God
1. Tawhid: the Oneness of God
• Tawhid - “He is Allah, the one. Allah is Eternal and Absolute. None is born of him, He is unborn.
There is none like unto him” Surah 112
• Tawhid - Allah is one and indivisible - He has so partner or derivatives - He has no equal
• The Shahadah - “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger” - declaration of
faith
• Transcendent - “no vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision; He is above all compre-
hension, yet is acquainted with all things” Surah 6:103
• Immanent/Omniscient - “I am close to them; I listen to the prayer of every suppliant who calls to
me” Surah 2:186 - “God is all-pervading, all-knowing” Surah 2:115 - “No leaf falls without His
knowing it” Surah 6:59
• Omnipotent creator - “It is He who created for you all things that are on earth” Surah 2:29
• Merciful and compassionate - “Oh no soul does God place a burden greater than it can bear”
Surah 23:62
• Shirk - sin of likening anything to God or suggest it shares the creative power of God
God in the Throne Verse 2:225 :
• “Self-subsiting” - controller, not controlled
• “Neither slumber over takes Him nor sleep” - inhuman - nothing like man
• “Unto Him belongs… the heavens and… earth” - everything is his - the creator and sustainer
• “Who may intercede with Him save by his leave?” - we only have control if Allah wills it
• “They encompass nothing of his knowledge save what He wills” - we only know of him is he wills
it/ if he wants us to
• “His pedestal embraces the heavens and the earth” - implications of throne - control of the uni-
verse
• “He is exalted, the magnificent” - omnipotent - above all else
2. Personal aspects of God
• Most important epithets of Allah - underpins Allah - awe-inspiring + powerful
• Al-Rahman - the compassionate
• Al-Rahim - the merciful
• Al-Khaliq - the creator
• Al-Razzaq - the provider
• 100th epithet only known by a camel - significant because shows that Allah is a mystery - we will
never fully understand him
Mu’tazili:
• Founded in Basra in 749 AD by Wasil ibn Ata
• Was more commonly adopted amongst the Shia Muslims
• Believe that the Quran was the created/preserved word of God
• Took issue with the fact that the Quran asserts the oneness of God yet speaks of Gods ‘hands’,
‘eyes’ and ‘face’ - implying he has a body - they reject the literal understanding of the human
physical terms used for God’s characteristics
• They emphasise Tawhid from a strict standpoint of monotheism - believe he is not being his at-
tributes but he is these things - his essence not attributes
• The attributes are describing him not trying to understand
Hanbali:
• Founded in Baghdad in 780-855 AD by Ahmad ibn Hanbal
• Associated with the Sunni school of thought
• Believe that the Quran is there to be recited not interpreted - it’s to be accepted not understood
• Also took issue with the anthropomorphisms - think that the principle of transcendence should
not be compromised by speculation/interpretation
• His divine essence in essentially veiled - we will never understand and should not try to
Ash’ari:
1. Tawhid: the Oneness of God
• Tawhid - “He is Allah, the one. Allah is Eternal and Absolute. None is born of him, He is unborn.
There is none like unto him” Surah 112
• Tawhid - Allah is one and indivisible - He has so partner or derivatives - He has no equal
• The Shahadah - “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger” - declaration of
faith
• Transcendent - “no vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision; He is above all compre-
hension, yet is acquainted with all things” Surah 6:103
• Immanent/Omniscient - “I am close to them; I listen to the prayer of every suppliant who calls to
me” Surah 2:186 - “God is all-pervading, all-knowing” Surah 2:115 - “No leaf falls without His
knowing it” Surah 6:59
• Omnipotent creator - “It is He who created for you all things that are on earth” Surah 2:29
• Merciful and compassionate - “Oh no soul does God place a burden greater than it can bear”
Surah 23:62
• Shirk - sin of likening anything to God or suggest it shares the creative power of God
God in the Throne Verse 2:225 :
• “Self-subsiting” - controller, not controlled
• “Neither slumber over takes Him nor sleep” - inhuman - nothing like man
• “Unto Him belongs… the heavens and… earth” - everything is his - the creator and sustainer
• “Who may intercede with Him save by his leave?” - we only have control if Allah wills it
• “They encompass nothing of his knowledge save what He wills” - we only know of him is he wills
it/ if he wants us to
• “His pedestal embraces the heavens and the earth” - implications of throne - control of the uni-
verse
• “He is exalted, the magnificent” - omnipotent - above all else
2. Personal aspects of God
• Most important epithets of Allah - underpins Allah - awe-inspiring + powerful
• Al-Rahman - the compassionate
• Al-Rahim - the merciful
• Al-Khaliq - the creator
• Al-Razzaq - the provider
• 100th epithet only known by a camel - significant because shows that Allah is a mystery - we will
never fully understand him
Mu’tazili:
• Founded in Basra in 749 AD by Wasil ibn Ata
• Was more commonly adopted amongst the Shia Muslims
• Believe that the Quran was the created/preserved word of God
• Took issue with the fact that the Quran asserts the oneness of God yet speaks of Gods ‘hands’,
‘eyes’ and ‘face’ - implying he has a body - they reject the literal understanding of the human
physical terms used for God’s characteristics
• They emphasise Tawhid from a strict standpoint of monotheism - believe he is not being his at-
tributes but he is these things - his essence not attributes
• The attributes are describing him not trying to understand
Hanbali:
• Founded in Baghdad in 780-855 AD by Ahmad ibn Hanbal
• Associated with the Sunni school of thought
• Believe that the Quran is there to be recited not interpreted - it’s to be accepted not understood
• Also took issue with the anthropomorphisms - think that the principle of transcendence should
not be compromised by speculation/interpretation
• His divine essence in essentially veiled - we will never understand and should not try to
Ash’ari:
