Belief in Allah
The
Exclusive Worthiness of Allah for Worship
Belief in Allah requires
affirming that He alone is the true deity, deserving of worship without
associating any partners with Him, for He alone is the Creator, the Sustainer,
and the Provider for His servants, and the one Who knows their secrets and
public actions, rewarding the obedient and punishing the disobedient. For this
supreme purpose—worship—Allah created both humans and jinn. Allah declares:
"And I did not create
the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. I do not want from them any
provision, nor do I want them to feed Me. Indeed, it is Allah who is the
[continual] Provider, the firm possessor of strength." (Al-Dhāriyāt: 56-58)
Allah further commands:
"O mankind, worship
your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous—[He]
who made for you the earth a bed [spread out] and the sky a ceiling and sent
down from the sky rain and brought forth thereby fruits as provision for you.
So do not attribute to Allah equals while you know [that there is nothing
similar to Him]." (Al-Baqarah: 21-22)
To clarify this truth and to warn against its antithesis, Allah sent
messengers and revealed scriptures. Allah says:
"And We certainly sent
into every nation a messenger, [saying], 'Worship Allah and avoid ṭāghūt.'" (Al-Naḥl: 36)
And He states:
"And We sent not
before you any messenger except that We revealed to him, 'There is no deity
except Me, so worship Me.'" (Al-Anbiyāʾ: 25)
And the Almighty says:
"This is a Book whose verses are perfected and
then explained in detail by One who is Wise and Acquainted – [declaring] that
you worship none but Allah. Indeed, I am to you from Him a warner and a bringer
of glad tidings." (Hūd: 1–2)
The essence of worship lies in dedicating all acts of devotion—be they
supplication, fear, hope, prayer, fasting, slaughtering, vowing, or any other
form of worship—to Allah alone, with complete humility, love, reverence, and
submission to His majesty.
The Qur'an is replete with emphatic verses addressing this fundamental
principle. Allah commands:
"So, worship Allah,
being sincere to Him in religion. Unquestionably, for Allah is the pure
religion." (Al-Zumar: 2-3)
He further decrees:
"And your Lord has
decreed that you not worship except Him." (Al-Isrāʾ: 23)
And:
"So, invoke Allah,
being sincere to Him in religion, even if the disbelievers dislike it." (Ghāfir: 14)
In the Ṣaḥīḥayn, Muʿādh ibn Jabal—may Allah be pleased with
him—narrated that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon
him—said:
"The right of Allah
upon His servants is that they worship Him and do not associate anything with
Him.
Belief in All Obligations and Duties Imposed by Allah on His
Servants: The Five Pillars of Islam
Among the core tenets of belief
in Allah is the unequivocal affirmation of all that He has prescribed and
obligated upon His servants, particularly the five foundational pillars of
Islam:
- The Testimony of Faith (Shahādah):
“There is no deity but Allah, and Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah.”
- Establishing Prayer (Ṣalāh):
Performing the obligatory prayers.
- Giving Alms (Zakāh):
Discharging the prescribed charity.
- Fasting During Ramadan (Ṣawm):
Abstaining from food, drink, and other prohibitions in this sacred month.
- Performing the Pilgrimage (Ḥajj):
Travelling to the Sacred House of Allah for those who are physically and
financially able.
These obligations,
along with others mandated by the purified Sharīʿah, form the bedrock
of the Islamic faith.
The greatest and most essential
of these pillars is the Shahādah,
which entails devoting all forms of worship exclusively to Allah, negating any
partnership or association with Him. This is the very essence of Lā ilāha illā Allāh, signifying
that “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.” Anything
worshipped besides Allah—whether it be human, angel, jinn, or any other
entity—is worshipped in falsehood, for the truth of worship is due solely to
Allah, as He declares:
"That is because Allah is the Truth, and what
they invoke besides Him is falsehood."
(Luqmān:
30)
It has been established that Allah
created both jinn and mankind for this great purpose and commanded them to
adhere to it. His messengers were sent, and His scriptures were revealed to
establish this singular truth. A deep reflection upon this clarifies the
widespread ignorance that has led many Muslims astray, associating others with
Allah in acts of devotion and directing what is exclusively His right to
others. In this matter, Allah’s assistance is sought.
