Who Allah is
Tawheed explained plainly, without the philosophy lecture.
The word Allah 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 is not an old man on a throne with a beard. Allah has no form, no likeness, no partner, and nothing created is like Him in any way.
The shortest summary of who Allah 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 أَحَدٌSay: He is Allah, One. Allah, 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 is one. Allah does not need anyone or anything. Allah 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 is the only one who gives and takes, then being rejected by a person is not the end. If Allah is the only one who provides, then losing a job is serious but not terminal. If Allah 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 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 is closer to you than your jugular vein (50:16).
- Not unfair. The Quran repeats this again and again. Allah 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.
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).
- [1]Quran 112 (Surah al-Ikhlas)
- [2]Quran 50:16. Allah is closer than your jugular vein.
- [3]Sahih al-Bukhari 5013. The Prophet said Surah al-Ikhlas is equivalent to a third of the Quran.