Islam: The Religion Of Truth

How To Know God (Allah in the Arabic language#41;; The Great Creator

We should know that our lord who created us out of naught and sustained us with His bounties, is God the Lord of the worlds. The wise believers in God did not see Him, but they knew Him by clear evidences showing His Existence and proving that He is the Creator and Sustainer of all creatures.

Some of these evidences are:

The universe, mankind and life are all created objects, with a limited scope of existence. Every incidental and dependant object is created and thus must have a creator. This Great Creator is God, Who informed us through the books which He revealed to His messengers that He is the Originator and the Sustainer of all creatures. The role of His Messengers were to convey God's words to mankind and call people to believe in God and worship Him alone. Almighty God says in the Qur'an:

Indeed your Lord is God, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days and then He settled Himself on the Throne. He brings the night as a cover over the day in rapid succession, and (He created) the sun, the moon, and the stars subjected to His command. Surely, His is the Creation and Commandment. Blessed is God, the Lord of the Alamin (mankind, Jinn and all that exists).
(7:54)

Through this verse God informs mankind that He is their Lord, Who created them, the earth and heavens in six days and that He is firmly established Himself upon His Throne. The Throne is elevated over the heavens. It is the most colossal and greatest thing that God had created. He, Glory be to Him, encompasses all His creatures by His knowledge and Will. None of their affairs is hidden from Him. God also stated that He makes the day to cover the night which follows it in haste, and He created the sun, the moon, and the stars and made them subservient and revolving in their orbits by His command. God informs us that to Him Alone belongs the creation and sovereignty and that He is the Supreme, Transcendent and All-perfect in Himself and His Attributes, greatly Bountiful, and that He is the lord of the worlds, who created mankind out of naught, and sustains them with His bounties.

Almighty God says in the Qur'an:

And from among His signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Prostate yourself not the sun nor the moon, but prostate yourself to God, who created them, if you (really) worship Him.
(41:37)

In this verse God informs us that the day, the night, the sun and the moon are some of His signs. God interdicts people from prostrating to the sun or to the moon as they are created objects like other creatures. God Alone should be worshipped. Since prostration is a kind of worship, thus, it should be for God Alone, because He is the Creator, the Sustainer and the Only True God Who deserves to be worshipped.
The creation of male and female.
The variety of tongues and hues in mankind. Two persons never identical in colour, voice, etc. On the contrary, they are quite distinct from each other in one or more of their features or characteristics.
Differences of fortunes in life is an evidence of the existence of God, the Creator. Although all men are endowed with intellect, knowledge and incentives of competition among each other to gain wealth, acquire dignity or enjoy the favour of having a beautiful wife, they are clearly different in their fortunes. No one has a portion more than that which God has assigned to him. The underlying reason for such divergence in fortunes is that God tests people, and makes them help and serve each other for the benefit of the whole mankind. Whosever is unfortunate in this life, but persists believing firmly in God, will be rewarded in the Hereafter, and his portion of bliss will be increased in the Gardens. Yet, poor people, even in this worldly life, are endowed generally with a great number of psychological and health privileges of which quite a number of the rich are deprived.
Sleep.
The soul whose nature is unknown to anyone except God.
The creation of the human being, his senses, his nervous system, his intellect, and digestive system, etc.
The rain which God sends down to revive the dead earth and brings forth plants of every kind and trees different in kind, colour and taste, etc. There are only a few of the hundreds of pieces of evidence which God The Almighty presented in the Qur'an. All these evidences prove that God is The living, The Creator and The Sustainer of all creatures.
People, by their natural and innate character, believe that they came to existence by the creation and sustenance of a Creator. God is the Creator and Sustainer of all creatures. Whoever denies this innate nature is going astray and throwing himself into distress. Thus, the communist, who denies the existence of his Creator and Sustainer, leads a miserable life, and in the Hereafter his end will be in Hell-fire.

God, Glory be to Him, has many attributes. He is the First with no beginning for His Existence. He is Omniscient, Ever lasting, Alive; neither He dies, nor does His Existence expire.

He is The Absolute and All Independent; He is The One with no partners. Almighty God says in the Qur'an:

Say (O Muhammad, peace be upon him): He is God, (the) One. God the Eternal, Absolute; He begets not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him
(112 :1-4)

When the unbelievers asked Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him) about the Attributes of God, God revealed this Surah (chapter) to His Prophet and commanded him to tell them that God is One with no partner, The Omniscient, Eternal, Alive and The Sustainer. To Him belongs the absolute mastery over the creation, mankind and everything. To Him Alone should people make for refuge and from Him Alone should they ask for help and need. He beget not nor is He begotten; He has no daughter, son, father or a mother, because progeny, birth, and descendant chains are characteristics of creatures and not an Attribute of the Great Creator. In this verse, and other verses of the Qur'an, God negated absolutely the false sayings of Christians who pretend that the Christ is the son of God, the false claim of the Jews that Azzra is the son of God and the false belief of others who say that the Angels are the daughters of God. All these forms of falsehood had been refuted in the Qur'an; God affirmed that He created by His power Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, from a mother and without a father, exactly as He had created Adam, the father of mankind out of clay, Eve, the mother of mankind out of Adam's ribs and their offspring out of their seminal fluids.

