Belief in Allah, the proper name in Arabic of the one and only God, consists of four matters:


(a)  Belief in Allah’s existence.

(b)  Allah is the Lord.

(c)  Allah is entitled to worship.

(d)  Allah is known by His Most Beautiful Names and Attributes.

(a) Belief in Allah’s Existence


It is not required that Allah’s existence be proven by scientific, mathematical, or philosophical arguments.  His existence is not a ‘discovery’ to be made by the scientific method or a mathematical theorem to be proven.  Every human being has an innate belief in a Creator.  This belief is not a result of learning or personal deductive thinking.  It is outside influences that effect this innate belief and confuse a person as

the Prophet said

There is no child who is not born with a natural belief in Allah, but his parents make him a Jew, a Christian or a Magian

Saheeh Al-Bukhari, Saheeh Muslim

Also, mere common sense bears witness to Allah’s existence.  From a ship one learns of the ship-builder, from the cosmos one learns of its Creator.  Allah’s existence is also known by answers to prayers, the miracles of prophets, and the teachings of all revealed scriptures.

(b) Allah is the Lord


Allah is the only Lord of heaven and earth.  He is the Lord of the physical universe and the Lawgiver for human life.  He is the Master of the physical world and Ruler of the affairs of men.  Allah is the Lord of every man, woman, and child.

(i) Allah is the sole Lord and Ruler of the physical world.  The term ‘Lord’ here specifically means that He is the Creator, Controller; the Kingdom of the heaven and the earth belongs exclusively to Him, and He owns them.  He alone brought existence out of non-existence and all depend on Him for their conservation and continuance.  He did not create the universe and leave it to pursue its own course according to fixed laws and cease to take any further interest in it.  His power is required at every moment to sustain all creatures.  Creation has no Lord besides Him.

“Say (O Muhammad): ‘Who provides for you from the sky and the earth?  Or who owns hearing and sight?  And who brings out the living from the dead and brings out the dead from the living?  And who disposes the affairs?’  They will say: ‘Allah.’ Say: ‘Will you not then be afraid of Allah’s punishment (for setting up rivals with Allah)

Quran 10:31

He is the ever-ruling King and the Savior, the Living God, full of wisdom.  No one can change His decisions.  Angels, prophets, human beings, and the animal and plant kingdoms are under His control.  Historically, few people have denied the existence of the Lord; throughout ages people for most part have believed in One God, a Supreme Being, a supernatural Creator.

(ii) Allah is the only Ruler of the affairs of men.  Allah is the supreme Lawgiver[1], the Absolute Judge, the Legislator, He distinguishes right from wrong.  Just like the physical world submits to its Lord, human beings must submit to the moral and religious teaching of their Lord, the Lord who sets apart right from wrong for them.  In other words, Allah alone has the authority to make laws, determine acts of worship, decide morals, and set standards of human interaction and behavior.  His is the command:

His is the Creation and Command

Quran 7:54

(c) Allah is Entitled to Worship


Allah has the exclusive right to be worshipped inwardly and outwardly, by one’s actions and by one’s heart.  Not only can no one be worshipped apart from Him, absolutely no one else can be worshipped along with Him.  He has no partners or associates in worship.  Worship, in its comprehensive sense and in all its aspects, is for Him alone.

There is no true god worthy of worship but He, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate

Quran 2:163

Allah’s right to be worshipped can not be over emphasized.  It is the essential meaning of Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah.  A non-Muslim enters Islam by testifying to Allah’s sole right to be worshipped.  It is the crux of Islamic belief in Allah, even all of Islam.  It was the central message of all prophets and messengers sent by Allah.  They all declared clearly:

Worship Allah!  You have no other god but Him

Quran 7:59, 60, 73, 85; 11: 50, 61, 84; 23, 32

It was the central message of Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Moses, the Hebrew prophets, Jesus, and Muhammad, peace be upon them all.  If Allah alone creates, gives life and death, provides food and security, gives hearing and sight, then He alone must be worshipped.

Worship in Islam consists of every act, belief, statement, or sentiment of the heart Allah approves and loves, everything that brings a person closer to His Creator.  It includes everything Allah has legislated in the Quran or through His Prophet’s Sunnah.  It includes ‘external’ worship like the daily ritual prayers, fasting, charity, and pilgrimage as well as ‘internal’ worship such as faith in the six articles of faith, reverence, adoration, love, gratitude, and reliance.  An act of worship is not accepted unless it conforms to the following:

(i) It is done exclusively for Allah and none should have any share in it, including one’s own self. Worship is not to be done even to satisfy the soul’s base desires, such as receiving praise or showing-off.  This is the meaning of Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah.

