Concept of GOD in Islam.

CONCEPT OF GOD IN ISLAM
The Qur’an too propounds monotheism. So you will find similarities between
Hinduism and Islam even in the concept of God.
a. SURAH IKHLAS WITH EXPLANATION
(i) Translation
As per Islam, the best and the most concise definition of God is given in Surah
Ikhlas of the Glorious Qur’an:
Say He is Allah,
The One and Only;
Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;
He begets not,
Nor is He begotten;
And there is none
Like unto Him.
(Al Qur’an 112:1-4)
The word ‘assamad’ is difficult to translate. It means that absolute existence can
be attributed only to Allah, all other existence being temporal or conditional. It
also means Allah is not dependant on any person or thing but all persons and
things are dependent on Him.
It is the touch stone of Theology
Surah Ikhlas i.e. Chapter 112 of the Glorious Qur’an is the touchstone of
Theology. ‘Theo’ in Greek means God and ‘logy’ means study. Thus ‘Theology’
means study of God and Surah Ikhlas is the touchstone of the study of God.
If you want to purchase or sell your gold jewellery, you would first evaluate it.
Such an evaluation of gold jewellery is done by a goldsmith with the help of a
touchstone. He rubs the gold jewellery on the touch stone and compares its
colour with rubbing samples of gold. If it matches with 24 Karat gold he will tell
that your jewellery is 24 Karat pure Gold. If it is not high quality pure Gold, he will
tell you its value whether 22 Karats, 18 Karats or it may not be gold at all. It may
be fake because all that glitters is not gold.
Similarly Surah Ikhlas (Chapter 112 of the Qur’an) is the touchstone of theology,
which can verify whether the deity that you worship is a true God or a false God.
Thus, Surah Ikhlaas is a four-line definition of Almighty God according to the
Qur’an. If any one claims to be, or is believed to be Almighty God satisfies this
four-line definition, we Muslims will readily accept that deity as God. This Chapter
of the Glorious Qur’an, Surah Ikhlas, is the acid test. It is the ‘Furqan’ or the
criterion to judge between the one True God and false claimants to divinity.
Hence, whichever deity any human on earth worships, if such a deity fulfills the
criteria specified in this Chapter of the Qur’an, then this deity is worthy of worship
and is the One True God.
b. Is Bhagwan Rajneesh God ?
Some people say that Bhagwan Rajneesh or Osho Rajneesh is Almighty God.
Please note my words, I have stated that some people say that Bhagwan
Rajneesh is Almighty God. Once during a question-answer session there was a
Hindu gentleman who misunderstood my statement. He said that Hindus do not
worship Rajneesh as God. I am aware that Hinduism does not consider
Rajneesh to be God. Rajneesh has followers, who are converts to his philosophy
/ ideology, but who were originally followers of various different religions.
Let us put this candidate Bhagwan Rajneesh to the test of Divinity as prescribed
by Surah Ikhlaas, the touchstone of Divinity.
(i) The First Criterion is ‘Qul hu Allah hu ahad’ –‘say, He is Allah one and only’. Is
Rajneesh one and only? We know several such fake god-men and claimants of
divinity amongst humans. Several are found in our country, India. Rajneesh is
surely not one and only. Not as a human and not even as a human claimant to
godhood. However, some disciples of Rajneesh may still state that Rajneesh is
unique and that he is one and only.
(ii) Let us analyse the second criterion ‘Allah hus samad’– ‘Allah the Absolute &
‘Eternal’. Is Rajneesh absolute and eternal? We know from his biography that he
was suffering from diabetes, asthama, and chronic backache. He alleged that the
U.S.A. government gave him slow poisoning while he was in their jail. Imagine!
Almighty God being poisoned! Moreover, all are aware that Rajneesh died and
was cremated / buried. So Rajneesh was neither eternal, nor absolute
(iii) The third Criteria is ‘Lam ya lid wa lam yu lad’ – ‘He begets not, nor is
begotten’. However, Rajneesh was begotten. He was born in Jabalpur in India.
Like all humans, he too had a mother and a father. They later on become his
disciples.
Rajneesh was a very intelligent person. In May 1981 he went to U.S.A. He
established a town in Oregon and named it ‘Rajneeshpuram’. It seems that he
took America for a ride for the U.S. government arrested him and later deported
him out of America in 1985. So Rajneesh returned to India and started a
‘Rajneesh Neosanyas commune in Pune in India which was later renamed the
‘Osho commune’.
If you visit this ‘Osho commune’ in Pune you will find it written on his tombstone,
“Osho - never born, never died, only visited the planet earth between 11th Dec.
1931 to 19th Jan 1990”. They conveniently forget to mention on this tombstone
that Rajneesh was not given a visa for 21 different countries of the world.
Imagine Almighty God visiting the earth and requiring a visa! The Arch Bishop of
Greece had said that if Rajneesh was not deported they would burn his house
and those of his disciples.
