Allah

An advanced look at God in Islam

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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

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The Voice and Body of Allah (God)?

Many verses pertain to Allah having body parts like hands and feet. This is taken literally by some Sunni Muslims & especially those Muslims following the Wahabi/Salafi order, while most Shia Muslims hold these body parts to be metaphorical in essence. When this article states the Sunnis believe something, it also means the Wahabis and Salafis believe it too since they are off-shoots of traditional Sunnism.

- Speaking and the Voice of Allah

وَمَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَن يُكَلِّمَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَّا وَحْيًا أَوْ مِن وَرَاء حِجَابٍ أَوْ يُرْسِلَ رَسُولًا فَيُوحِيَ بِإِذْنِهِ مَا يَشَاء إِنَّهُ عَلِيٌّ حَكِيمٌ
[42.51] And it is not for any man that God should speak unto him save by revelation or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger and to reveal by His permission what He willeth; Verily He is the Most High, the All-Wise.

وَرُسُلاً قَدْ قَصَصْنَاهُمْ عَلَيْكَ مِن قَبْلُ وَرُسُلاً لَّمْ نَقْصُصْهُمْ عَلَيْكَ وَكَلَّمَ اللّهُ مُوسَى تَكْلِيمًا
[Koran 4.164] And (We sent) apostles We have mentioned to you before and apostles we have not mentioned to you; and to Prophet Musa [Moses], Allah addressed His Word, speaking (to him).

Moses was literally spoken to by Allah from beyond the burning bush. Both Sunnis and Shia believe this - it is in the Quran after-all. But it is important to note that Prophet Moses (PBUH) wasn't the only person whom Allah literally talked to. Prophet Muhammed (SAW) was also blessed by being spoken-to by Allah when he ascended to the heavens on the guided tour called the mi'raj. Click the link to see the story of al mi'raj from Sahih by Bukhari and Sahih by Muslim and the Quran.

The interesting thing about this is that Allah (God) usually communicates to his servants using angels, however this time he spoke to them directly. Allah only talks with the Prophets when He wishes to give a message - a revelation. The word of Allah is also action if that is the intention of His word. His word is something that is destined to happen no matter what -

إِنَّمَا أَمْرُهُ إِذَا أَرَادَ شَيْئًا أَنْ يَقُولَ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ
[Koran 36.82] His command, when He intends anything, is only to say to it: Be, so it is.

There is no doubt that speech is an attribute of God but there are questions and debates over the ultimate nature of this attribute - is it an attribute of the essence of God or His activity?

This article aims to answer this question. But first we will make a few points and answer some questions.

There are three modes through which God uses to speak to His creation as defined in the Quran [42.51 above]. These three modes are considered to be attributes of divine activity because the words of God are brought into being. The modes are:

1. By Revelation - in other words, by divine inspiration; God sometimes casts His words directly into the heart of the Prophet, and sometimes He causes His words to enter the heart after first being heard by the ear.
2. From behind a veil - Moses was spoken to from behind the burning bush.
3. Through a messenger - by an angel usually.

There are also important properties to the voice of Allah - it is originated in time and is not eternal. When God speaks, it is an action of God that takes place in time and lasts for a few moments. It is also clear that this voice does not pass through space unaltered, it looses energy and can only be heard by the people in its vicinity, the people whom Allah wishes to hear Him. This is evident since no-one except Prophet Moses heard God when he went towards the burning bush.

It is certain that the speech of Allah does not emanate from Him as it does with us. The human voice issues from the larynx and arrives at particular sounds by movements of the vocal chords along with the tongue, teeth, jaws, and lips, and interaction between them. Sound is a form of energy originating as a vibration from a vibrating physical source (e.g. hands clapping) at particular audible frequencies and these waves travel through air (by vibrating air) to arrive to our ears where they vibrate the eardrum and pass this signal mechanically as movements in the inner-ear and then as electrical nerve signals to the brain. When Musa heard His Lord's voice - what caused the sound waves was not a vibration of an object because Allah has no larynx to vibrate in the creation of sound, but it was the sound waves directly emanating to the ears of the Rasools (Messengers) as a direct creation of energy from nothingness. One assumes Allah created sound waves directly without objects vibrating to create the sound. The graphic you see there on the right explains this.

