Allah

An advanced look at God in Islam

You are recommended to read Introduction to Islam and Basic Islamic Beliefs if you know nothing or very little about Islam.
You are recommended to read Can God not exist? if you are an Atheist or are interested in the subject.
Then, you are recommended to read God and Man.
As for this set of articles, they are intended for an educated Muslim audience. You must read the articles in order starting from the beginning.
Thank You.

By Shadow Caster 20/07/2006;

Contents:

- Introduction

- What is Allah?

- A description of Allah

- God's attributes

- The voice and body of Allah?

- Can we or will we see Allah?

- Conclusion

Can we, or will we see Allah (God)?

Allah cannot be limited to sight and is therefore unseen and He cannot be sensed physically at all. Moreover, on the impermissibility of seeing the Essence of Allah, Quran states:

لاَّ تُدْرِكُهُ الأَبْصَارُ وَهُوَ يُدْرِكُ الأَبْصَارَ وَهُوَ اللَّطِيفُ الْخَبِيرُ
[6:103] Visions can not reach Him while He reaches to all visions; and He is the Knower of subtleties, the Aware.

And also when the bani Israeel (The Children (descendants) of Prophet Israeel (Jacob)) asked Moses to show them their Lord they were given a negative reply:

وَلَمَّا جَاء مُوسَى لِمِيقَاتِنَا وَكَلَّمَهُ رَبُّهُ قَالَ رَبِّ أَرِنِي أَنظُرْ إِلَيْكَ قَالَ لَن تَرَانِي وَلَـكِنِ انظُرْ إِلَى الْجَبَلِ فَإِنِ اسْتَقَرَّ مَكَانَهُ فَسَوْفَ تَرَانِي فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّى رَبُّهُ لِلْجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُ دَكًّا وَخَرَّ موسَى صَعِقًا فَلَمَّا أَفَاقَ قَالَ سُبْحَانَكَ تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَأَنَاْ أَوَّلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
[7.143] And when Musa came at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said: My Lord! show me (Thyself), so that I may look upon Thee. He said: You cannot see Me but look at the mountain, if it remains firm in its place, then will you see Me; but when his Lord manifested His glory to the mountain He made it crumble and Musa fell down in a swoon; then when he recovered, he said: Glory be to Thee, I turn to Thee, and I am the first of the believers.

The word "visions" is not limited to solely seeing by eyes. It covers all types of vision and perception as it is used in a plural form in the verse. On the impossibility of seeing, visualizing, or even imagining Allah, Abu Hashim al-Ja'fari narrated from Imam al-Ridha (AS):

About the verse "Visions can not reach Him and He grasps all visions (6:103)", Imam al-Ridha (AS) said: "O Aba Hashim! The thinking/imagination of the mind is more delicate than the vision of the eyes. By your imagination, you can reach to India and other places that you have not entered and your eyes have not reached. Thus, when the thinking of minds can not reach Him, then how could the visions of eyes do so?" [Al-Kafi, v1, p99, Hadith #11; Kitab al-Tawhid, p113, Hadith #12; Bihar al-Anwar, v4, p39, Hadith #17]

It is only logical to seek the views of the sahabah where the opinion of the Prophet is not related conclusively. Here is what Imam Ali (AS) states when he was asked:

Imam Ali was asked by one of his companions, Dhi'lib al-Yamani, 'Have you seen your Lord?' The Imam replied, 'I would not worship a Lord whom I have not seen.' He was then asked, 'How did you see Him?' The Imam replied, 'The eyes cannot see Him according to outward vision; rather, it is the hearts that perceive Him, through the verities of faith.' [Nahj al-Balagha (Peak of Eloquence), Sermon 179]

However, surprisingly, the majority of Muslims believe that we will 'see' Allah on Judgment Day and this group of Muslims are the majority of Sunni and all Wahabi/Salafi Muslims. They use Quranic verses like below to argue their case.

وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَّاضِرَةٌ
إِلَى رَبِّهَا نَاظِرَةٌ
وَوُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ بَاسِرَةٌ
تَظُنُّ أَن يُفْعَلَ بِهَا فَاقِرَةٌ
[75.22] (Some) faces on that day shall be bright,
[75.23] Looking to their Lord.
[75.24] And (other) faces on that day shall be gloomy
[75.25] Knowing that there will be made to befall them some great calamity.

