In the Name of Allah, The Beneficent, the Merciful “O My Lord! Relieve my mind. And ease my task for me; and loose a knot from my tongue. That they may understand what I say.”

The concept of God has remained a riddle, a mystery, which has racked many human minds since time immemorial. Many great philosophers and prominent thinkers have pondered over the issue through ages but have failed to solve the mystery. Who is God? How defined? What is His nature and personality? Where is He? How is He? Does He exist? Who created the world? Who created us? These are some of the many questions which are raised by inquisitive minds, but the same have remained unanswered.

Al-Qur’an, the sacred book of Islam, is the final revealed message of God to mankind through His last messenger Muhammad (Peace be upon him). It does not indulge in any metaphysical or theological arguments to prove existence of God. The Qur’an invites our attention to the world around us and urges us to meditate on the creation of the universe, the heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon, the galaxies of stars, the days and night, the oceans and rivers, the gardens and plants, the mountains and hills, the animals and birds, and even on creation of ourselves to recognize the existence of God. The Qur’an explains and elaborates the concept of God in a very vivid and clear way which even layman can comprehend by just glancing through its verses. God, according to the Qur’an, is the Almighty, All-Powerful, All-Knowing and Omnipotent Lord of the whole universe. There is no God save Him. He has no partner in His Sovereignty and Dominion and is One alone to be worshipped. He has no parents as He was not begotten; He has no children as He begets not. He is the Alive, the Eternal, neither sleep nor slumber overtakes Him. He is Creator, Owner and Sustainer of every thing in the heavens and the earth. He gives life and death. Everything is in His knowledge and He knows the seen and unseen in the cosmos. Not a leaf falls without His leave and without His knowledge Thus the Qur’anic concept of God is that of a Universal, Living, Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient God and it widely differs from the concepts of God preached and propagated by philosophers and other religions and their holy scriptures who either do not believe in any God or believe in many deities or in a local and national God.

I have quoted verses of the Qur’an from the renowned translation of the Holy Qur’an known as “The Meaning of the Glorious Qur’an” by Marmaduke Pickthall; whereas Ahadith have been taken mostly from “Al-Hadis” an English translation of Mishkat-ul-Masabih by Maulana Fazlul Karim. I have also consulted some commentaries of Holy Qur’an written by various scholars like Muhammad Asad, Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Maulana Maududi. It would be most fair and just if I acknowledge my debt of gratitude to all of them from whose works I have benefited in producing this book. I must also place on record my thanks to Mr. Jamil Butt and his team who composed and designed the book and to the Trustees of the Burhan Education and Welfare Foundation who published the book.

I must also express my wholehearted thanks to my wife
Dr. Nasreen Sharif who has relieved me of many of my household responsibilities enabling me to give my full time and attention to research and writing. Thus her contribution, though indirect, is tremendous, not less than that of mine, in producing this book which must not go unrecognized.

Before concluding I must pray to God: ‘O, My Lord! Increase me in knowledge.”

 

Muhammad Sharif Chaudhry

July 04, 2002

169-A/I Township, Lahore, Pakistan.

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