Who is Allah (God)? – An Islamic Blog for Seekers of God & New Muslims

And before we speak about converting to Islam and what you need to know and do after converting, let me quickly introduce your Creator to you. Muslims do not worship a particular God of Muslims; instead, the God that Muslims worship is the universal God who created the heavens and the Earth, which many people believe in from the time of their childhood. The word “Allah” is the unique name of God and translates to mean God. Regardless, some people harbor the mistaken belief that Muslims worship a different God than Christians and Jews do and that “Allah” is the God of the Arabs or the Muslims. This is far from the truth.

Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians use the same name, “Allah,” to refer to God. If one were to examine an Arabic translation of the Bible, one would see the word “Allah” being used in place of the term, God. However, Muslims, Christians, and Jews have different concepts of God.

Allah is the one and only absolute and eternal God. He is the Creator of the Heavens and Earth, the Creator of the Universe. He is the Lord of all lords and King of all kings. He is the Most Compassionate and Most Merciful. Allah Neither Begets nor is He Begotten. And He knows no equal.

Say, “He is Allah, who is One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neitherbegets nor is born, nor is there to Him any equivalent.” (Quran 112:1–4)

Muslims believe in one unique, incomparable God — one with no son, daughter, father, mother, family, or partner. He is the Knower of the unseen and the Source of All Mercy. He is the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner, the Wise. All that is in the Heavens and on Earth magnifies Him. Muslims believe that none should be worshipped but Him alone. He is the true God, and every other deity is false. None carries the right to be worshipped, revered, adored, invoked, supplicated, or shown any act of worship but Allah alone.

God is unique, indivisible, and similar to nothing. Whenever you try to compare God to anything in this world, the source of comparison cannot be God because God, to put it simply, is incomparable. Your finite human mind cannot comprehend and grasp God as a concept. Muslims avoid conceptualizing His image because imagining or visualizing Him would limit Him. The human imagination is limited, as it is based on what it observes and experiences directly. The human imagination cannot fully grasp God’s state, which is timeless and eternal with no beginning or end. God has a unique nature and is free from gender and human weakness. He is beyond anything which human beings can imagine.

“There is no god but He, the Creator of all things; then worship Him, and He has the power to dispose of all affairs. No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision; He is the Sublime, Well-Aware.” (Quran 6: 102–103)

God is the King, the Holy, free from all defects, The Protector, the Keeper, the Sustainer of Earth and the Universe and all it contains. He is the Glorious, the Great, the deserver of all Praise. The Kingdom of the Heavens and the Earth belong to Him. Nothing is hidden from Him, and nothing is beyond His capabilities. He is the One that merges the night into the day and the day into the night. He is the Master of the Day of Judgment. Allah does not sleep nor slumber, nor does sleep overtake Him.

“He is Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. He has made for you from yourselves, mates, and among the cattle, mates; He multiplies you thereby. There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing.” (Quran 42:11)

God is Loving, Compassionate, and Merciful; He is the answerer of prayers. He is indeed involved and concerned with the daily affairs of all human beings. God is the Beneficent, the Merciful. He is the Giver of life and the Causer of death. He is the Master of the Day of Judgment. He is the Most-High, the Most-Supreme.

God created all things from nothing. He does not need His creation, although His creation needs Him. He is all Knowledgeable and encompasses all things: the open and the secret, the public and the private. He knows all the secrets that lie hidden in the hearts and minds of men. He knows all that happened in the past, what is happening now, and what will happen in the future. Our Lord neither errs nor forgets. He is free from all defects and imperfections. He is the One that accepts repentance from His servants and forgives all sins. Allah knows what you endure and understands your feelings and struggles. Allah understands because He was there with you all along.

Allah has power over all things. No other power, might, strength, or influence can cause benefit or harm to anyone or anything except that which flows through Him. Nothing can happen unless God wills it so. God can make anything happen.

“Not a leaf falls but that He knows it. And no grain is there within the darkness of the earth and no moist or dry thing but that it is written in a clear record.” (Quran 6:59)

“Whenever We will anything to be, We say unto it Our word “Be,” and it is.” (Quran 16:40)

Some people assume that God is a harsh, stern, cruel God who demands to be respected, worshipped, and obeyed fully. They assume He is not loving and kind to His creation. Nothing could be further from the truth. God is All-Loving. He claims among His Names Al-Wadoud in Arabic (the Loving One). The love of God in the Holy Quran is expressed and emphasized many times throughout His Book. God bespeaks His love for the righteous, the charitable, the steadfast, the doers of good, the just, the fair, the benevolent, those who trust Him, the ones that are clean, the ones that purify themselves, and the ones who fulfill their obligations.

The entire Universe contains proof of Allah’s love for all of His creation. God gives, without measure, to His servants. He gifted you with life and the ability to hear, feel, taste, and see. God gifted you your heart, mind, soul, strength, and skills. He loves you so much that He gave you an endless variety of foods to feast on, a vast array of land and wildlife, the sun, the moon, the stars, family, offspring, and much more. Everything you see, feel, hear, taste, and smell are blessings given to you by our Loving Creator. He didn’t have to create these miracles, but He chose to bestow these blessings upon you. His boundless mercy encompasses everything.

“And He gave you from all you asked of Him. And if you should count the favor of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, mankind is [generally] most unjust and ungrateful.” (Quran 14:34)

God is also All-Just. Hence, evildoers and sinners must be held accountable for their actions. God is holy, righteous, and fair. If He didn’t punish evil, He would allow that evil to exist without consequences. Since God cannot allow that to happen, His justice requires that a proper punishment be incurred and executed for evil sins. Although Allah is not answerable to anyone, He has promised to be Just and Fair to everyone.

He has prohibited injustice against the innocent. Allah never would punish an innocent person nor hold anyone accountable for the sins of another. Unlike Christianity, Islam imposes no burden on the original sin. Every human being is born with a clean slate and is rewarded or punished based only on one’s willful intent, words, and deeds. Allah is the Absolute Judge, the Legislator. God is the One who distinguishes right from wrong. God even is more merciful to His creation than a mother is to her child. God is far removed from the blight of injustice and tyranny. He is All-Wise in all His actions and decrees.

When you genuinely ponder the Majesty of Allah, your humility increases. You are advised to study and ponder His Names and Attributes and are encouraged to worship and call Him by those names. God states:

“And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them.” (Quran 7:180)

God is close to those who believe in Him and answers their every call. Nothing is hidden from Him regarding what His creation does or says. He knows all. Saying God is with His servants does not mean He intermingles or dwells with His creation; instead, He establishes His presence through His Knowledge and Power. God is above the heavens and above His Throne. God is outside of His creation. He never is contained by any physical dimension. God states in the Quran:

“Verily, Allah knows all the hidden things of the Heavens and the Earth; Verily He has full Knowledge of all that is in (men’s) hearts.” (Quran 35:38)

He sees and knows every aspect of His creations. He hears every word uttered. He is even knowledgeable of one’s inner thoughts. God knows all of our dreams, secrets, desires, and wishes. Nothing is hidden from Him.

“We created man, and We know what his own self whispers to him. We are nearer to him than his jugular vein.” (Quran 50:36)

Allah does not need you, although you do need Him. Allah wants you to worship Him for your own benefit. You need God in your life at all times and for every purpose. When you recognize the Majesty of the Creator of All, you will become awestruck and humble in your response. Rejecting God and His Guidance is like a patient refusing their doctor’s medicine to remedy their pain. You will be foolish, ignorant, and illogical if you reject Allah. Allah is Fully Omnipotent and Self-sufficient. He is in no need of humanistic worship or anything else.

Allah is Perfect.