over them.

Creation and commandments are His and to Him is all the power.


Allah Almighty says:

His verily is all creation and commandment. Exalted be Allah, Lord of the worlds.

[Al-'Araf: 54]

Believing in Allah's Lordship includes believing in predestination:

This means to believe that everything occurs according to

the prior knowledge and will of Allah, Exalted be He, Who destined everything

And everyone of His creation has to meet his destiny according to what Allah has decreed.

Tawhid of Lordship from the Qur'anic perspective:

The Qur'an clearly states this branch of Tawhid in its entire chapters.

This is because this kind of Tawhid is the basic for Iman

and because Allah the Creator,

the Owner and the Disposer is worthy of undivided worship,

submission, praising, thanking, remembering, supplication, hope, fear and the like.

All acts of worship must be dedicated to the One who created

and disposes everything.

Moreover, Allah, the Creator, Disposer and Owner only deserve the attributes of Majesty, Beauty and perfection.

This is because such attributes can never be for anyone

except the Lord of the worlds since it is impossible to

attribute Lordship to anyone. Allah is the Eternal.

All-Hearing, All-Sighting, the Omnipotent, Ever speaker and does what

He wants and Wise in all His decrees.

Therefore, this branch of Tawhid is mentioned in

the Qur'an in different contexts including that of praise,

worship, submission and stating Allah's Exalted Attributes and Names.

Allah Almighty says in the Qur'an:

[All] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds

[Al-Fatiha: 1]

Then, to Allah belongs [all] praise - Lord of the heavens and

Lord of the earth, Lord of the worlds.

[Al-Jathiya: 36]

Say [Muhammad], "Indeed, the guidance of Allah is the [only] guidance;

and we have been commanded to submit to the Lord of the worlds

. [Al-'An'am: 71]
Say,

"Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.

[Al-'An'am: 162]

Say,

"Is it other than Allah I should take as a protector, Creator of the heavens and the earth, while it is He who feeds and is not fed?"

Say,

[O Muhammad], "Indeed, I have been commanded to be the first [among you] who submit [to Allah] and [was commanded], 'Do not ever be of the polytheists.'

[Al-'An'am: 14]

His verily is all creation and commandment. Exalted be Allah, Lord of the worlds. Call upon your Lord in humility and privately; indeed, He does not like transgressors.

[ Al-'Araf: 54-55]

And why should I not worship He who created me and to whom you will be returned?

[Ya-Seen: 22]

O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous - [He] who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent down from the sky, rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you. So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing similar to Him].

[Al-Baqarah: 12-22]

Tawhid of Lordship does not suffice to declare one's Islam (monotheism):

When the people of Quraysh rejected to declare the Oneness of Allah by saying

"La Illaha Illa Allah" "there is no god but Allah", Allah Almighty commanded his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to question those people about the Owner, the Creator, the Sustainer. They replied that He is "Allah". However, they rejected to single Him with worship and were stated in the Qur'an as saying, " Has he made the gods [only] one God? Indeed, this is an astonishing thing."

[Sad: 5]

Thereupon, they did not enter Islam because they refused to submit themselves to Allah. This is because they have no choice regarding their creation, but they must fulfill the purpose for which they were created. Allah gave them the will to choose what they do; however, they have no choice regarding the entire creation. Allah Almighty says, "And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me

. [Al-Dhariyat: 56]

In this verse, Allah attributed the act of creation to Himself

and ordered them to worship Him as it is also mentioned in many verses.

Consequently, worshiping Allah means to obey His commands while refraining from disobeying Him

.

Hence, "La Illaha Illa Allah" means that none deserves to be truly worshipped except Allah.

Mentioning the word "truly" here restricts the concept of worship to

Allah alone and denying all false claims of associating partners with Him.

Allah Almighty also rebuked those disbelievers for denying the Lordship of

Allah over them. Despite the fact they admit that He is the Creator,

they rejected to return to Him in worship and were heedless about it.

