At the heart of Islam lies belief in Allah (God).
The core of the Islamic creed is bearing witness to the phrase, La illaha illa Allah, “There is no true deity deserving worship but God.” The testimony to this belief, called tawhid, is the axis around which all Islam revolves. Moreover, it is the first of the two testimonies by which a person becomes a Muslim. Striving after the realization of that oneness, or tawhid, is the core of Islamic life.
For many non-Muslims, the term Allah, the Arabic name of God, refers to some distant and strange deity worshiped by the Arabs. Some even think it to be some pagan “moon-god”. However, in Arabic, the word Allah means the One True God. Even, Arabic speaking Jews and Christians refer to the Supreme Being as Allah.
FINDING ALLAH
Western philosophers, Eastern mystics as well as today’s scientists attempt to reach Allah in their own way. Mystics teach of a God who is found through spiritual experiences, a God who is part of the world and resides within His creation. The philosophers seek God through pure reason and often speak of a God as a detached Watch-Maker with no interest in His creation. A group of philosophers teach agnosticism, an ideology that holds that one can neither prove nor disprove God’s existence. Practically speaking, an agnostic asserts he must be able to perceive Allah directly in order to have faith.
Allah has said:
“And those who are devoid of knowledge say: ‘Why does not Allah speak unto us or why is not a [miraculous] sign shown to us?’ So said the people before them words of similar import. Their hearts are all alike…”
(Quran 2:118)
The argument is nothing new; people in the past and present have raised the same objection.
According to Islam, the correct way of finding Allah is through the preserved teachings of the prophets. Islam maintains that the prophets were sent by Allah Himself throughout the ages to guide human beings to Him. Allah says in the Holy Quran that the correct path to belief is to reflect upon His signs, which point to Him:
“…Indeed, We have made all the signs manifest unto people who are endowed with inner certainty.”
(Quran 2:118)
Mention of Allah’s handiwork occurs often in the Quran as the locus of divine revelation. Anyone who sees the natural world in all its wonder with open eyes and an open heart will see the unmistakable signs of the Creator.
“Say: Go all over the earth and behold how [wondrously] He has created [man] in the first instance: and thus, too, will Allah bring into being your second life – for, verily, Allah has power to will anything.” (Quran 20:29)
Allah’s handiwork is also present within the individual:
“And on earth there are signs [of Allah’s existence, visible] to all who are endowed with inner certainty, just as [there are signs thereof] within your own selves: can you not, then see?”
(Quran 51:20-21)