God created everything; then He decreed a system for His creatures which no one except Him can ever change. Therefore, it is one of the miracles of God that He created Jesus (peace be upon him), from a mother without a father; also the miracles of God is that He gave Jesus the ability to speak while he was still a baby in the cradle. God gave Moses (peace be upon him) the miracle of the staff. This staff turned into a serpent when Moses cast it and when he struck the sea with this staff, the sea divided and became a path through which Moses and his followers were delivered. God also gave the seal of the prophets, Muhammad (peace and blessings of God be upon him), the miracle of the splitting of the moon, made the trees to greet him when he passed by them, and the animals to testify loudly that he is the Messenger of God.

God carried his Prophet on the Buraq from the Holy Mosque in Makkah to the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, then he has been ascended to the heaven accompanied by the Angel Gabriel and have the honour of being in the presence of God, Glory be to Him, spoke to His Prophet and commanded him and his followers to perform the prayer; on his way back to Makkah the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him) saw the inhabitants of each heaven, all of these events took place before dawn. The miracle of the journey by night and ascension to the heavens is well known, it is mentioned in the Qur'an, prophetic traditions and history books.

Some of God's attributes: He is The Omniscient, The Omnipotent and Has the ability to do everything; nothing can veil His Seeing or Hearing. God knows what is hidden in the wombs, what is concealed in the hearts and knows whatsoever happened and whatsoever will happen. When He desires a thing, He commands "Be and it is". God attributed to Himself speech. He speaks to whom He wishes and decrees whatever He wishes. God had spoken to Moses before, and to Muhammad the last of messengers, peace and blessings of God be upon him. The Qur'an, in its letters and meanings, is the speech of God, revealed to His Messenger Muhammad, (peace and blessings of God be upon him). Therefore, the Qur'an is one of the Attributes of God and not a creation as the erroneous Mu'ttazella believe. Among the Attributes of God by which His messengers described Him are: His Countenance, His Highness, His pleasure, His wrath etc.... God bestows His pleasure on His believing bondmen and inflicts His wrath on the unbelievers of his creatures, God's Attributes are as supreme and Majestic as to be proper to Him, Glory be to God.

The Qur'an and prophetic traditions confirm that the believers will see God in the Hereafter while their eternal abode in paradise. The Attributes of God, Glory be to Him, have been explained clearly in the Glorious Qur'an and prophetic traditions.

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The Reason for the creation of Mankind, Jinn and Others

If we know that God is our lord who created us, we should also know that He did not create us without purpose, but to worship Him. The evidence proving this fact is stated in the Qur'an:

And I (God) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone).
I seek not any provision from them nor do I ask that they should feed me. Verily, God is the All-Provider, Owner of Power, the Most Strong.
(51: 56-58)

In these verses, God stated that He had created the Jinn and mankind to worship Him Alone, and that He is All independent and not in need of any provision or food from His bondmen. God is All-powerful and He is the Donor of livelihood Who sustains mankind and all creatures with His bounties. God causes rain to pour down on the earth and thereby produce all kinds of fruits and bounties with which He favours mankind.

As for other creatures which are not endowed with reason, God stated that He had created them for the benefit of man. Therefore, man's action and behaviour towards these creatures should be regulated by the laws of God. Every creature, every state of motion or quiescence has been created for a special reason. God has stated a lot of these underlying reasons in the Qur'an the scholars of Islamic law have a good knowledge about this subject, although they differ in rank according to their different levels of knowledge in this field.

Differences in lifetime, means of livelihood, life-incidents and even misfortunes of life are caused by the will of God to test His reasonable bondmen. So, whosoever surrenders to God, is contented with what He has for him, and endeavours to gain His pleasure, will be rewarded bountifully; God will bestow upon him happiness in this life and in the Hereafter. But, whosoever refuses to submit to God, is discontented with what He has destined for him, and disobeys Him, will suffer the wrath of God, and feel misery in this life and in the Hereafter.

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Resurrection, Day of Judgement, Retribution, Paradise and Hell

If we already know that God created us to worship Him, we should also know that God had stated in His scriptures that he will resurrect us after death in order to recompense us for our deeds in this life.

By death, the human being passes from this temporary life: to the life of retribution and eternity. When man's life-time terminates, God orders the angel of death to put an end to his life.