Allah Almighty says,

Say, [O Muhammad], "To whom belongs the earth and whoever is in it, if you should know?" They will say, "To Allah." Say, "Then will you not remember?" Say, "Who is Lord of the seven heavens and Lord of the Great Throne?" They will say, "[They belong] to Allah." Say, "Then will you not fear Him?" Say, "In whose hand is the realm of all things - and He protects while none can protect against Him - if you should know?" They will say, "[All belongs] to Allah." Say, "Then how are you deluded?"

[Al-Mu'minun: 84-89]

And if you should ask them, "Who has created the heavens and the earth?" they would surely say, "They were created by the Exalted in Might, the Knowing."

[Al-Zukhruf: 9]




- Tawhid of worship:

This means that the believer holds the firm conviction that

Allah Almighty is the true God and there is no God but Him,

and he directs his worship only to Him.

The word Ilah means in Arabic: Alma'aluh which means

: the one to be worshiped. Scholars defined the word worship as

humiliation and submission to Allah;

in other words it is the perfect love and submission to Allah.

Tawhid of worship is based on dedicating one's worship to

Allah only either external or internal acts.

The true believer worship Allah alone with

love, sincerity, fear, hope, supplicates Him, puts his trust in Him,

obedience, humiliation, submission and all forms of worship.

This kind of Tawhid incorporates, in its real meaning,

all the other types: it incorporates the Tawhid of Allah in His Lordship,

His names and attributes, the reverse is not true.

This means that the one who

admits the Lordship of Allah may not believe in

His Oneness or directs worship to Him alone.

The same is applied to the one who admit the Tawhid of Allah's names and

attributes while denying the other kinds of Tawhid.

However, the one who admits the Tawhid of Allah's worship over

His creation is actually realized that Allah is the Lord of this world and

to whom belongs the beautiful names and

all attributes of perfection. This is because sincere worship must be dedicated

to Allah only, the Lord of the world and it is unacceptable that

worship is to be dedicated to that which is imperfect.
Based on this, testifying the "La Illah Illa Allah" "there is no God but Allah" implies all kinds of Tawhid. This kind of Tawhid is considered the essence of religion and for which Allah created everything. Allah Almighty says, I created Jinn and mankind only to worship Me

. [Al-Dhariyat: 56]

Imam ibn Taymiya (may Allah have mercy on him) said

: "this kind of Tawhid distinguishes between monotheists and polytheists and for which reward and punishment will be applied in this world and in the Hereafter. So, whoever denies it, will be a polytheist".
All the Messengers and Books that Allah Almighty sent to His servants called people to this kind of Tawhid. In other words, it was the basic and essence of their missions. Allah Most High says,

And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], "Worship Allah and avoid Taghut [Idols].

[Al-Nahl: 36]

And We sent not before you any messenger except that We revealed to him that, "There is no deity except Me, so worship Me."

[Al-Anbiya: 25]

Allah Almighty informed us in the Qur'an that all His Messengers; Noah, Hud, Salih and Shu'aib called their people to worship Allah the One true God. All of them told their people this statement: "O my people, worship Allah; you have no deity other than Him.

[Hud: 61, Al-'Araf: 65, Al-Anbiya: 25]

The Tawhid of Uluhiya necessitates certain matters,

the first of which is to worship Allah sincerely and

direct all our acts to worship to Him alone.

This includes

the following:

1-

Loving Allah sincerely without associating any partner with Him. Whoever loves anything or associates partners with Allah in loving Him, will be a disbeliever. Allah Almighty says,
And [yet], among the people are those who take other than Allah as equals [to Him]. They love them as they [should] love Allah. But those who believe are stronger in love for Allah. And if only they who have wronged would consider [that] when they see the punishment, [they will be certain] that all power belongs to Allah and that Allah is severe in punishment.

[Al-Baqarah: 165]

So, among the acts of major sins is to associate partners or

take partners in loving Allah. This is a kind of disbelief that

Allah never forgives except through sincere repentance.

2-

Directing our supplications, trust and hope sincerely to Allah and in all matters that none save Him the Almighty can dispose. Allah Most High says,
And do not invoke besides Allah that which neither benefits you nor harms you, for if you did, then indeed you would be of the wrongdoers.

