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First of all, Islam depends heavily on the word:
"Allah."
Because Islam is the complete submission and obedience to Allah (God).
The name Allah (God) in Islam never refers to Muhammad (pbuh) or to
anyone or anything else which Allah has created, as many Christians may
think; Allah is the personal name of God.
What do Muslims believe
about Allah?
1. He is the one God, Who has no
partner.
2. Nothing is like Him. He is the Creator, not created, nor a part
of His creation.
3. He is All-Powerful, absolutely Just.
4. There is no other entity in the entire universe worthy of worship
besides Him.
5. He is First, Last, and Everlasting; He was when nothing was, and
will be when nothing else remains.
6. He is the All-Knowing, and All-Merciful, the Supreme, the
Sovereign.
7. It is only He Who is capable of granting life to anything.
8. He sent His Messengers (peace be upon them) to guide all of
mankind.
9. He sent Muhammad (pbuh) as the last Prophet and Messenger for all
mankind.
10. His book is the Holy Qur'an, the only authentic revealed book in
the world that has been kept without change.
11. Allah knows what is in our hearts.
These
are some of the basic guidelines Muslims follow in their
knowledge of God:
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Eliminate
any anthropomorphism (human qualities) from their
conception of Allah. His attributes are not like
human attributes, despite similar labels or
appellations.
-
Have
unwavering faith in exactly what Allah and Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) described Allah to be, no more, no
less.
-
Eradicate
any hope or desire of learning or knowing the
modality of His names and attributes.
-
Belief
totally in all the names and attributes of Allah;
one cannot believe in some and disbelieve the
others.
-
One
cannot accept the names of Allah without their
associated attributes, i.e. one cannot say He is Al-Hayy
- 'The Living' and then say that He is without life.
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Similarity
in names (or meanings) does not imply similarity in
what is being described (referents). As a robotic
arm differs from a human arm, so the "hand"
of Allah is nothing like a human hand, His speech is
nothing like human speech, etc.
-
Certain
words are ambiguous or vague in their meanings, and
thus may be susceptible to misinterpretation. Only
those meanings that are in accordance with what is
specified by Allah and His Prophet (pbuh) are
acceptable.
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