ISLAM FOR BEGINNERS BRS 107.pdf - CUEA

“Say. Shall we call on others besides Allah, things that can do us neither good nor harm,and turn on our heels after receiving guidance fro Allah? Like one whom the Satan havemade into a fool, wandering bewildered through the earth, his friends calling ‘come to us’,guiding him to the path. Say:’ Allah’s guidance is the only guidance, and we have beendirected to submit ourselves to the Lord of the worlds”. (s. 6:71)“ It is He who created for you all things that are on earth; then he turned to the heaven andmade them into seven firmaments. And of all things he hath perfect Knowledge.” (s. 2:29)Allah is the name of God in Arabic. He is one and unique; thus his uniqueness andoneness are affirmed throughout the Book. Allah has neither wife nor child (sura 112).Arabs believed in Him and adored Him before Islam -during the time of Ignorance, but notas unique. He is transcendent (above all created beings) and immanent (he is with thepeople through his Word and not through any other being, angelic or human). He alonemust be worshiped. He has many attributes such as creator, great, merciful, magnificent,master or master of the universe...: only 99 are known to men and women; the 100 th isunknown. The commonest feature is that He is Akbar (Allah Akbar: Allah is great) but thegreatest is that he is One. He gives his decrees to all men and women for guidance. Infact, the prophet’s mission was not to proclaim God’s existence but to deny the existenceof all lesser deities (for the name was known in the pre-Islamic period) and to announcethat he is the only One.b. The Qur’an“ And this is a Book which we sent down, bringing blessings and confirming which camebefore it: that thou mayest warn the mother of the cities and all around her.” (s. 6:92)“Do they ponder on the Qur’an? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely havefound therein much discrepancy” (s.4: 81)“These are the Ayats of the Book of Wisdom. It is a matter of wonderment to men that wehave sent to a man from among them? That he should warn mankind and give the Goodnews to the believers. That they have before their Lord the good actions they haveadvanced. (s.10:1-2)“We have sent it down as an arabic, in order that you may learn wisdom” (s.12: 2)Can we say that as Christians have the Bible, Muslims have the Qur’an? Muslims believeGod dictated the Qur’an to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. It has a divine origin,though it was edited. “ And if you doubt as to what we revealed from time to time to ourFrederic N. Mvumbi,OP Page 30 of 85