[Yunus: 106]

And in Allah put your trust if you are true believers.

[Al-Ma'ida: 23]

Indeed, those who have believed and those who have emigrated and fought in the cause of Allah - those expect the mercy of Allah. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.

[Al-Baqarah: 218]

3-

It is an obligation no to associate partners with Allah in fearing Him. Whoever believes that any among creation may bring or has the power to harm and fears it, he then disbelieves. Allah Almighty says, "So fear only Me."

[Al-Nahl: 51]

It is worthy to mention that there is difference between

the above kind of fear and that one feels by instinct.

Fearing Allah is a must in worshiping Him,

while there is no objection to fearing beasts or any of such creatures.

To conclude, Tawhid al-Uluhiya means to declare that

(there is no God but Allah and Muhammad

(peace and blessings be upon him) is His Messenger)

. This includes singling Allah with worship and

to follow what has been revealed to His Messenger.

The Tawhid of Names and Attributes (Al-Assma' wa al-Sifat):

It means that to Allah belong all the Exalted Names and Attributes.

So, we must describe Him as He describes Himself and according to what His Messenger

described Him without likening Him to His creatures.

Allah Almighty says,

There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.

[Al-Shura: 11]

Scholars said, "testifying that there is no God but Allah

" implies Tawhid of Lordship, Worship and Names and Attributes

." [See the book: Questions and answers on 'Aqida]

- The Tawhid of Allah's Names and Attributes means:

it is the firm conviction in Allah's absolute perfection as well as in His perfect Attributes.

This implies placing Allah above any likeness to His creatures and beyond any imperfections. To believe that His Names and Attributes are established in the Qur'an and Sunnah, without detracting from them, expanding upon them, alerting or nullifying them. Allah Most High says,
There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.

[Al-Shura: 11]

And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them

. [Al-'Araf: 180]

Say, "Call upon Allah or call upon the Most Merciful. Whichever [name] you call - to Him belong the best names."

[Al-Isra: 110]

It also means that to Allah belong all the Attributes of perfection

and He is above any imperfections and nothing among His creatures is like Him.

This kind of Tawhid has three basics:

- Abandoning likening Allah Almighty to any of His creatures;

and raising Him above nay imperfections.

-

Believing that His Names and Attributes are established in the Qur'an and Sunnah, without

detracting from them, expanding upon them, alerting or nullifying them.
-

Abandoning any desire to ascertain the form of those attributes.
The first basic: It is to admit that Allah and His Attributes are not like any of His creatures. This is asserted in His saying, "There is nothing like unto Him.

[Al-Shura: 11]

and "Nor is there to Him any equivalent."

[Al-Ikhlas: 4]

Imam Al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him)

said in interpreting Allah's saying "There is nothing like unto Him":

"In our opinion, it means that Allah Exalted and Glorified be Him in His Kingdom

and in His Exalted Names and

High Attributes is not like or likened to any of His creatures.

What is mentioned in the Shari'ah [Islamic law] on the similarity

between the attributes of the creator and

His creations is not similar in the true sense of the word since the Attributes of Allah are Eternal

and never likened to any of His creatures."

Al-Wasiti (may Allah have mercy on him) said,

"Nothing is like His Self, none is like His Name, None is like His disposition, none is like His Attributes except similarity in its lexical derivations."

Al-Qurtubi mentioned in his interpretation vol.16 page 9:

"according to the people of Sunnah and Jama'a, the Eternal self of Allah is far beyond being new and vice versa."

Sayed Qutb (may Allah have mercy on him)

said in his book Fi Zilal al-Qur'an vol.7 page 272:

"One naturally believes in this.

This is because the Creator of all that exists can never be similar to what He created."

The second basic: it necessitates attributing to Allah what He and

His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)

attributed to Himself through the Qur'an and Sunnah. This is because Allah knows best about Himself. Allah Almighty says, "Are you more knowing or is Allah?"

[Al-Baqarah: 140]

Nu'aim ibn Hammad, Al-Bukhari's teacher (may Allah have mercy on them both), said, "Whoever likens Allah to any of His creatures or denies what Allah and His Messenger attributed to Him, will be a disbeliever. Nothing is like Him."

[Al-Rawda al-Nadiya: 22]

The third basic: it necessitates believing in Allah's Names and

Attributes as they are revealed in the Qur'an and Sunnah without searching in them.

Many people among the Salaf said upon being asked

about the how Allah is established on the Throne

: "Establishment (Istiwa) is known, the how of it is unknown,

belief in it is obligatory, and questions about it are reprehensible innovation (bid'ah)."

[See the book of Al-Iman: 11]

Allah- God

Islam is the complete submission and obedience to Allah (God).o

The name Allah (God) in Islam never refers to Muhammad (pbuh)

, as many Christians may think; Allah is the personal name of God.

What do Muslims believe about Allah?i

1

. He is the one God, Who has no partner.

2.

Nothing is like Him. He is the Creator, not created, nor a part of His creation

3.

He is All-Powerful, absolutely Just.

4.

There is no other entity in the entire universe worthy of worship besides Him

5.

He is First, Last, and Everlasting; He was when nothing was,

and will be when nothing else

remains.

6.

He is the All-Knowing, and All-Merciful,the Supreme, the Sovereign.

7.

It is only He Who is capable of granting life to anything.

8.

He sent His Messengers (peace be upon them) to guide all of mankind.

9.

He sent Muhammad (pbuh) as the last Prophet and Messenger for all mankind.

10.

His book is the Holy Qur'an, the only authentic revealed book in the world that has been kept without change.

11.

Allah knows what is in our hearts.

Knowing Allah through His creations

The best thing through which one can know Allah is through

His creations that He perfectly brought to existence

and all the bounties He bestowed upon mankind—believing and unbelieving.

The noble Qur'an is the most evident witness on the greatness

and will of Allah since it includes the news of all creations

and unveils the facts that humans ignore.

Here, we will point out some of the miracles mentioned

in the noble Qur'an that strongly prove the existence of Allah

and His eternal encompassing knowledge:

Scientists had many trials to discover the real components of

iron since they discovered that the energy relating its

molecules equals four times of that which exists in our solar system

.

Scientists wondered upon knowing this fact

;

however, scholars of Islam were familiar with it since

they studied the saying of Allah:

And We sent down iron,

wherein is great military might and benefits for the people,

and so that Allah may make evident those who support Him

and His messengers unseen. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might

. [Al-Hadeed: 25].

Thereupon, they knew through the word

"we sent down"

that iron was not among the minerals found on earth

,

rather it was sent down from heaven

.

The mineralogists in the modern time asserted that iron

does not have the same properties of other minerals exist on earth.

- Exploring the deep seas, marine geologists discovered

that all the details pertaining to the descriptions of the seas are stated in

the Qur'anic verse in which Allah Almighty says:

Or they are

like darknesses within an unfathomable sea which is covered by

waves, upon which are waves, over which are clouds - darknesses,

some of them upon others. When one puts out his hand [therein], he can hardly see it.

And he to whom Allah has not granted light - for him there is no light.

[Al-Noor: 40].

Professor Shridar

, one of the greatest marine geologists in West Germany

commented on the above verse saying

:

this is a fact which has been proved through building dozens of arsenals

and taking pictures through satellites.

These words can never be of humans.

Professor Dorgaro

, a marine geologist, explained the scientific authenticity

of the above verse saying

:

"man in the past could not dive more than 20 meters beneath

the sea without the help of equipments.

However, in the present

, we use modern equipments to dive 200 meters beneath

the deep sea where we find great

]

darkness as it was perfectly described in the noble verse

"unfathomable sea"

. Marine researches explained the meaning of the saying of Allah

"darknesses, some of them upon others"

; it is known that the rainbow colors are seven,

including red, yellow, blue, green, orange…etc.

when we go deeper towards the bottom of the sea,

each of these colors disappear gradually and each leaves darkness.

The red disappears, then the orange, yellow and finally blue at 200 meters deep.

