Muslim creed – Kepercayaan orang Islam
We are told Allah is above the throne.
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said:
‘Compared with the kursi (seat of honor), the whole universe is as little as a ring thrown upon a desert. Similarly, compared with the ‘arsh (throne), the kursi is as little as a ring thrown upon the desert.’ (Tafsir a-Tabari)
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| Wa`alaykum As-Salaamu Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.In The Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.Dear sister in Islam, thank you very much for having confidence in us, and we hope our efforts, which are purely for Allah’s Sake, meet your expectations.First of all, we would like to stress the fact that, every committed Muslim should have a firm belief that Allah Almighty is UNIQUE in everything. There is no resemblance between Allah, the Creator and His creation. Referring to this, Allah Almighty says: “Naught is as His likeness; and He is the Hearer, the Seer.” (Ash-Shura: 11)
Also, one should be aware of the perverted ideas promoted by non-Muslims in this regard. In addition, every Muslim has to be aware of the snares of the Satan, and to avoid any wishful thinking concerning such issues that do more harm to the minds of Muslims than benefiting them. In his response to the question, Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, former president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), states the following:“Allah, Glorified be He, is not something abstract. The Qur’an describes Him as a Personal Being with face, eyes, hands. He sees, hears, speaks, sits on the throne, likes and dislikes, loves and hates, certain things please Him and certain things displease Him and make Him angry. All these descriptions are in the Qur’an. Thus Allah certainly has an image or Surah. We, Muslims, believe in and accept all that Allah has told us about Himself. But we do not say “how”. In Islamic theology this is called ‘Bila Kayf’ or ‘without how.’ Thus, we accept that Allah has face, hands and eyes, but we do not make a picture or an image of them. Allah Almigty says:”“Naught is as His likeness; and He is the Hearer, the Seer.” (Ash-Shura: 11). He Almighty also says: “There is none equal to Him.” (Al-Ikhlas :4) It is acceptable in Islam to say that Allah is above or to raise one’s head or hands towards the heaven to pray to Allah. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, went to the heavens in his Mi`raj and there Allah spoke to him. The “above” signifies the greatness, honor and glory of Allah. However Allah is not limited and confined to any particular place. His knowledge encompasses everything. The Qur’an also tells us that He is very close to us. Allah Almighty also says: “…and He is with you wheresoever ye may be. And Allah is Seer of what ye do.” (Al-Hadid: 4)” Moreover, Dr. `Abdur-Raziq Muhammad Fadl at Al-Azhar University, adds: “There are limits to what our mortal minds can grasp, in the sense that we will surely go astray if we give free rein to our thinking about Allah. A Muslim has to keep in mind that what applies to Allah do not apply to His Creatures. Allah Almighty says, “Vision comprehendeth Him not, but He comprehendeth (all) vision. He is the Subtle, the Aware.” (Al-An`aam: 102) Elaborating more on this, Sheikh Muhammad Saleh Al-Munajjid, the well known Saudi Islamic lecturer and author, states: “The people of Ahl As-Sunnah Wal Jama`ah believe that Allah is exalted above His creation. This is based on the evidence from the Qur’an, Sunnah, consensus of the scholars, common sense and man’s innate instinct or Fitrah The Qur’an: The Qur`an describes the “exaltedness” or “highness” of Allah in different ways, as His being High and Above, and by describing how things come down from Him, and go up to Him, and by stating that He is above heaven. For example, Allah Almighty says: “. . .and He is the Most High, the Most Great.” (Al-Baqarah : 255) He Almighty also says: “Glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most High.” (Al-A’la:1) The Sunnah: Many authentic reports state that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used to say “Subhana Rabbi Al-A’la or “Glory be to my Lord Most High” in sujood, and in some Hadiths he is reported to have said “By Allah Who is above the Throne.” Among his deeds is the gesture of pointing up with his finger, when addressing the people in the greatest gathering, on the Day of ‘Arafah during his Farewell Pilgrimage. He asked the people, “Have I conveyed the message?” and they said, “Yes, you have.” He asked again, “Have I conveyed the message?” and they said, “Yes, you have “. He asked a third time, have I conveyed the message?” and they said “Yes, you have!” Each time, he said: “O Allah, bear witness!”. He said so while pointing up to the sky and then at the people.The Prophet also used to raise his hands towards heaven when he made Du`a, as it’s reported in tens of Hadiths. This also confirms the fact that Allah is Exalted and High.An example of an approval of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon Him, which indicates that Allah is Exalted and High is the Hadith concerning the young slave girl, to whom the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon Him, said: “Where is Allah?” She said: “In heaven” He asked, “Who am I?” She said, “The Messenger of Allah.” So he said to her master: “Set her free, for she is a believer.” This young girl, though uneducated and a slave, knew that her Lord is above heaven. Common Sense:
Highness is a quality which is associated in people’s minds with perfection. If this is the case, then it should be attributed to Allah because every absolute perfection should be attributed to Him.”