In this section I will attempt to answer three common questions, the first of which is:

1. Why does Allah speak to some Rasools and not others? Simply, the answer is this verse:

تِلْكَ الرُّسُلُ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ مِّنْهُم مَّن كَلَّمَ اللّهُ وَرَفَعَ بَعْضَهُمْ دَرَجَاتٍ وَآتَيْنَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ الْبَيِّنَاتِ وَأَيَّدْنَاهُ بِرُوحِ الْقُدُسِ وَلَوْ شَاء اللّهُ مَا اقْتَتَلَ الَّذِينَ مِن بَعْدِهِم مِّن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءتْهُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ وَلَـكِنِ اخْتَلَفُواْ فَمِنْهُم مَّنْ آمَنَ وَمِنْهُم مَّن كَفَرَ وَلَوْ شَاء اللّهُ مَا اقْتَتَلُواْ وَلَـكِنَّ اللّهَ يَفْعَلُ مَا يُرِيدُ
[2.253] We have made some of these apostles to excel the others among them are they to whom Allah spoke, and some of them He exalted by (many degrees of) rank;...

Allah makes it clear who His most prominent and special Rasools (Messenger Prophets) are and He does this by talking to them directly to show how one Rasool excels over another. It is actually rare that Allah speaks to a Rasool and this privilege is assigned to those Rusul who have the most important tasks and require the most blessing from Allah so that the Prophets themselves realize that their missions are extremely critical and it encourages them in the face of adversity. Another effect is that people around the Messengers (apostles) are encouraged to listen to one whom Allah has spoken to directly. Allah doesn't talk about random or pointless things when He speaks to His creation but He only gives revelations [42.51], and this revelation is given directly from the source, Allah, and this shows the magnanimous weight that this revelation holds and the immeasurable importance of the mission.

Another common question that arises when this issue is discussed:

2. Are the Prophets hearing voices in their heads?

This question is often asked by people who wish to mock religion and the idea of Prophethood, but it is actually a valid question if the aim is to understand the concepts of God speaking. Prophet Moses (PBUH) was talked to from beyond the burning bush and he is given directions as to what to do from beyond the burning bush. If God wanted to speak directly to the Prophet and put the words right into his head then there would be no point to approaching the burning bush or the directions given to Moses to take off his sandals etc. Instead, God spoke to Moses while he was in his normal state of consciousness and He spoke directly to him from beyond the burning bush with instructions on how to approach. As for Prophet Muhammed (SAW); he was also spoken to in a similar way. Muhammed was literally having to go to a specific location for Allah to speak with him while in heaven. Would there be any reason why Muhammed would have to go to a place if Allah was speaking directly into his head?!

3. Does Speaking make Allah limited?

One of the most interesting things about the idea of Allah (God) literally speaking, using speech to talk to His creation, is that speech is something limited. How can we not see Allah but hear Him? We cannot see Allah but it is possible to hear him - doesn't that make him limited to our senses when we know God is so great that He surpasses our senses?

Indeed, people who conclude that there is a contradiction or a mistake here are correct on face value, but they would be right only if the speech to Moses and other Rusul (Messengers) was an attribute of Allah. Simply put, that type of speech of Allah is a creation, a created energy, and it is a medium through which Allah passes His message. Normally a revelation angel like Jibraeel is an intermediary, an agent, for the message of Allah, but in this case it is direct revelation to the Prophet though waves of sound which Allah created. But this type of speech, the speech used to talk with His Rusul is different from the speech used to create things ([36.82] His command, when He intends anything, is only to say to it: Be, so it is) because it doesn't amount to an action occurring. The speech of Allah where He can create things is something that is unlimited and an attribute of Himself as The Creator. The creative type of speech is an attribute that is different to others since it is one of God's attributes of perfection. When Allah decrees something, it must happen and it happens to perfection.

