Misconception 1: The God that Muslims worship is a different God called Allah.
This, of-course, is incorrect. In Arabic, the language that all Muslims know at least a few words of, the word Allah means God. So God and Allah are one and the same.
Misconception 2: Allah is only the God of Islam and the Muslims.
This is such a ridiculous idea! Allah, God, is the God of everything and everybody, and He has dominion over everyone whether they acknowledge the existence of God or not. God, Allah, is the God of everyone irrelevant of race, skin color or religion. Just because someone doesn't wish to acknowledge the existence of a God, or worship God, or believe that God has an identity, it doesn't negate from the fact that God is the Master of all things, that all the people are His creation and that He has complete rulership over them.
Misconception 3: Allah is a different God to the God of the Christians and Jews.
Allah, God, is the same figure, the same God worshipped by the Jews and the Christians, but we just call Him 'Allah'. In fact, the Jews and Christians that speak Arabic call God Allah too, and if you get hold of the Arabic version of the bible you will find that the word God is often written as Allah. Muslims believe in ONE GOD (a principle called tawheed) and this God is the same God of all the Prophets - Moses, Abraham, Lot, David, Jesus, etc (PBUT). Muslims differ to the Jews and Christians on what the concept of God is and also in His attributes.
In Islam, Allah is seen to be one God and there are no other Gods besides Him, so Islam is known as a monotheistic religion and Allah is just the Arabic word for 'God'; Allah == God and it is as simple as that! You can view different religions as different paths that aim to lead to heaven and/or enlightenment for people who follow those roads. The aim is to reach God by following a religion that is the best according to the individual - a religion that feeds the human soul, is fulfilling and correct. Muslims believe that the best path to follow is the path of Islam as the Muslims believe it is the best of religions.
The Muslim Belief in God
The picture on the right shows how the word Allah is written in Arabic. The word Allah is a very special word because it has no plural (Allah is ONE) and it has no gender assignment to it (Allah is neither male nor female). The word Allah is a joining of the word Al (the) and Ilah ([singular] Lord), and these together form the word 'Allah' (The [one] God). Allah is the God of everything and He is all-powerful and all-knowing.Muslims believe that God is perfect, that He is not a man, that He is void of limits so He has no figure - we cannot comprehend what He is really like. He is a loving, forgiving and fair God who is merciful and keeps His promises. Allah was neither born nor created by another creator, and He does not create other Gods or has sons and daughters. He doesn't require food and drink and He is in no need of anything. He is eternal and not limited by space or time. He is the creator of everything we can see and what is invisible. He is the creator of everything that exists or has ever existed. He sees, hears and knows everything.
Human nature and God
Tawheed (or tauhid) is often oversimplified and presented as meaning just the belief in One God, but it is much more than that as will be explained in a future article. A person who believes in tawheed can also be a follower of another religion or be completely non-religious. This is quite a surprising fact even for Muslims who have not studied or thought about this, but it is true because there exists a rising trend of people that do not associate themselves with an organized religion or a specific God but they believe in a creator, a God that they describe as being one God and being a 'higher power' having power and rulership over all creation. Their beliefs of this 'higher power' reflect upon an innate or inbuilt instinct (fitrah) of the human psyche that is clearly
a subconscious expression that God built into the hearts of all humans when He created them. So God programmed this instinct into humans so that they may know him; As Allah puts it:
فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفًا فِطْرَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
[30.30] Then set your face upright for religion in the right state -- the nature (fitrah) made by Allah in which He has made men; there is no altering of Allah's creation; that is the right religion, but most people do not know.
We are all born Muslims as it is part of our fitrah to be Muslims. We are born with the belief in tawheed but it is our upbringing that influences our eventual beliefs about God and His nature. The aim of every man and woman is that they should return to this infant understanding of tawheed but additionally following a path (religion) that complements and supports the instinct to follow God as our sole Lord and Master. Many religions contradict tawheed so they leave the human soul in a cramped and uncomfortable state, but Islam sets it free. As the common saying goes: 'The truth will set you free'.
Human intelligence and God's guidance
Some religions do not cramp the soul but yet the heart feels confined and imprisoned because the mind is not convinced. The human intellect is often identified as 'the heart' by philosophers. Satisfying the soul alone is
foolhardy as it will never satisfy the mind so that is the purpose of following a religion in addition to the soul. A religion must therefore provide sustenance for the soul and the mind and complete the human being. Muslims believe that Islam is the religion that fulfils the criteria and the people who believe in Islam will become complete.
It is not uncommon to find people who think they have reached this level of enlightenment but most of these people have fooled themselves into believing these things based on influences from their surroundings, upbringing or mental state. Allah says:
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يُجَادِلُ فِي اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَلَا هُدًى وَلَا كِتَابٍ مُّنِيرٍ
ثَانِيَ عِطْفِهِ لِيُضِلَّ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ لَهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا خِزْيٌ وَنُذِيقُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ عَذَابَ الْحَرِيقِ
[22.8] And among men there is he who disputes about Allah without knowledge and without guidance and without an illuminating book,
[22.9] Turning away haughtily that he may lead (others) astray from the way of Allah; for him is disgrace in this world, and on the day of resurrection.