Adding to the strength of the interpretation of these verses by the Sunni, Salafi and Wahabi Muslims are Hadiths like this:

Narrated Abu Huraira: The people said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall we see our Lord on the Day of Resurrection?" He replied, "Do you have any doubt in seeing the full moon on a clear (not cloudy) night?" They replied, "No, O Allah's Apostle!" He said, "Do you have any doubt in seeing the sun when there are no clouds?" They replied in the negative. He said, "You will see Allah (your Lord) in the same way. On the Day of Resurrection, people will be gathered and He will order the people to follow what they used to worship. So some of them will follow the sun, some will follow the moon, and some will follow other deities; and only this nation (Muslims) will be left with its hypocrites. Allah will come to them and say, 'I am Your Lord.' They will say, 'We shall stay in this place till our Lord comes to us and when our Lord will come, we will recognize Him. Then Allah will come to them again and say, 'I am your Lord.' They will say, 'You are our Lord.' Allah will call them, and As-Sirat (a bridge) will be laid across Hell and I (Muhammad) shall be the first amongst the Apostles to cross it with my followers. Nobody except the Apostles will then be able to speak and they will be saying then, 'O Allah! Save us. O Allah Save us.' ... [A trimmed version of Hadith 1.770 from Sahih Bukhari]

and another hadith is:

Narrated 'Adi bin Hatim: Allah's Apostle said, "There will be none among you but his Lord will speak to him, and there will be no interpreter between them nor a screen to screen Him." [Sahih Bukhari Vol9, Book 93, No.535]

The verses and the hadiths together form a strong argument in their case, however the interpretation of the verses and the actual hadiths associated with this verse are rejected by the majority of Shia Muslims primarily due to the hadiths being viewed as unreliable. Also, they argue that the word "nadhirah" in the Arabic language is said to mean 'looking towards' and does not mean "seeing". Often it is said: "nadhartu ilal-hilal falam arahu" which means "I looked towards the new moon (crescent) but I did not see it." Therefore, the verse does not imply that they will see God.

According to the Shia interpretation, the verse means that they will be looking forward to the blessings of Allah. They believe it to be metaphorical and the reasons to this viewpoint is that there is no reason that Allah would become visible to His creation on Judgment day and also Allah would become limited to the sight of man while we acknowledge Allah is not and cannot become limited, even in heaven. Another reason why the Shia believe it is metophrical is that the verses show a contrast between the believers and unbelievers on that day -
that the unbelievers have:
(1) gloomy faces,
(2) expect calamity,
while the believers have:
(1) bright faces,
(2)(Are looking to their Lord) expecting blessings.

Another point the Shia make is that when man is resurrected he will be resurrected in body and will have the same eyes and other body parts as he was with before he died even to the detail of the finger prints. Those same eyes cannot see their Lord! What about the people who are blind from birth or at their death? The Shia Muslims say it is possible that Allah 'appears' to them behind a 'veil' just like He did to Moses behind the burning bush but God Himself cannot be literally seen!

Another verse that adds strength to the argument of Sunnis, Salafis and Wahabis is this one:

وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
الَّذِينَ يُكَذِّبُونَ بِيَوْمِ الدِّينِ
وَمَا يُكَذِّبُ بِهِ إِلَّا كُلُّ مُعْتَدٍ أَثِيمٍ
إِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِ آيَاتُنَا قَالَ أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ
كَلَّا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِم مَّا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ
كَلَّا إِنَّهُمْ عَن رَّبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَّمَحْجُوبُونَ
[83.10] Woe on that day to the rejecters,
[83.11] Who give the lie to the day of judgment.
[83.12] And none gives the lie to it but every exceeder of limits, sinful one
[83.13] When Our communications are recited to him, he says: Stories of those of yore.
[83.14] Nay! rather, what they used to do has become like rust upon their hearts.
[83.15 (Yusuf Ali Translation)] Nay! most surely they shall on that day be debarred from their Lord.
[83.15 (X Translation)] Nay! verily that day they shall be shut out away from the mercy of their Lord

The Arabic uses the word (لَّمَحْجُوبُونَ) which states that the rejecting people will 'be veiled' from their Lord and not that Allah will be veiled from the rejecting people! If these verses are to be understood properly, a person who reads them must pay close attention. If read incorrectly, these verse apparently go in line with the mainstream Sunni beliefs, as it means that the true believers shall be visible to their Lord. But if read properly, it contradicts the hadith mentioned above that states all people will be spoken to by Allah, which implies God will be seen without the need of some form of barrier or veil.