(ii)It must conform with the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. It must be performed in the exact manner performed by him, without any addition or omission.  This is the implication of Muhammad Rasool-Allaah.

Allah is entitled to all types of worship, the worship of the body, soul, and heart. It remains incomplete unless it is done out of reverence and fear of Allah, divine love and adoration, hope in divine reward, and extreme humility.  Giving anyone else - prophets, angels, Jesus, Mary, idols, or nature - a portion of worship due to Allah is called Shirk and is the most enormous sin in Islam.

(d) Allah is Known by His Most Beautiful Names and Attributes


Allah is known by His Most Beautiful Names and Attributes as they appear in the Quran and Sunnah, without corrupting or denying the obvious meaning, imagining their “how,” or thinking of them in human terms.

And the Most Beautiful Names belong to Allah, so call on Him by them

Quran 7:180

Therefore, it is inappropriate to use First Cause, Author, Substance, Pure Ego, Absolute, Pure Idea, Logical Concept, Unknown, Unconscious, Ego, Idea, or Big Guy as divine names.  Any name which one seeks to affirm for Allah must have been revealed in the Quran or Sunnah.

The Names of Allah indicate His perfection and freedom from deficiencies.  Allah does not forget, sleep or get tired.  His seeing, like all other attributes, is not like human sight.  He is not unjust, and has no son, mother, father, brother, associate, or helper.  He was not begotten and He begets none.  He stands in need of none as He is perfect.  He does not become or resemble humans and has no need to do so to “understand” human suffering.  Allah is the Almighty (al-Qawee), the One Incomparable (al-’Ahad), the Acceptor of Repentance (al-Tawwab), the Most Compassionate (al-Raheem), Ever-Living (al-Hayy), All-Sustaining (al-Qayyoom), all-Knowing (al-’Aleem), All-Hearing (al-Samee’), All-Seeing (al-Baseer), the Pardoner (al-’Afuww), the Helper (al-Naseer), and the Healer of the Sick (al-Shaafi’). There are many other names mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah.

All praise and glory is due to Him for His absolute perfection and majesty.


The Arabic word shirk is the opposite of tawheed, Allah’s oneness, and is more inclusive than polytheism and idolatry.  It means associating Allah with other deities.  Shirk is to associate others with Allah in certain aspects designated as unique to Him and exclusively His in the Quran and Sunnah.

There is no issue upon which Islam is so strict as the one of monotheism (tawheed). Associating partners with God (shirk) is the deadliest sin, the greatest violation with which the Lord of the heavens and the earth may be defied.  Death in the state of shirk permanently severs a person from divine grace:

Surely Allah forgives not that a partner be set with Him (i.e.  the sin of shirk), and forgives all besides that to whom he pleases

Quran 4:48

Shirk has many forms, some of which will be discussed below.

The Greater Shirk


Acts which fall under this category of shirk are regarded as unforgivable. Allah will not forgive them unless one repents.

Verily, Allah does not forgive shirk, but He forgives other than that to whom He pleases

This category contradicts the very purpose of creation,

as expressed in Allah’s statement

I have not created jinn or mankind except to worship Me Alone

Quran 51:56

In this category of shirk, acts of worship are directed to beings other than Allah or alongside Him, as is their rewards. 

Allah gives an example of this type in the Quran, in His saying

So when they ride in the ships, they call upon Allah, being sincerely obedient to Him, but when he brings them safe to the land, lo, they commit shirk with Him

Quran 29:65

The Quran stresses in many verses that Allah does not share His powers with any partner.  It warns those who believe their idols will intercede for them that they, together with the idols, will become fuel for Hellfire on the Day of Judgment.

The greater shirk includes invoking or supplicating to a false deity, prophet, angel, saint, idol, or anything besides Allah.  Christians pray to a man who they believe to share divinity with Allah, the Prophet of Allah Jesus, peace be upon him.  Catholics direct certain types of worship to saints, angels, and Mary, which they regard as “veneration”. All these things are regarded as shirk.

It is also considered shirk to pray to Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of Allah be upon him, or to graves of holy men.

