Some chapters of the Qur'an start with a number of divine
attributes. Here are some examples which help us understand Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala)
better:
"Ha-Mim the revelation of the book is
from Allah, the mighty the knower; the forgiver of sins, the accepter of repentance, the
stern in punishment, the most bountiful. There is no god except he. Unto him is the final
journeying." (40:1-3)
Another example is the following:
"All that is in the heavens and the
earth glorifies Allah, and he is the Mighty, the Wise. His is the sovereignty of the
heavens and the earth, he gives life and death; and he is capable to do all things. He is
the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Inward, and he is Knower of all things. He
prevailed on the throne; he knows all that enters the earth and all that emerges from it;
and all that descends from the sky and all that ascends to it. And he is with you
wheresoever you may be. And Allah is seer of what you do. His is the sovereignty of the
heavens and the earth and unto Allah all things are returned." (57:1-5)
A third example is:
"All what is in the heavens and all
what is in the earth glorifies Allah, the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One, the Mighty, the
Wise. He it is who has sent among the unlettered ones a messenger of their own, to recite
to them his revelations and to purify them, and to teach them the book and wisdom though
before that they were indeed in error manifest." (42:1-2)
There are, as a matter of fact, seven chapters in the
Qur'an that start with glorification of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala). These chapters are
the following: Iron 57, Exile 59, the Ranks 61, Friday 62, Mutual Disillusion 64, the Most
High 87, Children of Israel 17. All tenses are used to express Allah (Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala)'s glorification. We already cited three examples. Scholars of the Qur'an said that
glorification of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala) is expressed in the holy book sometimes in
the past tense; sometimes in the present tense; sometimes in the infinitive; and sometimes
as a command. This may not be clear in English or any translation of the holy utterance in
any other language. However scholars said that the reason of using different tenses for
glorification is to make this a perpetual process that never stops. Here are some more
examples in addition to the already mentioned ones:
"Glory be to him who carried his slave
by night from the sacred mosque to the farthest mosque the neighborhood of which we
blessed that we may show him some of our miracles. He, only he, is the Hearer, the
Seer." (17:1)
Another example of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala)'s
glorification that occurs at the beginning of some Qur'anic chapters is the one starting
chapter 87. Here we are commanded to glorify Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala) as follows:
"Glorify the Name of your Lord the
Most High, who created then disposed and straightened, who measured and destined then
guided." (87:1-3)
Glorification of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala) in the Qur'an
means that we praise him, declare his oneness and single him out to be the only one worthy
of our worship. It occurs in the Qur'an very often and is not limited to the seven
chapters we mentioned earlier. In addition to these seven chapters started with
glorification, this act is mentioned very often in the holy Qur'an. The holy book, in
fact, asserts that everything in the universe glorifies Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala) and
declares his absolute perfection and his freedom from all evil or deficiency. In chapter
17 verse 44 we read:
"The seven heavens and the earth and
all who are in them declareHis glory; and there is not a thing but hymns his glory and
praise, but you understand not their glorification. He is ever Clement,
Oft-Fforgiving."
Some scholars said that everything glorifies Allah
(Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala) through its actual condition not by word of mouth, but by striking
in humans and other sensible creatures admiration and submission to Allah (Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala). So they ignore that lifeless things like stones and trees and the like celebrate
the glory of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala) by expression. This group cites the saying of
prophet Muhammad to the effect that he once passed by two graves of dead Muslims and said
that they were being punished in their graves due to minor sins. Then he recommended a
green palm tree branch to be split into two and put on the two graves and he commented :
these two branches may decrease the punishment as long as they are wet and green.
Scholars of the first group said that based on this
tradition, a dry branch would be lifeless and so would be of no benefit. But the truth is
with the other group that asserts that everything glorifies Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala)
although we do not understand their method of expressing it as the verse exactly states.
They cite two incidents from the biography of the prophet p.b.u.h. Who said: i know a
stone in Makkah which used to greet me before prophethood and i still know it even today.
The other incident is that the prophet used to climb on a
dry trunk of a palm tree to give Friday sermon. His companions then made a pulpit for him,
so the trunk was abandoned and the new structure was used instead. The prophet heard a
moaning sound from the trunk which did not stop until he took it in his arms and touched
it with love.
