LESSONS OF AL ALAQ

It was with great surprise and concern that I came to know some Muslim expect a god that we can have speech communication like we do with our councillor, headmaster or tutor; a supreme being that is there to give DIRECT guide on our everyday problem, mundane or otherwise.

This is an alien god; not a Muslim God; Allah The Most High. Others have such gods; god of rain to call upon for rain, god of the mountain, god of the sky, god of love, god of fertility and a host of gods for various functions. They pray to the images of the gods, with objects in front to represent such god in prayer. They have special ceremonies to communicate with such gods. In some such ceremony a disciple got into a trance and imbued with god’s speech to give answers to the human problem.

These are alien to the concept of God in Islam. God, Allah The Most High is here, within and without, not bounded by Space and Time and nothing whatsoever like Him. He describes Himself as thus (al Ikhlas);

112.001-004 YUSUF ALI Translation:
Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.

This is a most important concept... There is NONE LIKE UNTO HIM. This surah according to a Hadith is 1/3 of the whole Qur'an. The concept of God is crystal clear here; The One and Only; perfect UNITY. As-Somad; Eternal, Absolute.. . In other Translation... The Self-Sufficient Master Whom all creatures need). No beginning, no Ending.. And in conclusion; None Like Unto Him.... Anything, any attributes of the makhluq is Not Him...

The serchings of Prophet Ibrahim a.s for God is most illustrative. At first Ibrahim look at the stars and see how high they are, how they adorn and light the sky with their soft lights, how majestic the stars are and thought this is God. Then when the full moon came and the stars dissappeared, he think back... how can a god be overcome by another??... So the stars cannot be god. So he then turn to the moon as the newfound god; the great moon with cool light that shine across the landscape. However when the sun came, the moon recede and overcame by the sun's powerful light that trees and plants bloom towards. The world came alive with the sun.. This must be the God thinked Ibrahim.. But when night came and the sun recede, he thought again... how can a God goes to sleep and leave the world godless??.. How can a god be overcome by night or by anything??... After all these phases only he came to realisation that God cannot be amongs these creations. A God cannot be overcome by others, a God must be there All the time, everywhere, needed by all but not needing any.. He came to discover ALLAH.

Perhaps we can look at Al Alaq (096; ayats 01-14/19; PickthallTranslation) to understand the relation between Him and His creations;

001: Read: In the name of thy Lord Who createth,
002: Createth man from a clot ,
003: Read: And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous
004: Who teacheth by the pen
005: Teacheth man that which he knew not.
006: Nay, but verily man is rebellious
007: That he thinketh himself independent!
008: Lo! unto thy Lord is the return
009: Hast thou seen him who dissuadeth
010: A slave when he prayeth?
011: Hast thou seen if he relieth on the guidance (of Allah)
012: Or enjoineth piety?
013: Hast thou seen if he denieth (Allah's guidance) and is froward?
014: Is he then unaware that Allah seeth?

Another ayat in the Qur’an says;
031_018 (LUQMAN)YUSUFALI: "And swell not thy cheek (for pride) at men, nor walk in insolence through the earth; for Allah loveth not any arrogant boaster.

This is the God of Islam; Allah.... None Unto Like Him.
He is the Creator... create man from a clot of blood. Prophet Muhammad, the desert man was reciting this verse to the Arabs of the desert on the origin of man without microscope and all the modern gadgets.. In fact the true translation from old Arabic (from the writing of Maurice Buccaile) was 'The Clot that Clung'... this is in-thing micro biology.. It describe the fertilised egg thatg clung to the uterus wall..

This is teaches man by the Pen (Qalam). Qalam is not just the Sheaffer, Parker or Pilot pen that we use. Qalam is the wittings of Allah in the landscape of His creations... the world around us, the happenings, the creatures, the creations, the thought process, hence all process from which we learn new things....Teaches man that which he knew not...

The Allah says.. man is rebellious and thinks himself as independant.. Hit smack on us .... Bulls Eye.. Then Allah says..Is he unaware that Allah seeth?

The basic essence of God is that we needed Him for everything and He has no need of us. However he bade us say 20 times daily in prayer... Say in the name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful. He also advocate saying the Basmalah to start on anything... as a reminder of the 2 attributes of Allah... Beneficent, Merciful.

Allah is also the al Jabbar (Yang Maha Kuasa), the al Qahar (Yang Maha Perkasa) but we are not enjoined to say Bismillaahil Jabbar il Qahhar everyday as the Basmalah. Think about it...