Believing in the legislation of others, whether governments or religious leaders in opposition to the clear teachings of Islam is also a major form of shirk,

as Allah says:

They (referring to Jews and Christians) took their rabbis and their monks to be their Lords besides Allah

Quran 9:31

They took them as lords besides Allah not by directly praying to them, but by willfully accepting their changing the lawful into prohibited and the forbidden into lawful in Allah’s religion.  They gave them the authority that only Allah has - to legislate in divine law.

Another form of major shirk is giving any creation a portion of divine love reserved for Allah.

And of mankind are some who take (for worship) others besides Allah as rivals (to Allah).  They love them as they love Allah.  But those who believe love Allah (more than anything else)...

Quran 2:165

Lesser Forms of Shirk


Swearing by other than Allah and carrying out religious acts for worldly gain, like showing off or to win favors are two of the lesser forms of shirk. 

Allah’s Messenger said

“The thing I fear for you the most is ‘lesser shirk.’ The companions asked ‘Oh!  Messenger of Allah, what is “lesser shirk?”  He replied showing off, for surely Allah will say on the Day of Resurrection when people are receiving their rewards, ‘Go to those for whom you were showing off in the material world and see if you can find any reward from them.’”

Ahmad, at-Tabarani, al-Baihaqi

Once, the Prophet announced:

O people, beware of hidden shirk!  The people asked, ‘O messenger of Allah, what is hidden shirk?’  He replied, ‘When a man gets up to pray and strives to beautify his prayer because people are looking at him; that is hidden shirk

Ibn Khuzaymah

Showing off (riyaa in Arabic) is the practice of performing any of the various forms of worship in order to be seen and praised by people.  Doing religious acts to impress people destroys the spiritual benefits of righteous deeds and incurs sin on the person.  Sometimes, even the most pious are not spared of it because it is so hidden and the motivating force behind it is so ingrained.  Getting rid of it involves that one concentrate upon the fact that they are performing the worship for Allah’s pleasure alone, and not the pleasure of people.

A Muslim must take great care to ensure intentions begin pure and remain pure whenever righteous deeds are being done.  In order to ensure this, the saying of Allah’s name is enjoined in Islam before all acts of importance.  A series of informal prayers (du’as) have also been prescribed by the Prophet before and after all natural habits to turn them into acts of worship and develop awareness of Allah.

Everyday Examples of Shirk


Astrology and Horoscopes

Predicting the future by means of comparing the positions of stars and constellations, in conjunction with the time of year that a person was born is a type of shirk.  Only Allah knows the future, so it is impossible to predict future events by studying the stars.  This is a form of shirk because belief in astrology credits astrologers with knowledge of the future, as well as the fact that they ascribe certain powers to  created objects – stars  – that neither Allah nor science has assigned.

Fortune-Telling

Reading palms, looking into a crystal ball, and other forms used to foretell the future are forms of shirk for the same reasons given above.

The Number 13

A common example of shirk is belief that the number thirteen is an unlucky number, especially in the West, where it is not uncommon for tall buildings not to have a thirteenth floor.  It is shirk because it assigns the ability to bring bad fortune to a mere number!

Lucky or Unlucky Creatures

It has been a common custom for certain animals or objects to be associated with good or bad luck for many centuries in many parts of the world.  For example, black cats, magpies, rabbits' feet, and horseshoes are thought to bring good luck.  All of these examples are shirk because the ability to bring good or bad luck is assigned to Allah’s creation.

All Muslims should avoid all forms of shirk, and the only way one can be sure to do so is if they study its different forms and understand well the concept of tawheed. Shirk is the gravest of sins in Islam, more severe than other grave sins such as murder and adultery, for it vies with the sole right of Allah to worship. Thus, it is worthy that Muslims do their best to avoid shirk and become eligible to enter the Gardens of Paradise.

The Merciful Creator describes Himself in the Quran, and the Prophet has described His Lord in the Sunnah, because human intellect is limited and cannot fathom the limitless scope of the divine.  Allah tells us what is necessary for us to know about Himself, helping to prevent confusion about His being, actions and location.  After all, how can we love someone we do not know?  Therefore, the Quran and Sunnah tell us everything we need to know in order to worship our Creator.  The divine attribute of ‘Uluw, highness or transcendence, is the topic of this lesson.

Meaning and Significance


The divine attribute ‘Uluw means Allah is above His creation, and nothing is above Him.  He is neither within His creation, nor part of His creation.  Creation cannot encompass Him.  The Creator is completely separate and distinct from His creation.