The speech used for talking to His Rusul is an attribute of divine activity of Allah. It is not Allah speaking with His own 'personal' voice because if it were His voice then He would be limited which means that His personal voice would be something that could be measured or sensed. No, His voice is a creation like other creations, a creation of sound-waves, a creation that is not a part of Allah or His essence. This type of speaking is limited - notice that the Prophets had to go to a specific place to hear God and speak to Him. Imam Ali shows us the difference between the speech of creativity and the speech used to speak to the Prophets:

When God wishes to bring something into being, He says unto it "Be!", and it is; but [He does so] not with a voice that is sounded, nor with a call that can be heard. For the speech of God is one of His actions whereby a thing is endowed with existence. [Nahj al-Balagha (Peak of Eloquence), sermon 184]

--Note: I have added a scientific edge to the Shia explanation by stating that God created sound waves directly in the air so that they reach the Prophet's ears. It is not what all Muslims believe in but it is sufficient to explain what all the Shia and most of the Sunnis believe in. Summarized, these are the beliefs:

1. Allah's 'speech' is perfect and unlimited so it cannot be heard by any creation but it is still a form of 'speech' that only Allah knows what it is, just like Allah's 'image' (or self) is perfect and unlimited so we cannot see Him but only He Himself knows His own 'image'.
2. We cannot perceive either God's actual 'speech' or 'image'.
3. There are two types of 'speech'; Speech that is His command/will of Allah (It has to happen) & speech that is His revelation (communication).
4. The Speech of Revelation (communication) is a creation of Allah and is therefore audible. When Allah spoke directly unto Moses (PBUH) He spoke by creating a creation, sound-waves (sound-energy).
5. This means that Allah's created (communication) speech, through which He talked to His Messengers, is not a part of His essence.

- Face and Eye of Allah

It is rare to find hadiths that mention the face of Allah other than this one:

Abu Hurayra said that the messenger of God said: "If one of you fight his brother, do not strike him in the face. And do not say may God make you ugly, because God made Adam in His image." [Sahih by Muslim]

Although a lot of Muslims would reject the idea that man was created in the image of God, it is not uncommon to find Sunni Muslims that believe that God looks like a man (although a lot would not agree with this statement), as other hadiths point out to say that he has other body parts as you will see below. If we follow the logic of some Sunnis and most Wahabis/Salafis who reject some human-like properties like God's having a face, but then claim that his human-like body indeed exists, then unless God looks like a face-less man - we don't know what to expect if they are correct.

The Shia naturally reject such an idea as they reject the idea of ever seeing Allah or Allah having a literal figure. Nonetheless, an interesting apologetic stance on this hadith is found on a Sunni web page.

A verse from the Quran that mentions the face of Allah is this:

وَلِلّهِ الْمَشْرِقُ وَالْمَغْرِبُ فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّواْ فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللّهِ إِنَّ اللّهَ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
[2.115] And Allah's is the East and the West, therefore, whither you turn, thither is Allah's face; surely Allah is ample-giving, Knowing.

Naturally, anyone who reads this will understand that the mention of face in this ayah is purely metaphorical and a usage of language constructs to point out that Allah cannot be located at any particular point and that Allah is omnipresent, in the sense that He knows, sees and hears all.

In this next verse, a similar usage of a body part for God is used. Here there is mention of the 'Eyes' of God... Allah watches and protects the ship to make sure that it reaches completion and is in the best of form to withstand the impending flood.

وَاصْنَعِ الْفُلْكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا وَوَحْيِنَا وَلاَ تُخَاطِبْنِي فِي الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ إِنَّهُم مُّغْرَقُونَ
[11.37] And make the ark before Our eyes and (according to) Our revelation, and do not speak to Me in respect of those who are unjust; surely they shall be drowned.