The above quotation is excerpted with slight modifications from http://www.Islam-qa.com Finally, it’s clear that Allah Almighty is Omnipresent, though our mortal minds fall short to grasp His Divine Presence. But we have to bear in mind that He is the Creator of physical space and time, He is All-Knowing of every single millimeter in the entire universe. If you have any further comments, please don’t hesitate to write back! May Allah guide you to the straight path, and guide you to that which pleases Him, Amen.
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Allah Almighty knows best. |
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| Wa Alaykum As-Salaamu, Waramatullah Wabarakatuh!In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. Dear brother in Islam, thanks for posing this interesting question. May Allah Almighty help us all obey His teachings and rules in order to gain His reward and mercy, Amen. Responding to your question, the following is what Sheikh Muhammad `Ali Al-Hanooti, a member of the Fiqh Council of North America, says:“I understand that the one who raises this question is a Muslim who believes in Allah. I would like to tell him that Allah is the One Who has the full control over everything of His creation. We are accountable, but Allah is not. What we have of knowledge even concerning the worldly matters is very limited. I could say, relatively, that your knowledge of any science of this world could at most be very finite, whereas what is of the knowledge that you are involved in, in your perspective, is infinite. In this regard, Allah says in the Qur’an: “Say: “If the ocean were ink (wherewith to write out) the words of my Lord, sooner would the ocean be exhausted than would the words of my Lord, even if we added another ocean like it, for its aid.” (Al-Khaf:109) Part of what makes a person a true Muslim is to believe in the ghaybiyat (the Unseen). This means things that are known to Almighty Allah alone. A Muslim’s knowledge is always sought for deeds and action. We never know only in order to just know. Rather, we know in order to do. One of the best scholars who wrote about this is Ash-Shatibi in his book Al-Muwafaqaat [volume 1 within the thirteen introductions. ] Al-Imam Ibn Abi Al-‘Izz in his commentary on Al-‘Aqeedah At-Tahawiyyah elaborated on the question of Qadar (destiny) in a very clear way that makes it the best literature for that cause. He says that man’s life is like a circle. That circle is called the lawful circle. Man has the free will, in whatever he wants or doesn’t want, man is provided with all the means of his free will. If he is not qualified for that then he cannot be judged for any wrongdoing; like the under age or the insane. Neither of them can be responsible for his acts for he doesn’t have the power to have free will. Whatever we do in our life is to be judged according to the Law and we have the full power to do or not to do. No murderer will dare say to the judge that I am a murderer because Allah has predestined me to be a murderer. Rather, he would say, I know murder is haram and I did something wrong and I know that I could have avoided it. This circle is what the author calls iradah shar’iyyah. Man has the full accessibility to that circle. This circle is surrounded with an infinite circle that is called iradah kawniyyah, which means, the Will of Allah. We cannot reach anything of that circle because it is of the Unseen. If Allah tells me that Abu Lahab was predestined to be the way he was and Iblis was created for the job he did, I say, everything of that is the second circle, I have nothing to argue with because what I have of decodification is limited to our circle. But we cannot decodify anything of the other circle. This is why the angels said to Allah, “Glory be to You” when He asked them to tell Him the names of certain objects, as mentioned in the verse of Surah Al-Baqarah 2:32. Because they were asked a question that deals with the second circle. So they knew that getting involved in the second circle would be tantamount to some type of kufr (disbelief) or shirk (polytheism). A Muslim should manifest his full submission to Allah, in feelings, as well as in action. His goal should always manifest his servitude to Allah and his feelings should reflect that submission and servitude to Allah.”
