ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Image of God in the Qur’an Divine Attributes Unity The Unity of God is one of the most important principles of Islam. Although the Qur’an sometimes speaks about and presents arguments about the existence of God, the main emphasis of the Qur’an is put on the attributes of God, especially His unity and mercy.

The Qur’an considers the existence of God to be a very obvious fact, whose acknowledgement requires more straightforward contemplation than complicated philosophical arguments. Even the pagans believed in God, but they were polytheists in the sense that they associated partners with God and worshipped idols.

They did not however, deny the existence of God the Creator, and even argued that the idols were a means to reach him, saying, “We do not worship them [idols] except for them taking us closer to God”. The idea of the unity of God is asserted in many different ways. Among them, are two attributes that explicitly indicate His oneness. Wahid Wahid ( واحِد ) : Literally meaning “one”.

This is applied to God 21 times in the Qur’an, such as in the following verse: “Your god is the One God, there is no god except Him, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.” (2:163) Ahad Ahad ( اَحَدُ ) : Literally meaning “one”. This is applied to God once, in the verse below. The difference between Ahad and Wahid is that the former is used for something that is one and at the same time indivisible, something that has neither partner nor part.

“Say, ‘He is God, the One.” (112:1) Knowledge One of the common qualities of God among followers of the Abrahamic faiths is knowledge. In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, God is thought of as the ‘Omniscient’, indicating that He has all the knowledge. There are hundreds of verses in which the Qur’an talks about different aspects of divine knowledge. The reason for this emphasis lies partly in the great impact that belief in such an idea may have on people’s lives.

When we remember that the world is created and run by God who knows everything and that whatever we do or believe, or even intend, is known by Him and that He is fully aware of our needs, sufferings, interests, limits and capabilities, our attitude to the world and to our lives becomes totally different. What follows is a detailed look at the occurrences of this quality of the knowledge of God in the Qur’an. ‘Alim ‘Alim (عليم): Meaning the All-Knowing or the Omniscient.

This attribute is used for God in the Qur’an 153 times.