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Who Allah (SWT) is

Tawheed explained plainly, without the philosophy lecture.

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Your place in the course2 of 30

The word Allah (SWT) is simply the Arabic word for God, the one God. Arab Christians use the same word. There is no plural of it in Arabic, no gender of it. Allah (SWT) is not an old man on a throne with a beard. Allah (SWT) has no form, no likeness, no partner, and nothing created is like Him in any way.

The shortest summary of who Allah (SWT) is comes from the Quran itself, a chapter you can learn today. It is one of the most repeated surahs in prayer, and memorising it will serve you for life.

قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ ۝ اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ ۝ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ ۝ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ
Say: He is Allah (SWT), One. Allah (SWT), the Self-Sufficient, upon whom all depend. He begets not, nor is He begotten. And there is nothing comparable to Him.
Quran 112:1-4 (Surah al-Ikhlas)

That is the whole theology in four lines. Read it twice. Allah (SWT) is one. Allah (SWT) does not need anyone or anything. Allah (SWT) was not born and nothing was born of Him. Nothing resembles Him.

Why this matters when you are alone at 3am

Belief in one God is not an intellectual position you tuck away. It is a thing you live by. If Allah (SWT) is the only one who gives and takes, then being rejected by a person is not the end. If Allah (SWT) is the only one who provides, then losing a job is serious but not terminal. If Allah (SWT) is the only judge, then what strangers think of you stops being the centre of your life.

Over the next weeks you will hear scholars talk about tawheed, which just means oneness. When they break it into categories (oneness of lordship, of worship, of names and attributes) do not let it scare you. It is one idea looked at from three angles, a bit like one mountain seen from three sides.

What Allah (SWT) is not

  • Not a man. Not a woman. Not something above us in space.
  • Not someone who needs praise, our worship does not benefit Him.
  • Not distant. The Quran repeats that Allah (SWT) is closer to you than your jugular vein (50:16).
  • Not unfair. The Quran repeats this again and again. Allah (SWT) does no injustice even the weight of an atom.

If you take one idea out of today, take this. You are now speaking to someone who hears you. That is what the rest of the religion is built on.

Today's task

Read Surah al-Ikhlas (the four lines in Arabic above) three times today. Even without perfect pronunciation it counts. Each reading has the reward of reciting a third of the Quran (Sahih al-Bukhari 5013).

Sources