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Allah Almighty knows best. |
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| Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. Dear sister in Islam, thanks a lot for your question which reflects your care to have a sound belief and faith. Allah commands Muslims to refer to people of knowledge to become well-acquainted with the teachings of Islam in all aspects of life.Before addressing this question, it is essential to state the following: The Islamic approach towards dealing with any issue relating to faith and practice is direct. Thus, this invariably involves looking at what the Qur’an has to say, how this was understood and applied by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the pious generations, who are considered our perennial role models in all matters of deen (religion). First of all, we would like to stress the fact that, every committed Muslim should have a firm belief that Allah Almighty is UNIQUE in everything. There is no resemblance between Allah the Creator and His creation. Referring to this, Allah Almighty says: “Nothing is like Him and He hears and sees all things.” (Ash-Shura: 11) In his response to your question, Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, former President of the Islamic Society of North America, states: “According to the teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah, we say Allah is the Most Powerful (Al-Qawiyy). We may say that Allah’s power is unfolding and never ending, but we do not say that Allah is ‘an unfolding never ending power.’ In Islam, we believe that Allah has many Names and Beautiful Attributes. Allah sees, hears, speaks, likes, and dislikes. Allah listens to our prayers and blesses those who believe in Him and obey Him. It is correct that Allah is not a person like a man, but this does not mean that Allah is some kind of abstract being, or mere energy or power. If you read the Qur’an, you will see that there are many personal qualities of Allah. But the Qur’an reminds us that “Nothing is like Him and He hears and sees all things.” (Ash-Shura: 11) This is a very profound statement. On the one hand it denies all anthropomorphism (tashbih), and on the other hand it rejects all kind of nihilism (ta`til). Allah Most High also loves, hates, is pleased, gets angry, wishes us to do certain things, and does not like us to do some other things. But in the case of Allah these are not emotions like those of mortals. These are according to His own Majesty and Greatness. We cannot fully grasp His Attributes, because He is infinite and we are finite. We have no other way of knowing Him, except what He tells us through His Book and His Prophets. In the Qur’an Allah says about Himself in the famous Ayat al-Kursi: “Allah! There is no god but He, the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize Him nor sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth. Who is there can intercede in His presence except as He permits? He knows what (appears to His creatures as) Before or After or Behind them. Nor shall they compass aught of His knowledge except as He wills. His Throne does extend over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them, for He is the Most High, the Supreme (in glory).” (Al-Baqarah: 255) The pronouns ‘He’, ‘Him’ or ‘I’, ‘We’ are to indicate that Allah is a Being, not a thing. We do not use the pronoun ‘It’ for Allah. If it were our belief that Allah is ‘power’ or ‘energy’ then we could have used the expression ‘It’, but this is not acceptable in Islam. We do not believe that Allah is a male or a female. Allah is beyond maleness and femaleness. Allah is the Creator of both males and females. Muslims do not make an image of Allah. Even if an image comes to their mind they say, ‘Allah Akbar,’ (Allah is Greater) and He transcends this particular image. In the Qur’an Allah speaks sometimes as ‘I’ and sometimes as ‘We’. This is to describe His power and His closeness. But Allah is never referred to as ‘They’ or ‘You’ in the plural (hum or antum). I suggest you read the Qur’an carefully and see for yourself what Allah says about Himself. There is no book in which you can find a more authentic and direct word of Allah better than the Qur’an.”