As the directions and inclinations of the soul are easily influenced and open to interpretation, Allah has supplemented man with the mind so that he may choose the correct path. God, our creator and supporter tells us that relying on the soul is not enough.
أَيَحْسَبُ الْإِنسَانُ أَن يُتْرَكَ سُدًى
[75.36] Does man think that he is to be left to wander without an aim?
And naturally, our Lord cannot just create us and leave us wandering like cattle and leading our lives eating, drinking, sleeping and doing our 9am - 5pm job. God instead, out of His infinite wisdom and love, has contacted His creation and given them a direction and a purpose through revelations and by setting them on the religion of Islam. So man cannot argue they didn't know what they were meant to do or what to follow or complain that things weren't clear. God has presented man with a great assortment of proofs that they should believe in Him and follow the religion of Islam. The most prominent of these proofs is the religion of Islam - the religion that all the Prophets, Messengers and their deputies (Imams) followed. God sent the Prophets to teach the whole of mankind this religion and also the Messengers brought the books and commandments
containing the words of God that aim to guide the people.
God gave man all this attention and yet some of His creation are ungrateful and continue to stay ungrateful and refuse to worship Him. Some among these ungrateful or confused people changed the religion that God sent to them. They created their own doctrines and split the people into sects and creeds. Some even went so far as to pervert the concept of tawheed by ascribing partners in worship with God, or making other Gods to worship. Allah will decide their fate, what their punishments will be.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَادُوا وَالصَّابِئِينَ وَالنَّصَارَى وَالْمَجُوسَ وَالَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَفْصِلُ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ
[22.17] Surely those who believe and those who are Jews and the Sabeans and the Christians and the Magians and those who associate (others with Allah)-- surely Allah will decide between them on the day of resurrection; surely Allah is a witness over all things.
Conclusion
So we conclude - Allah is the Arabic word for God. Allah is the same God as the Jews and the Christians, and He is the God of every person and every thing. He is the creator of everything and has complete rulership over the universe. He is the only One, the only God and there is no other God besides Him. This concept of one God supreme is known as Tawheed.
God wishes us all to be Muslim - to follow the fitrah, the innate nature that he created in us, that leads us to the worship of one God. Also to believe in Him and worship Him as He aught to be worshipped as He describes through His Prophets and His holy books. This is why Allah says:
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
[51.56] And I have not created the jinn and the men except that they should serve Me.
In worshipping and serving our Lord who is most worthy of worship, we benefit ourselves by providing sustenance for our souls and our minds. We become complete individuals and are transformed into better people. This benefits us only because Allah has no need for us and cannot take anything from His creation that
He doesn't already have or need. Allah is free from desires or requirements. He, Allah, did this all for us and we should show our gratification through doing our duty of worship and service to our Lord by following Islam. He is worthy of worship for this great bounty that he bestows upon every man. And not only this! Allah says:
وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاء بَعْضٍ يَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلاَةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَيُطِيعُونَ اللّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ أُوْلَـئِكَ سَيَرْحَمُهُمُ اللّهُ إِنَّ اللّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
عَدَ اللّهُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَمَسَاكِنَ طَيِّبَةً فِي جَنَّاتِ عَدْنٍ وَرِضْوَانٌ مِّنَ اللّهِ أَكْبَرُ ذَلِكَ هُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ
[9.71] And (as for) the believing men and the believing women, they are guardians of each other; they enjoin good and forbid evil and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, and obey Allah and His Apostle; (as for) these, Allah will show mercy to them; surely Allah is Mighty, Wise.
[9.72] Allah has promised to the believing men and the believing women gardens, beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them, and goodly dwellings in gardens of perpetual abode; and best of all is Allah's goodly pleasure; that is the grand achievement.
But people are ever arrogant and defiant to become Muslim (submitters to God). Allah says:
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْاْ إِلَى مَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ وَإِلَى الرَّسُولِ قَالُواْ حَسْبُنَا مَا وَجَدْنَا عَلَيْهِ آبَاءنَا أَوَلَوْ كَانَ آبَاؤُهُمْ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ شَيْئًا وَلاَ يَهْتَدُونَPeople who deny the truth build an effigy of imaginary happiness and contentness. They only lie to themselves and this cannot make them truly happy. They confine themselves to their own virtual prisons and they will never prosper, and indeed their final abode is hell. So it is essential to believe because not only will the truth set you free, it will let you into paradise (heaven).
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ عَلَيْكُمْ أَنفُسَكُمْ لاَ يَضُرُّكُم مَّن ضَلَّ إِذَا اهْتَدَيْتُمْ إِلَى اللّهِ مَرْجِعُكُمْ جَمِيعًا فَيُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ
[5.104] And when it is said to them, Come to what Allah has revealed and to the Apostle, they say: That on which we found our fathers is sufficient for us. What! even though their fathers knew nothing and did not follow the right way.
[5.105] O you who believe! take care of your souls; he who errs cannot hurt you when you are on the right way; to Allah is your return, of all (of you), so He will inform you of what you did.
Of course, you may say: who says Islam is the right religion? Well, all the Prophets taught tawheed, and Islam is a religion of pure tawheed, and tawheed is an inbuilt part of our nature that God made a part of us, and Islam has the Quran, the holy book that contains the words of God. If you want to know God then read the Quran and study the religion from its own sources and then decide for yourself if Islam is the true religion.
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