- The Hands and Legs of Allah?

Please click to view an (unexhausted) list of verses that mention Allah's hands. And see these two hadith that mentions the leg (shin) and foot of Allah.

... Then the Almighty will come to them in a shape other than the one which they saw the first time, and He will say, 'I am your Lord,' and they will say, 'You are not our Lord.' And none will speak: to Him then but the Prophets, and then it will be said to them, 'Do you know any sign by which you can recognize Him?' They will say. 'The Shin,' and so Allah will then uncover His Shin whereupon every believer will prostrate before Him ... [Narrated by Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri, Sahih Bukhari Vol9, Book 93, No.532s]

Narrated Anas bin Malik: The Prophet said, "The Hell Fire will keep on saying: 'Are there anymore (people to come)?' Till the Lord of Power and Honor will put His Foot over it and then it will say, 'Qat! Qat! (sufficient! sufficient!) by Your Power and Honor. And its various sides will come close to each other (i.e., it will contract)." [Sahih Bukhari Vol8, Book 78, Number 654]

Different branches and sects of Islam have different opinions on Allah having physical hands or feet. The Wahabi/Salafi Muslims say that Allah has physical hands - Allah grips the world in His clutches [39.67], and using His hands He fashioned Adam (PBUH) [38.75]. They give Allah man-like properties/features, but this doesn't fit with the understanding of Allah by the majority of Sunnis and all the Shia Muslims.

All Shia and most Sunni Muslims argue that nothing is like Allah: [112.4] And none is like Him.; and they believe the verses above mention the hands of Allah in a metaphorical sense, and that saying Allah Has hands is making Him human-like - it is saying Allah is like something and this contradicts verse [112.4]. Also, the Sunnis and Shia argue the case that Allah has no need for arms anyway: [36.82] His command, when He intends anything, is only to say to it: Be, so it is.

This argument is seen to be contradicted by verses like:

قَالَ يَا إِبْلِيسُ مَا مَنَعَكَ أَن تَسْجُدَ لِمَا خَلَقْتُ بِيَدَيَّ أَسْتَكْبَرْتَ أَمْ كُنتَ مِنَ الْعَالِينَ
[Koran 38.75] He (God) said: O Iblis! what prevented you that you should do obeisance to him whom I created with My hands? Are you proud or are you of the exalted ones?

There also exist hadiths that promote the understanding that God has hands:

"Obei Ibn Kaab said: I heard the Messenger of God saying: The first one the Almighty will embrace on the day of judgement is Omar. The first one the Lord will shake hands with will be Omar, and the first one the Almighty takes by the hand and admits to paradise is Omar" [Al Mustadrak, Part 3 page 84, by al Hakim al-Nisaboori; Also in Sunnan ibn Majah by Al-Hafiz Muhammed ibn Majah also reported from Obei. ¹¹ ]

Abu Huraira reported that the Prophet (saas) said, "Allaah will hold the whole earth and roll all the heavens up in His Right Hand, and then He will say, 'I am the King, where are the kings of the earth?'" [Saheeh Bukhari, vol6, book60, no336]

But the Shias and Sunnis say Allah uses these terms to explain God's strength and might and also to use terms that people will understand when they read the Quran or terms that give an emotional meaning so that man may think about what is being said. For example, in verse [5.64], when the Jews say Allah's hands are tied up, it means that He is unable to do certain things rather than His hands being physically tied up. God uses analogies often.

The Sunnis and Shia further make this argument for their point of view: In some of these verses Allah shows us that His 'body parts' are absolutely metaphorical, so what makes us think that His other body parts are physical and will be seen?

As for the hadiths mentioned above that talk of the foot and shin of Allah, there is disagreement between Sunni individuals in their explanation but Shias reject it completely because God has no physical foot. They believe any mention of a body part, such as a foot or shin, is purely metaphorical if the hadiths that often mention such claims are even accepted as valid (sahih) in the first place.

God's Attributes

Can we or will we see Allah?

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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