On the other hand, there is more than one verse in the
Qur'an that confirm the glorification of lifeless things like mountains and others. About
prophet David the Qur'an says:
"And mention our slave David, lord of
might, he was ever turning in repentance; we subdued mountains to hymn glorification with
him both at nightfall and sunrise." (38:17-18)
Describing rocks Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala) almighty says
in the Qur'an:
"And some of them sink for fear of
Allah." (2:74)
And about mountains, heavens and earth we read:
"They say: Allah most gracious has
taken a son! Indeed you have put forth a thing most monstrous! Even heavens are almost
ready to burst at it, the earth to split and mountains to bow down in utter ruin, that
they should claim a son for the most gracious." (19:88-91)
On the other hand, Anas Ibn Malek, the close servant and
companion of the prophet p.b.u.h. Said: no morning or evening passes but some spot of
earth calls upon other spots saying: o my neighbor! Has any slave passed by you today who
prayed to Allah or remembered Allah upon you? The other spots would either say no or yes.
If the answer is yes the latter would be proud for that honour. Secondly prophet Muhammad
p.b.u.h. Said: no one jinn or humans, trees or stones or dust or anything who hears the
voice of the caller to prayer but will testify for him on the day of judgement. Abdullah
Ibn Masud, the well known companion of the prophet said: a mountain says to another
mountain: has any one who remembers Allah passed by you today? If the answer was in the
affirmative the lucky mountain would express its happiness. These and other statements
confirm that everything in the universe glorifies Allah although we do not understand
their glorification.
Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala)'s concern in his
creation:
One example in the Qur'an that shows how much Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala) is concerned
about the affairs of his slaves is the following occasion. When an old man said to his
wife: to me you are as the back of my mother; the wretched wife rushed to complain to
prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h. She did this out of piety and also out of love to her poor old
husband. The prophet told her something which she could not bear to do. So she started to
argue very strongly with the prophet. Here divine revelation came to the help of that poor
old woman; and the Qur'an recorded this incident as follows:
"Allah has heard the discourse of her
who disputes with you concerning her husband, and complains to Allah; and Allah hears your
dialogue. For Allah is Hearer, Knower." (58:1)
He who depends on Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala) is the
strongest. This is one result of faith in Islam. One incident mentioned in the Qur'an is
the following:
"If you support him not, still Allah
helped him (Muhammad) when those who disbelieved drove him out, the second of two, when
they two were in the cave, when he said to his comrade: grieve not! Allah is with us. So
Allah sent his peace of reassurance upon him and supported him with hosts you could not
see; and he made the word of disbelievers the lower most, while Allah's word is always the
uppermost. And Allah is Mighty, Wise." (9:40)
Should any one be son of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala)? No
one qualifies to be son of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala), for this is first of all a huge
misunderstanding of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala). We have already quoted from the Qur'an
what Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala) is. It is now time to explain what Allah (Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala) is not. He has no son at all nor any physical relationship with anybody. This is
simply because he is the creator. How can he be like the created? Some say: but a human
who can exercise miracles or whose birth was miraculous deserves to be semi-god or son of
god; and these people insist that Jesus Christ is the son of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala).
To refute this and to establish the absolute oneness of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala) the
Qur'an says:
"Indeed the likeness of Jesus in
relation to Allah is as the likeness of Adam; he created him from dust, then he said to
him be and he was. This is the truth from your lord; so be not of those who doubt."
(3:59-60)
Then the Qur'an refutes all claims in favour of Jesus that
he is son of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala):
"They surely disbelieve who say: Allah
is the messiah son of Mary. The messiah said: o children of Israel, worship Allah, my lord
and your lord. Who ever ascribes partners unto Allah, for him Allah has forbidden
paradise. His abode is fire. For wrong doers there will be no helpers." (5:72)
"They surely blaspheme who say: Allah
is the third of three; when there is no god except the one god. And if they desist not
from saying so, a painful doom will fall on those of them who disbelieve. Will they not
rather turn unto Allah and seek forgiveness of him? For Allah is oft-forgiving, merciful.
The messiah, son of Mary was no other than a messenger before whom messengers had passed
away; and his mother was a saintly woman. And they both used to eat food. See how we make
the revelations clear to them and see how they are turned away. Say: worship you in place
of Allah that which possesses for you neither hurt nor profit? And Allah is the Hearer,
the Knower." (5:73-76)
Another verse that distinguishes Allah (Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala) from creation especially from Jesus Christ is the following:
"They do blaspheme who say: Allah is
the messiah son of Mary. Say: who then can do anything against Allah, if he wanted to
eliminate the messiah, son of Mary, his mother, and all those on earth? Allah's is the
sovereignty of the heavens and the earth and what is between them. He creates what he
wills; and Allah is able to do all things." (5:17)
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