Attributes of God...9

Attribute of God

To Allah belong the most beautiful names:

The Holy Quran says:

“Say: call upon Allah, or call upon Rahman: By whatever name you call upon Him, (it is well): for to Him belong The Most Beautiful Names.” (Holy Quran 17:110)

A similar message regarding the beautiful names of Allah is repeated in the Holy Quran in:

Surah Al-Aaraf (7:180), in Surah Taha (20:8) and In Surah Al-Hashr (59:23-24)

The Quran fives no less than 99 different attributes to Almighty God and the crowning one is Allah. The Quran refers to Allah as Ar-Rehman (Most Gracious), Ar-Raheem (Most Merciful) and Al-Hakeem (All Wise) among many other names. You can call Allah by any name but that name should be beautiful and should not conjure up a mental picture.

Each attribute of God is unique

 And possessed by Him alone

Not only does God possess unique attributes, but also each attribute of Almighty God is sufficient to identify Him.  I shall clarify this point in detail. Suppose we take the example of a famous personality, say astronaut Neil Armstrong.

If someone says Neil Armstrong is an American. The attribute of being American possessed by Neil Armstrong is correct but not sufficient to him. Similarly Neil Armstrong is an astronaut. The attribute of being an astronaut is not unique to Neil Armstrong. To identify the person uniquely we must look for a unique attribute. For example, Neil Armstrong was the first human to set foot on the moon. So when one asks, who was the first man to set foot on the moon? The answer is only one, i.e. Neil Armstrong. Similarly the attributes of Almighty God should be unique e.g. Creator of the Universe. If I say creator of the building, it may be possible and true but is not unique. Thousands of people can make a building, so there would be no difference between man and God. But each attribute of Allah points to none but Allah.

For example

Ar-Rehman (Most Gracious)

 Ar-Raheem (Most Merciful)

Al-Hakeem (All Wise)

So when one asks, who is “Ar-Raheem”? The Most Merciful, there can be only one answer, i.e. Almighty Allah.

One attribute of God should not contradict with other attributes:

To continue with the earlier example, if somebody says Neil Armstrong is an American astronaut who is only four feet tall, the attribute (American astronaut) is correct but its associated quality (only four feet tall) is false. Similarly if someone says that God is the creator of the Universe with one head, two hands, two feet, etc. the attribute (Creator of the universe) is correct but the associated quality ( in the form of human being) is wrong and false.

All attributes should point to the one and same God:

Since there is only one God all the attributes should point to one and the same God. To say that Neil Armstrong was an American astronaut who first set foot on the moon, but his the second was Edwin Adrian is wrong. Both have unique Qualities similarly to say that the Creator is one God and the Cherisher is another God is absurd because there is only one God with all these attributes combined together.

Unity of God:

Some polytheists argue by saying that the existence of more than one God is no illogical. Let us point out to them that if there were more than one God, they would dispute with one another, each God trying to fulfill his will against the will of the other Gods. This can be seen in the mythology of the polytheistic and pantheistic religions. If a ‘God’ is defeated or unable to defeat the others, he is surely not the one true God. Also popular among polytheistic religions is the idea of many Gods, each having different responsibilities. Each one would be responsible for a part of man’s existence e.g. a Sun God, a Rain God, etc. This indicates that one ‘God’ is incompetent of certain acts and moreover he is also ignorant of the other Gods’ duties and responsibilities.  There cannot be an ignorant and incapable God. If there were more than one God it would surely lead to confusion, disorder, chaos and destruction in the Universe. But the universe is in complete harmony.

The Holy Quran says:

“If there were, in the heaven and the earth, other gods besides Allah, there would Have been confusion in both! But Glory to Allah, The Lord of the Throne: (High is He) above what they attribute to Him!” (Holy Quran 21:22)

If there were more than one God, they would have taken away what they created. The Holy Quran says:

”No son did Allah beget, Nor is there any God along with Him: (if there were Many gods), behold each God would have taken away what he had created and some would have Lorded it over others! Glory to Allah! (He is free) From the (sort of) things they attribute to Him!” (Holy Quran 23:91)

Thus the existence of one True, Supreme Almighty God, is the only logical concept of God.

There are a few religions like Buddhism and Confucianism, which are agnostic religions. They do not comment on God. They neither confirm nor deny the existence of God. There are other religions like Jainism, which are atheistic religions and which do not believe in the existence of God.

Note: In sha Allah I shall be write a blog “ is the Quran God’s word?” which can Alhamdulillah prove the existence of Allah (SWT) to an atheist or an agnostic by means of reason, logic and science on the basis of the Holy Quran.