Belief in Allah as the Creator, Sustainer, and Sovereign of All Worlds
Another cornerstone of belief
in Allah is the recognition of His absolute role as the Creator of all
existence, the Manager of its affairs, and the Disposer of its matters through
His boundless knowledge and supreme power. He is the Owner of this world and
the Hereafter, the Lord of all creation.
There is no Creator except Allah,
nor any Sustainer other than Him. He dispatched messengers and revealed
scriptures to guide humanity towards righteousness and success, both in this
life and the eternal Hereafter. He has no partner in this dominion, as He
proclaims:
"Allah is the Creator of all things, and He
is, over all things, Disposer of affairs."
(Al-Zumar: 62)
He also declares:
"Indeed, your Lord is Allah, who created the
heavens and the earth in six days and then established Himself above the
Throne. He covers the night with the day, chasing it rapidly, and the sun, the
moon, and the stars are subjected by His command. Unquestionably, His is the
creation and the command; blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds."
(Al-Aʿrāf: 54)
Belief in Allah’s Beautiful Names and Lofty Attributes Without Distortion, Negation, or Comparison
Belief in Allah further
encompasses faith in His Beautiful Names and Lofty Attributes as articulated in
the Qur'an and confirmed by the Prophet ﷺ. This belief is characterised by adherence
to the principles of non-distortion
(taḥrīf), non-negation (taʿṭīl), non-specification of modality
(takyīf), and non-comparison
(tamthīl).
The Names and Attributes must be
accepted as they are, without delving into their precise nature, yet
acknowledging their insightful meanings. These represent attributes of Allah
that are perfect and unique to Him, utterly distinct from the attributes of His
creation. Allah states:
"There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the
Hearing, the Seeing." (Al-Shūrā: 11)
He further admonishes:
"So do not assert similarities to Allah.
Indeed, Allah knows, and you do not know."
(Al-Naḥl:
74)
This belief has been the
consistent creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamāʿah,
comprising the companions of the Prophet ﷺ and those who followed them.
The Creed of the Pious Predecessors
Imām Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī—may Allah have mercy on
him—transmitted this creed in his renowned work Al-Maqālāt, attributing it to the
adherents of ḥadīth and Sunnah. Similar
affirmations have been recorded by other eminent scholars.
Imām Al-Awzāʿī—may
Allah have mercy on him—reported that Al-Zuhrī
and Makhūl were asked
about the verses describing Allah’s attributes. They replied: “Accept
them as they are.” Similarly, Al-Walīd ibn Muslim
stated that when he inquired of Imām Mālik,
Al-Awzāʿī,
Al-Layth ibn Saʿd, and Sufyān al-Thawrī
regarding these narrations, they collectively responded: “Accept
them as they are, without questioning their modality.”
When Rabiʿah
ibn Abī ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, the teacher
of Imām
Mālik,
was asked about Allah’s establishment above
the Throne (istiwāʾ), he stated:
"Istiwaʾ is known, its modality is beyond comprehension,
belief in it is obligatory, and questioning it is an innovation."
Imām Mālik
reiterated this position, famously rebuking a questioner: “Istiwaʾ is
known, its modality is incomprehensible, belief in it is obligatory, and
questioning it is an innovation. I see you as a man of misguidance!”
He then ordered the man’s removal.
This understanding was also
conveyed by Umm al-Muʾminīn Umm Salamah,
the wife of the Prophet ﷺ,
and echoed by Imām Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Mubārak,
who said: “We affirm that our Lord is above His heavens, established on His
Throne, distinct from His creation.”
Scholarly Works on the Creed of Ahl al-Sunnah
The extensive statements of the righteous predecessors on this matter cannot be fully enumerated here. Those seeking a deeper understanding are advised to consult seminal works such as:
- Al-Sunnah by ʿAbdullāh ibn Imām Aḥmad,
- Kitāb al-Tawḥīd by Imām Muḥammad ibn Khuzaymah,
- Al-Sunnah by Abū al-Qāsim al-Lālakāʾī al-Ṭabarī,
- Al-Sunnah by Abū Bakr ibn Abī ʿĀṣim,
- The Letter to the People of Ḥamāh by Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah,
- His treatise Al-Tadmuriyyah.
These works illuminate the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah through comprehensive textual and rational evidence, refuting misconceptions and affirming the truth for those sincerely seeking guidance. Those who deviate from this creed inevitably contradict both scripture and reason, entangling themselves in manifest inconsistencies.
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