Download How Man Should Understand God

How Man Should
Understand God
‘The God’ - Allah
• The essential name (ism al-dhat ‫)إسم الذات‬
• History: Allah as compound of al-ilah =
the god, the great supreme god of Arabia
• Al-Rahman: South Arabian supreme god
Quranic Descriptions of God
“He is the God, other than whom there is no god,
the Knower of the unseen and the seen. He is
the Beneficent, the Merciful. He is the God,
other than whom there is no god, the Sovereign
Lord, the Holy One, Peace, the Keeper of Faith,
the Guardian, the Majestic, the Compeller, the
Superb. Glorified be the God from all that they
associate with Him. He is the God, the Creator,
the Shaper out of naught, the Fashioner. His are
the most beautiful names. All that is in the
heavens and the earth glorifies Him, and He is
Mighty and Wise.” (59:22-24)
The Ninety-Nine Names of God
• God is the Most Beneficent (al-rahman), the most merciful (alrahim) the One and Unique (al-ahad, al-wahid), the Living, the
Self-subsisting (al-hayy al-qayyūm, the Real, the Truth ( alhaqq), the Sublime (al-’azim), the High and Great (al-’ali alkabir), Light (al-nur), the Sage (al-Hakim), the Omnipotent ( alaziz ,al-qadir), absolute Creator (al-badi’), creating the world (alkhaliq), Who does not cease to create (al-khallaq), unlike all
creation (laysa ka-mithlihi shay’), the Hearing, the Clearsighted,
the Omniscient (al-sami’, al-basir , al-’alim), the Witness (alshahid), the Bountiful (al-wahhab), the Surety (al-wali), the
Protector (al-wakil), the Generous (al-karim), the Forgiver (alghafur), the Compassionate (al-ra’uf), the Benevolent (alwadud)…
• “To God belong 99 Names, a hundred less one; for He, the Odd
Number (= the Unique) likes (to be designated by these
enumerated Names) one by one; whosoever knows the 99 Names,
will enter paradise” a hadith narrated from the Prophet by Abu
Hurayra
The Verse of the Thone (Ayat alKursi)
“God, there is no deity save Him, the Living, the
Eternal. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes
him. Unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the
heavens and whatsoever is on the earth. Who is
he that intercedes with Him save by His leave?
He knows that which is in front of them and that
which is behind, while they encompass nothing
of his knowledge save what He will. He throne
includes the heavens and the earth, and He is
never weary of preserving them. He is the
Sublime, the Tremendous.” (2:255)
The One, Unique God
• Most salient theme of the Quran: there is
nothing worthy of worship except the God,
Muhammad is the messenger of the God.
• No associates, no progeny
– “Say: He is the One God, the God ever sought
after. He is not born and does not beget. And
there is nothing like Him.” (110)
– “Warn mankind that there is no god save Me,
so keep your duty unto Me.” (16:2)
Eternal Reality and Truth
• “The Ultimate Truth (al-Haqq)”: so does
anything else exist (ex. al-Hallaj)?
• “And cry not unto any other god along
with the God. There is no god save him.
Everything will perish save His
countenance. His the command, and unto
Him will you be brought back.” (28:88)
• Universe is created “in truth”: an ordered
world…
Unencompassable,
Unknowable
• He is the “First (al-awwal)” and the “Last (alakhir)”, the “Inner (al-batin)” and the “Outer
(al-zahir)”
• “There is nothing like unto Him, and He is allhearing, all-perceiving.”
• “So do not coin parables for God. Indeed God
knows and you know not.” (16:74)
• “Sense do not grasp Him, but He grasps the
senses, and He is benevolent, all-aware.” (6:103)
Close to Man
• “And if My slaves ask you about Me,
indeed I am near, answering the prayer of
whoever invokes Me. So let them seek out
My response and believe in Me, that they
may be guided.” (2:186)
• “And indeed We created mankind, and We
know what his soul whispers to him, and
We are closer to him than his jugular
vein.” (50:16)
The Creator & Sustainer
• He creates ex nihilo: He says “be! And it
is” (16:40)
• He constantly re-creates and sustains the
universe… He is the “Blesser (mun’im)”
– Cattle, crops, ships in the sea, the moon and
the stars made useful for us (3:5-14)
• Resurrection is no chore for God:
– “Indeed, He can even reconstitute your
fingertips.”
All-Knowing, All-Seeing…
• “most knowing of all things” (bi-kull shay’
alim)
• Talking about Joseph and his brothers,
God says, “We raise in levels whom We
chose, and above every possessor of
knowledge there is the Most
Knowledgeable.” (12:76)
Utterly Just
• ‘The Just’ (adil)
• “He does not wrong any of His servants”…
• … people only wrong themselves: people when
they die and face their fate, “God wronged them
not, but they did wrong themselves.” (16:33)
• The Story of Moses and the Sage (18:59-81) (like
Midrash story of Elijah and Rabbi Joshua ben
Levi)
• Reprieve until the Day of Judgment: “If God
were to take mankind to task for their
wrongdoing, He would not leave hereon a living
creature! But He gives them a reprieve until an
appointed term…” (16:61)
The Light
“God is the light of the heavens and the earth,
the similitude of His light is a niche in which
there is a lamp. The lamp is inside a glass, the
glass as if it were a shining star, kindled from a
blessed tree, an olive tree neither of the east or of
the west. Its oil almost illuminates although no
fire has touched it. Light upon light, God guides
unto His light whom He wills. And God speaks
to mankind in allegories, and God knows all
things.” (24:35)
• Al-Ghazali (d. 1111) and Islamic Neo-Platonism
Traditions of Speculative
Theology
• Textualists: ahl al-hadith
• Muslim Rationalists (Mutazila): reason as
a tool for understanding God
• The Ashari Compromise: figurative
understandings
• Knowing God vs. Human Attributes
(Aquinas)
The Problem of
Anthropomorphism
• God’s “eyes”
• God’s “hand”
• God’s “throne”