Comment on White Flag by apollopop

apollopop · 3/5/2025, 12:42:12 AM · permalink

So I've just been lurking but I figured I could pitch in an answer here.  
  
God is a lot of things. He is The Creator, as he created everything. He is The One, there is only one of him. He is The Forgiving, he forgives all of us. In Islam, we have 99 names for Allah (God), which comprehensively cover everything he is. These names help explain **who** God is, but also **what** God is. Think of it this way: if I say a human is kind, or powerful, that tells me who they are - their personality, abilities - but it doesn't clarify what a human being is. If I say a human is a chief, that tells me what the human's role is relative to me (he makes my meal), but it also doesn't clarify what a human is. So some characteristics of God will touch on **who** he is, others will touch on **what** he is. I think this distinction touches on the essence of your question.

**What is God without worshippers?**

Among many things, God is the only one worthy of worship. This touches on a characteristic of God (worthy of worship), it does not define **what** God is. So, one cannot say that God is axiomatically defined as the being whom people worship. Otherwise, every statue people ever worshipped would be God (God forbid) and that is obviously not the case. Okay, so if God is not defined by worshippers, what is he defined by? The chapter @eldermillennialx put down is the most fundamental, comprehensive definition. Ik scripture might not seem to clarify much, but I think it's worth explaining these ones because they do directly represent every Muslim's perspective on what God is.

**1\. Say, "He is Allah, \[who is\] One**

This means we believe in God in a monotheistic sense. We don't believe in an evil god and a good god, we don't believe in Greek mythology type gods, we don't believe in a trinity where God takes multiple forms. This may seem like an obvious point, but we're establishing what God is as a being. Think of the opposite: A human cannot be defined by oneness, there are lots of humans. We tend to think of plants, animals, etc. in species as well. But part of what it means for God to be God, is that God is only **one** of himself.

**2\. Allah the Eternal Refuge**

"Eternal Refuge" is a rough translation. More specifically, the verse means that God is everlasting and self-sufficient. Everything needs him, he needs nothing. This touches on another aspect of God as a being. God is perfectly independent. Nothing else in the world is perfectly independent. All living creatures require other things for survival (people, food, etc.). Perfect independence and everlastingness is another fundamental aspect of what it means to be God.

**3\. He neither begets nor is born**

This is self-explanatory, but it is also supplemental to the previous two fundamental definitions of God. If God is everlasting, one, and self-sufficient, this means nothing could have come before him. He came from no one. He's here for infinite time, is eternal. And if He is One, then he does not beget other Gods (God forbid). Everything is only his creation.

Now, if you think too hard about it, it may get confusing. God created everything, who created him? No one, he's always there. Why is this difficult for us to wrap our heads around? Because:

**4\. Nor is there to Him any equivalent.**

So, ofc it's beyond the realm of our imagination.

While this is a full breakdown to "define the 'concept'" as you said, I'm also sure that you found all of these points to be somewhat intuitive. Even if you don't believe in God personally, this is what most people understand God to be to others who do believe in Him. Even polytheistic religions believe in God as defined here, they just believe in smaller, or different gods beside him (this is what @eldermillennialx called assosiation). This understanding of God is intuitive to everyone, including children. In Islam this is called **fitra**, or as @eldermillennialx said, "innate inclination to recognize God's oneness"  
  
Sorry this ended up being longer than I meant to make it, but I really liked your question

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