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Islam And Other Religions

CONCEPT OF GOD IN ISLAM
by Dr. Zakir Naik


The Most Concise Definition of God:
The most concise definition of God in Islam is given in the four verses of Surah Ikhlas which is Chapter 112 of the Qur'an:

"Say: He is Allah,
The One and Only.
"Allah, the Eternal, Absolute.
"He begets not, nor is He begotten.
And there is none like unto Him."
                        [Al-Qur'an 112:1-4]

The word ‘Assamad' is difficult to translate. It means ‘absolute existence', which can be attributed only to Allah (swt), all other existence being temporal or conditional. It also means that Allah (swt) is not dependent
on any person or thing, but all persons and things are dependent
on Him.


The most concise definition of God in Islam is given in the four verses of Surah Ikhlas which is Chapter 112 of the Qur'an:

"Say: He is Allah,
The One and Only.
"Allah, the Eternal, Absolute.
"He begets not, nor is He begotten.
And there is none like unto Him."
                        [Al-Qur'an 112:1-4]

The word ‘Assamad' is difficult to translate. It means ‘absolute existence', which can be attributed only to Allah (swt), all other existence being temporal or conditional. It also means that Allah (swt) is not dependent
on any person or thing, but all persons and things are dependent
on Him.


Surah Ikhlas - the touchstone of theology:

Surah Ikhlas (Chapter 112) of the Glorious Qur'an, is the touchstone of theology. ‘Theo' in Greek means God and ‘logy' means study. Thus Theology means study of God and to Muslims this four line definition of Almighty God serves as the touchstone of the study of God. Any candidate to divinity must be subjected to this ‘acid test'. Since the attributes of Allah given in this chapter are unique, false gods and pretenders to divinity can be easily dismissed using these verses.

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