Allah... Does it mean God?

Articles SectionFundamental Beliefs Allah... Does it mean God? In fact "Allah" is the perfect word to describe the "One God" of monotheism. Where does the word "Allah" Come From? "Allah" comes from the Arabic word "elah" - (Arabic) means 'a god' or something that is worshipped. This word (elah) can be made plural, as in "aleha" and it can be male or female. "Allah" comes from "elaha" but it brings more clarification and understanding. Allah => Has no gender (not male and not female) - "He" is used only out of respect and dignity - not for gender Allah => Always singular - Never plural - "We" is used only as the "Royal WE" just as in English for royalty Allah => Means "The Only One to be worshipped” Is "Allah" only for Islam and Muslims? "Allah" is the same word used by Christian and Jewish Arabs in the Bible, before Islam came. On page one [1] of Genesis in the Old Testament, we find the word "Allah" seventeen [17] times. The questions atheists usually ask regarding our belief in Allah or God, vary somewhat but, they are predictable. Let us consider a few: 1. If Allah (God) created everything - then who created God? 2. How can you believe in God, when you can't see, hear, touch, smell, taste or even imagine what He is? 3. Can God do anything? Examples: Could God die? Or can God make a rock so big that nothing can move it? - If He did make a rock so big, nothing could move it; does that mean that He couldn't move it too? Or would it be impossible for Him to make something so big that He couldn't move it? 4. Where is God? 5. Why did God create everything? 6. Is God pure, good, loving and fair? If so, then where do evil, hatred and injustice come from? 7. Does God really have power of things? - If so, then why does He let people become sick, oppressed and die? 8. Can you prove there is a God? 9. Does God know everything that is going to happen? - Does He have absolute control on the outcome of everything? - If so, how is that fair for us? Where is our free will then? 10. If there is only one God, then why are there so many religions? 11. How do you know that the Quran is really from God? 12. Why does the Quran say "We" if Allah is only One? 13. Why does the Quran use "He" if there is no gender implied? 1. If God created everything - then who created God? Answer: (Muslims - Remember to use the formula above - i.e.; "Thank you for asking me about my religion..." etc.) According to the Quran, Allah tells us that He is the only creator and sustainer of all that exists and that nothing and no one exists alongside Him, nor does He have any partners. He tells us that He is not created, nor is He like His creation in anyway. He calls Himself by a number of names and three of them are: A) The First - (Al-Awal) B) The Last - (Al Akhir) C) The Eternal, who is sought after by His creation, while He has no need from them at all. (As-Samad) He always has existed and He never was created, as He is not like His creation, nor similar to it, in any way. 2. How can you believe in God, when you can't see, hear, touch, smell, taste or even imagine what He is? Answer: We know from the teachings of Muhammad, peace be upon him, that no one has ever actually seen God - at least not in this lifetime. Nor are we able to use our senses to make some kind of contact with Him. However, we are encouraged in Islam to use our senses and our common sense to recognize that all of this universe could not possibly come into existence on its own. Something had to design it all and then put it into motion. That is beyond our ability to do, yet it is something that we can understand. We don't have to see an artist to recognize a painting, correct? So, if we see paintings without seeing artists painting them, in the same way, we can believe that Allah created everything without having to see Him (or touch, or hear, etc.). 3. Can God do anything? - For example: "Can He make a rock so big that nothing can move it?" - If He did make a rock so big that nothing could move it, would that mean that He couldn't move it too? Or would it be impossible for Him to make something so big that He couldn't move it? Answer: Allah tells us that "Allah is capable of doing anything that He Wills to do." He can make a rock (or anything for that matter) that is so large or heavy that nothing in the entire universe can move it. As regards Allah "moving" it, He is not in the universe and He does not resemble His creation. Therefore, Allah is never subject to the Laws of the Creation because He is both the Creator and the Law Giver. Whenever He wants anything done, He merely says "Qun! Faya Qun!" (Be! And so it will be!) 4. Where is God? Answer: Some other religions teach that "God is everywhere." This is actually called "pantheism" and it is the opposite of our believe system in Islam. Allah tells us clearly that there is nothing, anywhere in the universe that resembles Him, nor is He ever in His creation. He tells us in the Quran that He created the universe in six "yawm" (periods of time) and then He "astawah 'ala al Arsh" (rose up, above His Throne). He is there (above His Throne) and will remain there until the End Times. 5. Why did God create everything? Answer: Allah says in His Quran that He did not create all of this for any foolish purpose. He tells us that He created us for the purpose of worshiping Him, Alone and without any partners. 6. Is God pure, good, loving and fair? - If so, then where do evil, hatred and injustice come from? Answer: Allah tells us that He is Pure, Loving, and absolutely Just in every respect. He says that He is the Best of Judges. He also tells us that the life that we are in is a test. He has created all the things that exist and He has created all that happens as well. There is nothing in this existence except what He has created. He also says in the Quran that He created evil (although He is not evil). He is using this as one of the many tests for us. 7. Does God really have power of things? - If so, then why does He let people become sick, oppressed and die? Answer: Allah has created all that we call the universe as a test for us. This is not our final destination. What we might consider to be "bad" or "good" could actually be quite the opposite. As regards oppression, this is something that Allah forbids for Himself to do to anyone and He hates it when anyone oppresses someone else. He does have absolute power over everything. He allows sickness, disease, death and even oppression so that we can all be tested in what we do. 8. Can you prove there is a God? Answer: Can you prove that you exist? Yes, of course you can. You merely use your senses to determine that you can see, hear, feel, smell, taste and you have emotions as well. All of this is a part of your existence. But this is not how we perceive God in Islam. We can look to the things that He has created and the way that He cares