Thus man suffers pains of death when his soul is taken out of his body. Had the man believed in God and obeyed Him, his soul will enjoy the abode of bliss (Paradise), but if a man is a disbeliever in God, who denies resurrection and retribution after death, his soul will suffer torment till the end of this worldly life when everything in this world will perish; and none will exist save God.

Doomsday will begin, and God will resurrect all the creation. Every body will be restored to it's soul in the same form as it had been before; even the animals will be raised up again. Then every one will be retributed for his deeds, no difference between male and female, head or subordinate, rich or poor. No one will be wronged; every one will have the just reward for his deeds. Whosoever commits injustice, even against animals, will be retributed. As for animals, they will not be questioned because they have no reason, and on that day all animals will be transferred to dust.

Human beings and Jinn will be recompensed for their deeds; each one will have his share of reward or punishment according to what he had forwarded during his worldly life. Believers who obeyed God and followed His messengers will be guided to the Gardens, even if they were the poorest men; the unbelievers who denied faith will be led to Hell-fire, even if they were the most noble and rich men in this worldly life. Almighty God says in the Qur'an:

Verily the most honourable of you with God is that (believer) who has At-Taqwa [i.e. He is one of the Muttaqun, (the Pious]
(49: 13)

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The Garden:

The Garden is the abode of bliss; it is beyond description. It has 100 levels; each one of its dwellers will stay in the level suitable to his grade in belief and his obedience to God. The lowest grade in the Garden is better by 70 folds than all the worldly blessings which a most luxurious king may ever enjoy.

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Hell-fire

Hell-fire is the abode for torture. Had death been possible in the Hereafter, people would have died as soon as they see Hell-fire; but death occurs only once, when the human being passes from this worldly life to the other coming life, and there is no death in the Hereafter, even for the dwellers of Hell-fire.

As I have stated before, a full description of death, resurrection, retribution, Garden, and The Fire is mentioned in many verses of the Glorious Qur'an. There is much evidence proving resurrection after death, reckoning and retribution. Almighty God says in the Glorious Qur'an:

Thereof (the earth) We create you, and into it We shall return you, and from it We shall bring you out once again
(20:55)

And he makes comparisons for Us, and forgets his own (Origin and) Creation: He says: "Who can give life to (dry) bones and decomposed ones (at that)?". Say (O Muhammad peace be upon him) "He will give them life who created them for the first time! for He fully knows All Creation.
(36: 78 - 79)

Almighty God says:

The unbelievers think that they will not be raised up for Judgement, Say (O Muhammad peace be upon him): "Yes! By my Lord! you will surely be resurrected, then you will be informed of (and recompensed for) all that you did. and that is easy for God".
(64:7)

In these verses, God, Glory be to Him, informed mankind that He created them on earth as He had created their father Adam from dust before. He will raise them up from their graves, and bring them to account to retribute them for their deeds.

In the second verse, God refutes the false pretext of the unbeliever who denies resurrection, and finds it strange that rotten bones could be revived again. The verse states to such an unbeliever that God, who had created these bones before out of naught is certainly able a prior to recreate them. In the third verse, God orders His Messenger to swear that God will raise the unbelievers up after their death, and that God will inform them of what they had done before, then retribute them for their deeds; this matter is so easy for God.

It is stated in another Qur'anic verse that it will be said to those, who denied resurrection, while they suffer torture and torment in hell, "Taste the torment of fire which you had belied before".

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Controlling and Recording of Man's deeds and Sayings

God, Glory be to Him, stated that He knows whatsoever any man will do or say, whether it is good or evil, whether it is done openly or in secrecy. All that will happen has been dictated by God in the Preserved Tablet even before the heavens, mankind, earth, and other creatures were created.

According to Qur'anic verses, every human being is guarded by two angels, one on his right side registering his good deeds, the second on his left side recording whatever evils he commits, and both angels never neglect or miss to register any word or deed. On the Day of Judgment, everyone will receive his own book, in which all his deeds and sayings had been recorded. He will read and confess of all that he had forwarded during his worldly life. lf he denies; His own ears, eyes, hands, legs and skin will testify against him. The Glorious Qur'an has explained all these subjects clearly and in detail:

Not a word does he utter but there is a watcher by him ready (to record it)
(50: 18)

But verily, over you (are appointed angles in charge of mankind) to watch you, kind and honourable, writing down (your deeds): They know all that you do
(82: 10 - 12).

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The True Testimony

I testify that there is no god but God I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of God, I testify that Paradise and Hell-fire are true, and the judgement day is certain to come, that God will raise up people after their death to reckon and retribute them for their deeds. I testify that whatever has been mentioned by God in His book (the Qur'an) or through the traditions of His Prophet-Muhammad is true.