Belief in Allah

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Belief in Allah (One God)

Belief in God’s existence;

• God’s existence does not require proof as by simply looking at the universe humankind has evidence of God. God’s existence can be known by answers to prayers, miracles of prophets etc.

That He is the Supreme Lord and Master of all Creation;

• Belief in God’s Lordship and Supremacy means that both heavens and earth and all that is in between them and beyond belongs to God.
  • He alone is the Master who created everything that exists from nothingness and everything is dependent on him for their existence and continuation. He alone has the power to bring them all to an end and to bring them to life again.

• It also means to acknowledge Him alone as the supreme lawgiver, absolute judge and legislator and to submit to His laws and regulations.

That He alone is entitled to be worshipped, and;

• In Islam, God’s right to be worshipped cannot be questioned.
  • No one can be worshipped other than Him or alongside Him.

• The central message of all prophets was to urge humanity to surrender to God’s will and worship only Him.

Belief in His names and attributes;

• The names of God indicate His majesty, power and perfection and His attributes as unique and all-encompassing.

• As He alone is perfect no one else should be named or qualified with the names or qualifications of God, nor can evil or deficiency can be attributed to Him.

• Amongst his 99 names are: Al-Qawee, Al-Ahad, Al-Aleem, Ar-Rahman etc.

• Muslims start their day and tasks with the name of God and before every task remind themselves of His mercy.

• Forgiveness is an important dimension of human relationship with God. God in His mercy forgives all those who turn to Him in repentance. He is the Forgiver, Al-Ghafur and Oft-forgiving, Al-Ghaffar.

• As He alone is perfect no one else should be named or qualified with the names or qualifications of God.

Types of Shirk

Whoever joins other gods with Allah, Allah will forbid him from the garden and fire will be his abode. There will for the wrong-doers be no one to help.’ (Surah Al-Maidah 5:72)

1. Shirk in the existence of God would constitute assigning partners to God or saying that there is more than one Creator or that there are more gods than one. It could also be committed by declaring God to be the father or son of someone.
   • Well developed answers may well quote Sura 112:3 which says ‘He does not beget, nor is He begotten.’
   • This is the most unforgivable sin and should never be committed as God has said in several places in the Qur’an e.g. ‘Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him, but He forgives anything else to whom He pleases.’ (Al- Nisa 4:48)

2. Shirk in the worship of God can be committed by praying invoking or asking for help from any other than God and by offering sacrifice or slaughtering in the name of any other than God.
   • Muslims should therefore only ask God for the fulfilment of their wishes or needs as that power lies only with him. Only He should be invoked.

3. Shirk in God’s attributes means to ascribe qualities which are unique to God to some other being. It means to believe that some being other than God has the power to create, or make something perish or has the same knowledge as God or the same divine power. Muslims should therefore be careful to not commit this grave sin.

Benefits of Tawheed in a Muslims life.

• Belief in tawhid makes a person virtuous and obedient to God as they know that success and salvation in this world and the hereafter can only be achieved by piety and righteous deeds.

• It instils in them a sense of confidence and self-respect as they know that they are dependent on no one but God so they bow before no one else.

• The belief also makes them humble and modest as they know that all they have is from God; it stimulates unity and brotherhood and broadens the outlook of a believer as they realise that God’s love and sympathy is not confined to any one group of people but to His entire creation.

• Tawhid also gives a Muslim courage as they know that only God is the giver or taker of life so in turn this belief makes them brave.

• It also creates an attitude of peace and contentment and frees one from jealousy and envy and greed.