(iv) The fourth test is so stringent that none besides the One True God, Allah
(swt), can pass it. ‘Wa lam ya kullahu kufuwan ahad’ which means, ‘there is none
like Him’. The moment you can imagine or compare the candidate or claimant to
godhood to anything, this candidate is not god. Neither can you have a mental
picture of God.
We know that Rajneesh was a human being. He had one head, two hands, two
feet, and a white flowing beard. The moment you can think or imagine what the
claimant to godhood is, he or she is not god.
Suppose someone says, “God is a thousand times as strong as Arnold
Schwarzenegger”. Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the strongest men on earth.
He was given the title ‘Mr. Universe’ in (the year). The moment you can compare
Almighty God to anything, whether it is a 1000 times stronger or a million times
stronger, whether it be Darasingh or Kingkong, the moment you can compare the
claimant to godhood to anything, he is not God. ‘Wa lam ya kul lahu kufwan
ahad’ ‘there is none like Him.’
c. ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
To Allah belong the most beautiful names:
(i) The Qur’an mentions in Surah Isra Chapter 17 Verse 110:
Say: “Call upon Allah, or
Call upon Rahman;
By whatever name ye call
Upon Him, (it is well):
For to Him belong
The Most Beautiful Names
(Al Qur’an 17:110)
You can call Allah by any name but that name should be beautiful and should not
conjure up a mental picture. The Qur’an gives no less than 99 different attributes
to Almighty God. Some of these are Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem, Al-Hakeem; Most
Gracious, Most Merciful and All Wise. 99 different names / attributes and the
crowning one, the hundredth one is Allah. The Qur’an repeats this message that
to Allah belong the most beautiful names in:
(i) Surah Al Aaraf Chapter 7 Verse 180
(ii) In Surah Taha Chapter 20 Verse 8
(iii) In Surah Al Hashr Chapter 59 Verse 23 & 24
d. NAME ALLAH PREFERED TO THE WORD ‘GOD’
The Muslims prefer calling Allah (swt) with His Name Allah, instead of the English
word ‘God’. The Arabic word Allah is pure and unique, unlike the English word
God which can be played around with.
If you add ‘s’ to God, it becomes ‘gods’ that is plural of God. Allah is one and
singular, there is no plural of Allah. If you add ‘dess’ to God, it becomes
‘goddess’ that is a female God. There is nothing like male Allah or female Allah.
Allah has no gender. If you add father to God, it becomes ‘godfather’. “He is my
Godfather” means that “he is my guardian”. There is nothing like Allah Abba or
Allah father in Islam. If you add mother to God it becomes ‘godmother, there is
nothing like Allah Ammi or Allah Mother in Islam. If you put tin before God, it
becomes tin god i.e. a fake God, there is nothing like-tin Allah or fake Allah in
Islam. Allah is a unique word, which does not conjure up any mental picture nor
can it be played around with. Hence, the Muslims prefer the name Allah when
referring to the Almighty Creator. But sometimes while speaking to non-Muslims
we may have to use the inappropriate word God for Allah.
Allah is mentioned by Name in Hindu Scriptures
The Word “Allah”, which refers to Almighty God in Arabic, is also mentioned in
Rigveda Book 2 hymn 1 verse 11
Rigveda Book 3 hymn 30 verse 10
Rigveda Book 9 hymn 67 verse 30
There is an Upanishad by the name ALO Upanishad.
IIA. THE CONCEPT OF GOD IN ISLAM
We had earlier stated that as per Islam the best and the most concise definition
of God is as given in Surah Ikhlas of the Glorious Qur’an:
Say He is Allah,
The One and Only;
Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;
He begets not,
Nor is He begotten;
And there is none
Like unto Him.
(Al Qur’an 112:1-4)
i. Similar Verses in Hindu Scriptues
There are several passages in the Hindu Scriptures, which have the same or
similar meaning as Surah Ikhlas.
1. Say: He is Allah, The One and Only.
(Al Qur’an 112:1)
It has a meaning which is very similar to:
“Ekam Evadvitiyam”
“He is only one without a second.”
(Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1)
2. Allah, the Eternal, Absolute.
He begetteth not,
Nor is He begotten;
(Al Qur’an 112:2-3)
It has similar meaning as:
“He who knows Me as the unborn, as the beginning-less, as the Supreme Lord of
all the Worlds.”
(Bhagvad Gita 10:3)
and “Of (check – or For Him?) Him there is neither parents nor Lord.”
(Shwetashvatara Upanishad 6:9)
3. And there is none
Like unto Him.
(Al Qur’an 112:4)
A similar message is given in Shwetashvatara Upanishad & Yajurveda:
“Na Tasya pratima asti”
“There is no likeness of Him.”
(Shwetashvatara Upanishad 4:19 & Yajurveda 32:3)
Remember, the Brahma Sutra of Hindu Vedanta is:
‘Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste neh na naste kinchan”
“Bhagwan ek hi hai dusara nahi hai, nahi hai, nahi hai, zara bhi nahi hai”.
“There is only one God, not the second, not at all, not at all, not in the least bit”.