Before Islam, Hindus believed God resided in animals, human beings and countless idols.  The Jewish scripture stated that God came to earth in the form of a man and wrestled with Prophet Jacob who defeated Him (Genesis 32:24-30).  Christians have claimed that God became flesh and came down to earth in the form of a man to be crucified.  Some heretics also brought such ideas into Islam.  For example, Hallaj, a deranged mystic, openly claimed he and Allah were one.  These deviant ideas have become so widespread that if someone were to ask many Muslims today, ‘Where is Allah?’ they will say that He is everywhere.

The main danger of this thought is that it opens the door to the worship of creation.  If God is everywhere, it means He is in His creation.  If that is true, then why not worship the creation itself?  It becomes especially easy for people to start saying God is in their own souls and accept worship.  Countless kings, ordinary individuals like the Pharaohs of Egypt and Jesus were so worshipped, though the latter did not accept being worshipped by his followers.

The Evidence


Allah is not everywhere.  There are five main proofs for it:

(1)  Islam states that every human being is born with certain tendencies that are not the result of his environment.  Human beings are born with a natural realization of a Creator who is separate and above His creation.  The mere thought of God being in places of filth, which would be a natural consequence of God being everywhere, is repulsive to human nature.

(2)  The salah prayer must be offered in a place clear of pictures or statues.  A Muslim is forbidden to bend or prostrate in worship to any creation.  If Allah were everywhere and in everything, people could worship other people or themselves.

(3)  Two years before the Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of Allah be upon him, migrated to Medina from Mecca, he was taken on a miraculous journey to Mecca to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem up beyond the seven heavens to meet Allah.  Allah spoke directly to Prophet Muhammad.  There would have been no need for him to go up beyond the seven heavens to meet Allah if He were present everywhere.

(4)  Many verses of the Quran tell us clearly that Allah is above His creation.

The Quran speaks of the angels rising up to Allah:

“They ascend up to Him in a day whose length is like a thousand years by your reckoning.”

(Quran 32:5)

Prayers also rise up to Allah:

“Every good saying goes up to Him.”

(Quran 35:10)

Allah describes Himself as above His servants:

“He is the Irresistible One above His creation.”

(Quran 6:18, 61)

He describes His worshippers as:

“Those who fear their Lord who is above them.”

(Quran 16:50)

One of Allah’s beautiful names is al-Aliy which means, ‘The Most High’; nothing is above Him.

(5)  A companion of the Prophet, may the mercy and blessings of Allah be upon him, named Ibn al-Hakam had a slave who used to tend his sheep.  One day, he came to see her and found out that a wolf had eaten one of the sheep from the flock she cared for.  Learning this, he got angry and slapped her in the face, but later  regretted doing so. So he came to Allah’s Messenger and told him the story, upon which the Messenger asked him to bring her. 

When she came, the Prophet asked her, ‘Where is Allah?’  She answered, ‘Above the sky.’  The Prophet asked her, ‘Who am I?’  She said, ‘You are the Messenger of Allah.’  He said, ‘Free her, for she is a believer.’  

Here, the Prophet affirmed her statement that Allah was above the sky. Had Allah not been, the Prophet would have indeed reproached her as he reproached other false beliefs.

Is Allah Detached From His Creation?


Allah’s being above His creation does not mean He is isolated from His creation.  He is aware of all that happens in the universe.  Nothing escapes His vision, hearing, power, and ability.  The following verses should be understood in this context:

“And We are closer to Him than his jugular vein.”

(Quran 50:16)

“Be aware that Allah comes between a man and his heart.”

(Quran 8:24)

These verses do not mean Allah is inside a man.  They simply mean that nothing escapes Allah’s knowledge.  He knows even the most innermost thoughts of man, as Allah says in another verse in the Quran:

“Do they not realize Allah knows what they hide and what they expose?”

(Quran 2:77)

In summary, based on the Quran and Sunnah, Allah is above the universe in a manner befitting His greatness; the creation is not in Him, nor is He contained by His creation.  However, He is all Aware and Able in His knowledge, power, and ability operate within every single particle of the universe.


The human mind is a true marvel, but in certain areas it is limited.  Allah is different from anything the human mind can think of or imagine.  Therefore, if the mind tries to picture Allah, certain aspects will be ambiguous and open to indefinite interpretation.  Nevertheless, it is possible to understand the attributes of Allah which do not require making any mental pictures.  For example, one of Allah’s names is al-Ghaffar, which means ‘Oft-Forgiver’.  Everyone can understand this easily because that is how the human mind can clearly think of Allah.  Jewish and Christian teachings on God are confused partly because of their incorrect understanding of this issue.  The Jewish Torah teaches God is like man:

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…so God made man in His own image.’ (Genesis 1:26-27)


Moreover, certain Christians put statues or images of an old white bearded man depicting God in their churches.  Some of these were  produced by the likes of Michelangelo, who depicted the Face and Hand ‘of God’ – a tough looking old man - in paintings.