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| Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. Dear brother in Islam, we commend your pursuit of knowledge and your keenness to understand Islamic beliefs and teachings. We earnestly implore Allah to bless your efforts in this honorable way.Responding to the question you raised, Sheikh Yusuf Estes, a prominent Muslim scholar and director of Islamtomorrow.com, states the following:
“I like your question and may Allah always make us of those who seek true knowledge to better understand our purpose of this life, Ameen. This question has to be evaluated on its merits and restated according to Islamic understandings. First and foremost, Muslims do not compare Allah to His creation. Therefore, the question can be answered as such due to the fact that Allah is completely Exalted and far above mortal description; He is not “like” His creation. Allah tells us in His Book that He is “As-Samad” (The eternally Besought of all). He is also the “Al-Awwal” (First) and the “Al-’Akhir” (Last) He is without beginning or end. This is how He always was and always is, and always will be, so to speak. Second, Islam is clear on the issue of asking questions about Allah, warning people against being influenced by such question which could plant doubt into someone’s mind or drive him away from the Right Path. Let us consider the Hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wherein he mentioned that the Shaytan (Satan) will come to you and trouble you with questions like: “Who created this or that?” To which you would logically respond: “Allah.” Until he would come to the question: “Then who created Allah?” At which point the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) instructed us to say: “I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed devil.” And then leave off this train of thought. (Reported by Muslim) You might also consider similar questions that the enemies of Islam have used for centuries to weaken one’s faith in the existence of Allah. To illustrate: When the disbelievers come to you and ask you if you believe in God, you would logically reply: “Yes.” Then they would ask you: “Can your God do anything?” You would say: “Yes.” Then they would ask you: “Can your God make something huge?” You would say: “Of course.” They would say: “Can your God make something so big that nothing can move it?” Then you would say: “Yes.” Then they would say: “You mean that your God could make something so big that nothing could ever move it?” Again, you say: “Yes.” Then they say: “So big that even your God can’t move it?” Now you have a problem. Either you answer: “Yes.” They will say: “Then that means your God cannot do everything. Because now there is something that your God cannot do. He cannot move the object.” But if you answer: “No.” They will simply say: “Then this is something that your God cannot do.” This is a similar problem to the one you have mentioned. This is the idea of a god that is having problems with his own creation. The concept of Allah in Islam is that He is never compared to His creation. He merely says: “Be.” And it is. So, Allah does not operate like a human or anyone or anything within His creation. Within the laws of creation is the rule that nothing moves except that there is a fulcrum, a lever and a force. Allah does not have to use a fulcrum and lever to move anything. One of His attributes is that He is “Al-Qawiyy” (The All Powerful). So, He is the Power. He does not come under the rules of His creation. He makes the rules. He operates within His own rules; He changes His rules as He pleases, and according to the way He deems fit. That is the understanding of the Muslims. For further reading on this and other important subjects on Islam, please refer to books on `Aqeedah (Muslim Creed), Tawheed (Monotheism) and other Islamic Beliefs by: Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Phillips; Dr. Jafar Sheikh Idris; Jamaludeen Zarabozo; Ali Tamimi, and others.”
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| Guest Name | Dr. Muhammad Ash-Shahat Al-Jindi |
| Profession | Professor of Shari`ah at Hilwan Univ., Faculty of Law |
| Subject | General Fatwa Session |
| Date | Monday,Jan 7 ,2002 |
| Name | Shihab – |
| Profession | |
| Question | Somebody asked me: where is Allah?How can I answer him? |
| Answer | In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.Allah is available in all places. There is no specific place where Allah is because Allah is the Owner of everything. Here, I would like to cite this example to make it clearer for you. Any person can see the light of the electric lamp in every place but he cannot specify the point that serves as the source of this light.By the same token, we can say that Allah is the source of every thing such as skies, earth, mankind. However, we cannot specify the site of His Divine Existence. We can also argue that all the landmarks we see in the universe, such as the Sun, the Moon, day and night, serve as a clear evidence of Allah’s Existence and Might. It’s logical for every vivid mind to know that it’s quite impossible for all these signs to appear in accurate manner without the Originator and Supreme Creator.
In comparison to these things, telephone and similar machines cannot work without inventor and without the necessary equipment to make them workable. Given that we now live in the era characterized with technological revolution, people think that they have a key to every progress and have control over things which were impossible in the past. Up till now, they have control over the order of the whole universe because the One Who has full control is Allah Alone. He Almighty has the key to that order and the whole universe is subject to His Divine order and no one can change it.” May Allah guide you to the Straight path and direct you to that which pleases Him, Amen. Allah Almighty knows best.
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| I praise Allah, all of the praise is only for Him Alone.Let us explain some important points about the concept of Allah (God) in Islam.In the Holy Qur’an, Allah says that He is All Hearing, All Knowing, All Seeing and that He is as close to us, as our jugular vein. He also states that He is close to us in the third part of the night, when we are praying to Him. Additionally, He tells us that there is never a gathering of three in His Name, except that He is the Fourth or two and He is the Third. Yet, at the same time we know that Allah is not a “part of His creation.”