Furthermore, Shias argue that using this verse as an argument is weak and invalid for other reasons too. The verse only implies that the believers will see Allah but never says it outright to confirm that they will literally see Him. In fact, the meaning of the verse is taken literally by most Sunnis because they ignore other verses that explain what this 'veil' or barrier before the rejecters is. Notice that I used two translations for the verse and neither implies a 'veil' will be there, and here is why they were translated that way:

يَوْمَ يَقُولُ الْمُنَافِقُونَ وَالْمُنَافِقَاتُ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا انظُرُونَا نَقْتَبِسْ مِن نُّورِكُمْ قِيلَ ارْجِعُوا وَرَاءكُمْ فَالْتَمِسُوا نُورًا فَضُرِبَ بَيْنَهُم بِسُورٍ لَّهُ بَابٌ بَاطِنُهُ فِيهِ الرَّحْمَةُ وَظَاهِرُهُ مِن قِبَلِهِ الْعَذَابُ
يُنَادُونَهُمْ أَلَمْ نَكُن مَّعَكُمْ قَالُوا بَلَى وَلَكِنَّكُمْ فَتَنتُمْ أَنفُسَكُمْ وَتَرَبَّصْتُمْ وَارْتَبْتُمْ وَغَرَّتْكُمُ الْأَمَانِيُّ حَتَّى جَاء أَمْرُ اللَّهِ وَغَرَّكُم بِاللَّهِ الْغَرُورُ
[57.13] On the day when the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women will say to those who believe: "Wait for us, that we may have light from your light"; it shall be said: Turn back and seek a light. Then separation [the veil] would be brought about between them, with a wall having a door in it; (as for) the inside of it, there shall be mercy in it, and (as for) the outside of it, before it there shall be punishment.
[57.14] They will cry out to them: Were we not with you? They shall say: Yea! but you caused yourselves to fall into temptation, and you waited and doubted, and vain desires deceived you till the threatened punishment of Allah came, while the arch-deceiver deceived you about Allah.

The veil has nothing to do with the sight of Allah but it is merely a separating wall between the believers and unbelievers. Also, on the commentary of the [75.22-23] verses, Imam Ali (AS) said:

"... The verse means looking forward to what Allah, the Mighty and the Majestic, has promised them. And the word 'Nadhira' sometimes means 'expecting/waiting/looking forward to' ('al-Muntadhira'). Haven't you heard the saying of Allah: '(But I am going to send him a present) and I am looking forward (Nadhira) to what (answer) the ambassadors will return (27:35).' This means I am waiting (al-Muntadhira) for what the ambassadors will return. As for the verse: 'For indeed he saw him at a second descent. Near the Lote-tree of the uttermost boundary (53:13-14)', it means when Muhammad (PBUH&HF) was near the Lote-tree of the uttermost boundary which none of His creations has passed it (saw Gabriel). It is His saying in the followed verses:
'(His) sight never swerved, nor did it go wrong! For truly did he see one of the great signs of his Lord! (53:17-18)', he saw Gabriel in his shape twice. Verily Gabriel is a great creature and is from amongst the spiritual entities whose creation and shapes are not fully understood except by the Lord of the Universe." [Al-Ihtijaj, v1, p243; Bihar al-Anwar, v90/93, p101, Hadith #1]

In another Hadith on the commentary of this verse, Imam Ali Ibn Musa al-Ridha (AS) said:

"It means (their faces) are radiant and they are looking forward to the reward of their Lord." [Al-Ihtijaj, v2, p409; Kitab al-Tawhid, p116, Hadith #19; Al-Amali, Shaikh Saduq, p409, Hadith #1; Al-Bihar, v4, p28, Hadith #3]

If someone were to hold the belief that God cannot be seen, it also implies that He has no physical body because being unseen yet still having a body would be superfluous and pointless, and pointlessness is a sign of imperfection and God has no imperfections. So, if a Sunni holds one belief (not seeing Allah) and not the other (His having a body), then he would be in stark contradiction with his belief in the perfection of God.

