100 Proofs That Islam Is True (Part 6): The Pure Belief in One God
Mufti Faijullah Aman
Introduction
At the center of every religion lies one question: who is the Creator, and what is He like? If the answer to this question is unclear, self-contradictory, or against reason, then everything else in that religion becomes doubtful. The answer Islam gives is both simple and profound, and it stands completely firm when tested by reason.
The Creator Introduced in Four Verses
In Surah al-Ikhlas, Allah introduces Himself: "Say: He is Allah, the One. Allah, the Self-Sufficient. He neither begets nor is begotten. And there is none equal to Him." (Surah al-Ikhlas 112:1-4)
Just four short verses, yet they answer every human misconception about the Creator. He is not many. He depends on no one. He has no parents, no wife, and no children. Nothing in creation is like Him.
Reason Says the Creator Is One
Allah says: "Had there been in the heavens and the earth any gods besides Allah, both would have been ruined." (Surah al-Anbiya 21:22)
Think about it. A country with two presidents, or a ship with two captains, will surely fall into chaos. If the universe had more than one creator, their wills would clash. One would want the sun to rise in the east, another in the west. Yet we see that every law of the universe, from the atom to the galaxy, runs according to one unified system. This unity itself testifies that there is only one Controller behind it.
He also says: "Allah has not taken any son, nor is there any god with Him. Otherwise, each god would have taken away what he created, and some would have overpowered others." (Surah al-Mu'minun 23:91)
The Creator Is Not Like His Creation
In many religions, God has been imagined in human form, in the shape of animals, or as idols. But if the One who created everything were like His creation, He would also carry the weaknesses of creation: hunger, tiredness, and death. Such a being cannot be the Creator.
Islam says clearly: "There is nothing like Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing." (Surah ash-Shura 42:11)
No Middlemen
In Islam there is no priest, saint, idol, or intermediary between a human being and Allah. Anyone, at any time, in any language, can call upon Allah directly.
Allah says: "When My servants ask you about Me, then I am near. I respond to the call of the caller when he calls upon Me." (Surah al-Baqarah 2:186)
This belief frees human beings from servitude to other human beings. King or beggar, all are servants of the same Allah, and all can stand directly before Him.
The Religion of Human Nature
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Every child is born upon the fitrah (the natural, true faith). Then his parents make him a Jew, a Christian, or a fire-worshipper." (Sahih al-Bukhari)
That is why, at the most desperate moment of danger, when every other hope is gone, even an atheist calls from the depth of his heart upon an unseen power. He does not call upon an idol or an intermediary; he calls upon one great Being. This is the witness of the belief in One God placed deep within every human being. Allah says: "This is the natural way of Allah upon which He created mankind." (Surah ar-Rum 30:30)
The Same Message of All Prophets
Belief in One God is not a new invention of Islam. Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, peace be upon them all, every prophet called to the same message. Allah says: "We did not send any messenger before you except that We revealed to him: there is no god but Me, so worship Me." (Surah al-Anbiya 21:25)
Over the course of time, various additions entered this pure belief in many other religions. Islam came to establish once again that original, pure belief in One God, and has kept it unchanged for fourteen hundred years.
Conclusion
A belief that agrees with reason, agrees with human nature, agrees with the order of the universe, and agrees with the teaching of all the prophets is the true belief. And Islam holds this belief in its purest form: La ilaha illallah, there is no god but Allah.
In the next part, the seventh proof, in sha Allah.