Rendering images of God in Islam is an impossibility, and amounts to disbelief, as Allah tells us in the Quran that nothing resembles Him:

“There is nothing like Him, but He is All-Hearing, All-Seeing.”

(Quran 42:11)

“There is nothing comparable to Him.”

(Quran 112:4)

The Request of Moses to See Allah


Eyes can not grasp Allah, He tells us in the Quran:

“Vision cannot grasp Him, but He his grasp is over all vision.”

(Quran 6:103)

Moses, to whom God spoke and gave great miracles, was chosen by Allah to be His Prophet.  It is said, that Moses thought that, since Allah used to speak to him, he might be able to actually see Allah if he asked.  The story is in the Quran, where Allah tells us what happened:

“And when Moses arrived at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said, ‘My Lord, show me (Yourself) that I may look at You.’  (Allah) said, ‘You will not see Me, but look at the mountain; if it should remain in place, then you will see Me.’  But when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He rendered it level, and Moses fell unconscious.  And when he awoke, he said, ‘Exalted are You!  I have repented to You, and I am the first of the believers.’”

(Quran 7:143)

Allah made it clear that no one, including the great prophet Moses, can bear the sight of the divine, for Allah is too great to be grasped by human eyes in this life.  According to the Quran, Moses realized his request was in error; therefore, he sought forgiveness from Allah for having even thought to ask.

The Prophet Muhammad Did Not See Allah in This Life


Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of Allah be upon him, traveled in a miraculous journey through the heavens to meet Allah.  People thought that since Prophet Muhammad spoke to Allah in that journey, he probably saw Allah too.  One of the companions, Abu Dharr, asked him about it.  The Prophet replied:

“There was only light, how could I see Him?’

Saheeh Muslim

What was the light he saw?  The Prophet explained:

“Surely, Allah does not sleep nor is it befitting for Him to sleep.  He is the one who lowers the scales and raises them.  The deeds of the night go up to Him before the deeds of the day and those of the day before those of the night, and His veil is the light.”

Saheeh Muslim

Vision of God in Spiritual Experiences


Some people, including some who claim to be Muslims, report spiritual experiences where they have claimed to have seen God.  Common reported experiences also include seeing lights, or a magnificent being seated on a throne.  Such an experience is usually accompanied by dropping basic Islamic practices like salah and fasting, under the mistaken opinion that such practices are only for common people who had not had their type of experience. 

One of the fundamental foundations of Islam is that the law revealed to Prophet Muhammad cannot be changed or canceled.  God neither makes lawful for some what He has made unlawful for others, nor does He communicate His Law through such experiences to people.  Rather, divine Law is revealed through the proper channel of revelation to the prophets, a channel that was closed after the advent of the Prophet Muhammad, the last of God’s prophets. It is Satan who pretends to be Allah to deceive ignorant people who believe in such experiences and go astray.

Seeing Allah in Afterlife


In this life Allah can not be seen, but the believers will see Allah in the next life, this is stated clearly in the Quran and the Sunnah. 

The Prophet said, “The Day of Resurrection is the first day any eye will look at Allah, the Mighty and Exalted.” 

Darqutni, Darimi

Describing the events of Resurrection Day, Allah states in the Quran:

“On that day some faces will be bright, looking at their Lord.” (Quran 75:22-23)

The Prophet was asked if we will see Allah on the Day of Resurrection.  He replied, 

“Are you harmed by looking at the moon when it is full?”

Saheeh Al-Bukhari, Saheeh Muslim

 ‘No,’ they replied.  Then he said, “Surely, you will see Him likewise.”  In another hadith the Prophet said, 

“Surely, each of you will see Allah on the day when you shall meet Him, and there will be no veil or translator between Him and you.”

Saheeh Al-Bukhari

  Seeing Allah will be a favor that is additional to Paradise on the Muslims who will dwell therein. As a matter of fact, the joy of seeing Allah for a believer will be greater than the joys of Paradise combined together.  The unbelievers, on the other hand, will be deprived of seeing Allah and this will be greater punishment for them than all the pain and suffering of Hell combined together.