• His zat, or person or essence
• His sifat or qualities or attributes
• His affal or work

Nature of God
The Nature of God is summed up in the Holy Quran in Surah Ikhlas or Purity (of Faith):

"Say: He is Allah, The One and Only, He is the Eternal, Absolute; He begets not, Nor is He begotten; And there is none Like unto Him. Ikhlas 112 : 1-4

Religious scholars have related that Allah has three thousand Names. One thousand are only known by angels, 1,000 known only by prophets, 300 are in the Torah (Old Testament), 300 are in Zabur (Psalms of David), 300 are in the New Testament, 99 are in the Qurfan. This makes 2,999 Names. One Name which has been hidden by Allah is called Ism Allah al-a'zam : The Greatest Name of Allah.

All of Allah's Name are great, but since He has hidden this particular Name it is referred to as The Greatest Name. The Name is mentioned in the Qur'an as this Hadis States:

Asma, radiyallah anhu, reports that Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said : "The Greatest Name of Allah is in these two verses of the Qur'an, 'He who is worshipped by you is One God, there is no god but Him, the Compassionate and the Beneficent (sura II, 163) : also in the first part of sura Ali Imran, Alif Lam Min - Allah, there is no god but Him, the Alive, the Self-Subsisting.

The word Allah is the essential personal name of God. There is no ilah other that the one Great Being known by the name "Allah"
The nature of Allah is here indicated to us in a few words, such as we can understand. Here we are specially taught to avoid the pitfall into which men and nations have fallen at various times in trying to understand Allah.

• His nature is so sublime, so far beyond our limited conceptions, that the best way in which we can realise Him is to feel that He is a Personality, 'He', and not a mere abstract conception of philosophy. He is near us; He cares for us; we owe our existence to Him.
• He is the One and Only God, the Only One to Whom worship is due; all other things or beings that we can think of are His creatures and in no way comparable to Him.
• He is Eternal, without beginning or end, Absolute, not limited by time or place or circumstance, the Reality.
• We must not think of Him as Having a son or a father, for that would be to import animal qualities into our conception of Him.
• He is not like any other person or thing that we know or can imagine: His qualities and nature are unique.

He is All Powerful, Ruler and Master of all, who requires no partners nor has any offspring or family. God is Omnipotent and He is the Creator and Nourisher of the Universe and everything therein; the seen and the unseen, and He it is who takes care of all worlds. God is also Omniscient, Absoletely Just, Most Honorable, Most Excellent, Most Benevolent, Most Compassionate. He has no beginning and no end. He is Unique and spouseless. He is not born nor does He give birth, but He creates. He has control over the Universe and will be sole Jude on the Day of Judgement. To a Muslim, Allah is the Almighty, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, Who is similar to nothing and nothing is comparable to HIM.

The Act of Creation
THEattributes to the act creation are the Creator, The Creator of the soul, the Fashioner of shapes, the Originator.
In trying to understand God, we are told to look into our own existence and the existence of this whole universe.
"It was indeed We who created man, and We know what dark suggestions his soul whispers to him for We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein." Al-Qaf 50:16

Allah is nearer to man than man himself. The things we see and know are the objects of His creations.

For example:
We can see anything with our eyes, but we cannot see our eyes without a mirror or a reflection cast on water, etc. The orderly behavior of stars and planets, the distance between the sun and the earth and the space between the moon and the earth are evidence of Allah' Power. We would have been burnt to cinders if the sun were just a little too near to our earth, and we would have been twice inundated by colossal floods everyday if the moon were to come closer to our globe.

His Qualities
THE qualities of Allah are described in numerous places in the Holy Quran. According to Ilmu al-Tauhid, the qualities of Allah are described as:

• Wujud which means the Existence;
• Qidam, the First without a beginning;
• Baqa, the Eternal without an end;
• Mukhalafatuhulil hawadith, the Difference from orginated things;
• Qiamuhubinafsih, the Self-sufficing;
• Wahdaniah, the Oneness in person, qualities and works;
• Qudrat, The Mighty without any limbs or gear;
• Iradat, He wills all learning and thinking;
• Hayat, He lives without life of breath, food or water;
• Sami',He hears without ears;
• Basar, He Sees without eyes or light;
• Kalam, he speaks without words, voice or language;
• Allpowerfull; All-knowing; Everliving, Allhearing; all-seeing.

The knowledge of the Unity of God enables man to see himself in the right perspective in relation to his God, his fellow creatures and the world at large. His mind is free from fear of external influences from animate or inanimate objects, forces of nature and even manmade ism to dominate or exploit man. His fear is to Allah alone Whom he worships and to Whom he seeks help and guidance. He is free to uplift his own physical, moral and spiritual being.

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