The Religion Of Islam vol.1
- Proofs of His existence:
“He (God) bringeth forth the living out of the dead, and He bringeth forth the death out of the living and He quickeneth the earth after it hath been dead; and in like manner shall ye be brought forth (from your graves) of His signs (one is,) that He hath created you of dust; and behold, ye (are become) men, spread over the face of the earth. And of His signs (another is) that He hath created for you, out of yourselves, wives, that ye may cohabit with them; and hath put love and compassion between you: verily herein are signs unto people who consider. And of His signs (are also,) the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variety of you languages, and of your complexion; verily herein are signs unto men of understanding. And of His signs (are,) your sleeping by night and by day, and your seeking (to provide for yourselves) of His abundance; verily herein (are) signs unto people who hearken. Of His signs (others are) that He showeth you the lightning, to strike terror, and to give hope (of rain), and that He sendeth down water from heaven, and quickeneth thereby the earth, after it hath been dead: verily herein are signs unto people who understand. And of His signs (this also is one, namely) that the heavens and the earth stand firm at His command: here after when He shall call ye out of the earth at one summons, behold, ye shall come forth…”
“When adversity befalleth men, they call upon their Lord, turning unto Him; afterwards, when He hath caused them to taste of His mercy, behold, a part of them associate (other deities) with their Lord; showing themselves ungrateful for the favours which We have bestowed on them.”
“When We cause men to taste mercy, they rejoice therein; but if evil befalleth them, for that which their hands have before committed, be-hold, they despair. (It is) God Who hath created you, and hath provided food for you: hereafter will He cause you to die; and after that, will He raise you; again to life.”
“(It is) God Who created you in weakness, and after weakness hath given (you) strength; and after strength, He will (again) reduce (you) to weakness, and grey hair: He createth that which He pleaseth; and He (is) the Wise, the Powerful.”
God’s Omnipresence asserted
“There is no private discourse among three persons, but He is the fourth of them; nor (among) five, but He is the sixth of them; neither (among) a smaller number than this, nor a larger, but He is with them, wheresoever they be: and He will declare unto them that which they have done, on the day of resurrection; for God knoweth all things.
God’s Omnipotence
“God, there is no deity He, the Living, the Self–Subsisting: Neither slumber seizeth Him nor sleep; His, whatsoever is in the heavens, and whatsoever is on the earth. Who is He that can intercede with Him, but by His permission? He knoweth what hath been before them and what shall be after them; yet naught of His knowledge shall they grasp, save what He willeth. His Seat reaches over the heavens and the earth, and the upholding of both is no burden unto Him; and He is the High and the Great.”
Creator of all things
“He causes the dawn to appear, and hath ordained the night for rest, and the sun and the moon for computing time. The ordinance of the Mighty, the Wise.” “And it is He Who hath ordained the stars for you, that ye may be guided thereby in the darkness of the land and of the sea. Clear have We made Our signs to men of knowledge.” “And it is He Who produced you from one man, and hath (provided for you) an abode and resting place. Clear have We made our signs for men of insight.”
“And it is He Who sendeth rain from Heaven, and We bring forth by it the buds of all the plants, and from them. We bring forth the green foliage, and the close growing grain, and palm trees with sheaths of clustering dates, and gardens of grapes, and the olive and the pomegranate, like and unlike. Look ye on their fruits, when they ripen and bear fruit. Truly herein are signs unto people who believe…This is God your Lord. There is no deity but He, the creator of all things, therefore worship Him alone; and He watcheth over all things” “We created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six days, and no weariness touched Us.”
Perfect in His Works.
“Blessed be He in Whose hand is the Kingdom; and over all things is He potent:
“Who hath created death and life, to prove who of you will be most righteous in deed; and He is the Mighty, the Forgiving.”
“ Who hath created seven heavens one above another. No defect canst thou see in the creation of the God of mercy; repeat the gaze: seest thou a single flaw?
“ Then twice more repeat the gaze: thy gaze shall return to thee dulled and weary.” (Koran)
The Light of Heaven and Earth
“God is the Light of the Heavens and of the Earth. His light is like a niche in which there is a lamp –the lamp encased in glass- the glass, as it were a glistening star. From a blessed tree it is lighted, the olive tree, neither of the East nor the West, whose oil shines out as it were, even though fire touched it not. It is light upon light. God guideth whom He will to His light, and God setteth forth parables to men, for God knoweth all things.”
Provides for All
“Whoso chooseth this quickly passing life, quickly will We bestow thereon that which We please–even on him We choose; afterwards We will appoint hell for him, in which he shall burn- disgraced, outcast.”
“But they who choose the life to come and strive after it, as it should be striven for, being also believers– as for these, their striving shall be grateful (to God).
“To all–both to these and those– Will We prolong the gifts of (Us We) your Lord; for not to any shall the gifts of thy Lord be denied.”
“See how We have caused some of them to excel others; but the next life shall be greater in its grades, and greater in excellence.
“Set not up another Lord with God, lest thou sit thee down disgraced, helpless. Try Lord ordained that ye worship none but Him…..”
His Words are Countless.
“Say: Should the sea become ink, to write the words of my Lord, the sea would surely fail, ere the words of my Lord would fail, though we brought (other seas) like it in aid…
“If all the trees that are upon earth were to become pens, and if God should after that swell the sea into seven seas (of ink) His words would not be exhausted; for God is Mighty and Wise.”
Has no Offspring
“And they say, God hath a son: No Praise be to Him. But– His is whatever is in the Heavens and the Earth. All obey Him.”
“Sole maker of the Heavens and of the Earth. And when He decreeth a thing. He only saith to it. ‘Be’ and it is…
“Yet have they assigned the jins to God as His associates, though He created them; and in their ignorance they have falsely ascribed to Him sons and daughters. Glory be to Him, and high let Him be exalted above that which they attribute to Him.
“Sole Maker of the Heavens and the Earth, how, when He hath no consort, should He have a son? He hath created everything and He knoweth everything.
“This is God your Lord. There is no deity but He, the creator of all things; therefore worship Him alone: and He watches over all things. They say: “The God of Mercy hath gotten offspring.” Now have ye done a monstrous thing. Almost might the very Heavens be rent thereat, and the Earth cleave asunder, and the mountains fall down in fragments, that they ascribe a son to the God of Mercy, when it beseemeth not the God of Mercy to beget a son…”
Created All Beings to Adore Him
“I have not created Jins and men, but that they should worship Me.”
How He Speaketh with Man
“It is not for man that God should speak with him, but by vision, or from behind a veil: Or, He sendeth a messenger to reveal, by His permission, what He will: for He is exalted (and) wise.
“Thus have We sent the Spirit (Gabriel) to thee with a revelation, by our command: Thou knewest not, ere this, what the ‘Book’ was or what the (true) faith was. But We have ordained it for a light: by it will We guide whom We please of Our servants. And thou (O, Mohammed) shalt guide their feet into the right way.”
God is Creator of Good and Evil Deeds, and Yet Good is from Him, but Evil is from Man in Consequence of his
Ignorance or Disobedience
“By the sun and his noonday brightness; By the moon when she followeth him: By the day when it revealeth his glory: By the night when it enshroudeth him: By the earth and Him Who spread it forth; By a soul and Him Who revealed to it the way of wickedness and the way of piety (to choose between them)- Blessed now is he who hath kept it pure, and undone is he who hath corrupted it.” “If good fortune betide them, they say, ‘this is from God and if evil betide them, they say ‘this is from thee’ (the Prophet). Say: All is from God: Whatever good betideth thee, is from God, and whatever betideth thee, of evil, is from thyself; and We have sent thee to mankind as an apostle: God is thy sufficient witness.”
Omniscient and Omnipotent
“And with Him are the keys of secret things; none knoweth them, but He: He knoweth whatever is on the land and in the sea; and no leaf falleth but He knoweth it; neither is there a grain in the darkness of the earth, nor, a thing green or sere, but it is noted in a distinct writing.”[1]
All–Seeing but Unseen
“The eyes do not reach Him, but He reaches the eyes; and He is the Subtile, the All– informed.”
“It is He Who in six days created the Heavens and the Earth, then ascended His throne. He knoweth that which entereth the earth, and that which goeth forth from it, and what cometh down from Heaven, and what mounteth up to it; and wherever ye are, He is with you, and God beholdeth all your actions.
His is the Kingdom of the Heavens and the Earth; and to God shall all things return. He causeth the night to pass into the day, and He causeth the day to pass into the night; and He knoweth the very secrets of the bosom.”
God’s Love and Mercy
The two attributes of “Rahman” and “Rahim,” usually translated as Beneficent and Merciful respectively, occur 400 times in the Koran. Their importance is remarkably indicated by bringing them immediately after the attribute ‘Lord of the worlds’ in the opening chapter of the Koran, and further by heading with them every chapter of the Holy Book. ‘Rahman’ expresses the greatest preponderance of the quality of Mercy, while ‘Rahim’ expresses a constant repetition and manifestation of that quality. The two words are applicable to two different states of the exercise of mercy in God, the first of that state when man has not done anything to deserve it and God exercises His unbounded mercy in bestowing His gifts on him, and the second to that state when man does some good to deserve God’s mercy, and His mercy is repeatedly exercised for him. Thus ‘Rahman’ is He Who creates for man all those things which make his life possible on this earth, and ‘Rahim’ is He Who gives him the fruit of his labour. In other term ‘Rahman’ is He Who, through His revelation, shows the right way to man to develop his faculties, and ‘Rahim’ is He Who rewards the faithful for the good they do. This distinction, observes Mohammad Ali, M. A. LL. B., of Lahore, is so fine that Church Christianity has been unable to realize it, for it holds that God could not show mercy unless man had done something to deserve it, and hence the necessity for a vicarious atonement.
According to the Koran, so great is divine mercy that it encompasses the believer and the unbeliever alike. Even the opponents of the Prophet are spoken of as having mercy shown to them: “ And When We make people taste of mercy after an affliction touches them, Lo! they devise plans against Our communications” (10:21) And whenever the polytheists are spoken of as calling upon God in distress, we are told that God removes their distress, and has mercy on them.
Again, we find it repeatedly stated in the Koran that the evil done by man is either obliterated or punished only with the like of it, but good is rewarded tenfold, hundredfold, even without measure. All this proves that according to the Holy Koran God’s love is the most preponderating of His attributes. It is not only the frequent occurrence of the two names of ‘Rahman’ and ‘Rahim’ and the importance attached to them by placing them at the head of each chapter that shows that the quality of love is predominant, but the Koran has gone further and laid the greatest stress in explicit words on the immeasurable vastness of Divine mercy and beneficence. I quote only a few examples:
“He has ordained mercy on Himself” (6:12)
“Your Lord has ordained mercy on Himself” (6:54)
“Your Lord is the Lord of all-encompassing mercy” (6:147)
“And My mercy encompasses all things” (7:156)
“In the grace of God and His mercy they should rejoice.” (10:58)
“O My servants ! who have acted extravagantly against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of God, for God forgives the sins altogether (you have simply to repent and ask God for forgiveness).” (39:53)
“(Say) Our Lord ! Thou embracest all things in mercy and knowledge.” (40:7)
([1]) On the preserved tablet, on which are written all the decrees of God.