The God of Abraham...

The God of Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be with him and his progeny and with them all) is no Pater Liber.1 The absolute authority of God does not mean that God is at liberty to do evil, but neither does it imply that He is not at liberty. Likewise, the expertise of a craftsman does not mean that if the craftsman were to produce something unbefitting his skill, then he has the authority to do so because of his expertise.

Neither does it imply that the craftsman who exercises his skill is not at liberty to make what he wants. God does whatever He wills, but His will is not arbitrary. God does whatever He wills, but His willing is never evil, because this would contradict His essence. In Shi'ite sources, there is no general term for authority as it occurs in Western languages, used for the concepts of divine authority, scriptural authority, church authority, etc..

Occasionally, one who has the power of command is referred to by the word sulţan (from which comes the English “sultan”), malik (sovereign), malik (owner, possessor), and hujjah. Among the Names of God mentioned in the Qur'an, we find al-Malik (20:114), and Malik al-Mulk (which has been translated as “Master of the Kingdom”, “Owner of All”, and “Master of all sovereignty”).

There are no divine Names based on the roots of sulţan or hujjah, although reference to divine authority can be found in which such terms are employed. Other terms that are used to indicate divine authority are: al- Haqq (the Truth), al-Rabb ( Lord), Dhê al-Jalal (Possessor of Majesty), and a number of others, each of which repays study with a greater appreciation of the nature of divine authority in Islam.

The notion of authority is closely related to that of obedience; so, we should also look at what the Qur'an has to say about obedience and following in order to get a clearer picture of how authority is viewed in Islam. Let's begin with sulţan . What is most characteristic of the use of this word in the Qur'an is that it is used to condemn idolatry as unauthorized, in contrast to which the missions of the prophets are described as authorized.

The following verses may be grouped together because they all pertain to the condemnation of unauthorized idolatry [which is contrasted with the authorized message of monotheism ( tawhid ) brought through the prophets]. We could say that these verses indicate a negative concept of authority, in that they deny authority for idolatry.