Once man believes that God exists he must know His attributes and
names. Generally speaking every perfection and absolute goodness belong
to Him, and no defect or wrong applies to Him. In specific terms, one
should know and believe the following:
1- God is only One,
has no partner or son, neither gives birth, nor is He born. He is
eternally besought by all and has no beginning or end, and none is equal
to Him:
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-Ikhlas 112:1-4)
2- He is the Merciful and the Compassionate, the Guardian and the
True Guide, the Just and the Supreme Lord, the Creator and the Watchful,
the First and the Last, the Knowing and the Wise, the Hearing and the
Aware, the Witness and the Glorious, the Able and the Powerful, i.e.
Al-Hadid 57:1-6, and Al-Hashr 59:22-24.
3- He is the Loving and Provider, the Generous and the Benevolent,
the Rich and the Independent, the Forgiving and the Clement, the Patient
and the Appreciative, the Unique and the Protector, the Judge and the
Peace, i.e. Aal `Imran 3:31, Hud 11:6; Fatir 35:15, and At-Talaq
65:2-3).
Each one of these names and attributes of God is mentioned in various
places in the Qur‘an. We all enjoy the care and mercy of God Who is so
Loving and Kind to His creation. If we try to count His favors upon us,
we cannot, because they are countless, i.e. Ibrahim 14:32-34, and
An-Nahl 16:10-18).
His Love
God is High and Supreme, but He is very near to the pious thoughtful
people; He answers their prayers and helps them. He loves the people who
love Him and forgives their sins. He gives them peace and happiness,
knowledge and success, life and protection, He welcomes all those who
want to be at peace with Him and never rejects any of them.
He teaches man to be good, to do the right and keep away from the
wrong. Because He is so Good and Loving, He recommends and accepts only
the good right things. The door of His mercy is always open to any who
sincerely seek His support and protection, i.e. Al-Baqarah 2:186, Qaf
50:16.
The Love of God for His creatures is immense and beyond human
imagination. We cannot measure or count His favors. He creates us and
takes good care of us, not only from the time of our birth onward, but
even long before that. He makes us in the best form of creation and
gives us all the senses and faculties that we need for our growth.
He helps us when we cannot help ourselves, and provides for us and
for our dependents. He creates in man the mind to understand, the soul
and conscience to be good and righteous, the feelings and sentiments to kind and humane.
By His mercy and love He has shown us the Right way and sent to us messengers and teachers, books and revelations.
His Mercy
By His mercy we gain true knowledge and see the real light. Because
He is Merciful He creates us in the most beautiful shape and provides us
with the sun and the moon, the land and sea, the earth and the skies,
the plants and the animals.
He is the Creator of all these things
and many others for our benefit and use. He makes things that are of
service to us in this life, and gives man dignity and intelligence,
honor and respect, because man is the best of all created things and is
God’ s viceroy on earth.
The mercy of God gives us hope and peace, courage and confidence. It
enables us to remedy our griefs and sorrows, to overcome our
difficulties and obtain success and happiness.
Indeed, the mercy of God relieves the distressed, cheers the
afflicted, consoles the sick, strengthens the desperate, and comforts
the needy. In short, the mercy of God is active everywhere all the time
in every aspect of our lives. Some people may fail to recognize it only
because they take it for granted. But it is real and we can feel it with
our hearts and appreciate it with our minds.
The Loving Merciful God never forgets us or lets us down or ignores
our sincere calls upon Him. By His mercy and love He has shown us the
Right way and sent to us messengers and teachers, books and revelations –
all are meant for our help and guidance. The Last Messenger from God is
Muhammad, and the most genuine existing book of God is the Qur’an.
From the traditions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the
teachings of the Qur’an, we learn about the Forgiving God. If a person
commits a sin or does something wrong, then he is violating the law of
God, committing a grave offense against God and abusing his own dignity
and existence.
But if he is sincere and wishes to repent, regrets his wrong deeds
and wants to turn to God, faithfully seeks pardon from God and honestly
approaches Him, then God will certainly accept him and forgive him.
Even those who reject God or His Oneness are assured of forgiveness,
should they realize their erroneous attitude and resolve to come back to
God. In this connection the Qur’an says:
Say: ‘O My
servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the
mercy of God: for God forgives all sins: For He is Most Forgiving, Most
Merciful. (An-Nisaa’ 4:48)
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-Ikhlas 112:1-4)
Say: ‘O My
servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the
mercy of God: for God forgives all sins: For He is Most Forgiving, Most
Merciful.
Turn to
your Lord (in repentance) and submit to Him, before the penalty comes on
you; after that you shall not be helped. And follow the best of the
courses revealed to you from your Lord, before the penalty comes on you –
of a sudden while you perceive not!’ (Az-Zumar 39:53, 54)
Its Impact
In return for all these great favors and kindness God does not need
anything from us, because He is the Needless and the Independent. He
does not ask us to pay Him back, for we cannot reward Him or value His
immeasurable favors and mercy.
What He commands us to do, however, is only to be good, to be thankful and appreciative, to follow His recommendations and enforce His law,
to be the proper manifestation of His goodness and excellent
attributes, to be His honest agents and true representatives on earth.
He does not want to enslave us, because He is the One Who grants us
dignity and honor. He does not wish to subjugate us, because He is the
One Who emancipates us from fear and superstitions. He does not desire
to humiliate us because He is the One Who creates us and exalts our
ranks above all other beings.
So whatever rules and prescriptions He passes unto us are designed
for our own benefit and good. They are meant to help us to enjoy our
lives with one another in peace and kindness, in brotherhood and
cooperation. They are destined to make us attain His most pleasant
company and adopt the surest approach to eternal happiness.
_________________________
The article is excerpted from the author’s Islam in Focus.
Once man believes that God exists he must know His attributes and
names. Generally speaking every perfection and absolute goodness belong
to Him, and no defect or wrong applies to Him. In specific terms, one
should know and believe the following:
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