Each of these colors disappears leaving darkness

until it reaches its highest degree at the depth of 200 meters.

As for the saying of Allah

"waves, upon which are waves",

it was scientifically proved that the bottom

and top of the seas are separated by numerous waves which

are placed above each other.

This is as if the bottom of the sea is bordered by

waves which are invisible to us while that on its top are visible,

so they are like waves upon waves as stated in the verse.

That is why Professor Dorgaro asserted that

these verses can never be of humans."

This is Allah!!

If you still do not know Him,

Ponder over His signs and creations;

Think of the heavens and how they are erected;

How He stretched the earth beneath your feet;

Think who controls your breath in ever inhale and exhale.

He is Allah the One and the Ever-Sustainer.

::WHO IS ALLAH::

::INTRODUCTION::

There are various ways through which man can familiarize himself with the surroundings,

beings, natural and unnatural phenomena

. Each one of these has certain way to realize it.

For example, when one wants to acquaint himself with a person

he does not know, one may get

closer to that person, show love and respect

. There is even a formula of respect and reverence

used by different languages to show respect in addressing people or

one can introduce himself to

that person either directly or indirectly and so on and so forth

. However, the best way to know

someone is to listen to him talking and

it is the perfect method when it comes to knowing Allah.

WHO IS ALLAH?!o

___________

Allah the Almighty Himself answers this question in His saying,

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.

((Al-Baqarah: 255))

Allah Almighty introduces Himself in the above mentioned verse as follows:

Allah - there is no deity except Him

(Allahu la IIah Ila Howa):

Allah informs us that He is the

One true god who deserves to be worshiped by all His creatures.

- Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence

(Al-Hay Al-Qayum):

Allah is the Ever-Living, He is eternal while all his creatures are mortal.

He is the Sustainer of all that exist who are in need of His help and support.

Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep

(La ta'khuzhu sinatun wa la naoum):

it means that Allah is above imperfection, inattention or distraction.

He is the Ever-watchful over everything

and everyone and nothing can escape His knowledge.

Allah is Perfect and Eternal He is never overtaken by

drowsiness which is light sleep or even

sleep.

- To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth

(Lahu ma fi as-samawati wa ma fi al-ard):

it informs that all beings are His servants and

all of them are under His Might and Dominance.

- Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission?o

(man tha allathi yashfa'u 'indahu illa bi ithnih):

this verse shows Allah's greatness,

Majesty and Gloriousness where none can intercede with

Him without His permission.

- He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them

(Ya'lam ma bayn aydihim wa ma khalfahum):

it shows that Allah's knowledge encompasses everything.

- and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills

(wa la yuhitun bi shay'in min ilmihi illa bima sha'):

it means that none can know anything except for that

which Allah the Almighty taught and revealed to him.

- His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth

(wa si'a kursiuhu as-samawt wa al-ard):

it means that His dominance and throne encompasses everything.

- and their preservation tires Him not

(wa la ya'uduhu hifzuhuma):

it means that nothing in the heavens or earth or

in between can over burden or bother Allah Who protects them all

. Rather, it is so easy for Him since He is the Sustainer for all

, the ever-Watchful, nothing in the world that exist escapes His knowledge

, all things stand in humiliation and need before Him and He is Free of need

, the Praiseworthy, He des what He wills and

He is not questioned about what He does

, but they will be questioned

. He is the Omnipotent, The Suffienct, ever-Watchful,

The Exalted, the Greatest and there is no god deserves worship except Him.

- And He is the Most High, the Most Great

(wa howa al-'Ali al-'Azeem):

Allah is High above everything He is the Greatest.

This is the first thing we can introduce to our readers who

wants to know Allah

. We do not need to bring you evidence on His existence

, praise Him in poems or anything about Him since Allah Almighty

and the Greatest introduced Himself in His noble verse.

This verse is named "the verse of the Throne

"Ayat al-Kursi"

is the greatest verse of the noble Qur'an.

One should ponder it, listen to Allah talking about Himself

and try to go deeper in knowing Him.

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WHO IS ALLAH

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