for things and sustains us, to know that there is no doubt of His existence. Think about this the next time that you are looking up at the moon or the stars on a clear night; could you drop a drinking glass on the sidewalk and expect that it would hit the ground and on impact it would not shatter, but it would divide up into little small drinking glasses, with iced tea in them? Of course not! And then consider if a tornado came through a junkyard and tore through the old cars; would it leave behind a nice new Mercedes with the engine running and no parts left around? Naturally not! Can a fast food restaurant operate itself without any people there? That's crazy for anyone to even think about. After considering all of the above, how could we look to the universe above us through a telescope or observe the molecules in a microscope and then think that all of this came about as a result of a "big bang" or some "accident?" (See also "Quran") 9. Does God know everything that is going to happen? - Does He have absolute control on the outcome of everything? - If so, how is that fair for us? Where is our free will then? Answer: Allah knows everything that will happen. The first thing that He created was the "pen" and He ordered the pen to write. The pen wrote until it had written everything that would happen. And then Allah began to create the universe. All of this was already known to Him before He created it. He does have absolute and total control at all times. There is nothing that happens except that He is in control of. There is a mistake in the question: "Free Will." Allah alone has Free Will, He Wills whatever He likes and it will always happen as He wills. We have something called, "Free choice." The difference is that what Allah "Wills" always happens and what we choose may or may not happen. We are not being judged on the outcome of things, we are being judged on our choices. This means that at the core of everything will always be our intentions. Whatever we intended, is what we will have the reward for. Each person will be judged according to what Allah gave them to work with, how they used it and what they intended to do with it. As regards the actual "Judgment Day" - Allah tells us that everything we are doing is being recorded and not a single tiny thing escapes from this record. Even an atom's weight of good will be seen on the Day of Judgment and even a single atom's weight of evil will be seen too. The one who will bring the evidences against us will be ourselves. Our ears, tongue, eyes and all of our bodies will begin to testify against us in front of Allah on the Day of Judgment. None will be oppressed on that Day, none will be falsely accused. He could have put everyone in their respective places from the very beginning, but the people would complain as to why they were thrown in Hell without being given a chance. This life is exactly that; a chance to prove to ourselves who we really are and what we would really do if we indeed had a free choice. Allah knows everything that will happen, but we don't. That is why the test is fair. 10. If there is only one God, then why are there so many religions? Answer: Allah does not force anyone to submit to Him. He has laid out a clear path and then made it known to them the two ways (Heaven or Hell). The person is always free to make his or her own choice. There is not compulsion in the way of "Islam." Whoever choses to worship Allah without partners and is devoted to Him and is obeying His commands as much as possible has grasped the firm handhold that will never break. Whoever denies God and choses some other way to worship or not to believe at all, for them there is an eternal punishment that is most horrible (Hell). All religions originated with Allah and then people began to add or take away from the teachings so as to take control over each other. Man-made religions are an abomination before the Lord and will never be accepted. He will only accept true submission, obedience and in purity and peace to His commandments. 11. How do you know that the Quran is really from God? Answer: Muslims have something that offers the clearest proof of all - The Holy Quran. There is no other book like it anywhere on earth. It is absolutely perfect in the Arabic language. It has no mistakes in grammar, meanings or context. The scientific evidences are well known around the entire world, even amongst non-Muslim scholars. Predictions in the Quran have come true; and its teachings are clearly for all people, all places and all times. No one has been able to produce a book like it, nor ten chapters like it, nor even one chapter like it. It was memorized by thousands of people during the lifetime of Muhammad, peace be upon him, and then this memorization was passed down from teacher to student for generation after generation, from mouth to ear and from one nation to another. Today every single Muslim has memorized some part of the Quran in the original Arabic language that it was revealed in over 1,400 years ago, even though most of them are not Arabs. There are over nine million (9,000,000) Muslims living on the earth today who have totally memorized the entire Quran, word for word, and can recite the entire Quran, in Arabic just as Muhammad, peace be upon him, did 14 centuries ago. 12. Why does it say "WE" in Quran when referring to God (Allah)? Answer: This is a good question and one that Bible readers have also asked about. The term "We" in the Bible and in the Quran is the royal "We" - as an example when the king says, "We decree the following declaration, etc." or, "We are not amused." It does not indicate plural; rather it displays the highest position in the language. English, Persian, Hebrew, Arabic and many languages provide for the usage of "We" for the royal figure. It is helpful to note the same dignity is given to the person being spoken to in English. We say to someone, "You ARE my friend." Yet the person is only one person standing there. Why did we say "ARE" instead of "IS"? The noun "you" is singular and should therefore be associated with a singular verb for the state of being, yet we say "are." The same is true for the speaker when referring to himself or herself. We say, "I am" and this is also in the royal plural, instead of saying, "I is." 13. Why does Quran say "He" when referring to God (Allah) if God is not having gender? Answer: This is similar to the above answer. The word "He" is used when referring to Allah out of respect, dignity and high status. It would be totally inappropriate to use the word "it" and would not convey the proper understanding of Allah being who Allah is; Alive, Compassionate, Forgiving, Patient, Loving, etc. It is not correct to associate the word "He" with gender, as this would be comparing Allah to the creation, something totally against the teaching of Quran. Yusuf Estes Islamtomorrow website