The Call of Islam

[bamalli]

The call of Islam, which is the call of all the prophets and messengers of old, is fundamentally to bring an understanding of the Creator to mankind at large. It is a call to all people to worship their Creator and Master with knowledge, clarity and sincerity. It is the essence of the first part of the Muslim's declaration of faith and the testimony of belief that if understood and declared sincerely, enters a person into the fold of Islam:

Laa ilaaha ill Allah
[There is nothing deserving of worship in truth except Allah]

The phrase laa ilaaha illa Allah is the acknowledgement and declaration of belief in a single, unique and unequalled deity Who is in no way dependent on anyone or anything else, and Who is the Creator and Master of all. It signifies the disavowal or negation of anything else that may possibly be worshipped in any way, shape or form and an affirmation that Allah is the only true deity and it is an expression of what Islam terms tawheed (pronounced tou–like the ou in shout – heed). We will explain and clarify this term and its significance in more detail later. The concept of tawheed in general, and specifically the category of Names and Attributes which is a sub-branch of this concept, deserves a detailed explanation, for it is the area where a person's focus in worship is ultimately aimed and faith absolutely tied. One should also be aware of its opposite, Ash-shirk or polytheism. That is, to associate partners with Allah or to assign a share of His qualities, power, or right to be worshipped as the One True God to anything or anyone else. This will also be further explained later, in shaa Allah (Allah willing). Tawheed is the backbone of Islamic belief which is called 'aqeedah' (pronounced Ah-key-duh) in Arabic. In Islam, it is precisely the belief within the heart of an individual that is most important and that belief should then also have a profound impact upon outward deeds. Muslims believe that people will be held accountable for their deeds. Ultimately however, it is the inner qualities that a person possesses that Muslims believe Allah will judge to determine their everlasting fate. One's ethnicity, physical characteristics, intelligence and the like are secondary to their pure belief in the one and only Creator.

There are real misconceptions about Allah in particular - i.e. He is a god for blacks or Arabs or Africans but not white Europeans. Or that He is unmerciful and vengeful, and He suffers from the same petty jealousies or character and even physical flaws as any human.

Portrayals of God in Western culture are often that of an old man with a long white beard who sits in the clouds. Michelangelo's painting on the Sistine Chapel is engraved in the minds of many as the image of God. Those who believe that Jesus (peace be upon him) is the son of God, or God himself, of course visualize the imaginary portrayals of Jesus made famous by many a painter. Others believe that Allah is not in control of all affairs, or that He is negligent, or that He gets tired and sleepy or that He is in competition with the devil or Satan...whom He created! Other cultures of course have even more diverse images of God and their concepts of His abilities, and attributes that are also far removed from the Islamic belief. God to some is personified in animals, like cattle or rats or natural phenomena or inanimate objects and they are worshipped in some form or believed to have divine qualities. Even body parts and organs are used as objects of worship or believed to have divine powers such as the belief of those who use phallic symbols (representations of the male sex organ) in their religious rituals! Indeed one of the most widespread misconceptions is that God is in everything or everywhere. This leads again to the worship of false deities or forms of worship unacceptable to the Creator.

Secondly, some misconceptions about Allah are by no means unique to other religions but are also found among Muslims themselves.

"In fact, almost all of the various heretical sects which broke off from the main body of Islam, from the Prophet's time until today, all began their divergence from the point of Tawheed - which we will explain in more detail in the following section. All of those who worked for the destruction of Islam and the misguidance of its followers have attempted to neutralize the principle of tawheed because it represents the very essence of the divine message of Islam brought by all the prophets." (Dr. Bilal Philips, The Fundamentals of Tawheed, Foreword pp. v).

It is because the chief area where people have diverged and deviated regarding Allah is the aspect of His Names and Attributes, that we have prepared this special site devoted to this category of Tawheed. We hope to offer as much detail and clarity as we can for every reader and we will improve and amend it where needed, in shaa Allah.