So the question now becomes: What do Muslims believe about Allah? As Muslims, we believe that Allah is above everything. What we believe of Allah is based on what Allah has revealed in His Book (the Qur’an), and what has been continuously reported from His messenger (pbuh), and what the early generation of Muslim scholars unanimously agreed upon. Muslims believe that Allah, The Glorified, is exalted above His creatures. Still, He is with them, wherever they be and knows whatever they do. He summed it up in His saying:
His saying ‘He is with you’ does not mean that He is commingled with the creatures. The language does not indicate this and it is against what the early generation of the ummah (Muslim nation) agreed upon. This would be contrary to Allah’s creation of all things. For example, the moon is one of Allah’s signs to be found amongst His creatures. It is placed in the skies where it is at the same time with both the traveler and the one who is not a traveler, wherever they are. Exactly, He, The Glorified, keeps a watchful eye over His creatures, ruling over them. Thus, the Islamic concept of God should be protected from false conjectures and distortion. Such conjectures, as thinking that the apparent meaning of His saying ‘in heavens’ means that heavens contain Him. This is invalid, according to the consensus of all the people of knowledge and faith! The closeness of Allah to His ‘abd (servant or worshipper), is that He is very close to His creatures, responding, as He has summed it up in His saying:
Also, the Prophet (pbuh) said to his companions, when they raised their voices in invocation of Allah: ‘What has been revealed in the Book (i.e., the Qur’an) and in the sunnah – of His closeness – does not contradict what has been told of His exaltation and highness. Indeed, Glory be to Him, there is none like Him in all His attributes, and He is high in His nearness and near in His highness.’ Muslims believe the Qur’an is the word of Allah. An essential part of the belief in Allah and His Books is the belief that the Qur’an is Allah’s Word revealed. It is the Word of Allah, its letters and its meaning. The Word of Allah is not the words only, without meaning, and not the meaning only, without words. Seeing Allah on the Day of Judgment is also a part of the belief in Allah. What we referred to of believing in Him, in His Books, and in His messengers, includes also the belief that those who believe will see Him with their eyes, just as they see the sun on a day free of clouds; Just as they see the full moon without obstacle, they will see Him, The Glorified, while they are in the day of judgment; and they will see Him after entering Paradise. This is as Allah, The Glorified, The Exalted, wills. Here are some of the evidences from the Qur’an itself. The message of the Qur’an is a clear message regarding Him not being “IN” His creation nor is He “like” His creation, nor “dependent” on His creation.
Additionally, we invite those interested to learn more about our belief in Allah to visit the following pages: http://www.TodayIslam.com/belief.htm Please pray for me and ask Allah to forgive me. May Allah guide all of us to His truth, ameen. Salaam ‘alaykum
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May Allah reward you for your question.Let us first realize that Allah is absolutely other than His creation. The Creator cannot by any means be the same type of being as that which He creates. It also follows that to ‘locate’ Allah would be to place Him in our space and time dimension when we know this is definitely not the case. Allah is not in our space/time dimension. He is not subject to the same constraints that we are. This is self-evident to sense and reason.The Qur’an tells us:
In this passage from the Qur’an we are being informed, Allah is above the throne.
This passage is relating how Muhammad (pbuh) started the Night Journey, the Mirage, where he was taken through the heavens to Allah. After his ascent to the heavens, the companions asked him if he had seen Allah. On the authority of Abu Darr, on one occasion, he answered: ‘He is the Light. How do I see Him?’ (Narrated by Muslim, Ibn Majah and Ibn Hanbal) On another occasion he answered: ‘I have seen a Light.’ (Narrated by Muslim) We are told Allah is above the throne. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: ‘Compared with the kursi (seat of honor), the whole universe is as little as a ring thrown upon a desert. Similarly, compared with the ‘arsh (throne), the kursi is as little as a ring thrown upon the desert.’ (Tafsir a-Tabari) How can we even begin to think the reality of the kursi and ‘arsh from which the All-Mighty in His Infinite Majesty sends out His Will and Command and sustains His creation, let alone begin to conceive of Allah Himself? Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) could only say, ‘He is the Light, how do I see Him? … and, I have seen a Light.’ Whatever begins to form in our minds, Allah is greater than that.
There are many passages in the Qur’an, which refer to Allah being with us and seeing us. What ‘being with us’ means is that His knowledge is over everything and through His knowledge He is observing and witnessing, there is nothing outside of His knowledge. For our part, we feel the existence and presence of Allah, in the depths of our heart, through the universe, which He has created and opened to us like a book, and through the wonderful harmony between all His creations. In fact, this vision is completely different from that of other religions, among which are those who either believe in incarnation or give God human attributes. It is also differs from the the modernist vision of nature, human nature, deity and transcendence. Accordingly, in Islam, the ‘location’ question, in many writings, is distinguished from the ‘knowledge’ question. So, yes, Allah is nearer to us than our own veins, yet that is not in time, place or location. Allah’s all-encompassing knowledge is the key to the answer here.
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