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The nature of God in Islam

For Muslims, the 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 is the most sacred text and contains ultimate guidance for all humankind.

Image caption,
The Qur'an is the central religious text for Muslims

It is just as relevant today as it was when it was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad - Allah鈥檚 most important spokesman - by the angel Jibril. Muslims believe that the Angel Jibril revealed the word of Allah to the Prophet who passed it on to his followers.

The 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 contains guidance for Muslims on the nature of Allah.

Key beliefs about God include:

  • Muslims refer to their God as Allah, a genderless title which has no plural form.
  • Tawhid is the belief in the oneness and unity of Allah as expressed in the first of the five Pillars of Islam, the Shahadah.
  • The Shahadah is a statement of faith which says, 鈥淭here is no other God but Allah鈥. Therefore, belief in this oneness or unity of Allah is essential.
  • Human beings can never fully understand Allah, although Allah has revealed some of himself to humans through the prophets (Allah鈥檚 spokesmen).

The 蚕耻谤鈥檃苍 contains 99 names for Allah. These help Muslims to understand what Allah is like, eg the Creator, Eternal and the Most Merciful.

Some Muslims believe that there are 100 names but only 99 of them have been given to human beings. This means that humans can never fully understand Allah.