This means that a Muslim can only really hold one of two views -
1. God has a human-like figure and can be seen with human eyes, or
2. God is nothing like a human, has no physical figure and cannot be seen.

The Voice & Body of Allah

Conclusion

References

¹ If you have a copy of the bible in Arabic (though I doubt you do), you will find that God is often referred to as Allah since the word Allah means God in Arabic. However, a lot of Christian and Jewish Arabs try to distinguish themselves from the Muslims and they say 'Rabb', which means Lord in Arabic, but this word is also used by Muslims, so it is not a clear indication of the faith of a person.
² It is said that all life on Earth depends on the Sun's energy, and this is almost correct save for a few underwater creatures. Allah caused everything in the world to come to existence and He continues to maintain it. It is God that caused creation to have properties or to have a special nature. Were it not for Him then there would be nothing in existence save himself. All the living organisms depend on His material gifts energy and matter - food, sunlight, air, water, etc.
³ [Koran 2.7] "Allah has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing and there is a covering over their eyes, and there is a great punishment for them".
⁴ God punishes the sinners either in this world or in the afterlife, or both. It all depends on what Allah wills.
⁵ Sometimes, leaving people in their state is a good punishment because sinning is not the key to happiness and people suffer by their own hands and this is most ironic since they are the cause and the cure to their problem! Or it could be seen as God giving man a chance to realize their error and correct it and He will bless them for this! Allah is Most Gracious and Most Merciful!
⁶ [Koran 2.28] - Allah orders your death, but the Angel of death ('Azraeel) takes your soul.
⁷ [Koran 3.109] - "All living things will be made to return back to life on the day of judgment. All the arguments return to Him for His decree". There is proof for this from Hadith, e.g. "If someone kills a sparrow for sport, the sparrow will cry out on the Day of Judgment, 'O Lord! That person killed me in vain! He did not kill me for any useful purpose.'" [Sunan An-Nisaee]. And "Sayyiduna Amr ibn al-Aas mentions, 'The earth will be flattened on the day of Qiyaamat, Jinns, humans, animals and creatures will be resurrected. On the day, Allah will command the animals to take revenge (from the one who oppressed it) to such an extent that if a horned sheep tossed a hornless sheep, it will avenge it. When Allah resolves the matter of retaliation between animals, He will order them to turn into sand. When the disbeliever sees this, he will say, 'How nice if I was also turned into sand.'"" (Musnad Abu Dawud pg. 248)
⁸ [Koran 57.9] - What is meant by the word 'communication' most of the time in the Koran is that Allah has sent many Prophets and Messengers to warn people and ask them to stay on the right path so that they may enter heaven. Other times, what is meant is the books from God, the Torah, Zaboor (psalms), Injeel (Gospel; It is NOT the New Testament), and Quran. Other possible meanings meant can be Imams, angels, dreams and normal people. Allah talks to you through them, and these are the ways Allah communicates with you.
⁹ This is covered in the Misfortune and the Justice of Allah article.
¹⁰ [Koran 85.15, 25.60] - The 'arsh means the Throne of Allah. Different groups of Muslims have different opinions of what the 'arsh is. Most Sunni Muslims believe the 'arsh to be something physical, that it is an object in a place, while most Shia Muslims believe it is something special beyond that of a physical throne and that when it is mentioned in the Koran it shows the power and majesty of Allah. Some Muslims say that the 'arsh is the whole of the creation based on the verse 'His Throne extendeth over the heavens and the earth'.
¹¹ Most Sunnis would have to conclude that this hadith is sahih (valid) as it is from their sahih sources but the Shia would outright reject it for obvious reasons and for coming from invalid sources, however, for the sake of argument, let us imagine that it is a valid hadith...

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